FrankWhite

How are you gonna ask a grown ass man if beating a team that has never won anything means more to him than the birth of his son? They treat these guys like they're your little brother's team and it's so cute how well they're doing. It's insulting. This is a veteran team that goes about its business in an uber professional manner every game. They're serious. They have a championship demeanor. And they're not going away.

Kevin Love should patent that defensive move where he spins his head around and flails his arms at the ball as it whizzes past his head to his man who beat him down the floor again.

The refs have succeeded in getting the Cavs back in the game.

Every night every guy guarded by Dellevedova is like GIMME THE BALL. It's gotta weigh on a man.

That's how you come out strong.

You can tell who actually watches basketball and who doesn't. Most mainstream media personalities do not, and they don't realize that the game is changing before their eyes and the Hawks are at the forefront of the revolution. They still think teams that play hero ball or teams built inside out are the teams to beat. They are truly baffled when they look at our rebounding numbers or our lack of a true rim protector. Most of these guys think Kyle is a one dimensional shooter who can't defend, Demarre is a scrub, and we have no depth, and they keep waiting to be proven right... and waiting... and waiting... The difference between this team and past Hawks squads is those guys wanted to be loved and these guys don't care. They know they're that good. Let em hate.

If the Hawks lose, they'll be "exposed." If the Hawks win, they still have to show they can win in the playoffs. So it really doesn't matter. If they play their game, they'll win.

I have no ill will towards Joe. He was a good player for us, and by all accounts a class act. The problem was we paid him to be our go to guy, the leader of our team, and he was simply not that guy. He's going to be remembered as a poster boy for bad contracts instead of what he should've been, the second or third best player on a contender. Which is too bad, and not his fault, just a symptom of a badly run organization, desperate for some kind of capital that reached for a non-star "star."

All teams, especially teams without decades of a winning tradition, have bandwagon fans. Atlanta is the only market that constantly gets bagged on for it. Fans don't make the team. The team makes fans. Play great basketball and guess what? Fans show their support. I'll always remember the Joe and Josh teams for laying down when things got tough in the playoffs. I'm supposed to support that? Please.

You either get it or you don't. Josh never got it and never will. He doesn't realize he was a huge reason people, especially casual fans, didn't like this team for years. The difference between him and Millsap is night and day. When was the last time you saw Sap doing something just dumb in a game? We know the last time we saw Josh.

Well, we were able to weather Pero's minutes.

That's true. I guess what I meant was it's so rare for a Hawks player.

I'm sure the rest of the league are watching the tape of last night and now all know the way to beat this team: Get two of the league's best big men and the best perimeter defender in basketball and we can be had. Just a matter of time before everyone else follows suit.

It's so rare to see a young player with a ton of potential who you weren't quite sure about actually reach that potential with the team that drafted him. And the crazy thing is he might get even better with Schröder pushing him and competing for minutes.

I mean, you have a guy saying if the Hawks win the remaining 30 games to tie the '96 Bulls, he'll remain unmoved. It's just not worth arguing.

Rebounding and dealing with size are issues and may continue to be so, but other teams are allowed to be good, too, you know?

Oh, okay. I'm furious now.

Meh. Sap and Al had their worst games of the season, couldn't buy a foul or a rebound, and they were still in the game on the road against a heavyweight contender until the last minute. If Teague's ankle is okay, I'll take this as a near win and hope I don't have to see this team again until next year.

If I'm Ray Allen, I look at the Hawks and see the type of system a shooter dreams of playing in, versus going to Cleveland and playing in LeBron's latest pick up squad, I dunno, I think this is the more appealing option. But this is assuming we're seriously interested in bringing him in anyway.

This is like asking do the Hawks have too much chemistry? There's no such thing.

So freaking proud of this team. God, that felt good!

I wonder if Stephen A. has any idea how much he comes off like a groupie when he stans for these dudes? Is Bron paying your car note, bro?

Al has been twice the player Love is with half the shots.

I don't really get the love affair the media has with Chicago, other than a desire to see their preseason picks pan out. They're a good team, but I think people are more impressed with the names in the box scores than the actual numbers. I like Gasol, but he's not demonstrably any different than the guy who got ran out of town in LA last year, whereas Millsap is an All Star in his absolute prime. Derrick Rose is just another guy now. There are at least 10 point guards who have surpassed him, including Teague obviously. Al and Noah cancel each other out, Butler and Korver are apples and oranges, and I take Demarre over whoever they start at 3. Good benches and coaches, but I like ours a little more. The thing is, listen to their supporters talk about them and they'll say, "Oh, they have some chemistry issues, but when they figure it all out, watch out." Meanwhile, the Hawks have figured it all out. They're actually doing what they said Chicago and Cleveland would do. They're steamrolling teams. They're winning easily even when they don't play their best basketball. Smart basketball people recognize this, but the talking heads on ESPN/TNT act like, come playoff time, Josh Smith is gonna run out there and chuck up 25 footers for us. But who cares. Just keep winning, Hawks.

Antoine Walker, maybe?