Tag Archives: Jamal Crawford

by | November 23, 2011 · 9:42 PM

President Obama to hold Basketball Fundraiser

Ballin'

It is not every day that a President comes along that likes basketball. College football? Sure. Golf? Of course. Now we have Barack Obama. The Baller-in-Chief. President Obama is currently campaigning for reelection, while concurrently, with the rest of us, bewildered by the inaction of the Congress. (Really?! Pizza is a vegetable? Tomatoes are a fruit!)

In a fundraising event, the President will host a basketball game in Washington D.C. on December 12. On the slate to play in that game are Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Derek Fisher, Ray Allen, Vince Cater, Baron Davis, Tyson Chandler, Jamal Crawford, Blake Griffin, Rudy Gay, Chris Bosh, Tyler Hansbrough (who the President has scrimmaged with while Hansbrough was attending UNC), Juwan Howard, Antawn Jamison, Dahntay Jones, Kevin Love, Reggie Miller, Cheryl Miller, Quentin Richardson, John Wall, Russell Westbrook, Tina Thompson, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo.

The teams will be coached by Doc Rivers and Patrick Ewing. Even though the lockout currently would not let these two have contact with the many of the players, the league has bowed down before the authority of President Obama and allowed them to participate. It must be nice to have that kind of power.

Talks between the NBA and what was the NBPA have renewed this week. At present, both sides are looking for a date of December 25 to start the season which will consist of roughly 66 games. However, there is still a lot to be hashed out. Until the players and owners can see eye to eye we have President Obama’s game to look forward to. Oh, and the jerseys for the game? Dope.

Unfortunately, the President will probably not lace up for the game. We know he and Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, have mad handles so their street cred is not in jeopardy. Hopefully, this game will be streamed online.

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by | October 8, 2011 · 9:35 PM

Recap of the South Florida All-Star Classic

It was a good show

In what is possibly the biggest recruiting ploy in Isiah Thomas’ stint as the head coach of the men’s basketball team at Florida International University, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade hosted the most recent NBA player charity game. The two players from the Miami Heat reportedly approached Thomas about hosting the South Florida All-Star Charity Classic, which benefits the FIU First Generation Fund through the Mary’s Court Foundation (named after Thomas’  late mother). Yes, the event was for charity but Knicks fans have to be a tad squeamish knowing that Thomas spent as much time as he did in the same gym as Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire. Heck, the NBA and NCAA should be squeamish about Thomas’ continued activities with NBA players. Seriously, it is fairly shady.

The teams were divided into Team Wade and Team LeBron. From there, players were partitioned based on their shoe deals, Jordan Brand and Nike sponsored players had priority placement on the teams. Team LeBron featured the aforementioned James, Chris Bosh, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Rajon Rondo, Lou Williams, Rudy Gay, Jamal Crawford, Jonny Flynn, and Damon Jones. Wade’s team was composed of Wade, Mario Chalmers, Caron Butler, Dorell Wright, Stoudemire, Anthony, Chris Paul, Wesley Matthews, John Wall, and Eddy Curry. However, in a classic Curry (aka the Hamburglar) move, he did not suit up for the game. Matthews and Williams also did not appear in the game and were replaced by James Harden and Tristan Thompson.

The players were not the only clebrities in the building, Floyd “Money” Mayweather was in the crowd as well as Gabriel Union among the 4,000 on hand for the game.

Kevin Hart coached Team Wade, and channeled coach Bob Knight at one point by throwing a chair on the court, while Udonis Haslem coached Team LeBron.

Aside from an attrocious free throw display, the game featured some fairly competitive ball. Both teams played more than passive defense. However, play around the rim, especially from Team LeBron in the first half, was sloppy at best. It is lockout basketball. It does not matter in terms other than entertainment, yet there are referees officiating the game. The refs really did not play a role in the game, other than the players looking to them for calls regularly, until the last two minutes. During the last two minutes the game grew increasingly competitive as the players took hard fouls, Anthony gave James an NBA foul and Wade and James found each other defending one another.

It came down to Anthony with Team Wade trailing by three. He delivered on a shot from the wing to tie the game at 127 with three seconds to go in the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime. Unfortunately, Anthony began cramping early in the overtime session. Though it did not look to be too serious, it was a reminder that players, without the aid of trainers, are vunerable to injuries as they continue to barnstorm. If James Dolan was watching, he along with Knicks fans everywhere probably held their breath for a beat or two.

In the end Team Wade triumphed 141-140 despite James’ half court make at the end of overtime. James led all scorers with 34 and Wade poured in 25. Bosh added 17.

This game was just another result of the ongoing lockout of the players. After the game, Anthony said, “The way it looks right now they’re going to cancel the first two weeks of the season.” The players and owners continue to not see eye to eye in terms of Basketball Related Income. Owners offered a split of 50/50 to the players last week but the players rejected it. Since then the owners and the league have refused to schedule any further meetings without the players first agreeing to the 50/50 BRI split. Players have said that they would go as low as 53 perecent but the owners refuse to climb higher than the 50 that they offered.

David Stern has recently stated that the owners have conceded on many of their hardline stances in an effort to reach an agreement with the players. However, this is just more double speak from the commissioner. The owners have given up nothing in monetary terms to date. It has been the players that have shouldered the biggest financial burden as their former BRI percentage was 57. It should not be the players who are forced to be held accountable for bad player investment by the the owners.

With the talks stalled for the moment, the barnstorming and exhibition games will continue and with them support for the players will increase. The NBA must return, all sides involved know this. However, it will probably get uglier before it gets better. Until then we will continue to see players don “Basketball Never Stops” shirts in sold out gyms.

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by | May 2, 2011 · 5:15 PM

Eastern Conference Playoff Predictions: Bulls vs. Hawks

Get used to this.

This series has the word ‘zoo’ written all over it. Or maybe it has the words ‘animal’ and ‘cracker’ written all over it.

1. Chicago Bulls vs. 5. Atlanta Hawks

It was not an easy task knocking off the Indiana Pacers, but the Chicago Bulls won the series and have advanced. Leading the team to success, Derrick Rose showed why he is going to be the NBA’s youngest MVP. It was more than Rose, however, that helped the Bulls overcome a scrappy and determined opponent. Their frontcourt dominated the glass as the team averaged 46.4 rebounds per contest. Chicago has been a dominant rebounding team all season denying their opponents second chance opportunities on the offensive end of the floor.

The Atlanta Hawks, during the regular season, were a mediocre rebounding club. This changed in the first round when the team played the Orlando Magic. Atlanta out-rebounded Orlando by an average of 4.5 rebounds per game thereby increasing their rebounding average from 39.2 to 45.3. Apparently, Dwight Howard is not as “handsy” as a certain talking ball would have us believe. The Magic were not good and Atlanta deserved to win. Now, they face a much stiffer task in the Bulls, who dominated them during the regular season.

In their three games against the Bulls during the season, the Hawks averaged only 80 points, 14.8 fewer than their season average, took 6.7 fewer three-point shots, and collected only 40.6 percent of the available rebounds. Needless to say, Chicago clipped the Hawks’ wings.

Marquee Matchups:

Derrick Rose vs. Jeff Teague

With Kirk Hinrich likely missing the entire series, Atlanta finds themselves short-handed at the point guard position. Head Coach Larry Drew has penned Jeff Teague as the team’s starting point guard. Thereby the task of “defending” Rose has fallen to him. The two players were only on the court at the same time for 13 minutes during the regular season but the numbers are not all bad for Teague. While Teague was on the floor, Rose shot just 14 percent on field goals, missing all of his shots inside the arc. The sample size is extremely limited but are slightly promising.

As the Pacers did before them, the Hawks will use a platoon defense on Rose. Jamal Crawford will be forced to guard him at times and it would not be surprising if Joe Johnson or even a small forward, such as Marvin Williams,  guarded Rose at times during the series. However, the bulk of the duties will fall on Teague. If Atlanta wants to reverse their regular season fortunes against Chicago, Teague must stay out of foul trouble. Hopefully, he took notes on how Paul George defended Rose in the first round. If he can duplicate that at times the Hawks will be in a much stronger place defensively.

Carlos Boozer vs. Al Horford

Boozer has an issue with turf toe but is going to play through the pain. It seems that he is always injured. In the first round Boozer was a complete non factor. He shot 35.8 percent and averaged just 10 points. He also turned the ball over 18,8 percent of the time that he had it and committed 19 fouls in the five game series. Against the Hawks, Boozer will be even less of a factor offensively as he will be matched up against Al Horford.

Horford dominated Boozer in their meetings during the season. While Horford was on the floor, Boozer averaged 10.9 points on 42 percent shooting and 6.4 rebounds. Conversely, Horford tallied 22.5 points and connected on 75 percent on his field goal attempts. The only striking blemish is  the -16.1 effeciency rating that Horford has. However, that has more to do with the over all poor performance of his team against the Bulls.

X-Factors:

Both the Bulls and Hawks use a ton of Isolation plays. In fact, watching this series is going to make everyone mad and yell at their televisions or internet streams for someone to pass the ball. Twitter will surely be entertaining when Joe Johnson puts himself in late game Isolation situations against the top rated defensive team in the league. Oh, the fun that we will have with those contested jump shots! Rose, too, however,  works almost exclusively in Isolation sets. He pulls his defender out on an island, makes a move by him, and bull-rushes the rim. It is simple and more effective than it sounds.

Since the Bulls rely heavily on their rebounding, Joakim Noah will have to be as frustrating and annoying as he was against the Pacers. Atlanta’s up tick in rebounding should concern the Bulls…to an extent. Where Noah will be valuable is on second chance opportunities and tip ins.

Prediction:

Chicago is better than Atlanta. Plain and simple. However, the Hawks just upset a Magic team that features, as some believe, the league’s most dominant big man. With Hinrich out, the Hawks are down a capable scorer who can play both sides of the ball. Because everything the Hawks have done offensively against the Bulls this season can be described as anemic at best, this is a point of concern. The Hawks find themselves flying too close to the sun and in their fall back to Earth they will not be able to keep up with the running of the Bulls. Bulls defeat Hawks 4-1.

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by | April 25, 2011 · 9:49 PM

Do you believe in Magic?

Even David Blaine Can't save the Magic.

Right now, the Orlando faithful are scratching their heads.

Last season, it looked so easy.  This year, not so much.

During the 2009-10 postseason, the Magic swept Charlotte and then Atlanta before losing to Boston in six during the Eastern Conference finals.  Remember?

Well, obviously the Magic don’t remember how “easy” it was to blow through the Eastern Conference playoffs since one of the teams listen above, Atlanta, is giving them quite the headache right now.

They sit at 3-1 against a Hawks team that is well, a lot better than them.  Jamal Crawford and Joe Johnson are shooting lights out.  The two have scored a combined 176 points in the four, low scoring games so far this series with Crawford averaging 24 points a game and Johnson putting up 20.

On the other end, Atlanta has essentially let Dwight Howard do whatever he wants on the floor.  He is having his best postseason yet with 32 points and 17 rebounds a game including a 46-point performance in game one (a loss).

Orlando and New York made the biggest trades of the regular season but now it’s not looking like neither really did enough.  The Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony trade didn’t help them get out of the first round and now it’s looking like the Magic’s wheeling and dealing isn’t helping them out much as well.  Jason Richardson was acquired from Phoenix but was suspended for game four for pushing the Hawks’ Zaza Pachulia.  He hit a key three pointer in their game two win but has only been putting up just over 8 points a night.

Dwight Howard stands alone.

The Magic could have definitely used that three pointer in game four but instead gave the shot to another player they acquired this year in Hedo Turkoglu.  In the waning minutes of the game, Stan Van Gundy had his squad run a play to put the ball in Hedo’s hands.  Al Horford tipped it and the play never really had a chance as Turkoglu took an off balance shot to tie it.  He too is having a dismal series with just over 7 points a game.

Game four’s second half belonged to Gilbert Arenas who is also new to Orlando.  He even brought the game to within two points with a jumper under the basket with 22 seconds left in the fourth.  However, you may want to blame Van Gundy for not putting the ball in his hottest player’s hand when the game was winding down.  He too is having a forgettable first round with only 9 points a game with 6 in game one, 2 in game two, none in game three and 20 in game four.  The old point guard only has six assists in the entire series.

However, it’s not just the new kids on the block that are holding the Magic back.  We stated that J.J. Redick would be an x factor in this matchup but so far, he’s been pretty bad as well.  Five points a game including zero in game four by shooting 0 for 6 from the four.  Same goes for Ryan Anderson who is in his second season with Orlando.  We thought that he would be used to spread the defense thin by playing alongside Howard but he is mainly being used to rest the big guy.  He’s only hit four shots from the floor against the Hawks and only putting up 3 points a night.  He’s only contributing defensively but Orlando needs to be scoring a lot.

The only Magic we are seeing from Orlando is a disappearing act.  With only one player showing up in Dwight, this series could be over very soon for Stan Van Gundy and company.  Right now, they are being outplayed in nearly ever facet: the Hawks are scoring against them and shutting down all of their role players.

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by | January 21, 2011 · 9:24 PM

Hawks impersonate Icarus against Hornets

David West and the Hornets pushed the Hawks around all night.

The Atlanta Hawks suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of the New Orleans Hornets on Friday night. Atlanta managed only 25 points in the second half as they were destroyed 100-59.

Only Josh Smith and Jamal Crawford scored in double figures for the Hawks with 13 and 14 points respectively. The next highest scorer was Joe Johnson who had nine. As a team, the Hawks shot 23-79 for a lowly 29.1 percent on field goals.

Combined with the pathetic scoring output, Atlanta was also outworked on the glass as New Orleans out rebounded them 55-32.

Leading the charge for New Orleans was Chris Paul who had 16 points as four Hornets reached double figure scoring. Paul also had eight assists.

The Hornets shot 48 percent for the evening including making eight of their 15 three-point attempts.

Atlanta was without Al Horford who missed the game due to sore right ankle. It was very apparent how important Horford is to the Hawks as they were carved up by the Hornets offense. The loss snaps Atlanta’s two game winning streak.

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by | December 2, 2010 · 4:12 PM

Joe Johnson’s injured elbow puts strain on Hawks

Joe Johnson could miss up to six weeks.

Just when winning looked easy in Atlanta, Joe Johnson’s elbow could put a snag in the season.

The nine-year veteran will undergo surgery today for a “loose body” in his elbow and could be out four to six weeks.  The team announced the need for surgery on Wednesday after orthopedic Dr. James Andrews revealed the bad news.

Johnson was one of the top free agents of last season’s historic free agency.  The Hawks subsequently resigned him to a max deal for $124 million over the next six seasons.  Many claimed that the deal was too much and it’s starting to look like it may not pay off immediately for Atlanta.

He is averaging just over 17 points a game, which is down from the 21 that he, averaged last season.  However, it has been speculated that Johnson has been playing with the injury for some time now.  The shooter has shot only 23 of 61 from the field over the last five games including a seven-point performance against the Knicks last week.

Maurice Evans replaced Johnson in the starting lineup on Wednesday as the Hawks beat the Memphis Grizzlies 112-109.  Evans too has missed some of this season due to injury when he sat out eight games with an injured knee.  He really is known more for his defensive skills than scoring seeing as he is only putting up five points a game.

Head coach Larry Drew will also have to continue playing Marvin Williams who is already averaging 28 minutes a game.  He’s used to playing but may not be able to fill in completely.

The guard position itself isn’t very strong in Atlanta with Jamal Crawford not having the season he had last year.   The reigning Sixth Man is averaging only 14 points a game from 18 last season.  Some say he may be taking it easy this year since he will become a free agent this season and an injury wont help him sign big money.

Regardless, the Hawks could be in trouble.  Johnson is their best scorer and with only 100 points a game, their scoring wil dip even more.  In addition, the veteran’s leadership will be missed especially in a season with a brand new coach.

It’s hard to speculate what a four to six-week injury could do to a team especially when the top guy goes down.  The next few weeks will really show what the Hawks have as far as depth but also how they respond to change.

It’s a new season and a new contract but Johnson wont be making the impact that Atlanta paid for until late January.

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by | October 24, 2010 · 11:36 PM

The Kobe Beef indulges a Fantasy

Our fantasy does not exist on an island

Soon everything will be right with the world again. The NBA resumes on Tuesday night. Once again we will be treated to the poor calls of referees especially on the quick on the draw technical fouls, the media will continue to sweat everything Miami, Los Angeles (not the Clippers), Boston, and Oklahoma City, and the league and the players union will grow ever closer to an impasse and eventual lockout. Yes, the world will be right. What this time of year also means is that fantasy basketball is here too. Our draft was Sunday night. Here at the Beef it will be our third nonconsecutive year that we have played together. There are eight other teams in our league. We figured that we would share our opening day rosters with you.

First, the roster spots:

Rosters consist of 15 available slots with only 12 players being able to be played on a given night. The positions are point guard, shooting guard, guard, small forward, power forward, forward, two centers, and four utility players.

Statistics are as follows:

Field Goals Attempted (FGA) -.25; Field Goals Made (FGM) 2.25; Free Throws Attempted (FTA) -.25; Free Throws Made (FTM) 1.25; 3-point Shots Attempted (3PTA) -1; 3-point Shots Made (3PTM) 4; Points Scored (PTS) .25; Offensive Rebounds (OREB) 2; Defensive Rebounds (DREB) 1.25; Assists (AST) 2; Steals (ST) 1.75; Blocked Shots (BLK) 2; Turnovers (TO) -2

Now without further adieu, our rosters:

TruWariers 5.0 (this will be the fifth season of the TruWariers; one championship, two third place finishes)

Dipset (this will be the third season of Dipset; two second place finishes)

We’ll keep you updated (albeit infrequently) on how our teams do this season. If you have a team, good luck to you as well.

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by | October 8, 2010 · 2:57 PM

Beefy Power Rankings

The preseason is underway and it’s time to rank these teams accordingly.  There are some obvious picks in the mix but there will be some surprises this season.  It’s our power rankings.

1. The Miami Heat

This is a no brainer.  Imagine the Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen signings happening 10 years before they did.  A mixture of three All-Stars built behind Pat Riley’s ego doesn’t spell CHAMPIONSHIP.  It spells DYNASTY.

2.  The Los Angeles Lakers

The defending champions will have the ability to compete for another title as long as Kobe Byrant Stays healthy.  The acquisition of Matt Barnes gives this defense a lot more bite and they finally have a backup point guard in Steve Blake.

3.  The Dallas Mavericks

They may be a little too high on this for some people but we need to consider how they faired after last season’s trade with Washington.  They have had an entire offseason to mold together as a team and their best pickup of free agency, Tyson Chandler, is coming off a gold performance with team USA.

4.  The Orlando Magic

Even though Stan Van Gundy can no longer sport those turtlenecks, the Magic will contend.  Yes, they lost a good defender in Barnes but their contract with Vince Carter expires at the end of the season and he could be very valuable trade bait.  If they could compete last year, they should compete yet again this season.

5.  The Oklahoma City Thunder

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are both coming off of a great summer with team USA.  Their leadership has grown exponentially and we expect it to show on the court.  There will be thunder in Oklahoma City.

6.  The Boston Celtics

Age has always been this team’s Achilles heal and the Shaquille O’Neal signing didn’t make them any younger.  Rajon Rondo proved that he is one of the best point guards in the league last season.  Jermaine O’Neal will give some more depth to the frontcourt but Ray Allen and Paul Pierce need to prove their worth yet again.

7.  The Chicago Bulls

The Bulls had probably one of the most impressive offseasons outside of Miami.  Carlos Boozer and Ronnie Brewer alone will improve the depth on this fairly young squad.  Tom Thibodeaou’s defensive mindset will work well in Chicago and Derrick Rose is proving to be a top player in the league.

8.  The Phoenix Suns

Last season’s Western Conference Playoffs were a definite surprise for everyone.  After losing Amar’e Stoudemire, don’t expect the Suns to stumble.  Hakim Warrick will score less but accomplish a lot more under the basket with his ability to actually play defense and hustle.  Goran Dragic knows what he is capable of as well as Robin Lopez.  Don’t expect anything from Hedo Turkoglu since we really don’t know what we’re going to get.

9.  The Utah Jazz

Yes, Loosing Boozer will affect the Jazz but Al Jefferson will spark that frontcourt.  Deron Williams is getting better and better and has stated that he will turn Jefferson into a better player than he already is.  We don’t expect a veteran coach like Jerry Sloan to trip up over loosing a few key players.

10.  The Atlanta Hawks

Head coach Larry Drew is expected to ease off of the isolation offense that implemented Joe Johnson so ineffectively last postseason for the Hawks.  Expect more balance on this team now that they don’t have to worry about a deal with Josh Smith.  Al Hortford is turning out to be a pretty decent basketball player and hopefully Jamal Crawford will play with the same intensity as last season despite contract issues.

11.  The Denver Nuggets

The only thing keeping Denver at 10 is the situation with Carmelo Anthony.  Contract issues can be very distracting.  However, Kenyon Martin should rebound from last season’s injury and the backcourt is stacked with Chauncey Billups and Ty Lawson.  George Karl’s presence alone should revamp this team.

12.  The Milwaukee Bucks

Buck fever hit the nation last season with utter surprise.  Hopefully they can maintain the same level of competition this year.  Andrew Bogut finally has some help in the frontcourt with Drew Gooden and Corey Maggette will offer some veteran leadership on the squad.

13.  The Portland Trailblazers

Health is the main issue for the Blazers this season as both Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla are both coming off of serious injuries.  Luckily, Marcus Camby signed a two-year extension with Portland in April and will be able to hold down the frontcourt until both return.  They must get a full season out of Brandon Roy as well if they want to compete next summer.

14.  The San Antonio Spurs

Age will slowly kill this dying dynasty but until then, plan on one more run by the Spurs.  It’s time for Popavich to put in the young fellas and let DeJaun Blair and George Hill do their thing.  It’s their only hope with such a geriatric squad and an 82-game season.

15.  The Memphis Grizzlies

It may be time for this young Griz team to make the playoffs in the post-Gasol era.  Rudy Gay has shown that this is his team and his time with team USA will hopefully payoff.  It’s a solid core and with Zach Randolph in the mix, anything can happen.  They have several options on who to start at point guard but they really need to figure it out fast since that will determine if they are ready for the playoffs.

16.  The Charlotte Bobcats

They really took a step backwards by losing both Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton.  Stephen Jackson and Gerald Wallace are the best players on the team but they need to stay healthy (Wallace is injured all the time).  D.J. Augustin says he is ready to be this team’s point guard while it’s Tyrus Thomas’s first full season in Charlotte.

17.  The Sacramento Kings

It’s weird putting them up this high (yes, 17 would be high for some of the more recent Kings’ teams) but it all depends on the development of these young kings.  Tyreke Evans has shown that this is his show and hopefully he wont hit a sophomore slump.  Demarcus Cousins has the potential to be a great basketball player if he keeps his head on straight.  Samual Dalembert will hopefully aid in his growth as an NBA big guy.

18.  The Houston Rockets

By limiting Yao Ming’s minutes and Brad Miller already showing signs that his career is dwindling, Houston has a big problem at the center position.  Yes, they may make the playoffs but it depends on a lot of things.  Kevin Martin has already shown that he has trouble adjusting to new offenses and new players from his time in Sacramento (even he has injury problems).  He needs to kick the old habits and start scoring if the Rockets want a chance.

19.  The Indiana Pacers

It all revolves around the point guard position this season for the Pacers.  Darren Collison is good but he really needs to prove his worth.  He is going from a very deep backcourt in New Orleans to a very shallow one in Indiana.  Danny Granger needs to play with the same intensity and injuries need to be kept to a minimum.  If all this works out, the Pacers may be seeing the postseason for the first time in years.

20.  The New Orleans Hornets

An unhappy super star on the squad never helps a team.  This is exactly what is going down in the Big Easy and signing Trevor Ariza will not be a catalyst in making Chris Paul stay.  It is Monty Williams first full season in New Orleans but we have seen that this team’s problems run deep.

21.  The Washington Wizards

Over the past few seasons, we have seen that it takes a lot more than a first round pick to turn a team around.  John Wall is good but something is stirring up in Washington.  Gilbert Arenas has said that it is no longer his team and is eying an exit.  Good luck Gil.  Washington signed you to a maximum six-year contract in 2008.  You aren’t going anywhere.

22.  The Golden State Warriors

The Nelson era is over but we have yet to see if his style of ball with depart as well.  Keith Smart is going to have to implement some defense but that may be hard with a crew that is so used to running and gunning.  We will see some upsets and good games from these young guys but it’s going to take a little more than David Lee to turn it around for the Warriors.

23.  The Minnesota Timberwolves

Kevin Love is coming off of a productive summer and Corey Brewer improved a lot last season.  Michael Beasley has said that he wants to turn his life around and get serious about the game and what better place than the frozen tundra (sarcasm).  Drafting both Wesley Johnson and Lazar Haywood were steps in the right direction but it isn’t the Wolves time… yet.

24.  The Cleveland Cavaliers

Don’t feel sorry for them.  They did this to themselves.  LeBron James had no incentive to stay and management did very little to make him feel welcome by not including him in the coaching decision.  Byron Scott has a lot of work on his hands.  Antawn Jamison will be leading this team now and that wont be enough.  The only glimmer of hope for the Cavs is J.J. Hickson who showed a lot of potential last season.

25.  The New York Knicks

Amar’e Stoudemire and Eddy Curry spell out maybe one of the laziest frontcourts in the NBA.  They will win more games but Mike D’antoni has his work cut out for him.  We have already seen that he has a tendency for pissing his players off with his limited rotations.  Let’s see how that rotation works with a bunch of out-of-shape washouts.

26.  The New Jersey Nets

We have seen what Avery Johnson can do with a team that is already built (The Dallas Mavericks in 2005) but we have yet to see what he does with rebuilding.  He does an excellent job of implementing defensive schemes and the players in New Jersey will prove to be good students.  They finally have some depth with Anthony Morrow, Troy Murphy and Travis Outlaw but a reunion of Devin Harris and the little general could prove disastrous.

27.  The Philadelphia 76ers

It will take more than Evan Turner to turn this team around.  Andre Iguodala has proven that he isn’t a primary scoring threat and Allen Iverson and Andre Miller attributed to his early career success.  There isn’t much else in Philly to take the attention away from him.  Don’t expect much.

28.  The Los Angeles Clippers

Baron Davis showed up for the season out of shape.  Eric Gordon played well in the FIBA Championship but has shown that he is injury prone.  Blake Griffin is showing signs of promise but do we really expect a rookie to turn it around for the other team that plays at Staples Center?

29.  The Detroit Pistons

They are being sold.  That’s about all that they got going for them.

30.  The Toronto Raptors

They will be athletic with Leandro Barbosa, Julian Wright and the growth of DeMar DeRozan but Toronto will suck.  General manager Bryan Colangelo has shown that the Raptors are not done dealing but there really isn’t much for them to offer or even acquire that can turn this franchise around.

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by | October 4, 2010 · 12:10 PM

A Tale of Two Hawks

It was the best of extensions, it was the worst of extensions

The Atlanta Hawks made it clear this summer who they want to stick around to be the centerpiece of their franchise. They signed Joe Johnson to a max contract worth around $120 million over the span of six years. Some thought that a price that high was too much for Johnson after faltering in the playoffs. Rick Sund, the Hawks’ General Manager, thought otherwise and the deal was done. Now that Atlanta has secured a long term deal with their top scorer they must look elsewhere to see who they want to keep on their roster in the coming years.

All summer long, Jamal Crawford has been pushing for an extension with the Hawks. The NBA’s reigning Sixth Man is set to make $10.1 million this season, which will be his eleventh, and would like to ink a long term deal with the team before he becomes eligible for free agency in the summer. However, Sund has been quiet about the whole situation and has yet to offer Crawford a contract extension, let alone even discuss the idea, and will not listen to any trade inquiries concerning Crawford either. The extension that Crawford is hoping for does not appear to be in the cards especially since Sund is not known for granting extensions on veteran contracts.

Because of the stance that the front office has taken, Crawford has said that he will “go elsewhere” if nothing is done to keep him in Atlanta. Going elsewhere, however, is easier said than done since the team is not shopping him. With no extension forthcoming it can be assumed that the Hawks do not have Crawford in their long-term plans. Why should they though? Crawford is entering this season at the age of 30 and will turn 31 in March. An extension, especially one that Crawford would hope for, would be along the lines of a five-year deal. That would mean that he would play into his mid thirties with the Hawks. Generally speaking, this is the time when a player’s performance begins to decline. It is unlikely that Atlanta has any notion of playing Crawford handsomely in the declining years of his career especially when they just gave Johnson a max deal.

Crawford is replaceable and the Hawks know that. The last thing they need to do is offer him the long term extension he wants. If they offer him anything it should be along the lines of a three-year deal around the mid-level exception, nothing more than that. Atlanta needs to prepare for the future and they need money to do so. Mike Bibby is another aging player on their roster that they will need to replace in the coming years, paying Crawford long-term will sap the funds available to continue to build the team and replace veterans with young talent. Planning for the future is exactly what they are doing.

Much to what will certainly be the chagrin of Crawford, Atlanta has entered extension negotiations with Al Horford. Horford is entering his fourth year in the league and the final year of his rookie contract in which he will make $5.4 million. The Hawks have until November 1 to come to terms with Horford on an extension. Under the current CBA rules, his extension could be worth up to $82 million over the course of five years. This would be a deal similar to what Rudy Gay received from Memphis this summer. However, it is uncertain whether the team will offer him the max after the resigning of Johnson and the money involved in that deal. If the two sides cannot reach an agreement by November 1 then the Hawks could only offer a one year extension worth $7.1, by June 30, and would retain the rights to him and therefore be able to match any offer sheet which Horford may sign when he becomes a free agent next summer.

So why are the Hawks so keen on re-upping on Horford and not Crawford? It is the money, stupid. Well, kind of. Age plays a factor too. For now, though, it is the money. While it would be likely that Crawford would not insist on the maximum value on an extension, what he would want certainly would not be cheap. The Eastern Conference seems to be getting better every day and to remain competitive the Hawks need to be financially flexible for the future. An aging jump shooter just is not something at money should be spent on right now especially when there are younger and arguably better players who will become available and fill Crawford’s role in Atlanta. Inking Horford, however, is a no-brainer. He is coming off an All Star season and looks to be headed only up. Although he was no match for Dwight Howard in the playoffs (who really is, though?), Horford is a more than capable big man who has consistently averaged close to a double-double in his three years in the league so far.

For Rick Sund and the Atlanta Hawks, the choice is a no brainer and looks to have been made. There is only room for one “ford” in Atlanta. Keeping Al Horford is a must because of his upside and potential to get even better. Jamal Crawford is expendable. However, the team will gladly keep him around this season despite his less than enthusiastic demeanor in training camp. Why would they move him now anyway? He fills a necessary role on the team. Short-term, Crawford is viable. Long-term, though…well, there is not a long-term anything for Crawford in Atlanta and he should prepare to “go elsewhere” come next summer.

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by | April 29, 2010 · 1:29 PM

Fear the Deer

Surprise!

Everybody knew it was over before it began. There was simply no hope of advancing especially when pitted against such a seasoned and well rounded group with contender aspirations. They had been here before and gone toe to toe with the elite. This year they even added a new threat to bolster an already potent roster. In the Eastern Conference, where three of the series have already concluded, one continues on, to the surprise of many. This series is like the Land of the Lost in the East as somehow it has fallen into a dimensional portal where legitimate competition still exists. (Imagine, if you will, a giant hawk and deer chasing sports writers through a prehistoric land while constantly battling each other.) Unlike the other series’ where the losing team won a total of two combined games, the series pitting two animalistic forces against one another has yet to be decided. What everybody was so certain of before the series began has only proven to show how little anyone actually knew.

When Andrew Bogut went down towards the end of the regular season the Milwaukee Bucks lost their best defensive player. At the time they were poised to face the Boston Celtics in the first round in what many considered to be a rather favorable draw considering how poorly the Celtics were playing at that time. (Boston clearly drank its prune juice just before the playoffs began as they look like a completely different team after making quick work of the Miami Heat.) Instead the Bucks dropped a seed and were paired with Atlanta to open the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. The writing was on the wall. Atlanta is making their third consecutive playoff appearance and is looking to improve on last season’s playoff run where they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern semifinals. It was assumed that they would be the aggressor wanting to capitalize on the opportunity to solidify themselves as an elite team in the East. Milwaukee, on the other hand, had not even reached the postseason since 2006 and has not won a playoff series since losing in the Eastern Conference finals in 2001.

After the first two games the Hawks looked to have a commanding stranglehold on the series. In the first two games the Hawks won by ten points each time. Paced by their regular season scoring leaders, Joe Johnson and Sixth Man of the Year, Jamal Crawford, Atlanta seemed to be firing on all cylinders. Johnson scored a total of 49 points in the two wins while Crawford scored 17 in the first game but had a low scoring game two. However, when Crawford went cold the slack was quickly picked up by others. Al Horford and the human highlight reel that is Josh Smith more than made up for Crawford’s off game with superb performances of their own. Smith totaled 21 points, cleaned the glass for 14 rebounds, and dished out nine dimes while Horford had 20 points and ten rebounds. With Bogut out these two were more than eager to dominate all aspects of the painted area on both sides of the floor. Who could stop them? Yet, not all is what it seems in the two games that Atlanta was able to notch in their belt.

During the first encounter between the teams the Hawks were able to build a 20 point lead in the first quarter and were able to sustain that lead which grew to 22 point at halftime. One half, just one half of basketball is how much the Hawks actually played in that game. It was enough in the end but was telling of what the future had in store. All season long the Atlanta Hawks have had trouble closing out games and if it were not for such a big lead they might have very well found themselves on the wrong side of the win/loss column. Game two was a much more even affair with Milwaukee hanging around much to the chagrin of the Hawks.  The third quarter was when Atlanta finally was able to pull away outscoring the Bucks 24-16. One good quarter of play, that is all it took but this is a team that was supposed to dismantle Milwaukee with their star player out for the playoffs. Nonetheless the Hawks won the first two games on their home court but in the wins another story was lurking just below the surface.

Brandon Jennings, who will likely come in second or third in the ROY voting today after Tyreke Evans is announced the winner, carried the Bucks in game one. In fact, he essentially was the Bucks in the first game. Atlanta had no answer for him. He scored 34 points and connecting on four of six shots from behind the arc. Over all he was 14-25 shooting for the game. These numbers could have been higher for Jennings, however, as he had five of his shots blocked. It would be wise to note again that the Bucks only lost by ten points. In the second game the Hawks gave Joe Johnson the task of guarding Jennings for much of the game. This had the desired result for Atlanta as it slowed down Jennings but the side effect to slowing the production of Jennings was that it awoke the powers of Sampson that John Salmons stores in his beard.

Since being acquired from the Bulls (who looked as though they still needed his scoring might in their series with the Cavs) Salmons has been a major factor on both sides of the ball for the Bucks contributing heavily to their success. He shouldered Milwaukee’s scoring attack for the second and third games of the series scoring 21 and 22 points respectively. It would take more than the effort than one player to get the Bucks back into the series however, and they would get it once they returned to the Bradley Center. Milwaukee pounced on the Hawks quickly in game three scoring 39 points in the first quarter on route to an eighteen point rout of the Hawks. Their attack was finally balanced, despite Brandon Jennings sitting out after a fall, with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Luke Ridnour, Ersan Ilyasova, and Jerry Stackhouse all scoring in double figures to go along with Jennings’ 13 points and Salmons’ scoring output. Jerry Stackhouse has had a sort of resurgence during this series as he has been one of Milwaukee’s best bench players.  A series was beginning to take shape.

In game four it was more of the same for the Bucks in terms of scoring distribution as it was spread among several players again. Carlos Delfino was key for Milwaukee scoring 22 points with 18 of those points coming from downtown. Jennings returned to form scoring 23 points and Salmons contributed 22 as the Bucks won 111-104. The Bradley Center completely rejuvenated the Bucks and they are playing like the team that made the successful run after the All Star break to solidify a playoff spot. In the absence of Andrew Bogut, Kurt Thomas and Dan Gadzuric have performed stoutly in the middle. So each team has won on their home floor. This is the point of home court advantage and the series was now tied at two games apiece. Atlanta’s early swagger had all but vanished since their early success, not only could not finish games strong, they were not even in a position to win the games late as Milwaukee paraded to the foul line late in game four allowing them to hold off a push by the Hawks.

Last night in Atlanta the Hawks looked to regain their lost confidence as they took the court at Philips Arena where they had won fourteen straight games. The Hawks scored consistently in the first three quarters totaling 23 points in each and went into the fourth quarter with a 69-61 lead. With 4:10 left in the game the Hawks led 82-73 and appeared in control in front of their home crowd. However, the Bucks went on an 18-5 run to close the game and give them a 91-87 win stamping out the high flying Hawks and their aspirations of victory. With the win, Milwaukee now holds a three games to two series lead. Again, the Bucks’ usual suspects paced the team. Jennings scored 25 points and Salmons pitched in 19 in the win.

Atlanta has no answer for Milwaukee’s two main scoring threats and has blown each opportunity they have had to regain some semblance of their former selves. Joe Johnson has been the only constant for the Hawks as his teammates have not played consistently each game. Jamal Crawford, Al Horford, and Josh Smith have all been crucial at times but their efforts are not coming when the Hawks need it most. Unless they can solve the problem that Jennings and Salmons have created defensively Atlanta can only hope to survive their next game in the Bradley Center. Major adjustments must be made for force a game seven. The once lauded Hawks are in trouble, can they stop the Bucks’ stampede? Atlanta’s missteps have, however, given the otherwise uneventful Eastern Conference first round a series worth watching. No one doubted that this was their series to win.

What everyone knew turned out be nothing at all. Without Bogut each player for Milwaukee has elevated their play to get the Bucks into the position they are in. Instead of succumbing to Atlanta’s buckshot, they have clipped the wings of the Hawks. Playing in front of their hometown fans, with chants of “fear the deer” reigning down, will give the Bucks extra motivation to win game six and advance to meet the rested Magic in the semifinals. Atlanta’s singular task is to force a game seven but if their two previous games in the Bradley Center are any indication of their performance the outlook is dim. It would not be ludicrous to assume that the Hawks could be the outcast when the Orlando Magic resume play for the second round.

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