Indiana at Atlanta

[Retrovision]

1-0.

[BMF Jet Jaguar]

1-0.

i predict 80-1 for the rest of the season.

[CAM]

1-0.

i predict 80-1 for the rest of the season.

Who's the loss going to be to?

[evildallas]

1-0.

i predict 80-1 for the rest of the season.

Pessimist!

No real complaints on the game.
Great performance by lots of Hawks. Bibby showed why he was resigned in the 4th by making big shots. Joe turned it on in the 4th as well creating offense more effectively than earlier in the game. Al played big all night. Josh passed very well (would have had double-digit assists if he hadn't thrown the ball to Zaza) and kicked up the defensive intensity late. Marvin was solid.

Mo Evans was good off the bench.
Joe Smith didn't get many minutes, but already exhibited a competence that we didn't have in that spot last year.
Teague had a solid debut, but forced his shot a bit.
Zaza had a rough night. You have to convert the occasional bunny when a teammate hits you in scoring position.
Crawford's minutes were light, but I assume that was partly because of getting his 4th early.
Not going to panic about minutes yet. The rotations need to develop a bit. Ultimately I'd expect Joe to get about 4 minutes less (35 vs the 39 he did) with Crawford getting those minutes and I would think that most nights Al get a few minutes less than the 34 he had tonight (I suspect that Woodson would claim to be sticking with the hot guy).
It was a little unnerving that we elected to trade baskets with Indiana for most of the game, but when the 4th came around our starters checked it into a higher gear and Indy couldn't hang. Got to love have 6 players with 3+ assists. No assists for Marvin though, so selfish.

[SAUCERY_SWEET]

That's usually how the games between the Pacers and us go here in Atlanta the past couple of years. They shoot and amazing percentage through the first 3 quarters and we are content to just play a run n gun game with them until it's time to get down and dirty and dig out the win in the 4th . Same old business.

[Harry10]

great to see........ 17FGA from Horford
Horford usually looks like the forgotten child in Woody's offense. good to see Al get +15 touches. it always seems like Al under performs and doesn't dominate, i can't remember every game, but this is the best game i have seen from Al since the Chicago game last when he got 27/17/6blocks. hope this is not just a good game from Al, rather sign of improvement as a player.

hate to see........ Joe played 39min
i understand that the game was close for 3 quarters, but come on, i thought the Hawks are going to try to save Joe and bring his average down to below 35mpg. i mean Crawford only had 11min and 3FGA

[conleyorbust]

Weird game. Couldn't tell if our D was really bad because they were hitting so many long jumpers but never taking it to the hoop. I also kept thinking we were getting crushed on the glass but then I realized that they weren't missing enough shots for us to have a lot of rebounds, we actually outrebounded them on the offensive glass.

The craziest stat of the night is that we had 16 times more steals than they did (16 to 1).

Anyway, offensively, Josh and Al looked great. We ran the offense through them for a good chunk of the game and it worked well. Our offense sputtered a little towards the end when we started going to the perimeter iso stuff, but our D really kicked in there.

Teague did force his shot a little but otherwise looked fine. If that strange little push shot he has can fall at this level, he could be a deadly scorer and he's already a better passer than a lot of us though he'd be.

Anyway, good to be posting with yall again, good to have the Hawks back.

[tontoz]

great to see........ 17FGA from Horford
Horford usually looks like the forgotten child in Woody's offense. good to see Al get +15 touches. it always seems like Al under performs and doesn't dominate, i can't remember every game, but this is the best game i have seen from Al since the Chicago game last when he got 27/17/6blocks. hope this is not just a good game from Al, rather sign of improvement as a player.

Al was getting those same opportunities for the last two years. He just hasn't taken advantage of them. Usually when he catches the ball 15-18 feet from the basket and his man is way off him Horford doesn't look to score. Usually he just stands there with his elbows pointed out looking for someone to pass to.

Last night he actually looked to score when given the opportunity. He needs to face the reality that he isn't going to have any success trying to be a back to the basket player. He needs to be a face up player, taking the 15 footers and driving past bigger slower players when they come out on him. That is what he did last night. It had nothing to do with the offense. it was just him looking to score for a change.

[azuresou1]

great to see........ 17FGA from Horford
Horford usually looks like the forgotten child in Woody's offense. good to see Al get +15 touches. it always seems like Al under performs and doesn't dominate, i can't remember every game, but this is the best game i have seen from Al since the Chicago game last when he got 27/17/6blocks. hope this is not just a good game from Al, rather sign of improvement as a player.

Al was getting those same opportunities for the last two years. He just hasn't taken advantage of them. Usually when he catches the ball 15-18 feet from the basket and his man is way off him Horford doesn't look to score. Usually he just stands there with his elbows pointed out looking for someone to pass to.

Last night he actually looked to score when given the opportunity. He needs to face the reality that he isn't going to have any success trying to be a back to the basket player. He needs to be a face up player, taking the 15 footers and driving past bigger slower players when they come out on him. That is what he did last night. It had nothing to do with the offense. it was just him looking to score for a change.

Al CAN score back-to-the-basket... just not consistently enough against true C's in the league.

Like I said earlier, I can easily picture him turning into a worse-scoring Boozer with better defense.

[JoshB914]

Clinical victory. It's nice to feel confident about a team in the fourth quarter. The Pacers aren't a great side by any means, but they can be dangerous when they get hot shooting the three-ball like they did last night. I thought our guys handled that well, staying confident and composed. It looked like we knew we they were the better team and would take control in the fourth quarter.

Good to see Joe creating offensively as he was quite good after a slow start. Al was fantastic on both sides of the floor. Josh made some mistakes defensively but looked like the playmaker of two years ago with some great plays on the break. And Bibby is still cash in the fourth quarter, you've absolutely gotta love the lift he gives us in the clutch.

[parson]

After all the posters who said Horford couldn't play at a high level, it's nice to see his game grow. This was the 20/10 guy I've been seeing. And he's got more in him.

One problem: I don't like the way we end games. It's the same approach we used last season, namely Joe-against-the-world. Horford and Smoove proved their worth for most of the game, only to see Joe get ALL the shots down the stretch. It's stupid basketball; it's limited basketball; it's selfish; it's Woodson being too scared to trust anyone but Joe. Just put the ball in the hands of the guys who've been doing well all game.

[tontoz]

After all the posters who said Horford couldn't play at a high level, it's nice to see his game grow. This was the 20/10 guy I've been seeing. And he's got more in him.

@ 20/10. Last year Horford averaged 11.5/9.3 in 33 minutes. That is pretty far from 20/10.

Last night Horford took 9 jumpers, making 4. That might not seem significant but when he is taking jumpers he is forcing the opposing big man to come out on him. That opens up the lane for him to drive or for other players to get to the rim. I just wish he would take a little more time to get set before he shoots. He sometimes goes up too quickly and isn't balanced.

In order for him to be an effective scorer he has to be a face up player, not a back to the basket player. Last night was just further evidence of that.

I am sure you will love this...

http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Ef ... ll%20Teams

One problem: I don't like the way we end games.

That's Woody for you. No matter how well other guys are doing he has to go back to ISO Joe.

[JoshB914]

Let's not get too carried away after one game, Parson. Al was fantastic last night but let's wait a little bit before we anoint him as a "20/10 guy."

[parson]

Too late. I already did it 2 years ago, so I'm stuck with my words.

I'll amend my statement only this much: Horford's a 20/10 man IF HE DOESN'T GET STIFFED (as in the last qtr of last night's game when Bibby and Joe decided Horford and Smoove had done well enough).

[parson]

And it's not the one game that gets me excited by Horford's game - it's his talent, strength, intelligence and hustle that gets me.

[evildallas]

Some esoteric game notes:

Ryan Cameron has incorporated some new calls into his announcing:
Whenever we have a block he now says "Inspected and rejected by employee number" and whatever number the player is like 5, 15, or 24.
Whenever Al Horford scores a basket he now says "Al Horford dos"

The half-time contest was both excruciating and enjoyable. It was a modified skills challenge course that 3 contestants tried to get their best times on for what sounded like a decent prize. It goes layup, dribble cones to chest pass, bounce pass, free throw, chest pass, dribble cones to layup again which finishes it. The free throw shots were truly brutal to watch. I'm not sure I remember the winning time, but I do seem to remember that one of the 3 contestants took over 109 seconds. I found myself riveted by the contest and horrified by some of the performances. Good entertainment.

Didn't get a great look at the ATL dancers (moved to cheaper seats this year), but they did seem to have more variety than in the past.

Skyhawk was solo for the trampoline dunking segment. Not sure if the Sky Squad faced downsizing or not in the tough economic times.

[Harry10]

20/10........ i hope that Al can do it, if he can put up 20/10 and play the defense he does as an under size center, he will be a top 10 player in the NBA, i hope he does it too, he might have a shot. what Hawks fan wouldn't want to see that, but i think we can and should expect 15/10 from Al

[HoopsGuru25]

I love Al but expecting him to AVERAGE 20/10 over the course of any season is just unrealistic to say the least. There were probably 5 guys at most who averaged that last year.

[tontoz]

20/10........ i hope that Al can do it, if he can put up 20/10 and play the defense he does as an under size center, he will be a top 10 player in the NBA, i hope he does it too, he might have a shot. what Hawks fan wouldn't want to see that, but i think we can and should expect 15/10 from Al

i think that is doable if he becomes a face up player like Amare. That is what he was doing last night.

When he was drafted i hoped he could become a 15/10 player and i think he can but he needs to be more aggressive, shoot that midrange shot more often and drive FAR more often.