After various interviews and meetings between Mike Woodson and Knicks personnel, the former Hawks coach will join New York’s coaching staff as a lead assistant to help the team’s defensive game.

Although the move is seen by some as a preliminary step in replacing the current Knicks head coach, Mike D’Antoni, with Woodson in the near future, D’Antoni was quick to praise Woodson:

“…he’s a good coach. We expect him to add, in a very positive way, defensively, offensively, big guys, small guys. Whatever we need as a Knicks organization for him to do, he’ll be able to do it. He’s an extremely talented coach.”

As the lockout continues on into month number 2, a few Hawks players are keeping busy with their national teams. Al Horford will play for the Dominican Republic’s national team coached by Kentucky’s John Calipari in the upcoming 2011 FIBA Americas championship. The top two teams win bids to the 2012 summer games in London; the third, fourth and fifth place finishers will have the chance to play in an Olympic-qualifying tournament next summer. The Dominican Republic is in Group A along with Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba and Canada. Game 1 is today and can be seen on ESPN 3. Argentina is the favorite to win the tournament.

On the other side of the pond, Zaza Pachulia will represent his native Georgia in the Eurobasket tournament in Lithuania. Similar to FIBA Americas, the top two teams automatically qualify for the Olympic games, with spots three through six playing in a last-chance qualifying tournament next year. Georgia is in Group D along with Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Belgium and Slovenia. The team’s first game is tomorrow at 8:30 AM (EST) against Belgium.

Aaand in this week’s edition of “Where Will the Next Hawks Benchwarmer Nobody’s Heard Of End Up?” Pape Sy has signed a deal with the French team BCM Gravelines. The deal includes an opt-out clause for Sy to return to the NBA when/if the lockout ends.

Sy is a native of France and grew up in the small northwestern town of Loudéac. He was drafted by Atlanta in the second round of the 2010 draft. Sy appeared in 3 games with the Hawks last season and averaged 2.3 points-per-game.

He joins Keith Benson and Magnum Rolle as the other Hawks players that have signed European deals.

The former Washington Wizards guard and native Atlantan Javaris Crittenton is wanted for the murder of 22-year-old Julian Jones. Jones is a mother of four and was gunned down on August 19 in Atlanta.

This is not the first time Crittenton is gotten into trouble with the law. While with the Wizards, he was involved in the locker room gun incident along with Gilbert Arenas during the 2009-2010 season and was placed on probation.

Crittenton played for three teams (Wizards, Grizzlies and Lakers) in two NBA season and averaged 16.4 minutes-per-game and 5.3 points-per-game over the course of his career. He attended Georgia Tech from 2006-2007.

T.G.I.F.! Here are your Hawks headlines:

• Former Hawks Coach Mike Woodson Nearly Ready to Join Knicks - Woodson would join Mike D’Antoni’s staff as a defensive assistant, NY Daily News
• Georgia Tech to Play Games at Philips Arena - the Yellow Jackets will play about half of their home games at Philips Arena. The team has not played there since 2005, SB Nation
• Former Hawk Dikiembe Mutombo Leads Humanitarian Efforts in Africa - Mutombo held a conference call in Kenya to address famine issues in the Horn of Africa. He will also participate in Basketball without Borders in South Africa next week, NBA Blogs

Well, even if Hawks fans have trouble getting behind their team, at least Orlando doesn’t. The Sentinel is ranking the NBA’s top 10 players at each position over the course of five weeks (yes, lockout season is in full swing!) and Horford came out as the No. 2 choice by the Orlando newspaper. (No. 1 was of course their own Dwight Howard.)

Now, I love Al and everything, but that is a pretty bold statement. Especially considering that he’s not even what I would consider a pure center.

According to the Sentinel:

“Strengths: Horford offers a nice multi-talented package. He can shoot mid-range jumpers and jump-hooks as well as run the floor. A strong offensive rebounder, he can get out and start the break.

Weaknesses: Obviously, he plays out of position at center. Bigger players can shoot over him or muscle inside. His talents are more suited as a power forward.

The future: Horford is a cornerstone player for the Hawks.”

Well, I guess it’s a nice change of pace from the typical “Joe Johnson is the most overpaid player” (probably true) and “Josh Smith is the most overrated player” (also probably true) kind of press Hawks players typically have gotten of late.

Former Hawks star Dominique Wilkins led a group of NBA coaches and former players in Rio de Janeiro in the Basketball without Borders (BWB) program.

BWB is an international development program run by the NBA and FIBA to promote positive social change in education, health and wellness through basketball. Since its inaugural year in 2001, the program has reached out to communities throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa. Players 19 and under work with NBA players and coaches in a training camp that also emphasizes leadership, character development, education and diversity.

During this year’s program in Brazil, which ran from July 29 to August 1, 50 players from Latin America and Canada joined together for seminars, workshops and of course, a little friendly competition. BWB Americas was one of three camps that took place this summer. BWB Europe was held in Slovenia earlier in August, and BWB Africa will be in South Africa this September.

Ahh, remember draft days? A time of hope, promise and potential. When young rookies-to-be anxiously awaited their fate to see where they would begin that childhood dream of becoming a professional basketball player.

For the Hawks’ number one pick, Keith Benson, that place apparently won’t be be Atlanta. The center from Oakland University just signed a deal with Sassari in Italy’s top league.

Benson’s mother stated:

“Keith feels that having an opportunity to play professionally during the lockout will enable him to maintain his conditioning and prepare him for the Atlanta Hawks training camp when the lockout ends. He has received numerous offers to play in Europe and Asia. In fact, there were offers that were close to double the offer he accepted. Many of the teams that offered him wanted to build their teams around him as the starting center and would not provide the opt out clause. He agreed to play for Sassari because they were willing to include the opt out clause in his contract.”

And hey, what mama says goes. Over all, it looks like a pretty good deal for all parties involved.

While other Hawks players have considered going abroad– Zaza Pachulia to Turkey and Magnum Rolle to South Korea– Benson is the first one to officially sign.

The Hawks recently released their preseason schedule set to begin on October 10. The team’s seven-game preseason is stacked with Western Conference teams including the Lakers, Clippers, Hornets and the 2011 champion Mavericks. The first game  will be against the Detroit Pistons at Philips Arena.

The team’s first regular season game is against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 2.

So far, no games have been cancelled due to the lockout, and the box office is open for business. Not surprisingly, plenty of tickets are still left.

The details of the sale of the Hawks by the Atlanta Spirit Group to Alex Meruelo were recently released. Meruelo’s purchase of the team was made official on Monday but the financials were not released at the time.

It looks like the final price tag was $300 million. This figure includes an 80 percent stake in the team as well as the operating rights to Philips Arena. It also includes the arena’s remaining debt of $120 million.

By means of comparison, the Atlanta Spirit sold the city’s NHL team, the Thrashers for $170 million. While the Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg, Canada, the Hawks remain tied to Atlanta through 2029: the $120 million debt is in bond obligations to the city.