Mario West 3rd on Sports Center

[Vesper]

Streak Busters

Hawks got love last night on Sports Center

Edited March 12, 2009 by Vesper

[MrRyda]

Always great to see our boys get some love. Joe was on the front page of ESPN.com after the win last night too.

Also, congrats to Mario. I can't speak for him personally, but that may have just been the highlight of his career right there.

[LOL_Hawks]

Believe it or not, the Hawks are actually getting some respect. Normally if the Hawks did something like this, SC would do a quick highlight and then be like "O wow, break up the Hawks! Stunning upset!"

But not here. If anything they gave us props for being a formidable team, breaking their streak, and doing it in style.

I also like the fact that the hometown guy (Douglasville represent) got on Sportscenter. Awesome.

[DrReality]

I think this is one more thing that can help boost their confidence. Helping West gain some confidence could be huge for him. He's very athletic and could meet a specific need off the bench.

[Dnice]

I suppose they can show Josh anytime so Flip and Rio got in the game highlites, but I did want to see Josh on Korver and the oop from half court. That looked like a heave and Josh happened to be right there.

[crimedog]

From Hollinger:

3. With Marvin Williams out indefinitely with a back injury and Maurice Evans contributing little of late, Atlanta turned to little-used Mario West in the first half of Wednesday night's win over Utah. West had three points, four rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal, and his manic physicality was a big asset against the Jazz's brutish playing style.

West had been used almost strictly as an end-of-quarter defensive sub when the other team had the ball in last-shot situations -- he's appeared in 37 games, but this was the first time he'd played more than seven in a non-blowout situation.

He's never going to score much, but if he can bring defense and energy the way he did against the Jazz, he may be able to carve out a more regular gig. Though he's only 6-5, West has a 15.0 rebound rate this season -- one that would beat out a good chunk of the league's centers.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/col...mInsider-090312

I know Hollinger gets to a lot of Hawks games, I've never seen him (where does he sit? Press box?), so I'm sure he's aware of Rio.