Monday Afternoon Links

A few things to peruse in anticipation of a slim majority of Atlanta Hawks (and that only if Josh Smith goes) participating in tonight's exhibition game in Detroit...

• Peachtree Hoops hunted down a link to a Detroit radio broadcast.
• There's at least one mountain to climb before getting coverage of the home team's pre-season games: having more than 20% of the players pictured on the ticket advertisements be members of the home team. Josh Smith would be well within his rights to throw his arms up in disbelief over that marketing call.
• Two new additions to the TrueHoop Network: The Heat Index brings the most experienced team yet assembled to bear on what could be a fascinating season. HoopSpeak features, amongst other draws, a "slower, shorter, friendlier Mike Bibby."
• I think you should buy Pro Basketball Prospectus 2010-11. Should my recommendation not prove sufficient, read a chapter for free: SCHOENE Explained.

Links For a Long Weekend

• According to Kelly Dwyer's positional rankings, the Hawks had none of the league's top 30 point guards but do possess two of the top 12 shooting guards. Dwyer on #12, Jamal Crawford:

  Though Crawford's game has made you cringe for years, it was still great to see this veteran of the rebuilding process finally take to a role that suited him, win the Sixth Man Award and make the playoffs for the first time in his 10-year career. Crawford can make the jump pass (not the most fundamentally sound dish), and he tries to use his length defensively, but his best skill is still getting really, really, really hot from long range and firing in a defender's face after a crossover that fools nobody into thinking he's driving. More of the same, please.

  Dwyer on #4, Joe Johnson:

  I called his contract extension "the worst contract in NBA history," and I meant it. $120 million to a 29-year old, until he's 35? Terrible. But for this season, and the next, Johnson will be a sound all-around wing player for the Hawks. Yes, he needs the ball and plenty of minutes to drop his (over) 20 and (nearly) five and five, but he's also a lower rung All-Star who can be counted on to sop up minutes (and for that yearly January swoon, as the minutes catch up to him), and that's enough for a top five ranking at this position.

• Wherein TrueHoop Network bloggers make overtures for Carmelo Anthony.
• The Hawks are introducing dynamic pricing for individual game tickets. At TrueHoop, Kevin Arnovitz expounds on how this makes financial sense for the team and for certain fans.
• In other ticket related news, the Hawks are allowing early season ticket purchasers up to eight months to pay for those tickets.
• Charley Rosen's checklist for NBA head coaching success.
• Save your pennies, there will be a Basketball Prospectus 2010-11 book on which to spend them.