Initial Feedback: Hawks Clinch Home Court

Initial feedback: A completely subjective and immediate response to the events of tonight's game, featuring a comment and rating, the latter on a scale of 1 to 10, on every player who saw the floor and the head coach, along with ephemera and miscellany as the author deems necessary.

Your ratings and commentary, dear reader, are welcomed in the comments to this post.

Boxscore

Players
Joe Johnson: Started cold but it didn't matter with the way the Hawks collectively were shooting in the first half.  Finished hot and got into double figures in only 24 minutes of action.  Was nice to see the starters get a lot of rest before Boston comes into town on Sunday. 5/10

Josh Smith: Incredible first quarter where he was nearly perfect from the floor and was a rebounding and assist machine.  Was 10-of-14 from the field for 23 points, and 1 rebound and 3 assists away from a triple double in a game that he only played 28 minutes. 8/10

Kirk Hinrich: Had some definite hot and cold streaks shooting but finished in double figures while playing the most minutes of any starter by a large margin.  Hopefully Pargo is back on Sunday to spell Kirk so his legs can stay fresh. 3/10

Jason Collins: Don't look now, but over his last 4 games Jason Collins has averaged 5.75 points and 3 rebounds.  Now if only he was putting up those stats as the third of fourth option off the bench at the 5 it might be more reason to celebrate, but perhaps he will show his worth battling Kevin Garnett. 2/10

Jeff Teague: This game showed flashses of the player we all wish Teague would become.  Someone who is both confident taking the open jumper and driving to the basket and finishing strong.  On fire from behind the arc, hitting 3-of-4. Didn't have to contend with Jason Kidd, and Rondo is a slightly better player than Rodrique Beaubois. 7/10

Marvin Williams: Marvin's hot shooting over the past few games cooled off tonight as he only managed 6 points on 9 shot attempts.  Hopefully it was just his rhythm being off due to the blowout and seeing the rest of his teammates throwing up bad jump shots once the game was out of reach. With a short bench lacking in true scorers Marvin will need to keep putting up 12 and 5 on 50.5% shooting (38.5% from behind the arc) like he has in April. 2/10

Ivan Johnson: Seriously, why is Ivan not starting over Jason Collins? Is it just a worry about him getting into foul trouble?  Left over bad feelings over his alleged chewing out of teammates leading to the suspension? Drago was going after everything with intensity tonight and even showed the touch on a few jump shots.  How fun would it be to have Ivan and Zaza coming in behind a healthy Al with Dampier and Collins only a memory? 6/10

Tracy McGrady: TMac was only able to score two points in limited minutes, but had 8 rebounds and 4 assists in his role as court manager of the second unit.  If we're only going to get a single basket each night from TMac, we can only hope it's always as emphatic a dunk as he showed tonight. 3/10

Willie Green: When he makes his shots he's not a bad option for the second unit.  Please keep making your shots. 4/10

Vladimir Radmanovic: Had a monster dunk and a sweet touch pass inside to J-Smoove in an otherwise quiet 9 minutes of action.  1/10

Jerry Stackhouse: With no Pargo, Stack got to see some minutes with the starters in the first half.  An atrocious showing shooting ended that experiment after only 12 minutes. 1/10

Erick Dampier: It was in total garbage time, but Damp did grab 4 rebounds in only 5 minutes.  Also was able to get in some practice delivering a hard foul to a guy going up for a layup.  Perhaps his most useful skill. incomplete

The head coach 
You lose potentially your best all-around player in the 11th game of a lockout shortened season and still finish 40-and-26 and with homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  Even if Larry Drew is a coach that no one else would want, that's a pretty good season. The injuries have been abundant (10 of the Hawks 15 players have missed time this season), and there have been some poor decisions made both by coaches and players, but this team is about to begin postseason play for the fifth straight season with a chance to do some damage.  The two losses to Boston were both close games (before the blowout win last Friday), and there's no reason to think that we won't see more close games in the upcoming series.  Game 1 tips at 7pm Sunday night in Atlanta. 7/10

A thought regarding the opposition 
Once Atlanta got out to their huge lead in the first quarter Dallas paraded out the reserves.  The Mavericks needed a Denver loss in order to have a shot at the 6 seed, and the Nuggets made sure their game with Minnesota was never in doubt winning by 29.  Instead the reigning NBA champions get to play Oklahoma City in the first round starting on Saturday.

ESPN.com: 5-on-5: Game 4 Questions

As bringing appropriate nuance to bear on Al Horford's season review remains a work-in-progress, I've been stoking the fire by watching this excellent NBA Finals series. In anticipation of Game 4, I shared a few thoughts, on the relevant greatness of Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade, on Rick Carlisle's rotations, and worked a gratuitous dig at Mike Bibby into today's installment of 5-on-5 at ESPN.com.

Dallas Mavericks 102 Atlanta Hawks 91

Boxscore

Gameflow

Highlights

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	88	1.034	48.7	22.4	21.4	13.6
DALL	87	1.172	54.8	30.1	21.6	14.9

The 13-point fourth quarter* was nothing about which the Atlanta Hawks can or should be proud but with the 15-point fourth quarter debacle in Milwaukee still less than a week old an impotent offensive performance in which missing open shots shared culpability with poor ball movement doesn't seem as dire as Atlanta's defensive performance in the fourth quarter in Dallas.

*The nadir was clearly the sight of the Hawks, coming out of a timeout with 2:14 left in the game, completely flummoxed by the Dallas zone they'd played against for much of this game and a fair amount of their previous meeting (but not on the previous possession...tricky, Rick Carlisle, very tricky), passing the ball around the perimeter until Joe Johnson could hold it, back up, and take a contested 28-footer from the right sideline with the shot clock winding down.

The short explanation for Atlanta's fourth quarter defensive performance would be that Larry Drew had 60 minutes of individual minutes to allocate in the fourth quarter and 39% of them went to Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford, and Josh Powell. Sufficient though that fact might be to illustrate Drew's priorities, it fails to tell the full picture of ineptitude.

Mike Bibby's first stint in the game lasted four minutes and eight seconds. During that time DeShawn Stevenson scored two of Dallas's 10 points and assisted on six others. The first quarter witnessed not just Stevenson matching his season high in assists for a game but Stevenson creating open looks for Dirk Nowitzki. Such a display throws into question the very existence of someone Mike Bibby could successfully guard but, when Rick Carlisle went to a backcourt of Jason Terry with either Jose Juan Barea or Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki as his forwards, in the fourth quarter there was no one on the court Mike Bibby could successfully guard.

The Hawks have been outscored 85-48 over their last three fourth quarters. Mike Bibby has played 27:22 of those fourth quarters during which he has scored three points on five shots, earned one assist, and grabbed two defensive rebounds. Clearly, the need for Larry Drew to "see more production" exists on a case-by-case basis.

Josh Smith really undermined Drew's absolutely correct decision to leave Smith in the game after committing his fifth foul with 6:16 left in the game and the Hawks down 10. This after giving Smith the Horford Treatment in the first half. Smith lasted two more possessions, one offensive (he took, and missed, a three-pointer from the top of the key) and one defensive (while defending Brendan Haywood in the post, Smith fouled Haywood before he could either commit a turnover or miss a shot).

With Smith disqualified and Al Horford appearing seriously fatigued after having played more than 45 minutes the previous night, Drew made the reasonable (but also telling from a depth and roster construction perspective) decision to insert Damien Wilkins into the game to guard Dirk Nowitzki. Less reasonable and absolutely indefensible? The decision to have the Hawks begin switching ball-screens so that Dallas could get Jamal Crawford defending Nowitzki in the post whenever they wished.

Additional items of interest...

• Dallas clearly considered doubling Joe Johnson to be situation-dependent rather than mandatory. Johnson had a productive (27 points, 6 assists, 8 rebounds) and reasonably efficient game (24 shots, 1 free throw attempt) but other teams might show a willingness to let Johnson take more shots than any two of his teammates combined rather than encourage ball movement from a team all too willing to take what the defense gives them.
• Jeff Teague looked really good playing with some starters in the second quarter and late in the third, less good playing alongside Crawford, Evans, Powell, and Pachulia at the start of the fourth quarter.
• The Hawks being -7 in the 7:15 Josh Powell played upon his re-emergence from suspension and inaction was all too predictable but, ooohhh, put-backs.
• In their last two road games, the Hawks have been outscored by 31 points and lost both to a team missing three starters through injury and a team that released a starter immediately following the game.

Larry Drew:

"We played, I thought, three good quarters and then in the fourth quarter we had a collapse. Shot selection was not very good. It just comes down to getting tougher in the fourth quarter. You’ve got to do the things that are going to assure you victory."

Learning can take time.

Joe Johnson:

"I thought the game was going great until the start of the fourth. It got out of hand and we never recovered from it."

Drew:

"We've been in this situation enough times to learn from it. It's something we've got to get better at."

The recipe for success?

Drew:

"It just comes down to getting tougher in the fourth quarter."

Damn. I was really hoping for it coming down to holding players accountable for their offensive and defensive performances in the fourth quarter. Or at least necessitating more than one player suspension for Josh Powell ever to play for the Atlanta Hawks again.

Al Horford:

"I don’t think it’s discouraging. On the road, it’s always tough and you have to play the right way and do everything right to win and we just had a little slippage the last two outings."

Josh Smith:

"We just had a couple careless turnovers and a couple of little touch fouls. It got them in the bonus early and they were able to utilize the line a little bit."

Smith's complaining about the officials is not limited to the game itself.

Jason Terry:

"It's about spreading it around. Offensively, guys are penetrating in and it's beautiful. Coach Carlisle told us it's a beautiful thing to watch when you see guys move the ball the way we do. He said there's probably only two teams that do it in this league, and it's us and San Antonio. It's the reason for our success."

January 29th Game Preview: Atlanta Hawks (30-17) @ Dallas Mavericks (30-15)

TIP-OFF: 8:30pm (EST)

TELEVISION: SportSouth, NBA TV

RADIO: The Hawks have moved to 97.9 on the FM dial this season.

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Mavericks

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Marvin Williams is suspended.

DALLAS INJURY REPORT: Rodrigue Beaubois and Caron Butler are out.

BY THE NUMBERS

2010-11	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL (off)	90	1.076	50.6	22.2	23.5	15.3
DALL (def)	90.1	1.05	48.9	26.9	25.7	13.3

2010-11	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL (def)	90.2	1.052	48.5	26.5	25.2	14.2
DALL (off)	90.1	1.076	51.3	22.4	22.6	13.4

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: The Two Man Game

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Dallas -5.5, 190 o/u

PREVIOUSLY...the Dallas Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 111-106 at home on Thursday night.

The Mavericks beat the Hawks 98-93 on November 20th in Atlanta.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Dallas Mavericks 98 Atlanta Hawks 93

Boxscore

Gameflow

Hoopdata boxscore

Highlights

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
DALL	90	1.089	51.2	17.1	25	14.4
ATL	91	1.022	52.5	9.9	18.9	14.3

The Dallas Mavericks couldn't stop the Atlanta Hawks in transition. 30 of Atlanta's 93 points came on the fast break. The Hawks, in turn, struggled mightily against Dallas's zone defense, scoring just 53 points on their initial half-court offense. Were it not for the 8 points Al Horford created (2 for himself, 6 for Mike Bibby) and the 2 points Josh Smith scored off of offensive rebounds, the near-comeback, predicated on a brief burst of effective Atlanta defense (helped by Dallas's decision to go away from making Josh Smith try and stop the ball-handler without losing contact with Dirk Nowitzki when defending the pick-and-roll) in the final four minutes, would not have been possible.

Dallas deserves ample credit for the quality of their 2-3 zone which extended out to the three-point line without opening up easy and obvious passing lanes between the two bands of defenders. It was a great example of coaching, execution, and effort. That last quality is especially impressive as the Mavericks were playing on the road, on the second night of back-to-back games. Rick Carlisle recognized how the Hawks could hurt the Mavericks and did his best to minimize his team's exposure. The Maverick players ably implemented their coach's in-game adjustments.

Atlanta's zone offense appeared a bit behind the team's man-to-man offense. The ball stayed on the perimeter too long and the guards too infrequently made cuts off of the three-point line diminishing the team's effectiveness when it attacked the zone. With Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford both uncharacteristically reluctant to shoot it fell to Josh Smith and Jordan Crawford to try and shoot Dallas out of the zone. Smith took five of his nine jump shots in the second quarter and Crawford the younger got up six shots during his 12-minute second half stint. I suspect Dallas was quite content to let Smith go 3-9 on jumpers and even to let Jordan Crawford score 10 points on those 6 shots in return for forcing Jamal Crawford to miss all seven shots he took away from the rim and Joe Johnson to go 2-12 from outside of 10 feet. Jamal Crawford was the more willing and/or able of the two tenured guards to attack the zone off the dribble (as his six free throw attempts and seven assists demonstrate) but even that came at the cost of five turnovers.

Neither Johnson nor Jamal Crawford could keep the quick Dallas guards in front of them and in this they were joined by their offensively effective peers Mike Bibby and Jordan Crawford. The rookie can be forgiven for his struggles to defend Jason Terry as a pick-and-roll ball-handler in just his sixth professional appearance. There should be no forgiveness for how Bibby and Jamal Crawford turned DeShawn Stevenson (13 points on 4 shots in 18 minutes) into a useful offensive option nor for Johnson's minimal effort to fight through screens most of the night. Johnson is capable of better, as he showed against Deron Williams last week, and the Hawks desperately need better defensive performances from Johnson* as long as Larry Drew insists on playing Jamal Crawford and Mike Bibby regardless of the quality of their play on a given night.

*Especially if Al Horford and Josh Smith are going to relegate him to being a relatively inefficient third option offensively.

As encouraging as this game was for Jordan Crawford's future with the Atlanta Hawks it was at least as discouraging for Jeff Teague's present and, possibly, his future with the team. That Larry Drew watched Bibby and Jamal Crawford repeatedly get torched defensively while also committing careless turnovers and did not believe Teague could do better speaks volumes about the coach's evaluation of Teague's current ability (if not necessarily his potential). Teague got three minutes and fifty-three seconds on the court despite two teammates playing poorly against small, quick guards for much of the last three quarters.

Not that Drew lacks for weaknesses to claim his attention. It's fairly amazing the Hawks managed to score 30 fast break points with the Mavericks turning the ball over less often than they had on the season and only two* Hawks (Horford and Smith) showing the slightest ability to rebound the opposition's misses. Marvin Williams (6-9, 230) grabbed one defensive rebound in twenty-six-and-a-half minutes. Joe Johnson** (6-8, 225) grabbed three defensive rebounds in just over 39 minutes. Zaza Pachulia (6-10, 240) did not grab a single defensive rebound in just under 11 minutes of playing time.

*I suppose Mo Evans should receive at least a passing grade for his three defensive rebounds in just under 17 minutes.

**Johnson's DR% is down to 9.1% on the season, less than 80% of his 2009-10 rate.

It's not Drew's fault that the front office once again ignored the team's long-standing deficiencies on the defensive glass during the off-season. It's not like Drew has better options at his disposal if Williams and Pachulia have uncharacteristically and simultaneously poor rebounding nights. The team's lack of quality perimeter defenders and quality defensive rebounders will continue to put tremendous pressure on the team's offense to win games. The team's lack of depth puts tremendous pressure on the first eight never to have an off night in any facet of their games just to win at home against a quality opponent playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

This Atlanta Hawks team can be quite good. It has two of the 15 best players in the Eastern Conference. It's margin for error, though, is slim.

Joe Johnson:

"We didn't come out with the energy we needed but we were able to get back in it."

Dirk Nowitzki:

"It was a tough back-to-back for us, coming in late at night. We responded to a tough loss yesterday. We kind of made it a little hard on ourselves there in the second half. I felt like that was a good win against a good team at home."

Larry Drew on his team's zone offense:

"We settled. That’s way, way too many 3-point shots for us. They zoned us and we lost discipline. We settled for perimeter shots. Our movement was slow. We looked unsure. We started holding the ball. We fell prey to exactly what they wanted us to do."

Drew on defensive rebounding:

"We did a poor job of boxing out."

That's the tip of the iceberg as far as I'm concerned. It's not like the Hawks other than Horford and Smith were making an effort on the defensive glass but demonstrating an inattention to detail. Too often, there were just two Hawks interested in rebounding the ball.

Drew on Jordan Crawford:

"Jordan gave us some really good minutes."

Jordan Crawford:

"It felt good to get out there and play. I’m just excited that I got the opportunity and I just tried to take advantage of it."

The Human Highlight Blog asks why the Hawks treat Al Horford "like a cherry on a jump shot sundae."

Return to Action Game Preview: Dallas (7-4) @ Atlanta (8-4)

TIP-OFF: 8pm (EST)

TELEVISION: SportSouth

RADIO: The Hawks have moved to 97.9 on the FM dial this season.

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Mavericks

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Pape Sy is out.

DALLAS INJURY REPORT: Rodrigue Beaubois is out.

BY THE NUMBERS

2010-11	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
DALL (off)	88.2	1.089	52.4	23	23.2	16.9
ATL (def)	91.5	1.066	49	27.3	28.2	14.4

2010-11	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
DALL (def)	88.2	1.046	46.9	26.3	27.7	15.7
ATL (off)	91	1.086	52.9	27.1	25.7	16.3

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: The Two Man Game

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -3, 192 o/u

PREVIOUSLY...the Dallas Mavericks lost 88-83 to Chicago Bulls at home last night. Dirk Nowitzki scored 36 points on 26 shots but received little help from his teammates who combined for 47 points on 49 field goal and 19 free throw attempts.

It was the second straight loss for the Mavericks following a stretch where they won six of seven.

Like the 2009-10 Atlanta Hawks, the 2009-10 Dallas Mavericks thrived offensively in large part due to not turning the ball over. Like the 2010-11 Atlanta Hawks, the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks have turned the ball over more often than the average NBA team but like this season's Hawks squad the Mavericks remain an above average offensive team on the strength of their shot-making.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Roughly 10 Hours Into Free Agency: An Update

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports expects Joe Johnson to take Atlanta's max offer:

The Atlanta Hawks offered Joe Johnson a six-year, $119 million contract Thursday morning, and sources close to the All-Star guard expect him to accept the max deal soon.

The Hawks moved quickly at midnight ET to try to secure their franchise star and offered the contract that Johnson’s agent Arn Tellem sought from the organization. Sources say ownership OK’d the max offer and general manager Rick Sund delivered it in Los Angeles.

After receiving the Hawks’ offer, Johnson met with a contingent from the New York Knicks that included coach Mike D’Antoni, Johnson’s former coach with the Phoenix Suns. Knicks GM Donnie Walsh didn’t attend.

The Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks were pushing for meetings with Johnson on Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles where they could discuss possible sign-and-trade scenarios. The Chicago Bulls also have interest in Johnson.

Frank Isola of The New York Daily News explains Walsh's absence (preparing to meet with LeBron) and that the Knicks really want Joe Johnson:

The Knicks were hoping to get a verbal commitment from Johnson, but that scenario was losing steam by the minute once it was reported that the Hawks were prepared to offer Johnson a maximum contract over six years. Re-signing with Atlanta would mean an additional $30 million for Johnson over the length of the contract than the maximum deal the Knicks could offer the four-time All-Star. The Knicks are also meeting with former Wizards forward Mike Miller, who like Johnson, is represented by Arn Tellem.

A person familiar with Johnson's thinking all but conceded that the guard would have no choice but to re-sign with the Hawks. Plus, there have been reports that Johnson, who was born and raised in Arkansas, has reservations about playing in New York and that he prefers his Atlanta lifestyle.

Arn Tellem may be the first big winner of free agency.

Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle speaks of Houston's interest in Joe Johnson in the past tense but adds the Miami Heat to the list of teams meeting with him:

The Atlanta Hawks were readying a maximum-contract offer for Joe Johnson that would likely keep him in Atlanta. Although the Rockets had considered pursuing Johnson, this could be good news for the Rockets if it takes Johnson out of a potential pairing with Bosh in New York.

Johnson was expected to begin the process with the Hawks, with conversations also expected in short order with the Knicks, Heat and Dallas Mavericks.

Braves & Birds joins the chorus questioning this decision, comparing the wisdom of offering Joe Johnson a max contract to Bob Bradley starting Ricardo Clark and Robbie Findley repeatedly in South Africa. Is this the month of supporting those who don't learn from their mistakes?

Mavericks 111 Hawks 103 (OT)

Boxscore

Hoopdata Boxscore

Gameflow

Highlights

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
DALL	93.2	1.192	56	8.7	31.6	14
ATL	93.2	1.106	44.7	18.9	28.3	7.5

If you want to know why the Hawks, a team almost guaranteed home-court advantage in the first-round of the playoffs, have the legitimacy of their chances to do much more than show up and compete in the second-round questioned* more than other teams in similar circumstances, compare and contrast them with the Dallas Mavericks in overtime.

*As well as why it's difficult to formulate a convincing counter-argument.

The Mavericks relentlessly attacked Atlanta's weakest link, Mike Bibby, throughout the extra period. With Bibby matched up against Jose Juan Barea they forced Bibby to defend the pick-and-roll. Bibby's two choices: to try and cut off the corner and deny Berea's dribble penetration, or, switch onto Dirk Nowitzki. The former is close to impossible for Bibby. The latter is far from ideal. With Bibby matched up against Jason Kidd, the Mavericks isolated Kidd on the right side (with Nowitzki shaded to the ball side beyond the top of the key), let him back Bibby down, and encouraged the only other Atlanta defender nearby (Josh Smith) to provide help defense. Once Smith helped off of Nowitzki, Kidd made a simple pass and Nowitzki, with no Atlanta defender in a position from which to rotate in time, made an open three. Despite this obvious, purposeful, and relentless attack against a poor defender, Mike Woodson left Bibby in the game until Dallas had the ball with the Hawks were down five with less than a minute left.

The Hawks, despite showing some intermittent understanding of and ability to break down the Dallas zone (a modified 2-3 that allowed Kidd, on the right side of the baseline, some freedom to wreak havoc), had no clear plan of attack. That may be giving them the benefit of the doubt. If they had a plan of attack it contained two parts: 1) Have Joe Johnson back down Barea (one of the two guys at the top of the Dallas zone) into the heart of the zone before A) taking a contested shot or B) passing out of traffic to a wide-open (natch) Josh Smith 20-feet from the basket for Smith to miss (natch, again) a jump shot just before the shot clock expires; 2) Have Johnson or Jamal Crawford keep the ball outside the three-point line until a half-chance for a three-point attempt presents itself.

The first part accounted for two empty possessions (plus Josh Smith's put-back that prevented the overtime shutout). The second part accounted for three empty possessions. The Hawks had ten overtime possessions in total. It's an extra shame that the offense imploded as it hummed so efficiently for most of the game* by the virtue of ball movement. The Hawks earned assists on 32 of their 38 made field goals. Five Hawks (Johnson, Smith, Al Horford, Bibby, and Crawford) tallied at least four assists. Many if not most of their free throw attempts were the result of good player and ball movement. Yet, still, what they're collectively best at is far from constant. There remains some disconnect in the understanding of how best practices lead to good results.

*Admittedly barring that 9:51 stretch in the first half where the Hawks didn't make a field goal though that stretch did include approximately as many missed open shots as did Dallas's 15-point third quarter.

On to the game's other talking point: Mike Woodson's fourth quarter technical. I've been critical of both the timing of and propensity for the head coach's technicals this season. This time, he got jobbed. Railroaded, even. The replays showed that Woodson had clearly gotten back* out of bounds before Kidd (himself with at least one foot out of bounds) made glancing contact with his outstretched left arm. The replays, though, only confirmed what was an obviously terrible call when witnessed live. Jason Kidd only came into contact with Mike Woodson because he, Kidd, veered suddenly to the left when approaching the Hawks' bench. Jason Kidd only came into contact with Mike Woodson because Kidd purposely dribbled the ball out of bounds.

*Oh, that one of Woodson's veteran guards had feet that quick.

It looked weird. It didn't look like a basketball play. It wasn't a basketball play. It was an attempt to con the refs and the refs fell for it. They waived the element of risk inherent in purposely dribbling the ball out of bounds in the pursuit of one point. If Kidd draws (or even creates) contact with a coach who's on the court, fair play to him. He didn't manage that but his failure didn't matter on a night where, otherwise, Kidd rarely failed.

It's a credit to Woodson (and his team) that he (and they) did not lose his (their) cool given the circumstances and the unjust penalty delivered upon him. It will be a discredit to every copycat who attempts to mimic this nationally televised bit of gamesmanship.

Jason Kidd:

"The coach is not supposed to be on the floor. You see that a lot in games. The NBA has so many rules, and there is a coaching box, and some of the coaches do stretch that box. For me, it's just a reaction. Make something happen. It was a big play for us."

Mike Woodson:

"He made a heck of a play. Jason Kidd is an All-Star, a Hall of Fame guard, and he’s had a hell of a career. He did what he had to do. I’ve got to take the hit on that. I shouldn’t have been on the floor."

Rick Carlisle:

"This is one for the ages. I don’t think there’s ever been a smarter player in this league than Jason Kidd."

Joe Johnson:

"It was a big deal. He just blatantly ran into our coach. I’ve never seen that.

Coaches are always on the floor, but nobody tries to run into them. I might have to try and do that."

Please don't.

The Human Highlight Blog:

Some call this veteran or savvy. We call it a "jerk" move.

Woodson was off the court, Kidd initiated contact, with a forearm shiver no less. It's not basketball, yet there it was.

Still, it had nothing to do with Kidd killing the Hawks with threes (3 of them in that run) or leading the charge of standing around in a zone while the Hawks continued to try to shoot over it with no success over and over again. And it certainly didn't take away from the statistically incredible night Kidd had. Bravo.

The Vent:

"They T'd Woody up. Okay fine, what's done is done. My question is simply this, WHY IN THE HELL WOULD MIKE WOODSON AGREE WITH THEM?

He should not be on record saying Kidd made a "heck of a play" and all the other nonsense he spewed after the game. He should be screaming at the top of his lungs that he made it off the court before Kidd came over and shoved him. Why is he going the opposite way? Whose side is he on? I've seen the replay, and it's not like there was overwhelming evidence against that theory. I'm blown away that he is going along with this Jason Kidd is a genius bullshit. Seriously, even if it turns out that there's indisputable evidence that you didn't make it off in time, you don't go into the post game press conference tipping your hat to him. You bitch and moan and act like Kidd just assaulted you like you were his wife. (yes, that was a cheap shot, but I'm mad)"

I get in less trouble for quoting the joke I lack the balls to make myself, don't I?

John Hollinger deems the play "unusually clever." I wonder if a look at the replay would change the good professor's mind.

Kurt Helin at Pro Basketball Talk:

Jason Kidd is a clever a%($hole.

At least his play was, drawing a technical on Atlanta coach Mike Woodson. Smart play. Good strategy. Got a technical free throw (made by Dirk), a point that helped send the game to overtime where his team went on to win.

Still an a*#$hole move.

As for the bulk of the game...

Joe Johnson:

"It kind of changed the game, but that’s not what lost the game for us. They went zone, and we couldn’t get no continuity on offense.

We just played one-on-one against the zone"

We?

Josh Smith:

"I think we settled too much in the zone instead of attacking. It really wasn’t an aggressive zone. They were just letting us shoot jump shots."

These would be perfectly fine and reasonable quotes were this the first time the Hawks had self-inflicted such a fate but as the good-natured Michael Cunningham trenchantly points out:

With the notable exception of the Jazz game, show some resistance against the Hawks late in games and they will stop moving the ball to get better shots.

Courtesy of ESPN Stats and Information: The Hawks were 1-9 from the field in the game (0-4 in the fourth quarter and overtime) against Dallas's zone.

Mark Bradley:

A really good team doesn’t lose games like this, and that’s what the Hawks aspire to become and, for tantalizing stretches, seem to be. But how do you lose on a night when a technical foul against your coach for brushing the opposing point guard is the difference between winning in regulation and walking off with various manifestations of egg — scrambled, poached, everything except sunny-side-up — on your face.

Again, Kurt Helin at Pro Basketball Talk:

Personally, I give this win to Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. For the fourth quarter, down 15 with 8 minutes to go, he broke out the zone defense, and the Hawks turned into the UCLA Bruins. This year's UCLA Bruins. They seemed confused and couldn't hit the outside shot.

February 26th Open Thread: Dallas (37-21) @ Atlanta (36-20)

TIP-OFF: 7pm (EST)

TELEVISION: ESPN, ESPN360

CHAT: Daily Dime Live (in which I will not be able to participate)

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Mavericks

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

DALLAS INJURY/ABSENCE REPORT: Caron Butler is probable. Erick Dampier is out. Tim Thomas is not with the team for personal reasons.

BY THE NUMBERS

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
DALL (off)	90.8	1.099	49.7	23.3	24.8	14.3
ATL (def)	89.5	1.077	49.8	27.8	27.4	15.9

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
DALL (def)	90.8	1.077	49.5	26.7	25.7	15.7
ATL (off)	89.5	1.125	50.3	21.8	27.2	13.3

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -3, 194.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: The Two Man Game, DallasBasketball.com, Mavs Moneyball

PREVIOUSLY, THE DALLAS MAVERICKS...beat the Los Angeles Lakers 101-96 on TK for their fifth straight win. They've not lost since acquiring Caron Butler (who missed the Lakers game due to an adverse reaction to medication), Brendan Haywood, and, to a far, far lesser extent DeShawn Stevenson from the Wizards. Their current win streak includes a 95-85 win in Orlando last Friday.

The Hawks beat the Mavericks 80-75 in Dallas on December 5th.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Hawks 80 Mavericks 75

Boxscore

Gameflow

Highlights

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	85.6	0.935	37.1	15.7	29.1	10.5
DALL	85.6	0.877	43.3	35.8	17.1	18.7

Jamal Crawford:

"It's a big win. If you asked people, they probably would have thought we'd win [Friday] night and lose [Saturday]. It flip-flopped. The league is funny like that sometimes."

One night, the Hawks show capacity to slow down the Knick offense at home. The next night, the Hawks thoroughly stifle the Maverick offense in Dallas. This is why I don't write preview posts. This is also why professional basketball fascinates. Two teams, two good teams turned in good efforts that created highly improbable results.

If losing to New York Friday night at home felt like giving a game away, last night's win had to feel like stealing one. Atlanta suffered through 16- and 14-point quarters. The Hawks didn't make a field goal, scoring just one point in the final 7:19 of the second quarter. Dallas reduced a 13-point deficit to a single point during that stretch* and took the lead by scoring the first two baskets of the second half.

*It's difficult to credit Dallas with making a run as they went scoreless themselves for 4:18 of that stretch.

Dallas couldn't push their lead past four points. The Hawks got even less than a minute after that Maverick high-water mark, never trailed again, and took the lead for good on a Joe Johnson runner that put them up 66-64 with 10:25 left in the game.

Last night was an example of why, even when arguing that Joe Johnson needn't try and carry the offense every night, one must acknowledge he can and will be called upon to carry the offense some nights. Johnson made 13 of 24 field goals (his teammates were 19 of 65) and all four of his free throws (his teammates made 10 of 18 from the stripe) to score 31 of Atlanta's 80 points. The Hawks needed Johnson's productivity as Dirk Nowitzki was doing similar things for Dallas, scoring 32 of their 75 points on 24 shots of his own. With the All-Stars largely canceling each other out, the difference between victory and defeat may have been* that the other Hawks rebounded better and turned the ball over less often** even if they shot the ball worse than their Maverick counterparts.

*Without discounting the obvious fact that neither team has a chance to win if Johnson or Nowitzki doesn't score an out-sized portion of the team's points.

**The Hawks did turn the ball over one more time than the official record shows as Al Horford clearly committed a backcourt violation with the Hawks up 3 and less than 10 seconds remaining.

I don't think the Hawks planned to play a lot of 80-75 games this season* but for a game wherein Josh Smith and Al Horford grabbed just 12 rebounds while committing 10 fouls, Mike Bibby made just one of nine shots, Marvin Williams just one of seven, and Jamal Crawford just three of twelve, a couple of things went comfortingly according to plan.

*Mike Woodson's not complaining:

"It was one of those old, ugly, drawn-out games, but it's the kind of game sometimes I like."

Points for honesty and self-awareness.

Johnson was an effective primary scoring option. Williams was a major contributor on the defensive glass. Perhaps most importantly, Joe Smith provided competent relief to a starter (Josh Smith) in foul trouble. Joe Smith scored six points on four shots and grabbed four rebounds in a 10-minute stint that stretched from late in the third through most of the fourth quarter. Credit is also due Mike Woodson for not overreacting to Al Horford's fifth foul sitting him for just 1:52 before bringing him back for the final 5:16 of the game.

Joe Johnson:

"I thought we showed a lot of guts coming off a tough back-to-back to come in against a team as good as Dallas and win."

Mike Woodson:

"Joe was huge tonight. I thought when they went zone, we hung in there and made plays against the zone we needed to, and that's kind of what got us the spurt we needed and we were able to hold on."

Rick Carlisle:

"Once again, we struggled to shoot the ball and some of that certainly was Atlanta. They have length and they are hard to score against."

Chris Duhon will drink to that, coach.

The Human Highlight Blog is more torn between outcome and philosophy than am I though I'm feeling more torn after having read that.

Josh Smith is a year older, but little wiser one front:

Asked what he had learned from being ejected from the team's Friday night loss to New York, Smith said, "not to mess with sensitive referees, I guess," before laughing. "I didn't really say anything to get kicked out like that, but the lesson learned is just don't say anything at all," Smith said.

December 5th Game Thread: Atlanta (13-6) @ Dallas (14-6)

TIP-OFF: 9pm (EST)

TELEVISION: Fox Sport South

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Mavericks

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: None.

DALLAS INJURY REPORT: Josh Howard and Quinton Ross are out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Dallas -4.5, 204.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: The Two Man Game

PREVIOUSLY, THE DALLAS MAVERICKS...lost 82-98 at Memphis last night, scoring just 31 points in the second half, providing a fair challenge to the Hawks in the which team had a worse night last stakes.

After the game, Rick Carlisle echoed Mike Woodson's comments in Atlanta:

"We didn't defend well enough at the beginning of the game or really at any point or any stretch of the game."

Since losing to Washington on opening night, Dallas have won seven straight home games.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

A Brief Word

Mike Bibby is day-to-day.

I'm hip-deep in research regarding 11-2 starts and 11-2 streaks. Expect a post on that tomorrow. Something else to watch for tomorrow, related to the previous sentence: the Dallas Mavericks have had at least one 11-2 stretch each of the last eight seasons. They currently have won 10 of 12 and host Golden State Tuesday night which appears an excellent opportunity to make it nine seasons in a row.

Hawks 95 Mavericks 87

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
DALL	91.7	0.95	43.8	14.6	34.8	14.2
ATL	91.7	1.04	49.4	24.7	19.5	15.3

The second quarter exemplified the Hawks at their best: alternating three-pointers with layups/dunks, keeping their opponent out of the paint, forcing the occasional turnover, and doing an effective job on the defensive glass. Most impressive is that the bulk of the Hawks' 18-0 run came while playing 4-on-5. Mike Woodson saw something so distasteful in Acie Law IV's one minute and four second of play in the second quarter that he felt the need to yank Law from the game (never to return) in favor of letting Mario West not keep Jason Terry in front of him for the next 3:41 while also continuing to be a comical non-factor offensively.

The second half was something of a different story. The Hawks struggled to score (37.3 eFG%, 62.5 FT%) and they took their recently re-implemented defensive strategy of forcing opponents into shooting jump shots to a dangerous extreme. In the second half, Dallas had the ball down eight or fewer points on 25 possessions. On those possessions they were 6-23 from the field, 7-10 from the line, and turned the ball over four times. They scored 21 points on those 25 possessions, failing miserably to take advantage of their own solid defensive performance in the second half.

Now, it wasn't strictly a case of Dallas* missing open shots. Atlanta did some good things defensively, none more important than frustrating Dirk Nowitzki with physical defense. Certainly, on a different night with a different officiating crew Nowitzki would have attempted more than four free throws. Last night, though, the Hawks figured out that they could bang with Nowitzki before and after he received the ball in the high post, and, to their credit, they took full advantage even gaining the benefit of three points on technical fouls drawn as a direct result of defense on Nowitzki that he and Rick Carlisle found unduly restrictive.

*It might have strictly been a case of Jason Terry missing open shots.

Carlisle:

"I thought Dirk was being held and pushed and got fouled repeatedly. I kept asking for a foul to be called, but it wasn't. I turned to the official and just got thrown out."

Final mention must got to Flip Murray who flourished against a team unable to put a big guard on him. Murray got going by backing down Jose Juan Berea a couple of times early in the second quarter before diversifying his game with a corner three, a couple of transition buckets, and three trips to the free throw line.

Mike Woodson:

"The main quarter that counts is the fourth quarter, and we've been pretty good this year in the fourth quarter. That's where the game was won tonight, I thought."

Scoring by quarter:

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
DALL	29	16	27	15
ATL	23	33	20	19

LINKS

• Micah Hart notes that two of the five 7+ game homestands in Atlanta Hawks franchise history have occurred this season.
• At DallasBasketball.com Mike Fisher found two positives for the Mavs to take away from the loss: Ryan Hollins and effort.
• I am partially responsible for ruining TrueHoop. Didn't take long, either.
  

March 19th Open Thread: Dallas (41-27) @ Atlanta (40-28)

TIP-OFF: 7pm

TELEVISION: Fox Sports South HD

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Mavericks

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Marvin Williams is out.

DALLAS INJURY REPORT: Josh Howard, Devean George, and Jerry Stackhouse are out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -5, 196 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: The Two Man Game, Mavs Moneyball

PREVIOUSLY THE DALLAS MAVERICKS...beat Detroit 103-101 on Tuesday night to push their odds of making the playoffs up to 83.5%. They beat the Hawks 100-98 in Dallas on December 6th.

The Hawks beat the Kings 105-100 in Sacramento on February 18th.

Consider this an open thread for all pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts.

Peak Ahead: Milwaukee Bucks

In lieu of news to report second-hand, I'll aggregate...

The Milwaukee Bucks, now headed to Atlanta, delivered a comprehensive 133-99 beating to the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night. Most impressive stat line for the Bucks? Either Charlie Villanueva's 32 points (12-17 FGA, 4-7 3PTA, 4-5 FTA) and 10 rebounds in 32:58 or Ramon Sessions' 21 points (7-7 FGA, 1-1 3PTA, 6-7 FTA) and 7 assists in 25:21. I give the nod to Villanueva. Sessions* turned it over 5 times. Most impressive of all, though, might be that the Bucks played so well without Andrew Bogut (sore back). It was the fourth straight game Bogut missed. No word yet if he'll make the trip to Atlanta** or play Friday night.

Brew Hoop has a typically thorough recap of the game.

Dirk Nowitzki provides the Maverick perspective:

"It's just embarrassing, really. They got whatever they wanted -- wide-open shots, drives, layups."

Further Mavericks reading: The Two Man Game.

*Should Hawks fans be more jealous that Milwaukee is capable of recognizing, acquiring, and using a good, young point guard or that they were able to use a second-round pick to acquire any type of valuable player? Yes, that counts as a Solomon Jones reference.

**Like Al Horford, Bogut stayed home on Milwaukee's recent three-game West Coast swing.

Summer League: Hawks 89 Mavericks 74

Box Score (.pdf)

Eyewitness Account

By the box score, Luke Jackson had an outstanding game (20 points on 9 shots, 5-7 3PTA, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, no turnovers). Everybody shot the ball effectively save for Acie Law IV (3-13) and Speedy Claxton (2-7). Claxton had 7 assists against 4 turnovers.

The Hawks play the Jazz tonight.

Mavericks 97 Hawks 84

Boxscore

Gameflow

On the bright side, the Hawks played the Mavericks even after falling behind 12-0 to start the game. Also, Acie Law IV played a sort of effective offensive game.

Hawks 101 Mavericks 94

Boxscore

Gameflow

I suspect neither team will be satisfied with their performance last night. Dirk Nowitzki missed a handful of open three-pointers, preventing the short-handed Mavericks (without Josh Howard and, for the last 27:35 of the game, Devin Harris) from ever taking control of the game.

It's a good win for an Atlanta team that figures to be an underdog in each of their next four games (@Detroit, @New Jersey, Phoenix, @Boston). It's especially good considering that:

1. Josh Childress played a horrible game.
2. Royal Ivey's departure did not prevent Mike Woodson from starting the worst available point guard.
3. Josh Smith attempted four three-pointers (making none) and played abysmal defense in the second half.
4. Mike Woodson either forgot that Al Horford is now playing in the NBA and it thus takes six personal fouls to disqualify him or does not yet recognize that Horford is a significantly better basketball player than Shelden Williams.

Elaborating...

1. I called Childress the "epitome of efficiency" earlier this week and then he opens the campaign by shooting 1-6 from the floor with two turnovers in just 18:47. He did grab six offensive boards and showed that a Childress/Smith/Horford frontcourt can be quite effective on the glass.

2. Anthony Johnson played just 7:55, going 0-1 from the field with a turnover and three personal fouls but wasn't nearly as effective as his line would indicate. His missed shot came after an obvious, ineffective, and uncalled traveling violation, and, of the three Hawks point guards who utterly failed to slow Harris, Jason Terry, and Jose Juan Berea (They combined to go 17-27 from the floor and 10-14 from the line. 45 points in 56:09.) only Johnson failed to make back some of the lost ground on the offensive end. Tyronn Lue and Acie Law IV combined for 22 points (from 14 FGA and 4 FTA), 7 assists, and 2 turnovers in just over 40 minutes. Just let them split all the minutes at point guard.

3. The first ill-advised Josh Smith three-point attempt occurred four minutes and twelve seconds into the season. It stood out in an otherwise outstanding first quarter from Smith: 9 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 2 turnovers. Over the last three quarters, he scored 9 more points (needing 9 FGA and 7 FTA to do so), grabbed five more rebounds, added no assists, no blocks, 1 steal, and turned the ball over four more times. He also spent the second half being exploited by Dallas's pick-and-roll and clearly not playing within the team's defensive concept. He flat-out ignored Acie Law IV and Marvin Williams in two separate incidents and put forth minimal effort throughout.

4. Horford was great last night. He may be the team's best player before the year's over. He's certainly the best big man already. For whatever reason, though, he spent the last eight-and-a-half minutes of the game on the bench. I don't have a problem with Woodson taking Horford out with 8:35 left in the game once he picked up his fifth foul unless he never puts him back in the game. Shelden Williams is a functional backup. Horford is a game-changer.

This roster may be good enough to expose Woodson's limitations as a coach. Sunday night's game at Detroit will be a tougher test than the home opener against a short-handed Dallas team. The players will have to play better than they did last night to get to 2-0. It probably won't matter how much better they play, though, if the best players aren't put the court.