AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2008 > June > 15
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Hey Papi, it’s your day!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMYRNA - Before I forget, big ups to all you fathers out there. It’s our day, so relish the 10 minutes of relief you’ll get before returning back to your usual status at the bottom of the totem pole tomorrow morning.
And for all you stragglers, it’s dang near 10 p.m., make sure to call your pops before it gets too late.
There is a game going on tonight. But I’m not worried about the beginning anymore.
What am I supposed to do, turn cartwheels because the Lakers have an early lead?
You must be joking. After Game 4 (and the collapse of the century) the Lakers have to be up 40 in the fourth quarter (and with time winding down) for me to be convinced that they have any chance of sending these NBA Finals back to Boston.
All the cute 3-pointers by Kobe Bryant and the faux toughness of Pau Gasol right now won’t change my mind.
The Celtics have already proved to me that they’re not going to concede anything, on the Lakers’ home floor or anywhere between there and the TD Banknorth Garden.
They want this thing.
So for the goofy crowd at Staples Center to still be clinging to their “MVP” chant (with their team already shamed for the ages and the trophy already in Bryant’s trophy case) just shows me that the spoils of past success have tainted them.
Your team is in a hole that historically no team has ever crawled out of and you’re chanting “MVP?”
Yeah, I know, it’s 31-15 and the Celtics are scrambling for timeouts … whatever.
Call me back when they’re leading like this in the final two minutes of the game and not the first quarter.
Now, on to the Hawks’ portion of our opening salvo. First it was Billy Knight hitting the door in Hawksville. Now comes word that David Fizdale, one of Mike Woodson’s most crucial assistants and liaisons to the younger players on this team, has bolted the nest for Miami.
That’s a blow for the future because Fizdale did a splendid job helping develop the talents of Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Marvin Williams and the rest of the youngsters that have passed through the franchise the past four years (and make no mistake, for whatever gripes you have about these players, someone had to help get them to the point they are now. It wasn’t something they did totally on their own and it wasn’t something that anyone can expect a head coach to do in the NBA).
Woodson still has Larry Drew and Bob Bender on his staff, but he’ll need to make a good hire to replace what Fizdale (who, you heard it here right now, will be a head coach in this league before he’s done) brought to the table.
I’m not sure what names are being tossed about just yet. But as they become clear to me we’ll dissect them here.
In the meantime, let’s have at it the way we always do.
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