Pathetic team effort

[Gray Mule]

Who put the fire out? Last night, Dion Glover played

with fire and determination but he was alone in this.

A bunch of dead heads took the floor last night,

disguised as the Atlanta Hawks. "A day late and a

dollar short" describes our effort {What effort?} as the

entire team seemed to be sleepwalking. A wide awake

Dion Glover came in and showed the rest of the team

what they should have been doing. If it wakened some

of them, it was too late.

I hope each and every Atlanta Hawk will look in the mirror

today and ask, "What did you do last night?" If they

answer truthfully, they will have to say, "Not as much as I

was capable of doing. Part of the reason for the

pathetic effort was my fault."

Turnovers are a part of the game. We can expect to

have some and to get some on the opposition but the

ratio is way out of line. All the team is guilty, not just

one or two. Maybe they are so aware of this problem

that they are up-tight and creating more because of

this. The offensive flow is not smooth and this can

cause turnovers but it doesn't seem to be improving.

Where is the defensive effort? Not individual efffort

but team effort. This is a team sport and the

defense must be team oriented and not just one

player causing all the easy slam dunks. Somebody

is not covering somebody's back side and the road

is left wide open.

As pathetic as last night's effort was {And you could

feel it coming when SAR missed those first free throws}

when you examine the box score and find that the

final score was 87-72, which is a 15 point difference,

check the Hawks free throws. They missed 15! Hit

100 % of the free throws and we end up with a tied

game!

Hawks missed a lot of shots last night. It seemed, as

I watched that every shot missed was right on target,

off neither to the left or right but always hitting the

front of the rim. This was not just one player but all

of them. I have no idea why. Long 3 or a short 2.

all off the front rim. Just the strength of a few more

beans and 'taters and they go in. Just a dab weak

on the shots.

I hope the Hawks will catch up on their sleep and

eat enough beans and 'taters so that the next game

they don't come out and sleepwalk with no energy

and fire. It's time to wake up and be about the

business at hand -- Winning ball games.