SB Nation - Nick Fazekas

Ridiculous Transactions: 7/25-7/31

Jon L — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:00:10 -0000

Every week (starting about a week ago), we here at RU will take a look at some relevant player transactions from the past week. Players signing with the D-League, D-League players going to Europe, transactions involving the odd Summer League player (odd meaning we're not going to cover all of them, not meaning, like, Robert Swift), trades of a similar ilk, etc. This one should be interesting because I just finished writing that Jam coach post and I'm still in a state of annoyance.

July 26: Richie Frahm - signed with Mersin Buyuksahir Belediyesi (Turkey); Stephane Lasme - signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel)

This is the same team that Jimmy Baron signed with last week, and given Frahm's signing Baron has now a mentor and a guy who's going to take all of his minutes. Frahm's a very good three-point shooter, though he doesn't contribute much else. Then again, he likely won't have to. Lasme was drafted by the Golden State Warriors in 2007, didn't play much there and went to the D-League for awhile and then getting a 10-day contract with the Heat before playing in Europe last season. He was a solid shot-blocker and rebounder in Serbia last year, though he didn't produce all that consistently in Summer League a few weeks ago. He played for the Spurs team, though, and I'd bet they're keeping an eye on him.

July 27: Trent Plaisted - signed with Reggio Emilia (Italy); James Augustine - signed with Gran Canaria (Spain)

Plaisted was drafted in 2008 by Seattle then went to Detroit as part of the DJ White deal. He played for the Pistons' Summer League team, though that team was focused on more recent draft picks and he didn't get a ton of playing time. He finished with pretty good per-minute rebounding numbers, though. Augustine's has bounced between the D-League and the NBA, and he's the University of Illinois' all-time leading rebounder. His offense went steadily downhill at Summer League this year (scoring 21 points in the first game and zero in the last), but he can definitely rebound.

July 28: Othyus Jeffers - signed with NGC Cantu' (Italy); Richard Hendrix - signed with Granada (Spain)

Sigh. Look, I may not always seem like it on this site, but I'm a fairly realistic person. Some (many) people would
(did) say "cynical." So when I talk about Summer League rosters and how, say, a D-League did well or how his
skills might fit in with a specific NBA roster, I'm doing it because it's something to talk about. I know that for a lot of guys it's still a longshot, and that there just aren't enough NBA teams who pay attention to the D-League for these guys to get enough looks, and that teams are still apparently willing to explore signing a retired-and-not-all-that-good-anyway Jason Williams instead of a solid D-League player.
I know all that. I get it. But it's still disappointing to see guys like Hendrix and Jeffers go overseas. And not because Italy and Spain are bad places to play - they're not, in fact. But Hendrix had a great Summer League (both in Orlando and in Vegas) and was a top rebounder in the D-League last season, and Othyus Jeffers is a solid all-around offensive player in addition to being a lockdown defender. Both of those guys can play in the NBA right now. I don't know whether it's a function of the shrinking salary cap or that teams are still stuck on "names,"* but it seems like this offseason more and more of last year's D-League stars are headed to Europe. The league's going to look a lot different come the fall.

*And yes, I'm away of the contradiction of going after the Jam for hiring a "no-name" coach while going after NBA teams for not signing "no-name" players. But that's because...you see...it's different in that...shut up.

July 30: Nick Fazekas - signed with JDA Dijon (France)

Fazekas played well for the Celtics at Orlando Summer League, but they have a lot of forwards so that wasn't ever really a realistic option (see? I'm realistic). Still, despite not having the strongest upper body, Fazekas produces pretty well on the court. For some reason in my head I could've seen him fitting in with Oklahoma City while they give DJ White and Serge Ibaka a little more development time, but that's just me.

July 31: Kevin Rogers - signed with Panionios (Greece); Chicago Bulls - waived DeMarcus Nelson and Linton Johnson; Bakersfield Jam - hired Will Voigt as head coach

Seeing both Nelson and Johnson cut is a little tough, though Johnson's being released isn't a total shock. He was trying to make the roster this time around as a defensive stopper at power forward, and while I didn't see the results, remaking your body that way (he would've had to bulk up to succeed in that role) in a short period of time can be tough. It would've been nice to see Nelson step into a reserve shooting guard role after Ben Gordon left for Milwaukee, but the Bulls apparently thought a Pargo brother would be better for that. Kevin Rogers is a little raw for the NBA, but with a season or two in the D-League he could've become a solid player. He was decently efficient in Orlando Summer League this year, and he had solid shot-blocking and rebounding numbers.

Most of my thoughts on Voigt's hiring can be found in the post announcing the hire, but since that dealt mostly with how he was hired I'll just add that he did win a few ABA championships, which I don't know what kind of talent level he had but at the very least shows he didn't screw up a good thing (if he had one), and while there are other former head coaches and promising assistants out there who deserve a shot, and while I personally would've tried to snag a talented or at least well-known coach this year to a.) bring in fans and b.) justify their ticket prices, the Bakersfield ownership may not have wanted to go that route given the uncertainty over whether their plan will work or not.

Recapping the Orlando Summer League: Day 5

Jon L — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 13:00:15 -0000

Yesterday was the final day of games for the Orlando Summer League. Some of the players looking to make an NBA roster are now headed for Vegas to play for other teams, while everyone else heads back home and prepares for the preseason. As I mentioned yesterday, I'll take a look back at the Orlando league's games, probably to run on Monday, but there's still the matter of the last three games to recap. Onward!

Boston Celtics 92, Philadelphia/New Jersey Frankensteins 79

Chris Douglas-Roberts got his scoring back on track in this one, scoring 15 points on 9 shots, and he also had four assists and three rebounds, which is good to see from him. Gabe Pruitt has been pretty solid running the point (with a few bumps in the road), and he had 13 points on 8 shots, nine assists and three steals. Jrue Holiday hasn't had the best Summer League, but yesterday he shot 4-8 and threw in four assists and four rebounds. At this point the fewer mentions of Terrence Williams's offense the better, though he had six rebounds, four assists and a block.

Nick Fazekas finally had himself a good game. He's been struggling a little bit to make his mark, but yesterday he scored 22 points on 17 shots and had nine rebounds but only two fouls. Gary Forbes shot the ball very well, going 7-11, and he added three rebounds, two assists and a block, though he also had five fouls in just over 26 minutes. Jason Ellis kept up the good rebounding work with six, but he also had five fouls. Coby Karl continued to contribute in non-shooting areas of the game, with six rebounds and five assists, and he only had one turnover in just under 28 minutes, which is an improvement over the rest of his week.

The other two games after the jump.

Utah Jazz 70, Oklahoma City Thunder 60

Both Russell Westbrook and Kyle Weaver sat this one out, and Shaun Livingston did well in his natural position running the point, with 12 points on 9 shots, four assists and five rebounds. DJ White also got into the game and did very well, shooting 7-10, though he also had four fouls and three turnovers. BJ, excuse me, Byron Mullens had a rough shooting day, missing all seven of his field goals, but he grabbed six rebounds and finished with only two fouls and no turnovers.

Larry Turner hasn't been very impressive this week, but he came through in the middle yesterday with 12 rebounds and three blocks. Andre Ingram was solid all-around, with 11 points on 4-7 shooting, including 3-6 on three-pointers, and he also had four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Kevin Kruger's been pretty solid all week, and yesterday he had 10 points, made half his shots (including half of his three-pointers) and had a game-high five assists. Josh Duncan also had a solid game off the bench, going 4-5 for 12 points, including making both of his three-pointers, and adding four rebounds in a little over 16 minutes.

Indiana Pacers 68, Orlando Magic 54

Ryan Anderson finally had a bad game, at least offensively, shooting 2-11 and picking up six rebounds, though he also had 10 rebounds and two steals. Tyler Hansbrough had a somewhat-similar night, shooting 1-5 with nine rebounds. Roy Hibbert played well, though, with 16 points on 13 shots, 11 rebounds and three blocks, though he also had three turnovers in 20 minutes.

I'm sure by this point you all think I keep mentioning him because he's been contributing to this site, but Kasib Powell's been playing really well all week. He didn't have a great shooting day yesterday overall, needing 14 shots to score 12 points, but he made two of his three three-point shots, and he's versatile enough to contribute even when his shot isn't falling and grabbed eight rebounds. Richard Hendrix had a solid game off the bench, with 10 points on 7 shots, five rebounds and four blocks. Trey Johnson had an okay day shooting-wise, but he didn't do much else and also picked up four fouls in 22 minutes. Scott Vander Meer may be headed to Fort Wayne this season, and while he's been relatively quiet all week he had a decent game yesterday with six rebounds and three blocks, though he also shot 2-7.

Summer League Wrapup

Jeff Clark — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 11:21:08 -0000

Summer League is over and perhaps the biggest news was Lester Hudson breaking his finger. However, Marc Spears has some positive things to say about Gabe Pruitt, who was fighting for a roster spot (the Celtics can still cut him and not be responsible for the last year of his contract.

Gabe Pruitt got his important offseason off to a productive start this week in Orlando, averaging 10.2 points and 4.8 assists for the Celtics' summer league team. He wrapped up the tournament yesterday with 13 points and nine assists in a 92-79 win over the New Jersey/Philadelphia entry.

"The main thing I needed to do was be consistent and this was a good chance to showcase that,'' Pruitt said. "Early in the week we had a lot of turnovers in a couple games and I take that personally, me being a point guard and handling the ball. So, I tried to take care of the ball better. But I had a chance to really play the point and show what I can do.''

"He shot well, he did a good job getting into the paint and taking care of the ball,'' said Celtics assistant coach Mike Longabardi. "Russell Westbrook [of the Thunder] was definitely the best point guard here, but you can make an argument Gabe was the next guy. He's just got to continue to work, continue to stay ready, and we'll see what happens.

"He's been in the league two years now, he's played in NBA games . . . After Year 1 coming into Year 2, I thought his body improved. He really did a good job with that.''

Also, if you care about summer league stats, here's a quick rundown.

The Celtics finished with a 2-3 record in Orlando. Nick Fazekas led the team in scoring (13.4) and rebounding (6.2). J.R. Giddens averaged 11.8 points and 4.2 rebounds and was named to the league's All-Star second team . . . Chris Lofton broke the league record for 3-pointers, hitting 15 on 25 attempts over five games. The old 3-point mark was 12, held by Keith Bogans (2003) and Josh Davis ('07). "It doesn't really matter in summer league,'' said Lofton, who shot 17 of 22 from 3-point range in a 61-point performance in Turkey last season. "I shot pretty good but there's always room for improvement.'' Said Longabardi: "He looked like Eddie [ House] out there tonight.''

Orlando Magic Forwards Ryan Anderson and Kasib Powell Earn Orlando Pro All-Summer League Team Honors

Ben Q Rock — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:36:16 -0000

A brief diversion from the Orlando Magic's signing of Brandon Bass: two of their players earned places on the Orlando Pro All-Summer League Teams, according to a Magic press release. Power forward Ryan Anderson made the first team, with per-game averages of 21.4 points and 9.4 rebounds. Joining him are Oklahoma City Thunder guards Russell Westbrook and James Harden; Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough; and Pacers center Roy Hibbert. Magic swingman Kasib Powell made the second team, averaging 14.8 points and 5.8 boards. He's accompanied by Boston Celtics guard J.R. Giddens; Celtics forward Nick Fazekas; Thunder forward D.J. White, and Philadelphia 76ers center Marreese Speights.

Orlando closed out this year's summer league with a 68-54 loss to the Pacers, for a 2-3 record overall. Stay tuned to 3QC for more coverage of the Orlando Pro Summer League.

Summer Pacers Continue To Shine In Win Over Celtics

Tom Lewis — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:18:47 -0000

The Indiana Pacers summer squad moved to 4-0 in Orlando after holding on to beat the Boston Celtics for another close win.

After a strong and confident start to the game, the Pacers let an early lead slip away thanks to a case of the clanks which forced the blue and gold to mount a rally in the fourth quarter. As they have all week, the Pacers made enough plays down the stretch to sneak away with a 91-88 W.

With 7.1 seconds left, the result could've easily went the other way, but Celtics' summer big, Nick Fazekas missed two free throws with the Pacers leading 89-88. Tyler Hansbrough then cashed in two free throws to give the Pacers' their winning margin which was stout enough to withstand a Fazekas 3-ball miss at the buzzer.

Honestly, we saw much of the same from the Pacers tonight. They played hard throughout the game and found a way to win in the end. They're making it look easy, so here's a few specifics:

Box Score
The Pacers didn't shoot the ball real well (43.5 %) but they took advantage of excess possessions and a +17 advantage in made free throws. Once again, Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough led the parade to the line with the two bigs combining to make 17 of 19. Hibbert made all seven of his freebies while Hansbrough was 10-12.
At one point, Dante or Galante said, "just blow the whistle and put him at the line and save us some time" after Hansbrough caught a pass in the lane. Instead the play ended in a nice little 8-foot, fade-away from the rook.
Hansbrough and Hibbert combined for 50 points and just wore out the Celtics around the hoop. Hibbert's right-handed baseline hook is closing in quickly on automatic. Real nice option in a half-court set. If only the C's would trot out Robert Swift and Nick Fazekas during the regular season.
Brandon Rush sat out again and I assume he won't play in tomorrow afternoon's finale. I haven't heard anything that should raise concerns about Rush's sore knee. Well, except for the fact that Mike Dunleavy had a "sore knee" most of last season. Speaking of Dunleavy, he was in the house watching his teammates get after it.
Trey Johnson has taken advantage of Rush's absence and played plenty of minutes this week. He's looked pretty solid in the past two outings. He finished tonight with an efficient 13 points and only one turnover in 31-plus minutes of burn.
A.J. Price came out real strong, ended up struggling with his shot a bit but ran the team well and took care of the ball during his extended playing time.
The Pacers survived a 3-ball barrage from Celtics' guard, Chris Lofton who splashed 6 of 8 long ones. Lofton did pull up for an ill-advised three in a transition situation with the C's down one in the waning seconds. Personally, I love the effort, but that type of play could have Lofton heading back to Turkey next season. The kid can shoot it, though.
Finally, Roy Hibbert captured the Pacers' effort in Orlando all week in one play tonight when he went to the floor hustling for a ball headed out of bounds. Even Larry Bird offered up a round of applause for Hibbert's effort and The Pres isn't exactly known for his outbursts of emotions.

Pacers wrap up the week's play against Orlando tomorrow at 3:00PM EDT.

Recapping Yesterday's Summer League Action

Jon L — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:00:15 -0000

Can you believe it? Actual, factual basketball games. The NBA Finals weren't that long ago, but for those of us who follow the D-League and other non-NBA hoops it's been awhile. The Orlando Summer League is a good way to ease back into it, as there are only a handful of teams. I've written a little bit about this before, but Summer League games are oddities in that they're trying to serve several purposes at once - see what kind of talent was actually drafted a few weeks ago, take a look at younger guys on a roster who still have some work to do and/or are focused on improving on one specific facet of their game, and throw a bunch of D-Leaguers/undrafted college players/older players who've been in Europe out there to see if there's anything worth adding to the roster.

So in looking at these games, one has to keep all of that in mind, and be somewhat cognizant that dropping 30 points in a Summer League game doesn't mean much in and of itself. In these recaps I (and Scott or Ais, if they contribute) will try to focus mainly on the guys you may not have heard of, while also pointing out the noteworthy performances from the players who are guaranteed NBA roster spots. Also, I didn't catch any of these games on the internet, but hopefully in the future I'll be able to get a feel for how some of these guys look. With all that said, hit the jump for a look at yesterday's action.

Indiana Pacers 75, Philadelphia/New Jersey Frankensteins 67

The NBA.com headline on this one was something to the effect of "Hansbrough Proves Doubters Wrong," and it's true that he played a decent game. 17 points on 13 shots and 5 rebounds isn't bad, though if we're being honest five fouls in 25 minutes isn't great, and he shot under 70 percent on his free throws. Plus I assume he was guarding Marreese Speights for part of the time that Speights went off for 28 points and 11 rebounds. There weren't really a lot of great performances in this game, as besides Speights and Chris Douglas-Roberts the Philly/NJ team got nothing offensively. Terrence Williams shot 1-8, though he had 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals and could be an active frontcourt defender this year for the Nets. Jrue Holiday played 38 minutes and shot 3-11, though he had 4 steals and 2 blocks. On Indiana's side, they had a few players score in double figures, but that includes Brandon Rush shooting 18 field goals to get 15 points.

The D-League guys were particularly disappointing in this one, though more disappointing is the playing time some of them got. Trey Johnson played the most out of that group, but he shot 2-8. Blake Ahearn was 1-2 in seven and a half minutes, Jason Ellis only played about nine and a half minutes and only had one rebound, Gary Forbes played only five minutes and shot 0-2. Derrick Byars was a DNP-CD. Will Blalock is a former D-League who's been playing in Europe, and he got the start for Indiana, but in 21 and a half minutes he shot 1-5 and had 7 turnovers. This was a pretty inauspicious first Summer League game.

Oklahoma City Thunder 88, Orlando Magic 77

This was another game that saw balanced scoring from one team and two players carrying the load for the other, but it was the even-handed approach that won this game. Russell Westbrook led the way with 22 points on 11 shots, 9 assists and 5 rebounds, though he also had four turnovers. He also shot 18 free throws, and while I know that getting to the basket is his specialty, that's crazy for a Summer League game. DJ White also played well for the Thunder, scoring 13 points on 10 shots and leading all rebounders with 9. James Harden put up a decent line, 17 points on 9 shots, including 2-3 on three-pointers, plus 4 rebounds but also 3 turnovers. Shaun Livingston is playing out of position at forward, and his line makes it seem as if he was uncomfortable, needing eight shots to get 7 points, though he also had six assists. Ryan Anderson was the guy for the Magic, scoring 21 points on 14 shots to go with seven rebounds, though most if not all of that came in the second half.

Moses Ehambe was a DNP-CD for the Thunder, as was Ridiculous Upside contributor and all-around good guy/player Kasib Powell or the Magic. Come on Orlando, get it together. The Magic did give Russell Robinson, Lance Allred and Richard Hendrix some run, and while Allred only played about seven minutes, Hendrix played well. 10 points on 4-5 shots, 4 rebounds and a block in 15 minutes well. Russell Robinson started and played a little over 27 minutes, though he missed his only field goal attempt and finished with five fouls.

Boston Celtics 87, Utah Jazz 56

No one on the Jazz played particularly well in this game except perhaps reserve Josh Duncan, who scored 12 points on 7 shots in just under 15 minutes. James Augustine had seven rebounds but wasn't really a factor offensively. For the Celtics, JR Giddens was really the only one who played what could be called "poorly," shooting 4-10, though he also had 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a block. Bill Walker played pretty well but also fouled out in 21 and a half minutes. Nick Fazekas also had a nice game, making half his shots (and half of his six three-pointers) and collecting five rebounds in 21 and a half minutes.

Cedric Bozeman got a fair amount of playing time (23 and a half minutes) but missed all four of his field goals. Andre Ingram played just over 8 minutes and missed all five of his field goals. Kevin Kruger played just over seven minutes, missed all three of his shots (two of which were three-pointers) and had zero assists. Sigh. Kevin Lyde actually did okay, making both of his field goals and scoring six points in 18 and a half minute with three rebounds and two assists. Mike Sweetney seems to have done okay in the first step towards getting back into the NBA, scoring only three points in 15 minutes but also collecting five rebounds and blocking two shots.

Get To Know Your Summer League Roster

Jeff Clark — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:39:26 -0000

Nick Fazekas was added to the roster and the full team was announced yesterday. Here it is (via Green Street with my comments on each):

(F) Nick Fazekas, Nevada - Had some promise in college but is best known for being cut for a retired Kieth Van Horn. Recently played in Belgium
(G) Coby Karl, Boise State - Coach Karl's son used to play for the Lakers.
(G) Chris Lofton, Tennessee - Recently played in Turkish league.
(G) Bryan Mullins, Southern Illinois - "startled the coaching staff when he broke the Celtics record for the three-minute run - a staple for everyone during training camp." - Herald
(F) Kevin Rogers, Baylor
(G) Bryce Taylor, Oregon
(F) Mike Sweetney, Georgetown - Ate his way out of the league but is making a comeback attempt.
(C) Robert Swift, Bakersfield HS (CA) - Might have more tats than games played, but has some upside.
(G) Darius Washington, Memphis - One of the few Memphis players not involved in test scores scandals (I'm exaggerating of course)

Here's the schedule:

July 6, 7pm vs. Jazz
July 7, 1pm vs. Magic
July 8, 5pm vs. Thunder
July 9, 7pm vs. Pacers
July 10, 1pm vs. Nets/76ers

For more on the Summer Leagues and the D-League, check out Ridiculous Upside.

Friday Night Link Dump

Gamecock Man — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 02:47:29 -0000

More photos » by John Bazemore - AP

8 months ago: Former Nevada head basketball coach Mark Fox laughs during a news conference where he was introduced as Georgia's new basketball coach, Friday April 3, 2009 in Athens, Ga. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Browse more photos »

Football

Joe Person on Spring Practice. The big news is that the injury bug has hit our secondary to a certain degree. We're young and thin at the position due to graduation and early departures, so staying healthy once fall rolls around will be really critical to not suffering a 2007-like defensive collapse down the stretch.

Basketball

Devan Downey All-America Honorable Mention. Downey is the first Gamecock to be so honored since BJ McKie.

Other NCAA News

Georgia Hires Mark Fox of Nevada. Fox, a former assistant of LSU coach Trent Johnson while Johnson was getting his start at Nevada, has been a successful mid-major assistant and head coach. Fox is known as a strong recruiter for helping to bring Nick Fazekas and Kirk Snyder to Nevada, and the style of play Fox picked up from Johnson can succeed in the SEC as indicated by the way LSU played this past year.

Like Westerdawg, I think this is a good hire for UGA. UGA was hoping to hit a home run and hire Mike Anderson, Jeff Capel, or Oliver Purnell, but as cocknfire seems to imply, programs like UGA can't always make that kind of hire. A coach like Anderson that has built another power-conference program to a high level has little incentive to take on a tough job at a school with little tradition. That's why schools like UGA and South Carolina end up going for the successful mid-major candidates like Dennis Felton, Darrin Horn, and Mark Fox. And oftentimes, those hires are successful, as Carolina's choice of Horn appears to be thus far. Fox isn't a sure-fire hire; Dennis Felton had good credentials when he got to Athens, and he failed. Indeed, Fox has a tough road ahead of him, as UGA moves into next year with lots of holes and question marks. However, if Fox can successfully instill his system and can lure some of the substantial in-state talent in Georgia to Athens (the Atlanta area is a recruiting hot bed and lots of the talent goes to the ACC schools and SEC powers), he could have some success two or three years down the road.

Vols and Bruce Pearl Renegotiate Contract. Would have loved to see him go to Memphis to replace John Calipari. Oh well.

Pacers 113 Hawks 96

Hoopinion — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:13:57 -0000

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	93.6	1.03	46.5	20	24	10.7
IND	93.6	1.21	60	21.3	21.6	15.0

Without both Josh Smith and (for the final 41 minutes) Al Horford, Atlanta's primary defensive deficiencies shifted from limiting dribble penetration to keeping any Pacer over 6' 8" from doing whatever he wanted. Rasho Nesterovic scored 21 points. Troy Murphy had 19 rebounds. Jeff Foster had 12 points (5-6 FGA) and 5 rebounds in 22 minutes. Fox Sports South must have chosen not to show Roy Hibbert begging Jim O'Brien to put him in the game.

Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby did what they could offensively* but they barely combined to match Danny Granger's production. Acie Law IV took advantage of his late introduction to the game and fueled a run that got the Hawks within 7 with 7:59 to play. Atlanta had three chances to cut the lead further (four if you count Maurice Evans' missed tip on Joe Johnson's three-pointer) but could only muster an off-balance Marvin Williams jump shot, a Joe Johnson runner, and a Joe Johnson three-point attempt.

*36 Hawks field goals, just 13 assists. Offensively, it wasn't a pretty night as you might expect with a frontcourt rotation decimated by injuries and five-man units that likely made their debut last night: Law/Johnson/Evans/Hunter/Pachulia to finish the 3rd and open the 4th quarter for example.

On Indiana's possession following Johnson's missed three-pointer, the Hawks forced another missed shot but couldn't control the defensive rebound. Marquis Daniels eventually made a jumper on Indiana's second chance and the Hawks never again got closer than 9 points.

In what is becoming a common occurrence, an Atlanta player was asked after the game to comment on the opposing player who did whatever he wanted against the Hawks "defense." Here's Joe Johnson on Danny Granger:

"He's a pretty good player, I can't take nothing away from him. He made a lot of good shots tonight, so give him credit."

I think there's a small, subconscious part of Joe Johnson that wonders on nights like Tuesday, "How many points could I score if I got to play against our own defense?"

Johnson on his team:

"We haven't been playing together, playing with any energy, like we were in those first six games. I think we've gotten real complacent and we haven't been playing team basketball."

Can't wait for tonight's game to tip-off. Neither can Joe:

"We can’t beat anybody like this."

It took a couple of weeks but this is starting to resemble a Hawks team.

Excuse while I beat my head against a hard surface for a moment.

Okay, I'm back.

In better news, Sekou reports that Horford will try to play tonight:

After his injury, Horford limped to the locker room and never returned, staying in the locker room to soak his ankle in ice. He walked out of the locker room on his own after the game and said he would begin treatment this morning with the hope of playing against the Wizards.

Maurice Evans doesn't want to make excuses:

"I don’t want to use it as an excuse..."

But can't help himself:

"...but we’re just not at full strength right now. We’ve been hobbling since that Boston game."

You've also played New Jersey (without Josh Boone) twice and Indiana (without Mike Dunleavy, Jr.) once. Boone and Dunleavy aren't josh Smith but if you can take the Celtics to the final half-second in Boston without Smith, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect the team to compete against short-handed Net and Pacer teams. Unless, of course, the Hawks' bench is, once again, terrible.

While Randolph Morris runs his personal foul to minutes played ratio up to 10:23 and Mario West warms our hearts, Nick Fazekas is playing in Belgium and Anthony Morrow is demonstrating that there's at least one undrafted free agent from Georgia Tech that can contribute in tangible, positive ways for an NBA team.

Cornrows had so many compliments for Pacers that he had to bust out the bullet points.
Winning six straight to open the season then losing four straight is a rare feat according to the Elias Sports Bureau:

With a loss to the Pacers on Tuesday, the Hawks have lost four straight after starting the season 6-0. The only other team in NBA history to win at least six in a row to start a season immediately followed by a losing streak of four or more games was the Philadelphia Warriors in 1960. They won their first nine games and then lost four straight.

I'm worried about CoCo.

Updating yesterday's post...

TEAM DEFENSE GAMES 1-5

Team	Poss	Def Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	91.6	0.94	43.2	18.0	27.6	16.7

Before and after now include an equal number of games.

TEAM DEFENSE GAMES 6-10

Team	Poss	Def Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	92.9	1.20	53.4	33.1	32.7	14.4

Ouch.

Last night, the Hawks contrived to hit their four-game average of allowing 1.2 points per possession on the nose despite improving in three of the four factors relative to their recent defensive collapse. Lesson learned: Allowing your opponent to shoot 60% from the floor is destructive in and of itself.

Hawks 88 Pistons 87

Hoopinion — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:08:04 -0000

Box Score

About the only interesting thing about last night's game (other than this) wherein the prime objective was not to get any of the regular rotation hurt was that Mike Woodson chose not to play Othello Hunter, Randolph Morris, or Thomas Gardner at all. I have no idea what this means with regard to any or all them making the team, but should they I think it's fair not to expect them to play without something catastrophic occurring. So expect a very short rotation in Marvin Williams' absence on opening night in Orlando.

Or, maybe not. Coach?

"...as we get prepared for Orlando right now, I’m still reaching to figure out my rotation and kind of how things are going to fit. That’s something you’d like to have done in the last two or three preseason games, but I just wasn’t able to do that."

Josh Smith:

"We were in a different zone last year, a different mode. We felt like our backs were up against the wall last year with all the stuff we had been through the two years before that. Our focus was locked in from the first day of camp last year."

That is an example of why I'm so discouraged about the apparent organization-wide belief that last season constitutes success rather than progress. If 37 wins and a first-round playoff exit is enough to foment complacency, I can't shrug off my natural pessimism. Again, I would gladly be wrong.

Elsewhere...

Sekou Smith passes along the real, Larry Brown-minimized, version of how the Hawks came to learn of Othello Hunter's skills.
I'll be watching the waiver wire this week to see if anyone interesting becomes available to shore up the bottom third of the Hawks roster. So far, I can only report that Nick Fazekas is again available. His brief, intriguing career numbers. My previous plea to Rick Sund to sign Fazekas. Dave Berri's examination of the man, the myth, the Nevada Wolfpack legend.

Effective in limited minutes is the most one should expect from Fazekas but effective in limited minutes would be a great improvement relative to recent end-of-the-rotation contributors. The prospect of a Fazekas/Pachulia frontcourt tandem is frightening to ponder, at least when the other team has the ball but I think Fazekas would complement both Al Horford and Josh Smith on the court...Nick Fazekas makes shots. Nick Fazekas rebounds. Nick Fazekas would probably work cheap.* Rick Sund, the ball is in your court.

*Know your audience.

DakotaWiz at Ridiculous Upside would want me to add Blake Ahearn to my list of free agents the Hawks should consider.

Blake Ahearn, the best basketball player to not have a guaranteed contract going into the NBA season, is still this way, as he was just released by the Timberwolves. Hopefully the Timberwolves did this as a service to him and put him on waivers so he could be put on a team that could better utilize his skills, as Minnesota obviously wasn't able to do that, bringing him in for 37 seconds in his last game so he could pass the ball in. Ahearn is a shooter. He's been a shooter in college, he's been a shooter in the D-League, he's going to be a shooter in the NBA. Bring the ball up the court, get Ahearn open, and let him put the ball in the basket. If he's not open, make sure he still gets the ball, let him get fouled, and put him at the line for the two points guaranteed. Thanks.

Sounds better than Thomas Gardner and Mario West to me. Flip Murray, too, though that ship has sailed.

In related news, the Orlando Magic kept Jeremy Richardson.

Look for another poll this afternoon plus any additional news that comes down the pike. Pre-season stats to be sifted for meaning over the weekend.