Thursday, January 1, 2009

Winning isn't about luck

The Falcons aren't the only team in ATL that's playing well. The Hawks have won nine of 10.

According to Hawks players, there's no secret to success.

"It’s just determination,” said Joe Johnson. "Just going out and trying to work harder than the opponent. We’ve been doing that. In the second halves we’ve clamped down [on the defensive end], got stops and made big plays offensively. It’s really been as simple as that."

"There certainly isn’t any Harry Potter stuff going on," said Marvin Williams. "We don’t have any lucky charms or anything crazy like that. We’re just grinding, scrapping our way to every win we can."

"It’s not anything complicated," said Al Horford. "I think if you watch us play, no matter who is out there, we’re at our best when we’re defending and rebounding on defense and sharing the ball on offense. When we stick to who we are, the defense and rebounding, I think we’re capable of playing with anybody."

Says ATL coach Mike Woodson:

"I think you have to credit all the guys in that locker room for coming to work every single day and doing whatever it takes to help this team win games. I think guys have bought into what we’re doing and that’s translated into what you see from us on the floor every night. And it’s good to see, because we’ve struggled to get here. We’ve had to go through some tough times to get here. Now the key is to continue climbing and make sure we’re moving forward. We have a lot of season left to play and a lot of goals we still have to reach."