HoopSpeak: Harper: The Hawks and Kumite DVDs

Yesterday, I linked to Eric Freeman using "Kicking and Screaming" to preview the Atlanta Hawks. Today, I link to Zach Harper using some other premillennial home video favorites for the same purpose:

There is something about Van Damme movies that I’ve always enjoyed. Maybe it’s because I can’t do the splits and appreciate that level of flexibility. Maybe it’s that while they’re extremely entertaining and a great way to kill a couple of hours with eyebrow flirting (It’s the only way he knows how to flirt), a disarming and sometimes intelligible accent, and flying roundhouse kicks to catapult through random wood doors and bay windows. Or maybe it’s just that I’ve always wanted the supreme balance to hold my foot in someone’s face and then turn my body 90 degrees before putting it down.

Whatever the reason is, I appreciate the level of entertainment they provide while not having to fully invest in the franchise. You can find a bargain version of each DVD and think you got a steal.

That’s kind of what it’s like following the Atlanta Hawks over the past year. They’ve spent so lavishly on “DVDs” that are so unsatisfying when you realize how much you spent on them, that you start relishing when you find a bargain. Al Horford is a legitimate bargain for the five-year, $60 million extension. Tracy McGrady and whatever he can hopefully bring to the Hawks before his back gives out is probably a steal for the veteran’s minimum.

But do those contracts make you honestly feel better about what the Hawks have going for them? Does it make up for Joe Johnson’s absurd contract or the money you’re paying Josh Smith to sandwich his YouTube highlights betweens multiple slices of horrendous shot selection? We want to like the Hawks because they seem like they’d be really fun. But in reality, it’s a mismatched clusterfluff of annoyance and frustration at what we want the potential to be.

A Terriers* fan would have gone with fustercluck.

*Now streaming on Netflix.

Monday's Pre-Season Game To Be Televised On NBA TV

Atlanta's trip to Charlotte on December 19th will be one of 10 pre-season games shown live over a six-day period on NBA TV. John Schuhmann:

It’s been exactly six months since we’ve seen live NBA basketball, but the drought is about to end. The preseason tips off on Friday. And while the action is bound to be a little sloppy, we’re all salivating at the thought of seeing our teams back in action.

And NBA TV has got you covered, televising 10 preseason games over the course of six days, beginning with No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving‘s first game in an NBA uniform.

Here’s the full NBA TV preseason schedule (all times EST), which includes 18 of the 30 teams…

Friday, Dec. 16
Cleveland @ Detroit, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 17
New York @ New Jersey, 2 p.m.
San Antonio @ Houston, 8 p.m
Sacramento @ Golden State, 10:30 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 18
Oklahoma City @ Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 19
Atlanta @ Charlotte, 7 p.m.
LA Clippers @ LA Lakers, 10:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 20
Washington @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 21
Miami @ Orlando, 7 p.m.
LA Lakers @ LA Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

Post-lockout basketball plus the meaninglessness of exhibition basketball plus the long-gestating need to make snap judgments equals entertainment gold.

NBA Playbook: Looking At The “New” Atlanta Hawks Offense

For those blacked-out locally from tonight's nationally broadcast exhibition game against Orlando, I offer Sebastian Pruiti's thorough look at the new elements of the Atlanta Hawks offense from the October 12th exhibition game in Washington.

Bet It Hit Rim will address the same topic in a new video to premiere Thursday night or Friday morning.

NBA TV To Begin Announcement of 2010-11 Schedule Tonigh

There's an hour-long special at 7pm (EDT) tonight on NBA TV to announce the national television schedule for the NBA Tip-Off ’10, Christmas Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day games.

Rick Kamla hosts with Chris Webber, Steve Kerr, Kenny Smith, and Craig Sager joining him.

The full 2010-11 NBA schedule will be released next Tuesday, August 10th.

Links For the Day

My summer league roster analysis probably won't be finished today. Tiding you over...

• Kevin Arnovitz has a quick guide to the Vegas Summer League which begins today and can be seen on ESPN3 (4pm EDT), NBA TV (4pm EDT), or Summer League Broadband ($).
• Larry Drew's coaching staff is in place. If things don't work for the Hawks this year, Mike Woodson is going to look a lot better to a lot of people.
• Joe Johnson's contract: $123.7 million.
  
• Dan Gilbert puts bad ownership (and the scourge of unnecessary capitalization) in perspective. The folks burning their LeBron jerseys seem composed in comparison to Mr. Gilbert.
  
• Rough estimates (extremely rough estimates) for the 2010-11 Heat. John Hollinger said 61 wins, though he's published an updated, 56-win prediction this morning (presumably that latter prediction would rise were Mario Chalmers and/or Mike Miller are included in place of random replacement-level players). Neil Paine says 61 wins in "the absolute worst case." Haralobos Voulgaris says 64 wins. Kevin Pelton addresses the various inherent difficulties in projecting what happens when three extremely high-usage players join forces and (sensibly?) doesn't give a number but suggests 72 or 73 wins would be "very optimistic." Being in the same division as Miami and Orlando may lock the Hawks into a 5 through 8 in the playoffs. Dave Berri (I think) says 55 wins but I presume that projection could be raised by 8 or 10 wins were the Heat to sign Reggie Evans.
• Mark your calendars for Decision 11' (sic).
• An example of how cap room can help outside of signing free agents.

It Won't Cost To Watch The Hawks In Summer League

Commenter Bob, below the previous post, alerted me to the fact that ESPN3 will be showing at least the first two Hawks games from Vegas.

Thanks, Bob.

It'll Cost To See The Hawks Play In Summer League

There are two venues for the Vegas Summer League: COX Pavilion and The Thomas and Mack Center. The Hawks are playing all of their games in Thomas and Mack Center (surely in tribute to Stacey Augmon). NBA TV is only broadcasting the games played at COX Pavilion.

That's where Summer League Broadband may come in for Hawks fans. $14.95 for the full schedule* of summer league games live and an on demand game archive. Budget accordingly, if applicable. For those on the fence about shelling out to watch scrimmages, I'll be attending the first three summer league games and covering them in this space for the price of free. Definitely a get-what-you-pay-for scenario.

*I've asked for confirmation that this package does include the games in COX Pavilion and will update once that is confirmed or disconfirmed.

UPDATE: confirmed

Hoopinion, Lowering the Bar For Graphic Design Since 2005

...and now to be featured on ESPN2 at 4pm (EDT) today as SportsNation's Site We Like.

Josh Smith FG% By Shot Type

Pretty self-explanatory...

click on graph to enlarge

NBATV Adds Cavs Game on December 29th

The Hawks/Cavs game won the Fan Night voting. The studio crew (Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kevin McHale, and Chris Webber) will leave the studio to broadcast the game from Philips with Craig Sager slated to serve as sideline reporter.

I don't know if the chance to see Sager's jacket in person or the chance not to see his jacket on television will boost attendance but I hope both opportunities appeal to some Hawks fans out there rather than filling the house simply with people desperate to breathe the same air as LeBron James.

All 82 Hawks Games Will Be Televised

Press release and complete TV Schedule

No word on HD broadcasts yet.

NBA Teams To Control Digital Rights To Live Broadcasts of Their Games Next Season

From Forbes.com (HT: Detroit Bad Boys):

Beginning next season, the league, along with its media partner, Turner Sports, plans to put digital rights for live games into the hands of its 30 teams, according to Commissioner David Stern. That would make the NBA the first major sports league to largely de-centralize its Web operation.

Details on possible terms, like fees and minimum advertising guarantees, are still being discussed. But league and team officials figure that local access, while cannibalizing pay products on NBA.com, will add more total viewers for basketball as a whole.

...

It's also an acknowledgment of fans' growing appetite for consuming games on multiple screens. With television, a typical club is allotted roughly 70 games in an 82-game season for which it can sell local cable rights, the balance held back for national telecasts. Now, as online viewership increases, individual teams naturally want a piece of that action.

Next season, the dream of watching all 82 Hawks regular season games may become a reality for more people.

March 1st Game Against Cavaliers Picked Up By ESPN

Official press release:

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced that the March 1 Atlanta Hawks home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers will move to 8 p.m. eastern and televised nationally on ESPN.

“We are extremely pleased that Hawks fans nationwide will get an opportunity to see our team next month,” said Hawks coach Mike Woodson, “and while we’ve enjoyed a great deal of success during the season’s first half, we expect to continue delivering that same type of effort as we prepare for the stretch run to the playoffs.”

This will be the third meeting of the year between these two teams, as Cleveland beat Atlanta 110-96 at Quicken Loans Arena on November 22, with the Hawks returning the favor a month later at Philips Arena (December 13), 97-92.

The broadcast will also air locally on SportSouth and on the radio at 790 the Zone (WQXI Sportsradio 790 AM).