Archives For Washington Wizards

Seasonal Recap: Southeast Division

Chris Barnewall —  April 19, 2013 — Leave a comment

Another season comes to a close. I’d like to say this division was a thrilling race the entire season, but no, we can’t have nice things when the Magic and Bobcats are in a division. To end the season we have the Heat’s dominance, the Hawks injuries, what could have been with the Wizards, the Bobcats “fail?” at tanking, and the Magic’s success of tanking.

 

Miami Heat, 1st, 66-16, 3-0 for the week, 1st seed in the EastMIA

What a season for the Heat. The Heat came off their title season with no sight of a championship hangover, as they dominated everybody the entire season. The scary part was how the entire season the Heat have never once looked like they were giving 100% effort. There wasn’t a single game that I can think of where I said, “Yeah, they really gave a full effort out there.” Constantly, they were playing with a relaxed attitude and they were STILL blowing everybody away. I think the perfect three stats to show the Heat’s dominance this season is that they shot 55% eFG%, 58% TS%, and they had a net rating of plus-9.9. I’ll be shocked if the Heat don’t end this season with another championship.

 

Atlanta Hawks, 2nd, 44-38, 0-2 for the week, 6th seed in the EastATL

The Hawks started off the season playing better than most people expected. They were third in the East and looked like they might be able to make a little bit of noise in the Eastern Conference. Then the injuries started; the Hawks haven’t been fully healthy since the first two months of the season and that has largely weighed down on the team. The biggest losses of the season were definitely Lou Williams and Zaza Pachulia. Pachulia and Williams were such huge parts of the eight-man rotation and without them I don’t see how the Hawks can possibly get past the first round. Continue Reading…

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Weekly Roundup: SE Division Recap (3/17-3/23)

Chris Barnewall —  March 23, 2013 — Leave a comment

Welcome to our new segment here at HawksHoop. These weekly posts will be looking into the Southeastern Division and go over each team’s record, position in the standings, record for the week, and anything special about them from the week.

 

MIAMiami Heat, 1st, 54-14, 4-0 this week
The Miami Heat are the best looking team in basketball right now as they end the week with a win against the Detroit Pistons to extend their win streak to 25 games (second longest in NBA history). The Heat look unstoppable right now and I’m not sure if anybody has the ability to beat them.

 

ATLAtlanta Hawks, 2nd, 38-31, 2-2 this week
The Atlanta Hawks are currently sitting 2nd in the division that the Heat have ran away with. They’ve had a fairly successful season as far as expectations go, but injuries have derailed what could have been a better season. The Hawks continue to miss Zaza Pachulia and Lou Williams, as their two losses on the week (Dallas and Portland) showed their bench and defensive weaknesses that have formed with those players being sidelined.

  Continue Reading…

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Hawks vs. Wizards: That game meant something, right?

Daniel Christian —  December 19, 2012 — 1 Comment

The NBA– more thani anything– is a league of relationships. It is predicated on the idea that players, coaches, and fans will respond to one another– that they’ll know each other and vice versa. These relationships, this communication, is what drives the story lines of the NBA, and those story lines are what make a meaningless game in December interesting.

The Hawks beat the Wizards on Tuesday night, and no one really cares all that much. The Wizards are the worst team in the NBA and the Hawks, while solid this year, have a history of being largely erratic. People don’t want to watch that combination– at least based solely on those qualifications. But beyond an outer lining of what seems like a useless mid-winter game, inside of that shell, there is meaning. Maybe not significantly to the standings, maybe not significantly to half of a fan base, but in everything and every game, these inter-connected relationships produce meaning.

Continue Reading…

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RECAP: Hawks 100, Wizards 95

Daniel Christian —  December 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

FINAL

WAS(3-19) 95 – 100 (15-7) ATL

Key Performers:

L. Williams (ATL): 24 pts, 2 rebs, 1 ast, 1 blk
J. Crawford (WAS): 27 pts, 11 rebs, 11 asts
[FULL BOX SCORE]

The Hawks were able to overcome a Jordan Crawford triple double and a strong night from Nene thanks to their again stellar defense. There were a few moments when it looked like the game might be slipping away, but someone, whether it was Teague, Smoove, or Lou, was always ready to pull Atlanta back, settle things down, and make a play.

Reaction Grades: [assessed 0-10]

Josh Smith: Smith had an absolutely miserable airball in overtime that gave the Wizards life when they should have already been dead, but I say that first because everything else was great. He rebounded well, played strong defense most of the night, and with all things considered, stood by decent shot selection. 8/10

Al Horford: Horford had one of his worst games of the season in terms of scoring tonight, but he made up for it with activity in other areas. He pulled down 11 rebounds, had 6 assists, and was huge on defense down the stretch. It clearly wasn’t a night to remember for Al, because 5 points on 2-11 shooting just isn’t going to cut it, but he found ways to contribute when there was a lid on the basket. 6/10

Kyle Korver: If there is a cardinal rule of not leaving shooters open, then there’s even a more important rule, and that’s don’t leave Kyle Korver open. And if he’s coming around a screen then you better hurry because his release is quicker than a mongoose and all he needs is 2 seconds and he’s shooting it whether you like it or not and it’s going to go in so nanny nanny boo boo. So, anyway, yeah. 16 points on 5-6 shooting with 7 rebounds. I like it. 8/10

Devin Harris: In what looked like another great start, Harris poured in 8 points before tweaking his ankle. He was 3-6 from the field and was connecting from long range. He’s really been turning a corner recently, so lets just hope that ankle is okay. INC/10

Jeff Teague: After the game, Teague told me that he didn’t think it was a charge on the last Hawks possession of regulation. I don’t know if he’s right, but that mistake was enough to earn him a seat on the bench for all of overtime. There’s no problem with that either, because Lou Williams was playing incredibly well and Korver was automatic. Before that, though, Teague was looking good. He found himself in some foul trouble, but he had 6 assists and scored 13 points. He was jawing with ex-teammate Jordan Crawford for a little bit in the third quarter, which prompted somewhat of a back-and-forth. Teague held his own in that stretch, despite what the final statistics of the game say. 6/10 Continue Reading…

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RECAP: Hawks 104, Wizards 95

Bo Churney —  December 7, 2012 — Leave a comment

FINAL

WAS(2-14) 95 – 104 (11-5) ATL

Key Performers:

J. Smith (ATL): 23 pts, 15 rebs, 4 asts
K. Seraphin (WAS): 19 pts, 7 rebs, 2 blks
[FULL BOX SCORE]

Atlanta let Washington get into the game late, but they answered the Wizards’ run with one of their own, eventually retaking a double-digit lead in the win. For the 2nd straight game, the Hawks lead an impressive effort on the boards, with Smoove, Horford, and Zaza outrebounding the Wizards by themselves. (38-32) Of course, they still need to work on the free throws, because 63% from the stripe as a team just isn’t good. Atlanta has now won eight of their last nine games.

Reaction Grades: [assessed 0-10]

Josh Smith: Have I used the word “enigmatic” to describe Josh before? Oh, I have? Well then, let me tell you about this specific instance: Smoove was 4-9 on jumpers, which considering that one was a three, is actually efficient. However, he was 5-11 in the paint, as his touch on some of his post moves was just a little off. He gave a great effort on the boards (6 offensive rebounds) and his passing was on point. Overall great game from Josh. 9/10

Al Horford: Was a little slow to start, but got it going in the fourth quarter, when he and Kevin Seraphin were going back and forth. Only criticism I continue to have with him is that he continues to be a bit timid on offense; he’s more hesitant on the open 18-footer than Josh is, which can be very frustrating. 8/10

Zaza Pachulia: The Washington announcers were just raving about Zaza’s prowess for tipping out boards on offense. He had five offensive rebounds, which is really about the only thing the Hawks needed from him on O. On defense, however, he did get a little lost guarding Seraphin at times, which lead to Seraphin knocking down several open jumpers. 6/10

Jeff Teague: Jeff was getting into the paint whenever he wanted, but he just had trouble finishing. His at the rim numbers are significantly down this year, which I hope is just a blip in his game and not a weakness of being relied upon more. 5/10

Lou Williams: Shot well when he was on the floor, but also turned it over a bit too much. I love Lou’s game, but the team does go into iso-Lou too much on consecutive possessions when he’s on the floor, which can easily cause the team to go stagnant. 6/10 Continue Reading…

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