http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/sportscolumns/entries/2006/02/26/heres_the_point.html

First of all, the Bobbleheads are sweet-he has some face stubble that looks hilarious.

The first half was one of the finest 24 minutes i’ve seen from the Hawks all season. They made their shots, passed the ball around and most importantly, they played good defense.

The second half was painful to watch- the Hawks scored a total of 38 points in the second half (17 and 21). The OT win over Indiana the night before must’ve worn them out because they looked dead. When Dan Gadzuric is tearing you up on the inside, you know something’s wrong. Joe Johnson had one of the worst games i’ve seen from him all season. He was not taking his wide open looks from 3-pt land and was taking two steps in and forcing it over the defenders.

Interesting stat they showed during the game- the Hawks are 15-20 over their last 35 games. Not mindblowing, but definitely an indicator of their improvement.

Ray Allen seems to be suffering from some sort of pre-mature baldness problem . That’s going to put quite a dent into his future acting gigs.

What a cheap-ass elbow from Ray at the end of the game. If I were Al Harrington, I would’ve gone after him or at least let the refs have it when the game ended. That was so blatant and it’s absurd that the refs let him get away with it.

So when I was at the Houston airport this morning, walking toward my flight to New York, I passed a gate with a flight going to Detroit, and the entire Hawks contingent (Josh Smith, Batista, Arthur and Sekou Smith) was there, because the Hawks play the Pistons tomorrow. I didn’t have the heart to ask Josh what the hell he was doing in the contest, but he was upset that Iguodala hadn’t won.

The most interesting thing was that everyone seemed to hate Billy Knight. Sekou pointed out, “How can your starting center die during training camp and you not even bring in anyone else to workout?” Good point.

Oh, and Batista never said a word, because he was talking on his Treo. And he had a huge acoustic guitar in a case at his feet, which I guess he travels with all the time. Matt, maybe you can send him some acoustic CDs.

The other highlight of the weekend was after the game on Sunday, when I was gathering up my stuff and preparing to go from the press section to the locker rooms, and I saw a tall guy in the stands that I thought I recognized, so I went over to him and sure enough…it was Nantambu Willingham. Talked to him for a while and got all his contact info. He has a house outside Atlanta and still plays professionally overseas. He said I appeared to have hit “a growth spurt” since high school. I told him I thought it was just that he cut that tremendous flattop he used to have.

With the All-Star break this weekend, I wanted to see what everyone thought regarding the state of the Hawks? With a 16-34 record, they have surpassed the win total of a year ago but is this team headed in the right direction? I’m optimistic as they have several important new additions starting to click with the young talent on the roster. I think part of the frustration from those that attend games regularly is that they have lost at least 5 games that could/should have been won but I prefer to look at the fact that they aren’t getting blown out nearly as often as last year (maybe I’m grasping at straws).

If they start playing Delk, watch out!

Thanks to Lang for the new banner. I was sweating those copyright infringement lawsuits.

Around midnight, I was flipping through the channels, and I came across the Hawks in LA. They were leading the Laker midway through the 4th so I figured I’d see how it would end. Late in the game (~1 min. left), The Hawks have the ball up 2. Kobe gets a steal he pushes it up to Smush who goes up for the dunk, but J-Smooth just gets a piece of it from behind causing smush to miss. Kobe gets the rebound, but falls flat on his face turning the ball over to the Hawks…no call. The replay showed Kobe wasn’t touched, but I’m still amazed Kobe didn’t get the call in LA. The Hawks held on to get the road win, but it didn’t matter at that point. Nothing can beat seeing Kobe on the floor not getting the call.

Sorry guys, in between working, webmastering the official Hawks site, and loitering outside K-Mart in “tight-fitting plaid pants”, it’s hard to have time to post.

Yes, it was a great game. It was great to watch the Hawks come through again with the game on the line, it was great that the crowd got into it as much as they did, and it was great to see the dumbfounded look on Pistonian faces that only moments before had been pasted with shit-eating, overconfident grins. Joe Johnson really came through with that last shot. Did you even watch it, Steve?

I’m digging the no Tar Tar lineup: Royal Ivey plays much better defense and actually gets rebounds, and now that he’s getting more playing time, Stoudamire is starting to look a lot more confident handling the ball.

The first half shooting was ridiculous; both teams were hitting everything. I read that the Pistons hit 63% in the first half.

It was definitely the best game of the year, or the best on that I’ve been to, at least. Ashley was so into it that she was holding her breath at the end and the rest of the arena was feeling pretty much the same way. When Joe Johnson hit the game winner, the crowd went crazy. The only time I’ve ever heard Phillips that loud is when they announce the Sprite Jam Cam winners.

Other stuff:

Some dude asked his girlfriend to marry him during the Home Depot Price Challenge (or whatever it’s called). She said yes.
Dem Franchize Boyz were in the house. Never heard of ‘em. Are they on your label, Matt?
We’re never going to win that UPS roulette game. My only solace is hearing everyone get so excited when the ball stops on their section and knowing that it is about to skip ahead a few sections.

(Crickets chirping)

I’ve complained about Woody’s give-it-to-Joe-and-let-him-dribble-till-he-gets-open-for-the-shot play before when he’s called it late in games. On Friday night though, against the Magic, it worked. It could be that he added the don’t-dribble-into-the-corner wrinkle, or maybe the Magic is no good. Either way, it was a fun competitive game throughout. Dwight Howard is a man-child.