Game 44: Atlanta VS Philadelphia

Sloth711 · Post #81 » by **Sloth711** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 4:33 am

what was up up w/ Acie tonight? weird for him to play so few minutes after a great game on Saturday.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #82 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 4:53 am

betta1 wrote:Detroit would be a very tough matchup in a series, but we played them much closer that first game (which should've been ours) than we did vs. Boston. Either one would be against great odds.

Orlando would be ideal.

I don't think the Hawks would have a chance against Boston or Detroit in a 7 game series. I'm saying that alot more people are going to watch Boston in their 1st round series and more people would pay attention to our team which would just be more fun IMO. Another interesting thing about Boston is that none of their big 3 have been to the playoffs in a while. You would have to think that we'd steal a game(2 if we're really lucky)at home. Detroit has basically been the same team for the last 5 years and they are on national TV every other week.

evildallas · Post #83 » by **evildallas** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:18 am

No posts from me during the game. I wound up working late and watching it on the recorder. Props for the 2nd time in a row to Woodson. Tonight he played the hot hands rather than just substitute by the stop watch. Also, good decision to go to the zone although I think it was posted by HG25 first. Maybe an assistant is taking advantage of the wifi at Philips to check the game thread

Sweet game by Josh Smith. If Andre Miller was auditioning for a trade offer then Josh Smith was auditioning for a max free agent offer.

Hawks · Post #84 » by **Hawks** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:24 am

A good comeback win for the Hawks. They should have never been in that position. Anways hopefully they can steal several of the games coming up. Hawks really need to have a strong month as they did in Dec. Try to put some distance between them and rest of the teams battling for the last two playoff spots.

Post #85 » by **HMFFL** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:25 am

evildallas wrote:No posts from me during the game. I wound up working late and watching it on the recorder. Props for the 2nd time in a row to Woodson. Tonight he played the hot hands rather than just substitute by the stop watch. Also, good decision to go to the zone although I think it was posted by HG25 first. Maybe an assistant is taking advantage of the wifi at Philips to check the game thread

Sweet game by Josh Smith. If Andre Miller was auditioning for a trade offer then Josh Smith was auditioning for a max free agent offer.

I was thinking the same while watching Andre show our guards how it's done. It crossed my mind that I would love for him to miss the Portland bus back to the Airport so he could be a new addition to our Hawks.

The max contract is inching closer for Josh. Now, the thing Josh needs to keep in mind is how much is too much money!?! We need this team to stay together and we need to have the money to spend on making this team deeper.

High 5 · Post #86 » by **High 5** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:33 am

HMFFL wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I realize we won't catch them, but why root for them? If it's the playoffs I most likely root for them to make it to the championship due to Dwight Howard, but not during the regular season, but I guess I like them to win the Southeast over Washington.

We aren't going to catch them, so they might as well beat everyone in the East but us to give us separation and give us to chance to move up. Same for Detroit and Boston.

Post #87 » by **HMFFL** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:36 am

Hawks mount massive rally, down Sixers

Smith's 9 blocks 'changed the whole game'

"He changed the whole game," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said of Smith, who also finished 19 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals despite sitting nearly five minutes of the fourth quarter. "It's a shame that we put that kind of pressure on him. We just have to lock in and take the individual challenge to guard the ball. That's what we weren't doing, and he was covering up a lot of our mistakes, which was great tonight."

The nine blocks isn't even a career-high for Smith, who had 10 against Dallas his rookie season. But there was no doubt what turned the game around for the Hawks, who improved to 20-24.

"When a guy has nine blocks it changes the game dramatically," 76ers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "Even when he doesn't block a shot, he has guys thinking about it when they shoot, and that can mess up your offensive rhythm. He only blocked nine shots but he altered many more."

Smith's ability to protect the rim allowed the Hawks to play a zone defense. That forced the 76ers out of the running game they used in the first quarter. And without the threat of a superior 3-point shooter, they had no choice but to settle for whatever they could get away from the rim.

"When they dropped back into the zone it gave us problems, and that's when the game changed," said 76ers point guard Andre Miller, who finished with a game-high 29 points, six rebounds and six assists. "Josh really altered the game with his blocked shots. That's what he does, and he did it tonight. He's kind of like a wing and a center wrapped into one. He takes up a lot of space."

Link

will · Post #88 » by **will** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:46 am

A beastly game from JSmoove.

I'm actually sad that I missed the game. Seriously :banghead:

evildallas · Post #89 » by **evildallas** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 5:46 am

Just caught the end of Sportscenter and the Josh to Josh pass was the #1 play of the day. Good to see the guys get some love.

Not expecting a hometown discount from Josh. They had a chance to do that last summer by showing they had faith in him to continue to develop into a star. Instead they did what they've done all along and doubted him. Heard them on the post game the other night talking about how he turned down 5yr/45M and that's a lot of money. Well, that's a starting salary of only 7.5M compared to 13M being max starting salary. I think if they had come with a 10M starting salary (approx. 5yr/60M) after Kevin Martin's deal 5yr/$55M had gone public it would have got the contract done. The Al Jefferson deal didn't get announced until the deadline, well after the Hawks and Josh Smith suspended talks. They rolled the dice and Philadelphia can put the squeeze on the Hawks if they choose.

Of course had Josh had a bad season or injury people would say that it was a horrible deal, so the front office can't win (I wouldn't be saying but I'm a Josh Smith mark).

atlsun · Post #90 » by **atlsun** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 6:10 am

J-smoove was the heat and soul of the come back. Good win. Bring on la.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #91 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 9:50 am

Something about the Hawks offer of 5 years 45 million scared me. That's a horrible final offer and Smith's agent said they made the offer in July and didn't even bother negotioating for the next 3-4 months. I just find it odd that the Hawks final offer was $12-$15 million lower than what Deng,Iguodala,Jefferson,and Okafor were offered.

AU hawksfan · Post #92 » by **AU hawksfan** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 1:12 pm

Also a lot of credit to JJ. He stepped up and played quite well in the second half.

Am I believing my eyes JoshB? A compliment for Joe? Well if you're saying he did well (I missed the game) the second half, hopefully he continues that play into the next game.

I just think Joe needs to sit for a game or two, it would probably help us and him in the long run.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #93 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 1:58 pm

I don't think we can afford to sit Joe right now. Every home game is very important and we need as many wins as possible going into the AS break. I'd like to see Joe just take a few games off on our next West Coast road trip in games that we can afford to lose(Utah,San Antonio,GSW,LA). The chances of us winning those games aren't high any way so we might as well let him get some rest. Joe is clearly hurt(he actually came back and played the last 4-5 minutes last night after aggravating the injury) and he's playing 40 minutes a game.

conleyorbust · Post #94 » by **conleyorbust** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 3:13 pm

HoopsGuru25 wrote:I don't think we can afford to sit Joe right now. Every home game is very important and we need as many wins as possible going into the AS break. I'd like to see Joe just take a few games off on our next West Coast road trip in games that we can afford to lose(Utah,San Antonio,GSW,LA). The chances of us winning those games aren't high any way so we might as well let him get some rest. Joe is clearly hurt(he actually came back and played the last 4-5 minutes last night after aggravating the injury) and he's playing 40 minutes a game.

Whew, what a game. Its easy to forget how bad we played in the first Q because the rest of the game was so exciting. I thought Woody was gonna be replaced at half time but then we made that run. I'd hate to see Smith in any other jersey, the kid makes this team go. When we play flat, he's basically the only guy that has any fire in him... Gasol wouldn't have brought that.

Dre' Miller would be good here.

Post #95 » by **HMFFL** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 3:36 pm

will wrote:A beastly game from JSmoove.

I'm actually sad that I missed the game. Seriously

Well, you missed a Philly team full of smiles and cockiness during the first, and we managed to have the last laugh.

gsuteke · Post #96 » by **gsuteke** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 7:38 pm

This was a good game and a simplified thread.

The LAL will be much bigger and hopefully we'll get alot of participation!

JoshB914 · Post #97 » by **JoshB914** » Tue Feb 5, 2008 8:17 pm

AU hawksfan wrote:
Also a lot of credit to JJ. He stepped up and played quite well in the second half.

Am I believing my eyes JoshB? A compliment for Joe? Well if you're saying he did well (I missed the game) the second half, hopefully he continues that play into the next game.

I just think Joe needs to sit for a game or two, it would probably help us and him in the long run.

Hey I am more than happy to step up and give the guy credit. I have no vendetta against him and I want him to do well in the worst way. He means so much to this team and I think we are all frustrated with the way he has been playing. You could tell he was hurting BAD last night and he hit some big shots for us. I agree he needs to sit out a game or two (we are probably going to lose to LAL anyway), he is playing in a ton of pain and just doesn't look like the old JJ.

As for Smoove, I don't care what Philly offers, we should match ANYTHING he is offered.