Look Ma!!! We're In The Play-Offs!!!

On Sunday, the Hawks lost by 23 to the Celtics in Game 1 of their first play-off series since Babe Ruth was alive last. They played the game in a smoke filled arena that looked like a bad frat party. The Hawks looked more like the opponents of the first "Dream Team" at the Olympics. They played the majority of the game standing around watching in awe of the Celtics who are a far superior team. I was expecting that eventually the Hawks players would stop playing and start posing for pictures with KG and Sam Cassell.

"Look ma, I was actually on the same floor with KG and a space alien!!!"

In all semi-seriousness, the Hawks looked like the Italian team against the first Dream Team. It all fits as the Hawks has never been in a smoky arena playing a play-off game since 1999. They stood around in awe. They played scared most of the game. The first eleven minutes of the game the Hawks made no attempt to challenge the Celtic on offense or on defense. They played scattered and haphazardly all over the court chasing the Celtic players around. For the next seven minutes the Hawks challenged the Celtics by charging to the paint and actually aggressively guarding the Celtics in the half-court. As a result, the Hawks pulled within two points mid-way through the second quarter. Inexplicibly, the Hawks players on the court must of collectively thought:

"Holy s#%*!! We're not supposed to even come close to this team. Let's stand down."

For the remainder of game, which watching it for me felt like passing a Volkswagon out of my ass, the Hawks played scared. They played in awe of the Celtics. They backed off particularily on the offensive side of the court. They stopped challenging the paint. They stopped charging the boards. They fell in love with the jump shot to diasterous results. The team shot 36% from the field overall and 22% beyond the three-point line. The reason for these low numbers was a mix of fear and awe. They played without confidence. They played as if they knew they had no chance to win. The starters on the court shot 32% from the field (which is not enough to even beat the Italian national team). There was one highlight which was Al Horford who played well beyond being a rookie. Horford led all scorers with 20 points plus 10 rebounds. Horford took advantage of the only match-up on the court that is a push with the Celtics (vs. Perkins who scored three points and picked up six boards). That may be the only hope for the future of the series, but only if they will have guts enough to push the ball into the paint for Horford to take advantage of the match-up. Woodson is now down to his last three games and he and the Hawks have a choice: Play with guts and go down fighting or be the Italian national team.