Same ol' Woody

[HawksBalla]

I knew better then to buy the hype that Woody would play JJ less minutes this year. JJ is never going to pull himself out because he is playing for a contract. That makes JJ look like a fat juicy steak to Woody...he can play JJ into the ground and not hear a peep from JJ. Then Woody will give us one of his bs excuses, "oh, well, we're playing for the playoffs" or "I was trying to help JJ make the all-star team" (my favorite). What he should say is "I'm playing for my job, and JJ is one of the few guys I have that I trust, so I'll sacrifice him to keep my job"

Why would we pay Crawford $10 million just play 14 minutes off the bench???!?

[TheTruth]

Crawford stayed in foul trouble for a while...had he not, he probably would have played a few minutes more. However, the game stayed tight until late in the fourth quarter, so that only added to it. Let's see how much he plays Friday.

[spotatl]

I agree that Paying Craword 10 million dollars each of the next 2 years was a horrible mistake compared to having flip as a 2 million dollar expiring contract.

[pimp]

wow people crying about minutes in the first game is just silly.

If you want to blame someone, then blame Jamal.

He's not looking to score, he's just trying to fit in right now.

[High5]

I wish we had a better coach as much as anyone, but you can't criticize him for Joe's minutes tonight. The game was close and Crawford struggled. It's the first game, relax.

[gsuteke]

The only issue I would take with Woodson is why Joe was in for the last minute with the team up by 12.

But that's it. The last minute with a lead is pad the stats time - in fact isn't that when Joe hit that ridiculous 3 at the shot clock buzzer?

When the Hawks are up by 15 with 3 minutes left and Joe is in I'll call Woodson on the carpet.

[Crank]

Its not that big of a deal on opening night but I have yet to see any real plan put into place to integrate Crawford into what we do. We have him out there setting up Joe smith and Zaza lol . That wont work when we play the the top teams . We should not fall into a lull while playing the weaker teams . When Crawford comes in off that bench we should be running sets 9-10 straight times for him forcing that opposing coach to make adjustments . He came in against Jones and Watson and just passed the ball around . Thats not why hes here and we should be using these games to prepare for the top teams because we are going to need that scoring when we play teams with good inside presences.

We have Orl,Por,NO twice,lakers,Bos and thats in the first month. We cant afford to wait 2 months while Crawford tries and proves he can pass and Woody shouldnt let him do it either . Make Teague run the second unit and put in some sets for Crawford early .Its still early so Im not really worried but I just have a feeling that these early games this year will be very important come playoff positioning time .

[RedDawg#8]

The only issue I would take with Woodson is why Joe was in for the last minute with the team up by 12.

Yeah and also I think it was either the end of the 1st or 3rd quarter and it was under 2 minutes left and there was a stopage of play and he put Joe back in the game, it may seem like nit-picking but minutes add up over time, its the difference of him playing 39 mins tonite when it coulda been 36 and sum change. I know that the game was close but joe doesnt need to be in the game to finish 1st and 3rd quarters, just 2nd and 4th's (only in a close game). When he pulled Bibby and Horford, I was curious why he couldnt just take Joe out too, it almost makes me think he wanted JJ to take that 3 to pad his stats a little (to make the all-star game of course)

[Admin]

Yeah and also I think it was either the end of the 1st or 3rd quarter and it was under 2 minutes left and there was a stopage of play and he put Joe back in the game, it may seem like nit-picking but minutes add up over time, its the difference of him playing 39 mins tonite when it coulda been 36 and sum change. I know that the game was close but joe doesnt need to be in the game to finish 1st and 3rd quarters, just 2nd and 4th's (only in a close game). When he pulled Bibby and Horford, I was curious why he couldnt just take Joe out too, it almost makes me think he wanted JJ to take that 3 to pad his stats a little (to make the all-star game of course)

It was the end of the 3rd and Crawford had just picked up his 4th foul. He didn't want to risk Crawford picking up a cheap 5th foul. I bet if we still had Mario on the team he would have gone in then but he had no real option other than to put JJ back in.

[macdaddy]

It was the end of the 3rd and Crawford had just picked up his 4th foul. He didn't want to risk Crawford picking up a cheap 5th foul. I bet if we still had Mario on the team he would have gone in then but he had no real option other than to put JJ back in.

Right. That's one of our weaknesses. We can't play Bibby and Teague and not get abused. If Crawford or Joe is out the other is in. As I said in another post, I'm usually on the bash Woody bandwagon, but he did fine last night. The 2nd unit did well but was giving up leads. It will take some time to get them cohesive. That doesn't happen in preseason.

How about some props to Bibby. That's exactly the kind of play we need from him. Great passing and even some penetration and good defense. And of course knocking down the big shots. If he continues to play that way he'll be one of the biggest bargains on the team.

[Admin]

Right. That's one of our weaknesses. We can't play Bibby and Teague and not get abused. If Crawford or Joe is out the other is in. As I said in another post, I'm usually on the bash Woody bandwagon, but he did fine last night. The 2nd unit did well but was giving up leads. It will take some time to get them cohesive. That doesn't happen in preseason.

How about some props to Bibby. That's exactly the kind of play we need from him. Great passing and even some penetration and good defense. And of course knocking down the big shots. If he continues to play that way he'll be one of the biggest bargains on the team.

I think that JJ played too many minutes in the 1st half, but for now I'll give Woody the benefit of the doubt as it's going to take him a while to learn to integrate these new players and get the rotations settled.

Bibby did play pretty well offensively, but he was still abused defensively. Then again so was damn near every other Hawk!

[exodus]

It was the end of the 3rd and Crawford had just picked up his 4th foul. He didn't want to risk Crawford picking up a cheap 5th foul. I bet if we still had Mario on the team he would have gone in then but he had no real option other than to put JJ back in.

Please explain why it would be such a big problem if Crawford picked up his 5th foul.

[Admin]

Please explain why it would be such a big problem if Crawford picked up his 5th foul.

Because if he picked up his 5th foul in the 3rd quarter in a close game that we might have needed overtime for he is our only other 2 guard. It would have just been pretty dangerous. I'd rather JJ come in and play that final 2 minutes than risk Crawford picking up a cheap foul.

[exodus]

Because if he picked up his 5th foul in the 3rd quarter in a close game that we might have needed overtime for he is our only other 2 guard. It would have just been pretty dangerous. I'd rather JJ come in and play that final 2 minutes than risk Crawford picking up a cheap foul.

So what? JJ wasn't in foul trouble and has no history of foul trouble. If the game did go into overtime i would rather not have a worn out JJ that has already played 39 minutes.

Fouling out is no different from getting benched for the rest of the game. Basically Crawford fouled out of the game when he picked up his 4th foul. Woody seems to think fouls are like carryover minutes that can be saved for the next game. If a player fouls out Hawks aren't going to get a 5 point penalty against them which is what Woody seems to think.

[RedDawg#8]

Lol thats funny and true. I think he could have ran the risk of playing Craw or at least bringing in Mo, or if Mo was in the game already, put in a forward to let Mo slide over to the 2. Since we dont have Rio, Mo needs to be our utility swingman in that situation, we werent forced to use JJ then, it just seems like an old habit for Woody to look at his bench and if JJ is on it then find a way to put him back in the game.

Woody has to learn to not depend on Joe, trust the bench to close out the quarter and start up the 4th. Sure, he can handle it now but its the very beggining of the season with 81 more games left. I know it all worked out but in the future I would love to have a fresh Joe come in after the first break of the 4th and go full steam ahead from that point on.

[Admin]

So what? JJ wasn't in foul trouble and has no history of foul trouble. If the game did go into overtime i would rather not have a worn out JJ that has already played 39 minutes.

Fouling out is no different from getting benched for the rest of the game. Basically Crawford fouled out of the game when he picked up his 4th foul. Woody seems to think fouls are like carryover minutes that can be saved for the next game. If a player fouls out Hawks aren't going to get a 5 point penalty against them which is what Woody seems to think.

I'm saying you play JJ that extra 2 minutes that way you can play Crawford more minutes in the 4th since he'd have 2 fouls to work with and get JJ some rest in case the game goes to OT.

I know that Woody has a weird foul rule overall, but a lot of coaches take out players who are on the verge of foul trouble and just picked up a foul before the end of a quarter in order to protect them from picking up a cheap foul.

[Admin]

Lol thats funny and true. I think he could have ran the risk of playing Craw or at least bringing in Mo, or if Mo was in the game already, put in a forward to let Mo slide over to the 2. Since we dont have Rio, Mo needs to be our utility swingman in that situation, we werent forced to use JJ then, it just seems like an old habit for Woody to look at his bench and if JJ is on it then find a way to put him back in the game.

Woody has to learn to not depend on Joe, trust the bench to close out the quarter and start up the 4th. Sure, he can handle it now but its the very beggining of the season with 81 more games left. I know it all worked out but in the future I would love to have a fresh Joe come in after the first break of the 4th and go full steam ahead from that point on.

What forward would you bring in to play SF and allow Mo to slide to the 2 if the goal is to rest the starters? Mo is our only capable backup SF unless you're ready to give minutes to Othello Hunter and he's only borderline capable of playing SF.

[Crank]

So what? JJ wasn't in foul trouble and has no history of foul trouble. If the game did go into overtime i would rather not have a worn out JJ that has already played 39 minutes.

Fouling out is no different from getting benched for the rest of the game. Basically Crawford fouled out of the game when he picked up his 4th foul. Woody seems to think fouls are like carryover minutes that can be saved for the next game. If a player fouls out Hawks aren't going to get a 5 point penalty against them which is what Woody seems to think.

thats true and also Crawford is a veteran you have to believe that he knows how to avoid that 5th in closing out games .

[AHF]

I'm saying you play JJ that extra 2 minutes that way you can play Crawford more minutes in the 4th since he'd have 2 fouls to work with and get JJ some rest in case the game goes to OT.

I know that Woody has a weird foul rule overall, but a lot of coaches take out players who are on the verge of foul trouble and just picked up a foul before the end of a quarter in order to protect them from picking up a cheap foul.

Didn't Woodson keep Crawford on the bench for the entire fourth quarter? I don't mind JJ substituting for Crawford for the final 46 seconds of the 3rd quarter but you would think you would be playing Crawford in the 4th if you are going to do that move.

http://www.nba.com/games/20091028/INDATL/playbyplay.html#4

[Admin]

Didn't Woodson keep Crawford on the bench for the entire fourth quarter? I don't mind JJ substituting for Crawford for the final 46 seconds of the 3rd quarter but you would think you would be playing Crawford in the 4th if you are going to do that move.

http://www.nba.com/g...aybyplay.html#4

I think that was the reason why he took Crawford out.

I think that the reason why (if) Crawford didn't come back in is either because A). Woody forgot about him or B). Woody doesn't trust him (yet).