Hawks celebrate comeback win against Sixers in first game at Phillips Arena; Johnson 35, Bibby 19, Smith 14

Hawks 95 Sixers 88
34 23 18 13
18 26 22 29

the power of the atmosphere of a good home team is unmistakable in the NBA. The crowd feeds off every move the team makes, the team feeds energy off the crowd, there is no doubt that was a main ingredient to fuel the Championship Celtics run in 2008 (even though most of them were fairweather fans and weren't there the previous season when the same Celtics were 2nd worst in the East, Bibby -04/26/08 Playoffs round 1 game 1).

the city of Atlanta is in for a treat this season, Atlanta has always had great basketball fans, we just needed to be able to love a great team, and RIGHT NOW the Hawks are ascending up the Eastern Conference ladder to become a GREAT team.

Joe Johnson:

35 pts 3 rbs 5 asts 1 stl (14/23 FGs 2/5 3pt FGs 5/5 FTs)

Joe Johnson has been regarded as an all-star but he has gotten not nearly enough credit for being the star player turning a team that was the worst in the league 13-69, to rebuilding improving around him to make a legitimate eastern conference contender, making his teammates better year after year and
still improving himself statistically, efficiently. Seriously, people should start looking at Joe as a top 5 SG in the league, for real.




Josh Smith:

14 pts 11 rbs 3 asts 3 stls 2 blks (6/16 FGs 2/4 3pt FGs)

Josh is a top 10 PF in this league, one of the best defenders, and an unstoppable offensive force, when he asserts himself to be. He was admittedly nervous in the first quarter of the game, but seeing his counterpart, Thaddeus Young score 17 in the first, and seeing a deficit that grew into 23 points made him focus. He scored one field goal under the basket in the 3rd quarter but hit 2 HUGE THREES in the 4th that anchored this comeback win by Atlanta, and got a HUGE Steal that basically won the game. Yes, Josh Smith is doing alright so far, let's hope he can keep it up.


Marvin Williams: 2 pts (1-7 FG 0-2 3pt FGs) 5 rbs 2 blks 1 ast in 20 minutes

Mike Bibby: 19 pts 2 rbs 4 asts 3 stls (7/16 FGs 3/7 3pt FGs 2/2 FTs)

Al Horford: 9 pts 7 rbs 4 asts 1 blk (4/7 FGs 1/2 FTs)



It has only been two games, but you can see that the Hawks are brand new this season after that epic playoff series with the NBA Champions, the Hawks know they are not that far from that level, it is no coinscidence that the Hawks are right now the ONLY UNDEFEATED TEAM in the Southeast division, our toughest test yet will come the day after the most historically symbolic beautiful day of America's History, when racial wounds of 100 years are partially healed as we elect our country's first bi-racial President of all time. Imagine, the 44th president a product of a white american woman and a black african man, and some people are still hating... Well, yes, i am so excited about this hawks team i will make several declarations for this week:

1. Barack Obama will be elected 44th president of the United States.

2. Hawks will win in New Orleans this Wednesday

3. Allen Iverson will make the Pistons a title contender this season

4. Hawks will beat Raptors in Atlanta to show strength this Friday

5. Hawks will "Shock the World" at least 47 times this season

6. Joe Johnson will emerge as a MVP candidate this season

7. Josh Smith will emerge as a DPOY candidate this season

8. if all of the above occurs, Mike Woodson might stumble upon a COY award (lol i know, but its possible) i must say if the Hawks improve by +10 wins by subtracting the most efficient bench player in the league and adding Maurice Evans and Flip Murray, Woody deserves COY, because NO ONE IN THIS WORLD is predicting a 47-35 season....Except US :)