NBA Preview: The Atlanta Hawks
This blog is actually part of a semester long project in which the minimum is 15 blogs entries, or, for those no longer in school, one blog entry per week.
I am about to smash that number in the next nine days.
Inspired by friend/former basketball teammate/journalist Colin "hapless Washington fan" Donohue, I'm going to do an NBA preview for every team. Effective writer that he is, Donohue likes to sum up every team in one sentence. My verbiage simply won't allow me to do that.
So, without further ado (and this hopes to be the format for the next 29 days), here is my preview of the Atlanta Hawks.
Fondest Hawk Memory: Back in the day (and I say "back in the day" very loosely because I'm only 24), TBS used to broadcast Hawks' games. I got to see a game almost every other night during the season. It was either them or the Wiz... er, Bullets, and the Bullets were awful back then. The Hawks had a squad that was always pretty good, but they could never get over the hump. To this day, I still call steals "Mookies" in homage to Hawks legendary point guard Mookie Blaylock.
Last year: For a team that went 26-56, they were fun to watch. Joe Johnson made Team USA for a reason,and Josh Smith was a highlight a minute (even though his performance in the slam dunk contest was questionable). What slowed this team down last year were two things. First and foremost, they couldn't stop anybody, and that's half the battle right there. Also, and I'm being nice when I say this, Tyronn Lue was the worst starting point guard in the league, so they were lacking leadership qualities at the most important position. GM Billy Knight could have fixed this problem, but he passed on Chris Paul in last year's draft. I know I'm just repeating what every other sportswriter in the world said, but it's true. And as for the guy they took over Chris Paul? With former Hawk Al Harrington starting over him, Marvin Williams only started seven games.
This year: In fairness, these guys were young last year. They're young this year, but, Capatin Obvious statement of the day, they're a year older. They drafted some help inside with Shelden Williams, who I'm not sold on but he's definitely a defensive improvement and at the very least provides a winning attitude. They signed a point guard who will certainly be an upgrade in Speedy Claxton, but, of course, he'll be out five to six weeks . Even still, there's definitely a reason to be optimistic in A-town.
Player on the rise: Marvelous Marvin, as I've heard Dickey V call him countless times as a collegiate athlete, apparently made people remember who he was this past summer. He didn't have to, but he played on the Hawks summer league roster and destroyed the competition. Now that Harrington's gone, Williams is in prime position to blossom this year.
Player on the decline: Tyronn Lue will go from the worst starting point guard in the league to a mediocre back-up point guard who may lose minutes to Royal Ivey this year.
Justin's Take: This team is headed in the right direction. They're the kind of team that you'd want to start Dynasty Mode with on NBA Live: youth with upside, and a great deal of tradeable commodities that could turn your franchise around. Of course, in Live and in life, it's not a one year job.
Projected Record: 34-48
I am about to smash that number in the next nine days.
Inspired by friend/former basketball teammate/journalist Colin "hapless Washington fan" Donohue, I'm going to do an NBA preview for every team. Effective writer that he is, Donohue likes to sum up every team in one sentence. My verbiage simply won't allow me to do that.
So, without further ado (and this hopes to be the format for the next 29 days), here is my preview of the Atlanta Hawks.
Fondest Hawk Memory: Back in the day (and I say "back in the day" very loosely because I'm only 24), TBS used to broadcast Hawks' games. I got to see a game almost every other night during the season. It was either them or the Wiz... er, Bullets, and the Bullets were awful back then. The Hawks had a squad that was always pretty good, but they could never get over the hump. To this day, I still call steals "Mookies" in homage to Hawks legendary point guard Mookie Blaylock.
Last year: For a team that went 26-56, they were fun to watch. Joe Johnson made Team USA for a reason,and Josh Smith was a highlight a minute (even though his performance in the slam dunk contest was questionable). What slowed this team down last year were two things. First and foremost, they couldn't stop anybody, and that's half the battle right there. Also, and I'm being nice when I say this, Tyronn Lue was the worst starting point guard in the league, so they were lacking leadership qualities at the most important position. GM Billy Knight could have fixed this problem, but he passed on Chris Paul in last year's draft. I know I'm just repeating what every other sportswriter in the world said, but it's true. And as for the guy they took over Chris Paul? With former Hawk Al Harrington starting over him, Marvin Williams only started seven games.
This year: In fairness, these guys were young last year. They're young this year, but, Capatin Obvious statement of the day, they're a year older. They drafted some help inside with Shelden Williams, who I'm not sold on but he's definitely a defensive improvement and at the very least provides a winning attitude. They signed a point guard who will certainly be an upgrade in Speedy Claxton, but, of course, he'll be out five to six weeks . Even still, there's definitely a reason to be optimistic in A-town.
Player on the rise: Marvelous Marvin, as I've heard Dickey V call him countless times as a collegiate athlete, apparently made people remember who he was this past summer. He didn't have to, but he played on the Hawks summer league roster and destroyed the competition. Now that Harrington's gone, Williams is in prime position to blossom this year.
Player on the decline: Tyronn Lue will go from the worst starting point guard in the league to a mediocre back-up point guard who may lose minutes to Royal Ivey this year.
Justin's Take: This team is headed in the right direction. They're the kind of team that you'd want to start Dynasty Mode with on NBA Live: youth with upside, and a great deal of tradeable commodities that could turn your franchise around. Of course, in Live and in life, it's not a one year job.
Projected Record: 34-48
posted by Justin Cherot @ 1:59 AM
1 Comments:
At 6:58 PM ,
Colin Donohue said...
I rarely saw the quickness from Jeffries. He never showed me much of anything, and quite frankly, his defense didn't do much to help this team. He played about 20 minutes a game. With him gone, they'll have another scorer on the floor. So maybe they'll be like the Suns or your Mavericks of old, a team that can score a ton but can't stop anyone. That was always good for 50 wins, was it not? I mean, you are a Mavs fan, so you've seen it happen.
And to keep this on topic, ummm, the Hawks will be bad. Two scorers, and like you said, no point guard. No depth, either. They'll need Marvin Williams to be a 22 ppg guy just to be competitive.
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