Hawks player quotes regarding Blazers game

[coachx]

Therer is alot more to the article then the quotes I pasted in...............its definately worth clicking on Sekou's link to read the rest of it..............and the more reads Sekou gets......the more space and articles the AJC will give Sekou to cover our favorite NBA team.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/resilient-hawks-bounce-back-185359.html

"This ought to be a great game," Crawford said before scorching the Trail Blazers for a game-high 27 points and seven assists, the last of which was a beautiful behind the back pass to Horford for a dunk on a fast break with 56 seconds left that put the Hawks up by six points. "They are a team that's a lot like us. They went to the playoffs last year and they were great at home, but they are still trying to figure out how to win the big games on the road.

"It's a maturity thing right now. It takes time and maturity to win these kinds of games. But if you want to join the elite teams in the league, and I think both of us do, we've got to take that next step and find ways to win away from home."

"I think he's the guy that got us over the hump," Johnson said. "He kept us close early and made big shots when we needed basket and that's what we're looking for from him, to put that ball in the hole."

"We definitely have learned our lesson and having a guy like Jamal made the big difference," Horford said. "But the key was Joe stepping up his defense on Brandon Roy in the second half. He took that challenge after halftime and we all followed his lead on that end of the floor and we took care of business."

"We proved it tonight that when we play hard and we play together we're going to deal with anybody in the league," Smith said. "Jamal had a hell of a game. He can lead the league in scoring off the bench if we do it right. I don't think there's any doubt he's got to be the favorite to be sixth-man of the year."

"It was one of those games where we just had to grind," Woodson said. "Things didn’t go our way early. But trying to get a quality win against a top notch team on the road is what's important. Our defense really picked up in the third and fourth quarter. And Jamal was huge. He's a shot-maker. We haven’t had a big time guy like that off the bench that make things happen the way he did."

Edited November 4, 2009 by coachx

[TheNorthCydeRises]

That's how this team has to win games. When things aren't going right for you, you can always stay within striking distance if you defend and rebound. When you do that, all it takes is for one guy to get hot, to get you back in the game.

The fact that Jamal came into the game and IMMEADIATELY started making shots, when we were down 10, was big time. And the defense just kept getting better and better as the night wore on. Superstar Jamal was definitely on display last night.

And you gotta love JJ. Shooting like crap in the 1st half, then stepping it up on both offense and defense in the 2nd half. Shutting down Roy in that 2nd half, a guy that most people think is better than JJ, was the deciding factor in that game.

Tonight, let's see how we defend Kevin Martin, because that dude can shoot the hell out of the basketball. Their frontline isn't the strongest, so this may be a game in which Smoove, Horford, or even Marvin may break out offensively.

Good good win last night.

[jy23]

That's how this team has to win games. When things aren't going right for you, you can always stay within striking distance if you defend and rebound. When you do that, all it takes is for one guy to get hot, to get you back in the game.

The fact that Jamal came into the game and IMMEADIATELY started making shots, when we were down 10, was big time. And the defense just kept getting better and better as the night wore on. Superstar Jamal was definitely on display last night.

And you gotta love JJ. Shooting like crap in the 1st half, then stepping it up on both offense and defense in the 2nd half. Shutting down Roy in that 2nd half, a guy that most people think is better than JJ, was the deciding factor in that game.

Tonight, let's see how we defend Kevin Martin, because that dude can shoot the hell out of the basketball. Their frontline isn't the strongest, so this may be a game in which Smoove, Horford, or even Marvin may break out offensively.

Good good win last night.

This is the type of game we normally lose after getting down early to a pretty good team at their place which is a pretty tough place to play. It shows that we're growing as a team, just hope that we can keep this up.....consistency is the next step for us.

[frankthetank966]

I love the Smith line. We can definitely compete with anyone in the league. Besides for that poor 3rd quarter, we did a good job against LAL.

[ATLNY7]

The hawks are looking great. It's great to hear from the players.