So last night’s win at home (146-115) against the Raptors was more than getting back into the winning column after loosing a tough game Sunday in Detroit. The game against the Raptors was a huge offensive onslaught by the Hawks that left the Raptors heading to Hartsfield Airport to get out of Hotlanta as soon as they could. Before I get to the Hawks, I just want to say how disappointed I am in the Raptors. I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of the Raptors, but at the same time, I do prefer them over a number of different teams. I thought they would be a contender for a playoff spot for sure in the East this year, but so far they have not been very impressive, losing 10 of their 13 games by at least 8 points (with 6 of those games by 13+) and going 4-11 in their last 15 games. With one of, if not the tallest, starting lineups in the NBA (Bargnani, Bosh, Turkoglu in the front court with all at least 6′ 10″). I just don’t really understand why they are not better, except maybe for the play of their guards. But back to the Hawks. It was a somewhat historic effort with the Hawks scoring over 145 for the first time since 1993 (149 in a win against the 76ers). Nine different Hawks were in double figures, with Mo Evans being a point away from making it ten. Even rookie Jeff Teague had 13 points while playing 23 minutes. This won’t happen that often, but it is good to see the Hawks be able to share the rock and cruise to a win while getting everybody involved. One of the themes that the Hawks need to have is to win the games they are supposed to win and compete against the teams that are as good or better than them. They don’t have to win every game against Boston, Orlando, Cavs, or Lakers if they will take care of business the other games and at least show up against the good teams. Hawks have a back-to-back home and away this weekend, with the Knicks coming to town and then a game in Dallas. Like I said, take care of the games you are supposed to win and compete against the good teams.
About the Blogger
Michael Y. is the blogger for Mike on the Hawks. Besides enjoying writing and sports, he enjoys discovering local eating establishments when he travels, sports talk radio, canasta, meeting new people, reading, and finding loose change on the ground.
Another win and a look ahead
Posted in Game Commentary, Previews with tags Atlanta Hawks, Jamal Crawford, Jeff Teague, Mo Evans, Schedule, Toronto Raptors, Zaza Pachulia on December 12, 2009 by Michael YSo the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Toronto Raptors last night by the score of 111-89. It was the second time in 10 days that the Hawks had beaten down the Raptors, which the Hawks outscored them by 53 points combined in both contests. It has been a good start to the month of December for the Hawks. The bench has played exceptionally well in addition to the starters, as shown by Mike Bibby, Al Horford, and Joe Johnson all playing less than 28 minutes last night, with Bibby playing only 16 minutes himself. The fact that the bench has played well may not be as big of a deal right now, but it will have a big effect later. With Bibby being 31 years old, he can’t physically play 30 minutes a night for a whole season. I have said before how big the Jamal Crawford trade was, but with these good performances, it has given Jeff Teague a chance to get some good minutes to help him gain experience being a rookie. Four Hawks had double figures off the bench (Crawford, Evans, Pachulia, and Teague), and with them scoring, it will let the starters not have to work so hard so they will have more in the tank come playoffs time. (Yes, I said playoffs time. Part of becoming a contender is to not think about getting there but what is going to happen when you are there.)
The schedule for the Hawks for the season on the whole is not a bad schedule at all. There aren’t any crazy home or away streaks like they had last year when they were on the road for pretty much the whole month and home for the next. They have had a pretty mild beginning to December, but as we get closer to the end of the month and the beginning of January, I feel that it is the toughest part of their schedule. After playing very winnable games against the Nets and the Grizzlies, they play 5 out of 6 on the road, with a four game swing that goes from Chicago to Minnesota, then to Denver and a swing by Indianapolis before they end the year with a back-to-back home and home with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Lebron James (and if you remember correctly, swept the Hawks in 4 games in the playoffs last year). So the Hawks need to continue to play well so that they can get through this tough stretch of games with success and stay close or get on top of the Southeast division and/or Eastern Conference Standings.
Leave A Comment »