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Saturday, January 21, 2006
Noise, hoopla outweigh Hawks’ progress
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
I went to a basketball game Friday night. The Hawks lost. That appears to be happening rather frequently. “Playing well and winning are the most important things,” Zaza Pachulia, the center imported from Tbilisi, Georgia, has said. Poor fellow, he can’t be having much fun.
This time it was Milwaukee. The encounter with the Bucks offered a couple of entertaining matchups. Here were the Nos. 1 and 2 draft choices on the floor at the same time: Andrew Bogut, from Australia by way of Utah, and Marvin Williams, from Bremerton, Wash., by way of Chapel Hill. Bogut nailed 13 rebounds, which is his specialty, and Williams exceeded his scoring average with nine points, good but not glittering.
Now, the other coincidence is the one that captures your attention. It matched the coach the Hawks fired, Terry Stotts, to hire its present coach, Mike Woodson. Stotts left town with a record of 52-85. Woodson, in his second season, has a record of 24-98 and a team that’s sinking like a rock in water.
Stotts had the Bucks one game above .500 upon arrival. He lost his place in Atlanta with the change in management, though he was probably over-educated for the job. He had been student-athlete of the year at Oklahoma, and he certainly had the proper degree to survive in the NBA, a B.S. in zoology. He was kind to his former team when he said to our Sekou Smith, “Obviously, they’re rebuilding here.”
Just what they’re rebuilding is in question. If it can be done with noise, flashing lights and other such hoopla, they’re on the road to brilliance. They have all the gigs you’ll see at any other game in the league, and it’s scary for some first-timers. If loud is good, louder is better. It’s bigger than “King Kong.” And when Pachulia scores, cover your ears. The Philips announcer comes at you with a blast, “ZA-ZA Pa-CHU-LIA!” Better be ready for it.
The Bucks came on the floor a strange-looking entourage, some in long black stockings, some half-stockings and some drooping, Pete Maravich style. When Toni Kukoc entered later, the cast was given a vintage balance. The Croatian was a Hawk a few years ago, but he has now reached the age of 38, oldest player on the court, and his role is mainly serving his friends, setting picks and as a conduit for the ball.
The flow of the game, such as it was, was continuously plagued by fouls, and when the Bucks went to the line, the congregation was agitated into pounding those things called “Thundersticks,” with coaxing from the PA announcer. Those things first came out during the World Series in Anaheim, far as I know, and our civilazation would be well served if they took the course of the hula hoop. Happily, as the Bucks’ margin increased, the fans’ interest in their “Thundersticks” lessened, to the relief of many.
After the Bucks took control of the game, the Hawks’ offense, what there was of it, became more akin to something out of a pickup game. It was sort of like a game of “horse,” every man to his own shot. Key to it all was that Salim Stoudamire, the rookie out of Arizona, was their leading scorer off the bench with five 3-pointers. Organized offense was never discernible, and postgame critics never gave them a kind thought.
“Probably the worst performance of the year,” said Steak Shapiro, maestro of the sports station WQXI. And I pick this night for my coming-out. Sorry to say, but the Hawks look like a team coming unraveled.
“This has been the worst two-game stretch of my life,” Stoudamire said, coming on the heels of a blowout by Detroit.
Well, I did get to see something I’d never seen before in professional basketball. I got to see an official named Violet Palmer in action, and she carried her load efficiently, handling her share of the plethora of fouls.
When Woodson inserted Esteban Batista into the game, the Uruguayan who rarely gets off the bench, it was the same as raising the white flag. The evening was done, and an announced audience of 9,812 left the premises hoping this could not truly represent the Spirit of Atlanta.
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