Game 3: Cleveland @ Atlanta

[HoopsGuru25]

What did Al Horford, do, HoopsGuru25?

You are seriously going to cry about that call when the game is over? There was contact on the play...either by Horford or Flip. That is completely irrelevant though.

The point was that this game wasn't even close to being decided by the officiating. Complaining about that when Cleveland is getting quality looks every time and while Smith is shooting one jumper after another on our possessions is just a dumb way to look at the game. The difference between offensive execution combined with our bad rebounding killed us. There was no way in hell we deserved to win.

[HoopsGuru25]

And Zaza had no right to complain about that call either because it was correct. That play along with basically handing the ball to Varejao for the layup the previous defensive possession took our momentum/crowd out the game.

It was just a crappy game all around for the Hawks outside of a couple of runs which we quickly negated shortly afterwards with dumb plays.

[ATL DirtyBird]

U think Josh will ever learn how to play basketball? The jumpshots are starting to become absurd.

[parson]

HoopsGuru25,
"There was contact on the play" but you can't tell who did it? Hint: LBJ was moving out of bounds and Horford was holding good position.

And the "point was that this game wasn't even close to being decided by officiating"? When we lose by 15 and CLE shoots 18 more FTs AND is allowed to play much rougher defense than we? You let us play defense the same way CLE did and we'd make them look even more stupid than they did us.

Bah. This wasn't a game; it was choreography.

[HoopsGuru25]

parson the bottom line is that the Hawks didn't play well. Now I was the 1st person to say the Hawks got screwed in that game vs Cleveland in March but we played like **** this game. Cleveland was getting the shot they wanted almost every time down. There were 3-4 for plays in a row where Lebron was one on one with Bibby and they scored every time. The difference on the Hawks end is that(regardless of what the numbers say)is that the Hawks halfcourt offense blows. This is the 5th time in 10 games we've been held to 85 or less points...that's embarrassing.

Last year vs Boston the Hawks DOMINATED at the free throw line yet I didn't here anything about the refs allowing us to play more physical than Boston.

[tontoz]

The Hawks were outrebounded by 26. Horford and Smith combined for 9 rebounds while lebron had 12. That is just too much to overcome.

[parson]

Listen, HoopsGuru25, my favorite basketball team just got nailed on national TV. I'm mad and frustrated.

I'm sorry I called you out by name.

[evildallas]

Officiating didn't decide the game. We got beat down again. Lebron can be unstoppable when he wants to and he wanted to be tonight. Guys gave a really good effort. It wasn't until late that guys seemed to lose hope. Joe even tried to take over the game in the fourth, but he isn't Lebron. Failure to control the glass was pretty much the big downfall in my eyes.

On the Zaza ejection . . . he was trying to complain that he got pushed by Anderson Varajeo from the side prior to the contact with Joe Smith and the refs ignored it. While this was true, he was in the circle and was getting called for a block. He overreacted and deserved a technical, but I think it was really poor officiating to T him up twice and eject him. It happened too quick. He didn't get an opportunity to make his point nor did anyone get an opportunity to calm him down. I feel Zaza's tough guy image and emotional reputation contributed to this quick trigger by the ref. Bottom line is that Zaza picked the wrong time to complain and it hurt the team.

I learned one thing tonight. There are some Cleveland fans (like the ones who sat behind me) who don't feel they get enough calls going their way and wanted offensive fouls called on almost every drive that Lebron defended. That's right they weren't happy with no calls, they actually wanted an offensive foul any time there was contact. That's mind-blowing to me. If I was a Cleveland fan, I'd be happy that my team is able to play aggressive hacking defense with so few fouls whistled. I wouldn't be so delusional to think that all contact involving Lebron James must be the fault of the other player every time. Also, I'm not talking about the perimeter play where Joe tried to clear space and Lebron flopped with nothing called either way. I'm talking about all game long. I will say they were polite while being greedy unlike the Boston fans I argued with last year over Kevin Garnett's antics.

[fo_o_fo_404]

LeBron has SEVEN fouls in SEVEN games.

Only SEVEN fouls the ENTIRE Playoffs!

AMAZING!

[fo_o_fo_404]

We have 24 fouls compared to Cleveland's 14.

Lebron shoots five more free throws (16), than our entire team combined (11)

AMAZING!

[evildallas]

It's even worse when you consider that one of those fouls was when he intentionally fouled Flip under 2 minutes left so he could be taken out of the game.

[L&H_05]

I learned one thing tonight. There are some Cleveland fans (like the ones who sat behind me) who don't feel they get enough calls going their way and wanted offensive fouls called on almost every drive that Lebron defended. That's right they weren't happy with no calls, they actually wanted an offensive foul any time there was contact. That's mind-blowing to me. If I was a Cleveland fan, I'd be happy that my team is able to play aggressive hacking defense with so few fouls whistled. I wouldn't be so delusional to think that all contact involving Lebron James must be the fault of the other player every time. Also, I'm not talking about the perimeter play where Joe tried to clear space and Lebron flopped with nothing called either way. I'm talking about all game long. I will say they were polite while being greedy unlike the Boston fans I argued with last year over Kevin Garnett's antics.

The Cavs are viewed as a good defensive team... Not saying it's right, but teams with defensive reputations get the benefit of the doubt.. The 04 Pistons were the same way, the Spurs are the same way, the Celtics are the same...

The Cavs are a good defensive team though.. They challenge shots, they double when they're supposed to, they rotate well, move their feet well etc.. They are fragile when there's dribble penetration (the Hawks don't do much of this) and they are vulnerable in the transition game due to slow bigs..

I know most of you guys are pissed at LeBron and his lack of fouls, but who is really taking it to him to draw fouls ?? The Hawks have one slasher, who is being doubled on most plays within the halfcourt, and when he is shooting, he's forcing a lot of tough shots in the paint.. The Cavs are giving Smith a lot of real estate to work with, but his bball IQ appears to be pretty poor, and he's taking jumpers..

There might be a couple here or there, but for the most part, I don't see the Hawks attacking... I don't see the Hawks using screens properly, hell even setting screens properly, I see no ball movement from side to side, the lack of extending the extra pass, and I see a lack of player movement all within the halfcourt.. It's nothing but a ton of Smith 18 footers or forced jumpers from the perimeter players mixed in with some transition plays when available..

[JoshB914]

We played hard tonight but I don't think we truly believed we could win. I guess that's what happens in the fourth quarter when you play with no confidence against a team like that. But to be honest, I didn't really believe we could win either.

I was proud of Joe. He did everything he could tonight and tried to will us to victory while not 100%. Unfortunately we just couldn't get anyone else going.

One of the hugest parts of this series has been the way we have failed to close out quarters. We let a close game spiral out of control in the third quarter of game 1, and then we blew a lead before halftime and at the end of the third quarter tonight.

Even if the Cavs sweep us, I'm satisfied with this season. We've made some real progress and with some tweaking over the summer hopefully we can become a more consistent team that can make some real noise in the EC.

[stycool24]

How can you expect to get fouls/foul shots, if you keep shooting jumpers and not dribble penetrating and taking it to the hoop? Cavs had more foul shots because of LeBron, he kept taking the ball to the basket ALL night long, he wasn't just shooting long jumpers.

[evildallas]

I know most of you guys are pissed at LeBron and his lack of fouls, but who is really taking it to him to draw fouls ?? The Hawks have one slasher, who is being doubled on most plays within the halfcourt, and when he is shooting, he's forcing a lot of tough shots in the paint.. The Cavs are giving Smith a lot of real estate to work with, but his bball IQ appears to be pretty poor, and he's taking jumpers..

There might be a couple here or there, but for the most part, I don't see the Hawks attacking... I don't see the Hawks using screens properly, hell even setting screens properly, I see no ball movement from side to side, the lack of extending the extra pass, and I see a lack of player movement all within the halfcourt.. It's nothing but a ton of Smith 18 footers or forced jumpers from the perimeter players mixed in with some transition plays when available..

You misunderstand, I'm not saying that Lebron should be fouled out. You are right that we aren't penetrating enough or forcing him into defensive fouling situation to rack up a lot of fouls. I'm saying he is getting essentially a free pass from the referees to reach in and swipe at ball handlers whether it be on drives or just in the open floor. Let me give you one example of just what I am seeing. There was a play in the first half where Lebron missed a long jumper from the corner. A Hawk got the rebound (one of the few times), Lebron ran from where he launched the shot and took an exaggerated swipe at the ball in the hands of the rebounder. The ball wasn't dislodged but an outlet pass couldn't be made and there was no whistle. You see that sort of play 100s of times during the year and it almost always results in a foul and the announcer or color guy saying what a dumb play it was because the player compounded a bad shot with a silly foul. Not Lebron though. He doesn't get whistled for a foul which enables him to be aggressive more often disrupting the opponent and even sometimes producing turnovers. It's plays like that which gall me the most, not the lack of touch fouls or the charge/block judgment calls. Lebron can be extremely aggressive because he is rarely penalized even when he goes overboard or does something stupid. I'm not looking for the refs to give us an advantage by saddling Lebron with unfair fouls. I just want them to call some of the fouls that no one else seems to get away with. That has nothing to do with how often we drive the ball.

Let me give you another incident. This is the one that prompted my complaint about the Cavs fans who wanted more calls. In the 4th quarter Joe Johnson drove the ball down the left side of the lane. Lebron was on defense to his right side and they bumped as Joe went up and put up an unsuccessful runner. The Cavs fans wanted an offensive foul on Joe Johnson for pushing off. I know because that is exactly what they said loudly. Let me point out that this wasn't a play of the offensive guy shielding off a defender with his off arm. Joe Johnson shot the ball with his right hand (the hand closest to the defender) after the contact veered him away from the basket. Most stars get a foul call on the defender when they have a miss on a drive like that and shoot 2 free throws, but it was a no call. I feel that a no call was correct because the defender didn't reach in and the offense player didn't clear space with his off arm. I think too often the refs reward the offense player for creating contact and not allowing the defender to maintain his position. Not all contact should result in a foul. If it did the game would be unwatchable. My point is the Cavs fans weren't happy enough with the fact that Lebron made a good defensive play by not reaching in during contact on a drive. They wanted more. They wanted an offensive foul even though there wasn't an extended arm by the driver. They weren't satisfied with a no call and a successful defensive stand. That's what sat wrong with me.

[HMFFL]

I wish I could hear Deltonte say this. He's entertaining and always like to catch his interviews.

Delonte West has done quite a bit of amateur boxing in his life, so when he hit the court after getting poked in the eye by the Hawks' Zaza Pachulia in Game 2 he thought for a moment he was on canvas.

"It felt like his finger pushed my eyeball in the back of my head so I had to take the standing eight count," West said of the injury. "First thing I thought about was whether my eye was still there. It is, so there's no excuses."

"You will not catch me with goggles on, I promise," West said. "You're not going to have me on the James Worthy trip."

Mr Focus and his new friend.

James party plans: James was scheduled to appear at a party in Atlanta's Midtown district following Saturday's game, which the Atlanta Journal-Constitution used to question James' focus.

"I've got game plans, I'm focused on Game 3 and I'll worry about that after the game," James said.

James routinely appears at late-night parties on the road during the season in cities such as Atlanta, Miami, New York, Washington, Miami, Toronto and Los Angeles. He appeared at a restaurant in Buckhead in Atlanta in February. Usually a promoter will rent out a club, in this case a place called Trois, and then pay James a fee for showing up while selling tickets to get in. Sometimes it is after a game, sometimes it is on an off night.

New friend: James gave a signed pair of shoes to Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher after Game 2 in Cleveland. Perhaps it was because James jumped over Urlacher in his courtside seats chasing a loose ball and Urlacher didn't let his instincts take over.

"He didn't even move," James said. "Thank God he didn't tackle me or think I was a running back jumping over the pile." Link

[Diop]

After watching the Zaza tantrum it made me question the rules on the "no charge" circle.

Zaza was in good position when he was bowled over but because his feet were in that circled area it was ruled a block. The issue I have is that later on there were plays where Johnson and Flip Murray were driving in and were met by either Big Z or Wallace. They were clearly in the circled area as well and stood straight up holding their position. There was some contact, not like the Zaza foul as nobody fell over, but it was enough to put the Atlanta player off his shot so they would miss. This was just ruled good defense and no call was made.

I agree with the no call but the question is why was Zaza's a foul?

He defended pretty much the same way but fell over going for the charge. Its fair enough saying its not a charge because he was under the basket, but why not leave it as a no call, like the other cases instead of calling a block?

Doesn't seem consistent to me, they only call it if someone falls over dramatically or if a Superstar is the player driving.