Thursday, December 7

Nuggets Dunked In a Hotlanta Honey Mustard

Fantastic win last night. Sure the Nuggets let the Hawks back in the game, but they got back in the freaking game. I counted them out twice- once before the game started, as the second part of a back-to-back on the road, against a hot team. I counted them out again as they fell WAY behind in the 3rd (I figured that was the fatigue that was waiting to set in). But Salim, Lue, Joe, Shelden and Josh 2 took over. You'd be surprised how fast you catch up when you convert a 3-point play or hit a 3 every time down the court.

Big ups to Salim, who had a breakout game (I think) yesterday. He's getting better at knowing when to pass and when to shoot, and he's pulling the hard take to the hole + kickout pass that the Hawks need to be running non-stop. He hit some clutch shots last night- some big 3s, a little teardrop runner in the lane with the clock winding down, the alley-oop from Josh 2 (great call by Steve Smith on that one) and my favorite: passing up the contested 3 in favor of a wide open Joe "Kid Dy-no-mite" Johnson in the corner for the game changing 3 that gave the Hawks a 92-91 lead. Salim, congratulations. You've earned your way back into my heart.

Shelden Williams (despite chewing on his jersey like a nervous 6 year old) had ice water running through his veins. In the span of 24 seconds he:
1. Blocked / stripped Carmelo Anthony going for a close bucket (Melo was fouled by Lue going up and I can't believe Dick Bavetta didn't call it, even though he was standing behind Carmelo and couldn't see what was going on, although Lue did a good job of fouling without making a visible swipe).
2. Pump faked Marcus Camby at the other end on a turn around move that was so Tim Duncan I almost crapped my pants.
3. Nailed his two free throws.
4. Failed to successfully box out Camby for a game tying tip-in that Camby totally blew.
Ignoring number 4, it was an awesome stretch.

Joe Johnson is the Atlanta Braves of the Hawks. Consistently very good, with stretches of awesomeness and averageness. I'm not convinced he's selling any tickets, but he's getting wins for this team, and THAT sells tickets.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Joel said...

You see that Coach Woodson let Lue and JJ take the day off practice?

Unorthodox method...I am all for resting JJ but I hope this doesn't send a message to the team that certain players are carrying more weight than others...espicially after a big win like that.

Couple more thoughts:

I am really glad Marvin is coming back tonight...JJ needs to take a few more mins off each night for this team not to collapse during the dog days of Feb/March.

I normally hate comparing players, but I could see Shelden Williams becoming a PJ Brown/Dale Davis type player. He'll never be a star, but a guy that you want out there during crunch time who is a hoss on defense and won't kill you offensively down the stretch.

Enjoy the blog, keep up the good work.

11:17 AM  
Blogger Matt said...

I'm hoping Woodson has other reasons for letting them sit out besides points scored- but Joe does put in more minutes than anyone on the team, and I don't think we need to worry about the other guys thinking JJ caries more weight.

Shelden is becoming the kind of player that makes all the plays he's supposed to- maybe his Tremendous Upside Potential isn't sky high, but he can be a dependable guy that you need on the court at all times.

9:00 AM  

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