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Official Game Thread: Hawks - Cavaliers GAME 4 (8:30 PM Tip!)


lethalweapon3

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I actually felt sorry for Milsap and Horford today. Really, the whole team. Management lost this series and this championship when they got rid of Payne and stayed pat at the trade deadline. They felt this munchkin lineup in the front court could get it done, along with Pero Antić.

 

More than ANYTHING, it was the lack of size and rebounding in the post that destroyed the Hawks. Teams figured out that all you have to do is control the paint against the Hawks and dont worry about their jump shooting.

 

If they stay the status quo and resign the same players going into next year, it will be worse because the East is gonna be better. They better get SOME BIGS thru the draft, and or, free agency and move Horford over to power forward.  Im not sold on Tavares. From the limited stuff ive seen of him, looks too stiff and unathletic to hold the paint down.

 

Rebounding and size is to the Hawks what the lack of a pass rush is to the Falcons... The fans beg for it every offseason just for it to be put off on to the back burner.  Then, decades later, we finally address it with drafting Beasley.  Deke was our last legit center.

 

Time to bring Tavares over and sign one of the many free-agent centers in 2015. My vote is with duAL threat with Jefferson & Horford, or bringing in Monroe or Lopez. Jefferson, as long as he is healthy, would solve all our issues inside. Lopez fits because he spaces the floor, although he isn't a dominate rebounder. Monroe gives us size, rebounding, and post play, but we'll have to see how interested he is in the Hawks.

Edited by PSSSHHHRRR87
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I actually felt sorry for Milsap and Horford today. Really, the whole team. Management lost this series and this championship when they got rid of Payne and stayed pat at the trade deadline. They felt this munchkin lineup in the front court could get it done, along with Pero Antić.

 

More than ANYTHING, it was the lack of size and rebounding in the post that destroyed the Hawks. Teams figured out that all you have to do is control the paint against the Hawks and dont worry about their jump shooting.

 

If they stay the status quo and resign the same players going into next year, it will be worse because the East is gonna be better. They better get SOME BIGS thru the draft, and or, free agency and move Horford over to power forward.  Im not sold on Tavares. From the limited stuff ive seen of him, looks too stiff and unathletic to hold the paint down.

 

That is what having a very successful team in Dec/Jan did for us.  Unfortunately when you build a team that has 5 good players starting with no great players it can't afford to have injuries or very many off-nights. Cleveland was down 2 starters also for pretty much the whole series but seemed to manage quite well because of good defense, rebounding, and good play from Lebron(his refs also).  Injuries or not we weren't going to win this series with the way our defense played and how bad we did on the boards.     

 

My biggest problem with this roster is that we had no guys step up in the playoffs other than DMC until he got hurt.  I criticized why Teague didn't want to go in for Dennis on the play Horford bailed him out on for not having balls.  We need players that want the last shot in these big games.  We could of been in game 1 or 3 if we had someone to pull the rest along and in those close games we struggled with the Nets/Wizards.  Remember when they asked everyone in the interview mid season about who would take the last shot and they all just looked around.  That's how they looked in tight situations in the playoffs. 

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 Pero Antić symbolized both literally and figuratively the Hawks over dependence on their spread offense and lack of interior play on both offense and defense. If you are gonna play a small lineup like the Hawks did, your top big off the bench BETTER be in the same league as Tristian Thompson. Instead, they trot out non shooting, non jumping,  non rebounding, non shot blocking, 2 passes that lead to turnovers a game, Pero Antić. THAT was the Hawks season in a nutshell.

 

To make matters WORST, the Hawks got rid of one of the TOP new bigs in the game, Payne, for what?? To make sure he does not take minutes from Antić?? It gets WORST than that.  Antić stole minutes from Moose also. Moose does more on a couple possessions, than Antić does for whole quarters. He stunted Moose's development. Wait, im not done. Elton Brand still had enough left in the tank. He was regulated to the end of the bench, again, Antić stole minutes. Cherry on top. Mike Scott. I find it funny some people are overlooking the big games Scott gave us. Dude couldnt develop any rhthym in his game because Antić was always eating up ALL the minutes that the bigs were suppose to get.

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Disapointing way to end a magnificent season. The Cavs were hot at the right time, while we weren't. You could tell the game was over halfway through the 2nd quarter. Hopefully this season was a building block for what is in store for the future. This system will eventually get us to the gold, however, we need to adress both rebounding and finding a legit scorer before we can get there. Young guys like Moose, Dennis, and Baze are all guaranteed to get better this offseason, which should help us even more next season. Feels good for once to head into an offseason with stable ownership and an elite coaching staff as well. 

Edited by ATLHawks3
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I actually felt sorry for Milsap and Horford today. Really, the whole team. Management lost this series and this championship when they got rid of Payne and stayed pat at the trade deadline. They felt this munchkin lineup in the front court could get it done, along with Pero Antić.

 

More than ANYTHING, it was the lack of size and rebounding in the post that destroyed the Hawks. Teams figured out that all you have to do is control the paint against the Hawks and dont worry about their jump shooting.

 

If they stay the status quo and resign the same players going into next year, it will be worse because the East is gonna be better. They better get SOME BIGS thru the draft, and or, free agency and move Horford over to power forward.  Im not sold on Tavares. From the limited stuff ive seen of him, looks too stiff and unathletic to hold the paint down.

Not necessarily by letting Payne go, but because they didn't add another competent big or another shooter to the team at free agency.

Bud thought we were fine with our bigs, mainly because he trusted Pero so much. We'll at least he did better this postseason. He posted an 8.4 PER this postseason. Last year he was a -1.0 PER.

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That is what having a very successful team in Dec/Jan did for us.  Unfortunately when you build a team that has 5 good players starting with no great players it can't afford to have injuries or very many off-nights. Cleveland was down 2 starters also for pretty much the whole series but seemed to manage quite well because of good defense, rebounding, and good play from Lebron(his refs also).  Injuries or not we weren't going to win this series with the way our defense played and how bad we did on the boards.     

 

My biggest problem with this roster is that we had no guys step up in the playoffs other than DMC until he got hurt.  I criticized why Teague didn't want to go in for Dennis on the play Horford bailed him out on for not having balls.  We need players that want the last shot in these big games.  We could of been in game 1 or 3 if we had someone to pull the rest along and in those close games we struggled with the Nets/Wizards.  Remember when they asked everyone in the interview mid season about who would take the last shot and they all just looked around.  That's how they looked in tight situations in the playoffs. 

 

I sorta dont agree. The Hawks still couldve pulled this off with a big at center who could average JUST around 10-12 points a game and rebound. This wouldve forced teams to play the Hawks more honest. Take Kyle Korver for instance. In the playoffs, teams knew that if you shut him down, you shut down the Hawks offense, because there was nobody in the middle to keep them honest.

 

If you bring a Dwight Howard or Brook Lopez into the Hawks lineup, and surround him with Korver, Sap, Horford, etc. NOW, teams are stuck on defense because they cant cheat either way. Blanket the shooters, Howard eats you up. Blanket Howard, he kicks out to the wide open jump shooters. SAME thing he did early in his career with Orlando and those jumpshooters they had. Howard or Lopez wouldnt have to average 20 a game. All they have to do is get 10-12 points and control the boards and the Hawks would be a monster team.

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Hawks had a great season, 60 wins, breaking their franchise record, 19 winning streak, and reaching ECF for the first time in atlanta hawks history. Their next goal must be definitely winning a championship, they can use that motivation for next season, but they still have long way to go, keep working hard, and show that they really want it. 

 

I also hope hawks will find a decent big man for their team that can protect the rim in the offseason.

 

It's going to be really interesting for the Hawks next season. Im definitely looking forward to it and i will continue supporting/cheering them next season! For now, i wish you all have a great summer! =) it was a fun long season.

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Every season ends in a bummer without a trophy. Still, it's the most fun I've had as a Hawks fan ever! The kind of fun I hardly expected when this crazy season started!

 

Plus I get a five-month head-start for the next game thread? Could be dangerous! write%20a%20letter.gif

 

Thanks to all you Squawkers, the best fans in the land!

 

And thanks to this organization (from Koonin on down) and this team for what was an awfully fun ride!

 

Let's Go 2015-16 Hawks!

 

~lw3

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Pero Antić symbolized both literally and figuratively the Hawks over dependence on their spread offense and lack of interior play on both offense and defense. If you are gonna play a small lineup like the Hawks did, your top big off the bench BETTER be in the same league as Tristian Thompson. Instead, they trot out non shooting, non jumping,  non rebounding, non shot blocking, 2 passes that lead to turnovers a game, Pero Antić. THAT was the Hawks season in a nutshell.

 

To make matters WORST, the Hawks got rid of one of the TOP new bigs in the game, Payne, for what?? To make sure he does not take minutes from Antić?? It gets WORST than that.  Antić stole minutes from Moose also. Moose does more on a couple possessions, than Antić does for whole quarters. He stunted Moose's development. Wait, im not done. Elton Brand still had enough left in the tank. He was regulated to the end of the bench, again, Antić stole minutes. Cherry on top. Mike Scott. I find it funny some people are overlooking the big games Scott gave us. Dude couldnt develop any rhthym in his game because Antić was always eating up ALL the minutes that the bigs were suppose to get.

Payne was an unmitigated disaster on both sides of the ball and worse than Pero by every metric and Bud's opinion. Criticize Pero if you want but blowing smoke up Payne's rear for his play this season rings very false.

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Nothing but respect for the way Thompson played.  Nothing dirty.  Didn't get significant bonus support from the refs.  Just played a heck of a series.

 

LBJ generated my usual resentment from superstar treatment by the refs.

 

Delly is dead to me.

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Thompson was who I was worried about and he was a problem.  

 

Despite making some shots I thought Mack's playing time was a detriment.   He often failed to pass to Teague despite Teague having a total mismatch.   It was just a nightmare series for the Hawks and the only good that can come from it is I think Bud as a coach and a GM has a better sense of what it's going to take.  I mean we were playing Teague/Mack/Baze/Scott together a lot and it's not like it really was working.

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I don't think many Hawks fans would be angry at an ECF loss but the way we lost was really discouraging. 

 

- We were literally bullied by the stronger team. It felt like Thompon and Mozgov could get any rebound any time they wanted. This series really made me question whether we should continue with the Horford-Millsap front court.

 

- I cannot believe that our guys didn't retaliate to Delly.  Remember what Cavs did to Boston after Kevin Love's injury? Or what Miami did to Indiana after hard fouls on Lebron and Wade?

 

- Our bench was not ready for the ECF except Bazemore. Scott, Pero, Dennis and Mack were all big disappointments.

 

- We didn't lose because of the refs but the double standard applied Horford's and Howard's flagrant fouls is a clear indication of what a joke NBA is.

 

Nevertheless, it was a season for ages. Thanks to all for making Atlanta basketball relevant again.

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