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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Morris lives, and more
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAWKSVILLE - Randolph Morris lives folks.
He lives.
After barely playing for most of the preseason he finally logged some significant minutes in the Hawks’ 109-103 loss to Orlando Monday night at Philips Arena.
And the reserve big man looked more than up to the task of banging with his old pal Dwight Howard and the other Magic big men.
Morris piled up eight points (on 3-for-4 shooting), three rebounds, and assist and the expected five fouls (everyone picks up fouls with Howard on the floor). Morris even had two turnovers, which is a clear indicator that he was on the floor longer than usual because he actually was out there long enough to turn the ball over a couple of times.
I have to admit, I knew Morris was going to play more minutes because Hawks coach Mike Woodson said as much during his pre-game media session (maybe Woody reads the blog and has heard our passionate pleas regarding Morris … or maybe not).
What Woodson knew is that he was going to need every foul from every one of his big men against Howard - and he was right. Twenty-two of the 32 fouls called on the Hawks Monday night were on their big men. Howard went to the line 22 times, a staggering number even for the preseason.
As for Morris, our blogfavorite son passed his test. He came in cold and showed that he’ll compete against the best when thrown into the fire. That’s what I needed to see from the big fella.
COMMUNICATION ISSUES?: One peculiar side effect of Woodson playing so many different rotations is the fact that when his starters were on the floor at the end of Monday’s game they didn’t seem to be in sync.
There were several glitches late in the game on both ends of the floor. The most glaring problem seemed to be the lack of communication that several of the Hawks addressed after the game.
“It would be a lot easier if we talk a little bit more,” Mike Bibby said. “And really I have to start with myself, but when you talk a little bit more it makes things a lot easier. And you do that instead of assuming, you know, assuming that something is going to here or there or somebody is going to be here or there. We have to do a better job of communicating out there.”
SICK AND TIRED OF EACH OTHER: As fond as the Hawks are of Orlando and the Magic are of Atlanta, both teams have seen about enough of each other already. And they’ve still got one more date to go.
The Oct. 29 regular season opener will serve as the rubber match for these two teams - the Hawks won the preseason opener for both teams in Orlando and the Magic returned the favor last night.
The preseason and regular season schedules aren’t done in concert, so these dress rehearsals have been strictly a coincidence.
But it’s given both teams a renewed appreciation for each other.
“Atlanta is a good team. They’re very athletic. They made the playoffs last year, so you have to come with your ‘A’ game when you play these guys,” Magic forward Rashard Lewis said. “They have a lot of talent on that team, especially at guard. They have an All-Star in Joe Johnson, and Josh Smith is a great player, too. You can’t sleep on them. You have to always be ready to play. And I think the Eastern Conference will be better as a whole, with Atlanta getting better and Milwaukee and Toronto making some offseason moves, making things a lot more competitive.”
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said the Hawks are a team he and his staff have spent a lot of time watching in the offseason for several reasons, mostly because the Hawks have given them fits in the past.
“This is a good team, they’ve got a lot of ability and it’s a very, very talented team that came on that end last season,” he said, “especially when they got Bibby. He was the point guard that was sort of the missing piece for them. And everything changed around then. They had a great playoff series. It’s going to be a team that’s right there. And you’re going to have to contend with them, no question.”
IN LOVE WITH THE DEEP BALL: The Hawks’ love affair with the 3-point shot, the one that led them to victory Saturday in Charlotte when they shot the lights out of Time Warner Cable Arena, is the same love affair that led them astray Monday night.
The Hawks shot just 6-for-19 from beyond the 3-point line against the Magic, with Flip Murray and Johnson going a combined (and brutal) 4-for-14 from that distance.
On the flipside the Magic shot 9-for-17 from deep, just three more makes but a huge difference in the final outcome.
“You make a couple more of those shots, and they were good looks, and it’s a different outcome,” Johnson said. “What we can’t do is stop being aggressive in taking the ball to the basket and forcing teams to play us straight up. We just have to know when to exploit things from outside and when to switch gears and go inside and then out.”
