SB Nation - Josh Smith

Orlando Magic News for December 23rd: Jameer Nelson Back in the Starting Lineup; A Quick Look at a Divisional Rival

erivera7 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:00:04 -0000

More photos » by Phelan M. Ebenhack - AP

Jameer Nelson will start at point guard tonight vs. the Houston Rockets
Jameer Nelson will start for the Orlando Magic at point guard against the Houston Rockets tonight.

Stan Van Gundy just completed his post-shootaround media availability at RDV Sportsplex, and the Orlando Magic coach said Jameer Nelson will start tonight against the Houston Rockets. Van Gundy added that he will not be under any medical staff-imposed playing time restrictions for Nelson.

"I’m gonna start him tonight," Van Gundy said. "I can do whatever I want with his minutes, and that’s what I was waiting for. Whenever we got to that point, then I was going to start him. It’s just tough to start a guy when you’re only going to play him limited minutes."
Postgame report: Rockets 108, Clippers 99
Jeffrey Martin of the Houston Chronicle previews this evening's game.

Orlando is entering Game No. 3 in a five-game homestand. The Magic is 21-7, and it's going to be a formidable task for the Rockets to prevail. Houston hasn't won four consecutive games this season yet, so that would be a first. Point guard Jameer Nelson played his first game in more than a month Monday, and he is expected to start against the Rockets. Of course, there's also Dwight Howard to deal with, and don't forget about Vince Carter, who is leading the Magic in scoring at 18.6 points.
Wednesday Morning Shootaround
Benson Taylor of The Baseline writes that the Rockets will have a severe size disadvantage against the Magic.

With Yao Ming out for the season because of his foot injury, the Rockets knew size would be an issue—that’s the case when you’re left to start a 6-6 center (Chuck Hayes) and a 6-9 power forward (Luis Scola). Houston has had a better-than-expected season, but its lack of inside oomph has been a factor at times—such as Lakers big man Andrew Bynum averaging 19.0 points and 14.0 rebounds in two games against the Rockets this season.

With that in mind, Dwight Howard might not even have to break out his Superman cape to dominate when Orlando faces Houston tonight (unless hacking Howard proves to be an effective Kryptonite).
Can the Hawks win a championship?
Austin Burton of Dime Magazine wonders if the Atlanta Hawks can win a championship this year.

Still, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m watching a team that just doesn’t have enough to go all the way. I can’t explain it, but you know how there’s one or two NCAA teams every year that smash the competition throughout the regular season, but you just know in your gut all along they won’t win it all? Last year it was Oklahoma and UConn; in the NBA, it was the Nuggets.

The Hawks (20-7) are that team this year. Blame the coach — Mike Woodson is one of those types who could win Coach of the Year in 2010 and be fired by 2012 — or blame the players, but I just don’t see this group winning a title, despite how well they’re playing right now. In a seven-game series against a Cleveland or Boston or Orlando, we’d be reminded that [Josh] Smith still can’t shoot, that [Mike] Bibby still can’t run, that [Al] Horford still can’t get any taller. And somewhere, some team will take advantage.

Game 29 Preview & Thread: Nuggets vs Hawks (7pm MDT)

Nate Timmons — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:22:41 -0000

The Atlanta Hawks are among the NBA's elite this season and the Nuggets already had one up close and personal look at this team ... and it wasn't pretty. Tonight the well rested Nuggets get a shot at revenge against the Hawks, who are in town after crushing the Timberwolves last night in Minnesota (112-87).

The particulars ...

Records:
Denver: 19-9 (12-1 at home, 7-8 on the road)
Atlanta: 20-7 (12-2 at home, 8-5 on the road)
Injuries:
Denver: Chauncey Billups (left groin) and Johan Petro (left ankle) are both listed as questionable tonight.
Atlanta: Joe Smith (dislocated left thumb) is out.

Opposition's Take: Peachtree Hoops

Back on November 7th the Nuggets lost to the Hawks 125-100. Let's roll out the Polar Express also known as the Excuse Train ... the Nuggets were without injured Kenyon Martin and suspended J.R. Smith and were playing the second game of a back-to-back having played and lost in Miami the night before. Had the Nuggets been at full strength and not played the second of a back-to-back would they have won? Well, we can't even say tonight will prove that because the Hawks are coming in, as noted above, after playing in Minnesota last night.

Atlanta did have an easy time with the T-Wolves, but they didn't really get to rest their rotation guys too much. Al Horford logged 41 minutes, Joe Johnson 34, Marvin Williams 31, Mike Bibby 28, Jamal Crawford 27, Josh Smith 21 and Maurice Evans and Zaza Pachulia played 20 minutes each.

Jamal Crawford continues to look like a great addition to this team as he's averaging 16.5 points off the bench as the Hawks "J.R. Smith" clone (or maybe since Craw is the vet Smith is his clone?). Anyhow, on NBA TV last night they threw out the 20+ points stat for Crawford ... when he scores 20+ points the team is 9-2. So, I wanted to know if shutting him down is the key to beating the Hawks ... well when he scores below his season average of 16.5 points (or in this case 15 points or less) the Hawks are 9-4. Whether Crawford is having a good night offensively or a off night the Hawks still have put up a 18-6 record and that's the great thing about ATL ... their depth.

Who can defenses focus on when playing the Hawks? Pick your poison. Last night the Hawks had 6 players score in double figures and they can basically play to any style. You want to go inside? Horford, Williams and Josh Smith can score inside. You want to play outside? Crawford, Bibby, and Joe Johnson (J.J.) will eat you alive if you leave them open on the perimeter. Do you want to crowd the shooters and force them to drive? J.J. is one of the best guards in the league at getting into the lane and either finishing around the rim or finding a slashing big man for an easy bucket.

Atlanta can also play in transition or the half court and they play defense to boot, allowing just 96.6 points per game while scoring 105.5 points (tops in the East and 4th in the NBA). It should come as no surprise that with their win last night the Hawks tied their franchise mark for the best start through 27 games. Head coach Mike Woodson attributes the success of the team to their core guys playing together for four seasons now and I think he is right. When you get used to playing with the same guys it's just easier ... you know where they need/want the ball on offense and you also can communicate on defense without even having to say anything.

It's no secret that Denver has not been playing well over their last two games. A tough loss in New Orleans on Dec. 18th and a lack of effort loss against the Grizzlies in Memphis on Dec. 20th. The Nuggets have had two full days off to try and cure what ails them and playing at home at the Pepsi Center could be just what the team needs. The Nuggets are 10-5 against Eastern Conference teams this season and a perfect 5-0 at home against the East.

I'm not sure if we'll see Billups tonight as Ty Lawson is penciled to start for the second time this season. Bibby doesn't have great size, but he can play in the post and we've seen guards try to post Lawson up all season so tonight should be no different.

Crawford, Josh Smith and J.J. proved to be problems for the Nuggets in their first matchup as the trio combined to score 69 points against the Nuggets. The Hawks, again with the depth, had seven players score in double figures against Denver on Nov. 7th, including all five starters.

Having Kenyon Martin in the lineup should prove better at slowing down Josh Smith than Renaldo Balkman, Birdman and Joey Graham did in the first matchup. We can continue to say it until we are blue in the face ... the Nuggets must must get after the rebounds tonight. Atlanta doesn't have the biggest guys around, but they are athletic and rebound as a team. I'd like to see Denver improve on the 10 offensive boards they were able to snare against the Hawks in ATL and that is done almost solely on effort (and maybe not so many rushed outside shots in transition).

Who could use a good game?

Obviously Ty Lawson's first career start didn't go as well as he could have hoped, but he is a rookie so I'll let him slide for now. The Nugget who could use a "pick me up" game is Arron Afflalo. After scoring 17 points back on December 3rd against Miami - Double-A has looked like a minor leaguer. Afflalo hasn't scored in double figures over his last nine games and is shooting an unimpressive 32% from three-point land over that same stretch (8-25) including an 0-6 night against the Hornets from deep. All NBA players go through shooting slumps and it'd be nice to see Afflalo break out of his mini-slump tonight.

NBA News:

Just wanted to mention a couple of key notes that have occurred this week.

Joel Przybilla of the Portland Trail Blazers ruptured his right patella tendon and dislocated his patella in Tuesday's (Dec. 22) win over Dallas. He is out indefinitely. Przy is probably going to miss the rest of the season and that's a shame. The Blazers have been hit very hard by injuries this season and I was hoping they'd be the team to push Denver this season to make the Nuggets work to maintain the division title and that's probably not going to happen unless Portland makes a trade for a big man (something the Nuggets need) or can muster up some Houston Rockets type mojo.
The Utah Jazz traded promising rookie point guard Eric Maynor to the Oklahoma City Thunder for basically nothing other than a salary dump of Matt Harpring's expiring contract. Bill Simmons warned that teams would give up quality players if they could save money in this economy and it's looking like he might be right. We might see some interesting deals as the trade deadline approaches.

ntimmons73@yahoo.com
Twitter: Nate_Timmons

Photo courtesy of Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images

Tell it like it is, Mike!

Stop-n-Pop — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:59:37 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

Browse more photos »

There are two thankless jobs in the Wolves' organization. First and most obvious are the poor saps who have to sell tickets, especially the ones to the luxury boxes. We here at Hoopus have no idea how the ticket reps we come in contact with do it. We'd loose our cool by mid-afternoon on our first day...which is probably why we're no longer in sales.

Second, the Wolves' TV crew has to fill roughly 4 hours of airtime per game night. Think about that for a moment. When the Wolves start a game out going down by 10 with only about 5 minutes run off the clock, what are you going to talk about? How are you going to spend several hours describing a team that can be entirely defined by a haiku?

McHale's ghost still here

Out manned? Yes! Sasha Hollins!

Lower bowl upgrade.

You know what I'm talking about.

After watching hours of League Pass, I really have an appreciation for the Wolves' TV crew, commercial free halftimes, post-game tutorials, and the hours and hours and hours of material that J-Pete and Hanny come up with to describe the team we are starting to run out of ideas about with the written word. "They're not talented enough," "they have future assets," and "Kevin Love is really good" can only take a guy so far.

Anywho, my favorite TV moment of the year happened during the first half of last night's game. The TV crew is constantly trying to make a sometimes unwatchable product entertaining and to assure fans that at some point somewhere down the road, all of this...well, crap...will pay off for the long term benefit of the team. Like it or not, that's part of their job.

This little fact often leads them down the road of getting players and/or coaches from the other team to draw comparisons from their squad's questionable past to their current success. This angle is ridden hard when teams like Portland and Atlanta come to town.

Last night the Wolves' new sideline reporter (and Telly-slayer) Robby Incmikoski asked Atlanta coach Mike Woodson to wax poetic about the parallels he sees between this year's Wolves and a past version of his currently upper-level Eastern Conference Hawks. The answer went a little something like this: "I suppose they do remind me of what we were going through 6 years ago."

At this point several thoughts rushed through my head. First, I felt bad for Robby. That answer must have been the sideline reporting equivalent of getting shot in the face by Dick Cheney. He was clearly going for something inspirational and he ended up getting pointed to the second thought in my head: Mike Woodson just compared the 2009/10 Wolves to the 13-win Atlanta Hawk squad that was probably the worst team of the decade.

My third thought was "Who on god's green earth was on that putrid team and how on earth would any of them remind Coach Woodson of the Wolves?" This question is the fan equivalent of getting shot in the face by Dick Cheney. The 04/05 Hawks were led by Al Harrington and Antoine Walker. They had young wings Josh Childress and Josh Smith, as well as a young Boris Diaw. They also had Kenny Anderson, Tom Gugliotta, Jon Berry, and Kevin Willis. This is the team that reminds Mike Woodson of the 09/10 Wolves? Ouch.

OK, it's time to think a few happy thoughts before I get to the big downer.

Kevin Love is a fantastic basketball player. Last night he finished with 19 rebounds (8 offensive) and 15 points on .500 shooting. He carried an absurd 26.9 oReb rate for the game. He had a team-high 1.02 points contributed per possession used (the next closest teammate was Al Jefferson with 0.85). He filled in the action outside of the box scores with wonderful outlet passing, solid screens, as good of help defense as he could muster alongside Al Jefferson, and a few of his patented 1-on-4 impossible tips to teammates.

The best Love highlight of the night brings up an interesting question about the diminishing returns of defensive rebounding. Namely, is a defensive rebound in the hands of Kevin Love worth more than a defensive rebound in the hands of Al Jefferson or Ryan Hollins? The play in question was started with an Atlanta jump shot that was corralled by Love. The second the shot went off Corey Brewer started to drift towards half court. When he saw that Love had the rebound, he turned on the jets. Love pivoted and delivered a strike to an in-stride Ramon Sessions who took a few dribbles and delivered a perfect bounce pass to the cutting Brewer for a two hand dunk. If Ryan Hollins or Al Jefferson get that defensive rebound, what do you think are the chances for a Brewer dunk? How do you measure the impact of something like this? Are Love rebounds worth more than Jefferson rebounds?

Kevin Love is off to a tremendous start this season. He has extended his range, improved his rebounding, increased his assist and steal rates, lowered his defensive rating, and increased his offensive one. He's the best player on this team by a country mile.

Season	Age	Tm	Lg	G	MP	PER	TS%	eFG%	ORB%	DRB%	TRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%	ORtg	DRtg	OWS	DWS	WS
2008-09	20	MIN	NBA	81	2048	18.3	.538	.461	15.1	27.3	21.0	6.8	0.9	1.9	12.4	21.0	112	109	3.4	1.9	5.3
2009-10	21	MIN	NBA	11	341	23.4	.584	.530	16.1	30.0	22.9	11.6	1.8	1.1	11.6	19.7	121	105	1.0	0.4	1.4
Career			NBA	92	2389	19.1	.544	.471	15.2	27.7	21.3	7.5	1.0	1.8	12.3	20.8	114	108	4.4	2.3	6.7

Before we get around to what Love's improvement means for another very specific player on the team, let's take a moment or two to sing the praises of Corey Brewer.

At the end of the day it will be noted that Joe Johnson had 21 points on 9-18 shooting. It should be put into the record that Brewer made him work for each and every single one of those points while keeping him out of the paint and away from the line. Brewer fought through a maze of screens all night long and he showed an amazing ability to keep the smooth-scoring Johnson somewhat off-balance (as off-balance as you can get with 20+ points) with an array of long arms, oddly-timed jump-outs, and pure grit. Brewer is actually fun to watch on defense. He really thinks about it and his effort and thought is obvious. For instance, watch how he closes out on jump shooters. He tries to use his quickness to make the aforementioned oddly-timed jump out so as to distract the shooter as much as possible. It's distracting on the shot and it allows him to stay in better position to cut off drives to the hoop. He's also one of the best players I've seen in terms of being able to cut off a pass to the wing. 6'9" guys have no business being as quick as he is and he really uses that to his advantage with man-to-man defense. Now, if only he could turn into a solid weak side defender. My guess for this aspect of his game is that his man-to-man instincts kick in far too much when the ball is on the opposite side of the court and he sags away from his man far too much with the idea that he needs to help his awful defending interior teammates (cough...Al Jefferson...cough). He gets burned for a corner three on an almost nightly basis and last night's game was no exception.

One more thing about Brewer: He is turning into something of a showman in the open court. Between the Derek Fisher poster dunk and last night's 2-handed transition slam, Brewer is taking the ball to the rim HARD and it has led to some of the only non-Love entertaining moments in several recent games.

OK, now that we have the good stuff out of the way, let's get around to the elephant in the room: Al Jefferson.

Here is a comment that was dropped in last night's game thread:

i hate that

people remember how good jonny flynn was with good teammates but nobody wants to believe that al jeff could be great with some solid shooting teammates…

by NuthinBurger on Dec 22, 2009 10:59 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I don't single out this comment because I think it's invalid; rather, it made me think about what Jefferson really brings to the club, especially in light of having the night kicked off with comparisons to the 13-win 04 Hawks squad.

The comment has an interesting point but it also begs a question going in the opposite direction: What else does Al Jefferson bring to the table that could be combined with solid shooting (and good) teammates? On a night when Big Al didn't have it going offensively, and on a night where the Wolves were getting torched in the paint early on, what does Jefferson bring to the table? My big Big Al memories of the night were a) watching him try and fight Kevin Love for defensive rebounds that were in no danger of going to an Atlanta player, b) getting a text from someone at the game saying he got into a tussle with Rambis in the 2nd half, and c) hearing a teammate yell "AL!" at him in a futile attempt to get the big fella to turn around and stop a Hawk with a clear path to the bucket.

Knee injury or no knee injury, what exactly will Jefferson bring to the table besides upper-level interior scoring? Let's say that the Wolves do get a solid supporting cast. Is he good enough beyond the low right block to be a functional defender? Can he facilitate the action out of the high post or on a pinch post screen? I don't disagree with the commenter that Jefferson will be an even better interior scorer if he were surrounded by better shooters, but what about the rest of his game?

Last night's tilt was the first time I really completely believed that he'll get moved at some point during the next 2 years. Last night's tilt was the fist time I really thought that there is no way this guy will ever "get it" beyond the low right block. This is in no way suggesting that he is not of value or that he is not a tremendous player. What he is is a flawed player who is being paid to be a building block. You can't build around a guy that is not a two way player. That should be a basic basketball principle. Knee injury or no knee injury, Al Jefferson is not a two way player. He's a scorer. He's the last person on earth you want to have as the lynch pin in a motion-based offense that is supposed to thrive on ball movement. He's the last person on earth you want to partner with in an undersized defensive front court.

I'm not at the point where I'll opine for a Shaddy/Foye-esque death match between Jefferson and Love but I am at the point where I no longer believe it can work and that one of them will go. I think it's obvious who I would side with if ever such a contest came down the pike, but I no longer see a good way of making this happen. Not with the coaching changes and the amount of assets they've sunk into the point guard position. It's gotten to the point where I mutter an "oh crap" when Al comes in the game for Love. This team is transitioning to a perimeter-based system and they will throw some money at someone like Rudy Gay and/or Joe Johnson while drafting another wing. Al Jefferson is the last Minnesota dinosaur at this point and he doesn't have much longer until the asteroid hits.

Let's wrap this up with a few bullet points:

It is really frustrating to watch Wayne Ellington miss open shots. I know that he is dealing with the new role of being a bench player but he was never a high usage guy at UNC and I was hoping that his ability to hit open shots would transfer well to the NBA.
The Hawks had 28 shots in the 1st quarter. That's insane. To give you an idea of just how insane that is, the Milwaukee Bucks lead the league with 87.2 FGA/game. At the half, the Hawks were on pace to have 122 FGAs in the game. Thankfully, they took their foot off the gas in the 2nd half. I wish I had the numbers for 2nd chance points. The Hawks were getting trips down the court with 3-4 shots/possession. It wasn't all just offensive rebounding. The Wolves were making ridiculous errors that gave the Hawks the ball right back after a missed shot.
Ryan Hollins developed a new way to lose hold of a ball during last night's game. He was going up for a layup when the rock suddenly shot out of his hands.
Lost in the shuffle last night was the fact that the Wolves took 11 more free throws than the Hawks...and that they missed all 11 of them. Ish.

Well, that about does it for now.

Until later.

lost this game at the line...and crawford can hit from the wing

Chicago Bulls 101, Atlanta Hawks 98 or Joe Johnson tries his hat at 06-07 Kobe Bryant

hawksdawgs — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:58:44 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

5 days ago: Chicago Bulls' Joakim Noah, left, and James Johnson (16) try to stop the Atlanta Hawks' Joe Johnson (2) from scoring during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Dec. 19, 2009, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

Browse more photos »

boxscore

recap

Oddly enough, Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson were the difference in this game. That and four horrible jump shots by Josh Smith.

Now I understand the desire to go crazy over the Joe Johnson show. There was way too much Joe Johnson. Especially when Al Horford was having a perfectly fine game and Joakim Noah had five fouls for what felt like the last 20 minutes of the game. I get that feeling. The Hawks probably could have used some more ball movement and diversity. And despite what Nique says, a fade away two point jump shot with a hand at your chin is not a good shot. I understand all this.

But with all that said, Joe really did have the advantage. Outside a few forced shots (and you are going to have a few when you shoot 32 of them), Joe could have made near every one of those looks. That last missed layup was so good my buddy and I were talking about how he went too soon in the game clock. Joe got his looks. He passed to open shooters. But Bibby missed open shots, Marvin missed open shots. And Josh took open shots.

On the other side of the ball, the Bulls did what we wanted them to do, only they succeeded. Rose, Taj, and Kirk hit jump shot after jump shot. Hats off to them. They deserved to win.

On a night when our defense forced them into jump shots, they hit them. VDN played one on one defense knowing Joe could get his shot and banking on the fact that he would not always hit it. Del Negro was right. And without any real help for Joe, every possession mattered for the Hawks and we wasted too many.

A lot of what ifs were left on the table, but I am going to answer the ones with blame toward the guys that did not score 40 points on 50% shooting.

The Hawks won't win them all. And that includes the ones they should. But anger tonight. Perspective tomorrow. Go Hawks!

Atlanta Hawks 96, Utah Jazz 83 or Josh Smith does not care who wins awards since he is earning them.

hawksdawgs — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:34:04 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

Trust me, Deron did not complete this pass.

Browse more photos »

boxscore

recap

I hope you watched this game because there is no way I can describe how well Josh Smith played. He took charges, poked steals, skied for rebounds, block shots, and dunked. And that was on consecutive possessions. You can't expect Josh to get as lucky as he did tonight. The ball certainly bounced right. Still, games like this make it clear how far he has come. The man can take over games. Shoot, he can turn the tide with one shot and defense.

And I don't mean to beat a dead horse that has been dead since the mid way through the third, but I can't remember a player performing that well against a good team in a long time. Josh Smith was that good.

Woody allowed himself to smile. I sear I saw it.

On the other side of things, the Jazz missed a lot of open shots when the game mattered. A couple of those fall and the halftime score could easily have been tied. But if you think those turnovers were all careless or mental, you were not watching the game. The Jazz had no where to throw the ball inside. So you can blame them for trying but you have to give the Hawks credit for not allowing it to be a possibility. Every shot inside was altered. Every switch was with gusto. Shoot, Mike Bibby was running around like a mad man. This team was ready tonight, and for nine minutes in the third quarter, they were down right possessed.

Only Josh Smith can re-underrate Joe Johnson

Joe Johnson is so good when he does not press. If he played 32 minutes tonight, he probably has a triple double. And if you see your star battling for offensive rebounds in the first quarter and getting them, it may not be as shockingly inspiring as Josh Smith, but the team feeds off that. If your go to guy is at full effort and dishing out assists, expect good Hawks....and the Hawks were really good tonight.

Victory Bullets

That is the kind of game we want from Marvin Williams.
All Al Horford does is make buckets.
Best 6-17 game for Jamal Crawford ever.
Joe Johnson's defense on Deron Williams was incredible. Which means he has shut down Rudy Gay and Williams in consecutive games.
The third quarter onslaught was probably most impressive in how the Hawks just never let up. They wanted to bury the Jazz, and they did so with such gusto, it was almost uncomfortable. A true dismantling.
If you dvr'd the hawks game. fast forward to about 4:50 to go in the fourth.
Randolph Morris is not afraid to cause a charge.
Dear league, the Hawks are good. Merry Christmas, Us.

Go Hawks!

Recap: Utah Jazz @ Atlanta Hawks -- The Least Interesting Game In The World

Shums — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:21:58 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

Deron Williams does his Louis Armstrong impression. Actually, that would've been a lot more entertaining than this game.

Browse more photos »

So I’m sitting on my couch and someone knocks at the door. Not the main door to my apartment. The door that leads out to my front deck. The front deck that is situated about fifteen feet above the ground floor. HOW DID SOMEONE GET TO MY FRONT DECK AND KNOCK ON MY DOOR.

… then I realized that the deck connects to the other side of my duplex. Turns out this dude came over to visit my roommate but entered the wrong side of the house, thus showing up on my front deck.

This incredibly boring story is brought to you purely to underscore how UTTERLY AWFUL this game was. By comparison, that story was friggin' Shakespeare.

Seriously, there was nothing to see here after about the first quarter. The Jazz opened the game poorly, with bad spacing, lazy ball movement, careless passes (Boozer had three turnovers in the first quarter alone) and settling for long jumpers -- again. While the Hawks started hot and quickly cooled off, the four-point lead at the end of the first would be all they needed.

From then on, it was a comedy of errors on the part of the boys in blue, culminating in a dismal 37-17 third quarter that had the Hawks up by 30 points. Josh Smith led the way with a Kirilenko-esque* stat line of 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks.

*By "Kirilenko-esque" I am here referring to the times when Kirilenko was, you know, a good basketball player.

One night after appearing on national television and hearing Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley call him the best point guard in the NBA. Deron Williams put up this line: 2 points on 1-8 shooting, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and a +/- rating of -36 in 21 minutes. If he's ever had a worse game as a professional, I can't remember it.

The fourth quarter was probably the most entertaining part of the game for Jazz fans, as a lineup of Eric Maynor, Wesley Matthews, Ronnie Price, Andrei Kirilenko and Kyrylo Fesenko looked like the only players with "Utah" on their chests who gave a crap.

Of course, by then, the conversation in the Game Thread had turned away from the basketball game and onto such thrilling topics as "Peanuts: Not Actually Nuts At All" and "I Have Too Many Vowels On My Scrabble Rack."

Honestly, there may be other insights to glean from this game, but I don't have the energy to try right now. I'm serious. I had observations in the first half. At least I think I did. I mean, there they are in the Game Thread, with my name beneath them and everything, but the rest of the game was so boringly depressingly terrible that I think it deprived me of my ability to remember things I actually said.

The good news: we can bounce back tomorrow night in Charlotte. In the words of Wesley: You have until midnight. Then it's time to get over it and move on.

Peachtree Hoops

NBA Eastern Conference: Taking Stock

tenaciousT — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:04:32 -0000

NBA –arama

After making my preseason predictions, I said I'd check how things were going from time to time. It's time. Let's take a look around the east, see what’s going on, and fess up to a few big misses. A number of predictions are on target...so far. Preseason predictions are in parentheses followed by current record

Atlantic Division

Boston Celtics (63-19) - 20-4
Thought they were going gently into their assisted living facilities, eh? Tut tut, my skeptical friends. The ‘assisted living’ comes courtesy of one Rajon Rondo, point guard extraordinaire. Rondo plays one gear higher than the rest of his starting unit.

11 game win streak says they are rounding into shape after starting strong, stumbling, then slowly righting the ship. The only major surprise was/is the lack of 48 minute intensity, and rebounding woes. They still look like one of the best teams in the NBA to challenge the Lakers. Back with a vengeance? They are back. Vengeance comes later.

Toronto (35-47) - 11-17
International crisis or communication breakdown?
Some expected more, but they are about where I expected and for the same reason – defense. Bargnani is part of the dilemma. He is a skilled big, but not an interior presence. With a domestic vs. international player rift surfacing recently, the Raps played their best defensive game of the season afterwards. Hedo’s not fitting in like they hoped…yet.

Jose Calderon has disappointed so far in what was supposed to be his big year. The rebuilt roster should be better later in the season, but aren’t built for prolonged defense. They are giving up 103.5 over their last 5 games, which 5 points better than before.

New York (31-51) - 8-16
After a 3-14 start, the ‘D’Antonies’ are 5-2 in their last 7 games. Another team without interior defense. They looked under every rock for a bona fide PG but the right one – the draft. Biggest current embarrassment is choosing Jordan Hill over Brandon Jennings in the draft. This was going to be a learning year anyway, right? Ty Lawson, Darren Collison, Eric Maynor, Jeff Teague were also still out there. Any of those better than Chris Duhon? Maybe some are already.

D’Antoni, frankly, has disappointed as well. I’ll confess, I thought Darko Milicic was a good risk for a team starved for bigs that block shots and play defense. Go figure. Jordan Hill may end up being a good player some day, too. Winning started by benching Nate Robinson. Coincidence? Sharp shooter Gallinari continues to impress, adds some board work.

76ers (41-41) – 6-19
Okay, this is one that’s not going as I thought it would. Oye.
Injuries are only part of the problem. Is Brand a lesser player now? Or is he just on the wrong team? Maybe it’s all bad karma for Elton leaving a good situation in Clipperland. (Yes, I did just say that.) Louis Williams (injured), Marreese Speights, and Thaddeus Young give hope for the future. It’s so bad that Iverson is back. Yeah, I know.

New Jersey (26-56) – 2-24
Say no more. Accident on the Jersey Turnpike. Tie up for miles, but not for years. No, they are not this bad. Bad luck continues with Yi Jianlian getting 50 stitches (yes 50) in his mouth courtesy of a Sean Williams elbow in a recent practice. The sooner this team can exit the swamp the better. Still, Brook Lopez will become an even better player if this season doesn’t kill him first. Devin Harris, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts are all good young talent.

Central Division

Cleveland (58-24) – 19-7
They are much better after starting 0-2 and 3-3. Not dominating like last season, but still a force. Shaq shooting a career low 49%, though they are now winning with him. Most lopsided team scoring distribution I have ever seen for a top team. Only three players in double digits and one of them is Shaq at 10.8 per.

Second best FG% defense and 4th best points allowed means they are still dangerous and in the hunt. Though Shaq is mostly a sideways or backwards move, if they get to the finals he helps against Lakers’ frontline. Shaq can’t slow down an already very slow team…can he? I feared this team more last year. Stop LeBron and you stop the Cavs. Am I wrong?

Stat of note: Cavs lead league in points in paint defense (34.1)

Milwaukee (35-47) – 11-12
Early season surprise coming back to earth lately. Many thought I had them too high. But Skiles always seems to get players to overachieve for a few years, until his tough guy ways get tired. Brandon Jennings makes a big splash with 55 point game but is tailing off since then. Still, he is the real deal and will figure things out.

Bucks are first in shot attempts and dead last in free throw attempts, which pretty much goes hand in hand. No one on this team gets to the line, except Jennings and Hakim Warrick.

Side Note: Toronto is known as the international team. But even they can’t compete with Milwaukee. Current starters are from 5 different countries: Turkey, Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, and U.S. Positively cosmopolitan for a city Shlitz beer made famous.

Detroit (36-46) - 11-14
I guess they are a bit better than I thought. Will this last? Even with key players injured, they put together a recent 5 game winning streak. They are still working a new system with a new coach. Loss of Tayshaun Prince hurts, Gordon is playing hurt, and Rip Hamilton is still in and out.

Still, the biggest surprise is the renaissance of "I’m retiring" Ben Wallace. Back up to 30 minutes and 10 rebounds a game, he can still defend, too. Detroit is 2nd best in points in paint defense. Can he do it all year and where is his help?

Pistons have the 3rd best total rebounding and 3rd best offensive rebounding differential in the league. Rodney Stuckey’s career year (19.3 pts) is offset by lower shooting %. He should stop taking three pointers altogether (21.4%)

Indiana (30-52) – 9-14
Danny Granger’s team is without Danny Granger for a while. With mediocre stats everywhere, just what do they do better than most NBA teams? Foul. They are 3rd in league with 2.2 foul differential.

Mike Dunleavy returns to a system that uses him to his best advantage and not a minute too soon. If the Pacers win 36 games, and that’s possible, that means O’Brien would have coached three straight 36-46 records here. Hey I have to find something interesting, don’t I? T.J. Ford is underwhelming again.

How are they doing attracting more fans? The past three years they went from 30th to 28th to 27th this season in attendance. They are a team with more integrity, but a few more wins wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Chicago (41-41) - 8-15 No one expected this meltdown. The loss of Ben Gordon’s 4th quarter points, Tyrus Thomas’ injury, Kirk Hinrich playing hurt, John Salmons’ underachieving season are all contributors, but all are secondary to Derrick Rose’s lack of noticeable improvement.

The chant for Vinny Del Negro’s head grows louder and I’m not against it. But I’d ask…who hired a rookie head coach for this team in the first place? That is where the blame should lie. Del Negro did reasonably well last season, but the wheels are falling off the wagon now.

Deng is playing well and Joakim Noah is continuing his rise up the food chain, but it’s nowhere near enough. I am fast becoming a Joakim Noah fan. Plays with passion, toughness, and heart.

Southeast Division

Orlando (60-22) -19-6
Fools go where wise men fear to tread – the paint against the Magic. They are crazy deep and probably Boston’s biggest problem in the East. Jameer Nelson returns soon and that’s not good news for opponents. Right now they are better offensively (5th rated) but worse defensively (9th rated) than last season, while giving up 2.2 more points.

This is a great situation for Vince Carter, who is playing 5 minutes less, but leads the team in scoring (19), while still hoisting up 17 shots per and will be a solid 4th quarter option for the Magic.

D. Howard is getting one less block a game, but shooting a career high in FG% (63.4%) While they probably over paid a bit for Mickael Pietrus ($5.3 mil), he continues to be a valuable piece to this team. Ryan Andersen has quietly been a nice addition. Marcin Gortat – the unhappy multi-millionaire.

Atlanta (48-34) - 18-6
This team is playing even better than I thought….and I thought this would be a good team. Woodson said the next thing is to learn how to win on the road. The Hawks are 7-4 so far this season and that is a huge step forward. Three of those road wins were against very tough home teams - Dallas, Boston and Portland.

For a team that could lose their leader (Joe Johnson) and their coach next season, they are moving from pretender to contender. Their youthful exuberance could make up for whatever they are missing. Al Horford and Josh Smith are unique young players and Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson provide the veteran leadership. They are pasting the lesser teams and are 3rd in the league in average winning margin at +8.4 points. Just behind the Celtics and Lakers. Hmm…

Miami (38-44) – 12-11
Dwayne Wade is to this team what LeBron is to the Cavs. Probably more so. Jermaine O’Neal is actually playing pretty well, but is a shell of his earlier self. We knew going in that the Heat go as Wade goes. Michael Beasley is improving and Haslem is solid.

They stretched the Lakers to a (lucky) Kobe Bryant banked buzzer beating 3 pointer over Wade’s outstretched hand. That probably defines their season as well as anything. With $50 million coming off the books in 2010, this team (hopefully) gets a complete rebuild. With a player option for $17 million, whether Wade stays or not remains to be seen.

Charlotte (33-49) - 10-14
Solid defensive team (2nd in points allowed) that has trouble scoring (27th). Deliberate offense (pace: 28th in NBA) helps keep opponents’ numbers down. 5-5 over the last ten, they added controversial, but multi-talented Stephen Jackson. It gives the team a focal point (and… gulp…leader) Larry Brown has great experience handling prima donna players and Raymond Felton is playing better since Jackson’s arrival.

Gerald Wallace, the last original Bobcat, was plucked from deep on Sacramento’s bench. Time to test him for HRH (Human Rebound Hormone). He has gone crazy boarding, up from 7.8 last season to 12.2 this year. I’d like to know the last time an established player made that kind of jump. He continues to ply his game for a team going nowhere.

Talented DJ Augustine has perplexingly gone backwards this season. Tyson Chandler, who could have been an earlier version of Joakim Noah, is showing how much Chris Paul helped his game.

But we forget just how bad this team was before Larry Brown arrived.

Washington (41-41) - 7-16
In preseason I wrote…. "everyone’s favorite ‘move up’ team." What I didn’t write was that it would take some doing to keep all these scorers happy with shots and minutes. Unfortunately, that appears to be the case. And things aren’t getting better. They are on a 6 game losing streak as I write this.

I never saw a happier, more hopeful team in the losers’ locker room than the one that ended its season against the Celtics last year. They all knew a much better year was coming. They had their version of a big three returning. But ubuntu doesn’t live here. Tragic because there is a lot of talent here. Flip Saunders has to sort this out, but I’m not sure where he starts.

I’ll end by (again) making my pitch for an unsung role player buried on the Wizards bench. Dominic McGuire would make a great (and cheap) Celtic.

There you have it. I apparently thought way too much of the Sixers. Comments welcome on all teams.

Is Al Horford playing out of position or just creating a new one?

hawksdawgs — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:21:05 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

Browse more photos »

As soon as Al Horford came into the league, he was labeled an "undersized center" or a "power forward playing out of position." For people in the Hawks know, it was no big deal. We understood Josh Smith could not guard athletic threes or shoot well enough from the outside to play the small forward position. We knew Zaza made for a perfect backup center and a horribly annoying starting one. Horford had to play center. On the Hawks team, Al was a center. Debating whether he should or not have been in an ideal world was to have a conversation about the impossible.

And while the "what ifs" sprang up from time to time, Al has been able to spend the first two plus years of his NBA career adjusting to playing against bigger guys without the pressure of expectations of domination. After all, Horford was out of position. Could you really expect 20 and 10 by his second year? But Al did not bide his time under this protection. He has learned how to fight for position, box out, and use his athleticism to block shots and beat players to their spots.

Through Horford's first two years, he unceremoniously did the little things to make up for his strategic disadvantage. Woody forced Al to tread water and Al was damn good at it. He consistently put up average numbers at an incredibly efficient pace rate. It felt like a win for the Hawks. Efficient survival is all we asked for.

This year is different though. Al is a different player, a more skilled player, a more comfortable player. I look at the schedule, game after game, and there are only two teams that have a clear cut advantage at the center position, Orlando and Los Angeles. Yet those guys are not "regular" centers. If you hold out for an Andrew Bynum or Dwight Howard, you are holding out for a Magic Johnson. They are players that have a unique combination of size and athleticism. They are not redefining the position, but they certainly do not define the norm. And even with that, six years ago people questioned whether Dwight was a center or power forward (don't get me started on the Tim Duncan thing). For years, centers were Shaqs. Maybe not as good as Shaq (ok, definitely not as good as Shaq), but they were 7 footers pushing toward 300 lbs.

Today, outside of the two names mentioned, Al Horford can dominate anyone by that description. The Roy Hibberts of the world do not scare the Hawks. Do people hope to see future Erick Dampier's and Chris Kaman's in their young players? No. They want guys that will fight for boards and get other bigs in foul trouble but still be athletic enough to play the pick and roll. This league is becoming increasingly a team defense league. You don't need one guy to shut down Dwight Howard. It is impossible for one guy to shut down Howard anyway. Just because Al can't do it, does not make him a center.

Right now, Horford has a PER above 20. He leads the team in win shares, shoots 57% from the field, actually makes his free throws, can shut down Greg Oden's and switch onto point guards. Shoot, he can lead fast breaks like a point guard. If Horford's usage was not below most almost every starter (and even his own backup) in the league, who knows what his offensive stats would be. These days Horford is more than survival, he is a borderline all-star. And as some centers increasingly are moving outside the paint (Andrea Bargnani and Mehmet Okur) having an undersized guy who will battle inside but can guard outside might be the best of both worlds. So with apologies to Mr. Howard, what does the future of the center position look like in the NBA? It might just be the power forward with a seven footers mentality.

Congratulations Utah!!!

Stop-n-Pop — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:46:03 -0000

You are now responsible for 1/2 of the Wolves' victories. Well done. A zombie dance for you.

Game wrap in a bit.

UPDATE: Game wrap below the fold.

The Jazz are an interesting team. On one hand, they have some thoroughly non-enjoyable/unlikable talent. Carlos Boozer is a Dookie in preparation for leaving a 2nd team in his wake, Kyle Korver is a silly Iowegan, and Jerry Sloan will continue to coach as if the league were still in the midst of a coked-out pre-80s haze. On the other hand, they have the player I consider to be the best and most entertaining point guard in the game: Deron Williams. As much as I cannot stand to watch a backstabbing Dookie, Coach Cleaver, and the most annoying fellow Creighton Jayhawk in the world, there is no player I enjoy watching more when he is "on" than the former Illini point.

A couple of games ago the Wolves' TV crew ran a poll about who they thought was the best point guard in the game. I can't remember who they ended up picking, but for my money's worth, if I'm putting together a squad to win it all, here are my top 3 picks at the point: Williams, Rajon Rondo, and Tony Parker. Williams, to me, is the greatest surgeon in the game. He's not as flashy as Chris Paul or Steve Nash but he's physically dominant for his position with a balanced game that picks apart his opponent with precision and consistency. From the line, from mid-range, from beyond the arc, in transition, in 1/2 court...the guy does it all. He was playing out of the post of several key possessions in the 4th quarter and it baffles me that Sloan didn't ride that horse hard. Plus, when the game is on the line and time is running off the clock in a must-win playoff game, he can get his shot off in traffic, which is an amazingly important trait that some possess while others do not. Sorry CP3, I want D-Will for that possession.

Anywho, the first thing that should be pointed out about last night's tilt was that Williams was the best player on the court and it wasn't even close. He shot the lights out from the floor, got to the line a ton, dished out 13 assists, and...well, (robot voice on) Jerry Sloan is a fantastic coach and he knows exactly how to use Mr. Williams (robot voice off).

OK, now that we've talked about Utah's point guard, let's take a few minutes to gab about Jonny Flynn. Flynn undoubtedly shows flashes of brilliance. His quickness is world class and while he still needs to learn a thing or two about running a pro offense, his court vision is top shelf. His outside shot is surprisingly serviceable and should he ever develop an ability to dish off of the drive, he'll be damn near unguardable. That being said, the flashes of brilliance are accompanied by stretches of outright boobery. The CP3 inbounds boner in the NOLA game stands out over anything else but he is also guilty of overdribbling, going too much to his right, and inexcusably holding the ball when it is rotated his way on a nightly basis. Adding to our T-Wolves dictionary (first addition: Brewsist) is the Jonny Stop: The way in which a freely moving ball is stopped by an ultra-quick lead guard who uses the opportunity to survey the court and negate his greatest strength, his speed.

Watching Flynn play the point you can practically see his High School/AAU/Syracuse coaching play out in a motion picture thought bubble above his head. This kid has been the dominant lead guard for so long, and he has played for so long against such relatively inferior competition, that his first instinct in close games and/or highly leveraged situations is to do what he has always done: Be the be-all/end-all of ball movement and end the damn possession for his team. At Niagra Falls High, NY AAU, and Syracuse, his speed alone was enough to get the job done. No need for setting up teammates. No need for creating angles. No need for worrying about the shot clock. When the heat was on, it was Jonny, the ball, and his defender. This kind of nonsense will not fly in the NBA for a player like Flynn. He's not that quick. Maybe it will have its time and place in a few years when he gets the benefit of the whistle and learns how to better incorporate his teammates, but not now. While Flynn ended the contest with a career high in points while shooting the lights out from beyond the arc, he stunted several key possessions with the Jonny Stop. Also, while I'm very, very happy that he made the game winning shot, I think I suffered a Randy Foye flashback with the kamikaze drive down the right side of the lane. At least he didn't try and bank it off the shot clock.

Let's wrap this up with some bullet points.

Should the Wolves have lost, Kevin Love and Damien Wilkins would have been my choices for goats of the game. There is no dumber shot in all of basketballdom than the foot-on-the-line 3. There is no excuse for it. It has all the risk of a 3 pointer with none of the reward. Dumb, dumb, dumb, and more dumb. Love and Wilkins both made toe-on-the-line 2 pointers.
While Flynn took some heat earlier this season for an ill-conceived behind-the-back pass attempt, he and Love ran the behind-the-back pick-and-roll twice in the last two minutes of the game and it netted them two wide open three point attempts. It's really not a flashy play and it has the potential to be a nice addition to the offense. I want to see a lot more of the middle pick and roll with Love and Flynn.
The star of the game has to go to Corey Brewer. There were a few points in the game where Brewer reverted to the holy-crap-he's-everywhere kind of player that we got kind of excited about a few weeks ago. He was dunking, sticking shots, rebounding, and holding people up on defense all night long. It really is amazing how different this team looks with competent wing play. Imagine if they had some outside shooting to go along with the competent wing play. Paging Rudy Gay.
If the flash went to Flynn and the star went to Brewer, the workhorse award goes to Big Al Jefferson. The guy is really starting to return to form and he played the role of the bruising running back, grinding out short yardage situation after short yardage situation in order to keep drives alive and his team in the game. This site has been home to a long standing debate over the relative worth of Jefferson and Kevin Love for about 2 years now and my current thoughts on the duo are this: The problem with the Wolves is not Al Jefferson and Kevin Love. Neither has the advantage of playing with a consistently competent wing player or an outside shooter worth his salt. Neither has the advantage of playing with a group of properly-sized perimeter players. There is nothing wrong with having 1 or 2 undersized players in your rotation provided that you surround them with athleticism and length. Al and Love have complimentary skills and they are obscenely skilled on the offensive end of the court. My take on the pairing is that they are still in need of a Joakim Noah/Jason Thompson 3rd wheel and a pair of athletic slashers on the wing. I have been saying this since before Love came aboard. In the front court I want the aforementioned Noah/Thompson type and on the wing I have opined for, in order, Josh Smith, Trevor Ariza, and Rudy Gay. This team can put it together with some competent wing play and for either Flynn or Ricky Rubio to work out at the point...or for John Wall to land at the doorstep of 600 First Avenue. Wings, an athletic backup big, and hashing out the point guard situation, these are the things that need to be worried about before talking about whether or not Love and Jefferson can play together. Rudy Gay, Rudy Gay, Rudy Gay. Please, get 'r done. It has been obvious for over 2 years.

OK, that does it for tonight's wrap. We'll have a very cool announcement on the site tomorrow and then I'll follow that up with a post on the Lynx's choice in the supplemental draft, Rebekkah Brunson.

PS: If you really want to know why the Wolves won, it was because they collected a very large number of their misses:

	Pace	Eff	eFG	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Minnesota	98.0	112.2	52.4%	27.7	32.6	15.3
Utah		110.2	53.7%	25.9	17.1	12.2

When you have an eFG of over 50% and you are collecting a 1/3 of your misses, life is good. This is another reason why you don't want to monkey with the Love/Jefferson duo. If you surround them with competent perimeter players, they will destroy the boards. BTW: We need to come up with a Wolves Dictionary term for when Love grabs an offensive rebound in between 3-4 defenders.

Atlanta Hawks 111, Toronto Raptors 89 or where everyone should be playing more.

hawksdawgs — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 14:41:46 -0000

More photos » by Chris Young - AP

Browse more photos »

The Hawks beat a team by a15 or more points ten times last season. Twenty-two games into this campaign the Hawks already have put six such whoopings into the box score. And two more of 14 points. It could mean any number of things or nothing at all, but what I can't help but prognosticate is that when the Hawks play well, they are really, really good, and the Hawks bench has improved dramatically. This team can get leads and the second unit can keep them down the stretch. Good for my beer budget. Good for our hearts. Good for the team.

If I knew how to use youtube, I would create a Hawks highlight mix for this game, throw down some hip hop beats in the background, and inter-splice Dominique Wilkins quotes. Josh Smith dunk. "Man the Raptors just don't play defense." Al Horford lay in. "if you move the ball, this team will not stop you." Mo Evans drive. "This team does not try." I think this could have real potential. Toronto fans might like it at least.

Because man, is Toronto bad at defense. This truth might have been best personified by the Hawks in the half court, pass to a wide open Mo Evans who had been drilling three pointers. Not only did Toronto not close out on a hot shooter. They did not move. So Mo took the slightly higher percentage shot, which was a baseline drive and slam. "No resistance."

Victory Bullets

I call these games "The Mo Evans opt-out performance."
Nique said you can start cold if the weather outside is cold. Interesting.
Dominique also hates centers who shoot three pointers. Vica vi he hates, and I mean hates Bargnani.
Anytime Zaza hustles it is the energy of the gods.
I have only watched three Raptors games, but is Bosh's rebounding total (he is second in the league), the most overrated stat in the NBA. No one else on the team tries to rebound so Bosh gets more opportunity than anyone in the league.
Mike Bibby was awarded a "heat check" after making one shot.
Look at our boy Jeff Teague. All grows up!
I religiously check Jeff's PER. I am aware this is weird. But you should be aware it is now over 15.
Another note, if Teague ever does become the Hawks starters, lets get some lights out shooters because Jeff could drive and kick as easily as he can walk with a walker on one of those moving walk ways.
Zaza's line six rebounds (four offensive), six of seven shooting, three fouls. Ahhhh how I love you.
Teague has 15 assists in his last 43 minutes.
I think the third quarter demonstrated Al Horford could have scored 40 if the Hawks were not shooting 50% from outside the arc.
Outside of the Hawks 8th and 9th men, no Hawk had a terrific game, and they still won by 22.

Go Hawks!

Poll

SB Nation - Josh Smith

Orlando Magic News for December 23rd: Jameer Nelson Back in the Starting Lineup; A Quick Look at a Divisional Rival

Game 29 Preview & Thread: Nuggets vs Hawks (7pm MDT)

Tell it like it is, Mike!

i hate that

Chicago Bulls 101, Atlanta Hawks 98 or Joe Johnson tries his hat at 06-07 Kobe Bryant

Atlanta Hawks 96, Utah Jazz 83 or Josh Smith does not care who wins awards since he is earning them.

Recap: Utah Jazz @ Atlanta Hawks -- The Least Interesting Game In The World

NBA Eastern Conference: Taking Stock

Is Al Horford playing out of position or just creating a new one?

Congratulations Utah!!!

Atlanta Hawks 111, Toronto Raptors 89 or where everyone should be playing more.

The Run Off Poll: What should the front court nickname of Jason Collins and Randolph Morris be?