Gameflow
And so it ends in a manner that makes a fool of anyone who allowed themselves some morsel of hope or put some measure of faith in this team's ability to compete in a road game against a good, motivated opponent. Had the Hawks converted some of their interior field goals attempts (or if Josh Smith had picked an opportune moment to renounce the complicated layup and found religion in terms of dunking on people) and grabbed a reasonable percentage of defensive rebounds in the first quarter the result would have remained in doubt later into the afternoon.
The evidence of the second and third quarter does not suggest that a better start would have given the Hawks a chance to win the game as the surpassed any fan's most outrageous, frustrated hyperbole in appearing rudderless: five disparate individuals rather than a team, sharing the court but no philosophy. In that respect, Game 7 should provide a fitting conclusion to the Mike Woodson era.
The Billy Knight era could have concluded yesterday as well though its impact will linger through this pick-less NBA Draft and in Marvin Williams' suspension that will surely delay his 2008-09 debut. Williams committed a frightening and thankfully not destructive foul. Bizarrely Williams body-slammed Rajon Rondo without a hint of malice. Williams simply didn't know what he was doing (the lack of instruction young players have received as employees of this franchise is not limited to offense and defense), thus ending his season, a season that began with such promise, with a sadly appropriate aimless and awkward act.
3 comments:
I didn't expect the Hawks to win, but what happened yesterday afternoon was a bad joke. Like you, it makes me reconsider my enthusiasm from games 3, 4, and 6. It now seems more likely those wins had more to do with mental weakness on the part of the Celtics who were unable to maintain the focus to put away a bad team on the road despite having double digit leads in the second half. I still think the Hawks could compete for the 4th seed next year. Hell they could have done it this year with just a little luck in a handful more games. Everything depends on getting a new coach and GM (who will hopefully make trading Marvin one of his top priorities).
Mike D'Antoni has received permission to discuss offers from Chicago and the Knicks, reportedly. We don't have to dismiss Woody, since his contract ended effectively yesterday, to start interviewing head coaching candidates. We need to give him a call before he gets signed to coach the hapless Knicks.
a true abortion was this game. gone is any goodwill from games 3,4,6.
i think we've seen what this team can accomplish when motivated, albeit without rudder or captain.
horford has been a revelation this year. he and smith are the future. let's build with them.
go hawks
Post a Comment