Hawks Pierced In Boston

I'm not even going to mention last season's playoff run. That was then and this is now. What I will say, is that the Hawks are so much more fun to watch this year. They had the Celtics on their backside for most of the game and it wasn't until the fourth quarter that the game even looked close.

ESPN probably had the best write up on the game, but too much emphasis on last year. Some things that are different, for those interested:

• No Josh Childress - The Hawks one and only bench player (sorry Zaza, you're just there for fouls).
• Flip Murray - An actual bench player that contributes
• Mo Evans - Another bench player that is contributing
• Marvin Williams shooting 3 pointers (went 4/4 over K.G.!)
• Mike Bibby (Let's face it folks, he was NOT there last season)

It's not a moral victory, it's a big ole loss in a long season. However, the Hawks did it all without JOSH SMITH... and THAT makes me want to HOOT!

PROMOTE US!

Twosday Round Up: Pretenders vs Kobe and Smoltz

Twosday Round Up is a feature that looks at two sports in one blog topic.

Pretenders vs Kobe

We all know by now that the Celtics (*cough* Pretenders *cough*) are playing the Lakers. What really gets me is that this was hyped before the playoffs even started. They were talking about this back when the Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were riding the pine watching the Atlanta Hawks eat their lunch. They talked about it when Lebron made Kevin Garnett look like Manute Bol. They still talked about when Ray Allen looked more like Ray Charles in most of the Piston's series. Well, let's give them a golf clap for finally getting here. However, to compare this Celtics team to any of the championshipr Celtics teams is ludracris. Paul Pierce is no better than any other shooting guard on 90% of the NBA teams and Garnett is more reminiscent of Dennis Rodman than Mchale.

After the Lakers win this in 5, I hope that the NBA hype machine can put this to rest. It's not some storied playoff round. It's one mediocre team playing a pretty good one with the best player in the NBA.

SMOLTZ IS BACK!

The best money pitcher of my era is back and is in the Bullpen. Sure he blew his first save opportunity, but this is Smoltz. He could throw it with his foot and still get more people out than Clemens without the juice. What I'm reading about Smoltz return, I am liking.

"The results can be a little deceiving," Smoltz said. "I could have gone out
there, given up three line drive outs and everybody would have said, 'Nice job.'
I just think I needed to be a little better with my touch. I'm overpowering some
of my pitches and not trusting the movement."

You have to read between the lines, but pay attention to his "lines." The reporters usually don't know too much when it comes to Smoltz. I'm at least not concerned about our bullpen anymore.

PROMOTE US!