Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks had a great chance tonight to close the gap with the Southeast division leading Orlando Magic. The game was at Philips Arena and the Hawks have been playing very well at home this year. The starters didn’t get off to a good start tonight and Orlando’s starters did. It was beginning to look ugly at Philips tonight until the bench came into the game. Guys like Maurice Evans and Flip Murray started to make things happen with the help of Solomon Jones who got more playing time tonight with Zaza Pachulia out due to illness. I really thought coach Woodson should have let them play longer, but he brung back the starters in the 2nd quarter and when halftime arrived the Hawks were down by 15 points.

When the 3rd quarter began it was the same thing and the starters just couldn’t get nothing done. Josh Smith and Joe Johnson went to the bench early in the 3rd period around the 6 minute mark and once again it was the bench that slowly started to step up for the Hawks.

The start of the 4th quarter was going to be a big mountain to climb for the Hawks and they were down by 16 points now. The bench guys really took off and pulled the team up on the bumper of Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. The lead was down to 4 for the Magic and Mike Bibby blew a breakaway layup and this turned out to be a huge play. After the Hawks bench worked so hard in the 2nd half to make this a game again, it was Woodson taking the bench out again and turned it over to the starters to finish. Our starters weren’t playing well and our bench was and it makes you scratch your head why Mike Woodson didn’t stick with them. He does things like this a lot in Atlanta and he doesn’t understand that some guys struggle on certain nights and some perform really well and the Hawks bench could have won this game in Atlanta tonight.

Orlando won the game 106 to 102 and grew their lead bigger over the 2nd place Hawks in the Southeast division. Dwight Howard had a monster night on the glass with 19 rebounds and added 23 points too. Josh Smith and Marvin Williams were the two bright spots for Atlanta tonight and they combined for 37 points. Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson got more minutes than Smith and Williams and Joe Johnson had 13 points and Bibby managed 17. Murray led the bench guys with 14 points and he didn’t get to finish the game on the floor for the Hawks. Joe Johnson played more minutes than any other Hawk tonight and shot the ball more than anyone else did and there was still 4 guys on the team that scored more points than him. The Hawks really need to cut Joe’s minutes and quit running plays for him at the end of games when we need a bucket. He just doesn’t come through enough for him to be the go-to guy at the end of games.

Atlanta’s bench was named player of the game and they deserved it. Mike Woodson after the game only talked about the team struggling at the free throw line, their lack of effort and how you can’t spot a team 21 points and expect to beat a team like Orlando. Judging by his words, he had given up on the game at the start of the 4th quarter, but the bench guys didn’t and they had a shot to win at the end, but the bench didn’t get the chance to close out the deal. Woodson never gave credit to the bench and he didn’t see the effort they gave tonight and I can imagine there is a lot of guys on that bench that are upset with Woody.

Part 1 of this battle is in the books with Orlando drawing first blood. It will be up to the Hawks now to regroup and go down to Florida on Friday night and win part 2 of this battle. There will be a lot of focus on this game Friday night and they can’t lose two in a row to the Magic. The Hawks only hope for the playoffs is by having home court advantage and the team must do whatever it takes to beat the team from Central Florida.

The Atlanta Hawks are playing well right now and this would make one believe they will have a lower pick in the first round this year. The 2009 NBA Draft is still several months away, but I love that late weekend in June, when we get to see some of our favorite college basketball players and prospects land on NBA teams. I am just now starting to scout out the talent for this year’s draft, but I have a early favorite that I would like to see Atlanta take this year.

Chris Singleton is from Georgia and is currently a freshman at Florida State. He’s been impressive as a freshman for the Seminoles and he would be a great draft pick for the Atlanta Hawks. It’s not clear if Singleton will enter the NBA draft this year, but I have good reason to believe he will. I think by him entering the draft after playing only 1 season in the NCAA will lower his draft day status. He may drop out of the top 10 and land some where in that late first round. I would love to see that happen and for him to fall in the Hawk’s lap this year.

Chris Singleton played 3 years for the Cherokee Warriors high school basketball team in Canton, Georgia. I got a chance to watch him many times as a junior for the Warriors and he’s really impressive. He had a off-season dispute with the head coach of Cherokee’s basketball team and he quit and left for Dunwoody in Georgia, which is south of the Canton area. He continued his assault on other high school players and racked up some major numbers at Dunwoody. The Florida State Seminoles were lucky that he chose them and their 13-2 record shows that right now. Chris can shoot the outside shot and has amazing leaping ability around the basket. He can dunk or rebound with the best of them and he’s a very versatile player. I know the Atlanta Hawks like the versatile players that can play more than 1 position and this is what Chris Singleton can do. I think he would be a great draft selection for the Hawk’s this year and if Singleton does leave for the NBA, the Hawks have to find a way to get him on their team!

Who has a fantasy basketball team? Please let me know who is on your fantasy team this year and where you are at in your league. I am in a Yahoo fantasy basketball league and the top 6 teams make the post season in our league. I am working through injuries right now and trying real hard to get one of those final 6 spots in our fantasy basketball league. I will post more about my team later and let you know what NBA stars make up my fantasy team. I really like fantasy basketball and it’s one of the more enjoyable fantasy sports you can play online these days.

Don’t forget to post your team and feel free to ask any fantasy basketball questions and we can see if I can help your team to win it all this year.

In depends on which poll you look at to determine the rankings in college basketball. I think most people use the AP poll to see the college basketball rankings and this is the way they shake out in the AP:

1. Pittsburgh

2. Duke

3. North Carolina

4. Wake Forrest

5. Connecticut

Now if you look at the USA Today poll you will find the same 5 teams and they are ranked exactly the same. The two polls don’t disagree until you get to the 7th spot on the rankings. The AP poll has Texas ranked as the 7th best team in college basketball; while the USA Today poll shows UCLA as the 7th team. The RPI rankings is a better way to gauge the teams in some cases, but they don’t factor in weak competition too much. This is the way the RPI rankings have the top 5:

1. Pittsburgh

2. Duke

3. Butler

4. Xavier

5. Clemson

Not the teams you would expect to see on a top 5 list in college basketball, but that is the current top 5 rankings from the RPI. College basketball should be fun to watch and it’s a wide open race this year and hard to pick which team will come together and win it all this year. March Madness may get really “mad” this year and I can’t wait for the NCAA Tournament to roll around.

Who do you think is the better NBA player when comparing Kobe Brayant and LeBron James? I think Kobe Bryant is clearly the better player and is the best player in the NBA. No one can match Kobe’s skills when he has the basketball in his hands. He is the best basketball player I have ever seen and this includes comparing him with Michael Jordan. Bryant has the total package and he has no weaknesses in his game. He’s truly an amazing player and I wish he was wearing a Hawk’s uniform.

LeBron James has a lot of growing up to do and he shows off too much after dunks and individual plays he does on the court. He’s not really a team player either and likes to control things too much on the offensive side of the floor. When James learns that he has other teammates on the floor, is probably when his stock will rise as an NBA player. He is blessed with a lot of god-given ability, but chooses to use it in the wrong way. His actions after a slam dunk shows the immaturity that King James has and he needs to learn things and just be quiet about it. LeBron James will never be the player Kobe Bryant is for the Los Angeles Lakers. It should be interesting to see how these two guys finish their careers and see which one wins the most NBA titles.

The NBA’s longest active winning streak has came to an end tonight in New Jersey. The Atlanta Hawks had played a great first half and kept the Nets on 16 points for such a long time in the first half. After Joe Johnson went to the bench in the first half is when the Hawks locked down defensively and it wasn’t until J.J. returned to the line-up that allowed the New Jersey Nets to get off that 16 mark. It seemed like a no-brainer at halftime with the Hawks leading the Nets by 20 points, but coach Mike Woodson and Joe Johnson wouldn’t have it.

The start of the 3rd period begins with Joe Johnson not even moving on the floor. He was just a standing prop that the New Jersey Nets took full advantage of from the offensive point of view. Joe would help out with an airball shot from 18 foot and then locked arms with a player away from the play and allowed the Nets to score a 3 point play. After 2 minutes into the 3rd period Joe Johnson needed to be benched, but that doesn’t happen in Hotlanta. Joe would play 21 of the 24 second half minutes and almost all of the overtime that Johnson didn’t score a point in; although his defense allowed points and he shot a few horrible shots.

Things will be hard to change in Atlanta until they get a coach that isn’t a Joe Johnson fan. The Atlanta Hawks have the best talent in the NBA, but fail to show it on a nightly basis due to the fact that Joe Johnson isn’t an NBA star, but gets star minutes and touches. Joe Johnson has good nights from time to time, but he shows up to play about 1 out of every 6 games and has terrible miscues at the end of games with Woodson giving him the ball everytime. Just not a lot in Atlanta to get excited about until the Hawk’s highest paid player takes his place on the bench like the rest of the players on the team do, when they make mistakes on the floor. Johnson plays 40+ mintues a night regardless of what he’s doing on the court.

After the game, Mike Woodson blamed missed free throws on the loss and never mentioned that Joe Johnson was the reason they lost. It’s funny when you go back to the Hawk’s last loss before New Jersey and lost to the Boston Celtics and that loss was due to Joe Johnson missing a free throw. Woodson is hopefully in his last year with the team and Atlanta needs a coach that isn’t a Joe Johnson fan and treats him like the rest of the players on the team. Too much talent in Atlanta for this team to be losing basketball games, not to mention 20 point leads at halftime.