Grow A Pair

Prior to the season starting, I was the only person I know who wasn't convinced that "contract year Joe Johnson" was a good thing for the Atlanta Hawks. In my season preview I wrote the following:


Everyone is so sure that Joe Johnson playing for a contract can only mean good things for the Hawks. I don't really see it that way. Quite frankly, I'm worried.
Joe already tries to do way too much. This season Joe will try to do even more. He's got to prove that he's worth more than $60 million over 4 years, which is debatable.
The one player in recent history who did not defer to Joe Johnson is no longer here. Flip, (yes I'm talking about Flip Murray) signed with the Bobcats since the Hawks let him go in favor of Jamal Crawford. He was streaky and on any given night he scared the hell out of me, but he was at least proactive about getting his shot. This team needed that because the rest of the guys are far too content with just standing around watching Joe dribble 17 seconds off the shot clock only to end up with a contested jumper. Not that all of Joe's shots are of that nature, but as I pointed out last season, Joe takes bad shots often enough that its noticeable. There was a time when a Joe Johnson contested fade away jumper was a better option than a wide open jumper by anyone else. That is no longer the case because Joe's teammates are better, he just needs to trust them. Will he sacrifice his stats for the good of the team this season? Not in a contract year.....Joe has never been described as a "selfish player", but I'm willing to bet he will display a lot of "selfish player" tendencies this season. I guess we'll have to wait and see what position that leaves the team in when it's all said and done.

I felt like this was worth revisiting because well, Joe is struggling. According to Hoopinionblog "Johnson has taken 66 shots in the last four games. He's made 23 of those shots overall, and just 5 of 19 three-pointers. That's an eFG% of 38.6. He's also turned the ball over nine times while earning just 10 assists in 157 minutes while getting to the line for a grand total of five free throw attempts."

Look, I have not the time nor the desire to go game by game to point out the shortcomings of one Joe Johnson. Just know that even in some of their impressive wins, he's shooting a lot. In their losses, he's shooting a lot. Is he shooting 30 times per game? No, but he's shooting around 18 times per which isn't that bad, but he's only making like 5 shots. That's where the problem arises. Joe has the ability to shoot the team out of the game and everyone seems just fine with it. It's like they've all decided hey, if Joe isn't playing well, then we don't deserve to win anyway. Okay maybe it's not that extreme, but it seems to me that outside of the Philly game, they are content to let Joe shoot, and shoot and shoot even when he's not making shots. No one has the balls to tell him to stop, or at least take the damn ball out of his hands. Early in the season I thought it was odd that Jamal was sort of playing keep away from Joe, now I totally understand why he didn't pass him the ball. Joe has always tried to do too much, and there was a time where that was cool, that time has passed. There have been several games where Joe didn't have it going, but his teammates did and yet they all seemed to be content having to win the game in spite of his bad shot attempts. It's one thing to have to win games in spite of bad coaching, but it's going to be very hard to win games in spite of poor decision making by your "best player".

Someone on this team has to reign Joe in. We all know its not going to be Mike Woodson. He's the same guy who draws up plays for the struggling Johnson out of timeouts, and he wonders why he wasn't extended in the off-season. It's not going to be Joe, because while he's great at pointing out flaws, he rarely acknowledges where he contributes to the struggles of the team. Shooting and shooting and shooting when you aren't hitting shots won't help your team win games. I haven't heard him mention this in any post game quotes. Maybe we should get the ball in the hands of the guy who's actually making shots. He's not said anything like that either.

My point is that it is not okay for Joe to shoot the Hawks out of games. Someone has to stop him, yet no one seems to know how. The logical answer would be for the coach to bench his ass, but since that's not going to happen, the other 4 starters damn well better figure out a way.

Will he play well again? Of course, but in the meantime he needs to find ways to help the team win without shooting.

For more thorough Hawks analysis visit Peachtreehoops, Hoopinion, Hawstr8talk or Humanhighlightblog

Hawks 2009-2010 Season Preview

So, the season is upon us and I've literally been on a blogging hiatus for over a month. I would offer you some excuses about how I've been busy or blah, blah, blah, but the reality of the situation is I need a damn off-season too! And, I'm slightly lazy. It's cool though because the other Hawks bloggers held it down, especially Drew over at Peachtreehoops. He was up on all of the Hawks news, very impressive.

Peachtreehoops, Hoopinion, Hawkstr8talk and The Human Highlight Blog have all done wonderful season previews. They've covered every aspect of the team from the starters to the bench to the coach. If you follow my blog you know there's just no way in hell I'm going to do any of that.

I honestly don't know what to expect from this team.

Everyone is so sure that Joe Johnson playing for a contract can only mean good things for the Hawks. I don't really see it that way. Quite frankly, I'm worried.
Joe already tries to do way too much. This season Joe will try to do even more. He's got to prove that he's worth more than $60 million over 4 years, which is debatable.
The one player in recent history who did not defer to Joe Johnson is no longer here. Flip, (yes I'm talking about Flip Murray) signed with the Bobcats since the Hawks let him go in favor of Jamal Crawford. He was streaky and on any given night he scared the hell out of me, but he was at least proactive about getting his shot. This team needed that because the rest of the guys are far too content with just standing around watching Joe dribble 17 seconds off the shot clock only to end up with a contested jumper. Not that all of Joe's shots are of that nature, but as I pointed out last season, Joe takes bad shots often enough that its noticeable. There was a time when a Joe Johnson contested fade away jumper was a better option than a wide open jumper by anyone else. That is no longer the case because Joe's teammates are better, he just needs to trust them. Will he sacrifice his stats for the good of the team this season? Not in a contract year.......
Joe has never been described as a "selfish player", but I'm willing to bet he will display a lot of "selfish player" tendencies this season. I guess we'll have to wait and see what position that leaves the team in when it's all said and done.

This is also a make or break season for Mike Woodson. He's gotta prove that he's capable of producing more than one winning season. Is this a championship contending team? I'm leaning towards no, hoping for yes, but leaning towards no. Having acknowledged the fact that playing in June is an -unrealistic- lofty goal, Mike Woodson will not be excused if this team gets swept in the second round again. At least I hope he won't. I admire the Spirit for honoring his contract and etc., but honestly, they already know what kind of coach Woody is. If Rick Sund can acknowledge the ceiling for all of the players, then he should also acknowledge the ceiling for Woody. He's reached it and he is not going to get any better, mainly because he's not going to do anything differently.
Every off-season he makes declarations about getting this player more minutes, or that player more touches and once the season begins he makes no noticeable effort to do any of the things he tells Sekou he's going to do. At some point they just have to accept who he is and make a decision as to whether or not that's good enough for them.
This preview is limited to Joe and Mike because they are the two most important people involved with this team this season. Joe is the Hawks best player and Woody is the man pulling the strings. Their effectiveness is directly related to the team's success.
It's not that Mike, Josh, Al, Za Za, Jamal, Jeff and Marvin aren't important, but they aren't as important as the guy who dominates the ball or the man whose offense allows him to do so.
I normally don't predict a win total and I'm not going to start now.

* Bonus*
I will routinely be having Blog dates with Larry from hawkstr8talk.com this season. He has accused me of being unreliable with my blog, but rest assured I will post about any Blog date games!

Hawks Unimpressed By Opponents Win Streaks

Five Quick thoughts about the Hawks taking down the Jazz:

1. Joe The Basketball Player is back. Joe is the most appreciated slightly unappreciated Hawks player. He scores 31 points and I'm like eh...... One of the most charming things about Joe's game is how effortless he makes it look. It's also one of the things that makes us pay more attention to the other haves and have nots on the team. It's not like we don't notice when Joe is struggling. We need only look at win/loss totals over the past 2 months or so to really appreciate how much this team's success is directly connected to him.

2. Someone may want to tap Mike Bibby on the shoulder and remind him he is playing for a contract. Not necessarily a contract with the Hawks, but a contract nonetheless. He's struggling. Like for real struggling. We all want Acie Law to get more playing time, but not because we are getting next to nothing from Bibby. We'd just like him to be a part of the rotation because most successful teams have a backup point guard as part of the rotation.....

3. Marvin's injury is a blessing in disguise. Don't get it twisted, I never want to see a player injured (unless it's a Celtic) but this injury (like a few others in the past four years) forces Woody to use other players. Most coaches know they need to not only play 6 guys, but sometimes this fact eludes Woody. When I saw Mario West in the game in the first half you could have knocked me over with a feather. I'm not saying he deserves to play 20 minutes, but games when the Hawks have little to no energy he should definitely be an option because he plays hard. How about the dunk last night? So adorable.

4. The Hawks really are about entertaining the fans, that's why they don't blow anybody out. The Jazz are a good team, but the Hawks came out in the second half and played nothing like they did in the first half. I mean what actually goes on in the locker room to make them come out so lethargic? I'm convinced they just want to make sure the fans are interested in the waning minutes of the 4th qtr.

5. The Hawks absolutely must secure that 4th seed. They NEED home court advantage in the first round. It's a must. Dwyane Wade is doing everything in his power to get the Heat there. I actually think it's a good thing that Miami is right behind them. They know they have to play hard. There's no room for error anymore. I'm extremely confident they will get the fourth seed. I'm extremely terrified of the concept of them playing Wade in the first round. We all know the officials love him. ;) If/when he has a 20 free throw game against the Hawks in the playoffs, my head might explode. I'm already in the process of padding the walls in my condo..... That's weeks away though.

It's time for a change.

Look, times are hard for everyone. From CEO's to custodians, everyone is feeling the effects of this weak economy. I certainly don't want to be one of those fans who is always calling for the coach to be fired, but I think it's time for this coach to be fired.

The team has quit on him and he's quit on the team. How can you just give up in the 3rd qtr? Why even bother to show up at all? Every time they put the camera on him he's standing or sitting on the bench with that same disinterested look on his face. You know the look I'm talking about.

Maybe it's not a look of disinterest so much as it's a look of cluelessness. This isn't even about last night's game. This has been an issue for years. The team has checked out on him. There's nothing anyone can say to convince me otherwise.

I really don't understand how or why people don't think he's been given an adequate chance. He is 138-246. 108 games under .500 and he's the guy who gets the benefit of doubt. Are you kidding me?

Rick Sund is adamant that this season is a barometer. I don't know how much more he needs to see. There has to be a change somewhere and since they missed the trade deadline, they need to look at a coaching change. Teams who have had far greater success than the Hawks have let coaches who consistently produced 50 win seasons go without batting an eyelash. It's time for the Spirit to man up and make a change.

Update: It's really unfair for me to say a man deserves to be fired and not give several reasons.

1. His offense is offensive. To appreciate how truly ineffective the offense really is, you need only watch our opponents run their offense. Trust me it will make you jealous.

2. His inability to develop players. We are almost two years in and we still have no idea if Acie Law is a legitimate NBA player. It's very easy to say when a player gets a chance he has to produce, but let's be realistic for one moment. I don't know of any player who can play 3 or 4 minutes in one game then not play the next 3 or 4 games at all and still produce. It doesn't work like that.

3. He's taken about 3 or 4 years off of Joe Johnson's career. Okay that's probably not true. But at this point he has to be able to find minutes for Joe to rest. There was no reason at all for Joe to have been in that game last night in the 4th quarter when the team was down 20 something points. No reason at all!

4. The players do not respond to him. They just don't. If you've watched a game you know this.

5. His substitutions and rotations suck.

6. He clearly doesn't watch the game as it unfolds which is directly related to #5.

7. He's 108 games under .500. I mentioned this earlier, but it needs to be repeated.

6-0 seems so long ago.

The game could not have started any worse. Seriously, had the Hawks decided to not send any players on the court and just let Houston get the game going alone, they couldn't have gotten off to a worse start. They didn't score their first points until the 6:52 mark of the first period. Dreadful. Even still somewhere between spotting Houston a 13 point lead and losing 84-92 the Hawks had an 8 point lead late in the game. What happened you say? Missed shots, no free throws and untimely turnovers. Not that there's ever a good time for a turnover, but you know what I mean.
One thing that stuck out to me was Josh Smith's turnover (bad pass) with 5:36 left to play. Turnovers are bad, they really are, but turnovers should also be quantified because some are worse than others.
For instance, if Josh is dribbling out of control when there's a more capable guy to his left or right and he turns the ball over, that's a bad turnover. Unforgivable.
However, if Josh just got a steal and he sees a teammate ahead and he tries to throw the ball to him but it sails out of bounds that's a turnover I can live with. Why? Because of the intent. I see what he was trying to do and it was a good idea, it just didn't work out.
I guess coach Woodson doesn't quite look at turnovers the same way I do and hey I don't blame him, he's obviously a bottom line kind of guy.
He yanked Josh at that point (while they were clinging to a two point lead and had completely lost the ability to score) and he didn't put him back in until there was only 1:53 left and that two point lead had turned into a 10 point deficit.
Josh is not the best defender in the league.
Josh is not the best defender in the East.
Josh is probably not the best defender in the Southeastern division.
Josh is the best defender on the Atlanta Hawks.
Josh was bad on offense.
Josh was not bad on defense.
Since Woody is a bottom line sorta guy he should have thought to himself since we can't score maybe I'd better try to stop Houston from scoring.
Woody could have genuinely thought Za Za was a better defensive option at that point. We'll never know because no one asked him. Maybe he was trying to teach Josh a lesson. Hey, I'm all for getting your point across, but there's a time and a place for it. That was not the time. Berate him during the time out, question his heart, question his manhood, then put him back on the floor because as bad as you need a bucket, you need a stop.
Yes he was dreadful leading up to the turnover. He missed three or four shots in a row to help Houston get back into the game. Dreadful.
But, for everything he was lacking on offense he was still pretty effective on defense. The bottom line is even though he was having a bad night, he was still the best option at the time.
I have no idea what to make of this team right now. All I know is if they are going to be bad, I want them to be all the way bad. Don't be middle of the lottery bad. Be number one pick bad. I know its waaaaay too early for this talk, but I'm seeing some of the same things this season that I've seen in the previous four seasons. That's not good.

For a thorough analysis of the game go see Brett.

Beat the Nets

I fully expect the Hawks to win these back to back games against the Nets. I can't wait to watch Woodson's rotations tonight. They've become must see tv. It's always interesting to see how he's going to keep both teams in the game on any given night.
If Randolph Morris gets to play meaningful minutes my head might explode. If I'm not back here to update this blog (at the very latest Monday morning), that's why.