The Hawks Ate My Little Brother

After watching the Hawks get completely screwed over against the Nets, who would absolutely be our arch-enemy if we had a few more wins, I gave up on the season. What's the point in caring about a team if they get jobbed with the superstar calls in the final minutes of the game. Joe Johnson called on a pushoff? First of all, Richard Jefferson grabbed Kid Dyn-o-mite's arm. Second of all, don't call that play, man. Just let it go. Pretty much anything that's not a flagrant foul or interferes with the shot should not be called in the final 5 minutes of the game- especially on a final possession. The referee simply decided that the Hawks do not deserve a chance to win the game, period. For the record, your officials on the night were Greg Willard, Leon Wood, and Tony Brown.

Another solid victory the other night over an even more depressing team, the Timberwolves. Kevin Garnett makes me want to cry. It's going to be at least 4 years before that team has a chance to compete for a championship, and that's not fair to the best Gatorade commercial-maker in our lifetime.

If the second half of the season has anything to offer us, it is the emergence of Josh "Popeye" Smith as a serious professional basketball player. He looks really good at times. Keeping in mind that he's only 20, in the last two games he posted 8/12/8 and 17/15/7. I'm not saying he's Tim Duncan, but he's not far from being an All-Star. Did you know that Popeye can also play defense? Plus I heard he can fly.

Interesting Stat Breakdown / Al Harrington Hating: The Hawks somehow swept the season series with Indiana, which I thought was surprising. I noticed in the last game that Al "True Professional" Harrington led the Hawks in scoring, so I thought I would compare Al's performance in his games against his former team, who he has also expressed interest in playing with again, against his regular season stats. Al usually shoots 45.1%- against the Pacers: 46.4%. He boards at the same rate, 6.8 per game. Assists were down, from 3.2 to 2.8, but points were up, from 18.8 to 20.5, and turnovers were down from 2.6 to 2. Clearly the man is only trying when he plays the Pacers- I mean, a 1.3% jump in shooting? That's not just coincidence, man. Ok, in all seriousness, he passes a hair less and shoots a little more and shoots it a little better, which I am sure is just random statistics.

I will admit- Al Harrington does not try harder against the Pacers, that is a false claim if anyone makes it. He puts out his usual poor effort.