The Hawks managed to eek out a victory against the Timberwolves Friday night, 93-91, overcoming an 18-point deficit late in the third quarter. Joe Johnson led the team with 25 points, and two clutch free throws from Ivan Johnson with 4.6 seconds left sealed the deal. Check out the highlights here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8XCjnU5vA0

The Indiana Pacers offered Hawks free agent Jamal Crawford a two-year, $10 million deal according to reports on Tuesday. However, later reports that same day indicated that Crawford had declined the Pacers’ offer. Other teams interested in the Hawks’ guard include the Timberwolves, Knicks, Kings and Blazers.

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.

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.

Hawks news tidbits and updates to end the week!

• Pistons Select Lawrence Frank Over Mike Woodson - Despite earlier reports that former Hawks coach Mike Woodson was the front runner for the Pistons’ head coaching position, Detroit instead went with Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank, ESPN

• NBA 2011-2012 Schedule - The NBA released its schedule for the 2011-2012 season. If the lockout situation does get resolved in time for Opening Day, the Hawks would face the Timberwolves on Nov. 2, NBA

And finally,

• Negotiations for Sale of Hawks Intensify - Talks between the Atlanta Spirit Group and a potential majority buyer have picked up. The name of other party has not been released, AJC

Usually, in the days leading up to the draft, there’s a flurry of trade talk and action with teams trying to edge their way to a higher pick. But between a combination of one of the weakest drafts in history and an expiring CBA, teams have become risk averse and are perfectly happy to sit on their haunches.

There was some talk about the Timberwolves shopping around their Number 2 overall pick, and the Cavs had expressed interest, but this doesn’t seem to have much traction yet.

Atlanta isn’t exactly abuzz with excitement either. The Hawks’ first pick doesn’t come until the second round at Number 48, and they don’t have many options to trade up in the next few days before the draft. General Manager Rick Sund also commented:

“There’s probably less (talk among teams) with regards to the uncertainty of the CBA and people willing to pull the trigger. In prior years a few days before the draft, there’s some consummation of trades. There’s just as much dialogue, but not much action.”

However, the Hawks could use their pick to bolster their shooting game, given that 6th man Jamal Crawford will likely become an unrestricted free agent. I also wouldn’t mind seeing Atlanta try and get a legitimate big man that would allow Horford to play forward, but centers seem to be in short supply this year.

Stay tuned for more on the draft, including Part II of the Mock Draft Analysis.

The Pistons are in search of a new head coach and former Hawks coach Mike Woodson might answer the call.

John Kuester, head coach of the Detroit Pistons since 2009, was fired this past Sunday. Kuester had compiled a 57-107 record in his two years with Detroit, was known for constantly butting heads with several of the team’s veterans (Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey) and even managed to instigate a player uprising that nearly resulted in a full-out boycott.

Former Hawks coach Mike Woodson

So the team could certainly use a fresh face. Woodson is a strong candidate, although I’m not sure he completely fits the bill. The Pistons are looking to instill a renewed emphasis on defense next season, and Woodson was known for coaching the Hawks with a tedious, isolation-focused offense.

On the other hand, Woodson played an integral role in shaping the Piston’s defense as an assistant coach under Mike Brown in 2003-2004 when they won the championship. Woodson was known for getting the most out of defensive players, and Detroit managed to limit opponents to 41% shooting from the field that season.

So the change in philosophy Woodson demonstrated in Atlanta could be the product of the talent he was working with rather than a fundamental shift in coaching style.

Other potential candidates for the job include Bucks assistant Kelvin Sampson and Timberwolves assistant Bill Laimbeer. It is rumored that Kuester will head to LA for an assistant coaching position under Brown who was recently appointed Lakers head coach.

The NBA Draft is 22 days away. While it was fun for a little while to entertain the possibility that the Hawks would trade for a first round pick, it’s time to come back down to reality. Atlanta traded away its first round pick along with Jordan Crawford in exchange for Kirk Hinrich in February. The deal leaves the Hawks with the No. 48 overall pick in the second round as its highest selection.

Now, all is not lost. I took a look at a few of the top No. 48 draft picks over history. And among the crowd, you’ve got a rap star, the record-holder for consecutive free throws and a political protester:

• Craig Ehlo: Nickname: “Mr. Everything.” Most active with: The Cavs. Points-per-game: 8.6. Fun fact: Ehlo also played for the Hawks from 1993-1996 as Steve Smith’s backup. Might keep this one off the resume: Ehlo was the one defending Michael Jordan when he made “The Shot” at the buzzer to win the final game of a 1989 playoff series against Cleveland.

• Cedric Ceballos: Nickname: “Ice.” Most active with: The Suns. Points-per-game: 14.3. Fun Fact: Ceballo won the Slam Dunk Contest with a blindfolded dunk in 1992. Might keep this one off the resume: “Ice” was featured on Warren G’s hip-hop song, Flow On in 1994.

• Micheal Williams: Most active with: The Timberwolves. Points-per-game: 11. Fun fact: Williams holds the NBA record for consecutive free throws at 97. Might keep this one off the resume: Williams played in only 35 games over his last four years, including only two in his final year.

• Craig Hodges: Most active with: The Bulls and Bucks. Points-per-game: 8.5. Fun fact: Hodges led the league in 3-point shooting percentage three times and won three consecutive Three Point Contests in the All-Star Game. Might keep this one off the resume: On a trip to the White House after winning the 1992 NBA Championship, Hodges dressed in a dashiki and delivered a hand-written letter to George H. W. Bush expressing his discontent with the administration’s treatment of the poor and minorities.

• Marc Gasol: Most active with: The Grizzlies. Points-per-game: 12.6. Fun fact: In high school, Gasol was named the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s “Mr. Basketball” in 2003.  Might keep this one off the resume: Gasol has a personal blog where he discusses topics like what he misses from home, trash-talking in the NBA, how he met Shaq and Christmas dinner in Memphis.

So maybe we won’t get Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams. But those guys are overrated anyways.

It’s filled with more drama than a Spanish soap opera. Representatives for each team sit behind individual wooden podiums with their logos on shiny brass plaques. A collage of larger-than-life photographs of former number-one picks fill the backdrop. A official pulls team names out of envelopes with dramatic music in the background.

The NBA Draft Lottery is some combination of a game show, reality show and telethon. Each year, the fourteen teams that didn’t make the playoffs– or teams that traded for the draft rights of another team– participate in a lottery to determine the order for the top three picks of the NBA draft.

The process seems almost more complicated than it’s worth, but essentially, this is how it works: Ping-pong balls numbered 1 through 14 are placed into a machine. Each of the fourteen teams are given combinations of four number; think of each combination as a lottery ticket. The number of “lottery tickets” a team receives is based on its regular season record: the team with the worst record receives the most number of tickets (250), followed by the team with the second worst record (199 “tickets”) and so on.

Four balls are selected from the machine at random, and this constitutes the “winning” combination. The team that holds the “ticket” with the correct combination is awarded the number one draft pick. The balls are returned to the machine and the process is repeated for the 2nd and third rounds.

» Continue reading “Ping-Pong Ballers: Cavs Win NBA Draft Lottery”