Archive for the ‘Hawks/NBA’ Category

You could read this post. Or you could just admire Curtis Compton's photo, which says it all.

Michael Gearon Jr., one of the Hawks’ many charming owners, believes that print media folks in this town have failed to appreciate the splendor that is his remarkable organization. And I must confess that the achievements of this special team sometimes have had a numbing effect on this jaded correspondent. So here’s where I pay homage and bestow overdue superlatives.

• The Hawks are the greatest team ever to have drafted so badly. In my glass-half-empty moments, I wonder, “Why aren’t the Hawks any better?” With age and perspective, however, I realize I should have seen said glass as more than half-full. Positively brimming, truth to tell.

From 2004 through 2007, the Hawks had five lottery picks. They whiffed on four. They took Josh Childress instead of Luol Deng/Andre Iguodala in 2004; Marvin Williams instead of Chris Paul/Deron Williams in 2005; Shelden Williams instead of Brandon …

Continue reading An appreciation of the greatness that is the Atlanta Hawks »

It was a no-go night for All-Star Joe. (AP photo)

Even by the Hawks’ careening standards, this has been a turbulent season.  With shifts in conventional wisdom attached, we offer a recap:

• Opened by winning four of their first five games, including a victory over the Heat in Miami. And folks thought: “Hmmm.”

• Blew a 19-point lead and lost in Chicago. Lost in triple overtime here to the Heat without LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. And folks thought: “Same old Hawks.”

• Won the next three games but saw Al Horford injured — and subsequently ruled out at least for the remainder of the regular season — in a loss at Indiana. And folks thought: “Stick a fork in ‘em.”

• Won nine of the next 11 without the man considered their most indispensable player. And folks thought: “Hmmm.”

• Came home for a four-game stand and lost the first three games by a total of 39 points. And folks thought: “Same old Hawks.”

• Went to Orlando and won. And folks thought: “Nice win, but didn’t …

Continue reading The Heat showed up; the Hawks (and their fans) left early »

Eli celebrates the greatest month a 9-7 team ever had. (AP photo)

Every season ends with music blaring, confetti falling, a trophy awarded. It’s “One Shining Moment,” a pinnacle attained, a champion crowned. But more and more, we’re seeing trophies taken by teams that aren’t quite the epitome of excellence. We’ve entered the era of the accidental champ.

We consider the most recent winners in the six major American sports:

Connecticut, the 2010-11 NCAA basketball titlist: The Huskies finished in the bottom half of the Big East, which numbers 16 teams. They were 9-9 in regular-season conference play and entered the Big East tournament as the ninth seed. They won five games in that event, six in the NCAA tournament. They won more than half as many games (11) in the two postseason events as in the regular season (21).

Boston Bruins, the 2010-11 NHL titlist: They finished the regular season with 103 points, seventh-most in the league. They had the fewest points of any of the six …

Continue reading From Cardinals to Giants, it’s the era of the accidental champ »

Joe Johnson gets that hemmed-in feeling against the Grizz. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)

The Atlanta Hawks, as we know, are a strange crew. They lost Jamal Crawford, their fourth-best player, to free agency. They lost Al Horford, considered their one indispensable man, to a torn pectoral. Yet they entered Thursday’s game against Memphis tied with Chicago, Miami and Philadelphia for the fewest losses in the NBA East.

They were 7-4 with Horford; they’d gone 9-2 without him. You might be wondering just how. If you watched the Hawks lose to Memphis by 19 points after trailing by 30 Thursday night, you’re wondering still.

“We got out-toughed,” said coach Larry Drew. “That’s something I hadn’t seen in a while.”

Speaking before the game, Drew had said: “When you lose one of your big guys, one of two things will happen. Guys will start to feel sorry for themselves, or guys will elevate their play.”

For three weeks without Horford, the Hawks had elevated like Pogo Joe Caldwell, once a …

Continue reading The Hawks were rolling, but on this night they rolled over »

Yay, me! (AJC photo by Ben Gray; whiteboard stylings by Ms. Mandi Albright.)

This year ends in a way few years have ended for this famously erring prognosticator. It ends with me getting to say, “Know what? I actually got some stuff right.”

For once, the annual Accountability Scoreboard isn’t a trail of tears. I picked Georgia to go 10-2 and win the SEC East, which it did. I picked Georgia Tech to finish its regular season 8-4, which it did. I picked LSU to win the SEC, which it did, and finish as the BCS titlist, which it well might. I picked Auburn, which won the last BCS title, to lose five games, and sure enough …

I picked the Hawks to beat the Magic in Round 1, which indeed occurred. Heck, I even picked VCU to crash the Final Four. (OK, now I’m embellishing.)

About the only thing I got close to right in 2010 was picking the Falcons to go 12-4 and win the NFC South. (They actually went 13-3.) This time I was right, sort of, in the grand scheme — I picked the 2011 team to …

Continue reading It’s a miracle! Mr. Wrong actually got some things right in 2011 »

The Hawks' Jeff Teague amuses himself and others at Media Day. (Photo by David Tulis)

Our weekly Heat Check returns after, er, a week off. (Why the week off? Because I’ve again reached the point when I realize I have more vacation days remaining than there are workdays left in the calendar year.) So we’re playing catch-up hotness, as it were.

The Atlanta Falcons: They staged a huge rally in Charlotte to get to 8-5. On Thursday they play a Jacksonville team that has already dumped its coach. If the playoffs began tomorrow, they’d be the NFC’s No. 5 seed, which would mean they’d miss having to play in New Orleans twice in a 14-day span. Instead they’d get the winner of the NFC East in Round 1, and that winner will be the Giants or the Cowboys or maybe even the Eagles. Heat Index: No. 5 would suit this team just fine.

The Atlanta Hawks: They’re back at work. They’ve added Tracy McGrady, Jerry Stackhouse and Vladimir Radmanovic, none of whom is as good as he used to be but two of …

Continue reading Heat Check: Falcons and seedings, Hawks and retreads »

"Excuse me, young man, but have you seen my offense?" (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)

Our Heat Check begins with the hottest team around — the still-unbeaten-heading-into-December Atlanta Hawks! OK, I’m joshing. (Not to be confused with still-a-Hawk-Josh Smith.)

Georgia Bulldogs: Their basketball team lost by two points at Colorado on Monday, which is actually a good sign. Their football team lost by two points at Colorado last season, and look at it now! Ten wins running, an SEC East title, a comprehensive victory over Georgia Tech, no more hot-seat talk about the coach. Heat Index: Warm, with the chance — should the Bulldogs unhorse LSU — of a truly toasty holiday season.

Isaiah Crowell: The heralded freshman didn’t play a down against Tech due to injury, and it mattered not — except maybe to Crowell’s case for being indispensable. He was, as we know, supposed to be the Missing Man. Now Mark Richt is telling running-back recruits that a great opportunity can be found in …

Continue reading Heat Check: UGA’s torrid even with Crowell in cold storage »

Todd Grantham gives Mark Richt a manly handshake. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)

The Heat Check returns a day late after a two-week hiatus, but hey … a return’s a return! And we begin with those who’ll be involved in a game of some interest come Saturday noon.

Georgia: Champion of the SEC East, the winner of nine in a row,  the author of a rebound season. Think back to August: Would Georgia fans have taken all that and been happy? Sure they would. Heat Index: Mark Richt has gone from sitting atop the ol’ Hot Seat to sharing a warm moment with Mrs. Richt in front of 90,000 friends and neighbors.

Georgia Tech: Ranked in the Top 25, the winner of eight games after getting stuck on six last season, the author of a rebound season. Think back to August: Would Tech fans have taken all that and been happy? Yes, with a caveat. Heat Index: No Tech season can ever be ruled a complete success if the Jackets lose to Georgia.

Atlanta Falcons: They went to the no-huddle against Tennessee …

Continue reading Heat Index: Warm moments for Tech, UGA and the Richts »

Will there come a day when we're happy to see these guys? (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)

The NBA players said no, and they were right to say no. The owners had gone from wanting simply to make more money to trying to bully the players. What self-respecting union would stand for that?

To its credit, the players’ union didn’t. But actions have consequences, and there’s a real chance the consequence of this principled stand could keep the NBA from playing this season. And now, having held its membership together at a time when solidarity wasn’t a given, the players’ union is disbanding.

Disbanding a players’ union has become the tool of unions that can’t hope to negotiate a settlement. The NFL players did it a few months back, and those players wound up returning to work after being locked out with not much to show for their loss of time. By disbanding, a union forfeits its right to bargain collectively but gains the chance to file an antitrust suit, and sometimes a union can get …

Continue reading Who wins with the NBA not playing? Why, maybe the Hawks »

Even if the Hawks' sale doesn't go through, does Alex Meruelo at least get to keep the hat? (AP photo)

Buzzard’s luck is when you can’t kill anything and nothing will die. And now, not for the first time, we wonder if the local NBA franchise should change its name from Hawks to Buzzards.

After seven years of being lost in the wilderness we called the Atlanta Spirit, the Hawks finally found someone — and significantly, this entity was a one and not a many — who really wants to own them. He’s Alex Meruelo, and his introductory briefing in August was long on nothing except enthusiasm. He was going to do this right, he said. He was going to work his hardest to win Atlanta’s trust and make the Hawks relevant again. Frankly, it sounded great.

But now we learn that Alex Meruelo of Downey, Calif., might not be buying the Hawks after all. The sale, reports esteemed colleague Tim Tucker, is in jeopardy because the NBA isn’t sure Meruelo has the wherewithal to buy and run the team in the …

Continue reading If Meruelo can’t have the Hawks, will anybody buy this team? »