SB Nation - Al Horford

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.

Gators Fans: Guilty By Association

aramnath — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:53:10 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

This was taken before Tebow burst into tears and college football fans around the country rejoiced. (AP Photo/John Amis)

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To be honest I haven't met too many Gators fans and the ones I have met seemed nice enough. I know a few people that went down to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl a couple of years ago for the Michigan-Florida match-up and said they had a great time and that for the most part Gators fans treated them well.

The reason most college sports fans hate the Florida Gators has little to do with their fans and more about the combination of their amazing recent success in football and men's basketball and two of the most nauseatingly hyped up college athletes in recent memory; Tim Tebow and Joakim Noah.

I respect that Tebow's a great guy and is one of the great college players of all-time, but I could have done without the close-ups of him during every game followed up by announcers inevitably spending 25 minutes talking about how he's such a winner, how intense he is and how there's never been a leader like him. Then he had that speech after Ole Miss ran the Gators at the Swamp last year and that was probably the most overplayed segment in the history of sports. To sum it up imagine every single reason you hate hearing about Brett Favre (i.e. he's a kid out there, he just loves playing, he's a gunslinger etc.) and now you understand why everybody but Gators fans were ecstatic when Alabama stomped on you in this year's SEC Championship and we got to see Tebow cry.

While I think most of the vitriol towards the Gators related to Tebow stems from the non-stop media coverage of the guy more than anything he ever did, Joakim Noah is a completely different case. Noah's middle-school antics, the fact that we had to hear about his energy and hustle non-stop during two national championship runs when he wasn't even the best player his team was more than I could bare.

This guy was an absolute clown what made it worse was how ESPN and the media ate this shit up. It was as if we were witnessing the de-evolution of mankind in front of our eyes and it was being celebrated and praised as if it was something we should all strive for. It was bad enough that Florida won back-to-back national championships , but couldn't they have had Al Horford or somebody more human and likeable receive the accolades and attention?

There's unbridled joy and raw emotion, like Mark Ingram's Heisman speech and then there's that. The fact that he looks like Sideshow Bob is bad enough, but when you combine it with behavior more often found in our relatives in the ape family it becomes unbearable. I mean when you can't respond normally during interviews it really makes it hard for anybody to be able to relate to you.

Gators fans take heart in the fact that almost every other college wishes they could duplicate the success you've had in the latter part of this decade in capturing a pair of national titles in football and men's basketball. I can tell you that my sporting experience is no match for that, but please don't chalk up the hate for your school to plain, old jealousy. We wish we could win like you guys did, but that's not the main reason we hate you. You have Tebow, Noah and the media that transformed them into cult figures to thank for that.

Poll

Which Gator do you dislike most?

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

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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.

Blogging With the Enemy - Peachtree Hoops

RaptorsHQ - Howland — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:39:11 -0000

In what we hope to make a Friday tradition, we reached out to Drew at Peachtree Hoops to discuss the Hawks prior to tonight's game.

HQ: After years of setting-up camp at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings Atlanta has finally come around and is starting to look like a real contender in the East. What's been the biggest reason for this? Growth? Maturity? ZaZa?

I want to give sole credit to Zaza. I really do. I could even make a compelling case for it, but the truth is growth and maturity are the big reasons. Specifically, growth and maturity in Josh Smith. He has improved in almost every facet of his game, and really that did not take adding any new skills, it just required attempting (and subsequently missing) fewer jump shots and trying most of the time. His athleticism combined with effort supersedes skill. Add the addition of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith, some internal improvement from Al Horford, and the continutity built by having the same starters and coach for the last season and half, and the team has easily been able to take the step from clear fourth seed to probably still fourth seed but not so clear anymore.

HQ: A lot of the talk in Toronto centers around CB4 and whether he is staying or going. What's the feeling on Joe Johnson? WIll he stay or go? What sort of impact would his departure have on this team given it has taken them so long to become relevant again?

The Hawks world is very split on this. So may answer is far from consensus, but I think Joe will go where he gets the most money for the most years. No home town discount this summer. If the Hawks have to outbid other teams to keep him and approach a max salary over five years, I think it will hamper the internal growth of Al Horford and Josh Smith and financially limit the Hawks from contending for conference championships going forward. Joe demands a lot of shots, and he has a lot of wear and tear. There is no doubt in my mind by year four of whatever deal he has will be one that deserves about six (and not fifteen) million for the effort. Still, if the Hawks can sign him to a reasonable rate, I think they should and will bring him back. Atlanta has been so centered around Joe and found such success with that strategy, it would be a huge risk to let him go.

Atlanta without Joe Johnson next year would struggle to make the playoffs, but building around the front court and spending the money that would have gone to Joe wisely two or three years down the road, might yield a team with a higher ceiling than one with Johnson.

HQ: What are the keys to the game for the Hawks to ensure they secure another win against the Raps?

I don't think Atlanta is going to shoot the ball as well as they did last time against the Raps. So take solace in that, but your team is not what they like to call "good on defense." So if the Hawks can stay patient, work the ball around, inside out, get in some pick and rolls with Horford, I think the Hawks will score enough points to win. But, Toronto can fill it up. I expect Chris Bosh to put in more than two points, and it is when the defensive break downs happen for the Hawks that they start to play one on five and try to cure every problem known to man every time they touch the ball. Translation, there are a lot fadaway, contested jump shots.

I expect Atlanta to win, but I expected that against the Knicks a week ago too. Still, if the Hawks rebound with tenacity and have balanced scoring I think they pull out the road win.

The anatomy of hope in 20 missed shots

hawksdawgs — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:04:50 -0000

More photos » by Mike Fuentes - AP

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I remember watching the Hawks/Orlando game and in between the third and fourth quarter, Mike Woodson saying something like, "We are fine. They just made some shots and we just missed some shots." When the reality was Orlando was playing progressively better team basketball and the Hawks were playing progressively worse (regressively worse?). If everything was fine, the Hawks were going to lose, and they did. By a lot.

So I began to wonder where the worry and dread was as the Hawks missed 20 shots against Dallas the other night. And yes, this might be a revisionist look at history since Atlanta won, but I went back and logged each offensive possessions to see how the Hawks were playing. Was I turning into MIke Woodson and saying "Hey, we are still close, and we are not even hitting shots! Surely that will change." Or were the Hawks playing good basketball and just going cold.

Here is the possession log with five man rotation changes noted. Underlined possession are ones I have deemed bad offensive trips down the floor.

Joe, Jamal, Zaza, Al, Mo

Joe double team, zaza long jumper.

Jamal good drive rejected.

Joe double team, wild shot by horford.

Joe, Jamal, Al, Josh, Marvin

Good ball movement. Joe Johnson three.

Fast break. Good break. Better block on Al Horford.

Open three for Marvin.

Good Fast break. Foul.

Bibby, Josh, Al, Joe, Marvin

Joe good drive, one on one, but blocked with last second help defense.

Horford drive and miss.

Josh Smith blocked layup.

Offensive rebound, Josh fouled.

Joe drive and kick to open Bibby for three.

Joe drive and kick back to Bibby. Bibby drive and pull up jumper.

Zaza, Horford, Joe, Marvin, Bibby.

Lots of passing, No movement. Joe contested jumper.

Bibby offensive rebound. Shoots open three.

Joe over dribbles and misses floater.

Joe, Bibby, Marvin, Josh, Al.

Joe curl, catch, and shoot open mid range.

Marvin jumper off screen.

Joe offensive rebound. Foul on Josh dunk attempt.

Marvin Williams drive and blocked. Slightly out of control.

Offensive rebound and Bibby desperation three with shot clock winding down.

Josh Smith jumper.

Josh Smith miss on drive.

Al Horford make on offensive rebound!

That is five bad shots out of twenty and the Hawks had five offensive rebounds during the stretch of misses. Joe Johnson only took five shots. They were playing team basketball. And I don't know if it was just this night or something more, but in a one game survey, playing good basketball can actually thwart a freak out. It only takes one guy pressing, thinking he needs to take over the game, for the team to realize they no longer need to play five man basketball because they can't do it with four guys. The Hawks missed shots, but for the majority of the time, they missed good shots. It goes a long way for psyche. Frustration was setting in, but a freak out was not. Defense was still played. Effort was still being given on the boards. And in the end, the Hawks were able to miss 20 straight shots and win on the road against one of the elite teams in the league.

The Hawks may not have the focus to play team basketball every night, but when they do, I am beginning to think they not only can beat anyone in the league, they actually will.

Happy Birthday, Dwight Howard!

Ben Q Rock — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:00:20 -0000

by John Raoux - AP

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For the second consecutive year, Dwight Howard will spend his birthday in Los Angeles, hoping to lead the Orlando Magic to victory over the Clippers. He turns 24 today, which makes him younger than every NBA regular starting center save for Andris Biedrins, Andrew Bynum, Spencer Hawes, Al Horford, Roy Hibbert, Brook Lopez, and Greg Oden.

I'm not sure what else to say, really. Anyone who's watched the Magic since the 2006/07 season--turnover-plagued, sure, but check his splits from February--knew he'd be more than a defense and rebounding specialist, as not a few people predicted was his ceiling. Needle his unrefined post game all you want. Berate him for smiling (?) on the court, or for complaining about whistles who don't go his way. But in no way can anyone argue with Howard's overall results. Even his slump during the first 9 games of this season, when he could not seem to avoid foul trouble, Howard was average at the very worst among NBA centers who average at least 30 minutes per game:

"Slumping" Dwight Howard, Average NBA Center (min. 30 MPG), and "Post-Slump" Dwight Howard, 2009/10 NBA Season
Player	Pts	Rebs	Blks	Fouls	Mins	FG%
Dwight Howard (slump)	18.1	10.6	1.4	4.1	31.1	64.7%
Avg. NBA Center	14.3	9.3	1.5	3.0	33.0	52.5%
Dwight Howard (post-slump)	17.8	13.4	2.1	3.7	33.7	64.4%
Howard statistics from Basketball-Reference.com; avg. center statistics from Hoopdata.com

So he brought the stats just about every night, even if his commitment to defense wasn't quite there until recently. That's how good he is just when he shows up and tries a little. Think of what he can do when he's really engaged.

Maybe that last paragraph comes off as harsh, and I don't mean to disparage Howard (especially not on his birthday). But it was obvious to anyone who watched the first 9 games of the season that Dwight wasn't all there. Now? He's more into it. For me, the biggest statistical indicator of that is his fouls-to-block ratio. In the slump, he averaged 2.8 fouls per blocked shot. In the games since, he's improved that figure to 1.8.

We've gone way off the rails in what was meant to be a simple happy birthday post, so I'll conclude here before I get too carried away. In any event, I hope we appreciate Howard's improving work on the court, as well as his efforts in the community.

Many happy returns, Dwight.

Mavericks Vs Hawks: Game 21 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:50:29 -0000

Hawks vs Mavericks coverage

Hawks vs Mavericks preview

Peachtree Hoops

The Match-ups:

Point Guard

Jason Kidd: Well here we are again the second game of a back to back, and so far this year this has been the game that this team has struggled with. However typically the Mavs have been very good in the first game and they were awful last night. There defensive rotations were slow and they became once again very one demensional, as they shot zero free throws in the second half. This is Kidds job to get this team to move and attack the basket, one night after the team shot 35% from the field Kidd must now try and find a way to inspire his team, because the same lack of effort as last night tonight and they will get blown off the court.

vs.

Mike Bibby: Outside of CP3 by far my favorite PG in the league. Mike is just a gamer and has been for his entire career. The Hawks have a very athletic team but make no mistake Bibby is the leader of the team. When Bibby is penetrating and passing and knocking down the occasional deep ball the Hawks are lethal. The Key to beating the Hawks begins and ends with Mike Bibby.

Edge: Hawks

Shooting Guard

Rodrigue Beaubois: Finally after weeks of pissing and moaning coach Carlisle finally gave Roddy B some extended minutes last night. Even though the Mavs as a whole were awful last night I think everyone finally was able to recognize the difference in the flow of the team between Roddy B and the annexation of Puerto Rico. The difference is undeniable, when JJ is the game for longer than a 4 minute stint the flow of the game goes hay wire, but with Roddy B things seems more fluent. Rodrigue Beaubois athleticism will be needed tonight.

vs.

Joe Johnson: Yes he is a tad bit older now and maybe just a little bit slower, there is no doubting his shot skills. His FG% and 3point % are a little low this year, but he continues to lead a deadly cast in scoring at 21ppg. Joe Johnson has the ability to explode for large chunks of points, and this is what makes him very scary and a major point of emphasis tonight for the Mavs.

Edge: Hawks

Forward

Shawn Marion: I read lots of comments from people being upset that Marion was on the bench in the 4th quarter while Barea was on the court, and while i would agree the majority of the time, I also understand why that decision was made. Shawn Marion will have to devote more energy tonight on defense than probably any other game all year. I would not be surprised at all to see Shawn play more minutes than he has all year tonight. He will have his hands full with Josh Smith and Marvin Williams.

vs.

Josh Smith: Josh has been unbelievable so far this year, he comes in to tonights contest shooting a gawdy 54% from the field. The Hawks play with essentially 2 small gaurds, and 2 gaurd/ forward combos, and a PF in Al Horford. Both Joe Smith and Marvin Williams will be on the court at the same time and this causes serious match up issues not only with the Mavs but just about every other team in the league. Josh is the cutting, driving, havoc creating forward. Josh can also get a little wild at times and this is the Josh that we want to see as Mavs fans.

Edge: Hawks

Power Forward

Dirk Nowitzki: As poorly as he shot last night and as poorly as the team played Dirk still managed double figures in both points and rebounds. Tonight however the Mavs will not survive very long without Dirk being on top of his game. Dirk and the Mavs will probably use a lot of zone defense tonight to try and keep the high flying Hawks from getting easy baskets, and it is the Mavs defense and most notable Dirk Nowitzki's defense that will dictate the final outcome of the game.

vs.

Marvin Williams: Marvin is long and athletic with above average quickness for a player of his size, and these are the types of players that genuinely give Dirk and the Mavs trouble. Marvin has been known however to fall in love with his jump shot even when it is not going down. The Mavs need to be ruthless in their defensive pursuit of Williams and the Hawks tonight, slow and lethargic pursuit will not get the job done.

Edge: Mavericks

Center

Erick Gooden: This will probably be one of those nights that the Gooden half of the center combination sees the most minutes simply due to the extreme athleticism needed to cover the Hawks. However do not be surprised if the Mavs do not just slow the tempo down to a crawl in an attempt to pound on the smaller Hawks.

Vs.

Al Horford: Another in a long line of long, quick, and athletic Hawks. The Hawks get the most out of Horford when they are running. Al is very athletic, he moves more like a small forward, but he can finish close to the basket. However if the Mavs can slow the pace down and spend alot of time posting up, I am not sure Horford and the rest of the Hawks can handle that kind of treatment. The problem is that the Hawks simply do not let teams do that to them.

Edge: Even

Injuries/Suspensions

Atlanta Hawks

OUT - None

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - Josh Howard (will you please get better and come back?)

Prediction: Well I have been wrog most of the year with my predictions, and hopefully I continue that again tonight. The Hawks are just far to athletic for this version of the Dallas Mavericks to compete. The Mavs are just to inconsistent right now for me to be able to say which Mavs team will show up, but the only chance they have is if the "A" Team shows up.

Dallas Mavericks: 95

Atlanta Hawks: 110

God I hope I am wrong...

Knicks 114, Hawks 107

Seth — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:06:47 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

I would've liked to include a picture of Chris Duhon, but all photos taken of him scoring tonight are apparently being analyzed by the AP to guarantee authenticity. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

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That was confusing. After a three months of berating Chris Duhon and a full night of fawning over Al Harrington trade rumors, those very two Knicks co-piloted a convincing win tonight in Atlanta. Harrington dominated the first half with 25 points through the opening quarters, while Duhon was steady throughout, dropping a cool 25 and 10 in jaw-dropping, head-scratching, brain-melting fashion.

Details on those fellas and much more after the jump...

- Danilo Gallinari sat tonight because of a sore forearm. You might remember Matt Barnes decking Gallo into the Magic bench on Wednesday. Well, that apparently didn't feel too good on Danilo's shooting arm. The word is that there's no serious damage and Danilo should be back soon. In related news, I didn't commit infanticide this evening.

- The Knicks started this game down 11-0, at which point many people probably turned off their televisions. I, in fact, had yet to turn on my own. I arrived mid-way through the first, when the Knicks had nearly erased the deficit. That being the case, I feel no responsibility to go back and watch those first few minutes and rehash them for you, and I'm very happy about that.

- After all that, the Knicks actually finished the first quarter leading the Hawks 35-34. Once the Knicks started hitting, it became an old-fashioned shootout. The killer combo of Al Harrington and Chris Duhon had 28 of the Knicks 35 points in the first quarter. They each hit 3 three-pointers. I couldn't make this up.

- Harrington, overall, did his part to answer a lot of the criticism that's fallen upon him since the Tyrus Thomas rumors blew up. Al didn't suddenly become unselfish or anything, but he did manage to drain a lot of the shots we tend to scold him for taking. Al finished with 27 points on 11-17 shooting, including 4-8 from three on the night, and was nothing short of brilliant in the first half. If there's anything to buoy our demands that he be dealt, it was his stark drop-off in the second half, in which he was 1-4 by my count. Sticking with the here and now, though, Al Harrington was key in the New York victory tonight, and we thank him for that.

- Chris Duhon was something else entirely. First, let me remind everybody that Du has caught two months of grief not because he's a bad player, but because he consistently failed to flex his muscles and assert his bounty of point guard talent when it counted. At least that's how I've felt. Anyone who saw his stretch of brilliance early last season or his passionate play in training camp this September knows Chris possesses the skills to be an effective lead guard. For perhaps the first time this season, he showed that. Duhon not only ran the pick-and-roll brilliantly, he looked for his own shot both from the outside and, most importantly, at the rim. When David Lee's roll to the basket was shut off, Du would take off and glide to the rim for acrobatic lay-ins. It was a sight to be seen, and something we've been waiting on for months. Hats off to Chris Duhon, and here's hoping his newfound mojo is here to stay.

- Josh Smith got pretty frustrated with Al Harrington's savior-like play in the first half, and eventually blew his top. Smith's already got a chronic case of Meanface, but he took it to another level after a non-call and eventually got tossed by Bob Delaney. That didn't help matters for a Hawks team that just couldn't get it done on offense.

- Oh, can we all agree to call Josh Smith "The Flying Pug"? I'd really like that nickname to stick. My attempt to anoint Marvin Williams "Milk" (since he was a bad choice over Chris Paul and Deron Williams) didn't really pan out. I need at least one of my Hawks monikers to amount to something.

- That "Two Generations of Cool" thing with Frank Sinatra and Jay-Z concerts is on MSG tonight, and Walt Frazier and Kenny Albert had the following conversation in that vein:

Kenny: "Clyde, did you ever see Frank Sinatra in concert?"

Clyde: "Once, I did."

Kenny: "And how was it?"

Clyde: "Asdfasdfasdfasdf"

- The Knick defense and shot selection was superior to their previous game against Atlanta and, well, about 15 other games this season, but the Hawks also deserve recognition for failing to make shots from absolutely everywhere on the floor. They shot 4-23 as a team from downtown and I'm pretty sure I saw someone miss a tip-in from inside the basket. Sometimes the rim's got a lid.

- I don't think I'd want to play pick-up ball with David Lee. At least not in a game where you call your own fouls.

- Just to emphasize how well Duhon played tonight, I should mention that he personally generated two of Clyde's favorite rhymes. Du was both "swishing and dishing" and "driving and thriving" this evening, whereas he'd spent the first 19 games totally rhyme-free. If anything, he was "chucking and sucking" or something.

- Also, Clyde used the phrase "scoring extravaganza" twice tonight, which is exactly two more times than that phrase has been used by any other announcer in the history of color commentary.

- Shit, Clyde was on fire tonight. "Ain't that Pachulia"? That's goddamn brilliant.

- There was a fun little stretch in the third quarter during which Al Horford and Al Harrington kept going one-on-one with each other to determine who was the superior "Al H.". If I could pick one adjective to describe the showdown, it would be "mouthguard".

- We shouldn't forget Wilson Chandler in the midst of all this Harrington and Duhon hooplah. Wil put in hard work against Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams, and finished with 18 points on 8-17 shooting. He kept himself to 1-3 from downtown, and instead did a nice job attacking the rim. He even caught an alley-oop at one point, which made me feel a little like the announcers in Semi-Pro. I hadn't seen an oop in a long time.

- A monstrous 17 and 18 for David Lee. Top-notch, David.

- Larry Hughes had 10 in the fourth quarter. Marvelously done, Lawrence.

- Other than Hughes, D'Antoni kept his bench rotation typically short. Tonight, it was just Marcus Landry, who did nothing of note in 6 minutes, and Toney Douglas, who played some excellent off-the-ball D, shot 3-5 for 6 points, and pretty much did what Toney Douglas do.

In summary, I can't say I saw that coming, but I'm plenty happy with the results. Next game's Sunday against the Nets, who thankfully recorded their first win of the season tonight against the Bobcats. Consider that a bullet dodged. Everybody have a splendid night and I'll talk to y'all tomorrow.

What They're Saying Before the Orlando Magic Face Off Against the Atlanta Hawks

erivera7 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:29:12 -0000

More photos » by John Raoux - AP

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Orlando Magic PF Rashard Lewis is still searching for his shooting touch
Josh Robbins notes that Rashard Lewis is a player to look out for in the Orlando Magic's game against the Atlanta Hawks. Here's the rundown:

One player to watch closely is power forward Rashard Lewis, who acknowledges that he's still playing "catch-up" after his 10-game suspension to begin the regular season.

Lewis knew it would take him a little while to reacclimate after his NBA-imposed punishment for testing positive for an elevated testosterone level. He just didn’t expect that he would need at least six games to find his rhythm offensively.

Lewis has struggled with his outside shot since he returned to the Magic lineup on Nov. 16. In his five games so far, Lewis has made just 5 of his 29 shots from beyond the arc. That's a surprise for someone who had made 39.1 percent of his career 3-point attempts entering this season.
Bibby's status still uncertain
Ken Sugiura of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Hawks' point guard, Mike Bibby, is a game-day decision against the Magic.

The decision on whether Hawks guard Mike Bibby will play against Orlando on Thursday will be a game-day decision.

Bibby, who sprained his left ankle in Saturday's loss to New Orleans, missed practice for a third consecutive day Wednesday. The decision will be made at the Thursday morning shootaround at Philips Arena, coach Mike Woodson said.
Bibby's status still uncertain
In case you're into aesthetics.

The Hawks will debut their alternate road uniforms against Orlando, a bright red jersey with "ATL" across the chest in white.

"I love ‘em," center Al Horford said. "I'm pretty excited about it."

Johnson, Bibby and others will wear shoes to match the uniforms.
Here's what the unis look like, in case you're curious.
Thanksgiving Night Game Thread: Orlando (11-4) @ Atlanta (11-3)
Bret Lagree of Hoopinion shares the particulars of tonight's game.

Having the Hawks play a game on one of the great eating days of the year is a mixed blessing. Getting the 8pm game on TNT is a mark of how far the team has come but due to holiday plans and obligations I can't attend and where, on a normal Thanksgiving, I could relax watching basketball in between trips back and forth to a stuffed refrigerator while becoming intermittently fixated on my suddenly distended belly, tonight I'll be taking notes and paying rapt attention to the battle for first place in the Southeast.

Atlanta Hawks 105, Miami Heat 90 or double digits

hawksdawgs — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:41:55 -0000

More photos » by Scott Cunningham - NBAE/Getty Images

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Well, that happened exactly as I expected. As a Hawks fan, I have said that countless times over the years. It just has never been referencing a win. The Hawks are winning. Against good teams. And we expect it. So basically, you should feel weird right now, wonderfully, excitedly weird.

Style of play

On PTI today, Steve Nash pointed out that the Suns don't run the fast break that often. Instead, they just push the ball up the floor, penetrate in the half court, and open up quick shots. Atlanta is not Phoenix, but when they mix actual fast breaks with quick, open shots off penetration, they are deadly on offense. The team does not need to be a fast break team, but they no longer have to be a team that gets in their set with nine seconds to go on the shot clock. The offensive weapons at every position demand immediate attention and that creates mismatches quickly and open shots efficiently. Of course it also help when Mike Bibby can throw the ball near the basket like it is a medicine ball and allow Josh to dunk.

Al and Josh

The Hawks have something special going on in the front court. They are so improved it is tough to know how much of an impact they could have on the team, but right now, they are the difference in this year and last year. Sure, they might cool off a bit, Atlanta will play some stouter front lines, and opposing coaches will adjust, but watching Josh and Al hover over people, daring them to shoot, and then swallowing up shots that should be called something better than a block, seeing those two run the floor for dunks or follow each others' misses with dunks, own the post, draw fouls, it is hard to talk yourself out of asking, how special are these guys? Tonight? Just 26 boards and 32 points. Ho hum.

Victory Bullets

I don't know if Joe Johnson is the most important guy on this team, but man is that dude vital to why the Hawks are as good as they are.
And did I really see Joe with a put back dunk?
Always nice to watch Dwyane suck.
Even when teams make runs like the Heat did to open the second half, I don't even freak out. What is going on here?
Josh Smith wimped out on Dywane Wade's dunk
On a better Josh note, best possible first three point attempt of the season.
On an even better note, Josh Smith is awesome.
Zaza Pachulia and Greg Oden are probably not compared very often, but they both dare the ref to call their obvious traveling violations every time they touch it.
Joe Johnson dribbled more in the first quarter than Jason Collins has in his entire career.
Zaza's block of Shavlick Randolph was very close to the highlight of the game.
Not sure Joe should shoot 11 three pointers every night, but it was nice to see a great mix of jumpers and drives.

Go Hawks!