Waiting on the Pacers vs. Hawks

The Pacers head to Atlanta Friday night to attempt to win back-to-back games on the road. Here is a link to Bruno's preview of the game. What else:

• Slow starts and shooting inconsistency from Big Thirst and Tins are the issues du jour facing the Pacers. The fact that Al and Tins aren't shooting at the high percentage rate they were a few games ago is actually a sign of consistency. If they were players who could maintain that level of production, they'd be perennial All-Stars and probably be hogging someone else's salary cap.
• Al returns to Atlanta for the first time, so he'll be looking to break out of his scoring slump to remind the Hawks of what he can do. Al's emotions are part of his game for better or for worse. Normally, when he's hyped and forcing it to make an impression, the end results are poor. This is a great opportunity to show some maturity and play under control. Smart basketball people call it, letting the game come to him.
• Hawks coach and former IU hoops legend Mike Woodson was on JMV's local radio show tonight. He seems pretty happy with his young squad, yet frustrated with the way they've thrown away a couple of potentially nice wins lately.
• When the subject turned to his college coach, Bob Knight, breaking the all-time wins record, Woodson's demeanor completely changed. The intensity and excitement in his voice dialed up to a Nigel Tufnel eleven. He was so hyped he started commenting on Knight's ability by saying that Coach Knight can "flat ass coach." It was said with such authority, it took a minute before I caught myself and thought, "Wait a minute, what did he say?" Flat ass coach...hmm. What did he mean to say -- he can flat out coach... he used to have a flat ass...he's a flatten your ass coach. All seem plausible to me.