(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)
Marvin feels ya pain Co Co

Well that was anticlimactic! The Celtics finally dispatched of my Atlanta Hawks in Game 7 on Sunday afternoon. I know I’m supposed to be happy that they made it that far, but I really thought they could beat Boston.

I felt like they matched up pretty well against them and for 3 games I was right. Coincidentally those 3 games were in the friendly confines of Philips Arena. My guys just couldn’t bottle up that magic and take it on the road. I guess I probably shouldn’t be too surprised considering they’ve been terrible on the road all season, but a girl can dream!

Before this series started I gave you all 5 reasons why the Hawks could win this series. Let’s revisit those and see where we went wrong.

1) Joe Johnson. He can give you thirty of the quietest points on any given night. He doesn’t say much, but he’s cold as hell! He got Billy Knight to pay him $70 million dollars off of his playoff performances. I’m not saying Joe wasn’t a fine player prior to breaking his face in that playoff series against Dallas, but had it not been so obvious how important he was to Phoenix’s success he never would’ve gotten a max contract the following summer. He knows he has to step it up in big games and he will do so against Boston. They’ll probably try to double him, but now we have a player who can make teams pay when that happens and his name is;

Joe was Joe. He was everything we needed him to be even though the Celtics made life miserable for him. He had a 4^th quarter in Game 4 that was unforgettable and he hit a big 3 with just over a minute left in Game 6 to help the Hawks push the series 7 games. We couldn’t have asked for much more from Joe so I have no gripes with him.

2) Mike Bibby. I, like many Hawks fans feel so much more confident about this team when he’s on the floor. Even when he’s struggling (which he has been lately) we know he’s our best option at point guard and we don’t want anyone but him on the floor. He was there when the Lakers shot 27 free throws in the fourth quarter of game six in the Western Conference Finals in 2002. He had a chance to tie that game bloody nose and all. He will not be intimidated by the Celtics! I really hope he shaves his head for the playoffs! If he does, I’ll feel EVEN better about our chances!

Mike on the other hand, I have big issues with right now. I don’t heart him today, but I’m sure that will pass. He was a non-factor in every game in Boston and Game 7 was the worst. He only attempted 3 shots which is unforgivable! I would have felt better about the loss if he had gone down shooting. Instead he was content to let Al and Josh fumble the ball away time and time again. This is not what we had in mind when we brought him here. We needed him to manage the game and he didn’t. He went through some of the most intense battles while he was in Sacramento and it never seemed to bother him. He was rattled beyond belief in every game in Boston. Very disappointing!

3) Josh Smith. He’s playing for a contract and as we’ve seen recently when you come up big in the playoffs, you come up bigger in your bank account. The fact that he had very good numbers this season doesn’t even matter. GM’s will judge him off of how he performs in the playoffs. Hell if we’re being honest this is the first time GM’s will have a real opportunity to notice him. The Hawks haven’t had a nationally televised game in years! This is Josh’s big chance to be in the spotlight for something other than winning the Slam Dunk Contest.

I don’t really have too many problems with Josh. He played out of his mind in two of the three wins. He even blocked 7 shots in Game 4. I was pleased with him for the most part considering it was his first playoff experience. He did not have a good game in the finale, but no one did. I don’t know if he earned a max contract, but that doesn’t mean someone won’t offer him one.

4) Atlanta Nightlife! This is the wild card. Players from opposing teams LOOOOOOVE the nightlife in the “A” and I’m counting on the Compounds, Dream’s, Magic City’s and everyone in between to show the Celtics a really, really good time!

The Nightlife didn’t let me down. I have a couple of confirmed reports some of the players were out and about. Luckie Lounge, Opera…. Did it affect their play? I guess we’ll never know.

5) We’re playing with house money, so we’ve got nothing to lose. No one expects us to do anything other than give them a close game or two before ultimately getting swept. That means we can really leave it all on the floor unlike so many times when we claim to want to leave it all on the floor. I know I’m asking a lot of these young fellas, but I’m a fan and damnit I believe they can do it! I have to believe it!

I think this worked for them in Atlanta, but not so much in Boston. They played like they were unbelievably nervous in every game up there. I guess it’s easier to say you can play without pressure than it is to actually do so.

It looks like 2.5 of the 5 reasons I listed worked in our favor, so we really had a 50% chance of winning the series

I guess it comes down to the fact that the Celtics were the better team, although this series was there for the Hawks to take, they just couldn’t do it.

When a series ends you’re supposed to root for the team that knocked your team out, but given my hate for all Boston teams I’m not going to be able to do that! I hope the Cavs sweep them!

And just because it needs to be said, Stephen A. Smith can go to hell.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 12:20 am and is filed under Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Los Angeles Lakers, Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby, Philips Arena, Stephen A. Smith. 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.