But is there any reason in the world an Atlanta team loaded with raw talent is losing to a Bogut-less Bucks team?

This has to be a coaching issue. I honestly can't think of a team that has done less with as much talent as Atlanta has.

99 Blazers

For some reason their owners thought that the year the took Boston to 7 games was a good reason to give their coach an extension. I thought it was a perfect example of why their coach should of been fired. They run hardly any offense, and their defense is good only because of the talent they have. If they had someone who could bring some structure to that team, they would have been scary. But since I think there is no way Joe Johnson, who is one of the more talented and unknown players in the league, will be back it's all moot now.

"Fear the Deer"

TNT announcer at end of game and a Bucks win

They look so haphazard when they play. It's like the try to win on talent alone by just running pick and roll and isolation.

Horrible.

Orlando is gonna be nice and rested by the time they have to play the Cavs. I bet Boston take Cleve at least 6 games.

uhhh.... brandon jennings is really fast.....

remember when mike bibby was good?

Admittedly, I have no love for the Hawks coach, because he never gave Acie a chance, but I think I could coach as well as he does. He just stands there. No coaching going on at all. As Chuck and the boys said in the post-game show, the Hawks have NO half court offense. To me, that is purely on a coach.

Just looking at this roster makes me laugh. Finding someone who could draw up an effective half-court offense should be the easiest thing in the world, with as many weapons as they have.

Here's the tough thing with getting rid of Mike Woodson. Since the team hit all-time lows his first season as a coach (13-wins), they have improved every single year since.

It will be even tougher to fire him after this year's 53 win season, even though they look inept in these playoffs.

^Agree, but once getting to the playoffs becomes the norm, they are going to want to go up from there and I don't think he can do it for them. Improvement up to this point has been because of the talent they have been able to bring in.

I haven't watched a second of this series, but does Joe Johnson look like a player who will earn a max contract this offseason?

He is the same age as Finley was after 2001 when he got his max contract...

Whoever misses out on landing Lebron or DWade will give Johnson a nice contract. Probably not a max contract but something close. All reports seem to indicate he's got a great all-around game but if he isn't taking over games in this series with the talent around him I'm not sure he's ready just yet. He looked awful last night. Shut down by the fish and fouled out at a crucial point in the game.

I haven't seen enough of him to make a truly accurate assessment though.

If you were picking out the 20 top players (from only the 16 playoff teams) would any of the top 20 be from the current playoff roster of the Bucks?

He can play.

But he drawbacks;
He pretty much publicly stated that he would rather rake in the cash than win. Phoenix offered him almost as much as Atl. But he chose the Hawks over building a Suns team with a nucleus of Amare/Nash/Marion/Johnson/Barbaro/QRich/Paul Shirley.
Do you want to give max money to a guy who cares more about getting paid than winning?

FTA: He doesn't get to the line. 3.5 FTA/game for the season is pathetic for a 'star.' This year, Ginobili got to the line 4.7 times a game, and it was a ****ty year for Manu.

His per minute numbers:
20p/4.6a/4.4r per 36 minutes is kinda meh. .440/.370 is what you are going to get from him shooting.
Those number per 36 and those shooting percentages are about what you would get with Jason Terry.

Roddy B averaged 20/4/4 per 36.

There's not a chance anyone from that team would get near the top 20. They're a scrappy bunch though.

I especially liked the Jennings, Ridnour, Salmons, Stack, MBah a Moute lineup they went with. How the Hawks didn't go on a 20-0 run against that while the Buck bigs were in foul trouble I'll never know. Again, bad coaching.

Lots of athleticism, lots of blocks, play hard in the regular season... not fundamentally sound enough to go far in the playoffs. Easy fodder for good teams, and beatable by bad ones.

Iowaggie: Hell no. You might even say top 30 or 40.

quote:

---

Suns team with a nucleus of Amare/Nash/Marion/Johnson/Barbaro/QRich/Paul Shirley

---

well done, sir

Bucks mascot with a back flip off a 20-25 foot high ladder and reverse slam is the main reason I'm now pulling for the Bucks in the NBA playoffs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3umtw179KA

^ that was sick.

Hawks are the least fundamental team in the NBA. If they had a coach like Adelman, Brown, Jackson, or Pop, team would be scary as ****. Woodson needs to go and the Hawks need to look at someone like JVG maybe. Then they will be a 1 or 2 seed.