SB Nation - Othello Hunter

Utah Flash, the Hawks D-League team taking matter into its own hands to show Hawks fans they exist.

hawksdawgs — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:55:07 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

Defense, one of only two areas Solomon Jones could have worked on in the Developmental league. The other of course being offense.

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I really want to be into the D-League. SBNation already has an incredible site for anything you would ever want to know about it. There is a lot to like. The teams play an entertaining style of game with real passion every game. Plus, I have grown fond of following the Jeremy Richardson and Othello Hunter's of the basketball world. It seems like a good fit. All I need is for the Hawks to take some kind of interest in it. Any kind of interest.

We sent Othello Hunter to play a few games last year just to take advantage of the fact that the Hawks already bought his west coast plane ticket. That was about it. Any number of players could have used D-League. I am sure they practice walking so Solomon Jones would have found it a huge benefit.

But all the Hawks have is a semi-relationship with the Utah Flash. I say semi because they have it, I just do not know if they will use it. We did not even have a summer league team. I do not feel I am asking for much. Just give me something to root for Hawks. Put Mario West down there for 20 games. Give Othello Hunter some looks outside of practice. Please.

Well, apparently, Brant Anderson, the owner of the Flash, is listening to my cries. D-league purest do not like this guy. He is apparently making a mockery of the league. That may be true and I hope it is not, but regardless, I am turning into quite the rubbernecker.

First, he offered (first via twitter) for Stephon Marbury to come play for them. Which is apparently not possible, but still kind of awesome.

Then, he put up 100,000 dollars of his own money to entice Michael Jordan and Byron Russel to play one on one. Not going to happen, but this guy is a more civilized version of Lane Kiffen. Who was talking about the Flash two months ago. Lets get him to Atlanta to market the Hawks.

And now, I just found out for a cool 150 dollars you can go try out for the Flash at Clayton State University. If I had a) 150 dollars to spend and b) felt no shame, I would be there in heart beat. I am still going to try and make it down to the gym and (if they let me in) watch. And if someone makes the team from that tryout, I am going to make it official and become a full fledged Utah Flash fan. Already looking for my first jersey.

Also, if the Utah affiliation does not work out, I am scouring the land for investors to get a team in Greenville, SC.

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: recapping the first 20

hawksdawgs — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:05:38 -0000

via alt.coxnewsweb.com

Just in case you missed one or desperately want to reread about Mo Evans' friendship bracelets.

#72 Terrell Owens #71 Marvin's Mustache #70 Horford's Two Handed Slams

#69 Heat Checks #68 Dwight Howard #67 "Everybody Clap Your Hands..."

#66 The Mario #65 Getting to Know your A-town Dancer #64 Joe Johnson Dunking

#63 Poured out for Steve Smith #62 Spin it to Win it #61 Mo Evans' friendship braclets

color commentary

#60 Buying your first jersey #59 Ryan Cameron #58 Mo Evans' three pointers

#57 The Mike Bibby Dance #56 Marvin Williams' pregame OCD #55 Othello's quest to be an 8th man

#54 Mike Woodson's suits #53 Betting on youth basketball #52 The Crowd Makeup

Thanks to everyone who has already suggested a reason. Got one you think deserves to crack the top fifty. Email me at ptreehoops@gmail.com.

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #55 Othello Hunter's quest to become an 8th man

hawksdawgs — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:00:18 -0000

by Lance Murphey - AP

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I have a dream for Othello Hunter. To one day be an average eighth man in the NBA. That is not meant to be backhanded at all. An eighth man plays a vital role on an NBA championship team every year. And the money is not bad either.

Something I love about the NBA is that there are fifteen guys on the team. And they are out there in the open. No helmet. Not out in left field. Just three feet away right on the court (or at the end of the bench). And sure that makes the NBA a superstar league, but it also gives you the chance to really root for and grow attached to the fourteenth guy on the roster.

Of course, when you are making hundreds of thousands of dollars like Othello did last year, it can be hard to think he is scraping and fighting for a dream. But he is. He is desperately trying to make it in the NBA, and like any 14th man that wants to improve, just wants a chance to show what he can do, it is tough not to root for.

Who is Courtney Sims? A journey into the Hawks, the D-league, and the last roster spot.

hawksdawgs — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:02:18 -0000

via www.nba.com

The Hawks will have four "prominent" free agents attending their team camp and fighting for a roster spot. Mario West is the most familiar 13th man in the country. Othello Hunter is a known commodity (or at least we know he looks good in a suit on the sidelines), and Garret Siler is a local product from Augusta St. But who is the fourth? Who is Courtney Sims? Just last years 6'11'' D-league MVP who averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Being a Hawks fan (and the fact that we do not really have a team in it), I am woefully and shamefully inept at talking about the D-league. So I scoured the brain of Scott from Ridiculous Upside. A man who has forgotten more about the D-league than I know about life. And we talked Moore, the benefits of the D-league, and the Hawks recent abhorrence in using it.

PH: Courtney Sims has put up incredible numbers in the D-league. Why do you think he has yet to stick with a team?

RU: The biggest knock on Sims is that he's not bulky enough to play the 5 - too lanky. He is reasonably athletic and a legit 6'11" so playing center is definitely something he can handle in the NBA, but that's been the biggest knock. The other problem is that he really hasn't seen the right opportunities. His rookie season, he was picked up out of Michigan as an undrafted free agent by Indiana, but was stuck behind Jermaine O'Neal, Jeff Foster, Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu, David Harrison and Shawne Williams. Not a great bunch, but enough to put an undrafted rookie out on the streets by January after 3 games played. From there, it was the D-League, in which he didn't dominate. After a Summer League with New Orleans (they've been rumored to love him, but never call him up), he came back and dominated the D-League. He was called up to the Suns, but they didn't really need him other than to appease the league and have 13 guys on their roster. At the end of the D-League season, the Knicks had him in for two 10-days, but once again he was just a warm, injury-free body.

In short, I guess I'd say he hasn't stuck yet simply because the teams that have given him a call-up haven't really given him an opportunity.

PH: Does the d-league style of play differ from the NBA?

RU: It's a different, faster game actually, but not so different that stats don't correlate, at least to some extension. One of the RU writers looked at this in-depth actually (http://www.ridiculousupside.com/2009/6/10/904563/scrubs-not-so-fast-the-production -- feel free to scroll down to the bigs segment). Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Lou Amundson are probably two of the players that were able to get a call-up and had a chance to contribute and both fill their roles well in the NBA. Other than that, it doesn't differ as much as people are sometimes led to believe. Though all players are looking to be noticed, it's been shown that players on winning D-League teams get better opportunities in Summer League, Europe and the NBA, oddly enough.

Courtney's team in Iowa was pretty good so his numbers aren't an abberation - around him he had former/current NBAer's Cartier Martin, Demetris Nichols, JamesOn Curry, Denham Brown, Anthony Tolliver, John Edwards and Alando Tucker at various points of the season. Not the biggest of names, but it shows that he wasn't a one man show, either.

PH: If Sims made the Hawks, he would be the fourth big behind (Horford, Zaza, and Joe Smith). With guys like him and Othello Hunter last year, do you think it is better for them and/or the team in the long run to play more minutes in the D-league or to practice and experience the NBA while on the bench?

RU: I'm the biggest D-League homer in the blogging world, so I'd obviously say that it's definitely better to develop in the D-League rather than sit on an NBA bench. That said, I'm going to try backing this up.

Four years ago, I might've said differently, but the D-League is becoming a lot more talented than it used to be. Last season when Hunter was in the D-League (all 3 games), he didn't exactly dominate - shooting 1-for-9 in one game. In his case, I'd say playing against talented players (Richard Hendrix, Lance Allred, Dwayne Jones, Pops Mensha-Bonsu, Courtney Sims and Rod Benson namely) rather than sitting on the bench may have helped him out. He didn't really look ready in the playoffs and whether that was due to being a bit rusty or not, I don't know, but had he played in 30 games during the season in the D-League, I think it would have helped. Worse case scenario is he's better than everyone else, doesn't improve, but at least gains some confidence. Best case is that he's playing nightly, being the focus of the coach (perhaps individually as NBA teams can send assistants with players on assignment), and getting better by playing against near-equal competition.

PH: What part of Sims' game will translate easily to the NBA? Can his game adjust/work playing less than ten minutes a game?

RU: Typically, I think high-energy bigs translate best numbers-wise to the NBA (the Lou Amundson/Pops Mensah-Bonsu mold). Courtney's obviously not going to average his 23 points, 11 boards and 2 blocks that he did in the D-League as the fourth big playing 10ish minutes a night. He's very fundamentally sound though, and because of that, I don't think there will be much of a drop, actually. He probably won't wow the Hawks fanbase in 10 minutes, but fans won't be upset that he's in their either. He'll come in, hit the boards, maybe swat a shot, and if needed, he has a pretty right handed jump hook he can use at will.

PH: Where must Sims' improve?

RU: As I said, fundamentally, he's pretty skilled. He's a little slower than you'd like and he could bulk up, but his skillset has probably reached it's potential, save for adding some range to a limited jump shot (probably good out to about 10-12 feet).

If he gets a legit shot at making the team, he'll probably stick, as the downside is at a minimum. I'm a big Garrett Siler fan though, so I know he has some competition!

I feel like a better person after this interview. Thanks Scott for some great info. Personally, I hope the Hawks start taking advantage of the D-league more. And I have to agree that if Othello Hunter was in anyway useful in the playoffs (whether it was because of injury, big leads, or a real role), it seems he would have been more prepared averaging big minutes at some point during the season in the D-league.

Even with only a couple roster spots left, I can actually say I am pretty excited to see how this thing shakes out. And if a few of our boys find their way back to the D-league, head over to Ridiculous Upside. They got you so covered you will feel like you are there.

Poll

Who do you want to make the Hawks?

Othello Hunter

28 votes

Garrett Siler

58 votes

Courtney Sims

51 votes

137 votes | Poll has closed

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #66 The Mario

hawksdawgs — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:34:30 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

Mario only plays against the best.

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As Bret over a Hoopinion pointed out, the signing of Joe Smith and the lack of any news about any other player firms up the debt chart in a way that almost makes certain Mario West and Othello Hunter will fill two of the final three remaining roster spots. The blind, loyal, optimistic, idiosyncratic, homer in me rejoices at this news.

But if you do not possess said qualities, fear not. You too can be overjoyed. Because once again "the Mario" will keep its home in the Atl.

The Mario "Denotes those occasions in which a player logs less than one minute of playing time and therefore fails to compile any meaningful statistics."

Basketbawful is one of the best NBA blogs around and I hope they know I am being 100 percent serious and complimentary when I say this might be the very best thing they have ever done.

So here is to many more Mario's in 09-10.

A Look at the Orlando Magic's Last-String Power Forward/Center Options

Ben Q Rock — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:00:11 -0000

More photos » by George Frey - AP

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Not so long ago, I took a look at potential free-agent point guards whom the Orlando Magic could sign to fill out their bench. Team GM Otis Smith has made it clear that point guard is his highest priority; he's also made it clear that he'd also like to add another big man to the roster. With no movement on the point guard front--except the rumor that Smith is still pursuing restricted free agent C.J. Watson via a sign-and-trade with Golden State--it's high time we look at potential power forwards and centers Orlando could probably sign on the cheap.

The operative word is "cheap." As we've noted previously, the Magic are over the salary cap and have used both the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, meaning they can only sign players to minimum contracts. NBA experience determines the specific finances of said deals, about which you can read here.

Unfortunately for the Magic, the best minimum-salary bigs have already signed. Joe Smith spurned the Cleveland Cavaliers to latch on with the Atlanta Hawks, while Rasho Nesterovic has re-upped with the Toronto Raptors after a one-year detour with the Indiana Pacers and, in arguably the best signing of the summer, the Cavs landed the productive-but-injury-hobbled power forward Leon Powe. Thus, there are few standouts on this list. Bear in mind that whomever Orlando chooses will be last on the depth chart, behind two All-Stars (Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis), two youngsters combining to earn nearly $10 million this season (Marcin Gortat and Brandon Bass), and the second-year player whom the team views as a long-term building block (Ryan Anderson). In short, the Magic's mystery signee will hardly play, so he need not be exceptional.

After the jump, brief breakdowns of no fewer than 17 free-agent power forwards and centers who are still on the market.

And, as with the point guard piece, I've excluded D-Leaguers, because Smith has never made a D-League call-up in his tenure as Orlando's GM.

Calvin Booth:

The Good: Booth has parlayed his exceptional shot-blocking skills into a 10-year career in which he's earned nearly $36 million. He still has the touch, averaging a block per every 13 minutes played over his last two seasons, which he's split between Philadelphia, Minnesota, and Sacramento. And he'd undoubtedly accept a minimum contract.
The Bad: Just about everything else. He's not much of a scorer or rebounder, and one wonders if he'll even sign in the NBA this year as teams plan to carry fewer players due to the weak economy.
The Verdict: In spite of everything, he's hardly the worst name on this list, which should keep him in the conversation.

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

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

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	91.3	1.12	55.1	39.7	15.2	16.4
BOS	91.3	1.13	45.4	44.7	35.7	16.4

SB Nation - Othello Hunter

Utah Flash, the Hawks D-League team taking matter into its own hands to show Hawks fans they exist.

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: recapping the first 20

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #55 Othello Hunter's quest to become an 8th man

Who is Courtney Sims? A journey into the Hawks, the D-league, and the last roster spot.

Who do you want to make the Hawks?

Othello Hunter

Garrett Siler

Courtney Sims

72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #66 The Mario

A Look at the Orlando Magic's Last-String Power Forward/Center Options

A little of this, a little of that in Hawks nation

Recapping a Busy Night In The D-League

Pacers 113 Hawks 96

Celtics 103 Hawks 102