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Marvin Williams and the Hawks Are Looking to Avenge Their “Embarrassing” Loss in the Playoffs Last Year
For the last couple of years, people in the NBA have been saying the same things about the Atlanta Hawks. They are a young, talented, athletic team that can give opponents a lot of trouble in a seven game series. The talent is indisputable. Joe Johnson and Al Horford are All-Stars, Marvin Williams is a former 2nd overall pick in the Draft, Jamal Crawford is instant offense and one of the best bench players in the league, and Josh Smith can be a matchup nightmare when his head is in the game.The only problem is as talented as they are they also continue to have early exits in the playoffs and just can’t get over that hurdle. This season the Hawks finished as the number five seed and will meet a familiar foe in the first round of the playoffs this weekend. Last season, Orlando embarrassed Atlanta in the conference semifinals. The Magic swept the Hawks as Atlanta was booed out of their own arena. One year later, Atlanta will have a chance to get revenge.Marvin Williams joined WCNN in Atlanta with Buck and Kincade to talk about how much confidence the team has playing against Orlando after winning the season series, what he makes of the comments coming out of Orlando, how much he thinks about last year’s loss in the playoffs to the Magic, and whether or not it gives them a disadvantage to be the number five seed this year.
On the matchup with Orlando:
“Yeah we’re excited about it. We played Orlando fairly well this year in the four times when we played them. I think myself, the coaching staff, and my teammates are really excited about this series we’re about to play.”
What he makes about the things coming out of Orlando:
“I’m not sure what was said or who has said what. I don’t think guys are paying attention it. We know what we have to do, we know it’s not going to be easy, but we’re excited for the challenge.”
Whether or not he is motivated by the loss in the playoffs against Orlando last year:
“Without a doubt. I think if you look back at last year, the way we lost to Orlando was so disappointing. It was embarrassing. I think every player that played in that series will tell you it was embarrassing. Taking nothing away from Orlando, they were a very good team last year, but we feel like we were a better team than what we showed the world. It’s like we kind of have another opportunity to do that this postseason and I think guys are looking forward to doing that.”
On the confidence the team has going into the playoffs despite stumbling down the stretch:
“I think guys are confident rolling into the postseason. Obviously after we clinched we had dropped a few games. I think we lost maybe five in a row or six in a row, but we weren’t playing with a full roster at times and other times coach did a good job of resting starters and getting them a lot of rest. We could’ve done better with some of those games, but I don’t think we’re in a funk, in a slump, and I don’t think anybody has lost any confidence or anything. We’ll be ready this week.”
On them having the fifth seed:
“The playoffs are tough and obviously seeding doesn’t matter at all at this point to me personally. I don’t care if you’re an eight seed or a one seed. It doesn’t matter. Everybody’s record is zero and zero and everyone gets an equal opportunity to come out and compete. That’s what you have to do. You have to take it one game at a time and one series at a time and get to that championship.”
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