Hawks v. Pacers. Diesel's take

[Diesel]

OK..

Last night we played very well down the stretch and won!!!

Big Pimpin Joe Johnson was killing Rush and Granger. Just bring them on.

This was a back and fourth game with my biggest concern happening in the 3rd quarter. We kinda Stunk it up in the 3rd. Can somebody please tell Shelden that Indy has bigs that can shoot from outside?? Academically, What Shelden did was generally right (I mean, force the ball to the harder shot) however, that doesn't work when they have bigs who can shoot and Tinsley can't hit the side of a barn.

Game ball tonight go to JJ, Horf, and Chillz.

First JJ...

Big Pimpin was our scoring force. You could see it in his eyes that he owned Rush. Even Rush knew it.

Horf..

Tonight I realized how small Horf really is. Horf is shorter than Granger. BUT... Horf is a man inside. He gave JO all that he wanted. I think by the end of the game, JO had respect for Horf because JO could have been the goto guy all night if it wasn't for 2 things...

HORF and OBrien. Both of these guys worked to take the ball out of JO's hands.

Chillz..

Once again, Mr. Intangible shows up. For those who say that Chillz doesn't play good defense... Go back and watch this game. As soon as he comes in the game, he gives his man no room to breathe. Moreover, I didn't know that Chillz went to Mark Price's shooting Laboratory this offseason. That's a good idea for Price!!

Play of the night

Has to be Zaza to Chillz on the break. I stood up!!! Did you see Zaza running the floor!!!!

Line of the Day

"This one is going to be a close one going into the 4th.. But we have a guy, he's dressed tonight, and we call him The Closer".

-Smitty

"JJ is putting him into the blender"..

-Rathburn

Summary

I'm going to be cautious with my estaticness over the Hawks. We're playing good defense... and our offense is looking good with AJ at the helm. Still, we got some things we need to get better at doing... Like putting a team away when we've built a 10 point lead.

[pound4pound]

How about Lue not getting off the bench? Is this a sign of things to come? Our future is with Law but he just isn't getting the team going when he as the point. T-Lue pounds it but so does Law - at least T-Lue can hit a shot when the clock is running down.

[Diesel]

Law does his share of pounding but Law also drives and Kicks.

I think Law will become more comfortable as he plays more. Putting Lue in should only be in the presence of another primary ball handler.

[macdaddy]

You nailed it. The two things I couldn't believe was JO not getting the ball more down the stretch and Chill going to Mark Price's shooting school. I thought I'd heard that wrong. How does that work when your mechanics are 'incorrect' to begin with. Most shooting coaches are correcting mechanics right? I don't care as long as he shoots well but its interesting.

[Traceman]

He is quickly becoming the player that Chris Webber became after injuries took his athleticism. He still rebounds well but he settles for jumpers rather than going to the hoop on too many occasions. In addition, although he still blocks a few shots, he is nowhere near the defensive presence he once was. He is still a good player but he is not worth anywhere near the salary he is currently making.

[DrReality]

Unfortunately the worst minutes of the night for the Hawks were when Law was on the floor. AJ has become our leader at both ends of the court.

[chillzatl]

there's nothing unfortunate about it. He's young and he'll do nothing but improve. We should be thankful that AJ is stepping it up for us.

[macdaddy]

I was thinking the same thing, but Acie just hasn't had much experience yet. He provided effective minutes though. He didn't look good at times but not so bad that he had to be yanked. While AJ is hot this is important. Hopefully by the time AJ cools off or wears down Acie will be much better.

[exodus]

One thing Acie can obviously do well is break down the defense and get to the rim. That is a key issue for this team. Granted he hasn't finished well but i think that is mainly because of his ankle.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Quote:

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One thing Acie can obviously do well is break down the defense and get to the rim. That is a key issue for this team. Granted he hasn't finished well but i think that is mainly because of his ankle.

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Thank you.

I saw this in the home opener and it was a relief because it was the one thing people questioned that he could do.

We all know he's got potential to be a great shooter which is why people called him a tweener.

But he has shown he actually has the quickness to play the point and be a guy who can drive the basketball to disrupt a defense.