USC Head Coach Pete Carroll will be the next coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

 ESPN reports that many sources have confirmed this early Saturday.

In my opinion, this is a mistake.  Carroll was the perfect fit at USC.  He obviously is a very good recruiter, and his "Ra Ra" attitude works well in the college game, I am not sure it is a good fit for the pros.  This season was not what the Trojans hoped for.  They ended up in a meaningless bowl game against Boston College.  Some questioned if the Trojans would care.  They obviously do not know how Carroll is able to get a college team fired up.  USC had no problem taking care of BC.  But I doubt that he can do the same thing when Seattle is playing a meaningless game against the St. Louis Rams next December.

Pete Carroll has been on the pro coach's carousel before.  He coached the Jets in 1994.  They finished 6-10, and there were reports the team quit on him.  He went to the Patriots in 1997, after the Pats lost to the Superbowl to the Packers and Bill Parcells ran away to New Jersey.  Every year was a decline for New England, as the Parcells' era faded away.  New England won 10 games in 1997, and went 1-1 in the playoffs.  They won 9 games in 1998, and lost the opening round of the playoffs.  They won 8 games in 1999.  that was the end of Pete Carroll with the Patriots.  He has a 33-31 record at the pro level.

Look what happened to the Patriots after Carroll left.  They entered a period in the beginning of the 2000s that could be described as a dynasty.  Now look at the Seahawks team that Carroll is going to.  They fired Jim Mora after one season.  Mike Holmgren is gone.  The team plays in the weakest division.  Still, maybe that is what attracts Carroll to the job.  It might be a chance to be in control and turn around a team in a division that is not very competitive right now.  Or it may be a chance to jump on the carousel for another ride in a circle before you get thrown off again.

After game one of the Hawks-Heat series I wrote this:
"The problem with the Hawks is that at some point they will show why they were just the fourth seed and didn't compete for a higher seed thanks to their inconsistency and mental lapses on defense."

I'm not going to pat myself on the back or start a psychic friends network any time soon.  What I wrote was plainly obvious to anyone who watched the Hawks at all this season.  I don't want to take anything away from Miami.  Erik Spoelstra got them ready to play, they played much better defense, the supporting cast, most notably Daequan Cook, stepped up and Dwyane Wade showed why he is an NBA Finals MVP and the likely runner up for this year's MVP award.

Still, 41 point swings from game one to game two don't happen just because one team elevates its level of play.  As fantastic as Atlanta played in game one, it wouldn't have been a 26 point blowout without Miami's dreadful effort.  Last night wouldn't have been a 15 point game had Atlanta not been bad themselves.  The defensive effort and energy level wasn't the same as in game one.  They dug themselves a hole early with turnovers and mental mistakes and were never able to dig out of it. 

The Hawks were down 13 at halftime and trailed by 16 with three and a half minutes left in the third quarter.  Unlike Miami in game one, the Hawks did make a run. They cut it to five with just under five minutes left in the game before a back breaking sequence of events.  The teams traded hoops and Miami went back up seven before Joe Johnson got fouled.  Joe missed both free throws, but Josh Smith got a rebound and hit Joe who missed a three badly.  Dwyane Wade then hit a back breaking, fade away 29 foot three pointer to put the Heat up ten and ice the game.

Now, momentum is clearly on Miami's side as they take home court advantage back to South Beach.  The Hawks are left to scramble and get it back, which will be tough since they were a bad road team all season.  The Hawks last win over a 2009 playoff team on the road came on January 20th and after that they were relatively uncompetitive on the road against playoff teams, keeping only a couple of losing margins under 10 after erasing big defecits and making the final score closer than the game actually was.  Their last game in Miami they went 13 minutes without a field goal in the first half scoring only 27 points in the half and ended up losing by 16.  I guess the bright spot in all of this is that Atlanta did get one of its 16 road wins this season in Miami, although that game was in early December. 

The words from Coach Mike Woodson were even more troubling.  I got a chance to talk to him after shootaround yesterday about home court advantage, and his words didn't exactly give me comfort now in retrospect, "We played to put ourselves in this position during the regular season so yes this is important," Woodson said.  "We have to continue to handle our business at home and then you figure out the road once you get out there."

For a team that seemed lost a lot of nights on the road this season the Hawks are going to have to figure out the road quickly or they'll be watching the conference semi-finals from home.  For a team that won 47 regular season games and won three out of four against its first round opponent, a series loss would be devastating to the positive momentum the franchise made this season. 

The Lineup:
Point Guard - Mike Bibby
Bibby has been a big reason the Hawks improved from 38 wins to 46 wins currently.  When the Hawks acquired Bibby in 2007 he was coming off an injury and not completely in game shape.  A foot injury suffered in one of his first games with the Hawks and a work load he wasn't quite in game shape for led to him fading down the stretch.  A full offseason with the team helped him to gel with his teammates and he entered the season healthy.  Bibby isn't the assist man you'd hope your point would be, but he's been a deadly three point shooter for the Hawks most of the season, although there is reason for concern as his shooting numbers have tapered off late in the season.  He's a defensive liability, so you hope his offensive game will offset his defensive liabilities.

 

Shooting Guard - Joe Johnson
Plain and simple, Joe Johnson is the heart and soul of the Atlanta Hawks.  Much has been made about Bibby's shooting, Josh Smith's inconsistency, the necessity of getting Al Horford more involved with the offense, the willingness of Mike Woodson (or lack thereof) to play the bench, but the fact remains: As Joe goes, so go the Hawks.  He's the most explosive scorer and he's the team's best distributor.  Joe has the capability to go over 30 points in any game, but the Hawks are at their best when Joe goes over 20 points with 6 assists or more.  He doesn't take over games as often as you'd like your star player to, but he can take over games, just like he did in game four of last year's first round series with Boston.

Small Forward - Marvin Williams
Did you know the Hawks passed up Chris Paul and Deron Williams to draft Marvin?  It's written in law somewhere to mention that whenever Marvin Williams' name comes up.  Pretty quietly this year Marvin began to scratch the surface of his potential until a back injury derailed his season down the stretch.  As a guy who barely even shot three pointers in his first three years, Marvin showed a vastly improved outside shot early in the season.  As the season progressed he became more confident in his ball handling abilities and his dribble penetration skills.   He's the Hawks second best natural scorer inside and out.  He's also been charged with defending many of the NBA's best players at the Small Forward position and did a pretty admirable job most of the time.  He's a huge question mark in these playoffs.  He missed 16 games with a back injury and only returned to the Hawks lineup, in limited action, this past Friday night. 

Power Forward - Josh Smith
The main source of debate among Hawks fans, Smith is one of the hardest players in the NBA to figure out.  At times he's a dominant force blocking shots, throwing down earth rumbling dunks and making passes on a dime to Al Horford for a dunk or Joe or Bibby for a three.  At other times he falls in love with his mediocre jump shot, dribbles the ball off his foot and throws his passes into the second row.  His blowups with coach Mike Woodson have become an annual rite of Spring in Atlanta.  There's almost no way to predict whether Josh will be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde on any given night, which makes him one of the most frustrating players in the NBA to watch.  If bad Josh shows up, you usually see it early in games, but there is no denying that nobody on this team can ignite his teammates, and the fans at Phillips Arena, with a high energy play like Smoove can.

Center - Al Horford
Horford is a high energy, super athletic big man who continues to get better rebounding and on the offensive side of the ball.  The Hawks coaching staff has done him a disservice not helping him develop his raw, but impressive, offensive skills more or taking advantage of his passing ability which is among the best in the NBA among Centers.  He's undersized for a Center so he gets washed out at times against bigger guys, but he's a relentless player with an undeniable swagger which is an attitude the Hawks need at times given Joe Johnson's lead-by-example nature.

The Bench
Flip Murray
The journeyman guard has been a godsend for the Hawks.  Jason Terry might have better offensive numbers, but there is no sixth man who has been more valuable to his team this season than Flip has been to the Hawks.  He's aggressive with the ball and also can shoot from the outside.  He's been huge down the stretch scoring in double figures off the bench in 12 of the last 13 games.  Murray has shown at times why he's best suited for a bench role with some poor shooting games, but by and large he's been as valuable as any starter in the Hawks lineup not named Joe Johnson.

Mo Evans
Evans is known as a fast starter, but fast fader and that's been the case in Atlanta.  Evans is at his best coming off the bench providing good defense and hitting a few open shots here and there.  He's been relatively ineffective filling in for Marvin Williams while Williams was out with his back injury, but if Williams can stay healthy, Evans will be a key component for the Hawks bench in the playoffs.

Zaza Pachulia
Another Jekyll and Hyde player.  The back-up Center is a relentless rebounder and aggressive offensive player inside when he wants to be, but a lot of the time he looks aloof out there.  He became a cult hero last playoffs when he got in Kevin Garnett's face and starred in a brilliant Rocky parody filmed by the Hawks a/v staff.  If he's motivated he'll provide big minutes for the Hawks in the postseason, if he's aloof Woodson will keep him on the bench.

Mario West
A self made player who walked on to the team at Georgia Tech and did the NBA equivalent with the Hawks.  He has NO offensive ability, but he gives 110 percent every second he's on the floor.  He's a good defender and has explosive dunking ability.  He's going to see limited time, but he's a fan favorite and a hustle guy through and through.

Solomon Jones
Jones finds himself hidden on the bench most of the time, which is odd because he is a solid rebounder and gives the Hawks maximum effort whenever he's in the game.  He's not much of a scoring pressence, but he can put back dunks off rebounds and has an ok shot.  Woodson needs to use him just keep everyone fresh.

Acie Law
the second year point guard has fizzled in Atlanta since his style of play doesn't jive with what Mike Woodson wants out of his Point Guard.  He's currently injured and should be a non factor in the playoffs.   

The Coach
Mike Woodson
Woody has been a controversial figure among Hawks fans.  He'll still be 100 games under .500 regardless of how the Hawks finish these last two games, but the Hawks have increased from 13 to 26 to 30 to 37 to now 46 wins in his five seasons in Atlanta.  The fair question is, is this a result of Woodson's coaching or the Hawks having high draft picks practically every year (5th and 17th in '04, 2nd in '05, 5th in '06, 3rd and 11th in '07)?  Woodson has gotten this team to improve defensively every year, but the team has no offensive sets and he allows the offense to bog down far too often relying on Joe Johnson to dribble for 20 seconds and shoot rather than take advantage of the other offensive weapons.

Best Case Scenario
Joe Johnson is scoring, distributing and taking over games late.  Bibby is deadly from three point range.  Marvin Williams is flowing within the offense and hitting threes and being aggressive with the ball when need be all the while playing outstanding defense.  Josh Smith is aggressive with the ball around the hoop, doesn't settle for jump shots and ignites the crowd with huge blocks and dunks.  Al Horford is a monster on the boards and scores around the rim.  Flip scores 10-15 points off the bench with aggressive play and efficient shooting.  Mo Evans plays great D off the bench.  Zaza plays like a man possessed.  The Hawks as a team commit to playing great team defense.  They take everything D-Wade has and more, but fight off the Heat in 6 games.  They then take Cleveland to a stunning seven games, winning three hard fought, exciting games at home and getting blown out four times in Cleveland.

Worst Case Scenario
Joe is off, forcing shots, and being relatively ineffective.  Bibby can't hit water if he fell out of a boat.  Marvin is tentative and won't take open shots and will just pass the ball whenever he gets rather than be aggressive.  Bad Josh shows up taking terrible jumpers and turning the ball over.  Horford gets in foul trouble early and forces his offense.  Zaza plays like he's coming off a three day drinking binge instead of just looking like it.  The refs do everything in their power to get a Wade-LeBron matchup in round two.  Hawks fall in 6 to the Heat.

Prediction
The Hawks are a better team than Miami, but Dwyane Wade can keep any game close.  Couple that with the fact that the NBA is going to do whatever they can to get a Wade-Lebron matchup in round two so all the close calls will go Miami's way late.  I still think talent rises, and the Hawks are better so I think they win in 7 games over Miami before pushing Cleveland at home.  I think Lebron gets one gift call late in a game in Atlanta and Cleveland wins three blowouts in Cleveland and one in Atlanta, but the Hawks take two from the Cavs and bow out in a valiant six game effort.

From crashingtheglass.com

LeBron "The King" James and the Cleveland Cavaliers did just enough to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 88-87 Sunday evening. 

The Hawks, despite their flashy 20-6 home record, knew that hosting James and his elite Cavaliers would be a challenge.  Atlanta stayed close through the first quarter, with Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams trading shots with Cleveland's Mo Williams and Zydrunas Illgauskas.  But early in the second quarter, the Cavaliers started to pull away.  The listless Atlanta crowd grew quiet, as The King snatched a fast-break pass in mid-air, driving to the basket... 

And was locked from behind by Atlanta's Josh Smith, the youngest player in NBA history to reach 800 career blocks.  Before the faithful have time to stop screaming, Smith is on the other end of the floor, cleaning up  a Joe Johnson miss with a vociferous dunk. 

It was the Hawks collective defensive effort, along with a couple of standout performances from guard Ronald "Flip" Murray (14 points)  and ZaZa Pachulia (11 points, 6 offensive rebounds) that kept Atlanta in the game.  Late in the fourth quarter, the Hawks had a 3-point lead on the strength of a Marvin Williams three-pointer, only to watch Mo Williams sink a pull-up three on the other end of the floor.  With the score tied, Johnson couldn't score, and with 1.6 seconds left, James blew a lay-up on the other end- and was the benificiary of an awful foul call.

After watching James hit one of his two free-throws, Marvin Williams inbounded the ball to Johnson, who got off an open shot- then watched with horror as it rimmed out while time expired.

The Cavaliers move to a breath-taking 46-12, while Atlanta slips to 33-26 on the year.

Shaquille O'Neal's 2009 resurgence continued in Atlanta Sunday evening as The Diesel led his Phoenix Suns past the Hawks 104-99.  The soon-to-be 37 year-old scored 23 points (7 of 9 from the floor) and grabbed 11 rebounds in nearly 39 minutes.  Phoenix guard Leandro "The Brazilian Blur" Barbosa (who gave Atlanta fits during their visit to Phoenix in January) scored 20 off the bench for the Suns, going 7 for 10 (3 for 4 from beyond the arc).

In a game where they led by as many as 7 points, the Hawks couldn't overcome the substantial size advantage for Phoenix in the paint.

Atlanta centers ZaZa Pachulia, Solomon Jones and Randolph Morris were all in foul trouble before the second half was even underway in a failed effort to contain O'Neal.  Forwards Marvin Williams (17 points) and Josh Smith (19 points, 11 rebounds) turned in solid efforts in the loss for Atlanta coach Mike Woodson, who is sorely missing the defensive presence of second year forward Al Horford, who's expected to return from injury late next week.

Joe Johnson and his Atlanta Hawks came within seconds of stealing a tough road win from the Dallas Mavericks Saturday evening in Texas.

But a frantic Atlanta rally was cut short when Hawks forward Josh Smith lost the handle on a fast break that ended with a furious slam-dunk from Mavericks center DeSagana Diop on the other end.  Johnson hit one last three-pointer as the clock expired, leaving Dallas on top 100-98. 

This was anyone's game at the half.  Johnson could not be stopped, hitting nearly every jumper and driving to the basket with floaters, hook shots, fade-aways...it was the best Johnson has played this season (32 points).  Smith was also active in the first half, and finished with 13 points and 9 rebounds, all while keeping former MVP  Dirk Nowitzki (relatively) in check. 

Hawks center Al Horford did not play due to a minor ankle injury, but his replacements (ZaZa Pachulia and Solomon Jones) performed admirably against the much larger Mavericks frontline, going for a combined 17 points and 14 rebounds.  Beyond Jones, the Atlanta bench came up woefully short tonight, with guards Acie Law, Ronald "Flip" Murray  and forward Mo Evans  scoring only 4 points total.

But neither the short bench or Nowitzki would be the ultimate undoing for Atlanta.  The Hawks, for the second year in  a row, could not find an answer for Dallas guard Juan Barea.

Mavericks coach Jim Carrey, er, Rick Carlisle has been starting the diminutive Puerto Rican at shooting guard, in an effort (I suppose) to win Jason "The Jet" Terry a sixth man award at seasons end.  Barea, of course, is a natural point guard- but Dallas is stuck with the ghost of Jason Kidd at that position.  While Kidd largely did nothing in this game (2 points, 8 assists), Barea opened the third quarter with a series of lay-ups, pull-up jumpers and circus shots to propel the Mavericks to a 19 point lead.  A handful of Hawks tried their hand at guarding Barea during his run, but no one could match his speed in the lane.  Barea finished with 22 points in close to 32 minutes.

The Hawks will travel to the second destination on their dreaded NBA "Texas Triangle" road trip Tuesday to face Barea's lunar opposite- the gargantuan Yao Ming and his powerhouse Houston Rockets squad.

In a game that featured thirty-four turnovers and sixty three-point attempts, the Atlanta Hawks edged the New York Knicks 98-95 in Atlanta Friday night.  It's a good thing the lovely (and oh, is she lovely) R&B star Ciara was in the building; she offset what was an ugly contest on the floor.  Forward Marvin Williams led the Hawks with 18 points, and forward Josh Smith scored 16 points and had 2 blocks and 3 steals.  But the key  contributors for Atlanta in this win were in the backcourt.

Starting guards Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby scored 17 and 10 respectively, but dished out 16 assists between them.  Johnson, of course, continued to play at an All-Star level on both sides of the floor, playing a team-high 44 minutes.  And in regards to Bibby...

Time to bust one of the biggest myths in the NBA- Mike Bibby is NOT a shoot-first point guard.  Whatever his role was in California, he's a distributor here, and an effective one at that.  Bibby had nine assists tonight, but watching him play you get the impression that he's really not interested in the statistical totals.  He's focused on fundamentals, perimeter defense, and running the offense.  In less than a year Bibby seems to have a better understanding of Mike Woodson's system than anyone else on the team. 

So pinch yourselves, Hawks fans- Atlanta is sitting pretty at 12-6, two games back of Superman and his Orlando Magic in the Southeast division.  The Hawks have the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference,

And they STILL lead the league in three-point percentage (42%).

The Hawks will tip off in Dallas tomorrow night at 8:40 p.m. (eastern time).

The Atlanta Hawks moved to 5-1 at Phillips arena this season and 9-4 overall with a solid win over a young (but certainly talented) Milwaukee Bucks team Wednesday night, 102-96.  Hawks forward Al Horford had a big night, scoring 21 and grabbing 9 rebounds in the win.  Point guard Mike Bibby and forward Marvin Williams contributed 18 points a piece, and guards Joe Johnson and Ronald "Flip" Murray  scored 15 and 16 points respectively.

The keys to  Atlanta's offense tonight?   You can see it in the numbers:  balance,  effective  ball  movement, and good shot selection (50 % as a team from  the  field).   

The scoring balance is critical, because with Josh Smith sidelined, they've been forced to find a lot of offense from a variety of players.  It's too much to expect Joe "the basketball player" to shoulder that burden alone, particularly on nights like this one when he  struggles to  find his normal comfort level. 

When the Hawks are clicking, the box score should look similar to a Detroit Pistons box score from a few years back- five, six, maybe seven players in double digits.  Tonight Atlanta had five.

The Bucks only had three, forward Richard Jefferson (25), forward Charlie Villanueva (19), and guard Ramon Sessions (21).  Milwaukee came into tonight's game without the services of their starting center, Andrew Bogut, and their starting  two guard, Micheal Redd.  But Scott Skiles team fought through fifeteen turnovers, five blocked shots and a gruesome showing from beyond the arc (16.7%) to stay close throughout regulation. 

But in the end Al Horford was just too much for the Bucks frontcourt to handle, hitting  nine of twelve field  goals.  As good a night as Horford had,  his teammate ZaZa  Pachulia had an equally bad one.  

When he was unable (or was it unwilling) to stop Bucks  center Dan Gadzuric early in the first quarter, Hawks coach Mike  Woodson  banished the Georgian  to the bench, where he remained until the start of the second  half.  Pachulia finished with 2 points  and 2 rebounds in a little over ten minutes. 

While overshadowed by Horford's strong showing, Marvin Williams  turned in  another solid performance tonight, going 9 of 10 from the free-throw line and pulling down five rebounds.  One of the bright spots since the injury to Smith has been the continued evolution of Marvin's overall game.  He's spent a lot of time on time on the block since then, and he's held his own defensively.  Offensively, he hasn't let his success with the three-ball (50%, good enough for seventh in the league) prevent him from driving aggressively to the basket-and finishing.   Williams is  using his size and strength to his advantage, something  he hasn't done consistently before this year. 

Kind of like hitting all of those threes. 

On Saturday the Hawks will travel to Toronto, where the Raptors are surely eager to avenge their loss in Atlanta three weeks ago.  Atlanta will follow that game with a trip to Washington D.C. to face the Wizards Sunday night.

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