Aug 06 2009
Turkey Day Magic for Hawks
Football fans have always enjoyed that late Thursday in November when they get to watch a lot of good college and NFL football games on the tube; while sitting down for their turkey dinners. The mood may be a little different this year in Atlanta and the Hawks will get a chance to shine on national TV, as they host Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. This is one of the bright spots on the new NBA schedule that has just been released by the league. As many as 13 games are showing up for the Hawks on the national TV stage this year, if you count TNT, ESPN, and NBA TV. The game on November 26 with the Orlando Magic will be shown by TNT and this is a great opportunity for the Hawks to shine with a national audience that will be tuning in. You can fully expect that the fans in Atlanta will pack Philips Arena on this night.
You don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving Day to see the Hawks on national television. The NBA channel will feature the Hawks playing the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, November the 7th. The following Friday, which will be “Friday the 13th”, will be a game carried by ESPN and the Atlanta Hawks travel to Boston to take on the Celtics. Three games in total are slated for the month of November that will show these young Hawks playing some really tough teams. It may be a tough chore to win all 3 of these games against the Nuggets, Celtics, and Magic, but the Hawks do have to start some where. If they can sweep these 3 games on national TV, we may actually see some air-time on Sportscenter this year.
It will all get started at home this year and on Wednesday night, the Hawks will open up against Solomon Jones and the Indiana Pacers. Yes, if you haven’t heard the news yet, the Pacers did sign Solomon Jones to a 2 year contract. It’s a very interesting move on the Hawks part; since they are currently looking for big men and Solo was a really good bargain for them. Not sure we have witnessed the entire upside to this kid from Florida and Solomon Jones could develop into a very nice NBA player. He should be pumped in the ATL openning night and don’t be surprised if he brings the block party with him.
The Hawks are not treating Mr. Murray too nicely this off-season either and not sure why they wouldn’t want this guy back. The Jamal Crawford trade should have not effected his status and the Hawks are simply replacing bodies here; if they don’t bring Flip Murray back into the fold.
Lots of questions continue to swirl about Josh Smith and his jumper. Why does this guy even need a jumper? Oh right, Coach Mike Woodson wants him patrolling areas that are 18 feet or further from the basket. Josh Smith can jump to the moon and why you have this guy so far from the basket is a huge coaching flaw. He needs to be around the basket for a steady stream of lobs and offensive put-backs he could be giving the team. Josh Smith may just be the most misunderstood superstar in the League today and the blame does fall on Woodson’s lap.
Hawks fans might want to hold off on the excitement for Jeff Teague and despite the reports coming from the Atlanta Hawks official website, he was not the most impressive player in mini camp this year. There was several others that showed more promise than Teague, but he is just going into his junior year of college, when he steps out on the court for the first time in a Hawks uniform. He really could have benefited from some summer league action this year and not likely he will get big minutes for the Hawks anytime soon.
The good news is that the NBA season is just around the corner and October 28th (openning night) will be here before you know it. You can see the entire Hawks NBA Schedule here and see which games jump out at you this year.
