Nov.12 Atlanta Hawks (6-0) VS Boston Celtics(7-1) Official Gamethread

[djthadj009]

Im calling it now, WHY IS THE ENTIRE SPORTSNATION OVERLOOKING THE UNDEFEATED ATLANTA HAWKS?!

i know we only beat the Thunder last night, but we won with defense even without Josh Smith, and thats HUGE

it doesn't matter, im betting on the Hawks winning on the road yet again in Chicago tomorrow, and the 2nd night of a back-to-back WITHOUT JOSH SMITH is the showdown of the season so far...

Atlanta Hawks(6-0) VS Boston Celtics(7-1)

We all know the significance of this matchup in Boston, after passing the previous biggest test of the season against New Orleans (with flying colors, no homo) Hawks will have their REAL biggest test of the season in the place where their season ended in 07-08. With Josh Smith out with an injury, the pressure falls squarely on MARVIN WILLIAMS, MIKE BIBBY, and AL HORFORD.

Marvin Williams is a 3pt threat now, and a good defender

Mike Bibby is better this season, more of a leader, more consistent

Al Horford is still a beast

and JOE?

Joe is beyond consistent, he has reached the "unguardable" level, the "i-hope-he-has-a-bad-night" level, the "keep-the-ball-out-his-hands-in-the-4th-quarter" level, Joe Johnson is the 3rd best SG in the league behind Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade.

WITH THAT BEING SAID, and as my prediction about the Hawks beating the Bulls in chicago tomorrow comes true, THE HAWKS CAN WIN THIS GAME

can u imagine if the Hawks win, they'll be the #1 TEAM IN THE EAST

Sweep a home and home this weekend and the Hawks are 9-0 for only the second time in franchise history and with the roughest starting schedule for any playoff team with 15 of first 22 games on the road, that alone if enough for a Woodson Coach of the Year Award

but first things first, lets win this game on Wednesday!

hate not, for you only kill yourself..

http://playoffshawks.blogspot.com

[mrhonline]

[oiatlhawksfan]

IDK if we'll be able to beat Chicago

[Admin]

Great first post! Welcome to the Squawk.

[crimedog]

Tell me about it.

I'm not superstitious (but I'm a little bit stitious... a lot of TV quotes these days) but I don't like the thought of a jinx here. Best we be knockin on some wood.

[TruJerz]

IDK if we'll be able to beat Chicago

the way we've been playing, why not..are they that good?? no. it wont be the easiest win but they are definitely beatable

[pimp]

You can't overlook the Bulls.If the Hawks lose tonight it's because you jinxed them.

:sad:

[Admin]

the way we've been playing, why not..are they that good?? no. it wont be the easiest win but they are definitely beatable

They are a very talented team and if they're on they can compete with anyone so we're gonna have to play solid D on em. I think we can beat them without Smoove but we can't play like we did against the Thunder and expect to win.

[djthadj009]

the way we've been playing, why not..are they that good?? no. it wont be the easiest win but they are definitely beatable

i agree

this is my mindset, im not getting too excited, i am realisticaly optimistic, i feel i KNOW we'll win tonight in Chicago, the Hawks NEED to go into Boston undefeated, then...man if we had Smoove i would be betting real dollars on this game lol

good to meet everybody tho, check out my hawksblog, for any and all ATLiens i am at every game

[crimedog]

They are a very talented team and if they're on they can compete with anyone so we're gonna have to play solid D on em. I think we can beat them without Smoove but we can't play like we did against the Thunder and expect to win.

Indeed, the Hawks have more talent than some teams even without Smith, OKC was one of them and an injured Chi team might be another. Still though, if the OKC game was any indication, the guys feed of Smith's energy and play more as a team with him around. Or it could have been a letdown game. Either way, Chi won't be a walk in the park with Deng and Gordon finding their touch and Rose having a step or two on Bibby/JJ.

[Swish]

Indeed, the Hawks have more talent than some teams even without Smith, OKC was one of them and an injured Chi team might be another. Still though, if the OKC game was any indication, the guys feed of Smith's energy and play more as a team with him around. Or it could have been a letdown game. Either way, Chi won't be a walk in the park with Deng and Gordon finding their touch and Rose having a step or two on Bibby/JJ.

Rose is fast dude but don't you think at least JJ can keep pace with him?

I personally would put JJ on Rose and Bibby on Gordon.

[h2t]

They are a very talented team and if they're on they can compete with anyone so we're gonna have to play solid D on em. I think we can beat them without Smoove but we can't play like we did against the Thunder and expect to win.

agreed.

I like OP's enthusiasm and all but looking past the Bulls would be a big mistake. I can only hope Woody gets this team focused on the task at hand...cuz this is gonna be a tough game to win.

And then Boston..well...that's a whole other level of beast.

[crimedog]

Rose is fast dude but don't you think at least JJ can keep pace with him?

I personally would put JJ on Rose and Bibby on Gordon.

No I don't, and its not a knock on JJ. Rose is 5 inches shorter than Joe and one of the fastest players in the league.

I might play Joe on Rose too but I wouldn't put a lot of expectations on Joe in terms of keeping a much quicker guy in front of him, regardless of how mobile Joe is. Rose is a mismatch against basically anyone, thats why he was taken at 1.

[Admin]

Rose is fast dude but don't you think at least JJ can keep pace with him?

I personally would put JJ on Rose and Bibby on Gordon.

No I don't think JJ or anyone other than probably Acie can keep pace with Rose. He's extremely quick, but JJ can body up on him and keep him from using his quicks, plus our switching defense helps to take away a lot of those quicker players from cutting and using picks. What will be tricky is when Rose has the ball and decides he wants to drive to the basket since we have a lot of trouble stopping anyone from doing that.

I'd probably but JJ on Rose with Bibby on Gordon as well. Is Gordon starting for them now that Hinrich is out?

[Admin]

agreed.

I like OP's enthusiasm and all but looking past the Bulls would be a big mistake. I can only hope Woody gets this team focused on the task at hand...cuz this is gonna be a tough game to win.

And then Boston..well...that's a whole other level of beast.

I'm confident that Woody will have us fired up. We tend to match up pretty well with the Bulls and they're not exactly a flawless or completely healthy team. We're going to have to play physical D on them and most importantly we're going to have to be active on the defensive glass because Thomas and especially Noah could give us a lot of trouble. I'd like to see Solo and Morris get some solid minutes tonight.

[Admin]

No I don't, and its not a knock on JJ. Rose is 5 inches shorter than Joe and one of the fastest players in the league.

I might play Joe on Rose too but I wouldn't put a lot of expectations on Joe in terms of keeping a much quicker guy in front of him, regardless of how mobile Joe is. Rose is a mismatch against basically anyone, thats why he was taken at 1.

That sounds somewhat familiar LOL.

[PlayaPat420]

No I don't, and its not a knock on JJ. Rose is 5 inches shorter than Joe and one of the fastest players in the league.

I might play Joe on Rose too but I wouldn't put a lot of expectations on Joe in terms of keeping a much quicker guy in front of him, regardless of how mobile Joe is. Rose is a mismatch against basically anyone, thats why he was taken at 1.

I think we should win this game tonight. The Bulls offense looked horrible the few games I attempted to watch of theirs and D Rose is good, no doubt, but I would like us to pressure him all game long. He is still a rookie and should make mistakes. That, along with Hinrich being out leaves their back up PG as... Ben Gordon? If we can wear down Rose (get the ball out of his hands) and make Gordon play point more we should be in good shape with volume shooter Ben trying to distribute.

[crimedog]

That sounds somewhat familiar LOL.

Ha, you beat me by 3 minutes.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Why in the world would you overlook the Bulls like this?

And why in the world are you looking forward so much to playing the Celtics without Josh Smith?

[Swish]

BBIB is right...we need to watch out for the Bulls and I am afraid the Celts are going to wax us.