Caution: Positive!

We could be a huge wet blanket and dwell on the fact that the Hawks needed most of the (11) threes they hit Tuesday night to take out the post season excluded Toronto Raptors, 118-110.

That they shot (50) percent from extra point, which included a buy-a-lottery-ticket (3) out of (5) from Josh Smith, shouldn't give Hawks fans any reason to believe that they have cured the checklist (collect them all!) of flaws we have listed over the course of the season and rolled up into the "Status Quo" entry from Monday.

But---even when we were in the role of the Raptors in years past, eliminated, lottery bound---we enjoyed watching the Birds win---and even in what may be fool's gold of a road win, it's always good to see.

So, we are not going to be the party poopers of the victory, instead, we're busting out the noise makers and gonna hand out gold stars to the guys for their part in the win.


We saw Mike Woodson play not one, but TWO starters with (2) fouls in the first half. Both Al Horford and Joe Johnson picked up their 3rd fouls, leaving Hoopinion to comment on Twitter that it may be the last time we see such an occurance. They also observed, quite cleverly, that it says that Woodson may care more about not giving up (60) points in the first half than about picking up those "awful" third fouls. (And it worked! Only -57- points for TOR in the first half)

We went the other way, hoping that, if Horford and Johnson didn't come close to fouling out, that it may permanently change Woodson's habits on the matter. The result? Horford and Johnson both finished with three fouls. Come on, Woody--admit it, you're cured, right?

Despite the "foul trouble", Al Horford actually looked like he drew the offensive straw in this game as his teammates looked for Al on the baseline when they drove and got a few plays in the post as well. Now, it wasn't a plethora of plays--in fact Al took just (8) shots, making (5)---but it seemed as if they weren't treating him like Mark Eaton out there---which is nice.

Josh Smith nearly pitched a complete game (46 1/2 minutes out of 48)--He was named player of the game, but we couldn't really figure out what Smith did, other than pile up numbers that came with the minutes, except that he didn't sabotage the game--though there were times that you wondered if Smith was going to blow the Hawks' chances of winning with his shenanigans. When the Hawks were making their run in the third quarter, Smith turned it over, gave up a hoop, and was complaining to the officials after a "missed" call. But sometimes it turns up good for Josh despite all that, and when he was late getting back after complaining, Joe got a quick rebound and launched to the conveniently stationed Smith, who had an easy slam. Maybe we don't know so much?

RFM and Mo Evans made the HHB forget about Josh Childress for a night. But just one, Chill---

The Hawks made (82) percent of their free throws, making it a 50/50/80 night with only (7) turnovers---and the game was still in doubt against a non-playoff team---might have meant the defense was lacking, but hey, we're wrapping it up positive here!

Zaza Pachulia can draw a foul and grab an offensive rebound. We're not saying that's the extent of his skills, but those are the ones that jump out at you immediately when you watch the guy, night after night. (11) points in (16) minutes on (3-5, 5-6) with his only rebound being offensive.

They're Not Saying Boo, They're Saying Boo-urns

Peachtree Hoops, who the HHB thought might have been trapped under furniture--turns out it's matrimony--"penned" a terrific article on being a fan of the Hawks. It's a classic tale of not wanting to settle for mediocrity, yet also wanting to maintain perspective about the road the team has travelled and wanting to enjoy that as well.

We're not saying, we're just saying---check it out.


Your Body is a Twitterland

We're gonna have to face it, we're addicted to Twitter.

Especially when you have Speedy Claxton on going off about the Hawks not suiting him up when they didn't even have (12) to play with.

Especially when the apparently fun Zaza Pachulia gets on board and reminds us he played a season in Milwaukee and says that it's hard to get a double-double in (16) minutes, but he'll take his (11) point effort and a win.

And, of course, when the Hawks Blogging Nation gets behind it and tweets, extending the intelligent (cough), witty (hack), informational (choke!) banter past even the soft lines of a blog.

Bottom line, it's good times---feel free to follow us and/or all the others in the Hawks world and beyond---it is definitely worthwhile.


The HHB offers no guarantees of intelligent, witty, or informational material--Suggestions for such content can be offered to us in the Comments Area.