Can I get a Ivan appreciation thread?

[01d0rd3r]

Wow what a game.

[Sothron]

He played a great game. That comeback was insane.

[MoBetta]

Ivan is the man

[benhillboy]

True. He punked Kevin Love on a few occasions. Filled in for Al's production with no problem, and with authority. About time we find a jewel in the draft. He's a hard-nosed utility forward who's smart, opportunistic, and has a sneaky quickness whether driving to the basket, defending shots, or reaching in. Getting 10 rebounds means you dont mind, or maybe slightly enjoy, getting pounded about the head and face (which is why Al or Josh have never averaged a full 10). I kinda think Ivan absorbs contact and gets off on it. Exactly what we needed tonight. He's getting better every game.

Edited January 15, 2012 by benhillboy

[MoBetta]

He got 11 rebounds in only 25 mins

Edited January 15, 2012 by MoBetta

[TheTruth]

IVAN is the toughest SOB on the team by a mile. Yeah, Zaza is nice, but Ivan just doesnt give a crap.

If he can play under control like he did tonight, he will continue to pay handsome dividends for us. He could be a Rodman (with better offense) or DeJuan Blair type (undersized but aggressive big man).

Edited for capitalization of IVAN's entire first name.

Edited January 15, 2012 by TheTruth

[Colin]

We need to find a way to couple Zaza's goofy hustle with Ivan's blatant disregard for anything style of bosshogging and turn it into some wins.

[Bawse]

More minutes for Ivan please. 11 boards in 25 minutes of play... holy wow. And a D-D at that. He is a beast.

[sillent]

He stepped it up when it counted and made clutch free throws. Ivan also stepped up his intensity in the second half. Since we're giving props gotta show love to Willie Green,Rad, Teague and Joe for all there key contributions in the second half. Josh bailed out of the game after the first quarter. I guess he thought it was too easy. I watched him stay away from plays,rebounds and etc. in the second quarter. Marvin had a good showing.

True. He punked Kevin Love on a few occasions. Filled in for Al's production with no problem, and with authority. About time we find a jewel in the draft. He's a hard-nosed utility forward who's smart, opportunistic, and has a sneaky quickness whether driving to the basket, defending shots, or reaching in. Getting 10 rebounds means you dont mind, or maybe slightly enjoy, getting pounded about the head and face (which is why Al or Josh have never averaged a full 10). I kinda think Ivan absorbs contact and gets off on it. Exactly what we needed tonight. He's getting better every game.

A little bit too far and pretty inaccurate in a lot of ways but I agree with your post for the most part.

He stepped it up when it counted and made clutch free throws. Ivan also stepped up his intensity in the second half. Since we're giving props gotta show love to Willie Green,Rad, Teague and Joe for all there key contributions in the second half. Josh bailed out of the game after the first quarter. I guess he thought it was too easy. I watched him stay away from plays,rebounds and etc. in the second quarter. Marvin had a good showing.

A little bit too far and pretty inaccurate in a lot of ways(we drafted most of our core not Ivan) but I agree with your post for the most part.

[BrazilianHawk]

IVAN is the toughest SOB on the team by a mile. Yeah, Zaza is nice, but Ivan just doesnt give a crap.

If he can play under control like he did tonight, he will continue to pay handsome dividends for us. He could be a Rodman (with better offense) or DeJuan Blair type (undersized but aggressive big man).

Edited for capitalization of IVAN's entire first name.

And there's another plus. The man can HIT FREE-THROWS!!!

[AJtheGreat]

Ivan is like a new breath of fresh air to our team. We finally have a tough presence in the paint. And he can put up some points too.

[BrazilianHawk]

He keeps playing like this, he becomes ROY. Easily!

[Gray Mule]

My "Tractor Trailer Man." Way to go! He plays tough inside. He makes some shots.

He gets fouled and hits 'em all! 8-8.

Hawks go 22-27 from the charity stripe. No bad. Not bad. That will cause you to win

those close games!!

And, how about all those 3 pointers and all that tough defense when it really matttered.

GO HAWKS!!

[uga2006]

Not only does he bring hustle to our team but he actually has some talent unlike guys like Mo Evans, Mario West and other NBA fodder we have had in the past.

[Eddielives]

I think he's our modern-day Grant Long, just a hard worker who is going to rebound, hustle and make everyone a fan who appreciates an old school workhorse mentality.

[DJlaysitup]

And there's another plus. The man can HIT FREE-THROWS!!!

Yeah BH...I love it!! While other guys tend to have to calm down at the line after the physical effort it took to get to the foul line...Ivan is like.."OK, give me the ball so I can shoot this easy little shot with nobody f'ing with me".

Ivan has very good fundamentals as a free throw shooter from what I've seen so far. Not too many moving parts so not that much to break. I think he can actually be a quality mid-range jump shooter once he gets his confidence.

I keep thinking "where did this guy come from..how did we get him..and are there any Interpol warrants out against him?"

All I can figure is - he didn't get a good look in the NBA (lots of guys don't when they aren't 6-10) - he had a few issues that he has overcome - and now we got him. He certainly hasn't lost his hops at 27 - he gets up and is physical.

[sillent]

And let's not forget that end game interview was classic. He will definitely need to start practicing because he might see a lot more of those. I actually saw the grills he plays with as well. This is a good time to have somebody like this on the team. With enough vets and good all around leadership to keep his head on straight. Even Josh has been a mentor for mister Ivan Johnson. Not making that part up it came from Ivan in an earlier interview.

Edited January 15, 2012 by sillent

[Guest]

Last game I said I hoped they get a chanve to interview IVAN and ther it is...Was hilarious..loved it. He was so matter of fact about what he needed to do...lol

[DJlaysitup]

Ivan's interview (sort of):

[Guest]

Classic IVAN (on Kevin Love):

"I just like to play defense," Ivan Johnson said. "I knew he couldn't put the ball on the floor too well, so just get up in him, make him put it on the floor, make him pass it so he can't score on me."

Love scored 30 points for the 12th time in his career and finished with a double-double for an NBA-leading 12th time, but the stoic Ivan Johnson didn't seem too impressed.

"My thing is don't really watch basketball so I don't know who anybody is," he said. "I know the main ones, like Kobe (Bryant), (Dwyane) Wade and LeBron (James). Even if I did (know Love), I wouldn't be afraid. We're playing basketball."

Gotta love this guy.