Is it safe to say the Hawks are on a roll? Atlanta continues to find ways to win in Al Horford’s absence, this time riding Joe Johnson’s 30 points past the Raptors. With the win, Atlanta ends its 5-game road trip with a 4-1 record and move to 16-6 on the season.
Although Jeff Teague had only 10 points, he had 5 assists which hopefully is a sign that the young point guard is learning to move the ball around better. Teague has averaged only 2.3 assists per game over his career– not exactly the kind of numbers you want from your starting point guard. T-Mac also came up big off the bench with 15 points in tonight’s win.
The Raptors struggled from the field shooting only 37 percent compared to the Hawks’ 51 percent.
After a relatively easy schedule thus far, the Hawks will face more daunting challenges over the next two weeks during which 5 of their next 7 opponents have winning records, including two division rivals– the Heat and the Magic.
The Hawks will head to New Orleans to take on the Hornets tonight at 7 p.m. EST. The Hawks (14-6) are coming off an overtime win against the Pistons and are just a half game out of first behind the Heat. The Hornets (4-15) are in last place in the Southwest Division and have the worst record in the Western Conference. However, they are coming off an impressive win against Orlando in which they held the struggling Magic to only 67 points.
Injury Update: Jeff Teague, who left Friday’s game with a sprained ankle, practiced with the team yesterday but will still be a game-time decision. If he doesn’t start, Coach Larry DrewsaysKirk Hinrich will likely take his place.
What to watch for: What will Joe Johnson do? Thus far, the Hawks guard has stepped up his game since the injury to Al Horford and the Hawks have been riding on his success. But the Hornets have a stingy defense and have held the Hawks to less than 90 points the last three times the teams have met.
The Hawks moved into first place in the Southeast tonight, with a 92-89 win over the Blazers. Atlanta is now a half game ahead of Orlando and second behind the Bulls in the Eastern Conference. Next up? Bring on the Sixers! The Hawks head to Philly for a Friday night game.
We’re one-sixth of the way through this shortened NBA season and the Hawks are right about where pre-season predictions had them pegged– with a winning record (7-4), third place in the division, and living comfortably in the lap of mediocrity.
Despite a valiant fourth quarter effort, the Hawks couldn’t come back against the Pacers Wednesday night and lost 96-84. Atlanta outscored Indiana 25-16 in the fourth but it was too little too late this time, and the Hawks snapped their three-game winning streak.
For the Pacers, the story of the night was Danny Granger‘s comeback– the Indiana forward led both teams with 24 points after being sidelined with food poisoning during the last game. Granger had been struggling from the field but seemed to have found his rhythm tonight. Apparently it wasn’t causing him too much concern:
“I never shoot good at the beginning of the season,” Granger said. “Nothing different. I knew it would come around at one point. Everybody else was worried about it more than I was.”
The Hawks were playing shorthanded, with injuries to Vladimir Radmanovic, Marvin Williams, andTracy McGrady. To make matters worse, Al Horford went down during the first quarter after straining his left shoulder and did not return for the remainder of the game. His future status is still unknown.
Next Up: The Hawks return home to take on the Bobcats Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. EST.
In today’s edition of “Minor Moves that Probably Won’t Matter”…
The Knicks acquired Tyson Chandler in a major deal and Chris Paul and Dwight Howard rumors continue to swarm. Meanwhile, the Hawks have signed Vladimir Radmanovic who averaged 5.1 points per game and just under 16 minutes per game with the Warriors last year. Radmanovic is a ten-year veteran and is known for being a strong 3-point shooter. Great. So we can continue to be a jump-shooting team that’s scared of the paint. He was drafted 12th in the first round by Seattle in 2001.
The Hawks also lost guard/forward Damien Wilkins who signed with the Detroit Pistons. Wilkins 3.5 points in 52 games with Atlanta last year and is the nephew of former Hawks star, Dominique Wilkins.
Remember way back in March when Dominique Wilkins got in a fight over some unpaid debts for custom suits? Apparently that little altercation has resurfaced.
Rashan Michel, a former referee, claimed Wilkins owed him around $12,000 dollars for custom suits. After Wilkins had finished calling a game against the Orlando Magic on March 30, a fight broke out between the two. Wilkins claims Michel instigated the fight and witnesses confirmed this. Videos also show Wilkins landing punches on Michel’s face. Wilkins was never charged and the charges against Michel were dropped.
And now Michel is suing Wilkins for a fight seven months ago. Looks like those suits are turning out to be even more expensive than Wilkins initially thought.
Eldridge Recasner, a former guard for the Hawks, was named assistant coach for the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the D-League last Thursday. Recasner played for the Hawks from 1996-1998 and had the most productive season of his 7-year career with the team in the 1997-98 season (9.3 points, 2.4 rebounds per game).
The Skyforce play in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and have been a part of the D-League since 2006. Their NBA affiliates include the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic.
Recasner said he is excited to be a part of the Skyforce coaching staff and hopes it will help him achieve his goal of coaching in the NBA one day:
“I would like to eventually coach in the NBA and I can’t think of a better organization to work for in order to reach that goal,” he said.
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.
“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.
So this isn’t necessarily about the Hawks, but it’s Atlanta + basketball, and thus A-T-Elle Hoops.
Mark Price, who played point guard for Georgia Tech was inducted into the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame this past Saturday. Price played for the Yellow Jackets in the 1980s under Bobby Cremins and led the team to an ACC Championship his junior year. He was a two-time All American and four-time All-ACC during his collegiate career, and his jersey was retired by the school.
After playing for Tech, Price was drafted in the 2nd round as the 25th overall pick by the Mavs and immediately traded to the Cavs. Price spent the majority of his career with the Cavs and then one year each with the Bullets, Warriors and Magic at the end of his career.
Price embodies your good ol’ “set-out-to-prove-’em-wrong,”  feel-good sports story. At 6 feet, 170 lbs., Price defied critics who said he was too slow, too small and too deliberate for the NBA. Known as one of the league’s most consistent shooters, Price ranks among the league’s best in free throw shooting (90.4%) and three-point shooting (40%), and he still holds the Cavs’ all-time record for assists (4,206).
What’s more, Price is credited with revolutionizing the way teams respond to the pick-and-roll. Of Price’s contributions, former teammate Steve Kerr said:
“Mark really revolutionized the way that people attack the screen and roll. To me, he was the first guy in the NBA who really split the screen and roll. A lot of teams started blitzing the pick and roll and jumping two guys at it to take the ball out of the hands of the point guard. He’d duck right between them and shoot that little runner in the lane. Nobody was doing that at that time.”
After months of speculation and wondering, Magic center and Atlanta native Dwight Howard has stated he will enter the free agent market at the end of the 2011-2012 season. Howard claimed he would not sign a two-year contract extension to remain with Orlando– the longest deal he could sign under the current CBA.
“I want to win a championship,” Howard told NBA.com “I think the owners have to really know that. That’s been my goal and my mission since I’ve been in the NBA– to win a championship. I don’t have side goals or agendas. My main goal is to win a championship. I want to have 14 other guys who feel the same way.”
While Howard concedes that the team’s current mix of players has shown a similar intensity at times, he also says:
“It’s off and on. Sometimes guys are there whole-heartedly and then sometimes I’ve had teammates allow people getting in their ears and things like that effect [sic.] the way that they play and approach the game.”
Howard has played with the Magic for the entirety of his six-year career after being drafted in 2004. Could Howard be following in LeBron’s footsteps as yet another franchise player choosing personal glory over loyalty to a team? LeBron’s come under a lot of heat for it (hah, no pun intended) and is quite possibly the most hated person in Cleveland, but it’s kind of hard to blame him for his ultimate Decision. Besides, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for someone like Allen Iverson who had to have felt frustrated wasting away for years in Philadelphia without a title.
But maybe Orlando will make some major moves and build a championship-caliber team around their superstar. I mean hey, it worked for the Mavs.
In today’s edition of “Minor Moves that Probably Won’t Matter”…
Remember way back in March when 