With one day left before the Heat kick off thier 2009 Playoff campaign in Atlanta, who else to answer some questions about our upcoming playoff series with the Hawks then Drew, the head honcho over at Peachtree Hoops, SB Nation's Atlanta Hawks page.
DpD- After winning 3 out of 4 games against
Drew- Certainly confident the Hawks are the better team, but in no way does that fact allow me to ignore that the Heat have the best player. If I was a Heat fan, I would probably form some kind of religion around Wade. And if any Heat player does step it up, I am first going to give credit to Wade for allowing him to get easier shots.
Plus, we are going to see a different D-Wade than we saw in those four games. We are going to see playoff Wade. That said, we are going to see a different Hawks team. They know the intensity of the playoffs. They know the energy they need to bring. And with those games in the regular season where they “contained” Wade to build on, I think the Hawks are going in expecting to win. And that is the first step to success….I hope.
DpD- What do you think about Dwyane Wade and what are you expecting from him in this series?
DpD- I am a big Joe Johnson fan, and I don’t think he gets enough recognition around the league, just like Brandon Roy. Do you think he will have a big series against
DpD- The Hawks seemed almost unbeatable at home for most of the season, but of your 10 home losses, 3 of them came down the stretch and some of your final wins were very close. Do you still feel the Hawks have the same edge at home? Drew- I think Phillips is going to be incredibly loud. Any edge they may have lost will be back. It is the only guarantee I willing to lay down.
DpD- Other then Dwyane Wade, who on the Heat are you concerned with? Why? Drew- Anyone who wants to hit a three pointer. Wade is going to require the Hawks to leave people relatively open. So if someone gets hot, they are the one I am concerned about. And if it is Chris Quinn, I am going to cry.
DpD- One matchup that I feel is going to be huge in this series is between our point guards. Who do you think has the edge between the 'crafty veteran' Mike Bibby and the Heat's amazing rookie Mario Chalmers? Drew- I think Mike Bibby has the edge because he has proven he can deliver. That being said Chalmers is going to have plenty of chances to prove otherwise. Mike Bibby is bad at defense. But the Hawks have known that all season. Good point guards are able to out perform the extra measures the Hawks take to make up for Bibby, but don’t think for a second, the Hawks are just going to let a point guard beat them. They have lots of practice playing good team defense without five good defenders.
Anyway to answer your question, I think Chalmers will edge Bibby three out of seven games, but the crafty veteran will prevail allowing the Hawks to drastically overpay him this summer.
DpD- This is where I would ask for your pick...but common sense tells me that you would be going with your home team considering how close this series looks to be. That being said, how far do you see
Big thanks to Drew from Peachtree Hoops for taking the time to answer my questions. You can find my answers to his Heat questions HERE.