One player doesn't make or break this team! Ode to Hawks Fans!

[willthepureshooter]

I'm sure all of us are disappointed in the news we recieved from Al Horford's season-ending injury today. Most of us threw our remote controls and triple-clicked our mouses in frustration and anger. We Atlanta sports fans have had a terrible history with key player injuries on all of our teams. I remember when Jamal Anderson tore both of his knees and the Falcons season went out the door. When John Smoltz screwed his arm up during a promising season and left our bullpen in disarray. The unforgettable game versus the Ravens when Mike Vick broke his leg on a scramble play. And Chipper Jones' jump throw to first base that left crumbling to the ground with pain. Hell, this past Braves season where we had an injury depleted bullpen and lineup. And the ever so memory of Kirk Hinrichs fall to the hardwood after making a big drive down the paint. Yes, we've had it rough these past 10 years. I can't remember a city thats comparable to ours when it comes to key injuries at the wrong time for our sports teams. Maybe we're cursed.. *shrug*

But one thing I know, is our Hawks came out and responded tonight with a full effort across the board. Maybe we just played a subpar team with a terrible record and a group of young players. Hey, a win is a win in my book. And this was the exact response I was looking for to build confidence in our bench. Our leaders stepped up big! Smoove dropped 30pts 13rebs 3ast and going 14-22(63.6%) from the field. Joe grinded out a big contribution of 23pts 8ast 7rebs. We needed this from our star player. Teague facilitated and set the tempo early with 16pts 7ast 6rebs. He's starting to grow into his own. Zaza supplied a tough 10pts 10reb performance. Ivan "The Terrible" showed his value and savvy hustle with 12pts 7reb. And Willie Green rounded out the bench with a quiet 11pts.

If we can get this production from our captains and our bench players on a consistent basis we will make our run into the playoffs. Not to mention, when TMac, Marvin, and Captain Kirk finally rejoin the team we will be even more dangerous. I also noticed that we had more spacing out on the wings and the elbow. It made a big difference for our bigs because it allowed us to work the blocks and kick to the open shooter without clogging the lanes. We had 52 points in the paint tonight!! Thats a great balance and it shows that our bigs are being active on the blocks. I'm also liking the 24 points we got off of fast breaks ~~~~~~~>> TEAGUE IS SHOWING HIS ABILITIES TO SPEED UP OUR TEMPO!!

Hopefully, we fans can continue to support our home team and put faith in our bench and captains. I like Horford and will miss him but like I said, "ONE PLAYER DOESN'T MAKE OR BREAK THIS HAWKS TEAM!" Go Hawks!!!

[Admin]

Very nice post!!

[AHF]

Agreed. This team can still do some very nice things. I view this not as eliminating us from the post-season but eliminating any dreams of trying to win the East without a huge trade in our favor. Of course, our opponents could suffer a key injury of their own and even the odds so we'll see!

[JTB]

Love the post and your exactly right Teague is getting into his own running this offense and soon it will be enough to proably replace Al's offense but prob not his defense. I worry about the defense side of the ball more since horford is out now. I kinda believe as well as just know that Teague will end up being the main player to replace Horfords offense production with of course the whole team stepping up but I guess Im saying OUR BIG 3 went from Johnson,Smith,Horford to now Johnson,Smith,TEAGUE....atleast offensively and I see nothing wrong with that.

[willthepureshooter]

Thanks Dolfan! Hopefully we will continue to play tough and aggressive ball for the rest of the season. I think LD should trust his bench not panic. We will gel into a team similar to Denver and continue to share the ball. I envision a couple of our bench players earning extensions this season. :)