For the past two springs this is where it ended for this group of Hawks.
Consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference semifinals were abruptly cut short by series sweeps at the hands of Cleveland and Orlando. The average victory margins: 18 for Cleveland in 2009, 25.3 for Orlando last year.
“It's definitely embedded in the back of everybody's minds that we haven't advanced past the second round," Hawks guard Joe Johnson said. "And, in the second round, we've pretty much gotten embarrassed."
This is where it's always ended for the franchise during its time in Atlanta: The Hawks have never been past the second round in their 26 postseason trips since 1969.
This wouldn't seem to be the season for that streak to end. The odds the top-seeded Bulls will sweep the Hawks are shorter than those for Atlanta to win the series.
“It's definitely going to be a change this year,” Johnson said before the team departed for Game 1 at Chicago on Monday. “I can feel it.”
But what will the Hawks to do about Chicago's Derrick Rose?
Rose, who is expected to be named the league MVP soon, is the kind of aggressive, slashing point guard that gave the Hawks problems all season. Atlanta's best defensive guard, Kirk Hinrich, isn't expected to play because of injury. None of that sounds good for the Hawks.
“If Derrick Rose goes for 30 a night, we can't let other guys come in and get 15, 20 points," Johnson said.
That's pretty much the formula the Hawks used to beat Orlando and Dwight Howard, so assume they can do the same to the Bulls and Rose.
How are the Hawks going to score? The Bulls are the best defensive team in the league and the Hawks are mediocre on offense. Those facts also don't favor the Hawks.
“We've got a lot of guys that can put up big numbers and we can attack you in so many different ways," Johnson said. "We may be underdogs but, at the same time, we feel like it's in our favor. We have just got to come out and play hard for 48 minutes with the energy and effort, and we are going to be a tough team to beat.”
Focused effort wasn't a problem for the Hawks against Orlando (save for perhaps their blowout loss in Game 5). The defense was effective, owing in large part to the Hawks generally sticking to coach Larry Drew's plan, but also because they executed it with vigor.
Atlanta's offense was another matter. The problems were familiar: lots of unfocused dribbling, not enough ball movement, too many jump shots. At times it was hard to tell if there was a plan at all.
The Bulls don't have a defensive anchor like Howard but they are excellent collectively. They induce the inefficient long jump shots the Hawks favor and don't allow many scores at the basket. The Bulls also gobble up misses so there are few second chances to score.
While winning two of three regular-season games against Atlanta, the Bulls loaded up their defense on the strong side.
"When you play against a set defense on one side of the floor, everybody is in place," Drew said. "but But when you are swinging the ball you force the defense to shift, and once they shift that is your time to attack."
The Hawks know about their issues on offense. They say all the time that they are better when they share the ball and that they too often settle for jump shots, yet they still don't consistently do the former or avoid the latter.
Hawks forward Josh Smith said he's noticed one problem.
"Sometimes we may get into our offense kind of slow and, by the time we get to where we need to be at, it is six or seven seconds on the [shot] clock and now we are scrambling," he said.
The Hawks need a more organized offense against Chicago's sound defense. Their perimeter defense, especially on pick-and-rolls, will be tested by Rose. Drew is going to have to find a lineup that can defend and score while missing Hinrich, who can do both.
It's a lot to overcome but Johnson said the Hawks believe they can do it.
“Everything is positive,” he said. “I think everybody is upbeat and confident going into this series. That's what we need.”
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