Hoopinion: Quotes, Notes, and Links: Milwaukee Bucks 111 Atlanta Hawks 104

[Hawksquawk]

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Highlights

Recap

Again, a portion of my post-game reaction was diverted into the Daily Dime (#8).

Joe Johnson:

"It is frustrating, man. It just seems like we don’t have the toughness. They were coming up with all the loose balls, and all the big rebounds. We couldn’t get stops when we needed to. It’s killing us."

It is frustrating that this team seems surprised about not being an especially good rebounding or defensive team.

Johnson:

"It’s been tough because we switch a lot and they just get pretty much any penetration they wanted. They got us helter skelter, to where we are scrambling trying to find guys, and now we are at a disadvantage."

Jamal Crawford:

"Jennings has such quickness that when we get out on him he opens up stuff for his shooters. He gets around one person, he keeps his dribble, Delfino was getting shots Salmons was getting shots, Stackhouse was getting shots Ilyasova was getting shots. I think the penetration is hurting us a little bit."

These are hardly new problems, thus I put little faith in Joe Johnson's (probably necessary for a man in his situation) optimism:

"I am sure we will come up with something. We have just got to get back playing with energy. They are getting layup after layup, you can’t have that in playoff basketball."

Had the Hawks not had that in regular season basketball, the determination would be more admirable than quixotic.

Everyone can get behind this from Joe Johnson:

"We have got to stop complaining so much. We worry about them holding and scratching and clawing. We have just got to do the same thing. Stop worrying about what the refs are calling, and just play. We complain way too much."

Mike Woodson on the Hawks' formula for success:

"We need everybody to play as well that we can get."

Scott Skiles on the keys to Milwaukee's offensive success:

"We have to be a little bit careful. We were back to holding the ball a little bit again, but we were able to get away with it. But we were also driving the ball aggressively and trying to get to the line. Those are split-second decisions that are often difficult to make, especially against a team that's long. We want to drive their switches, but at the same time we also want to keep the ball moving."

Don't worry, Hawks fans, Mike Woodson is already formulating adjustments:

"Somehow we've got to get our defensive mojo back where we're defending and rebounding and running up and down the floor."

13th in Defensive Efficiency

24th in Defensive Rebounding %

27th in Possessions per 48 Minutes

For more on Mike Woodson, check out The Vent.

Or look at this picture from Doc Funk:

Mark Bradley:

Woodson has been through the playoffs and taken an NBA title as a Detroit assistant, but he hasn’t gotten a better team — and the Hawks are clearly more talented — to lock in the way Scott Skiles has. In Games 3 and 4 the Bucks kept finding open shots, while the Hawks approached every position as a degree-of-difficulty challenge.

Afterward one Hawk was heard to wonder why Mo Evans, not known as a scorer, wound up shooting (and missing) on three consecutive fourth-quarter possessions with the Bucks' lead down to six points. There's no answer except to say: That's what the Hawks do. When in doubt, they don't look for the open man; they look to shoot.

Kurt Helin at Pro Basketball Talk:

You know what the Hawks are going to do on every pick and roll. I know it. Every hoops fan knows it -- the Hawks switch. They think their bigs -- Al Horford, Josh Smith -- are quick enough and long enough to bother point guards into bad shots.

Not Brandon Jennings. All night in game four (and through large parts of game three) he abused the Hawks bigs. Half of his 16 shots came as layups, four more came right on the edge of the key. On those he was 9 of 12. He was killing the Hawks because the Bucks got the matchup they wanted, and they isolated it.

Atlanta tried some traditional pick-and-roll defense, but the guards showed no passion to fight through the pick. Even if he did fight through it, Jennings blows by Bibby faster than Smith or Horford. The Hawks live and die with their athletic bigs partially for that reason.

Kurt Thomas on getting leveled by Mike Bibby:

"I think he just kind of caught me off balance. I was just trying to hold my ground. But yeah, I guess he's been in the weight room a little bit."

Bucks bloggers are so loose they're having fun with homonyms. Brew Hoop:

Oh, Deer. We have a series.

Bucksketball adds a count to the indictment against Atlanta's defense:

For the very first time in his NBA career, [brandon] Jennings shot over 50% in a game in which he failed to connect on a 3-point basket.

As do these pictures of a phantom switch at NBA Playbook.

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