Live from the Hawks: Even John Hollinger is impressed!
Get off to a 9-2 start and you'll have a lot of friends. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
We’ve had some fun with our Facebook friend John Hollinger of ESPN.com. We’ve noted more than once that he picked the Hawks to win 31 games in 2008-2009 — they won 47 — and declared their bench “a FEMA disaster zone.” (It was actually pretty good.) More recently we’ve noted he predicted the Hawks will slide from those 47 victories to 44.
Well, fair’s only fair. And if we we tweak Big John for his less-than-glowing appraisals, we must also recognize him when he says something nice. And here it is: In his first power rankings for ESPN’s Insiders (link requires registration), Mr. Hollinger has the Hawks No. 1.
If you’re counting, that makes the third set of ratings that puts these Hawks at the top. Hollinger’s ESPN colleague Marc Stein and John Schuhmann of NBA.com made the same call earlier in the week. (Chris Mannix of SI.com is the contrarian: He has the Hawks No. 2 behind Phoenix.)
With early success comes, as day follows night (or is it the other way around?), increased media attention. I’ve noticed correspondents from ESPN.com (Hollinger again), NBA.com (esteemed former colleague Sekou Smith), CBSsports.com and Yahoo! Sports on hand for tonight’s game with Miami, and it wasn’t so long ago you’d go to a Hawks game find rows of empty chairs in the press gallery.
I’m not going to tell you I’ve been here for every game of the past few years, but I’ve seen a few. And not since the middle ’80s have I seen the Hawks playing at such a high level. (The Lenny Wilkens teams of the ’90s were never quite this good.) I expect the Hawks to win again. I expect them to win every game the rest of the season and finish 80-2.
Yes, I’m kidding. But I’m also excited in a strictly professional way. I love basketball. I love being able to see good basketball without leaving town. And you’re welcome to join me as we chat about Game No. 12 in what has already been a blissful season. To borrow the catchphrase from the Hawks’ failed 1994 postseason: Bring it on!
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356 comments Add your comment
Opinion
November 18th, 2009
8:47 pm
The hawks should of picked up Anthony Morrow, he would be awesome as a hawk, run and shoot
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:48 pm
As much as I’d like to take credit for “Horfy,” I can’t. That was Joakim Noah when the two were roommates. I heard Noah call him that at the 2007 Final Four and have thought of him as Horfy ever since.
Opinion
November 18th, 2009
8:48 pm
Is it just me, or does Jamal Crawford like to shoot?
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:48 pm
Crawford with a leaner and gets fouled. Needed that. Lead was down to six.
preston
November 18th, 2009
8:49 pm
Wow, D-wade is gonna get his.
John
November 18th, 2009
8:49 pm
Wow, we have so many weapons.
J.J.M.
November 18th, 2009
8:49 pm
wade at the line first time
Opinion
November 18th, 2009
8:49 pm
Nice background info Mark, good to get the story on that, I just thought you and Bobby had been hangin out at the bar a little to much…lol
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:49 pm
Wade is getting energized now. He has nine this quarter.
And yes, Crawford does enjoy the act of shooting.
J.J.M.
November 18th, 2009
8:50 pm
joe dribbled to much
BONE
November 18th, 2009
8:50 pm
Joe ball hoggin again
BONE
November 18th, 2009
8:50 pm
Joe ball hoggin again
preston
November 18th, 2009
8:50 pm
man, Hawks are missing a lot of their free throws.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:50 pm
Arroyo with an awful foul after cutting it to five. Ball wasn’t even inbounds. Heat radio guy beside me just slapped the table.
Crawford gets two gift free throws with 6.1 seconds left in the quarter.
MyView
November 18th, 2009
8:51 pm
Enter your comments here
J.J.M.
November 18th, 2009
8:51 pm
I would give joe a 3 minute break here
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:52 pm
And that foul is the difference between a seven-point spread at the quarter and a five-point one.
I think the Hawks may have figured the game was over at halftime. And the Heat were nonplussed by that second quarter fade.
Opinion
November 18th, 2009
8:52 pm
Hawks will blow them away in the Fourth, the Heat just arn’t as deep as the Hawks
J.J.M.
November 18th, 2009
8:53 pm
hawks got to comfy witht that huge lead and came out shooting jump shots
Elliptical Logician
November 18th, 2009
8:53 pm
Let’s see if the Heat have any gas left in their tanks in the 4th…back to back games and a rested, focused Hawks team playing at home.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:54 pm
As much as you try to act as if the score is 0-0 at the half, a team with a huge lead is aware it has a huge lead. Human nature.
Opinion
November 18th, 2009
8:55 pm
to any UGA fans going to the Tech game in a couple of weeks, Please pick up your trash, Atlanta already has a hard enough time keeping the trash off the streets…..thank you
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:55 pm
Zaza with a move and a pass to Joe Smith, who dunks.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:55 pm
When did Zaza become Vlade Divac?
J.J.M.
November 18th, 2009
8:56 pm
im out guys. hope the hawks win.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:57 pm
Crawford isn’t going to lead the league in assists, FYI.
Marvin with a tough drive. He’s much more assertive with subs in the game. Maybe he feels he has to be.
Kane337
November 18th, 2009
8:57 pm
Crawford is such a great player. Why would the Knicks and Warriors trade him? Oh wait, there must be a reason they their records stink.
Opinion
November 18th, 2009
8:57 pm
Hawks are refocused and starting to pull away
preston
November 18th, 2009
8:57 pm
gotta love our second unit!!!
seed
November 18th, 2009
8:58 pm
Hey who is the guy that always squeezes his way into the camera frame (to the right behind Woody) at the start of all of Woody’s post game press conferences?
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:58 pm
Hawks up 12 after Zaza FTs. Taking control again.
And now Zaza with a deflection/steal.
Kane337
November 18th, 2009
8:58 pm
LOL Arroyo with another great block.
Opinion
November 18th, 2009
8:58 pm
Hawks and warriors got rid of Crawford because he couldn’t shut up.
Answer: put him on a winning team and give him minutes and that’l keep him quiet.
BONE
November 18th, 2009
8:59 pm
Marvin doesn’t even look comfortable
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:59 pm
Probably me, Seed.
Sometimes Marvin gets too assertive. Like there with the offensive foul.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
8:59 pm
And now Crawford with an offensive foul. Flop by Arroyo.
preston
November 18th, 2009
9:00 pm
lol…….our second unit is obviously much better than theirs!!
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
9:00 pm
And now Beasley with an offensive foul. Apparently this call has become a point of emphasis.
Opinion
November 18th, 2009
9:00 pm
Wow, I didn’t notice that Micheal Beasley was out of Rehab….congratulations to him
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
9:01 pm
There aren’t many second units as good as the Hawks’. And Teague hasn’t played.
Kane337
November 18th, 2009
9:01 pm
I thought the traveling calls were going to be a point of emphasis this year.
Tokyo Bravo
November 18th, 2009
9:02 pm
Man, sure would be nice to be home viewin’ some Hawks goodness. Haven’t been this excited about the hawks since the mid ’80s!
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
9:02 pm
That charge was Beasley’s fifth foul.
Traveling? In the NBA? Nobody travels in the NBA!
preston
November 18th, 2009
9:02 pm
Marvin just seems to force his way in whenever he tries to go one on one……..he is much better comming off of a screen to hit a jump shot…..when he doesnt have to dribble.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
9:03 pm
Heat have no answer for Zaza. And here it was only about 18 months ago I thought he was the worst player in the league.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
9:04 pm
Josh, Joe and Horfy back with 8:44 left. And Josh steals the ball and feeds Marvin, who gets fouled.
preston
November 18th, 2009
9:05 pm
Man……hawks better start working on those free throws soon….we cant afford to give points away no matter who we play.
BugKiller
November 18th, 2009
9:05 pm
Mark,
Could you have foreseen a situation two or three years ago where Zaza has become a guy who can come into the game an energize his teammates and make not only good plays, but important plays?
I think we need to step outside of ourselves for a minute and applaud the job that Woody has done with Zaza. The patience. The teaching.
This team is so FUN to watch.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
9:06 pm
Josh free throws make it a 16-point lead. Over now.
Mark Bradley
November 18th, 2009
9:07 pm
In a word, BugKiller: No.