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Woodson Slams Barry
By: Bill Ingram
Last Updated: 5/5/09 1:20 AM ET
Ahhh . . .the second round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs is upon us, and the fireworks are set to explode. In fact, they're already starting in Atlanta. ESPN analyst Jon Barry took aim at several players and teams all at the same time, discrediting the young and improving Miami HEAT, marginalizing their players, and in the process firing away at an Atlanta Hawks team that just made it out of the first round of the playoffs since 1999.
"Instead of (the Bulls and Celtics) having the best series ever in seven games, (the Hawks and HEAT) had the worst. Ever," Barry said on ESPN. "Every game decided by more than ten, the average margin of victory was 19. Atlanta, don't be proud of this. This is a one-man band you beat. Dwyane Wade. Nobody else. It took you seven games to do it. Here, go have Cleveland, get your four games and go to the summer time."
Nobody else? Wow! Take that, Jermaine O'Neal. In your face, Michael Beasley. And most of all . . .how about a nice serving of disrespect, Atlanta Hawks?
"Man, I could care less about what Jon Barry is saying," Hawks head coach Mike Woodson responded on 790 The Zone in Atlanta. "That's why he's doing what he's doing and we're doing what we're doing. What he says don't amount to nothing. Again, I don't even know why I've wasted my words on Jon Barry. My focus right now is with my team and trying to get ready for Cleveland. I'm trying to figure out what has he done in the league, really? That's just how I look at. I'm moving on."
As are the Hawks, into very dangerous territory, indeed. The unfortunate part about winning home court advantage by virtue of the fourth seed is that you get to move on and face the top seed in Round 2. The Cavaliers were easily the best team in the NBA from opening tip to final buzzer, and their ruthless treatment of the Detroit Pistons was probably a harbinger of what will happen in the second round. Woodson understands it's more than just stopping LeBron James, but also the impressive team Cavs GM Danny Ferry has assembled around him.
"LeBron has the same force that Wade has, but probably even more of a force in terms of his strength and his quickness and being able to putt the ball on the floor and make plays at the rim," says Woodson. "We're going to have to put some bodies on him, but he has a great supporting cast in Big Z (Ilgauskas) and Mo (Williams) and (Delonte) West . . .and I thought Joe Smith was a huge pick-up and then (Anderson) Varejao is playing well. I like what Mike Brown has done with the team. There's a reason why they were the best team in the NBA this season. They do it on both ends of the floor. It's not going to be an easy series for our team, but we're going to have to bring our hardhats every night and see what happens."
So how do the Hawks make a series of it? That has to start with Joe Johnson. He took a considerable amount of criticism for his lack of killer instinct in the first six games of the series, but finally rose the the occasion when the team needed him most.
'Everybody in the media's been on him so much, and I think Joe's been playing great," says Woodson. "He helped us win three of the first six games, and when it came down to the big stage he's the guy who led us. He's done that since he set foot in Atlanta. He's the foundation of our franchise. We've built around him and he's carried us to this point. I couldn't be happier for a guy. He's caught some flack in the last couple of weeks, but when it came time to step up he made it happen."
He certainly did. He drained threes early and often, connecting on 6-of-8 from downtown in Game 7, and led his team with 27 points, five steals, five rebounds, and four assists.
"When I'm watching tape I see him being double-teamed and triple-teamed," said Woodson. "It's tough . . you beat the two guys and then there's a third guy. I thought, for most of the series, he sacrificed and he made plays and passes for his teammates. I tell him all the time, if you're double-teamed then somebody else is open. That pass that you throw out of the double-team might not always lead to something good, it might be the next pass that gets you. In that regard, I thought the ball floated around and guys like Flip (Murray) and (Mike) Bibby and the support cast had good looks. Last night, he took it upon himself to take shots before the double-team occurred, and deep shots, like his threes, that really broke the game open. The spotlight was turned on and he stepped up big time."
How will Johnson respond now that the spotlight is arguably the brightest it's ever been during his NBA career?
Game 1 is tomorrow night in Cleveland.
