Blog Night Coda

The Game was a rousing success from the Hawks. Coming off of their dismantling of the Bulls on Sunday, this is two straight decisive performances from the team that gets them back to .500 and almost even in point differential. The Washington loss on Friday night doesn't look as bad in retrospect after the Wizards swept Boston over the weekend. Then again, the Wizards capped their great run with a bad loss in New York last night, which is what the Hawks were watching in the locker room afterwards. What's that?

Yes, Blog Night II ended with the assembled nerds of the keyboard getting to attend Mike Woodson's press conference, which was considerably longer than his press conference last year after the Lakers whipped the Hawks on Blog Night I, and then getting to meet Al Horford in the locker room afterwards. My impressions of the locker room:

1. It's impossible not to feel like an extreme fan boy in a pro sports team's locker room.

2. Horford seems like a nice guy. Like most guys on the team, he's a good dresser. I asked him who the dirtiest player is that he's played against. He was very diplomatic in delivering his answer.

3. I know this will sound weird, but the locker room smells really, really good. I don't know if the Hawks pump frankincense and myrrh or what, but a room full of sweaty clothes smelled nice.

4. The extent of my interaction with Josh Smith:

Me: "Good game."

Him: "Thanks."

On the basis of this interaction, I have decided that the Hawks should pay him whatever he wants this summer.

5. Acie Law is tall. It was a nice reminder that 6'3 might be short in the NBA, but not in the real world.

6. Tyronne Lue was primping in front of a mirror. Lots of attention to detail.

By the way, Zaza Pachulia was running on the Hawks' practice court to work on his injured toe while Woodson's press conference was going on. After Woodson was done, Zaza wandered to the podium and dead-panned "OK, what questions do you have for me?" I was too dumbfounded to ask anything. In retrospect, I should have asked if he's still buds with Esteban Batista. I also learned that Zaza has purchased the Hawks' court from last year and is planning to ship it back to a rec center in the Republic of Georgia, which will surely be an interesting sight.