Poor Coaching and Poor Shot Selection

I'm sick of this Hawks team.
There are so many things wrong with them that if I tried to name them all, I'd be here bitching all night long. I don't want to do that, and no one wants to read that anyway. There are a couple of things that bother me more than others.
Let's start with Coach Drew. I was never in favor of this hire. I'm sure you'll find my objections somewhere here on the blog. I would go find them, but I've had like 3 glasses of wine and dammit, I just don't feel like it. Anyway,  I didn't think it was a good idea to hire one of Mike Woodson's minions, because I assumed he learned a lot from his former boss. He did, and a lot of the things that plagued the Hawks in the Woodson era are still there. Drew has done nothing to change my mind about the fact that they could have found someone better.  He annoys the hell out me. He never defends his players. Ever. He doesn't even roll his eyes at the refs. He just stands there chewing gum, looking clueless. If it annoys fans, it's got to piss the players off beyond belief. He seems to coach his game plan as opposed to coaching the actual game far too often. All coaches have rotations that they'd like to stick with, but the game ultimately dictates whether or not those plans have to be scrapped.  Drew doesn't give a damn about the flow of the game. If he planned on taking Player X out at a certain point in the game, then that player is damn  well coming out, no matter what. The only thing that derails his plans is foul trouble. He, like Woody, loves to foul his players out of games in the first half. Two fouls is NOT the end of the world, but I digress. Also, there's very little evidence that he holds any player not named Jeff Teague and sometimes Za Za Pachullia accountable for poor play. He'll scold them and sit them with quickness, but he won't do that to the All Star and All Star snub. I bet if he attached playing time to poor shot selection, then some of those ill advised jumpers wouldn't happen.
Speaking of ill advised jumpers, there's plenty of blame to go around for why they keep happening. Of course it starts with the player, but it's clear that said player views himself differently than the rest of us. That means, others are going to have to be more vigilant about stopping him. Since we've already established the coach isn't going to do it, that brings us to the other players on the court, specifically the guards. They have to stop giving him the ball when he's out of position. How will they know when he's out of position? If he's more than like 8 feet away from the basket, then his ass is out of position and should not be given the ball. No exceptions. If Teague wants to truly cement his role as the leader of this team, then he's got to put his foot down and make better decisions. Joe and Kirk have to be just as vigilant. It makes no sense to keep allowing such high risk, low reward shots to keep happening. It affects the bottom line. Anyway, this vent is getting long. I'm done for now.







For more thorough Hawks analysis visit Peachtreehoops and Hoopinion

Maybe Next Year, but Probably Not.

The All Star reserves have been announced, and Josh Smith is again not among them.  At this point, I'm not sure Josh will ever make an All Star game. That's not even hyperbole. He's been the the straw that stirs the drink on this Al Horfordless Hawks team, and even that wasn't enough. Truth be told, he was that straw even when Al was available, but I digress.  There will always be snubs and it looks like Josh will always be among them. He still has a chance to make it if someone gets injured, but we'd all hate for that to happen.
It really sucks that guys like Josh Smith, Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings haven't had the opportunity to play in a defenseless game. Maybe the coaches should eliminate the two or three lifetime achievement players who make the rosters every year. Will the fans be worse off watching Monta Ellis as opposed to Steve Nash? Lord knows Josh Smith brings more entertainment than old ass Paul Pierce. Not to mention, you know the coaches are going to let the older players rest, so why even bother to put them on the team? Anyway, I'm not going to go on and on about this. I'm sure the snubs will enjoy the days off, especially in this shortened season.




For more thorough Hawks analysis visit Peachtreehoops, Hoopinion,

Thankless Job

Do you know the worst thing about watching a team and its fan base celebrate winning a championship? Being a Hawks fan and feeling like you're never, ever, ever, ever going to have that opportunity. Why can't the Hawks ever play out of their minds when it matters most? Why do they gladly play the role that everyone expects them to play? The Atlanta Spirit are not creative enough, nor are they committed enough to genuinely make a run at a championship. They just aren't. Year after year we fans hope for a miracle, but deep down we know it's not going to happen. Joe Johnson isn't going to suddenly turn into Kobe Bryant. Al Horford isn't going to magically transform into Tim Duncan. And Larry Drew probably isn't going to turn into Larry Brown. So what are we poor, suffering Hawks fans to do? Well, we're going to continue the thankless job of rooting for this bunch of loveable losers.
We all know there will be no parade on Peachtree Street, because this organization doesn't have what it takes to bring us one. We've made peace with it, I guess. 



For more thorough Hawks analysis visit Peachtreehoops, and Hoopinion,

Just One Quick Thought

So  Jeff Teague isn't having a great game and Larry Drew thinks Janero Pargo is the answer. Please let the record reflect that I vehemently disagree with that assessment. Always. 


For more thorough Hawks analysis visit Peachtreehoops, Hoopinion,

Atlanta Hawks: 2011-2012 Season Preview

I'm going to keep this short and sweet. The Hawks will make the playoffs. That's a pretty bold statement if you believe some of the better known national writers. They seem to think there are at least 8 teams in the East who are better than the Hawks.
Unless some things go horribly wrong, and I'm talking 3 of the 5 starters missing most of the season, random players legs falling off, or signing Jerry Stackhouse and expecting him to contribute, they'll make it.
They'd have to try HARD to miss the playoffs. I think it'd be harder for them to miss the playoffs than it'll be for them to make the playoffs. I'm kidding. Maybe. Either way, I've looked at the East and I just don't see the Hawks being on the outside looking in.
They have an issue or two, obviously. They don't have a lot of depth on the bench, but I defy you to name a season in recent memory where they've actually had any.  Sure, they'll miss Jamal's 18 ppg, but when you consider he gave up just as many points if not more, it might balance out. (I have no idea how many points Jamal's opponents actually averaged, I just know he's as bad a defender as he is a good scorer).

Sidebar: I'm going to miss Jamal. I've always enjoyed watching him play, and he's genuinely the nicest athlete I've ever met.

Anyway, I don't know specifically where the Hawks will finish this season, and I dare not guess. I just know they'll make the playoffs. This season is going to be hard on everyone, so I hope all of the players can stay healthy. Well, everyone except the guys who play for the Celtics, Knicks, and Heat. I'd be okay if they missed the latter half of the season due to paper cuts or something like that.
Go Hawks!


For more thorough Hawks analysis visit Peachtreehoops, or Hoopinion

Series Preview: Hawks/Bulls

Hmmmmmm......

Am I just going to pick against the Hawks in the hopes that they'll prove me wrong again? Maybe.

I've been seeing a lot of "Bulls sweep" predictions. I'm not sure what this is based on. Everyone seems to be willing to discount the Bulls struggles with Indiana, yet they're not willing to acknowledge that the Hawks played relatively well against the team that beat them by something like 7,958 combined points last year. That's cool. All signs point to a Bulls victory, but there aren't very many signs that point to a Bulls cake walk. Outside of one and a half positions, the Bulls do not have superior talent to the Hawks. The half is Carlos Boozer. He's not more talented than Josh Smith, however he does harness his talents better, so there's that. Otherwise, the teams are pretty evenly matched. The best chance the Hawks have to win this series is to speed up the tempo. The Bulls are too good defensively and the Hawks are too inconsistent offensively to play a half court game with them. The Hawks have wasted several years of being one of the most athletic teams in the league, but not fully using it to their advantage due to being coached by two men who want to run an offense that they don't have the personnel to justly execute. It's asking a lot, but they need to let Teague push the ball. Otherwise, they'll be playing right into the Bulls hands.

Anyway, the Bulls are a good team, but people are acting like they're comprised of a "been there, done that group" This group hasn't been deep into the playoffs together. They're young and they're vulnerable. Just because no one is willing to acknowledge it, doesn't mean it's not true.

Having said all that, the Bulls will probably win this series. But, I'm going to let the rose colored glasses wearing fan in me have this preview.

Hawks in 6.

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

Hawks/Magic Preview

I haven't had much to say about this Atlanta Hawks team on this (my) particular blog. I'm sorry, but I was uninspired. The team was stale and quite frankly they didn't give effort on a consistent enough basis to deserve me giving effort on a consistent basis. Our relationship is at an impasse right now.

Do I think the Hawks can win this series? Yup. The fan in me that wears the rose colored glasses absolutely thinks they can win this series. They played the Magic four times in the regular season and they won three of those games. That's enough evidence to suggest that they have the upper hand, right? Then, when you take into account that the Magic aren't as good this season as they were last season, you've gotta like the Hawks chances.
But, if you've watched this Hawks team play more than those four games this season then you know they are not to be trusted.
It should also be noted that they went 2-1 against the Milwaukee Bucks prior to being pushed to 7 games by them. (without their best player) They also won the season series against Miami 3-1 prior to being pushed to 7 games by them in arguably the worst 7 game series ever.

While Atlanta did win both of those series, they also had home court advantage which they do not have in this series versus the Magic. They have had a hard time winning series they were favored to win, so there's absolutely no reason to believe they can win a series as an underdog. Time after time this season they got punched in the mouth and didn't do a damn thing about it. There's no evidence to suggest their mentality will magically change, and you know Orlando is going to come out swinging. I've tried to come up with some legitimate reasons as to why I think they'll win this series, but I really can't. If we're just getting down to the x's and o's, it still doesn't bode well for them. There's one truth about this team that is backed up with statistics, (no, I'm not going to present any) and just regular old perception; they're a one trick pony. The Hawks are a jump shooting team, even down to the starting Center. Basically if their jump shots are falling, they have a great chance to win, if they aren't, they don't. As Charles Barkley likes to say, "you don't live by jumpers, you die by jumpers." I fear the Hawks are going to die a slow, painful death. They have an opportunity to prove me wrong, and there's a big part of me that wants them to do so. I could get into the many other reasons I don't think this team can beat Orlando when it matters, but that would make this post extremely long.
Sidebar: If you have a moment, please go back to some of last year's Hawks blogs and read all the things we wrote about Jason Collins during the second round series against the Magic, then read a few of this year's Hawks/Magic series previews. You'll laugh at the irony. I promise.

Now, the fan in me that doesn't wear the rose colored glasses knows it would be absolutely devastating to this organization if this team wins this series. They have been selling this continuity bullshit to us for the past 3 or 4 seasons and I'm over it. What is so appealing about continuing down this path of mediocrity? This group as currently constructed is as good as they'll ever be. The only player who has a chance in hell of still improving is Jeff Teague and that's because he has youth on his side. Unfortunately for him he's had two coaches who won't consistently play him, but whatever. The rest of these guys, while not ancient, are veteran players. They are who they are.
Getting their asses whipped in historical fashion last season by the Magic wasn't enough to convince the organization to overhaul the whole roster. I have to believe that if it happens again they won't be able to deny that significant changes need to occur. Everyone else in the East is making moves, but the Hawks are standing still. Everyone said they had to re-sign Joe or they'd take a step back. Well, they did re-sign Joe and they still took a step back. Now what?
I really hate to wish for another historic ass whipping, but I feel like that's what it's going to take to move this team forward.
When the ball goes up, I'm sure the rose colored glasses wearing fan in me will be front and center. I'll be rooting hard for the Hawks, but deep down, I don't think they'll win.

Magic in 6

Go Hawks!


For more thorough Hawks analysis visit Peachtreehoops, Hoopinion or Hawstr8talk