AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > January > 22
Monday, January 22, 2007
Bobcats provide big dose of reality
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No one throws a left hook like reality (sorry Kevin Garnett and Baron Davis).
And after a tumultuous weekend with the folks in Hawksville (watching the Bobcats beat down the Hawks on back-to-back nights as well as bits and pieces of the NFL playoffs and various other programming), I can admit that reality has leveled your boy Blog-Z, and probably quite a few others who pay close attention to what goes on around here.
Some things should be evident by now (those things and several other things collected over the weekend that I felt compelled to share follow):
The Bobcats indeed are better than you. Last season’s 3-1 series win by the formerly expansion Bobcats was no fluke. They’re tougher, deeper, more experienced and simply delight in smacking the Hawks around whenever they can. I think it’s one of those instances where the last two kids picked for a schoolyard game have to play one-on-one to see who should be the last guy. And one of them kicks the stuffing out of the other. TWICE!
My trade scenarios mentioning various point guards the past few weeks need to be amended to include a big man or two (duh!). It’s not like I forgot that the Hawks were soft as puddin’ inside. I just needed Emeka Okafor and Gerald Wallace to remind me just how soft that puddin’ really is. (S-O-F-T).
Before the season we conducted an informal survey about what Hawks player needed to play above and beyond his means this season. I said Zaza Pachulia and several of you dismissed my suggestion that ZP needed to come bag with a few new tricks this season. Vindication is mine (though, in his defense, ZP was working overtime after practice Sunday trying to rekindle that fire he showed time and again last season when the Hawks relied heavily on their young - dude is only 23 - center).
What a treat is must be for Bobcats coach/GM Bernie Bickerstaff to know that he’ll get whatever he asks from his players, 1 through 15, or they’ll be shipped to parts unknown. There’s a reason the Bobcats have a reputation for being the most rugged team in the league and a team that plays harder than anyone else. They’ve got judge and jury in the huddle at all times. It makes a difference folks, believe me.
Josh Smith was wrong for the two finger salute he gave to the fans at Bobcats Arena Saturday night, but no more than the idiot official who called him for a technical for taking off his head band and tossing it to the Hawks bench (and no, he didn’t snatch the thing off and throw it at the bench in protest of the call). I’d go off on a rant about how lousy NBA officials can be when they show up to work with chips already planted on their shoulders. But you’ve heard that one before.
My years of terrorizing Peyton Manning fans and Colts fans, too, are officially over. My son continued to wear his Petyon Manning jersey proudly, even after we moved from Indy to Atlanta. I warned him that he was rolling with a team and a QB that had NEVER won the big game. Well, while he was snoring Sunday night (hey, lil’ dude is in the second grade, bedtime is 8:30, no exceptions), Archie’s second born son was shutting up all the jokers (me first and foremost) that have poked holes in his legacy over the years. I can’t hate anymore. Great game. And a Michigan man (Marlin Jackson) made the game-saving interception (of another Michigan man, Tom Brady).
Once upon a time I was a movie buff of the highest order. Then Hollywood went on this horror flick craze that has sent me back to reading books for stimulating mental entertainment. If you want to read a good sports bio, try Oscar Robertson’s book (Pops got it for me for Christmas). It’s been out for a couple years. But it’s still a great read. It’s full of great basketball insight and tons of great history lessons. And The Big O was truly ahead of his time in terms of the way he played the game.
There are still a few movies that pique my interest. One in particular has me fired up. Have you seen the trailer for 300, the Frank Miller (Sin City) version of the story of the Battle of Thermopylae (all you history nuts know about this one)? Comes out in March. It’s going to be sick. They’re clearly marketing the film to meatheads like me who love football, a good hero flick with swords and lots of crazy battle scenes. If you didn’t see the trailer but just heard the audio, you’d think it was a commercial for a football movie. If you like that sort of stuff, this is one you need to catch.
Now that we’ve ridden the Hawksville roller coaster for the past 10 days (three steps forward, two steps back), who’s got the guts to predict what this week will bring? On the menu: road games at Chicago (Tuesday), at Boston (Wednesday) and at Orlando (Friday). We’re looking at a potentially five-game turnaround from the five-game win-streak I was popping off about before Bobcats-crack-Hawks-I. And yes, I’m getting out of the prediction business (at least where the Hawks and their upcoming schedule are concerned).
