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Thursday, March 27, 2008
To the wire!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMYRNA - Marvin Williams said something to me the other night after the Hawks’ loss in Chicago that didn’t really register until now.
“This thing is going down to the wire,” he said. “We’re not going to stop fighting and we know that these other teams are going to do the same. Everybody wants this and anybody who really wants this is going to fight with everything they’ve got to make the playoffs.”
Talking about it is one thing. Doing it, that’s another story altogether (which might explain why there were more people at the Marta bus stop at 7 p.m. Wednesday than there were in the stands at Philips. Things got better later, that late-arriving crowd thing was on full display against the Bucks).
The Hawks took a step in the right direction Wednesday night, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks with relative ease 24 hours after that disappointing loss to the Bulls.
They can take another one Friday by figuring out a way to get by the Bulls, another Sunday with the Knicks in town, and another one Monday in Memphis. Because Marvin is right; this thing is going to down to the wire.
And the only thing the Hawks can do between now and then is beat up on the lousy teams (relatively speaking, of course) they’ll face between now and April 16.
As infuriating as they can to be watch sometimes (how many times can this team sleepwalk through the beginning of a game and after halftime before you just turn them off or tune them out?) they keep finding ways to win when you’re ready to count them out.
I thought for sure that Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby playing all those minutes Tuesday would spell doom for the Hawks against the Bucks. But those were the two guys that seemed to have that extra boost when the Hawks needed it most against the Bucks.
The bench crew was also huge (check the game story or ask Ando, doc or jhan, they were all in the building and saw it, too), but for Johnson to play 40 minutes on the back of the 48 he played against the Bulls and do work … well, that’s nuts. The guy goes for a game-high 28 against the Bucks (a team loaded with talent and with not reasonable excuse for being as inept as they have been this season) and helps drag the Hawks back from the brink. That speaks volumes about the type of competitor Johnson has become over the years.
Bibby was just as critical to the Hawks blowing the game open, nailing seven straight points during a crucial stretch that saw the Hawks create some space. He’s everything he was supposed to, which is why I’m certain this guy will be on the floor come Friday night.
So long as those two guys are able to walk, Marvin’s words will ring true.
