Hawks squawks: Thunder 94, Hawks 91

[Hawksquawk]

– Did the Hawks not realize the Thunder would come out and play hard? It’s pretty much what that team is known for. Well, that and Kevin Durant’s sick skills.

– Durant had 29 points but that wasn’t really the problem for the Hawks. “We got outworked it seemed like in every aspect of the game,” said Josh Smith.

– I thought the Thunder would give the Hawks problems because of their scrappy, relentless style. So did Woody: “You try to alert your guys to get them ready. I thought we just thought we were going to show up and beat them.”

–The Thunder built a 15-point lead by relentlessly attacking the basket. The Hawks got back in it with stronger resistance at the rim and good work on the boards.

– The Hawks showed defensive grit in the fourth quarter. But the ball movement and shot selection were weak, so the Hawks never could gain the lead even as the Thunder suffered its own offensive drought.

– “We limited them to one shot, got a couple steals here and there, capitalized …

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[benhillboy]

Velvet Hoop shoots 15 free throws, with 5 boards, 5 dimes, and only 1 TO in 38 minutes. Our "star" goes to the line thrice, with one rebound and 5 dimes, in 45 minutes! Neither shot well, but it's evident to see who is the more polished, well-rounded, versatile player. The one who has never been to the All-Star game, let alone three times. Didn't see the game, but I don't have to look at any stats further than that besides the game flow chart that pretty much showed OKC's control from the second quarter on. Everything was constant: Marvin stole another game check, Double-Doubles from Josh and Al as usual, and Average Bibby. Is it too much to ask for my 3-time All-Star to play well and put us over the hump at home against a young team when the rest of the starters perform as expected? I guess it is. Joe Apologists, come forth and defend his baby-bottom-soft performance. Fan the Futility.

Edited January 19, 2010 by benhillboy

[Plainview1981]

Velvet Hoop shoots 15 free throws, with 5 boards, 5 dimes, and only 1 TO in 38 minutes. Our "star" goes to the line thrice, with one rebound and 5 dimes, in 45 minutes! Neither shot well, but it's evident to see who is the more polished, well-rounded, versatile player. The one who has never been to the All-Star game, let alone three times. Didn't see the game, but I don't have to look at any stats further than that besides the game flow chart that pretty much showed OKC's control from the second quarter on. Everything was constant: Marvin stole another game check, Double-Doubles from Josh and Al as usual, and Average Bibby. Is it too much to ask for my 3-time All-Star to play well and put us over the hump at home against a young team when the rest of the starters perform as expected? I guess it is. Joe Apologists, come forth and defend his baby-bottom-soft performance. Fan the Futility.

Woody had to play Joe and Josh huge minutes because the Thunder was running the Hawks off the court in the 3rd period.

[Atlantaholic]

Velvet Hoop shoots 15 free throws, with 5 boards, 5 dimes, and only 1 TO in 38 minutes. Our "star" goes to the line thrice, with one rebound and 5 dimes, in 45 minutes! Neither shot well, but it's evident to see who is the more polished, well-rounded, versatile player. The one who has never been to the All-Star game, let alone three times. Didn't see the game, but I don't have to look at any stats further than that besides the game flow chart that pretty much showed OKC's control from the second quarter on. Everything was constant: Marvin stole another game check, Double-Doubles from Josh and Al as usual, and Average Bibby. Is it too much to ask for my 3-time All-Star to play well and put us over the hump at home against a young team when the rest of the starters perform as expected? I guess it is. Joe Apologists, come forth and defend his baby-bottom-soft performance. Fan the Futility.

.

What is your point that Durant is better than Joe Johnson? Is this supposed to be some kind of "in your face"? No person on the planet thinks Joe is as good as Durant. Joe is not a top tier star, he has taken us on his back many times this year and in years prior but he can't win them all on his own because he isn't Kobe Bryant or Lebron James. If you check his season stats (aka his performance throughout the entire year and not just in one game) Joe has been playing extremely well and is clearly the second best shooting guard in the east. If we actually played with a modicum of sense on offense we would have won this game. That is coaching problem, not a Joe Johnson problem. And how is "everything constant" when Jamal Crawford is 4-14 and we get out rebounded and out-huslted and out worked by an inferior team. The Hawks in the fourth quarter rely completely on either Joe one on one or Crawford one on one. People wonder why we have trouble in fourth quarters offensively during our losses, and it is obviously because we depend 100% on two streaky jumpshooters to get us our points. Horford needs more touches early on in the fourth.

[benhillboy]

Good Job, Atlantaholic. I like when yall stick up for your guy. I respect that. Three free throws and 1 board though? Really man?

Edited January 19, 2010 by benhillboy

[DJlaysitup]

Good Job, Atlantaholic. I like when yall stick up for your guy. I respect that. Three free throws and 1 board though? Really man?

Settle down Ben...we all know that Marvin sucked as usual in the 2nd half.....Marvin is a great role player.

[macdaddy]

Not really Joe's job to grab a ton of boards but the free throw issue has always been a problem. He doesn't go inside enough and when he does rarely gets the call. I didn't see the game. Can someone explain why we now have an 11 man rotation and Joe is still logging 45 minutes when he isn't even playing well? Why is the guy who didn't even make the team now getting minutes like Teague, Mo, Joe Smith?

I'm concerned about the lack of faith in our bench when over and over again they've held or expanded leads. Maybe this game was different.