A nights sleep, and this game feels a little less horrible. Don't get me wrong. It was still horrible. The deep seeded focus on going through the motions was troubling to watch, but these nights do happen. They do. Sometimes a team hits more open shots and it does not matter. The Hawks missed their open shots, and those misses shined a spot light on the fact that the Hawks were already participating in all-star weekend. So be it.
Atlanta is rarely going to 14 for 33 inside 10 feet. Of course when it does happen, you hope the focus turns to unrelenting defense instead of "oh wait, Daequan Cook is still in the game" defense, but whatever, we were missing two key reserves. That is not an excuse, but it keeps one game from being some kind of indictment. In the end, it gives Woody something to yell about, which I am sure he is happy about.
Loser Dots
- How is Woody leading the coaches in technical fouls? He clearly believes he has "made it."
- I would argue Jeff Teague looked a lot better than he actually was in the second half because Al Horford hit two quick shots and got to the foul line more than anything he was doing. Still, when Bibby came back in, it was clear that great make up defense by the other four guys was not there tonight, and Bibby looked old. Like really old. Like feel bad for him old.
- Fact: Zaza Pachulia looked good in his suit.
- I, for one, am tired of seeing 2002 Jermaine O'Neal.
- Marvin Williams literally played the spectrum last night. Great, average, horrible. It was impressive. In response, my stomach stayed on one side of the PH scale. Acidic. Very Acidic.
- If Josh Smith's one on one defense was not sub par, one could classify his game last night as quite nice.
- One of the better Marios by Mario West. Less than one minute, one three point foul.
- Does anyone gamble more on defense than Dwyane Wade?
- Seven shots by Al Horford? You guessed it, not enough.
- Mike Bibby has missed around 10 straight open threes.
- We had a bit of a blogger night yesterday, and I sat next to the very nice Kris from Soaring down South. In the third quarter, he mentioned how Joe Johnson had not shot the ball in over ten minutes. Then the dude finished with 21 shots. It is like Joe had an over/under bet going on. With Jamal out, it was a little less noticeable, but that was a very covert Joe show.
- The Hawks are not good enough on offense to lose the turnover battle. Plus, turnovers are annoying.
Go Hawks!