AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 20
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Five things (revisited)
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Can we keep this clean today? No pot shots at anyone, particularly your boy Blog-Z, who has taken numerous, un-Christmas-like digs from all over the place around here lately.
Last night’s win over Miami was a jaw-dropper. Most of the people that came up to me after the game were stunned that the same team that couldn’t hold its water against Seattle and Washington last month could pull of its second straight bare-knuckle affair (the first was Monday’s win over Utah).
My quick thoughts on five things (that have become clear to me over the course of the past two weeks):
JOHNSON AND JOHNSON=OFF THE HOOK: You get 47 points, 18 assists, four steals and just three turnovers from your starting backcourt in a win where they make the go-ahead baskets in the final minute and five seconds of an overtime affair. Anyone out there foolish enough to question Joe Johnson’s commitment to winning and playing at an elite level is just plain misguided. Dude’s a monster, as Heat coach Pat Riley so aptly pointed out after the game: “Joe was great. He hit a couple of runners in transition and he had a 3-point play in transition. And Anthony Johnson hit two big shots as well. They’re a good team, and we tried every way that we could to win.”
TOUGH WAY FOR MOURNING TO GO: If we did see the end of Alonzo Mourning’s inspiring career, nothing should stick out more than the way he went off the floor after tearing his right patella tendon. He waived off the stretcher and walked off like the warriors he’s always been. People were already debating his Hall of Fame worthiness after the game. I think he has to go in eventually (remember, it’s not just what you did as a pro but your entire basketball career. And he was at or near the top of his class every step of the way).
TWO WINS IN THREE DAYS: They could turn out to be the two most important wins in the Billy Knight era, if these last two wins mark the turning point for this team. Never mind the opponents but focus more on the circumstances and the way the Hawks won both times. They bowed up, finally, and willed their ways to wins when things could have very easily gone the other way.
GIVE MARVIN HIS DUE: Keep banging on Marvin Williams all you want, but understand that this kid won’t be punching bag much longer. He’s proving to anyone willing to pay attention that he’s for real this season. He dropped a smooth 20 and 10 on the Heat and played the ideal game with Josh Smith and Al Horford in foul trouble all night. Most impressive was that he didn’t back down from taking some big shots just because he’d missed a few. He kept firing and came through when the Hawks needed him most.
TOUGHER THAN LEATHER: The test sample is still at the lab but the early indication is that this Hawks team is simply tougher than it has been in the past. No one’s sure if it’s just another year’s growth or what? But this team has shown grit so far this season that just was not there before. Admit it, when Dwyane Wade got that three-point play in overtime you thought it was a wrap for the Hawks. But they’ve given us every indication that those days are over. We’ll just have to monitor the sample and see how things work out.
