The Hawks got just what they needed this weekend, picking up two wins at
home over the Bulls and Knicks to move themselves to 2.5 games up on New Jersey
for the final playoff spot in the East. With a win tonight in Memphis, the Hawks
would be up 3 with only 8 games leftto play.
Everyone deserves some credit for the Hawks last few wins (the last three of
which earned the office free donuts this morning), but in particular I want to
give some props to Marvin Williams. Marv had a pretty rough stretch during
February and March, seeing his numbers drop across the board. You could tell it
was affecting him, causing him to press and do things outside of his comfort
zone.
In the last few games though, I think Marvin has started to return to form,
partially by sticking to the things he does best (hitting mid-range jumpers) and
partially by ramping up his contributions elsewhere. It's no mistake that two of
his seven double-doubles have come in the last two games - he's clearly made it
a priority for himself to become more active on the glass. Add it all up, and
you have a player who is back to playing the kind of basketball he was early in
the season, helping the team to a 15-12 start.
If he can keep this up, it greatly increases not only the team's chances of
making the playoffs but also their abilities to do some damage once they get
there.
And now for something completely different, your links from over the weekend:
