Did we just witness a team maturation?

[thecampster]

As any NBA fan knows...you just don't wake up and make the NBA finals. Even Jordan waited till his 7th season to win a title and required Pippen, Grant and maturation to get there. Tonight, I think the Hawks learned a lesson, a big lesson. It's not enough to be athletic. It's not enough to game plan. It's not enough to be better. Lebron's Cavs were better last year and got eliminated. The lesson is that winners impose their will on others. That's what most championship seasons are...one team imposing it's will upon the competition no matter who is playing. You have to bring the nasty. You have to bring the will to tell someone else to sit down and shut up.

Tonight, the Hawks said "NO!!!"

I am one of the biggest JJ bashers on the board but tonight he earned my respect and he did it on one play in the first quarter. While guarding Salmons one on one, he refused the switch and stuck with Salmons during a dribble/attempt to penetrate clinic. He stayed in front for a good 10 seconds and finally when he goated Salmons into the air, he got a hand on the Salmons pass into the post. JJ refused to let John Salmons get to the middle of the lane on that play. He imposed his defensive will on the play. God help the league if the Hawks have finally figured out the hardest lesson in basketball. you don't have to win by 100..you just have to win by 1. The Bucks weren't just beaten on the court tonight...they were demoralized. They were held to 69 points on their home court on what should have been elimination night. The Hawks imposed their will tonight.

[Popeye]

That's why i was glad that this happened(that we lost at home), i really wanted to see what this team is made of and now i know..... It was the Bucks i know, but still we played great D..... Now when we go to Orlando, guys can remember this game and take one down there.....

[Final_quest]

Since it's positive day, I'll have to agree with this premise. A lot of champions lately have had a difficult series with a lesser opponent. I'm thinking mainly of Celtics-Hawks and Lakers-Rockets. Right now we just have to focus on winning this game 7.

[Wretch]

IMO, the maturation happened this season. With Josh playing out of his mind, a consistent #2 guy in Crawford, Horford stepping up his game... 50 wins is the sign of a team that has matured.

What happened last night was these guys realized they were going home and it lit a fire under them. Expect the same thing in game 7 and it will be our strongest weapon going forward. It might be the kick in the *ss they needed to see them reach their potential. But Woodson will have to pull his head out of his *ss too...

[Diesel]

IMO, the maturation happened this season. With Josh playing out of his mind, a consistent #2 guy in Crawford, Horford stepping up his game... 50 wins is the sign of a team that has matured.

What happened last night was these guys realized they were going home and it lit a fire under them. Expect the same thing in game 7 and it will be our strongest weapon going forward. It might be the kick in the *ss they needed to see them reach their potential. But Woodson will have to pull his head out of his *ss too...

The thing about a game 7 is that it's win or go home. Milwaukee will bring their best game. We will bring our game. The thing is that we have to play better than we did in game 6. We were helped in that Milwaukee missed a lot of shots. However, that's not guaranteed for Sunday. Moreover, I think our guards played good defense.

We will have some momentum and we have to use that and feed off of the crowd early. IF at all possible, I would love to see us put this game away early.

[thefloydian]

Short answer: no.