Bibby helps Atlanta key in on win (wrote this)

[mattlanta]

Bibby helps Atlanta key in on win

The Hawks (22-30) come out with their first win in their Western road trip.

By Matt Libid

February 23, 2008

(2:01AM)

Mike Bibby knew that he had to play through this injury tonight. With Acie Law out with a sprained right wrist, the Hawks had to count on someone who knows what it’s like to play in the West.

Mike Woodson, coaching Atlanta for his fourth consecutive year, knows how tough it can get for an NBA team without a solid point guard in the lineup. He’s had to deal with that all year before trading for Mike Bibby. His starting point guard, Speedy Claxton, required a season-ending knee surgery before the regular season even started. Before that, Speedy had to deal with constant injuries that would only allow him to play for 42 games in the 2006-2007 season.

Bibby and Woodson both realized that in order for the Hawks to come out of the Oakland Arena with a win, they had to get consistent play from the point guard position.

Starting out slow, Bibby shot his first jumper of the night in the first quarter with 5:28 left on the clock. It looked like Bibby was really being slown down by the heel injury he suffered in the loss at Los Angeles Tuesday night. He was 1-for-3 of shooting in the first quarter and was showing signs of pain.

As the second quarter began, Bibby limped on to the court with what seemed to be a renewed confidence. The Hawks were leading 35-23, and Bibby had just gotten his few minutes of needed rest.

When it seemed like the second quarter was slowing down with 3:25 left on the clock, the defense sagged off of Bibby a tiny bit, and he shot the ball from behind the arc – it went in. About a minute and a half later, Bibby shot it up again, and it went in. 58 seconds later, the defense sagged off of him yet again, and we all know what he did and what happened at that point.

Within two minutes and a half, Mike Bibby had just put his team 9 points ahead of Golden State. That’s 9 points closer to Atlanta’s first win since February 6 against the Lakers.

Not wanting to lose another point guard because of an injury, Mike Woodson decided to bench Bibby for a good proportion of the second half. However, for the Golden State Warriors, the damage was already done.

Bibby finished the game with 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 7 assists. Battling through the nagging pain in his heel, Mike Bibby had just helped Atlanta achieve their first win on this Western road trip. The scoreboard read, “117-110”, but quite frankly, without Mike Bibby playing, the score could have been completely different.

Mike Bibby, without taking anything away from Shelden Williams, Anthony Johnson, Lorenzen Wright, and Tyronn Lue (the four players, along with Atlanta’s second round draft pick, associated in the two-team trade between Atlanta and Sacramento in return for Mike Bibby), had just shown why he is worth four players and a draft pick.

Playing through a tough injury, Bibby has shown that he is battle-tested. Keying in on clutch moments, he’s shown his teammates and coaches that he truly is the right point guard for this team.

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So what do you guys think? I'm going to send it to the one of the bigger local newspapers here in Connecticut and see if I can get that internship I wanted.

[NJHAWK]

Pretty good. You spent too much time taliking about Speedy Claxton though. lol

[DJlaysitup]

Quote:

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Pretty good. You spent too much time taliking about Speedy Claxton though. lol

Actually IMHO, many people don't realize how the "Speedy" situation has hurt our team. If Speedy could flockin play we would have at least two-three more wins - maybe more. Speedy (when healthy) is a dynamite defensive player - screws up the other teams offense bigtime. He had Deron basically afraid to bring the ball down the court against him last year......but alas.