Hawks hold serve - now what?

[WorldBFree]

Going into games 3 & 4, JJ and JS needed to step up their games. done. make that DONE. As a result, ATL tied the series up 2-2. my best-case scenario coming in was a 6 game series, but after seeing the Hawks run around and through Boston, there's every reason to believe Atlanta can win another home game.

the question is: (how) can the Hawks win game 5 and give themselves a real shot at the biggest upset in NBA playoff history?

here's my take on the three keys to winning game 5:

1) Defensive stops and defensive rebounding. a team can't run if it's constantly throwing the ball in after a made basket. second chances eliminate ATL's running game and get the crowd fired up;

2) adjust to the Celts defensive adjustments. they won't let JJ beat Ray Allen like a rented mule again (will they?). Bibby needs another good start. JS needs to drive to the basket and play under control. but someone else HAS to step up with 15-20 pts: MW? Big Al? Chillz? if the Hawks can get a 15+ point game from someone other than the scoring trio of Bibby/Johnson/Smith (and assuming those three can provide 60pts), they will have a chance to win late in the 4th;

3) withstand the inevitable hot start by Boston. just like game 4, expect Boston to come out fired up. except this time, THEY'LL have the home crowd energy to feed off of. if the Hawks can stay w/in 6 (2 possessions) at the end of each of the first three qtrs, the pressure will be on the Celtics, big time. THEY are the team that has been getting tired late, the OLD team, the team EXPECTED to win.

i'm not sure it can happen, but the Hawks have done a great job so far of proving doubters wrong.

[Johnnybravo4]

They are like Duke. Guard the 3 and they are done. They have no one who likes to slash towards the basket. They are a team of jumpshooters. We need to go to Horford down low and get Perkins out the game who is their toughest offensive rebounder.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Now it's going to take an effort from someone like Marvin Williams to be an X-factor in Game 5.

We gotta rely on someone outside JJ and Josh.

[jhay610]

I feel like we might carry some of this momentum in and WE might be the ones to jump out to the hot start. After that, I expect things to tighten up. I hope the Hawks can keep it close and have a shot at winning at the end. How sweet would it be to bring it home with a chance at clinching. I would lose my mind

[Lascar78]

I am still hoping that some of the fairweather fans will turn on the team and not give them the nutty support they need.

[DavidSomerset]

They are going to be double teaming JJ, and JSmoove is WAY too inconsistent to play as well on the road as he has at home these past two games.

We are going to have to get a huge game out of the most battle tested player on our team in Bibby. He is going to have to be our leading scorer for us to win the game in my opinion.

[jhay610]

I totally agree. Bibby cant have one of his off nights. We need him to be a player out there. In order to win on the road we will have to click on all cylinders, and that means Bibby needs to be wetting that J.

We cannot get another 5 pt game out of him and expect to be in it.

[bronnt]

Agreed. Mike Bibby needs to show up. We really need something along the lines of 15 points and 8 dimes. JJ should be seeing a lot of double teams, half court traps, and some different defensive assignments to slow him down. He might score 20 but I wouldn't expect him to have another 30 point night.

JJ is sometimes to reluctant to pass out of double-teams. Not that he can't, he just believes he can beat the double, and sometimes he can. Honestly, though, we just can't let him dominate the ball as much as he did in game 4. He needs to get it out to Bibby and Bibby needs to either hit his jumpers or create plays to get the ball inside.

I honestly hope to see more of what the Hawks did in game 3. They really got out and ran during that game, moreso than in game 4. They were taking misses and making the outlet pass and driving down on offense. That's what it's going to take-and Josh Smith needs to tuck his jumpshot into his back pocket. No way he shoots as hot in Boston as he did here for game 3. One thing they did really well was to run the offense through the post. The halfcout often was initiated by making an entry pass to JS or AH, and they would work the baseline and either get a lay-up or pass out to a shooter. Which brings me to Marvin Williams. His most significant contribution to this offense is his ability to hit open mid-range jump shots. I'm sure that he's going to get some open looks. He needs to be able to knock them down.

One other key is rebounding. Then more rebounding. We have to make sure to limit the Celtics shot attempts because Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, James Posey-they should shoot better at home, and they will kill Atlanta if they get too many chances. If Zaza comes in, he has to be strong on the boards. Josh Smith has got to be strong on the boards. Al Horford is always strong on the boards, but if his effort is superhuman, it certainly can't hurt.

[TheTruth]

Hard for anyone to disagree with any of that. If we stick with what has worked so well (the inside-out game with Horf and JJ, Rebounding, Running Intelligently, and Playing TEAM Defense), we can make it a close game. If we just so happen to win game 5, we will likely win the series.

Write it down.

No seriously, write it down.

[LOL_Hawks]

Quote:

---

Hard for anyone to disagree with any of that. If we stick with what has worked so well (the inside-out game with Horf and JJ, Rebounding, Running Intelligently, and Playing TEAM Defense), we can make it a close game. If we just so happen to win game 5, we will likely win the series.

Write it down.

No seriously, write it down.

I agree. If the Hawks can somehow pull a game 5 win out of their rear end, they're going to win the series. Boston can not beat the Hawks in Atlanta right now.