Caution for Bulls: Hawks sensitive to slights

External motivation was a successful weapon for the Hawks in their Round 1 victory over Orlando.

The Bulls might want to be careful not to slight Atlanta in any way, but that task could be beyond their control.

The first insult involved Bulls guard Derrick Rose. He was interviewed following the April 10 victory at Orlando on ABC-TV when Magic guard Jameer Nelson walked over and could be heard telling Rose, “Catch you in the second round.”

The Hawks and their fans caught on. A sign at Thursday's Game 6 in Atlanta promised the Hawks will tell Rose that Nelson says hi. In an NBA TV interview, Hawks guard Jamal Crawford admitted using Nelson's comment as motivation.

No word if the Hawks were insulted that Rose didn't respond to Nelson by saying, “Not so fast, you could lose to Atlanta.”

Another insult was pried from an Orlando Sentinel column. After the Magic clobbered Atlanta in Game 5, a columnist chose to describe the Hawks as Birdbrains and Team Dummy. Here's an excerpt:

“The Magic are going to win this series and the Birdbrains are going to fold up and collapse like a $5 lawn chair. You know it, I know it and, deep down in the lonely recesses of their fragile minds, the Birdbrains know it, too …

“No matter how much talent they have, the Hawks are still the Hawks. They are still Team Dummy. They will always do stupid things and take stupid shots. They will always lose their focus and their composure.”

The Hawks responded by placing copies of the column on the players' locker room chairs before Game 6, which Atlanta won 84-81.

“We came in after practice Wednesday and there were sheets of paper at everyone's locker. You could see everybody's expression as they were reading it,” Hawks forward Josh Smith said, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “That really got us going. We felt disrespected. We came out and tried to shut that guy up.”