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Saturday, February 23, 2008
Redemption’s Song
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OAKLAND - He wasn’t even supposed to be on the roster, the trade that would have moved him to Denver at Thursday’s trade deadline never materialized.
So there was Salim Stoudamire Friday night, defending like a madman, shooting that sweet stroke that’s been on ice most of this season and helping propel the Hawks to a 117-110 win over the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena.
Stoudamire could have pouted his way through the rest of this season, wishing he were somewhere else.
But he chose a different path. He chose redemption Friday, and the Hawks were the primary beneficiaries of Stoudamire’s undeniable professionalism.
“The cream always rises to the top,” Stoudamire said after his 18-point showing off the bench, he made six of his 11 shots from the floor. “My main thing today was to come in and not focus so much on offense and making sure I made an impact on the game. I came in basically trying to defend because I know my offense will take care of itself. I just have to be on the floor an extended amount of time.”
That’s beene the toughest part Stoudamire, who credited Hawks assistant video coordinator John Beckett for helping keep him in shape with their furious one-on-one games after practices and before home games.
Stoudamire’s will to be factor Friday, though, resonated not only with his teammates but also his coaches.
“He was huge,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “He was obviously hungry to play. When he got in there he made plays. And he made shots and that’s the key to him being on the floor. And defensively, when they had mismatches against us, he was doing whatever it took to battle his way to an advantage. Again, he gave us a huge lift off the bench.”
Combine Stoudamire’s effort with the superior shot-making ability of both Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby, and it’s no wonder the Hawks led the Warriors from wire-to-wire for the win, never allowing the Warriors to get closer than five points in the second half.
The work Stoudamire, Josh Childress and Jeremy Richardson (who hit a huge 3-pointer after the Warriors cut that lead to five) did was as crucial as anything done by anyone else the entire night.
“We had to pull Salim out of the deep freeze,” Johnson said smiling. “But he came in and played big for us. That’s how he has to play. He came in and made the defense stay honest and that opened things up for everybody else. It’s the same effect Mike has on the game in some ways. Shooters make defenses stay honest and when they start cheating one way it makes life a lot easier or everybody else because they stop helping.”
Stoudamire helped himself with his performance Friday. No one can justify keeping him off the floor, not when he’s doing damage the way he did against the Warriors.
“It’s a lot different when you know you’re going to play,” Stoudamire said. “You don’t put so much pressure on yourself to perform.”
