- Mike Woodson used his timeouts well last night. Outside of Vinny del Negro, this might seem like a pointless bullet, but too many times I have watched the coach allow a double digit lead get down to four or have him wait until the momentum has completely (instead of partially) switch before calling a timeout. Not last night, and I thank him for it.
- Assuming Joe was ok with it/not trying to be a savior, I was fine with Joe's first real rest coming when he sat down for the night. With the game in Miami on Friday, this was a must win, and after a slow start, Joe was in rhythm. Taking him out for his normal, brief second quarter rest would have been detrimental to the team and to Joe.
- I am not sure why Solo thinks he has any right to even try and fight Dwyane Wade, certainly it cannot come from his basketball repertoire. But a nice show of not being intimidated from him. He played, by far, the best I have him play in a while which has helped dropped my fear level over Horford's injury to "drastically scared."
- An extended Chris Quinn sighting! You know it is a good game for the Hawks when that happens.
- Dear national media, Wade has rarely guarded Joe Johnson this series. Please stop saying he is the reason Joe has been shut down or that Wade stopped because he is injured. For almost the entire series, Wade has matched up with the least offensively capable wing player. Thank you in advance for the extended editing job you will do. Best, Hawksdawgs.
- The more I think about it, the more I have decided Mike Bibby had a great game.
- The Hawks did some things last night they should probably tone down. Horford jumping on the baseline, Mario going crazy (and I do mean literallry crazy) over a defensive stop on Wade, the Josh Smith dunk. I am not going to apologize for them, but if the Heat can bottle that for motivation, I am not going try and explain how the Hawks didn't mean to be a little disrespectful.
- This bullet is in place of what has become a post regarding Wade's injuries, fans booing him, and excuses. More later.
- I am not for a second going to call Horford tougher than Wade. I am sure a lot of Horford's motivation to go out and hit those two foul shots was to pump the crowd. He probably would have had someone else do it on the road. I know all that. But I will say this, in pure juxtaposition to how Wade carries himself on the basketball court, it is night and day. We just happened to have a first grade level example of that last night.
- I fear we are about to all realize how many little things Al Horford does for this team.
- Speaking of comparison, I hope Josh Smith watches this tape and sees the difference in his offensive efficiency between when he drives the ball and shoot the jumper. I also hope he stops the tape before he hits that three. A detailed (and excellent) look at Mr. Smith's game last night is here.
- In few players can you actually pinpoint "ok this guy is one step from being on fire" as easily as you can with Dwyane Wade. First half fine, keep Mo Evans on him one on one. And on the other hand, two minutes into the second half it was clear one man was not going to stop Wade.
- Comment of the game thread is a combo, Garrison Hayes: Eye-patch on them O-Boards...gotta love em. Bronn: If someone blackens his left eye, does that make him twice as tough? Duff Man: Of course.
- Thanks for the lively discussion (and not just comments) in the game thread. Great to go back and read.
Go Hawks!