Sweet Jesus I Hate The Celtics

I can't be bothered to actually write any posts, so I will instead link over to a lengthy comment I made in response to a post on Braves & Birds. Attending a game in person will certainly give you a different perspective.

I'm still following the team, but I don't have much to contribute to the conversation that isn't being done superbly on the other Hawks blogs. I find it interesting that the best analysis by far does not come from the AJC. It's not even close at this point.

Change I Can't Believe In

So we've seen some big changes this offseason. The starting 5 is the same as it was at the end of last year, but the bench is radically different. Marvin "Sexual Healing" Williams is officially a deserving starter. Josh 2 has now become "Josh". What will happen to this team? Micah Hart from the Hawks asked me and others to participate in another blogger roundtable, asking "What will it take for the Hawks to make a repeat appearance in the postseason in 2008-09?"

My response:

For the Hawks to make it to the postseason again, a few things will need to fall into place. Assuming we can count on Al Horford and Joe Johnson putting on the hard hats again, the rest of the team still has lingering question marks. Most importantly, Mike Bibby needs to become a leader on offense. We saw flashes of it last year, but his ability to knock down open threes and put the ball in the hands of Marvin and Josh when they are cutting to the basket make the entire offense better. Woodson seemed to trust Bibby to handle it, and hopefully that continues. Here's hoping that Bibby's struggles stem from injury and not from age.

Speaking of the two young forwards, Marvin and Josh need to become big time leaders this year. If they both have an off night, it is really tough for this Hawks team to win. We all know that Marvin and Josh have the ability to take over a game on offense, and we've even seen Josh do it a few times. For the Hawks to return to the playoffs, both of these guys need to have great years. Both.

Finally, the bench needs to be strong. I have confidence in Acie Law, but he needs to see minutes and then do something with those minutes. Flip Murray needs to put up some good +/- numbers for me to feel better about losing one of the most productive 6th men in the league. The rest of the bench is mostly unproven, and inevitable injuries to< the starting 5 will push some of them to the front. If Joe Johnson misses 2 weeks and the team goes 1-7, that obviously makes the playoffs an even more difficult goal. This team is still very thin, so everyone staying healthy could make the bench seem that much better.

A few other notes on my mind:

As a pathetic excuse for an NBA fan, I have to desperately figure out who the hell Ronald Murray is and why I should be afraid for the Hawks.

"The Consensus" seems to be that Mike Bibby is too old and is on the decline. I'm not convinced he wasn't just really hampered by injury. I could be wrong.

I think Acie Law is for real. I'm not convinced Mike Woodson will let him play. I am worried for Acie Law.

How good is Al Horford? Can he actually improve? Is this guy ready to be an all-star?

What if everyone on the team bought in to Woodson's defensive plan, and it really did create an offense based on quick transitions?

Is this bench awful, like everyone says? Or is it awesome, like Sekou and Hawks officials say?

Josh 1 Is Gone

Ridiculous. The sweet passing, the off-the-ball runs, the beautiful 'fro... gone forever. Josh Childress is going to play professional basketball in Greece for Olympiakos.

Sekou has the coverage.

Hoopinion weighs in.

I can only hope that Josh Childress shares his opinions on the Atlanta Hawks in a brutally honest fashion. We can't possibly expect good answers from the people involved with the franchise.

This is one of the most damning actions of a franchise in the history of the NBA. If you think this isn't an indictment of the coach, GM and ownership then you are fooling yourself. It is clear that the only way out of this mess is for someone to come in and buy the team from the Atlanta Spirit, for they are fools. They will say that they offered Childress a better deal than he could have hoped for in the NBA, but can you blame the guy for not wanting to play for a coach that can barely construct sentences, much less a real NBA offense?

Josh Childress, you will be missed.

I invite everyone to join me in buying a Josh Childress Olympiakos jersey and wearing it on opening night.

Knight is Gone, What Next?

[You might have noticed the disgusting green background on the site for the last week. Say what you will about this blog, but I don't welch on bets. -Matt]

Billy Knight has resigned, effective July 1. Amazingly he leaves on a high note, having put together a pretty good 2007 about which I have no complaints. He had a great draft (picking the guys I wanted), made a smart trade for Bibby, and tried to fire Mike Woodson several times. All around, pretty good. With all the weirdness surrounding the ownership, I can't really blame Knight for not signing Josh Smith before the season started.

The most horrible of rumors has appeared in several places- Hollinger mentioned it online and Sekou talked about it in the AJC: Billy King might be the front runner for the GM position and Woodson might not be losing his job. Needless to say, that is probably the worst thing that could happen to this franchise. Wasn't Billy King FIRED for being a REALLY BAD GM? Didn't the Hawks only win 37 games with a roster that was able to take Boston the distance? I have no choice. I am going to have to track down Michael Gearon, Jr. and talk some sense into him.

Stay tuned, dear readers...

The most one-sided 7 game series ever

Is it possible for an underdog 8 seed to take a world class team to 7 games and be embarrassed? Yes we can! On the plus side, it's much easier to fire Woodson when the team took a dump like that in the final game. Guess what- when your only offense is generated in transition because your team is very young and athletic, but you have no half court offense and you can't stop great teams with your defense (even though your coach is a "defensive specialist", then you are not a good coach. Perhaps the NBA is not for you. At the very least, the Atlanta Hawks are not for you.

I would like to take a few moments to celebrate this Hawks team, however. This series was unexpected, to say the least. They deserve all the credit in the world for making the playoffs in a *cough cough* stacked Eastern Conference, but then to deliver this kind of entertainment to their fans... I'm not going to name names, because every player on the team busted their butts to try and win. I have nothing but respect for the players. Coach Woodson cares and he really did do his best, so he deserves some respect for that, too. Steve Belkin only deserves a pie in the face (along with the 2008 first round draft pick from Atlanta).

There's nothing I can say about the Celtics that Jeff at CelticsBlog hasn't said already. When they put their minds to it, they are an amazing team. Kevin Garnett does not deserve the rap that he gets- the man is an unbelievable player and the Hawks could not stop him. He could have scored 100 points a game if Doc Rivers had been smart enough to let him. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are not the players they once were, but what they are is still freaking good. Good luck to them- they may not lose another game until the finals, since Cleveland, Detroit and Orlando don't gt to play in Atlanta.

Hawks fans can do something they haven't been able to do in a long time- hold their head up high. If anyone says something about putting up the worst shooting percentage in a game 7 in the shot clock era, just mumble something about the coach and then start talking about Joe Johnson's performance in game 4.

Decent Win

The Celtics put up a good game, but the ending was what we all expected. Joe Johnson had a typical game, scoring 42 consecutive times in the 4th quarter on his way to 200 points. Josh Smith blocked a dozen 3 pointers, and decapitated Rajon Rondo at least twice by my count. The classic Hotlanta crowd was in attendance, cheering their butts off for the best team in the NBA.

You think Josh Smith cares that the Celtics are the best team in the NBA? Josh Smith doesn't give a rat's ass. He's at home right now eating ice cream and watching Judge Judy.

You think Al Horford cares about the Celtics? He's doing pushups right now, thinking about grabbing his own rebound and stuffing it in Paul Pierce's face.

You think Joe Johnson cares about the Celtics? He's hustling at a pool hall right now, sipping on bourbon while wearing a smoking jacket and talking to your mom on his cell phone.

You think Mike Woodson cares about the Celtics? He doesn't even know what team the Hawks are playing next. He can't believe the "let Joe Johnson dribble past everybody and score by himself" play worked 10 times in a row.

Above all else, last night was a really good game. I haven't had that much fun watching a Hawks game in years. The fact that they won was just bonus. I was a little embarrassed by the streamers coming down at the end of the game- I was hoping that the rules had changed, and that the underdog only needs to win 2 games in order to win the best-of-7 series, but apparently somebody still needs to win 2 more games. I'd like to see the Hawks hold their own again in game 6, but as always, we will see.

No matter what happens, the shine and swagger are gone from the Celtics. They may be the best team in the league, but they are going to have to earn the championship.

CelticsBlog.com Pays Up

Read 300 words about the glory that is the Atlanta Hawks

I'm not holding my breath for another 300 words, but here's hoping. No draft picks this year, so there is literally nothing to lose.