AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 20
Friday, October 20, 2006
The kids not stepping up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Never has the need for veterans been more obvious than it was Thursday night in Birmingham. Without Joe Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Zaza Pachulia (and the still injured Speedy Claxton) the Hawks looked like the Junior Hawks while being taken to pieces by the Magic.
I know the folks of Birmingham were expecting to see JJ, Lue and Zaza. But trust me when I tell you that the Hawks needed to give those guys a break more than they needed not to. But it’s a whole different mess without them on the floor. The point guard situation without them is dang near tragic. And the inside game is much like last year’s, making the added depth there arguably the most important offseason move made by any franchise in the league.
Now, for Friday’s edition of the five things we know right now:
— Boris Diaw has nine million reasons per year these days to thank Joe Johnson for wanting out of Phoenix. Sure, JJ got his cash. But Boris is about to get his now with a five year, $45 million deal from the Suns.
And Boris is my poster child for never judging a player too harshly before he comes into his own.
— Speaking of dough, four years and $40 million for Josh Howard. Sounds fair to me. A good friend of mine said he wouldn’t have given Howard that kind of money. But I watched Howard all last season and particularly close in the playoffs and NBA Finals. The Mavs don’t have a better or more crucial player, and that includes Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry.
— It’s cutting season for NBA teams and their free agent campers. The Hawks will head to Columbus (Ohio) for Saturday’s game with Cleveland with all 18 of the guys they started camp with. But I suspect by Monday they’ll be a down to 16 or fewer players. Cedric Bozeman, Andreas Glyniadakis and Matt Freije have seen the most minutes of the free agents, so I wouldn’t expect any of those guys to be released by then.
— There will be another round of cuts later, and one I think will be extremely difficult for the Hawks to make. They have to decide if they want to eat a guaranteed contract in order to keep one of these free agents. Bozeman, the Big Greek and Freije (who turned in an impressive 5-for-7 shooting performance in junk time against the Magic Thursday night).
Sports Illustrated isn’t nearly as high on these Hawks as the Buzzards were hoping they’d be. The Hawks are picked dead last in the Eastern Conference in SI’s NBA preview. And there was even a needless shot taken at the Hawks in the preview’s main feature about the NBA hitching its marketing wagon to Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
Where is the love SI, where is the love?
