SB Nation - Zaza Pachulia

Zaza Pachulia shows chairs everywhere who is boss.

hawksdawgs — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:30:25 -0000

The effort (look at those ankles!).....

And the aftermath....

Those seats go for hundreds of dollars. With a little foresight, I would have emptied my bank account to sit there (HT Zaza's twitter).

Atlanta Hawks 97, Portland Trail Blazers 91 or where Jamal Crawford shows enough awesome to anger at least four cities

hawksdawgs — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:42:59 -0000

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recap

boxscore

Horrid offense, Joe Johnson pressing, Josh Smith with actual, legitimate reason to pout, on the road, against a good team, with jump shots already being settled for. That is the Hawks lose by 20 soup recipe. It has been passed down for years, a regular family tradition. And last night, the team threw all the ingredients in. They were ready to pass out the bowls of suck, and then, Zaza Pachulia and Jamal Crawford said screw it, we're having steak.

Defense

This was a great win. The Hawks played team defense. They out rebounded a far better rebounding team by ten. Al Horford played well enough on defense and well enough against guys that much bigger is pretty darn good. Josh Smith carried his lunch pale. LaMarcus Aldridge probably helped by settling for a lot for a lot of fadaways jumpers, but Josh can only guard what is there and he guarded it well. And the Hawks as a team (the only way you can the guy) only allowed Brandon Roy seven points in the final three quarters. Effort and skill on the defensive side of the ball is so pleasant.

Jamal Crawford, a man of ease

Seven assists and zero turnovers. Seven assists?!? Zero turnovers!? Here are your crazy pills everybody. Swallow them down.

Yes, you just watched a game where did everything. Jamal scored. He got others involved. Shoot, dude boxed out enough to get an over the back on a Blazer. And the seven assists were not guys making jumpers. Six of them were created shots by Crawford. And that is without mentioning that he was one of the two catalysts in the second quarter comeback. History says all the JC games won't be like this, but he sure makes it look like they could be.

The return of Zaza!

Welcome back my cuddly Eastern European bruiser of unathleticism awesomeness. At one point in the first half, Zaza was the offense. Seriously. And his defense keyed the whole thing. Zaza can't be your offensive leader if your not getting defensive stops too. Zaza blocked two shots. He played good man to man defense. Protected the rim. Basically, Zaza did what he does best, make me happy.

And if you did not see Zaza celebrating with a minute to go after Jamal Crawford's behind the back pass to Horford, I challenge you to watch it and not smile.

Joe Johnson does not give a damn about your credit

Joe Johnson was awful in the first half. I mean anger inducing, ready to trade awful. But I must give the guy credit, he was 8-11 in the second half. Who goes 8-11 in the second half of a game and you barely notice? Joe gets called out when he fails. He should. He is the leader, the highest paid guy, but he succeeds and no one says a thing. We almost forget. 8-11 in the second half is an MVP second half. Joe might not be good enough to avoid a good number of bad halves, but dude, rarely fails for a whole game.

Victory Bullets

I don't want to brag and I also enjoy lying. So rewind the third quarter. Watch it. The Hawks push the pace in two sections with a slowed down jumper fest in the middle. Which worked better? Just saying. Just saying.
Note to Al Horford don't try and block Steve Blake's shot. If you do, someone will be dunking on your head in rapid succession
To his credit, Josh Smith will sacrifice his body for his for a charge. To his deference, he never gets it. So to my great surprise and awe, Josh picked one up against Brandon Roy. Pretty impressive.
By far, the best rotational defense the Hawks have had all season.
Dear Joe, please learn a double team is not code for let me make a highlight jumper. Hawks rarely make the highlights anyway. Thanks. Hawksdawgs
One should not congratulate someone for doing what they are suppose to do, but Josh Smith could have pouted and he didn't. So good work being a normal professional Josh. You are so much more fun to watch when you are.
Marvin is teetering on losings his confidence. I am getting very nervous he is going to abort his afro growing as a response. Almost beyond nervous.
I complain and moan about Horford not getting his shots. Well, he has this season, and I think the Hawks are better for it, but those shots have only dropped one game. It seems like they should drop more. I hope they do. Because the Hawks will be scary good if it happens.

Everyone go celebrate like Zaza. Good win.

Go Hawks!

If all the quotes are right, the Hawks definitely won last night.

hawksdawgs — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:57:36 -0000

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Jeff Teague enjoys the game out there. After that steal and dunk, the kid was uncontrollably smiling. Wake Forrest fans might not agree or want to hear it, but the way he hustled around last night, maybe Jeff just has an NBA game or at least an attitude that the NBA game inspires. Don't know if the energy will last, but I plan to enjoy it while it is around.

A Kings fan once came on here and said Mike Bibby was so clutch for the those Sacramento Kings teams because he could coast through a lot of the game and be full bore for the fourth quarter. It is exactly what Bibby did last night.

The Human Highlight Blog, unbeknown to me when I started writing, already said this.

Game One also showed some of how Woodson may plan to deploy his bench and not use Mike Bibby so much. In what was not a settled game until the fourth quarter wound down, Bibby still logged just (30) minutes. He used that rest to make three big fourth quarter shots that gave the Hawks the lead and then put it out of reach.

Josh Smith continues his odd streak of self aware comments in the AJC today.

"You're going to have nights like this, when the other team is shooting lights out and you're forced to play outside of your comfort zone a little bit," Smith said. "We wanted to clamp down on the defensive end and put the onus ourselves to get stops when it mattered and I think we did that. Joe got it going late and Al was playing well, so I wanted to be the guy that was on the defensive end making plays. And I was able to get a couple of steals and late block at the end that helped us finish them off. I know it wasn’t the sort of defensive masterpiece coach loves to see, but it turned out positive for us in the end."

Hoopinion makes the subtle but important point that Josh too.

"[Josh] was credited with 8 assists against a single turnover, almost all a result of attacking the basket."

It may not seem like much but Josh Smith driving to the basket is not quite good enough. The guy does not have the moves inside to dominate. Josh Smith driving to the basket controlled enough to finish or dish to the open man is plenty, plenty good enough.

Sekou is not happy with the bench minutes.

Did you see enough of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith Wednesday night?

How about Jeff Teague and Mo Evans?

Zaza Pachulia and Jason Collins?

I didn't think so.

Sure, the Hawks did what they had to do in dispatching the Indiana Pacers in their season opener. But I expected more, namely in minutes for the reserves.

We've heard for weeks about all this improved depth and how much deeper this team is going to be this season. We saw it in the preseason.

But it wasn't on display against the Pacers.

I actually don't want to see more of Jason Collins. It is true I could have see some Jamal Crawford. Maybe a little Teague with the first unit, but that was more out of curiosity than strategy. Joe's 39 is too much but expected.

Truth of the matter, if you are going to have a bench that goes 10 deep your not going to get everyone minutes. I thought Woody did a good job of balance last night to be honest.

Final victory bullets

Last night, Zaza Pachulia looked like Zaza Pachulia if no one liked him.
The crowd was pretty sub par last night. Not sure how many tickets were sold but there were probably only about 13,000 people there. Pacers on a Wednesday is still not must see in Atlanta, home opener or not.
Josh Smith did have a bad rebound night. On occasions he held back on the offensive glass, he got back to defend the Pacers from pushing the pace, and the dude was working defensively. You want more than 3 rebounds, but it was a good 3 rebound performance.
I don't know if it is Joe Johnson passing it or Marvin Williams getting position but that combo attempting to run a play for Marvin in the post is a serious work in progress.
Joe Smith is much better than Solomon Jones.

Comment of the game thread (since no one rec'd any I am picking three winner).

Duff Man: "I vote Zaza for the next snickers commerical, ZAZA PACHEWLIA."

Mr. Sanchez: "Rathbun in true 720p"...the hair. It’s real, and it’s magnificent."

Bonhoffer (mostly because it was his only comment): "Larry Bird looks old."

Go Hawks!

Orlando Magic 123, Atlanta Hawks 86

erivera7 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:28:30 -0000

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Complete.

That's one of the first words that comes to mind after the Orlando Magic defeated - or annihilated, to put it more bluntly - the Atlanta Hawks (who, granted, were coming off a back-to-back against the Miami Heat) by a score of 123-86 to finish the pre-season with a record of 8-0. It was a complete effort by a team, as Vince Carter put it after the game, that wants to put fear into the opponents that they play night in and night out. With that type of killer instinct, one has to wonder who in his or her right mind would have the gall to pick the Washington Wizards before the Magic in a season preview. The Wizards are a fine team and deserve respect, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to slight an Orlando team looking more impressive with each game. Yes, it's pre-season and the games should be taken with a grain of salt but the Magic aren't just beating teams, they're pummeling them into submission. Something has to be said about Orlando finishing exhibition play with a point differential of +17.8 - a mind-boggling statistic. The second-best point differential? +7.8, courtesy of the Boston Celtics. There are a number of variables that need to be taken into account when looking at the numbers during the pre-season, but those aforementioned stats are hard to ignore. But enough about opinions and previews, it was about the stars for the Magic last night. Vince Carter and Dwight Howard put on a performance that will surely have Orlando fans giddy - 26 points (9-10 FG) (5-5 3PT) for Carter and 25 points (9-10 FG) (7-10 FT),13 rebounds, & 3 blocks for Howard. For the first time in a Magic uniform, Vince had the right to call himself Half-Man/Half-Amazing. He was that good.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Hawks	89	96.6	39.4%	28.8	21.3	15.7
Magic	89	138.9	67.5%	18.8	29.0	13.6

When one talks about Carter, however, one can't forget about Ryan Anderson. You know, the "throw-in". Anderson played magnificently, specifically in the first quarter, where he and his former New Jersey Nets counterpart put on a show in front of the home crowd.

FIRST QUARTER

- [10:50] Anderson, three-point 25' jump shot

- [9:30] Anderson, lay-up

- [9:02] Anderson, three-point 23' jump shot

- [7:20] Carter, 18' fast break jump shot

- [6:39] Anderson, three point 22' jump shot

- [5:08] Anderson, reverse layup

Ryan subs out

- [4:38] Carter, three-point 24' jump shot

- [2:10] Carter, 17' fadeaway jump shot

- [:33.5] Carter, dunk

Free-throws notwithstanding in the play-by-play, Ryan had 14 points in almost exactly seven minutes of action. That's two points per minute. Carter had 13 points in the entire quarter and none were better than when he cut into the lane for a monstrous up-and-under dunk off a fantastic pass from J.J. Redick off the dribble that blew the roof off the Amway Arena. For a few seconds, Orlando fans were treated to "vintage" Vince; the one that made his name as Air Canada jumping over seven-footers. The first quarter was a tremendous display of offense and defense for the Magic. For example, Anderson did a great job of exploiting a mismatch against Jamal Crawford for the reverse layup on a play. As head coach Stan Van Gundy noted in the presser, Howard did a great job of passing out of double-teams as he did in one possession in particular, where Carter was a recipient of a pass and nailed the three. Even Vince got into the action passing-wise, dishing a no-look pass to Brandon Bass, who made a reverse layup.

Defensively, the players did a great job of playing help-side defense (Dwight, in particular) and rotating to the ball when necessary.

In the second quarter, the bench did a good job of keeping the lead steady while the starters were resting. Jason Williams continued his strong play, nailing a three off a 1/5 pick & roll with Marcin Gortat. The aforementioned Poland native got into the thick of things, making a nifty hook shot off the dribble. Brandon Bass nailed a mid-range jumper (what else is new?). These are just a few of the positive plays the reserves made to keep things going for Orlando.

When the first unit came back into the game, Jameer Nelson stood out because of his ability to dribble penetrate into the basket, force the Atlanta defense to collapse, and either make the layup (which he did, twice, in the quarter) or pass it off to Carter for another three. Nelson is at his best when he's probing opposing defenses.

Even though Dwight got off to a slow start, in the third quarter he took over. After the Magic torched the Hawks in the first half as head coach Mike Woodson made the decision to double-team Howard in the post at almost every opportunity, Dwight finally got some one-on-one situations against Al Horford or Zaza Pachulia or Randolph Morris and made the most of them.

THIRD QUARTER

- [10:18] Howard, jump hook shot

- [8:12] Howard, jump hook shot

- [5:49] Howard, dunk

- [5:25] Howard, lay-up

- [4:55] Howard, dunk

- [1:42] Howard, lay-up

- [:03.8] Howard, dunk

Fairly simply, no? Howard's points came in a variety of ways: 4-out/1-in offensive sets, 1/5 pick & roll with Nelson, and more. Dwight played with his back to the basket, faced up his man, it made no difference. Howard scored in bunches (off of spin moves, for example), finishing with 20 points in the quarter after it was all said and done. It was a dominant performance by a dominant player.

The "crazy" second unit, as Gortat likes to say, came back in the fourth quarter to finish things off and did relatively well. Bass nailed his lay-ups and jumpers. Williams had TWO signature highlights off fast breaks, where he made a pretty behind-the-back pass to Barnes for the lay-up and sank his own lay-up off his classic fake behind-the-back pass. Even Marcin did his best Dwight impression, scoring a bucket off a lefty hook (Gortat's offensive game has improved, by the way). All in all, it was another solid performance from the reserves, who had the benefit of playing lengthy minutes with the sizable lead.

When a team shoots 61% and holds their opponent to 38% from the field, this is the type of result you get.

For Orlando, it was a great way to end the pre-season on a high note by beating a divisional rival without Rashard Lewis. One has to feel pretty confident that the team will do just fine without its All-Star for the first 10 games of the regular season. Magic fans will find out next Wednesday whether to keep the faith or not, when Orlando opens up its last season opener at the O-Rena against the Philadelphia 76ers. For the two squads, it'll be a rematch of the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs. A lot has changed since then, so it'll be interesting to see how the Magic and Sixers match up.

Until then.

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #7 Zaza doing something unathletic to pump up the crowd

hawksdawgs — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:05:46 -0000

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It has been mentioned before. Somewhere in the past few years, Zaza Pachulia and Atlanta simultaneously embraced his role on the team. It is a rare place for any non-superstar professional athlete to be, and the marriage allows for his weaknesses to sit exposed and accepted and his marginal skills to be glorified to the max of everyone's ability.

There was a moment in round one of the playoffs last year where Zaza grabbed an offensive rebound and layed it back in. No dunk. No "and 1." That is all. A basic hustle play for no immediate affect on the outcome. But quickly the crowd started to buzz, and then as Pachulia ran back down the court, he began side stepping and waving his hands for the crowd to get up. For 20 feet, he beckoned the arena in the middle of the game. And they got up. Because it was Zaza. And they went crazy. And it was awesome.

Zaza Pachulia is not going to win many games for the Hawks. He is a cog in the wheel. But for Hawks fans, the man is going to redeem the mundane parts of basketball one unathletic move at a time. Only with Zaza will rebounds be cheered like three pointers and layups as thunder dunks. It is weird and hard to explain but I love every minute of it. And you should to.

(ed. note: The previous digital video of Zaza was stumbled upon looking for a shot of Zaza sidestepping down the court. No such luck finding that but obviously with great searching, comes great reward none the less. Also, thus ends Zaza's appearances on the countdown.)

Atlanta Hawks Blog Season Preview

hawksdawgs — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:28:12 -0000

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As you have seen from a few posts over the last couple weeks, I am participating in a large blogosphere preview of every NBA team. The time has come for the Hawks, and I am one of the people representing. Thanks to CelticsBlog for putting the whole thing together. I am rehashing my thoughts for the most part so feel free to rehash yours and/or old arguments. For the visitors, hello. Thanks for stopping by.

Team Name: Atlanta Hawks

Last Year's Record: 47-35

Key Losses: Ronald "Hot Flip" Murray, Acie Law IV, Solomon Jones, and some guy named Craig.

Key Additions: Jamal Crawford (trade), Joe Smith (FA), Jeff Teague, and the enormous butt of Jason Collins.

1. What Significant Moves were made during the off-season?

The Hawks resigned Marvin Williams, Zaza Pachulia, and Mike Bibby. Getting each of them back was not overly surprising due to the stagnant free agent market and abhorrence of a handful of teams to even be in the same room as added salary let alone contemplate adding it. More pleasantly true though was that Hawks got them all back under long term deals that were at worst near market value and at best slightly under. Outside of the third and final year on Bibby's contract, Rick Sund did quite the job this off season.

Zaza is what he is and that is awesome. And by awesome, I mean an unathletic, hustling, rebounding, traveling, get under your skin defense, barely can dunk Eastern European machine. Bibby can still stroke it from outside, provide leadership from inside the locker room, and mentor Jeff Teague on his way out. Marvin just improves every year. He may be past that "big jump" year, but he is entering the prime of his career and the Hawks have front row seats at a very reasonable price.

Some people did not come back though. Flip Murray being one of them. The good thing about having Flip for one of his most successful seasons in the NBA was that the fans fell in love. We shouted "hot Flip!" like school kids. It was a summer lover affair in the dead of winter and those are hard to say goodbye to. We never knew any of the horror stories those Pacer, Piston, and Cavs' fans threw out. Not our Flip. It couldn't be so. It wasn't so.

Which has made the Jamal Crawford trade a bit of a mixed bag. People are excited and ready to believe he is an upgrade, but that nine times cheaper old summer fling is tough to shake. Still, there is a lot to be excited about with Jamal. For one, we got him for nothing (at least for the first year). Plus, Crawford provides ball handling and free throw shooting at the end of games, which the Hawks sorely missed last year. And then there are those 50 point games, that crossover, and the scoring off the bench. The question is whether those pluses will outweigh his lack of any defense and questionable shot selection. One thing we know the trade did though was, barring an improbable sign and trade, make it so the only big name the Hawks can sign next year is the one they already have, Joe Johnson.

Finally, if you would like to live in a world where preseason is a perfect indicator for future performance, Jeff Teague is about to take this league by storm. If you want to live in optimistic reality, he has the tools to be very good. And if you take preseason for what it is and that is fake games, he can jump and is fast and that is all we know. Personally, I have always liked the taste of kool-aid.

2. What are the team's biggest strengths?

The teams biggest strength is that you have to be exceptional to beat them in any one area. Not great, or all-time anything, just really, really good. If your team has a better starting five, you have a really good starting five, and when they play the Hawks, they will have to play as such. If you have a better bench, that bench is far above average. A lot of people look at the Hawks and say, "there is no super star!" which is true, but there is also no weak link. You are going to have to bring your game to beat this team. And if your game is better on the whole, you can certainly win. This Hawks team will not all-star themselves to many victories, but they can beat anyone. And on rare nights, even when a better team is playing up to their potential, the Hawks have the athletes to throw "what's suppose to happen" to the wind and beat you anyway.

In that, Joe Johnson is the personification of this team's identity, and also its must likely villain. Joe is a borderline all-star who hangs more on the border of being included. He is a guy that is consistent on both ends of the court, and for an organization that desperately needed anything in the same ballpark as consistent, fans and media give him rightful praise and recognition for leading them out of the dredges of the league. Joe will beat you. He can drop a quiet 35 with the best in the league. But he is not a super star. He needs teammates. A Joe Johnson team will not make the eastern conference finals. A Joe Johnson led team could.

And that is the rub. Joe is still learning to lead without dominating. It is unclear if Mike Woodson is learning to coach that way, but to be an elite team without elite players, the Hawks will need to play to the strength that they have few weaknesses. Because playing to a strength that is not really there will only undermine the only strength the team really has.

And that was the most confusing sentence I have ever written.

Other strengths in no particular order are home court, running against older teams, a built in food court outside the arena that sells beer, Dominique Wilkins doing color commentary, and Josh Smith dunks.

3. What are the team's biggest weaknesses?

Rebounding. Or put another way Josh Smith accepting a role that fits his skill set. The Hawks are never going to be an exceptional rebounding team. Not with Al Horford playing center and Mike Bibby at point. But they could certainly improve. The Hawks ranked 23^rd last year. I don't know stats that well and I am horrible at memorizing things, and I didn't have to look that one up. That is how important it is.

The Hawks could be decent at rebounding. Al Horford is an excellent boarder despite his size. Zaza Pachulia has one of the best offensive rebounding rates in the league. Joe Johnson pulls down boards at an average clip. Marvin could get more but gets enough. It will be a team effort to overachieve here, but Josh Smith must step up. He had his lowest offensive rebounding numbers since coming into a league and was off a full board a game on the defensive end from his rate the past two years. When it comes down to it, the onus is on Josh to end his daydreaming around the three point line and attack the boards like a bat out of hell. Yes, a literal bat out of hell. I have been sending him Meat Loaf cds for weeks in preparation for this season. Hopefully, he has been listening.

The Hawks are simply not good enough at shooting or defense to leave rebounds for the taking. If they stay below average in this category, the improved east will make it very hard to keep the fourth seed and that clear division everyone talks about between the big three and the rest of the league will be so distinct you will think the Hawks are the best team in minor league ball.

The Hawks also must win more games on the road, but that is true for any non-elite team.

4. What are the goals for this team?

Mike Woodson is in a contract year so the goals for this season might easily be marked by what it will take for him to get a new contract. And that might be lower than some Hawks fans want. There will be riots in the street if a first round playoff loss garners a new contract, but a competitive second round exit should secure an extended stay in Atlanta for Woody.

However, one can only rebuild for so long and a conference finals appearance may be wishful thinking around these parts but it is not unheard of thinking. It is still a goal and not an expectation, but in two years, if the Hawks are saying goodbye to the playoffs in early May, fans will not be happy and Phillips Arena will go back to the sparse look it held for the early part of this decade.

The Hawks have improved every year under Woodson, and hope and excitement is built around that very fact. Improvement on 47 wins is a goal and a very reachable one at that.

5. Who will break out this season?

The Hawks are slowly dwindling down their list of potential break out stars. A few years ago you could go six deep easy. The team is settling into roles and skill sets. It makes people excited about competing and nervous about that final form not being enough.

And while Marvin Williams and Al Horford still have the chance to make improvements and maybe even leaps in terms of their game (I actually expect both to be better players this year), neither is likely to become an all-star this year or next. Josh Smith though is the x-factor. His talent is so immense that naming him the potential breakout star is never cliché. And I say that with a firm understanding that he will never be a good jump shooter.

No, Josh Smith is a commitment to rebounding, defense, and not shooting jump shots away from being a clear cut all-star. And those are three things, three big things, but they are less new skills to learn and more a mindset to adopt. That is all Josh Smith needs to become a dominating force. It is scary that the Hawks put their chips in this enigma, but it is also pretty dang exciting.

Predicted Record: 49-33 and 4th seed in the East.

Other player previews: Marvin Williams, Zaza Pachulia, Mo Evans, Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford, Jeff Teague, Al Horford, Josh Smith, Joe Johnson

72 reasons to be excited!

Go Hawks!

Poll

The big one, how many games will the Hawks win?

Less than 40

2 votes

40-42

4 votes

43-45

5 votes

45-47

16 votes

47-49

17 votes

49-51

50 votes

51-53

32 votes

More than 53

28 votes

154 votes | Poll has closed

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #16 Zaza's "and one" move

hawksdawgs — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:41 -0000

This picture is not an example. It is just an example of awesome.

via www.nba.com

Far too high on the list, but I thought about it late in the process and it is far to great to leave off. Zaza Pachulia is a man of consistencies. The half-beard, the hustle, the traveling, the lack of jumping, the boards, and I could keep going. For days.

I love Zaza because I know what I am going to get from the guy every night and any negative about him is directly related to something he can't control. Like athletic ability. I tell people Zaza is my most reliable friend and we are not even really friends. He is that reliable.

And in this exact vein, every time Pachulia gets fouled and the shot goes in, Zaza calmly raises his right arm and non verbally but emphatically smooth says "count it." Every time. It is like Zaza doesn't even need a ref. If he played baseball, he would give the round tripper sign every time he hit a home run. And he would look awesome doing it.

I don't think it is possible within the rules, but I wish Zaza could retroactively receive a foul call on a made basket like five minutes after the actual foul occurred. Because if it could happen, he would be sitting on the bench and without missing a beat and without saying a word, Zaza would lift his right arm and go "count it."

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #24 Zaza's Matthew Fox Beard

hawksdawgs — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:47:35 -0000

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Mock me as a Zaza obsessed man all you want, but this is one of the most impressive feats in all of sports. 82 games. 82 five o'clock shadows. This man has no make up artist, no stylist, no special shaver that only cuts his beard down to 8 hours growth. But night in and night out the man shows up looking grizzled. And you can't fake grizzled. This is natural semi-beard perfection.

Every game. Home or away. Zaza is going to rock the half-beard. In a season of inconsistencies, this will be my constant. Part of me thinks he does it on purpose. Most of my thinks he can control the hair on face with his mind. Put it together and you have an equation for awesome. And yes, there are two more Zaza Pachulia posts in the top 23. Now, THAT, is a reason to get excited. (HT Marvin's ladies of the night for the idea).

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #33 Zaza Pachulia Alley Layup

hawksdawgs — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:31:55 -0000

A few confessions. 1) I tried to hold off some of the better reasons for the end and have had a top 10 from the very beginning, but the order is less than impeccable. Zaza's alley lay up may not be two spots more exciting than an actual alley-oop but you are just going to have to deal with it/ I am sorry. 2) You may see a couple double dip days because I apparently cannot add days correctly/enjoy watching college football too much on the weekends. 3) We are almost full, but still have a few spots left in the countdown if you have been holding out with a reason.

Enough business. We have the Zaza Pachulia Alley Layup to get to. It is an event that occurs out of a unique mixture of habit and totally abnormal. You see Zaza is a hustle guy, and normally that involves throwing elbows that borderline legal and sneaky hip checks and other awesomeness that cause players of great ability to lower their level of game to the point where they are not only outworked by Pachulia but they are outplayed. It is glorious of course, but quite methodical, like the birth of a calf.

So this style does not lend to Zaza getting out and running all that of often. But it happens and by some miraculous set of event, that trademark hustle is transformed into beating his man down the floor. Like so many times before, Mike Bibby sees a streaking front court player and lofts the ball up, but this is like no other player mostly because this player has trouble jumping as much as he has trouble not being awesome. And this weird combination of consistency and irregular results in the rare, great Zaza Alley Layup. If you see it, feel lucky. If it goes in, feel blessed.

Here it is, in all its missed glory (because a made one of these is not fit for camera). Wait until the 50 second mark. (Huge HT to Coachkcastellon for the idea and video.)

Veil your face! A Zaza Pachulia mix from the gods!

hawksdawgs — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:42:22 -0000

YES! YES! YES!

First, has there ever been a mixed tape that has a free throw as one of the highlights? It did give the Hawks the lead though....7-6.

And is it me, or has Zaza miraculously become less skilled while simultaneously becoming more effective? There were two behind the back passes in that mix! And yes, I realize that it is a highlight mix and I should expect highlights. And yes, Zaza may have just lost the handle and it worked out but yes, color me impressed.

The finish with a streaking LeBron James coming strong behind him was impressive, but the music could have probably stayed above the commentators since they talk about how James was going to be embarrassed over the play. Zaza is one of the few basketball players that can embarrass a defender on a breakaway.

Every mix should have a random Al Harrington appearance should it not?

Seriously, I love Zaza Pachulia. I mean seriously. I am going to put his jersey on for the rest of the night.