MVN - Most Valuable Network

Hawks Stay in Playoff Hunt With Milwaukee Win

After an extremely disappointing loss against Chicago on Tuesday night, the Hawks rebounded well last night with a victory against the Milwaukee Bucks.

On Tuesday in Chicago, Atlanta just couldn’t hold onto their lead and a couple of Bulls players got hot and took over the game for the home squad. At times Chicago just couldn’t miss, and Atlanta was having trouble keeping up, especially in the third quarter, when the Hawks were outscored 28-14. That basically finished things up for the young birds. They could not mount enough of a comeback in the fourth quarter to pull out a victory, even though they made a valiant effort.

Atlanta managed to stave off a couple of huge quarters from Drew Gooden and Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, but in the end they just could not keep up as their poor shooting and turnovers betrayed them. Gooden also looked like an absolute monster as he just dominated at times. If he played against the Hawks every night it appears that he would be an All-Star easy every year and the trade would have been a steal in favor of the Bulls.

The loss was mostly painful because Chicago is one of the teams closely trailing the Hawks in the race for the eighth playoff spot in the East. Thankfully Atlanta got back on track last night with a victory over the Bucks. The truth is the Hawks basically have a must-win every single game the rest of the way. Most of their games are against teams in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference and those are games that Atlanta absolutely has to win if they expect to get into the playoffs this season.

Josh Childress has looked like the sixth man of old the past 2 nights, coming off the bench in each game to chip in over 20 points. He has infused an energy in the Hawks that was easy to see and has been the one of the best +/- men each night for the team. He is making hustle plays, knocking down baskets, getting to the line and basically doing everything needed for the team to win. Everyone needs an energy player and for Atlanta, Josh Childress is it. He is the person who comes off the bench and brings this team to life when they need it. Childress is easily one of the most important players on this team and could very well be the team MVP. If he comes out and plays well, the Hawks will always have a chance to win.

One problem that I see in the past two nights is the lack of ability to play defense in the post. Two nights in a row a player has looked dominant against them, Gooden on Tuesday and Bogut last night on Wednesday. Horford plays well defensively, but it may be a problem with Pachulia or Smith I’m not sure. Gooden and Bogut both looked great posting up and driving to the basket so it was hard for Atlanta to really figure out how to play them. Against the Bulls Pachulia seemed to work better, but matching up against a talented 7 footer like Bogut is much more difficult. Horford has had some great stats, but these past couple of nights have made me question his real overall effectiveness. Last year Pachulia was one of the best offensive rebounders in the league, but that doesn’t make him a great player. Right now I guess I’m a little torn on Horford.

Another problem for the Hawks is the injury to Mike Bibby. He already had to have surgery on his finger and if he is having trouble with it already that’s not a good sign for the future of this team. Since Law is not progressing like I hoped he would, the team will definitely need Bibby to make a playoff run this season. Relying on Law and Ivey probably won’t get it done for this young squad. Although I must admit it was great to see Ivey back out on the floor tonight, I’m not sure Ivey and Law can carry this team into the playoffs this year. I hope I’m wrong if Bibby continues to have trouble with his finger.

The next two games are extremely important for the Hawks, as they host the Bulls on Friday night and the Knicks on Sunday. They are easily must win games, especially against the Bulls who are hot on their heels and have just beaten them two nights ago. Games against playoff contenders and bottom feeders are unspeakably important for this young team if they want that eighth spot.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 27th, 2008 at 12:09 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.