Atlanta at New York

[evildallas]

I know it is early, but the Hawks are shooting 82% from the line as a team. A far cry from last year's 73.7%. Kudos to the guys and to Mark Price. Let's keeping maximizing the free opportunities.

[ATL DirtyBird]

Ya the guys on the Knicks broadcast were doggin us about how we are a strict iso team and are selfishly oriented. It was nice to hear that us fans arent the only ones who notice. That needs to chance, I know it wont but id make a huge difference if our offense didnt consist of 17 second isos and forced shots all day

[HMFFL]

Is anyone getting NBA-TV free with comcast cable? I ask because I read last year it was going to be free this year.

[truth serum]

The SportsSouth broadcast quality has been annoying me all season. It's faux HD and an embarrassment, but I have no alternatives as I live in the ATL.

Rough game to watch (1st half), but can't hate a victory. A few small points:
In the pregame interview Joe stumbled through an explanation when asked if his comments were just about his teammates or all the Hawks including himself. I honestly think he doesn't recognize his own selfishness, but is ultra sensitive to it in others.
Very efficient night from Bibby.
Strong outings from Al and Josh.
Not surprised by the low minutes for Zaza, SOP for a team with no real bigs.

Toney Douglas looked good in spite of forcing some shots in the 2nd. I can't believe Chris Rock dissed him the other day when they played the Cavs.
Is Milicic hurt? If not, why isn't he getting a few minutes? That is an unbelievable small lineup.
Worst game I've ever seen out of Duhon. He used to kill us when he was in Chicago, but tonight ick. He was so bad for the Knicks that he should have gotten consideration for Hawks player of the game.

Dude...he's been like this all season. It's the worst. Between him and Al Harrington, we don't stand a chance to win 25 games unless these guys get shipped out of here. I would trade either of them for a bag of sand. I have no Idea why D'Antoni refuses to cut either of their minutes.

[truth serum]

By the way...I don't know how you guys feel about Crawford, but between this game and games I've seen on NBA TV so far...looks like he's doing a nice job for you guys. I'm extremely happy for him. He's such a cool guy, nice guy and a good player. Just needed to be on a good team to show his worth. I think the role you guys have him in is perfect too. It's what we always wanted for Jamal on our team but could never provide that type of situation. He used to catch a lot of flack on our board, but there were plenty of us who knew how good he could be and that it was unfair to expect him to lead such a team of hooligans to any sort of success. He's not a number 1 guy, but in the type of role he's playing in ATL, he's extremely valuable. I wish you guys success. I like your team.

[tontoz]

By the way...I don't know how you guys feel about Crawford, but between this game and games I've seen on NBA TV so far...looks like he's doing a nice job for you guys. I'm extremely happy for him. He's such a cool guy, nice guy and a good player. Just needed to be on a good team to show his worth. I think the role you guys have him in is perfect too. It's what we always wanted for Jamal on our team but could never provide that type of situation. He used to catch a lot of flack on our board, but there were plenty of us who knew how good he could be and that it was unfair to expect him to lead such a team of hooligans to any sort of success. He's not a number 1 guy, but in the type of role he's playing in ATL, he's extremely valuable. I wish you guys success. I like your team.

Crawford has been big so far. That wasn't even one of his better games. He has saved the Hawks ass several times already, shooting us back into the game after dreadful starts.

He also comes across very well in interviews.

[killbuckner]

Ya the guys on the Knicks broadcast were doggin us about how we are a strict iso team and are selfishly oriented. It was nice to hear that us fans arent the only ones who notice. That needs to chance, I know it wont but id make a huge difference if our offense didnt consist of 17 second isos and forced shots all day

Are you serious!? The Hawks have the 4th best offense in the league this year and you are still bitching about Woodson on offense?! What the hell does he have to do to get some credit for the hawks playing well?

I've never understood the complaints about hte isos. The handchecking rules make it virtually illegal to guard someone 1 on 1. When you have a matchup you can exploit I think you should do it over and over.

[conleyorbust]

Crawford has been big so far. That wasn't even one of his better games. He has saved the Hawks ass several times already, shooting us back into the game after dreadful starts.

He also comes across very well in interviews.

I know some guys who met Craw when he was up at Steve Nash's charity thing in BC, said he was one of the nicest and smartest guys they'd met in NBA.

Joe is playing selfishly to prove that he was right when he said we were playing selfishly... Seriously, Woody needs to rip into him. He's done it with other players when they needed to get their head right. Joe is no longer the entire offense, Woody does not need to walk on egg shells around him any more.

Al's game was pretty much a clinic of who he should be and who he can't be in this league. When he tried to be Tim Duncan (against inferior defenders mind you) and dominate in the low post, nada. When he tried to be a glue guy who scored opportunistically, ran the break, and made plays with his athleticism, he was a key player. I'd love to see Al play like that because when he plays opportunistically like that, he fills in so many little holes.

Josh is getting his Chris Webber on this season but not in the terrible shot selection way you'd think if I'd said that in years past. He's always been a pretty willing passer with decent court vision, but it seems like he finally has the technical ability to consistently deliver good passes. Part of it might be spending more time inside so he's in a better position to deliver good passes, but that full court pass he made to Al was from inside our own free through line, right over a couple of Knicks defenders, right into Al's hands and all Al had to do was turn and dunk.

I'd like to see Joe Smith get some more minutes. Not because I think he'd help a whole lot, more because he came to ATL to get more minutes and I don't want him to start acting sour and ruining the nice chemistry we have.

[JoshB914]

What really excites me is that we lose that game virtually every time last year. Now we are not just winning it, but winning comfortably. It's far too early to tell if this team has turned the corner in terms of maturity and consistency, but things have been very promising so far.

[conleyorbust]

I've never understood the complaints about hte isos. The handchecking rules make it virtually illegal to guard someone 1 on 1. When you have a matchup you can exploit I think you should do it over and over.

Sure, if its working. Joe one on one has been far from our most effective attack this season though but we still go to it over and over.

I haven't said anything about Woody but I think saying that you can rely on one on one the whole game works when you have a guy like Lebron or Wade who is good enough to be a one man offense.

[conleyorbust]

I've never understood the complaints about hte isos. The handchecking rules make it virtually illegal to guard someone 1 on 1. When you have a matchup you can exploit I think you should do it over and over.

Sure, if its working. Joe one on one has been far from our most effective attack this season though but we still go to it over and over.

I haven't said anything about Woody but I think saying that you can rely on one on one the whole game works when you have a guy like Lebron or Wade who is good enough to be a one man offense.

[evildallas]

Another issue with iso Joe is that he doesn't get the calls that Lebron or Wade get. Not complaining just stating it as a simple truth. Some of the effectiveness of going one against the world is the tendency of NBA refs to bail out stars.

If Joe has an advantage taking the man one on one then it is a viable offense option. Personally what drives me crazy is the pounding the ball for 15 seconds trying to decide if he can make a move on the defender or holding on to the ball for extended time after the double team comes. The more those things happen the more I see other players stand around on offense watching and forcing their own shots when they do get to touch the ball. I'm not against beating a defender mano a mano, but attempting to lull a defender to sleep by excessive dribbling doesn't work very often.

[killbuckner]

COB- the Hawks have the 4th best offense in the league this year. Clearly what they are doing is working. Absolutely I'd like to see more guys be able to exploit mismatches. the problem is that Joe and Crawford are the only guys on the roster who have consistently shown the ability to do so. Josh can depending on the matchup. Horford and Marvin rarely are able to exploit weak defenders. Bibby used to be someone who could but now he is pretty much John Paxson on offense.

But overall I'd say that with the handchecking rules spreading the floor out and letting one guy exploit a 1 on 1 matchup and then killing the team when they help on defense is precisely the offense I think an NBA team should run.

[conleyorbust]

COB- the Hawks have the 4th best offense in the league this year. Clearly what they are doing is working. Absolutely I'd like to see more guys be able to exploit mismatches. the problem is that Joe and Crawford are the only guys on the roster who have consistently shown the ability to do so. Josh can depending on the matchup. Horford and Marvin rarely are able to exploit weak defenders. Bibby used to be someone who could but now he is pretty much John Paxson on offense.

But overall I'd say that with the handchecking rules spreading the floor out and letting one guy exploit a 1 on 1 matchup and then killing the team when they help on defense is precisely the offense I think an NBA team should run.

Stating that we are 4th in the league in O-efficiency doesn't mean we are doing the right thing. Joe is having a comparatively poor year in terms of assists and turnovers. Joe is 9th on the team in terms of TS% (ahead of Teague, Collins, and Randmo). The reason we have improved from 12 to 4 is because everyone except Joe Johnson is having a better year than last year. Yet, Joe's usage rate is actually up from the past two years.

Is it possible that this isn't what Woody wants? We gave Woody the benefit of the doubt when Josh was shooting 3s and they weren't going in, now why don't we give him the doubt when Joe pounds the ball for 17 seconds and then heaves a contested 18 footer?

I think just from watching we can say that this season at least, we haven't had our most effective offensive stretches when we isolating Joe. Joe has been more effective when he's found a rhythm by playing in the offense.

[parson]

Joe seems to think (or is it Woodson? I'm not sure) that his game is in the isolations, but I still think he'd be terrific if we used him the way the Pacers used to use Reggie Miller: spotting up for the kick-out and coming off screens.

I don't like how pounding the ball into the floor kills our offensive flow and I cringe at how poor Joe is at passing out of the double-team. For someone who has great PG skills, Joe sure dribbles with his head down too much.

[HoopsGuru25]

I never really viewed Joe as the type of guy to shoot 5-6 more shots a game than anyone else while still leading the team in assists. That's something that you expect from Kobe,Lebron,and Wade. I've been a big proponent in getting a true drive and dish pg(as opposed to catch and shoot)and utilizing Joe in more plays where he can score w/o dominating the ball in ala Hamilton or Granger.

[ATL DirtyBird]

Ya the guys on the Knicks broadcast were doggin us about how we are a strict iso team and are selfishly oriented. It was nice to hear that us fans arent the only ones who notice. That needs to chance, I know it wont but id make a huge difference if our offense didnt consist of 17 second isos and forced shots all day

Are you serious!? The Hawks have the 4th best offense in the league this year and you are still bitching about Woodson on offense?! What the hell does he have to do to get some credit for the hawks playing well?

I've never understood the complaints about hte isos. The handchecking rules make it virtually illegal to guard someone 1 on 1. When you have a matchup you can exploit I think you should do it over and over.

its 4 games into the season, do you honestly expect our offense to stay like this the rest of the year? NO it wont. This is the Hawks. Our selfish orientated offense will catch up to us. You cant play basketball with the mindset "my turn, now your turn, now my turn." I dont mind isos to take advantage of mismatches buit thats not always the case

[killbuckner]

Last season the Hawks were 10th in offense and people were still bitching about the offfense. Seriously- give woodson credit when what he is doing is working. Thats fine if you don't think the style is pretty enough but don't confuse that up with effectiveness.

Personally I think that the NBA offense to run is to have one inside player who runs around setting picks on the backside of the ball and keeps the lane clear for drives but is there to crash the offensive glass. Then 4 guys around him that can all exploit a matchup 1 on 1 and with everyone who can bang a 3 if the help defense comes.

I see the Hawks as a team with just 2 guys who can consistently exploit poor matchups (Joe and Crawford) with a lot of other complimentary guys. The hawks have no post presence whatsoever. The fact that the Hawks are #4 in offense in the league should have people here thrilled but some people are still bitching about the offense just because they aren't paying attention to the results.