SuperHawks route lowly Timberwolves in 'Sota, 20-7, ties best start in franchise history

26 28 27 31 | 112
17 24 28 18 | 87

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It is such a beautiful day to be a Atlanta Hawks fan. Not too long ago, rookie Mike Woodson, Josh Smith and the Atlanta Hawks were the worst team in the league at 13-69. After 4 long years of player development and steady improvement, it seems the Hawks have taken a quantum leap into the NBA elite in this 09-10 season.

The Minnesota Timberwolves hope to emulate the Hawks' success story in the coming years. The Hawks core of Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, and Zaza Pachulia have played together for 4 seasons, and over the past 2 seasons they have added big Al Horford (3rd pick 2007 draft), Mo Evans, and Mike Bibby to their core. A couple of key role players such as Jamal Crawford (leading candidate for 6th man of the year), Jeff Teague (19th pick 2009 draft), Joe Smith (14 year veteran big), and young Randolph Morris, and the 2009-2010 Atlanta Hawks have one of the top 10-man rotations in the league.

This game was never in doubt, as the Hawks jumped out to an early lead, turning the Wolves 7 first quarter turnovers into 14 points, the Hawks ended the first quarter leading 26-17.

The Hawks did a great job of keeping the Wolves at arms length, the game never got closer than 8 in the first half, despite foul trouble with Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia. When Smith was on the floor, he was a huge difference-maker, in 21 minutes Josh scored 10 pts (5/6 FGs) 3 rbs 3 asts 3 stls, but the biggest difference maker in this game had to be Jamal Crawford.



Just as he has been doing all season, Jamal comes off the bench to lead the team in scoring, it is amazing to see how offensively gifted this guy is, he must have one of the best pull-up jumpers in the league, and he is shooting at a career-high FG%, in this game, Jamal enters at 2:30 remaining in the 1st. The Hawks keep the lead going into the 2nd quarter and that is when the Jamal Crawford light show starts. He starts his scoring tier by hitting a 24-foot 3-pointer on an assist from Mike Bibby. The Wolves did get within 7 points on a Al Jefferson layup, but Really, the combination of Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford is getting too potent for opposing teams to handle, Joe and Jamal alternating scoring put the lead back up to 13 for a 54-41 halftime advantage.

The 2nd half had more of the same, the game was never really in doubt, but the Hawks did get a little lax defensively, allowing the Wolves to outscore them in the 3rd, 28-27, so in the 4th quarter, Joe and Jamal put the team on their back, and the most consistent player of the night had to be big Al Horford. In a game where Smith and Pachulia had 5 fouls, Horford played a game-high 41 minutes for 16 pts (7/15 FGs) 11 rbs 4 asts 2 stls 1 blk. Horford, shooting a 7th in the league best 57.8% on the floor, was great at making the right plays and playing defense, it would have been cool to see Horford with 19 rebounds, but he has the ability to get those numbers anytime.

Jamal Crawford scored 13 of his game-high 26 in the 4th quarter to put away the Wolves, including 2 back-to-back beautiful 3-pointers in the beginning of the 4th. The Wolves did battle back, but they did not get any closer than 12 as the Hawks stepped up and scored 31 4thQ points, the most of any quarter in the game for a 112-87 victory, the Timberwolves second worst defeat this season.

"We started with a bunch of babies six years ago, 18, 19, 20-year-old kids, and they've grown," coach Mike Woodson said. "The ownership has given me the latitude to continue to coach this team and our core guys have been together now four years and that makes a big difference." -Mike Woodson

"They're kind of the example of a team that got its players young," Love said of the Hawks. "They played together. They stuck together. They grinded out wins together. They had high points. They had low points. But they stuck together. ... That's something I hope I can be a part of one day." -Kevin Love

It great to see other players and teams continue to give the Hawks credit for their rise from the bottom and acknowledge the team as a top 5 team in the NBA today.

"We're trying to do something special," Woodson said.

translation: "We feel we can be the best team in basketball and maybe even win a championship"

I believe these Hawks can do it, they will at least make the conference Finals this season, but it would be a dream come true for the Hawks players coaches and especially the fans to see the Atlanta Hawks represent the East in the NBA Finals.

It can happen, stay tuned.

Denver Nuggets (19-9) tomorrow.

New Era DJ for tha New Era Championship contender Hawks, (18-6 .750, 1st in Southeast division, 2nd in Eastern Conference)

Can we get some love for the Atlanta Hawks Please?!
18-6 1st in Southeast Division, 2nd in Eastern Conference, 3rd in the league


It is a great day and time to be an Atlanta Hawks fan, the fandom of the people of the city is at an all time high, the atmosphere has become an aura of beaming smiles of pride, excitement and laughter of glee and bliss because, after 5 short years this Mike Woodson, Josh Smith Atlanta Hawks are truely, undisputedly one of the best teams in the NBA and a true NBA championship contender.

It is amazing, almost surreal this year in 2009-2010, the team that the Atlanta Hawks have become; Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, Al Horford, Marvin Williams, Jamal Crawford, Zaza Pachulia, Mo Evans, Joe Smith, Jeff Teague, Randolph Morris, Othello Hunter, Jason Collins. These 13 are an exceptional group of personnel on paper alone;

Mike Bibby(31 yrs 6-1 195lbs,12th)9.6ppg 2.7rpg 4.0apg 43.8%FGs 43.3%3ptFGs 81.1%FTs

Mike Bibby, in his 12th season is a great offensive coordination point guard, he has the ability to score 20+ ppg but with these Hawks he is great at making great plays with everyone on the floor involved in the offense, evident by the team making 22.3 apg, and although Bibby is averaging career lows in ppg, fga, and apg, he is also averaging a career low mpg at 28.3, afforded by great guard play in Crawford and Teague, also by Hawks 6 20+ blowouts against opponents already this season

Joe Johnson (28 yrs 6-7 240 lbs, 9th) 21.2 ppg 5.0 rpg 5.3 apg 45.5%FGs 87.9%FTs
Joe Johnson, Joe Johnson. The person of interest in the embarrassing Atlanta Spirit fiasco on whether he was franchise player and worth Boris Diaw and 2 (conditional) 1st round picks. In his 9th season as a pro and his 5th as a Hawk, Johnson has been great and consistent, he is one of 3 players in the league averaging 20+ ppg 5+ rpg 5+ apg, he has scored 30+ 9 times, 8 wins, he is playing extremely well this season, showing a greater sense of defensive and offensive awareness, he is averaging a career high FT%, rpg, and, after leading the league in mpg in the past 3 season, is averaging a career-low mpg (37.1) as a Hawk.

Marvin Williams(23 yrs 6-9 245 lbs, 5th)10.3 ppg 5.3 rpg 42.3%FGs 35.5% 3ptFGs 81%FTs
Marvin Williams. Once used to be the butt of many jokes about what could have been with a Paul-Johnson-Smith core, Marvin Williams has been carving his niche in the game as a forward. He is an excellent defender and a good scorer, shooter, he has high basketball IQ and knows how to make the right play. He began starting at the SF position in 06-07 and averaged 13 ppg 6 rpg, he hits 84% FTs and he has expanded his range out to the 3 point line, shooting 37.7% last season and 35.5% this season. Marvin Williams is a great core piece of the balanced scoring team that the Hawks have become, he never plays for stats and always plays hard.

Josh Smith(24 yrs 6-9 245 lbs, 6th)15.3 ppg 8.4 rpg 3.6 apg 2.5 bpg 1.6 spg 51.7%FGs
Josh Smith, Josh Smith. This guy has been the blunt of alot of scrutiny over the years, takes too many jumpshots, can't hit free throws, bad attitude, problems with Coach Woodson





after starting the season with 2 wins by 11, the Hawks were tested against the Lakers, whom were without Gasol, they played well in the 1st half, but were outscored 34-18 in the 3rd, final score 118-100. The Hawks then go into Portland and win 97-91 behind balanced scoring, 46-36 rebounding advantage, and Jamal Crawford's game-high 27

They then went into Sacromento and won 113-105 and felt good going into Charlotte, the Bobcats showed their improvement and suprised Atlanta, losing 103-83 behind Raja Bell's 24 and Gerald Wallace 11 pts 18 rbs.

The Hawks went back to Atlanta motivated against the Denver Nuggets, and won handily 125-100 behind Josh SMith 22pts/9rbs/7asts/6blks, Joe Johnson 22pts/7rbs/5asts, Al Horford 11pts/13rbs/5asts, and 7 players in double figures, starting a 7 game win streak including beating Knicks by 13, Celtics (in Boston) by 11, Hornets by 23, Blazers (in Portland, again) by 4, Heat by 15, and Rockets by 2 in a buzzer-beating dunk by Josh SMith.

Hawks slept on the Chris Paul-less Hornets, as any team would, not expect a rookie to DO Chris, leading the team with 22pts11asts, they then had a 5 days layoff to prepare for division leading Orlando Magic on Thanksgiving Day. The Hawks played a great first half, they were winning at 51-39. No one still can explain how they came out in the 2nd half with half the amount of energy and scored a measley 25 pts TOTAL in the 2nd half, losing 93-76, causing many people to dismiss them upon faliure of that test as a title contender.

Hawks then beat the 76ers, as they should have, 100-86, the Hawks then expected the same result visiting Detroit whom were without 3 starters; Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton, and Will Bynum. They forgot about that final 04 championship piece whom has been invigorated by returning to his home franchise, Ben Wallace grabbed 18 rebounds, Rodney Stuckey scored 23, and the Hawks lost 94-88

In December, the Hawks are 7-1, beating the Raptors by 31, Mavericks (in Dallas) by 5, Bulls by 25, Raptors by 22, Nets by 23, and Memphis by 13

Spirit the Hawk takes flight onto the court, jynx Hawks(4), Wade put Heat(5) on fire from 3 to even series 1-1

Hawks 93 Heat 108
24 30 29 25
18 23 31 21

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Damn! Gotta hate those Hawks, the bird, not the team of course. And i don't hate all Hawks, but the one that flew down from the rafters onto the shot clock in the middle of the 1st quarter didn't help the Atlanta Hawks at all. They needed it.

CoCo stated some interesting coinscidences with that Hawk, apparently whenever there are incidences with that bird, the Hawks lose, there was a game in the 2007-2008 season against Miami at Phillips Arena where the bird flew into the rafters and simply refused to come down, and yes, the Heat won too.

Well, the story had been told, just as Al Horford and Josh Smith were laughing about their fear of the bird, everyone was just a little too lighthearted in the game tonight. Dwayne Wade wasn't laughing about anything, he was offensively aggressive AND hitting shots from the opening tip all throughout this game. It is understood that Dwayne Wade is a top 2 SG in the NBA, and he has the ability to takeover a game at his own pace, but the Hawks defense simply was not what it was in game 1. Game 1 the Hawks had steals, deflections, blocks, our defense really created all those fast break opporitunities and of course, we had the advantage. But when the offense slows down and we run plays posting up Joe Johnson and stuff, that is not our advantage. It wasn't just Wade though, all the decent players on the Heat stepped up, Jermaine O'Neal scored 19 pts, Dequan Cook 3pt shooting champion scored 20 pts, the Heat RESERVES outscored the Hawks in the 2nd quarter while Wade was sitting, then he came back in and scored 13 points straight.

Yep, it was evident from the jump that this game was just in the Heat's favor, shots were falling, and no one even scored 20 on the Hawks, so the Hawk players must feel as if they've been kicked in the teeth, Wade just pissed on the Phillips Arena floor, right on the Hawks logo, i expect the Hawks to be pissed off have vengence in their blood in Miami on Saturday.

(wade just spits in the Hawks faces and gives the spitball to our Atlanta representer, hell na..)

CoCO writes a great blog entry about how the writing was on the scoreboard (figuratively and literally)

Hoopinon breaks down the loss and gives statistics as usual

the Human Highlight Blog shows how Wade made you look

i think the Hawks can and will win on the road in these playoffs, watch..game 3

the HomeCourt Advantaged PlayoffsHawks (4) SWARM Dwayne Wade's Heat(5) in Game 1

Hawks 90 Heat 64
21 18 18 7
24 35 17 14

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As Clifford "T.I. Harris announced the starting lineup for the Hawks and the Heat, the energy of the crowd was supremely intense, it is the first time playoffs have started in Atlanta since the1998-1999 season and the first time ever at Phillips Arena. Atlanta has shown it has die-hard Hawks fans too with the arena filled way before tip-off, the crowd was hectic from the beginning.
It proved to make all the difference.

The game started on a Dwayne Wade dunk, but the Atlanta Hawks defense and fast break agility flustered the Heat throughout the entire game. the young veteran Atlanta Hawks showed how they've grown together and how they are a much better TEAM then the Heat by moving the ball and exploiting mismatchups all night, and on the fast break? Mike Bibby and Josh Smith are unstoppable, or Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, or Josh Smith and Al Horford, and especially Marvin Williams, the Hawks are showing they have a stonger starting 5 and a better bench.

Many "experts" have given their playoffs predictions, 6 out of 10 of them believe the Hawks will win the series, my only concern is that 4 of those 6 say it will take 7 games.

My Prediction for the series is Hawks in 6.

See HawksDawgs colorful commentary, analysis of game 1, where Josh Smith has no regard for human life, and his victory bullets for that game.

See EVERYTHING at Lang Whitaker

For Micah Hart this game went better than he could have imagined

CoCo called this a good old fashioned ass whippin

WOW, Hoopinon critic barely gives Atlanta any credit for that win, basically saying the Hawks defensive performance provided a welcome relief to Hawks fans who'd spent the past week entertaining reasonable worries about this series

Who has reasonable worries? I'm confident that this Hawks team is the better and it is our year to advance to round 2, and superstar Wade is not going to stop that.

See u at game 2

Got Karma? Hawks defense swarm Yao-led Rockets, Mike Bibby buzzer-beater 3 wins game

Hawks 103 Rockets 100
27 19 31 23
22 32 25 24

Now that was a good shot. Much prettier and with a much better result than the buzzer-beater we saw on ESPN as the #1 play of the night, and i would still be a little sick about that game if it wasn't for this one. And it was a good shot, great assist by the great Joe Johnson, his season-high 14th of the night, but none of this would be possible without the player of the game -- Josh Smith.

29 pts (13-16 FGs 3/4 FTs) 2 rbs 1 ast 1 blk

Marvin Williams aggrivated a shoulder injury in the last game against the Nets, so knowing he wouldn't be in the lineup, the Hawks would need an offensive lift, they got it. From the first play of the game, with the Maurice Evans assist Josh made a running 7-foot jumper with the AND 1 against Yao, it was felt that Josh would have a good offensive game. Josh Smith scored 29 pts (13-16 FGs 3-4 FTs), these 13 field goals coming mostly on drives to the hoops and short range jumpshots.

It would be an epic battle, for we all know the Atlanta Hawks know no 7-footers, so we had been slightly concerned that Yao would score easily on the Hawks in the paint, and that had been realized when Yao scored 8 points on 2 dunks a jumpshot and 2 free throws, but Josh Smith using his quickness to his advantage showed in the 1st quarter how we would win, Josh scored 13 points on 2 post-up hook-shots 2 driving layups 1 jumper and 3 free throws, and just as Josh Smith won the tip-off, Josh wins the battle of the paint in the 1st quarter, but the Rockets lead, 27-22.

2nd quarter, the Hawks 2nd unit play was great, particularly that of Acie Law (!!) and Flip Murray, who played together to start the 2nd, a rare sight indeed, and of course, Flip Murray has always scored well on driving layups and ill-advised 3s, but Flip played smart in the 25 ft range as well, hitting shots from 18 feet and getting to the line. Hawks played better collectively as a unit than the opponent, as usual, especially at Phillips Arena and the Hawks led 54-46 at halftime.

Halftime leaders: Hawks - Josh Smith 19 Rockets - Yao Ming 15

3rd quarter the Rockets came out gunning, hitting


That was a great game played by the Hawks, Josh Smith needed this offensive outburst, this in-paint confidence booster, so when he is facing Dwight Howard in the next game, he can try to hold him down.

Happy New Year Nets, Vince Carter buzzer-beater in OT wins game

Hawks 91 Nets 93 (OT)
21 28 20 16 6
16 13 34 24 8

BOX SCORE

I mean, it was a great shot, no doubt about it, but that shot wasn't the reason the Hawks lost the game. This was the first overtime game all season for the Hawks, and it was the Nets 4th, so they know a little about how to take care of the few possessions in a 5:00 OT Quarter, the Hawks are still learning that.

In the 1st half, the Nets were in full meltdown mode, the Nets scored 16 points in the 1st quarter and didn't score again until 6:13 left in the 2nd, and that was AFTER Coach Frank was ejected (lol, that was funny, u could see the curses flying from his mouth). the Hawks simply kept their cool, Bibby hit his technical free throws, and the Hawks kept pressing. On the last play of the 1st half, Coach Woodson subbed Joe for Mario West, a defensive stopper. It turned out to be a genius move by Woodson, Mario stole the ball from Devin Harris and with 2 seconds on the clock, lauched a halfcourt 37 foot shot, and it went it. Mario went nuts. This was an important moment because as a friend of mine pointed out at the end of the game, that just goes to show the difference between a veteran in a big moment, and a rookie.

Hawks shot 7/10 3pt FGs in the 1st half

Nets shot 1/5 3pt FGs in the 1st half

The Hawks were in the driver's seat all 1st half, and with their ejected coach making a motivational speech (you men better get out there and win! gotdammit!), the Nets stormed back in the 2nd half with a Vince Carter 3 on a Devin Harris assist, and that started a 14-3 run that cut the score from 49-29 to 52-43. Josh Smith hit a jumpshot after the ensuing timeout and the competition was fierce from that point on. At the end of the 3rd, it was 69-61, Hawks lead.

The 4th quarter start was an indication of things to come for the Hawks, as the Nets' Ryan Anderson fouls Josh Smith for two free throws, and Josh misses both free throws. Those misses turn into a Devin Harris layup, and after a Mike Bibby 3pt attempt, a Jarvis Hayes 3pt is made and the score is 69-66 just like that. After a timeout, somehow Josh Boone was the reciever of a Devin Harris assist and scored easliy. A few lead changes and free throws and the regulation game comes down to this: 83-85 Nets lead Hawks ball, Josh Smith shoots a three-pointer (!!) misses and Mike Bibby gets the rebound, feeds to Al Horford and Al lays it home plus a foul. Now the score is 85-85 with :47 left, time to take the lead, right? No, Al Horford misses the free throw, and the Nets get the ball and call timeout. Nets inbound to Devin Harris who launches a three, misses, and Josh Smith gets the rebound, ignites a break, and feeds Joe for the game-winning jumpshot. Joe's shot actually gets tipped by Devin Harris and Brook Lopez gets the rebound to call a timeout. 3 seconds left in regulation and the ball is inbounded to Vince Carter. Carter launches, misses, and we're in overtime.

We all know what happened in overtime so let's just say what we learned about the Hawks in this game:

• Hawks MUST make crucial free throws to win the game


• if Mike Bibby is ever fouled beyond the 3, worry about the FIRST free throw, not the last


• Josh Smith is truely coming around as a scorer, playing inside-out for 20 pts


• Joe Johnson is as clutch as they come, but we must have another reliable clutch option


• Mario West gets very excited after hitting half-court buzzer-beaters (lol)


• Mike Woodson will play Solomon Jones AND Mario West before he plays Acie Law IV

that last particular bullet is a sad fact, but the Hawks are still a winning team! Let's see how they do against the Yao-led Rockets.