AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > May
May 2007
Nobody knows
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ORLANDO - Nobody here has a clue as to what’s going to take place once the names start rolling off of NBA Commissioner David Stern’s tongue on June 28 (that’s draft night for all you Florida fans that will be joining us now that Billy the Kid has crossed over to the Dark Side).
Not even the assembled mass of NBA types here (for the annual predraft camp) have a good handle of what’s going to happen in the draft beyond picks No. 1 and 2.
What to do with No. 3 you ask?
My informal poll of 10 people with no affiliation with the Hawks produced six different responses - Mike Conley (three times), Brandan Wright, Yi Jianlian, Al Horford, Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and trades the pick were the responses tossed my way.
Many of the top prospects gathered here Thursday afternoon for a media session that allowed some of us our first up close and personal glimpse at these kids, you know, the teenagers (in most cases) fans expect to help deliver their respective teams from future draft lotteries.
I had a chance to sit down and talk with the usual suspects (add Greg Oden to the list of wish they would have been Hawks, by the way, the kid is eloquent, thoughtful, witty and at times hilarious. Oh yeah, he can play, too. That No. 1 pick would have changed things in Hawksville forever, as you well know).
Mike Conley and I discussed his future possibilities with the Hawks (stay tuned for a Sunday profile of Conley in our NBA Insider). I did the same with Acie Law, Brandan Wright, Al Horford, Joakim Noah and several other guys who could be in play with picks No. 3 and 11, provided the Hawks don’t move them for veteran help.
(My first impression, without having seen any of these guys in a workout situation, is that they’re all pretty much what you’d expect. Oden looks like a beast. Durant’s all arms and legs, Brandan Wright’s as long and lean as advertised and Jeff Green gets the no nonsense award for showing up in a shirt tie. But no one was noticeably taller or shorter than they’ve been listed previously, though Kevin Durant admitted that the 220 pounds he was listed at in the Texas media guide was a overestimated by about eight pounds.)
But back to that trade scenario, I asked as many personnel guys as I could what they thought the Hawks’ best option was and most everyone of them expressed reservations about the Hawks trading away those picks without a little more investigation. It’s still a bit murky as to who would be the best option at No. 3. Two people I asked with extensive knowledge of the international game swear that Yi Jianlian is the clear-cut No. 3 talent in this draft. But they also expressed some doubts as to whether the Hawks, and their style, would be the best fit.
Another well-informed personnel guy suggested that the Hawks don’t have the “guts” to take the third-best talent (Yi) because he’s such a mystery. He likened it to the year Dirk Nowitzki was pilfered from the Milwaukee Bucks in a draft day trade with Dallas (he didn’t say Yi was as good a prospect as Dirk, only that there was a similar mysteriousness about Dirk at this same stage of the process). Until I see Yi, I won’t dive off that cliff. But I have to admit I am sufficiently intrigued by this guy and how good he might be.
That said, I’m still convinced that the only guy that makes immediate sense for the Hawks is Conley. And while he admitted that playing alongside Oden in the NBA would be a dream scenario, he knows it’s probably not going to be realized. And he’s hardly nervous about venturing out on his own. Now is he a risk at No. 3? Sure. The list of 19-year-old point guards that have set the league on fire in year’s past is a short one, Kenny Anderson comes to mind but his limitations eventually caught up to him. But the Hawks have been fearless in their decisions in the past few drafts (the only consensus about Shelden Williams last year was that No. 5 was too high and the gamble the year before would have been to pass on the best player available - Marvin Williams, whether you remember it that way or not - for the most glaring need; point guard).
So the fact-finding mission continues for me, as I suspect it does for everyone else. There are no easy answers available right now.
What are you crazy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After a week of watching and listening to all manner of theories about what the Hawks should (and should not) do with their draft picks in next month’s draft, the only thing I can figure is that we’re all just a little bit crazy.
No.
Really.
Crazy.
Certifiable.
Loony.
Bonkers.
How else to explain all the crazy trade scenarios being tossed around, and not just here but from coast to cast by supposedly respectable media outlets.
I’d pan them individually if there weren’t so many to mention. But let me just say first and foremost that any team willing to trade the No. 3 and or No. 11 pick for an established star in the current NBA is an absolute nut. The only guy guaranteed to deliver a playoff spot is Shaquille O’Neal, and his days of being the Big Guarantee are dwindling. Do I have to mention the long list of established players, many of them among the league’s elite talents, that you simply cannot build a playoff team around on a consistent basis?
There’s not a single player out there I think is worth mortgaging your prime position in a good draft, one you could have been shut out of, so you can say you added a veteran piece. The Hawks have cap space people, so if they wanted to add a quality veteran they could still do so in addition to the draft picks they have.
They need a young point guard. And something tells me there’s one to be had in this draft.
They also need a quality big man to help fortify their frontline. Again, that player can be had between picks 3-11 in this draft.
That savior you were hoping for … well, he’s headed to the Pacific Northwest.
Which brings me back to the plethora of not-gon’-happen trade scenarios that have invaded our lives in the past week. The only team worth talking to about a possible trade is Portland. And since we all know they don’t plan on giving up the No. 1 pick in this draft, those conversations would be brief (I love LaMarcus Aldridge and I’d take he and Jarrett Jack in a heartbeat for the No. 3. But do you really think the Blazers would trade this kid, a 7-footer with an impressive face-up game and a high ceiling, with an opportunity to pair he and Greg Oden together like the New Millennium version of Duncan and Robinson? What are you crazy?) and probably end with laughter on both ends of the line.
The bottom line is this, if you’re building a team in today’s NBA it has to begin with you maximizing your position in drafts, trades and free agency. The Hawks have a chance to maximize that position in this draft by fortifying two positions with quality lottery picks. And then they can entertain all types of trade offers (involving not draft picks but perhaps one those veteran point guards and one of their young swingmen that teams around the league covet) for the quality veteran piece - at whatever position - that we all agree they so desperately need. Since the free agent market appears to be a bit thin, the Hawks relax in July and pass on spending money for appearances sake.
This is a time to be smart and make the shrewd and subtle moves that can take your team from 30 wins to 44-plus, not the time to do something crazy to appease the curiosity of those who want to see what could be done simply because you have a couple of high draft picks (and it would help greatly if some of these crazy trade rumors were grounded in at least a drop of reality).
Trying to make sense of it all
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Hawks’ day of reckoning is just hours away and we’re no closer to knowing what will happen than we were two months ago when the season ended and we first started speculating about what might be.
I swear to you, there is not a more maddening time of year than the idle days leading up to the draft lottery. A nightly barrage of compelling playoff games certainly helped pass the time. But none of us will feel complete until late Tuesday night, when we know exactly where things stand with the draft lottery.
So while you wait, I have something else for you to chew on (and you better have a few minutes because this is going to be a marathon post). I spent a good portion of a day last week with Hawks GM Billy Knight trying to delve into the psyche of the man I consider the most polarizing figure in Atlanta’s professional sports scene - not named Vick (the profile on Knight will be published in Tuesday’s paper and probably around these parts some time later this evening).
The day started in a conference room at Hawks’ headquarters, which is a short walk across the street from the AJC Bat Cave on Marietta Street. We talked, we watched film (some fabulous and some fabulously awful), did lunch, came back and talked some more before parting ways before the rush hour traffic kicked up on the downtown connector.
I don’t care how much time you spend with him, and over the past three years I’ve been around him probably as much or more than any other member of the local media, Knight’s a guy you never feel is letting you in on everything. He’d be a fantastic card shark, if that were his preferred line of work.
Love him or hate him, and I know where most of you stand on that one already, the guy is sticking to his guns. He won’t budge on the decisions he’s made (even if he feels deep down that he made a mistake, he’s not telling us about it). And he won’t play the ‘what if?’ that we (especially me) spend so much time playing around here. No matter how much you might want him to, dude’s not biting.
We talked about all things basketball, most of it on the record but a few things off the record. But he’s as shrewd as they come in terms of keeping what he wants private kept private. It’s just his way, as I learned from talking to some of the folks closest to him. And it has been forever.
So the venom and vitriol aimed at him from the fans and the media, the latter being folks he keeps at arm’s length, is obviously something he’s decided he can live with. And had he turned down my interview request like he has others, it wouldn’t have changed my mind about the way I feel about the job he’s done running the Hawks. I’ve got thicker skin than that. And I give him credit for being consistent and not trying to play nice with the media in order to gain favorable treatment later. I believe the cliché for that is known as “keeping it real,” which is exactly what we should all be striving to do.
That’s why the (malice-free, mind you) failing grade I handed out to Hawks coach Mike Woodson last month for the job he did this past season matches the “F” I’m giving Knight and the front office for their body of work during the 2006-07 season. In my mind, they could have done more to help this team get into the playoff mix. I realize that a playoff bid would have squashed any hope of two possible top 11-picks in next month’s draft (a fate that will be decided Tuesday night in Jersey, but I suspect Hawks fans could live with outcome of the lottery drawing a lot easier if you were still coming off the emotional high of a playoff run).
From my perspective, there were things that this team needed last season to compete at the next level that they just didn’t get. Rather than 10-day contracts for D-Leaguers the Hawks needed to acquire some veteran help to help sustain them earlier in the season. The trade-deadline deal for Anthony Johnson was too little and too late, had they snagged both Johnson and Jeff Foster from Indiana for Al Harrington last summer the entire season might have gone down in a totally different fashion (if that deal was in the works that would have changed the focus of the draft and the pursuit of a veteran point guard during the free agency period). Nothing will change my mind about that. Nothing.
The general feeling from folks affiliated with the franchise is that had they been able to manage their injuries a bit better, this team would have been a able to make a playoff push as presently constructed. I don’t believe that to be true. I thought this team was two or three personnel tweaks away from being playoff-caliber. And after watching the teams that have participated in this postseason, I’m even more convinced. The Hawks, even at full strength, would not have been up to playoff snuff. I’m convinced of that much after watching all these games the past month.
Knight is convinced, too, that all the obsessive banter about what could have been or should have happened is useless now. “It’s counterproductive and a waste of time,” he said. “This is what it is. We have to work on going forward. You always try to improve the situation. Our focus is getting ready for next year, we’re not looking back and lamenting this past season or whatever. We’re looking forward. First is the lottery and then the draft and so on. And you keep building your team and making our team better for the future. That’s what we [assistant GM Gary Fitzsimmons and scout Harold Ellis] are doing everyday. That’s our focus.”
There were only two other areas that we discussed that I really wanted to pass along here.
I asked about the Hawks’ personnel and whether or not it is a good fit for their style of play. Shouldn’t they play at a faster pace with their deficiencies in the paint? And we came back to the one thing that’s plagued the Hawks in each of the three seasons I’ve been around, and that’s the point guard situation. “I think it starts at the point guard spot and with our injuries,” Knight said. “It’s hard to say that we’re capable of playing that way for the entire game. First thing we need to do is get healthy there and in then evaluate if that’s our best style or not. We think have a chance to be that way, the players we have are versatile and skilled. We don’t have a team filled with shooters. Joe [Johnson] and Salim [Stoudamire] are good shooters. Marvin [Williams] is a good shooter from medium range, not necessarily a 3-point shooter. But we’re not a team designed for that. we’re a team designed to have versatile basketball players. In order to dictate the tempo and style you’re talking about, the style that’s more prevalent in the playoffs, those teams have guys like Baron Davis [Golden State] and Steve Nash [Phoenix] and then Toronto has T.J. Ford, and Deron Williams in Utah. Those teams are able to do that because of their point guards. Our situation was a little uneven this year. So we have to rectify that this year. We have to do better.”
I also asked about the opportunities the Hawks have had to circumvent their [my guess is five-year] rebuilding plan for the quick fix to the playoffs, sort of like what the LA Clippers did last season when they snagged Sam Cassell in a trade and made it to the postseason and what the Warriors did this season with the multi-player deal they did with Indiana that sent them to the playoffs for the first time over a decade. Why don’t the Hawks go for broke like that? “That’s always a temptation,” Knight said. “There is always that temptation there. We sift through those offers every year. We talk about them and go over the good and bad of all those deals. We’ve had our share of situations where we could have pursued an opportunity to do something right away. But for the long term good of the franchise it’s hard to take on a big contract like that for a short time because you could stymie the growth of your young guys, and you could also limit any other opportunities you might have because of the [salary] numbers involved. Usually it is such a huge number that it really has to work or else you’re in trouble. And it’s tough to put your organization in that situation.”
Have at it. And fire away with any questions you have and I’ll try and pop back in here and answer them as best as I can throughout the day.
Torn about the playoffs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Admit it, you’re conflicted right now while watching these NBA playoff unfold. The old school in you is rooting for teams like the Pistons, Jazz and Spurs to find their way to the conference finals where fundamental basketball will get its proper showcase.
But there’s that other side, the feel-good side of you, that is pining for the Warriors and Suns to validate what we all think is the present takeover of the game by teams that play the basketball equivalent of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (or whatever name that stuff goes by these days).
Unfortunately, for those of us that love the wild and crazy up-tempo style, tradition appears to be on the path to glory. The Spurs are doing their usual to the Suns (punishing them inside and out showing that experience trumps explosiveness every time). And for every flashy Baron Davis dunk (I know you saw the way he posterized AK47 the other night), the Jazz have a Deron Williams-Carlos Boozer pick-and-roll play to mute that excitement.
If you love the game unconditionally, you’re probably not dealing with this type of internal conflict. But if you’re particular about how you like your basketball played, this postseason has been a great referendum on the state of the (NBA) game. And so far it’s a landslide for Dr. Naismith’s crew, the purists. Because the great takeover that everyone (me included) predicted a couple years ago when the Suns piled up all those wins playing fast and furious (and were anointed as the next generation), has been put on hold.
The great (championship) teams continue to show us that they can adapt to whatever style is being played and come out on top.
If the Suns are eliminated in a couple days, we’ll have all the proof we need. That style, as beautiful as it is to watch night after night, simply does not translate into winning big when it matters most (the Warriors gave us a great diversion from the norm and did us all a favor by slaying the Mavericks in Round 1, but they’re not on the same level as any of the other three teams in the West’s Final Four).
But there’s no doubt they are the most entertaining team of this or any recent playoffs I can remember. From the breathtaking pace they play at to the late-game meltdowns that seem to accompany every loss (somebody’s getting fined for those licks BD and Jason Richardson dished out Sunday night on Derek Fisher and Memo Okur, respectively). It’s like a reality show gone terribly wrong, the kind you just can’t stop watching.
And for the record, BD doesn’t have to do anything else in his career to go down as one of my favorite guys to have watched during his prime. He’s done more in this playoffs to earn a place in my basketball file cabinet than he could ever do in the future. How many players can absolutely dazzle and infuriate you during the same play? Seriously. He’s made me smile and shake my head more times in the past few weeks than I did all season watching your beloved Hawks (who by the way have only a week longer to wait before learning their fate in the May 22 draft lottery). Watching him has been like watching some college guy have one of those magical March Madness runs that causes you to bring him up every time there’s a conversation about the history of great tournament runs.
Speaking of great postseason runs, I’ve read with interest all of the continuing scapegoating for the postseason failures of both Dirk Nowitzki and Tracy McGrady and I just don’t get it. Haven’t we always reserved our ultimate praise for the great players until they come through on the biggest stage? The argument has been made, particularly in Dirk’s case, that no star can do it by alone (duh!). And I’ve even read explanations, from several friends in the business that I respect but don’t always agree with, that Jordan and Magic never won without their elite counterparts (Scottie Pippen in Jordan’s case and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy in Magic’s case) by their side. That defense is easily the most preposterous theory anyone could cook up for the fact that Dirk and T-Mac, in particular, just aren’t clutch players in the playoffs.
Hey, it happens. And check the history of the game. There were other great players, guys who will go down as transcendent talents, who simply never got it done at a championship level. It happens. No one has to make excuses for guys like Charles Barkley or Karl Malone. So I wish people would stop making them for Dirk and T-Mac (who don’t rank anywhere near where Barkley and Malone do on the list of the game’s all-time greats).
The Williams Code
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m as tired of reading and writing about this as some of you probably are of doing the same. But how can you watch Deron Williams and not get an empty feeling in your gut knowing that this is the point guard of the future the Hawks could have (and should have) had on their roster?
The story is old by now, - flashback to the draft of 2005 when the Hawks snag Marvin Williams with the No. 2 overall pick and Utah’s grabs Deron before the Hornets snap up Chris Paul. The thinking then, of the Hawks and anyone else that would have landed in the top two of that draft, was that Andrew Bogut and Marvin Williams were the clear-cut top two players in the draft.
The point guard crew, which also included Ray Felton, was considered stellar but none of them were without an obvious flaw that teams figured would prove troublesome at the pro level (Deron Williams was knocked for his body, Paul and Felton for their lack of size). Per usual, those theories were disproved immediately, as all three of those point guards has outshined both Bogut and Williams through two seasons. It should come as no surprise. NBA teams routinely guess wrong on draft picks (scan any of the past gazillion drafts and see how badly things were botched).
But years from now, if the Hawks can’t get luck on their side for the May 22 draft lottery, a group of players with the name Williams (none related, of course) will tell the story of this sad era of Hawks basketball. For all the Hawks’ personnel missteps of the previous 30 years, none haunts them more today than passing on Deron Williams (not to mention Paul).
Follow me now.
Marvin and Shelden found their way into Hawks uniforms, with both doing admirable jobs under difficult circumstances. Deron and Marcus (both point guards, with Deron being a level or two above Marcus on the NBA food chain) did not. Those decisions have come to define the Hawks’ fate the past two seasons. They haven’t had the talented, young floor general out there to help corral the rest of their assembled talent in a way that lends itself to sustained success.
Granted, Marcus Williams is doing basically the same thing we’re all doing during the playoffs (sitting and watching). But he does have a future Hall of Famer (Jason Kidd) playing like it’s 1999 doing major work in front of him.
Deron Williams, however, is a much tougher case for me. I spent time prior to the 2005 draft studying him and his game and talking to the people closest to him leading up to the big night. They were all convinced that Atlanta was the perfect fit for him and that his workout with the Hawks had gone well enough that they felt good about him landing here (the only player with a bigger Jones for Atlanta was Paul, who to this day mentions how sick he was about not being picked by the Hawks every time I see him).
I understood the logic then of drafting Marvin Williams or Bogut (and please believe that if the Bucks had taken Marvin first, the Hawks and every other team would have passed on the point guards for Bogut. And anyone that says otherwise is being less than honest) then. But I would have been prepared to buck conventional wisdom then as I am now, because my choice would have been Deron Williams at No. 2, and you can ask Ando (wherever he is these days?) if you need outside verification. I just felt then, as I still do, that his playing style was perfectly suited for a team overloaded with similar players on the wing. His competitiveness, size, athleticism, fundamental skills and killer instinct are all things NBA teams are looking for from a leader.
That’s why I’ll be tuned in again tonight, staying up as late as need be, to watch him work. He outplayed Baron Davis in Game 1, something no one has been able to do this postseason. So it’ll be interesting to see what Davis comes back with for tonight’s matchup. One thing you know for sure, though, is that Deron Williams will be up for the challenge.
Just when you thought it was safe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After coming so close to perfection on my first round playoff predictions I’m inclined to snatch up my chips and cash ‘em in and run out of the NBA playoff casino as fast as I can.
Just when you thought it was safe to close the door on Blog Z for the playoffs (no, I’m not taking the summer off to the two or three haters who suggested it, I’m just sticking and moving like my homeboy Pretty Boy Floyd), he comes out of hiding.
So how’d I do in Round 1? Let’s see:
(1) Detroit vs. (8) Orlando Prediction: Pistons in 5. One over
(2) Cleveland vs. (7) Washington Prediction: Cavaliers in 4. Nailed it.
(3) Toronto vs. (6) New Jersey Prediction: Nets in 7. One over.
(4) Chicago vs. (5) Miami Prediction: Heat in 7. Oops.
(1) Dallas vs. (8) Golden State Prediction: Dallas in 6. Oops.
(2) Phoenix vs. (7) LA Lakers Prediction: Suns in 5. Nailed it.
(3) San Antonio vs. (6) Denver Prediction: Spurs in 5. Nailed it.
(4) Houston vs. (5) Utah Prediction: Jazz in 6. One under.
6-2 is pretty good, too good for me to run away from Round 2. So here are my fearless predictions for the Eastern and Western Conference semifinal series (I know a couple of them have already begun, but so what).
Detroit vs. Chicago Prediction: Pistons in 6. Bulls don’t have enough inside.
Cleveland vs. New Jersey Prediction: Cavaliers in 7. Cavs are my East dark horse.
Phoenix vs. San Antonio Prediction: Spurs in 7. Blood spilled. I love it.
Utah vs. Golden State Prediction: Jazz is 7. You’d think I learned my lesson.
Basketball isn’t the only thing on my mind these days. I was all over the place this weekend. I watched a Braves game, the playoffs, tons of PBS (the presidential election in France had some amazing subplots), boxing (more below), the Euroleague Final Four on NBA TV and that’s when I wasn’t reading or working on some stuff around the house (I made homemade pizzas on a dare from wifey Saturday evening, I came through with tasty results but it’s something I’ll probably stay away from in the future). A few observations:
Let me get this straight, Roger Clemens is going to be paid $4.5 million a month (or $750,000 a start) to work every five days or so? Good gracious. The next time someone tells you that it’s a foolish pipe dream to push your kids to excel in sports, slap them for me. Seriously, that’s got to be the best job in the world.
One of my boy’s in Dallas wanted to know who I thought was the bigger disappointment, Dirk and the Mavericks or T-Mac and the Rockets. That’s a tough one. Both of them had fizzled so many times in pressure situations that it’s hard to pick a winner (or loser, I guess). Dirk has at least been out of the first round before. I think his latest debacle should put to rest the argument about him being one of the league’s top five big-game players. But T-Mac’s continued failure on the big stage is simply not acceptable. Dude can’t even get out of the first round. Ridiculous.
I’ve had a hard time comprehending all of the outrage from the Lakers’ second straight first round exit from the playoffs at the hands of the Suns. Somehow, it’s the franchise’s fault that Kobe’s not surrounded by enough talent to fulfill his dreams. Uh, isn’t the he the cat that wanted it this way? He’s the one that wanted to be “The Man.” He was the one tired of toiling Shaq’s shadow and was tired of deferring to the big fella. Well, Black Jack, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.
Cinco de Mayo was sweet for ya boy Blog Z (and the rest of the folks from my hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich.), what with Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s whipping of Oscar de la Hoya. I had a fantastic time watching the fight with my boy the Mad VP, his brother and son. I wasn’t worried about Floyd doing his thing. I was more worried that boxing’s crooked side would come out and spoil what should have been (and by all accounts was) a splendid fight. The judge that scored the fight for Oscar did his best to ruin things. But anyone that watched this thing knows that Floyd was the unquestioned winner. Oscar’s all hype man. He’s never defeated any of the other truly great fighters in their prime. Yet he’s talked about like one of the all-time greats. The media hype machine is powerful stuff when it’s revved up.
The Euroleague stuff was only somewhat interesting to me. I made it a point to watch David Andersen (the Hawks’ second round pick who plays for CSKA Moscow, who actually looked pretty good to me). He runs the floor well and has to be able to help them with their frontcourt depth by now. But his contract status is still a bit tricky, so I’m not sure if it’s viable to bring him over for this season. In general, I thought the picking were pretty slim. I did watch Tiago Splitter, but he didn’t look any different from Andersen to me. In fact, the style of play in Europe makes it hard for me to distinguish between the truly elite players and the scads of just good players.
Do you believe (in risky business)?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The way the calls and emails came between late Thursday night and early this morning, you’d have thought a significant world event had taken place.
Communication like what I experienced should be reserved solely for momentous occasions like the end of the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan or the birth of a child, not for the end of the Dallas Mavericks’ season. (And if you missed last night’s scintillating show, I hope you have TiVo or some other way of watching the action in its entirety, because it was truly must-see-TV if you’re a hoops fan at all.)
But in the twisted world I live in, where sports take precedent over most everything else, I probably shouldn’t be surprised. Still, it’s tough to keep things in perspective sometimes.
Nevertheless, this is a basketball forum first, so let’s stick to basketball today.
A few things crossed my mind as Stephen Jackson and the Warriors escorted the Mavericks from the playoff premises:
Would Hawks fans pile into Philips Arena the way that yellow-clad Warriors crowd packed into Oracle Arena to form the rowdiest scene of the season, regular or postseason?
Do you believe, like the slogan on those loud yellow T-shirts proclaimed, that the Hawks are in store for a similar watershed moment sometime soon? (And no, geniuses, I don’t mean the No. 8 seed knocking off the No. 1 seed, but simply a trip to the playoffs after nearly a decade of watching from afar.)
Are the Hawks brave enough to jumpstart the rebuilding process by taking a calculated risk to add the type of difference makers that can propel a team the way the Stephen Jackson did last night? It’s risky business, of course, but it comes with a huge reward if you’re able to cash in the way the Golden State GM Chris Mullin did, not only by adding Jackson and Al Harrington, but also Don Nelson.
Before anyone goes off the deep end saying that I think the Hawks should find a Stephen Jackson-type player (see: dude with immense talent but also a questionable off-the-court resume), calm down. Besides, the Hawks had Jackson and Harrington (not to mention Jason Terry) at different stages of their careers. So step back and forget about the specifics and analyze the question in general terms.
The Miami Heat took a short-term risk before the 2005-06 season and cashed in with a title, though it helps when Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade are already in the fold. Now they’re paying for it, with an aged team that has to be torn apart and rebuilt in time for the start of training camp. But the risk paid off with a handsome reward.
The Los Angeles Lakers tried it before the 2003-04 season, bringing in Karl Malone and Gary Payton for what most everyone agreed would be a certain title-winning run. That risk almost paid off, and probably would have were it not for Kobe Bryant’s legal issues, subsequent personal issues with Shaq, and a nasty outfit from Detroit that wasn’t interested in cooperating with the Lakers’ master plan. The Lakers are still paying for decisions made then.
Mullin’s magic act with the Warriors was done on a much smaller scale. But he accomplished his goal (delivering the Warriors from a league-worst 13-year playoff absence) by mixing risky business with a hint of serendipity (Nellie against his former team and the owners he’s still battling with over a reported $6.6 million in compensation?; the folks that write scripts for the Young and the Restless couldn’t have cooked up a better drama).
So I ask you again, is it worth the risk of blowing up whatever you think you’ve built to chase more instant gratification? After watching Thursday night’s action, I’m open to the possibilities.
Racial bias? How about just plain bad?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It took a far-fetched academic study to bring your boy Blog-Z and the NBA’s mouthpiece on officials together.
With respect to the folks at the New York Times and Penn, the league’s lousy officiating results shouldn’t be blamed on race. That’s too easy. That’s the escape hatch I refuse to allow anyone to open in explaining away what is by far (in my eyes) the worst aspect of the pro game.
I like to take the We-Are-The-World approach when evaluating NBA referees. They don’t see color. Truth be told, they don’t see at all most of the time.
They’re simply horrendous. And they prove it most every night when they make calls that didn’t happen and then miss obvious calls that the camera angles make painfully obvious to those of us that spend our nights watching these games.
There was a time when I was convinced that the Boston Celtics got all the calls and my Lakers (hey, I grew up with a father that made sure it was Lakers or nothing so long as Magic and Showtime was on the floor) were consistently getting the shaft from the guys in stripes.
But now that I see the games up close and personal (depending on the arena) for a living, I know better. The officials, for reasons no one can understand since they’re protected better than Angelina Jolie on an adoption mission in Africa, foul up calls on everyone.
I was on the couch last night watching them ruin the end of the Mavs-Warriors game. There’s no doubt in my mind the Mavs were coming back to win the thing. And they deserved to, thanks to the Warriors’ refusal to finish the game off the same way they did when they climbed out of their 21-point hole. But that’s another topic for another day.
There were three calls, though, (all in the final three minutes) two of which the officials missed that certainly could have changed the way the game ended.
They missed a foul by Dirk Nowitzki on a Jason Richardson jumper from the corner. They called Baron Davis for a blocking foul in the air as he was shoved off by Devin Harris (Jimmy Clark motioned for a charge but must have been overruled by Ken Mauer, the guy with the slicked-back hair and the sawed-off Pat Riley look going). The third thing was Mauer’s foolish ejection of Stephen Jackson for clapping as he walked to the foul line late, when the game was already decided.
The officials continue to escape the public scrutiny that everyone else at the game, including the officials scoring crew, dance team girls and mascots, have to endure every night. I think it’s one of the most egregious mistakes the NBA continues to make (shielding their officials from postgame - public - scrutiny). Players can be fined for simply mentioning an official by name, yet the officials are excused from the scene when their mistakes have a direct impact on the outcome of games. It makes no sense whatsoever.
Racial bias, however, is a much too convenient of an explanation for the continuous human error that plagues the game. They’re just plain bad.
Worse yet, they’re threatening to ruin some of the best opening round playoff action I can remember in recent years.
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