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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Up late?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
STAPLES CENTER - For those of you willing to stay up a little later than usual, here’s a fresh start from today’s earlier post.
Hawks are up 24-23 at the end of the first quarter. They were on fire at the start, led by Mike Bibby’s (4-for-5) shooting stroke. And they’re getting up and down the floor and working the Lakers inside and out. This is the way to go about business early. Hawks up 24-15 with 2:53 to play in the first.
Never mind. Jordan Farmar just erased that lead with six straight points off his own off the bench. Lakers up 26-24 seconds into the second quarter on a 3-pointer from Sasha Vujacic.
Quick story from earlier today. and a lock for the “What are the chances” file.
After shootaround and a quick trip to the USC bookstore for some t-shirts and trinkets for a few folks, we (the Mad VP, Big Kuntry and I) made our way to a Best Buy in Culver City in search of these Flip Video Mini Camcorders.
So we hit the store and start chatting up the salesman and the dude tells us he’s from Little Rock. The same Little Rock as Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson.
Turns out my main man “Dave Martinous” is actually a former AAU teammate of Joe’s. His nickname on the team back then was “Rollo” (think Sanford and Son).
I had to ask dude how he got that nickname playing at the Boys and Girls Club in Little Rock and he kindly explained.
“When you’re the only white kid playing at the Boys and Girls Club, they’re not used to you coming back for more. So Joe and the other guys said they didn’t bother learning the ‘white kid’s’ name whenever he came around because they knew it wouldn’t last,” Martinous said. “So I just kept coming back. And they nicknamed me Rollo. I kept asking them if it was because I was the only white guy, if the nickname had something to do with that. We were at the 13-under Nationals one time and I got real self-conscious about it and I asked them to make sure it had nothing to do with me being the only white guy on the team. But they were like, ‘man, just get out there and make some 3-pointers and stop worrying about it.”
What are the chances …
Any who, back to the game.
Hawks have started to stall offensively. And the Lakers are grinding. The game has gotten pretty sloppy since that opening few minutes when the Hawks had it going.
It’s still a close game (40-34 with two minutes to play before halftime), but some of the thrill is gone for the Hawks.
Lakers up 45-36 at the half as the Hawks go into the deep freeze to finish the half.
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Just play ball
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
LOS ANGELES - While dozens of teams in the NBA wobble back and forth trying to find their footing and reshuffle the deck to either dump salaries or mold themselves into contenders, the Hawks have just one task ahead of them these last 30 games.
Play ball.
That’s all they have to do at this point in their season. Just finish what they started (31-21 at the All-Star break) and this season plays out even better than they could have imagined.
No one can deny that they are dipping their toes into shark-infested waters this week and next, their five-game road trip begins here tonight against Kobe Bryant and his Lakers and careens through Sacramento, Portland, Utah and Denver before they return home late next week.
But there’s also no denying these Hawks have prepared themselves for this gauntlet by already equaling last season’s road win total (a paltry 12 games, I know, but it is what it is).
Hawks coach Mike Woodson found out just what kind of resolve his team had before the break, when they won four of five games to reestablish their identity as a gritty bunch capable of winning when least expected.
“We’ve found ways to compete all year, with key guys out and on the road and everything else,” he said. “There’s no reason to think we won’t continue to do that. I think we’ve established ourselves as that kind of team, going all the way back to [the playoff series against] Boston.”
Trade rumors involving the Hawks are basically non-existent (though I did hear rumblings in Phoenix over the weekend that the words Clippers, Hawks and Camby had been swirling in a tasty rumor that ultimately turned up nothing when I pressed a few individuals for details). As well they should be. Because if the Hawks can’t pull of a one-sided deal to add an extra big, there’s no reason to deal.
The Hawks have actually earned the right to take that position regarding trades. Think about it for a minute (you remember the ugly years of the recent past), they have all the things any team wants going into the final 30 games of a season and potentially huge summer.
— They’re 10 games above .500 and firmly entrenched in the top four of the Eastern Conference standings.
— They have contracts coming off the books this summer (Mike Bibby’s $15 million and Zaza Pachulia’s $4 million being the most lucrative expiring deals), allowing them the flexibility to deal when the trade and free agent market is wide open as opposed to concentrated for teams desperate to make moves.
— They have their core group of players (minus Bibby if he is the future at point guard) intact and ready to move forward with a workable payroll number that isn’t in danger of crashing through the luxury tax threshold.
“At this point, the only thing that slows them down is any miscalculations or mistakes they might make in terms of how they retool that roster this summer,” an Eastern Conference assistant general manager friend told me during All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. “I’ll be honest, I’m stunned they’ve managed to survive all the draft mistakes that have were made the past few years. Not taking Chris Paul and Brandon Roy in successive years is just inexcusable. You normally would have to sacrifice somebody when you botch drafts like that. But I have to give them some credit, they’ve managed to survive and come out with a workable set up for the immediate future.”
That future includes any tweaking the Hawks would like to do with the roster (if a monster trade is in the works for the summer, there will be no restrictions on any of the major players the Hawks would have to move to get a major player in return).
“The only real question facing them is whether or not they’re committed to Bibby for the long haul, and by that I’m talking the next three or four years,” a Western Conference player personnel friend told me during a email exchange Monday afternoon. “They have point guard issues that will have to be addressed this summer one way or another. If Bibby’s not the future, who is? They haven’t played Law the way you would if you’re grooming him for the job. At least the way it looks to the rest of us. So I’ll be curious to see how that plays out.”
In the meantime, the Hawks’ can focus on the one thing scads of other desperate teams wish they could and that’s just playing ball.
* D-LEAGUE STINT FOR HUNTER *
Hawks rookie forward Othello Hunter has played just 34 minutes all season. He should easily tip that this week during a brief stint with the Hawks’ D-League affiliate (the Anaheim Arsenal).
While the Hawks are in California for games this week the Arsenal play three straight home games, allowing Hunter to get some work in with the D-League crew while and then rejoin the Hawks in Portland over the weekend for the remainder of the trip and then head back to Atlanta.
It’s a good look for Hunter individually, minutes of live action anywhere are better than sitting in a suit, and also helps the Hawks get him some seasoning they simply cannot with the playing rotation in the frontcourt already locked down.
* NO FLIP = ACIE TIME? *
The Hawks lost arguably their hottest player in Flip Murray, whom Woodson said will miss “at least” the first two games of this road trip to tend to family affairs.
As the Hawks took to the practice floor Monday afternoon at the Los Angles Clippers sparkling new practice facility, I asked Woodson what they were going to do to replace Murray’s spark off the bench.
“Acie Law [IV] and Mario West are going to have to step up and give us that spark,” Woodson said. “Those are the guys that are going to have to fill that void. It’s as simple as that.”
This seems like an opportune time for Law in particular. A frequent emailer (we’ll call him RA) made a great analogy this morning when he compared Law’s time with the Hawks to that of Boris Diaw.
“It’s like he’s waiting for something,” RA wrote about Law. “I got that same feeling when I was watching Diaw play with the Hawks. I knew there was a good player in there. I was certain of it. He was either in the wrong system, or the wrong place, maybe the wrong time. I don’t know. I hope we fair better with Law.”
Well put.
