Zaza appreciation thread!

[AnthonyI11]

Drew benched Josh Smith and went with the player who drove this team to victory with energy and hustle. ZAZA!!!!!!!!!!

[Gray Mule]

:clapping:

Best Hawk game this season!! Zaza was GREAT!!

GO HAWKS!!

:biggrin:

[MVP23]

I will not support goonery! :biggrin:

[TheTruth]

Zaza played like a damn man tonight. If he played like that consistently, he could go back to starting for us from time to time without our brains exploding at the sheer size of his forehead, clumsiness, penchant for turnovers, and 3 inch vertical.

[AHawks89]

In Zaza we trust.

[Colin]

This is like watching my son take his first poop.

I am so proud.

:D

[Admin]

Big ups to medium Z for his big time performance tonight!! Hail to the King ... :kingchris:

If it were me as the Hawks coach I wouldn't have there be a single minute where one of Zaza or Twin weren't on the floor at C because even though they're not great players they stay in the paint and that at least gives us a shot at rebounding. I can't stand when our small lineup stands around on the perimeter jacking up shots with no chance at rebounds like we saw in the 3rd quarter tonight and thank God that LD made the right adjustment tonight and Zaza and Al gave the effort that they needed to on the boards to get us this win.

[Colin]

Zaza +17, Smoove, -12.

[Wretch]

Never really had an opinion on ZaZa, but I never really understood all the hate either. He's not an All Star by any stretch of the imagination, but when he plays...at least he tries. When he's on, he scrambles with the best of them. Good for some hustle plays here and there and some offensive rebounds.

What exactly does he do that makes people so mad at him?

[HalfHawk]

Can we give Joe's contract to Zaza?

[Colin]

Can we give Joe's contract to Zaza?

I'm not mad at Joe. Sure, he shot TERRIBLY. But 10-11 from the line, and you could tell he was playing with emotion from the first quarter. I am so happy right now. We only made 29 FG, and still won!!

[PureGreatness]

Zaza and Crawford was the sole reason we won tonight. Props. Smith playing bad wasnt shocking. He plays HORRIBLE against them this year.

[APE]

ripped that rebound right out of KG's hands and owned him all night and had him playing like Al against Amare.

[Guest]

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/26995/hawks-beef-wears-down-celtics

ATLANTA -- Rookie coach Larry Drew has taken a lot of heat for his stewardship of the Atlanta Hawks this season, but for the second straight game he had all the right answers as the Hawks beat an Eastern Conference contender.

After using Jason Collins to stymie Orlando's Dwight Howard on Wednesday, Drew shifted gears and didn't play Collins a minute tonight -- instead using 7-footer Zaza Pachulia extensively as the Hawks rallied from 12 points down to top Boston 88-83.

Pachulia played the entire fourth quarter while a struggling Josh Smith cooled his heels on the bench, and the move allowed the Hawks to pound Boston into submission on the glass. He scored 15 points and added 10 rebounds, including five on the offensive boards, as the Hawks enjoyed a 14-3 edge in offensive rebounds and an 18-2 edge in second-chance points.

"Give Drew credit," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "I thought the substitution of Pachulia changed the game. He was the toughest dude on the floor. Banging everybody, got offensive rebounds, kept things alive, It thought that was a great move."

Pachulia, who famously scuffled with Kevin Garnett in the Hawks' first round playoff series with Boston in 2008, also got into a scrap with Jermaine O'Neal just moments after entering the game that saw both players hit with technical fouls.

[Bawse]

Zaza was the difference in this game. Grabbing offensive boards, throwing his body around, put backs, making it to the line.... he did it all. Props given to him for this performance.

[Colin]

II think the best part was that he sank those two free throws with 35 seconds left, I was worried about him going to line, but he came through.

[MaceCase]

One thing I know, Zaza will never complain about a clunkfest. You'll never see a happier player on the court when Joe or Jamal are pulling up for a jumper because Zaza knows it's time to collect his checks. Big Baby probably also helped Zaza achieve a performance bonus in his contract.

[wfhawkfan]

all hail the king

[sasuke]

Zaza has one of the best non rookie contracts for a big in the league. Teams will die to have him. Lucky us.