Hawks Tackle The Grizzlies

Atlanta 105 Memphis 95

Wednesday night marked two big returns. After taking a few posts off due to Thanksgiving, I’m back breaking down Hawks games for the rest of the season—I know you’re bursting with excitement right now. More important than my return to blogging, Josh Smith suited up for the first time and 12 games last night. It’s okay you can breathe a much needed sign of relief—I certainly did.

Atlanta did what they were supposed to do against Memphis last night. Building as much as a 26 point lead in the 3rd quarter, the Hawks were able to cruise to victory over the lowly grizzlies.
After enjoying a rare 4 straight days without a game, the Hawks looked fresh all night. In the third quarter, I looked at the box scores and as a team Atlanta was shooting over 53 percent from the three point line and about 63 percent from the floor. That’s blistering the net.

All five starters scored in double figures led by none other than the Joe Johnson. A model of efficiency, Joe scored 26 points on 10 for 15 shooting and a perfect 2 for 2 from the free throw line.

The final stats speak volumes about the game. Though, Memphis mounted a late game comeback spurred by a 34-14 run, it was too little too late. Atlanta’s starters made 34 out of 53 shots, which calculates to a staggering 64 percent. The Hawks outpassed the Grizzlies by totaling 33 assists to the opponents 18. On the boards, Atlanta secured 33 rebounds to Memphis’ 30.

Quick Notes:
He’s back. Josh Smith has returned and turned the Hawks into a matchup nightmare on both ends of the floor. Smith puts up lines that would be envious of any rising NBA star. However, he is an individual who often transcends the notion that you can judge the importance of a player by simply looking at how many rebounds or how many points he got on a certain night. There are a handful of “glue” guys in the NBA who fall into the “transcend” stats category. At the top of my list is Chauncey Billups and his leadership qualities, but that’s a whole different story. Josh Smith is transcendent, because of his ability to make the other team be aware of where he is at all times on the floor. On defense, it is not uncommon to see players take or forced into awkward shot under the basket because of his shot blocking abilities. In transition, he is a player who can rebound on the defensive glass with the bigs and immediately take the ball up court against guards and small forwards who are simply overmatched by his athletiscm. He is a very special player.

Over the twelve games that he missed, the Hawks went 6 and 6. Not bad at all, anyone would agree. Upon his return, some voiced concern because in the games that the Hawks won without him, the team did a great job passing the ball and really trying to maximize good shots on their offensive attempts. If you still have concerns that Smith can’t play within this system, last night should alleviate some of those notions. 5 assists from an individual playing at the forward position is very good on the NBA level.

Joe Johnson was outstanding. It crazy how much you have to remind people that Johnson is one of the premier players in the NBA. He certainly wouldn’t and I really like that about him. You don’t even here that he has been hindered by a foot problem over the past few games. He’d never tell you. He simply goes out and plays as best as he can. The scary thing is he is still one of the best players on the floor even when he’s not 100 percent. After 4 days off, he was lights out last night-just how I like it.

If the Hawks 6-0 start seems like a distant memory to you, with Josh Smith in the line-up, Atlanta improved to 7-0 last night—so keep tabs on that.