That time of year
It's that time of year again for the Mike Woodson and his Hawks. Training camp is just weeks away and the coach and his team are in the crosshairs.
HAWKSVILLE - For those of us pro basketball loyalists, we always know when it’s time to readjust the schedule to get ready for the NBA season.
Labor Day is my reminder.
I know that in the days immediately following the holiday players will start trickling back into town and showing up for voluntary workouts (go ahead and get your jokes about my Wolverines out of the way now so we can move on to basketball matters) on the track and at the Hawks’ practice facility.
It’s as much as a part of my late summer/fall routine as watching football on the weekend. So I’ll be making my way downtown all week to see who shows up and what kind of work they’re doing in anticipation of the start of training camp, which believe it or not is just roughly three weeks away.
The prognosticators already have an idea of what things will look like once the season starts and how the Hawks will do, for example, our friends at HoopsHype have the Hawks pegged for a return to the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
I prefer to wait until I actually see someone on the move before offering up any sort of hypothesis about where this team might be headed. So while I was standing over my grill Sunday afternoon, basking in the glory of a decisive win for my team Saturday and enjoying the neighborly ambiance of the world’s greatest bedroom community (neighbors bring over steaming hot crawfish pies and ice cold Arnold Palmers when they see the first sign of grill smoke in Smyrna), the conversation turned to the Hawks.
Specifically, the Ridge Road crew wanted to know who has to have the biggest year for the Hawks to continue their climb up the conference ladder and back into the playoffs and perhaps beyond the second round?
It’s a question, I explained, best answered by those of us that spend far too much time worrying ourselves with these things on a daily basis (if you’re reading this, you know who you are). So before I ask for your take, please allow me to offer my five-point answer:
MIKE WOODSON - the Hawks’ sixth-year head coach has weathered every storm that’s come his way thus far, which is a testament to not only his team’s continual improvement but also his ability to compartmentalize during tough times and rally his troops. But this season will provide perhaps the harshest spotlight he’s faced during his tenure. In each of his five previous seasons few people – fans, pundits or anyone else outside of the city of Atlanta – viewed his team as a playoff player. All that has changed in the past 16 months. Woodson’s entering the final year of his deal, which always adds a little extra drama to the situation, with oversized expectations. The roster is 11-deep with proven NBA players (Randolph Morris is still waiting on the chance to prove himself), the deepest the Hawks have been since Woodson arrived. The bottom line, this team goes where Woodson leads them.
JOE JOHNSON - In the same situation as his coach, in terms of heading into the final year of his deal (until further notice, of course), the Hawks’ captain and All-Star faces an interesting dilemma this season. As his younger teammates have matured and the veteran cast been upgraded, Johnson will have to decide how much of the burden he is willing and able to shoulder this season. Physically, the extended minutes have taken a toll the past two seasons, when his playoff performances weren’t consistently up to his own lofty standards. Crazy as this might sound; if his numbers decreased across the board (especially his minutes) I could see him having a better season than any of his first four with the Hawks.
JAMAL CRAWFORD - Anytime you fleece a team the way the Hawks did when they snatched Crawford from the Golden State Warriors for Acie Law IV and Speedy Claxton, folks expect big things. And Crawford has to deliver, whatever his role ends up being. If he “leads the league in scoring off the bench” as one Hawks’ staffer joked to me in the hours after the deal went down, we’d have some story. But if he just maintains his nearly 20-point scoring average this season he’ll make that deal worth it. Any concerns about Crawford’s fit on this team have been assuaged by multiple in-house sources this summer that insist Crawford developed an instant chemistry with everyone within the organization that’s dealt with him. If the on-court chemistry comes as easily, this could wind up being one of the Hawks’ best personnel moves in years. If not …
RICK SUND - You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone that isn’t convinced that the Hawks’ GM has done a masterful job in his first 13 months on the job. He’s made all the right moves and steadied the organization through one of their best seasons in years. But the toughest challenge comes this season. Sund will have to gauge the Hawks’ progress by the February trade deadline and decide if this team, as presently constituted, provides the best chance for long-term success or not. If not, he’ll have to pull the trigger on the right deal to push the Hawks over top (sort of like his predecessor did two years ago when Billy Knight pulled the trigger on the Mike Bibby deal). Gone are the days when the Hawks’ GM could simply suspend the franchise in rebuilding mode or just maintain. The next step is moving upward and onward, and that almost always requires a deft personnel move one way or another.
JEFF TEAGUE/JOE SMITH/JASON COLLINS - These three guys represent everything the Hawks have needed in the form of depth at their two most crucial positions the past five years. Just a rookie, Teague’s ability to adapt to the NBA game and assume a position backing up Bibby is crucial. If his assimilation comes off without a hitch, and we honestly have no way of knowing how it will go, the need for that third point guard won’t be nearly as urgent as it might be otherwise. Smith and Collins are known commodities in the NBA. You get a versatile scorer and defender in Smith, a veteran frontcourt performer that’s always played much bigger than his listed size. In Collins, the Hawks have a 7-footer capable of lending quality minutes in a situational role, particularly on the defensive end. They have to be the support system, along with Zaza Pachulia, that Josh Smith and Al Horford have had to work without the past two years.
You know what I think.
What say you?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
532 comments Add your comment
Ariose
September 10th, 2009
3:54 pm
Just because he only does it this vicious once every Five years…or never…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOmAwFBO880
Melvin
September 10th, 2009
4:00 pm
Aroise,
That was a nice link of Josh at 3:48. The highlights even went back to his rookie year…. Good Stuff
Rod from College Park
September 10th, 2009
4:00 pm
Nire,
Yeah you were incorrect. I actually hve not had a issue or arguemnt with Sautee since I first started posting. Don’t ever remember going at it with Astro Joe. When you ASSUME you make an A*@ of U and me. Really does not matter. Keep doing what you do.
jerrywest
September 10th, 2009
4:02 pm
Memphis will need 4 balls with that selfish lineup.
Ariose
September 10th, 2009
4:10 pm
LOL@ Jerrywest. It’s so ture….but I wish Iverson the best….just not against us.
….So anyway Rod, I was talking to a buddy of mine the other day about how Absolutely Awsome Marvin Willliams is. We just COULDNT stop talking about it…..what a guy, that Marvin. Don’t you agree?
Mevin, thanks that’s a new one just found it. Hey what happend to your boy from Oregon? Whats he up to?
Ariose
September 10th, 2009
4:11 pm
*Melvin
lol…
Melvin
September 10th, 2009
4:31 pm
Ariose,
You are talking about Curtis Jerrells from Baylor. He will be inthe Pistons training camp.
Ramon
September 10th, 2009
4:52 pm
Ariose, those were some tight highlights of Josh’s. But now it just made me want the season to start even more now lol.
Melvin
September 10th, 2009
5:06 pm
Who will get that 5th ring this year (Kobe, Shaq or Duncan)? Or Maybe the Big 4 in Boston will get their 2nd ring. Or maybe Superman or Josh will get their first. Can the season get started already!!!
Rod from College Park
September 10th, 2009
5:17 pm
Ariose,
No
Ken Strickland
September 10th, 2009
5:34 pm
BIG UMP-I feel there’s absolutely no justification for envoking race into any of the discussions that take place on these blogs. I am too intelligent and have too much pride and self respect to try and make a racial issue out of something just to get attention or get a rise out of someone else. There are simply too many intelligent individuals frequenting these blogs with too much information and too many informed opinions to waste time with trivial pursuit.
ARIOSE-I didn’t have any issues with him drafting so many forwards either, because I understood his approach. You draft and develop forwards, keep what you need and use to rest in trade to get whevever else you need. We all know Shelden Williams didn’t live up to expectations, but he still managed to get us what we needed, a PG name MBibby.
JOE MAMA-I tired of this crap you and others have championed about AHorford being too undersized to play center or playing out of position. Height and weight are not definitive prerequisites for playing the center position. How you play the position, especially within the context of the OFF system you’re playing in, is far more important. Bill Lambeer(6′11″ 260lbs)had the size and height to back defenders down and score, but he didn’t have the skill level to do it. But, instead of believing he wasn’t a true center, he used his excellent long range jumpshot to become an Allstar and championship center.
Bill Russell(6′10″ 220lbs), Elvin Hayes(6′10″ 235lbs), Moses Malone(6′10″ 230lbs), Willis Reed(6′10″ 235lbs), 6′10″ Dave Cowans(6′9″ 230lbs), Bob McAdoo(6′10″ 210lbs), Wes Unseld(6′7″ 245lbs), Amare Staudamire(6′10″ 249lbs), Zelmo Beatty(6′9″ 230lbs) and even Ben Wallace(6′9″ 240lbs), were all Allstars and 5 are HOF’s. Using the flawed attempt at logic used by those who subscribe to this theory, all of these players were undersized and played out of position.
The fact is, most of the centers included in the 50 top players of this century are about the same size and/or height as AHorford. Does that mean we need to reclassify them as PF’s because the are alledgedly undersized and played out of position? That would be a stupid thing to do, right. And saying AHorford is undersized or playing out of position is just as stupid. The fact he can play 2 positions denotes versatility, and nothing else.
SAUTEE-have you noticed how idiots like Sarah Palin, Russ Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Lew Dobbs and Rep John Wilson, to name a few, have yet to present a single piece of evidence or proof of anything they’ve claimed about President Obama or his health plan? The fact that the CIA, FBI, HOMELAND SECURITY, CONGRESS, or the entire Republican party, has been unable to present a single piece of evidence that shows President Obama isn’t a naturalized citizen hasn’t fazed these morons. Yet, birther idiots like Lou Dobbs are still trying to make it an issue to stirup the mentally challenged rank and file Republicans in this country. And now we have these military traitors who are using this birther crap as an excuse for refusing to fight in Afganistan. This sick, mostly Reblican mentality has become a bigger threat to this country than terrorism. JUST FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
jerrywest
September 10th, 2009
5:53 pm
Josh Smith should try to become a jumping jack rebounder. He should be able to average 12+ rebound with that body. Why does he try to do things he wasn’t born to do?
vava74
September 10th, 2009
6:01 pm
Clyde,
You are right! Scary!
A team where the average assist total per game will be less than 5!
vava74
September 10th, 2009
6:29 pm
Ken,
As an complete outsider, I would like to say that I believe that you are right on when you say that the biggest threat to the USA comes from within.
The republicans are not acting as spokesmen for a different ideology or a different conception of an health care system but simply as a result of the lobbying by the people who fill their pockets, the insurance companies (there are a couple of democrats that are doing the same).
I read recently an article on the New York Times by an American Nobel Prize winner in economics where he completely dismantles all this nonsense launched by the republicans on the media by simply demonstrating that the health care system which Nixon wanted to implement and which the Democrats rejected at that time, was BY FAR more ambitious and with a higher coverage than Obama’s!
vava74
September 10th, 2009
6:30 pm
Here’s the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/opinion/31krugman.html
Ariose
September 10th, 2009
6:52 pm
Melvin, Yeah. He should make their squad. They need a third PG behiend Bynum and Stuckey.
Ramon, Beleive me I know the feeling lol.
Ken, EXACTLY….and Bibby was just what the doctor ordred. Because we didn’t pick up CP3 or D-Will in 05′, we were able to get the rest of aour roster in place(Horford) Bibby was the missing piece to an almost complete starting lineup. We just needed a head to the monster lol.
I read some stuff about Baron Davis in Slam that made me appreciate Bibby even more lol…I’ll post it later.
The Truth
September 10th, 2009
7:11 pm
I’m sure one day it will be a Movie entitled “Blogging” on the Big Screen. I can imagine the movie to be a replication of the trials, the tribulations, the highs and the lows of what goes on around here (just to name a few). No doubt the main plot would be based on an anatomy of how “Rhetorical Civil Wars” are started and where they lead. Surely such a movie would be rated “R” for violate language at the very least. Though the main topics within the movie would be sports, the genre would be anything but. It would be a hard call between: psycho-thriller, children-animation, and suspense-drama. Because of the repetitiveness of the sub-plots, I’m not sure what kind of reviews such a movie would get. Would be thumbs-up or thumps-downs, I’m not sure. With so many different kinds of encounters on this blog, this movie would not be a stretch to produce. Maybe I should call up Tyler Perry for consultation, this idea might work.
Ariose
September 10th, 2009
7:39 pm
Riley said he does not want to add payroll because the team is $3 million over the luxury tax threshold. “The only way to add is to subtract,” he said. “If anything is going to happen, it probably would be via a trade for only one year. If any veteran wants to come in on a non-guaranteed contract, I will take him.”
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1223393.html
Just checking in on our neighbors to the south….can you beleive the Miami hear are 3mill over the cap with a roster as horrble looking as theirs? Beasly in drug Rehab and O’nealwith his bum knees…..oh and Chalmers/Chris Quinn for PG’s….I suddenly have even more respect for Rick Sund than I did before….our roster is loaded and were not close to luxury tax yet……BRING ON GERALD GREEN!!!!!
….he should be guided by JJ, Marvin, and Mo Evans btw…..
Ariose
September 10th, 2009
7:41 pm
Oh, and shoutout to BK too…
Sautee
September 10th, 2009
8:23 pm
Ken Strickland,
I’ve noticed a LOT, but this isn’t the right place to discuss it. Needless to say, you know how I feel anyway. We’re from the same political sphere.
Astro Joe
September 10th, 2009
8:51 pm
New blog up!
doc
September 10th, 2009
8:52 pm
ariose cudos on the 3:48 link. hard to believe how much josh has grown into a man. i really like the kid as a true warrior we need.
jerry west, yes to the question about d wade on our team winning a championship.
Ken Strickland
September 10th, 2009
9:26 pm
ARIOSE & VAVA74-understood. Intelligent ideas, concepts amd thoughts are the same whether it’s politics or sports. I’m particularly sensitive about these idiots that are using Obama to avoid fullfilling their military obligation. I lost my brother over there. Both he and his wife put in their retirement papers, and both we denied because of a catch Bush and his Republican posse slipped through. Both were then deployed to Iraq, which was my brothers 5th deployment to the region. After he was killed, they relieved his wife and allowed her to retire. Then they lied about how he died. They said he was killed while on a routine supply run. There’s no way a top ranking NCO and a major, who was also killed, would be on a routine supply run.
Regardless of how any of us feel about Woodson as a HC, with the overall roster RSund has put together, there are no more excuses. The idea of us needing a big, strong inside scoring center to get to the next level is crap. Detroit has managed to have successful championship runs in 2 different eras without a low post center. BLambeer was strictly a jumpshooter with no inside scoring skills and BWallace was neither. The biggest problem with the Hawks is instead of building an OFF system to suit the talents of the players, there’s a constant attempt to force the players to perform within a limited and ill suited style of play. When we play uptempo teams, we tend to run, and when we play halfcourt teams, we tend to match them by playing half court ourselves. This constant back and forth between halfcourt and uptempo is the reason we have no OFF identity and end up far too often playing down to the level of the competition.
With Zaza, JSmith, JTeague and JCrawford on the bench, it’s going to take a lot of effort not to use a 9 man rotation. With Zaza, Collins and RMorris, not to mention JSmith, our bench will be 3 deep in actual centers. When is the last time anyone could say that about the Hawks?
Samuel
September 10th, 2009
10:09 pm
No. We’d still be 4th best in the East.
Big Ray
September 11th, 2009
1:01 am
Daniel,
It’s not a gang mentality, really. If someone comes on here and says something silly about a player (read: exaggerates), a lot of people are likely to call that person out. It’s not like they all planned the whole thing. It just happens that way. Rod always has something negative to say about Marvin, and he catches some heat for it. He says he has an opinion and stands behind it. Well, so do other people. Unfortunately for him, more people stand behind an opinion that opposes his.
If that’s gang mentality, then we should outlaw the freedom of speech act….
bigestnutts
September 12th, 2009
3:47 pm
Mr strickland im with joe mama on that one. Lambeer did have range as center that opened pick and rolls and unclogged the lanes for Dumars and Isaiah but he could also hold his position in the post with physical ease as compared to Horford who may (over time) ware down and become injury prone.
Is there a reason you become verbally abusive when you replied to Joe Mama?
Bill Russell(6′10″ 220lbs), Elvin Hayes(6′10″ 235lbs), Moses Malone(6′10″ 230lbs), Willis Reed(6′10″ 235lbs), 6′10″ Dave Cowans(6′9″ 230lbs), Bob McAdoo(6′10″ 210lbs), Wes Unseld(6′7″ 245lbs), Amare Staudamire(6′10″ 249lbs), Zelmo Beatty(6′9″ 230lbs) and even Ben Wallace(6′9″ 240lbs),???
Only a few of these guys are centers and the ones that are you are listing there rookie wieghts.
Do you always post mis information to support an erroneous point?
joe mama
September 12th, 2009
3:55 pm
No you dont reclassify him, leave him as a powerforward which is what he (hortford) has always been! Why are you arguing with bloggers when most of the professional scouts and publications view him the same way. Why dont you argue with them? Is it because,like me , they dont agree with you opinion nor respect your lack of experience. Should you been venting your anger at the ESPN for there assestment. I wonder whos opinion is more valid Ken the man with out experience but lots of anger and a big mouth or ESPN’s an organization built upon researching and evaluating players and team….No brainer.
joe mama
September 12th, 2009
4:24 pm
BBgenie
September 10th, 2009
10:18 am
largestnutts
September 12th, 2009
4:26 pm
[[Video:Al_Horford_is_not_very_intelligent|300px]]
truth-serum
September 12th, 2009
4:31 pm
Big Ray
September 11th, 2009
1:01 am
No one is calling Rod a hater for not appreciating Marvin, (im a huge marvin fan). But the slander and misinformation you guys put on Woodson would be classified in my opinion as pure hate!
Ken Strickland
September 12th, 2009
6:12 pm
NUTTS(very approprate)-you’re misreading my comments. I never said BLambeer didn’t have the size and height to hold his position or back defenders down. My point was, in spite of having that ability, he lacked the skills to be an inside OFF threat. Instead of thinking that prevented him from being a true center, or that he might be playing out of position, he successfully modified his gm and became an Allstar and championship center.
Every player I listed earned ROY, Allstar and/or HOF honors while playing the center position. Some were versatile enough to switched positions, like Willis Reed, who switched from PF to center, and Elvin Hayes, who switched from center to PF, and AStaudamire, who switch from center to PF last yr.
Please tell me how you came to the conclusion that any of the players listed weights are based on their rookie yr? Since all of the players except 2(Staudamire & Wallace) are retired, and I got their info from their bio’s, wouldn’t it make more sense for it to represent their playing weight rather than their rookie weight? How, why and where did you come up with that one?
bigestnutts
September 13th, 2009
1:10 am
Ken Strickland
September 12th, 2009
6:12 pm
Thats Mr bignutts to you BIG N U T T S NOT MR NUTTS. GET IT RIGHT AND DONT WASTE MY TIME WITH YOUR SILLY LIST OF 80% POWERFORWARD. WHY ARE YOU AURGUING WITH A BLOGGER? WHY DONT YOU MAKE YOUR CASE TO THE PUBLICATIONS, WEBSITES AND SCOUTS WHO SAY MR HORFORD IS PLAYING OUT OF POSITION, UNDERWEIGHT AND HAS LIMITED OFFENSIVE TOOLs. I like horfort and think he is a blue collar worker. His GREATEST ASSEST IS THAT HE’S A DECENT REBOUNDER. NOT A DENNIS RODMAN(A POWERFORWARD WHO HORFORD MOST CLOSLY RESEMBLES.) BUT A DECENT REBOUNDER. THAT IT.
lISTEN HAVE YOU TALKED TO ESPN ABOUT THIS? SPORTING NEWS? ANY PROFESSIONAL SCOUTS? PLEEEZE! GET A LIFE. IF THEY DONT RESPECT YOUR OPINION WHAT MAKE YOU THINK I WOULD? WHY ARE YOUR TRYING TO CONVINCE ME. I JUST HAPPEN TO AGREE WITH WHAT MOST PUBLICATIONS SAY ABOUT HIM.
JUST THIS PAST WEEK I HAD A LOCAL NEWSPAPER DELIVERING TO MY HOUSE. I DID NOT ORDERED IT BUT THEY SENT IT ANY WAY. I HAD TO CALL AND ASK THEM NOT TO PUT A PAPER IN MY YARD. APPARENTLY THEY CANT SELL THE PAPER WHICH GOES FOR 75 CENTS. THEY HAVE A LOT OF ADS AND SALES IN THE PAPER WHICH BRINGS INCOME SO THEY HAVE TO DISTRIBUTE IT EVEN IF IT MEANS GIVING IT A WAY. KIND OF REMINDS ME OF YOU. YOU SINGLE ME OUT AND ADDRESS ME AS IF IM INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. IM NOT. ITS VERY CLEAR TO ME THAT YOU ARE CLUELESS. I KNOW YOU TOLD A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT YOU HAVE A READERSHIP AND YOU ARE IMPORTANT….LOL, BUT IM NOT INTERESTED IN YOU OR YOUR DISTORTIONS. PLEASE DONT LEAVE YOUR SPAM IN MY YARD.
THANK YOU. Frankly ken….I dont give a damn!