AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2006 > November > 20
Monday, November 20, 2006
Hawks’ third straight loss the worst
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My personal outrage at the world on Saturday night was much greater than it is right now. Everything seemed worse than it really was. It all started with me spilling baked beans all over my shirt during the first quarter of the Michigan-Ohio State game (more on that shortly), a culinary transgression that was solved when Z-DUB extended the courtesy of washing my shirt for me and then allowing me to iron it again in the bowels of Philips Arena.
But I swear things went downhill from there.
The game I watched included the worst shooting display I’d ever seen (the Heat and Hawks barely shot 50 percent from the field combined).
The cold I felt upon leaving Philips Arena after the Hawks’ third straight loss (in a game they appeared to have in hand late in the process) was the worst ever.
The traffic on the downtown streets was the worst I’d ever seen for that time of night (fine - some of the worst).
The AM sports stations I tried to tune to (satellite radio is in the car) had the worst static I’ve ever heard.
And the late-night (diet) snack at the diner I stopped at with one of my boys was the worst tasting food of all time.
OK, I’m being a bit melodramatic here. But Michigan losing to Ohio State has a way of souring my mood in ways that only the people who have known me longest would understand. (And let me make it clear that Ohio State gave it to us Saturday night. Troy Smith is a monster, Jim Tressel owns Lloyd Carr and I have no choice but to give it up to the No. 1 team in the country.)
But after thinking it over all day Sunday, my thoughts on the Hawks’ struggles seemed on point. I understand that everyone has a theory about the offense not being right and the shot selection of certain players being flawed and that the playing rotation needs to be tweaked or changed. That’s all fine, but the fundamental problem is deeper than that.
Because the Hawks’ deficiencies two weeks ago are the same ones that are costing them victories now. Their struggles have nothing to do with the specifics being tossed around here and everywhere else and everything to do with the one and only thing that the players can actually change: personal accountability.
They’re not on each other during the course of games to make sure each other is doing what they’re supposed to be doing to assure a chance at success.
Film sessions and going over it in practice (and believe me when I tell you that the Hawks’ practices after these last three games have been full of identification and correction of what’s gone wrong during these games).
But I’ll point to the end of regulation against the Heat as the most glaring proof of the lack of personal accountability. The Heat had four chances to win the game, FOUR, because they rebounded long misses. The Heat didn’t win the game then because they misfired on all those shots, not because of the Hawks’ sticky defense. Do you know what the Hawks (players) said to each other as the walked to the bench after that? NOTHING. Not a word. They were as stunned as the sellout crowd that they didn’t get one of those rebounds.
So forget the rotation, the offense and all that other minutia (that always deserves scrutiny and could always stand tweaking). Until the Hawks hold each other accountable for their actions, or lack thereof in certain instances, they’ll continue to struggle.
