Game 1 appreciation thread

[exodus]

How many times this year have the Hawks taken a big first half lead and never let the other team back in the game? Very few. They just never let up last night.

It was also nice to see the Hawks outrebound the other team by 19.

[frosgrim]

How many times this year have the Hawks taken a big first half lead and never let the other team back in the game? Very few. They just never let up last night.

It was also nice to see the Hawks outrebound the other team by 19.

Excellent point. I kept thinking of when, last year, I think, the Hawks blew a 19 point lead in the 4th!

This is a different team now. Everyone has improved, Woodson included, and it showed last night. The level of concentration was amazing. They just didn't let up no matter what.

Game 2 will decide how long this series goes. Another dominating performance and the series might not come back to Phillips.

[Atlsportfanz]

I agree with everything everybody else has said. It's nice to have Marvin back even if it is in a limited role. It at the very least gives us more fouls to use on Wade since we have another perimeter player.

I really enjoyed hearing Josh and Joe talk about how much they wanted home court and wanted to play for us the fans.

Of course, I was peeved when Kenny Smith took our desire to have home court as a knock that we were scared to play on the road :angry22:

[Atlantaholic]

Josh Smith's dunk barrage that culminated in a vicious tomahawk jam that brought the house down.

Watching the game, one could feel how any chances that Miami may have had of winning that game all came crashing down along with that dunk.

Edited April 20, 2009 by Atlantaholic

[jerrywest]

I just wanted to congratulate myself because I can barely talk today.

I also wanted to congratulate myself, because I was in Marta 90 minutes each way last night.

Car to Train to Bus to Train to Train. They were doing construction north of Lindburgh station. Wish I knew.

It was all worth it. A night to remember. All of Woody's sins are absolved.

[Dsinner]

Without a doubt the best 48 min game they've played all year. If we win big tomorrow AND win the next one at home they may actually have a shot at the whole shebang. All they need is the confidence to believe they can win on the road in the playoffs and anything will become very possible.

[ATLSmith]

Rebounding.

Defense that didn't quit even when the Hawks were up by 20.

Forcing Wade to turn the ball over EIGHT times!

Marvin Williams with 10 points in 17 minutes of play.

Joe Johnson bobbing and weaving on his way to the basket, making his defenders look like they had 2 left feet.

The Mike Bibby half-court pass to Smith for the reverse dunk was one of the most amazing thing's I've ever seen. Even Bibby couldn’t believe it.

[LOL_Hawks]

Our defense absolutely clamping down on Wade & Co. was the best part of that entire game. The thing that made me happier than Smoove dunking all over the guys in black was the fact that Wade only had 2 easy plays the entire game. Other than that, we had Wade completely out of his element. Every time he went to the hole, we mollywocked him. Every time he got the ball, the defense made sure that he didn't get anything easy. We made Wade uncomfortable, and the rest of their team followed suit. That is the key to this series for the Hawks: As long as Wade is uncomfortable, we will be in control of this series. That's why I loved our defensive effort: Just outstanding.

• Marvin coming out strong. His first dunk definitely sent a message, and early on it looked as if he wasn't even hurt.
  
• I also liked the crowd. I was hoping that they'd come out with the same noise, same passion, and same overall animosity against the away team, instead of doing their normal regular season act and cheering Wade on. They didn't disappoint. They booed the hell out of Wade, and they definitely played a factor int he game in boosting our guys on. As long as our crowd is in the game, we can't be beaten at home.
  
• Once again, we were awesome in the 2nd quarter. I'm not a micro-stats type of guy, but I'm willing to bet good money that we are either the best or 2nd best behind Cleveland at home during the 2nd quarter. The only team that I can remember who beat us during a 2nd quarter at home was the Spurs. Other than that, we absolutely own the 2nd quarter of home games.
  
• How about Smoove? They seriously had no idea how to stop him. Josh Smith basically did whatever the hell he wanted last night. The Bibby-to-Smith alley oops were just BEAUTIFUL. And then Smoove on defense had the other team scared (as usual) to go to the hole for fear of getting the shot blocked. Basically, if Smoove plays every game like he did last night, then the series will be well in hand for us.
  
• WE DIDN'T LOSE HOME COURT. The Blazers, Spurs, Celtics, and Magic all lost their home court advantage this weekend. This honestly had me fearing for us, since I figured that the Heat noticed this and got a little more confident in their chances. Luckily for us, our guys definitely realized the value of home court and came out like gangbusters, sending a message to the Heat (and maybe the rest of the East) that winning in Phillips Arena will be ANYTHING BUT a cakewalk.
  
• Overall swagger. Al Horford was intimidating (almost like a Mini KG. I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't a Hawks fan, I'd hate Horford right now. lol.), Smoove was talking big, Joe was shooting with hella confidence, Zaza played his role to perfection, and Bibby felt confident enough to actually play some pretty good defense. Confidence and swagger: We have it right now.
  

Just an awesome game. Best appreciation thread of the year.

[Plainview1981]

This thread is to say what you liked, enjoyed, jumped out of your seat or off your couch from last night's game. There are a lot of kevetching threads on the board already so don't post that stuff here.

For me, Josh Smith did what Josh Smith needs to do to be an unbelievable player. He rebounded, played great defense, and got out on breaks for easy dunks. He was exciting to watch last night. Miami has NO ONE to stop Smith when he gets it going like that.

However, props should be given to the rest of the team that played outstanding defense last night as well. Smith got several of those transition dunks due to what he teammates were doing. Though major credit has to go to Smith for just getting out and running down the court.

I thought Horford played solid interior defense and rebounded well.

Marvin looked good, though you could see some of the pain crept back into his back. Those two missed FTs I think were a result of the back.

I think the players made some adjustments and started ganging up on Wade once they realized that nobody else was going to do anything. They played it smart. I was wondering why they didn't go after Wade from the start. But they made sure nobody else went off and then shutdown Wade when the supporting cast had lost their confidence.

Defense and dunks aside, this team still played fairly mediocre on the offensive end. Lots of turnovers and they fell in love with the jumper in the second half.

[Guest]

I am just glad we didn't lay an egg after halftime. He kept about the same intensity the whole way through, I was genuinely concerned that we would blow the lead at some point in time. I don't think Miami even got to within 10 at any time in the 2nd half.

[Dejay]

It's games like this on national TV that makes it all worthwhile to be a Hawks fan; especially after half of the home teams lost their first game and ABC/TNT/ESPN all but ready to put out their Labron vs. Wade promos for Round 2. If they play with that kind of effort and execution on Wednesday night, the Heat may as well get the fishing rods, vacation cruises, and golf clubs ready...

[uga2006]

To tell the truth I never saw this coming. They really came through last night. Lets just hope it continues.

[tonegully]

To tell the truth I never saw this coming. They really came through last night. Lets just hope it continues.

Im not going to lie. I thought the game was going to be closer than that. I havent seen the Hawks play defense like that for 48minutes in a very long time.

We really shut them down yesterday. Wade had to learn those points he got besides the first dunk. I was so proud of the Hawks. Friends at work were comming up to me today like WOW!!!!!

Man i hope we can maintain this intensity. I mean with 2 days rest we should be recharged to do it all again.

Smoove is so intimidating. Everytime Smoove switched to Wade he stop his drive and bought the ball back out. I was laughing so hard.

[Gray Mule]

Some things we learned, for at least one game:

Josh Smith has NOT forgotten how to slam dunk.

Bibby can play the point.

We're still in shock. Woody actually used his bench players.

Hawks can play defense. They can rebound. They can cause turnovers.

They played as a team on both ends of the court.

Flip had a terrible scoring night - He will be back in the next game.

Balanced scoring - ALL starters had double figures.

D. Wade, at least for one game, was unable to take over the game and, all by

himself, carry his team to victory. He may do it Wed. night, but he failed to do

it in the first game - - - So many said he would.

Speedy got to play several minutes. We felt that, if this happened, we would be

up or down big - - Wasn't it great that we were up big to bring this about!

Zaza, our "Bull in a china shop" backup center, doing his thing, resulting in a

double-double for him, along with JS.

Overall team effort. No sleepwalk. High energy all night.

GO HAWKS!!!