Suns 104 Hawks 99

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
PHX	95.9	1.08	59.2	41.5	9.7	21.9
ATL	95.9	1.03	44.6	28.6	24.5	13.6

With 5:02 left in the game and the Hawks leading 95-94, Josh Smith, matched up against Shaquille O'Neal in the low post had to give up a foul rather than a dunk. In what seemed at the time like a bum break for the Hawks, O'Neal made both free throws to put Phoenix up by a point. In retrospect, Smith's foul was one of the last successful plays a Hawk player would manage the rest of the game.

From the official play-by-play, the next nine Hawks possessions...

1. Josh Smith missed jump shot (off of one pass with 11 seconds left on the shot clock)
2. Joe Johnson missed runner
3. Joe Johnson missed layup
4. Josh Smith missed jump shot (with 8 seconds left on the shot clock)
5. Joe Johnson penetrates into the lane, turns the ball over in traffic
6. Mike Bibby missed three-pointer
7. Josh Smith travels attempting a post move against Amare Stoudemire
8. Josh Smith hits a cutting Solomon Jones with a bullet pass, Leandro Barbosa fouls Jones, who makes both free throws
9. Out of a timeout with 26.2 seconds left, the Hawks struggle to inbound the ball, finally get it to Solomon Jones, who hands off to Joe Johnson. Johnson fails to make any progress toward the basket and takes a guarded, fall-away three-pointer with 18 seconds left. He misses but SOLOMON JONES gets the offensive rebound and the putback.

In a vacuum these possessions are painful enough to recount. Considering that during this stretch Phoenix scored a sum total of 6 points (on a Barbosa three at 3:47 and a Stoudemire layup and one with 26.2 seconds) while turning the ball over three times and the pain of missed opportunities seems more acute.

It's no coincidence that Solomon Jones is the only name to appear in bold type in that list. For a young player of moderate ability and experience who gets little opportunity to play and virtually no opportunity to play in crunch time, Jones was a revelation as his veteran teammates fell apart in the fourth quarter. Jones scored 9 of Atlanta's 19 fourth quarter points. Zaza Pachulia added a bucket and Flip Murray a three-pointer in the final quarter, leaving Joe Johnson (0-7 FGA, 4 assists, 2 turnovers), Mike Bibby (1-3 FGA, 1 assist), Josh Smith (1-5 FGA, 0-3 on jump shots, 2 turnovers), and Marvin Williams (0-1 FGA) to account (or not) for the other five points.

It's a bit unfair to include Bibby in the "fell apart in the fourth quarter" category. Whereas Smith scored 17 points in the first three quarters (while, not coincidentally forgoing the jump shot for the most part) before scoring 2 in the fourth, and Johnson and Williams combined to score 32 points through three quarters before both going scoreless in the fourth, Bibby's fourth quarter three-pointer doubled his made field goals on the day.

In addition to his struggling to make shots, it was (save for a stretch of the third quarter where Matt Barnes and Louis Amundson replaced Grant Hill and O'Neal on the court) difficult for Mike Woodson to find a Sun that wouldn't exploit Bibby's defensive limitations. In the 29:04 that Bibby played, the Hawks were outscored 64-49. In the 18:56 he sat, Atlanta outscored Phoenix 50-40.

That 25 point disparity isn't just down to Bibby having a tough day on both ends of the floor as Flip Murray had another nice game off the bench, scoring 16 points on 9 shots (plus 6 FTA) and chipping in a couple of assists. Murray was 1-4 on three-pointers (and I'm still skeptical that he's been on anything more than hot streak from beyond the arc so far this year) but he's been so effective (and relentless in) backing down opposing backup point guards that I suspect we may see teams make an adjustment to contain Murray by putting a bigger defender on him with the intention of forcing him to shoot more perimeter jumpers.

Mike Woodson:

"We’re playing good basketball. We’re still in the position we need to be, in terms of trying to secure that fourth spot. We’ve just got to go get this one back."

Along with several of my fellow Hawks bloggers, I attended last night's game at the invitation of the Atlanta Hawks* and also attended Woodson's post-game press conference and can offer as a first-hand account that Woodson took what had to have been a frustrating loss (It was certainly frustrating just to watch.) with an admirably equanimity. Something that should not go unremarked even as I still question certain tactical or man management decisions he makes: Mike Woodson appears far more comfortable coaching the Atlanta Hawks than he did last year. Whether this is a cause or a function of the team's success, I know not.

*Thanks to Micah Hart for organizing and hosting and to Rick Sund for taking some questions from the assembled bloggers. With regard to that, it would probably be best if this post were stricken from the record. Sometimes you see them leaving but you don't see the push.

Kelly Dwyer puts the Hawks loss down, in part, to it being one of those days:

Atlanta probably should have won this game, and while I do credit Phoenix's defense to an extent, I think Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby's combined 7-33 shooting had a lot more to do with Johnson and Bibby than the Suns defense.

Michael Schwartz, at Valley of the Suns, recaps the game from the, you guessed it, Suns' perspective and notes Steve Kerr's interesting use of the word "crisis"

First, he’s probably exaggerating with his use of the word “crisis,” but in the scheme of the 2008-09 NBA season, those words couldn’t be more accurate. Losing to the Bobcats by 22 to cap off a run of five losses in six games is a crisis for a team hoping to make the playoffs.

It’s a crisis comparable to six weeks ago when the Suns were embarrassed on the road in consecutive games at New Orleans and Dallas after dropping home games they should have won to Miami and New Jersey. Kerr responded to that “crisis” by sending Raja Bell and Boris Diaw out of town and bringing in Jason Richardson.

I hope this crisis is solved with greater focus and intensity from the players, and as Kerr alluded to, that the Suns find a better place mentally.

And now for what would have led the recap had the Hawks won:



Back with more throughout the day leading up to tonight's game in Miami.

January 25th Open Thread: Phoenix (23-18) @ Atlanta (26-16)

TIP-OFF: 6pm

TELEVISION: SportSouth, NBATV

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Suns

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Al Horford is out. Acie Law IV will be active.

PHOENIX INJURY REPORT: None.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -4, 208.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Valley of the Suns, Ben's Suns Blog, Bright Side of the Sun

PREVIOUSLY, THE PHOENIX SUNS... lost three straight road games, with blowout losses at the Celtics and at the Bobcats (after which Matt Barnes channeled his inner Larry Hughes) sandwiching Mike D'Antoni's revenge. In the first leg of this inter-conference home-and-home, the Suns won 107-102.

Consider this an open thread for all the pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts that you believe deserve a wider audience.

Mike Woodson Needs An Intervention

Sekou Smith wrote a fine Sunday morning story for the AJC about the raised expectation the Hawks have for themselves: 50 wins, homecourt advantage in the first round, etc. The story contains fine, representative quotes from...

...Josh Smith:

"This is definitely a change for us. Really, it’s a blessing to be in this position, considering where we’ve come from. I knew it was going to come all along, but I didn’t know when. It feels good to be on the winning side and being able to fight for home-court advantage during the playoffs, and know that every night we step out there we’re treating every game like a playoff game, like a must win."

...and Mike Bibby:

"We’re obviously trying to do better than we did the [in the first half]. The main thing now is you’re just trying not to lose two games in a row. That’s another big thing. You lose one, you have to get the next one no matter what."

Unimpeachable sentiments that take responsibility for the team's success going forward.

One guess as to what Mike Woodson brought up:

"The priority for us was set after our playoff series against Boston. You have to put it right on their head. If you can take Boston to seven [games], there is no reason why you can’t be one of the top teams in this league if you come in and compete on a night-in and night- out basis. There’s just no excuse. The only way you get there is by taking every game serious and you compete for 48 minutes on a night-in and night-out basis. You do that and you put yourself in a position to win games."

Once again,

• The Hawks lost the series.
  
• Boston outscored the Hawks by 84 points over the seven games.
  
• In none of the four games in Boston were the Hawks ever closer than 13 points during a fourth quarter.
  

So, the priority was set based on a seven-game stretch where the Hawks did not compete for 48 minutes and did not put themselves in a position to win in four out of the seven games and failed most thoroughly and dramatically in the decisive game seven. And here I was thinking that the Hawks have a chance to win 50 games because everybody's having a career year in terms of making three-pointers. I'm must be naive.

Sekou Smith's Josh Childress Interview

The interview was conducted via e-mail. Here's the takeaway question and its answer for Hawks fans:

Q. You’ll have a decision to make this summer in terms of whether to stay in Greece or come back to the NBA. Will the economic troubles here in the States have an impact on your decision?

A. I will have a big decision to make. In all honesty, I don’t know what I will do. I will be a restricted free agent once again this summer. My agent has still been working the phones and keeping communication open with GMs around the league. However, the owners and coaches here in Greece have expressed their interest in me staying even longer than my three-year contract. The economic troubles there definitely won’t impact my decision.

Josh Childress fans may want to read the rest. But very, very interesting? I wouldn't go that far.

Injury Update

Very useful information from Mr. Sekou Smith:

Woodson said Horford will not practice today and will not travel with the team on two-game trip to Miami (Monday) and New York (Wednesday). He will stay in Atlanta for treatment.

Hawks 117 Bucks 87

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
MIL	96.5	0.90	44.3	21.5	20.8	17.6
ATL	96.5	1.21	61	29.9	18.2	16.6

Everything worked. Marvin Williams returned and looked recovered from his concussion. Luke Ridnour couldn't keep Mike Bibby in front of him. Milwaukee's off-the-ball defense was so poor that Josh Smith could repeatedly cut to the basket unimpeded to receive a Bibby pass before finishing with a dunk. The Bucks couldn't make a two-point shot (20-57 2PTFGA, remove Charlie Villanueva and Malik Allen from the equation and it's even worse: 12-45 2PTFGA) with any regularity. Flip Murray and Maurice Evans took advantage of all of their open looks to score 25 points on 13 shots and 18 points on 8 shots respectively. Add it all up and the Hawks earned a rare blowout victory and the welcome opportunity to rest an overworked backcourt prior to the approaching road slog.

The Hawks play Phoenix at home early Sunday night (late Sunday afternoon?) then play 14 of their next 19 games on the road with two of those 5 home games coming against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Atlanta's 2008-09 bogey team, the New Jersey Nets. Getting an extra bit of rest for Johnson and Bibby can only help, as would getting everyone healthy but even then the Hawks would do well to scare .500 over that 19-game stretch.

Nothing but good feelings in the Hawks' locker room.

Mike Bibby:

"We finished our work early tonight."

Flip Murray:

"I needed that. I had to get my swagger back."

Joe Johnson:

"We got to the hole a lot. The pick-and-roll worked to perfection."

Heck, on many a possession, Bibby (or Murray) didn't need a pick to get where they wanted to go.

A different, but equally accurate, assessment from Scott Skiles in the visitors' locker room:

"We didn't show up - in any facet of the game."

At Brew Hoop, Frank Madden suspects that Larry Krystowiak showed up to deliver last night's pre-game pep talk to the Bucks.

At The Human Highlight Blog, Jason Walker posits the Bucks as stooges at a party the Hawks threw for themselves.

January 23rd Open Thread: Milwaukee (21-24) @ Atlanta (25-16)

TIP-OFF: 7:30pm

TELEVISION: SportSouth, NBATV

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Bucks

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Al Horford and Acie Law IV are out. Marvin Williams is probable.

MILWAUKEE INJURY REPORT: Andrew Bogut is out.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Atlanta -5, 203.5 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: Brew Hoop

Tom Enlund of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports this schedule quirk that, on first glance, seems to me more like a schedule inequity for the Bucks:

Due to scheduling quirks, it's the 10th time this season that the Bucks came home off the road to play only one game and then headed back on the road again. That's the most one-game home stands in the league at this point and is more than 22 of the league's teams will face over the entire season.

The Bucks have 12 such "one and done" home games on their schedule this season and the only teams that will have more by the end of the season are Indiana (15), and Cleveland, Detroit and New Jersey with 14 each. Some teams, such as Portland (four), Phoenix (five), the Lakers (six) and New York (six), play far fewer one-game home stands.

Consider this an open thread for all the pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts that you believe deserve a wider audience.

Tomorrow's News Today

And it isn't good news that D. Orlando Ledbetter (great name) reports:

Williams (concussion), Horford (knee bruise) and backup guard Acie Law IV (quadriceps) are not likely to return for tonight’s 7 p.m. game against Milwaukee at Philips Arena.

Williams rode the treadmill at practice and Horford worked out with trainers. Law tried to practice but couldn’t finish and had to ice down his injury.

Peak Ahead: Milwaukee Bucks

In lieu of news to report second-hand, I'll aggregate...

The Milwaukee Bucks, now headed to Atlanta, delivered a comprehensive 133-99 beating to the Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night. Most impressive stat line for the Bucks? Either Charlie Villanueva's 32 points (12-17 FGA, 4-7 3PTA, 4-5 FTA) and 10 rebounds in 32:58 or Ramon Sessions' 21 points (7-7 FGA, 1-1 3PTA, 6-7 FTA) and 7 assists in 25:21. I give the nod to Villanueva. Sessions* turned it over 5 times. Most impressive of all, though, might be that the Bucks played so well without Andrew Bogut (sore back). It was the fourth straight game Bogut missed. No word yet if he'll make the trip to Atlanta** or play Friday night.

Brew Hoop has a typically thorough recap of the game.

Dirk Nowitzki provides the Maverick perspective:

"It's just embarrassing, really. They got whatever they wanted -- wide-open shots, drives, layups."

Further Mavericks reading: The Two Man Game.

*Should Hawks fans be more jealous that Milwaukee is capable of recognizing, acquiring, and using a good, young point guard or that they were able to use a second-round pick to acquire any type of valuable player? Yes, that counts as a Solomon Jones reference.

**Like Al Horford, Bogut stayed home on Milwaukee's recent three-game West Coast swing.

News You Can Use

The "You" in the post title is literal as I don't really understand Twitter yet* but the Atlanta Hawks** do. Sign up to follow the team's official feed here.

*Though there are those whose opinion I value who are pushing me to add a Twitter feed to Hoopinion so I expect I'll have to figure it out sooner rather than later lest the world pass me by.

**Or at least Micah Hart does.

AJC Covers But Doesn't Understand Basketball

What do we with interest in the fourth-best team (to date) in the Eastern Conference get in this morning's paper? An update on either of the injured starters? That Sekou Smith interview with Josh Childress? No and no. We get another anonymous AJC headline writer straddling the line separating satire and honest ignorance:

Defense has Hawks on 50-win pace

Darryl Maxie's accompanying article actually makes little mention of defense which makes sense as the Hawks are 16th in the league in defensive efficiency all the way up from, let's see here, 18th last year. Oh, there's a mention of the Hawks record when holding opponents under 100 points (20-5) but you know that that has more to do with Atlanta playing at the seventh slowest pace in the league. You know because you care.

Unfortunately, the infallibly polite Marvin Williams takes the bait:

"You’ve got to give credit to our defense. When we hold teams under 100 points, we usually win. We’ve snuck in a couple of wins when we didn’t, but I definitely think coach has been stressing that. That’s been his calling card."

Actually coach brings up his calling card later in the article:

"No one gave us a chance —- it was supposed to be a series sweep."

I don't think anyone would begrudge Woodson were he to flaunt this season's success which makes his continued bleating about last season's first-round playoff loss all the more mystifying.

Josh Childress: Back in the USA

Not for fun nor for profit. For sports hernia surgery. In other Childress news, Sekou Smith, in his blog yesterday, teased a yet-to-be-published interview he recently conducted with Josh:

I spoke with Childress at length last week for an interesting Q&A that will be online this week. He mentioned that he was coming back to the states to be examined. I had no idea then that it was something that required surgery. If he’s out that long, his situation with Olympiacos going forward gets very interesting if you’re the Hawks.

Very, very interesting.

It’s impossible to speculate about what might happen. But Childress can opt out of his deal with Olympiacos and the Hawks still own his NBA rights.

Like I said, this latest news could make things very, very interesting.

I doubt it will be anywhere near as interesting as that tease but, really, what have I correctly anticipated regarding this team in the last, oh, nine months.

Also of potential interest: an unsubstantiated rumor that Olympiacos might want Stephon Marbury to replace Childress.

Hawks 105 Bulls 102

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
ATL	92	1.14	48.8	25.9	30	12
CHI	92	1.11	50.6	21.7	47.6	19.6

I'm going to take an opportunity to do something I haven't had opportunity to do recently, something I might should have done in recapping Monday's game and comment positively on the Hawks' team defense. I assumed the good performance Monday had much to do with Toronto missing Jose Calderon and the rest to do with Josh Smith playing well against Chris Bosh. However, last night the Hawks handled Derrick Rose pretty well for the entire game and, admittedly with some help from Vinny Del Negro, kept Ben Gordon from being a factor in the game for the better part of three quarters.

Now, if only that solid team defense had continued after a shot left a Bulls player's hands. Credit to Mike Woodson for resisting the temptation of the four guard lineup for the entire second half thus limiting Chicago's dominance on their offensive glass.

Half	4-Guard Lineup, Minutes Used	Atlanta's DR%
1st	10:33	42.1
2nd	0:00	66.7

On the offensive end of the court, Atlanta's four best players valiantly carried the load in the absence of Al Horford and Marvin Williams which was good as Flip Murray, the only other* alternative, missed 8 of 10 field goals and 2 of his 4 free throw attempts through three quarters. Of course, Flip being the maddening and interesting sort he played the entire fourth quarter, took just three shots, made two of those including his only three-point attempts of the quarter, made both of his free throws, and even picked up an assist.

*and a self-appointed alternative at that

Zaza Pachulia made an offensive impact by utilizing his strength against Joakim Noah* and his quickness against Aaron Gray. Josh Smith (mostly) forswore the jump shot, made his free throws, got what rebounds the Hawks put to their name, and miraculously got back on the court in the second quarter despite committing two personal fouls in the first.

Josh Smith in the first half:

On	13:24	+12
Off	10:36	-15

*I'll admit both that I've always like Joakim Noah more than most and that I don't understand how he's gone from Florida's leading scorer on the first national championship team to a guy who never looks to score but didn't 'Nique go overboard in criticizing Noah's offensive limitations on a night when the young man was dominating the offensive glass and getting a couple of dunks in transition? At least we didn't have to hear him constantly harping on the other team's poor shot selection while they're scoring at will against the Hawks.

Joe Johnson managed to have a terrible shooting night without taking a single shot I noted at the time as being forced plus, despite using 18 shots and 6 free throw attempts to score 16 points, Johnson contributed 8 assists against a single turnover. Johnson's poor shooting night didn't matter because Mike Bibby had a night for the ages: 31 points (12-21 FGA, 5-10 3PTA, 2-2 FTA, 6 assists, 5 steals, 3 turnovers). I don't know which was more impressive: Bibby's shooting or the three steals he picked up in the Bulls' backcourt. I can say with a strong certainty that the latter was more unexpected.

Speaking of which, Mike Bibby:

"It just looked like they wanted to run a little bit, so I was hanging around. hey didn't see me so I just made a shot in there for the ball."

Josh Smith on Bibby:

"He is one of those types of players that when he gets it going, it's kind of hard to stop him. In clutch situations, when we needed a bucket, he was hitting big shot after big shot."

Sekou Smith has more from Bibby:

"They were killing us on the boards all night but the guys kept fighting and I kept telling everybody let’s see what we’re made of and take this game. We were lucky our shots were going in, because they were killing us on the boards."

Both CoCo at The Vent and Jason at The Human Highlight Blog got the numbers out to show how much Mike Bibby had to overcome to lead the Hawks to victory.

From the opposite perspective, Matt McHale of By the Horns looks at the 11 Bulls possessions following Derrick Rose's layup which gave Chicago a 96-93 lead:

Missed three-pointer by Gordon; missed layup by Deng; layup by Gordon; turnover by Rose; missed three-pointer by Hinrich; missed jump shot by Deng; Gordon hit two (out of three) free throws; turnover by Gordon; missed three-pointer by Gordon; desperation three-ball by Rose; Gordon hit one of two foul shots (with the second being an intentional miss so that the Bulls could try and get the ball back before time expired).

The Hawks get two days off before playing the Bucks Friday night at Philips. Even if it's not enough time to get both Marvin Williams and Al Horford healthy, Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby could surely use the rest after both played more than 44-and-a-half minutes last night. Zaza Pachulia may not feel to sprightly himself this morning after playing a season-high 39:18.

January 20th Open Thread: Atlanta (24-16) @ Chicago (18-24)

TIP-OFF: 8:30pm

TELEVISION: SportSouth, NBATV

RADIO: Hawks Radio Network, Audio League Pass

GAME NOTES: Hawks/Bulls

ATLANTA INJURY REPORT: Al Horford and Acie Law IV are out. Marvin Williams is doubtful. Mario West is probable.

CHICAGO INJURY REPORT: Michael Ruffin is out. Drew Gooden is questionable. Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng are probable.

FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY: Chicago -4.5, 198 o/u

OTHER PERSPECTIVES: By the Horns, Blog a Bull

The Bulls lost 102-98 at New York yesterday afternoon, allowing the Knicks to score eight of the game's final nine points. Gooden, Hinrich, and Deng all played in the game.

Consider this an open thread for all the pre-game, in-game, and post-game (but pre-recap) thoughts that you believe deserve a wider audience.

Charley Rosen Hands Out Grades

The Hawks earn a B for the season-to-date:

ATLANTA has been plagued by inconsistency at just about every spot in the lineup. Despite their heroic performance against the Celtics in last season's playoffs, the Hawks still can't play with the big boys. Nevertheless, Joe Johnson is a legit two-way star and the franchise finally has a viable future.

These are highly idiosyncratic grades. To wit, the Philadelphia 76ers (20-21) receive a higher grade than the Boston Celtics (34-9).

The True Hoop Network & Me

If you're just interested in the recap of yesterday's game, by all means click here. I won't mind.

If you're interested in what's going on here as of today, Henry Abbott's got some news for you:

Starting right now, ESPN, TrueHoop, and many of the best independent basketball blogs out there are now officially working hand in hand as the TrueHoop Network.

The TrueHoop Network, as fueled by the efforts of a growing list of favorite basketball bloggers (check out that new little drop down on the right), and newly hired ESPN editor, and top-notch blogger, Kevin Arnovitz, will find and foster excellence in online basketball writing.

As to why this new enterprise came into being, again, Henry:

Thanks to the web, any writer with a measure of dedication, talent, and insight can be found and read (whether or not they have some crony to help them get hired in this tough business).

I have probably read as many basketball articles and blog posts as anyone over the last three-plus years, and I can tell you that there is fantastic work out there, and some of the smartest, most creative, fastest, and fascinating work is outside the mainstream media.

In my mind, if you were doing an honest compendium of the best sportswriting of these last couple of years, you would simply have to include some blog posts.

Put those talented new voices together with the stuff every sports fan wants to know about their team day in and day out, and I believe you have something that will prove to be must-read. To savvy fans in many markets, those kinds of blogs are already must-read. And they have tremendous promise to get even better over the following years.

More details should you care:

The nuts and bolts of the TrueHoop Network are quite simple. In a nutshell: Bloggers maintain their own sites, which they run as they see fit (even with their own ads they sell, if they'd like). They agree to carry some ESPN stuff on their blogs (like that video player), and to generally be responsible. And ESPN.com promotes the blogs' work and content.

Kevin and I will also foster synchronicity between the many websites involved and the many different parts of ESPN. One small example: Right now I'm working on a post about players who are particularly good at defending other players. Of course I'll be asking these bloggers -- who watch a ton of games -- for their thoughts, and they'll make TrueHoop better.

In the years to come, however, these simple kinds of relationships could yield multi-faceted results for readers. Online there is a never-ending stream of more and better ways for clued in people to collaborate and connect. Video, multimedia, audio, things we haven't even thought of yet ... We're going to have a lot of ways to work together.

Further reading: Sports Business Journal

Thanks to Henry Abbott, Kevin Arnovitz, those at ESPN.com who are buttressing this effort, and, of course, my new colleagues. Their blogs are accessible via the True Hoop Network toolbar at the top of the (slightly) reconfigured Hoopinion.

As to those reconfigurations, drop me a line (hoopinion (at) yahoo (dot) com) should you find anything not working or detracting from the easy of use of the site.

Hawks 87 Raptors 84

Boxscore

Gameflow

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
TOR	92.4	0.91	42.9	14.3	26.1	14.1
ATL	92.4	0.94	46.2	17.7	14	15.2

It's not too difficult to explain why the Hawks won: Joe Johnson plus Mike Bibby plus Josh Smith trumps Chris Bosh plus Andrea Bargnani. Anthony Parker made a game effort to serve as both a third scoring option and a fill-in point guard but his good intentions failed to transform his natural state. Beyond those six players little basketball skill and even fewer examples of sound decision-making were on display during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day matinee.

The Hawks, already without Al Horford and Marvin Williams, played most of the first half without Zaza Pachulia because of Mike Woodson's predilection for keeping key frontcourt players on the bench until halftime once they pick their second foul then played most of the second half without Pachulia because, when on the court, he demonstrated little likelihood to make a positive contribution to the home team's cause.

His backup, Solomon Jones, offered little more. To be fair, Jones played better in the second half than he did in the first though that only raised his level of play from obviously out of his depth to generically unproductive. Despite Jones' inability to catch a pass cleanly or set a screen without inducing an anticipatory cringe for the incipient offensive foul or potential injury for either himself or the opponent being screened, Mike Woodson chose not to go to Randolph Morris for a length of time or to Othello Hunter at all. On a day where Thomas Gardner received an opportunity to give pause to those of us who thought he might offer more than Mario West* and West himself got three-and-a-half minutes to practice jumping higher than he could safely land, I believe it's safe to assume that Morris's late-game stint in Phoenix had more to do with his bulk than with a re-evaluation of either his or Jones' abilities.

*A low bar to be sure...

Higher up the rotation, Flip Murray delivered a profoundly mixed performance by undermining his good work going toward the basket (3-6 on 2PTFGA, 3-3 FTA, 3 assists* against 2 turnovers) and on the defensive glass (4 defensive rebounds in 34 minutes isn't remarkable but Murray seemed to make an extra effort on the defensive glass when the Hawks played four guards at a time.) with a staggering seven three-point attempts (five of them coming in the first half) of which he made but one.

*His highest single-game assist total in 40 days.

Josh Smith fared better but was far from perfect in terms of shot selection, settling for five spot-up, perimeter jump shots despite making just one. That means that he made 8-13 shots at and around the basket while also earning eight free throw attempts. That he made just half of those free throw attempts threatened to limit the value of his positive offensive plays to a decisive extent yesterday but one hopes that what Smith takes away from his poor day at the line is that the man whose career free throw percentage has now dipped back below 70 should perhaps refrain from choosing to take shots half again as long. It's hard, though, to dwell on Smith's long-standing self-destructive offensive tendencies on a day when he provided so much defensive value.

Chris Bosh was efficient offensively (22 points on 14 FGA) but the Hawks could live with Bosh being efficient if it meant he only got 14 field goal attempts. As one would expect, Bosh had his way with both Pachulia and Jones. Josh Smith gave Bosh problems both before* and after he received the ball in the post to help slow down the Toronto offense sufficiently in second half for the Hawks to make (barley) enough shots to overtake the Raptors.

*Obviously, Toronto's lack of a decent point guard played a role here as well.

The game was won because Mike Bibby was able to create for himself and make open shots and because Joe Johnson was able to make the difficult shots he created for himself while garnering the full attention of the Toronto defense. Monday was not a day to decry Atlanta's reliance on running isolations for Joe Johnson that really only serve to isolate Johnson from his teammates. The alternative to Johnson shooting over double-teams seemed to be nothing better than a Josh Smith jump shot or a Flip Murray three-pointer or Maurice Evans shooting out of obligation and unguardedness rather than any self-belief that he would make a shot.

Johnson's great talent functioned as a safety net on Monday afternoon. The Hawks would not have won had he not converted any two of his several high degree of difficulty field goal attempts. I hope that once the Hawks return to full strength and Johnson is again surrounded by players approaching his level of ability that all five players are engaged in finding the best, easiest shot on key possessions. Yesterday though, the best shot was any shot Joe Johnson could get. He made enough of them to win a game into which Mike Bibby got them a foothold in the third quarter.

Mike Woodson on the return of Al Horford and Marvin Williams:

"We're a little short-handed right now. We have to step up until Horford and Williams come back. ... We're not going to rush them.''

Chris Bosh was understandably frustrated with the decisions his teammates made when he was so often (so well) deprived of the basketball:

"Just take it to the basket, man, we can get a better shot. We're not in the right positions. We're not making the right passes. We shoot ourselves in the foot every game now.''

That would have been Joe Johnson's quote had a make and a miss gone the opposite direction in the fourth quarter.

Here's Arsenalist at Raptors Republic on the subject:

Alright, let’s get the Jamario Moon hate out of the way early. Sure, he was probably dropped on his head when he was young and then run over by an off-road vehicle. Repeatedly. Yup, that’s the only explanation of why he did what he did yesterday, there can be no other. You have to be dumber than dirt to even try the stunt he pulled. Either he’s got a voice in his head controlled by Mike Woodson which tells him what to do or he’s, well, just plain dumb. The Raptors after playing a solid game were in the midst of some utterly idiotic behavior late in the fourth which included Joey Graham looking off Bosh and taking a contested jumper, Bosh dribbling it off his foot and Moon looking like a landmine had got him when he was faked by Joe Johnson. All this commotion resulted in the Raptors getting the ball back being down one with 41 seconds left. Anthony Parker made the fatal mistake of passing it to Moon on the wing who had made his mind up to shoot four possessions ago and launched a contested 26-footer which clanged violently off the rim. To make matters worse, he follows it up with the grin, you know, the grin?

Michael Grange chimes in as well:

When Joey Graham and Jamario Moon are taking your final shots, you're going to have problems. That said, Bosh didn't distinguish himself by dribbling the ball off his leg when he had his turn. Losing streaks do that to you. In those moments you need to be more relaxed than ever; but when you need a win THIS BAD, it's hard not to tighten up.

Is it indicative of anything (other than that I had the sound off while watching the game) that it never occurred to me that Acie Law's 2:03 stint was cut short by injury rather than coaching decision?

Carroll Rogers reporting in the AJC:

Acie Law had to leave Monday’s game in the second quarter with a right quadriceps contusion after taking a knee to his thigh. He received a cortisone shot and was told by the medical staff to expect to miss seven to 10 days.

I'll attempt to balance the phantom criticism above by repeating a sensible, nay, inarguable thought of Mike Woodson's:

"We’re on pace of where we wanted to be after 40 games. But just for the morale of our locker room this was a big win because we hadn’t been playing well at all."

Josh Smith on defending Bosh:

"We wanted to show Chris Bosh different looks. We felt as though he caught the ball a little bit too easy on the block [in the first half]. We were able to double-team him and cause the ball to rotate around."

Jeff Schultz got Mike Woodson to speak on the subject of the team's toughness:

"When we lost Josh Smith early I thought we were as tough as any team in the league mentally, as well as physically. We’ve kind of lost that edge a little bit. But when I look at our schedule and where we are today, we’re right on pace with where we thought we should be. I’m not in a panic stage right now. If we stay on target we have a chance to win 45-plus games. Surely, we’ll make the playoffs if we do that."

Schultz's final take from yesterday's game:

We’ve learned not to assume greatness. But a win certainly means the bottom isn’t falling out.

The bottom isn't falling out. Now if the Hawks can just find enough healthy bodies to field a team tonight in Chicago.

And Hoopinion's Back

Recap of the MLK Day matinee and other relevant news to follow this morning.

Welcome back.

Hoopinion Is Moving

From this day forward, if you want to read my stray observations about the Atlanta Hawks (which, frankly, figure to continue to consist largely of repetitive criticisms of Mike Woodson) you'll have to do so in the context of a far better designed blog. My blogging bags are packed and I'm moving operations to the brand new Peachtree Hoops, quite practically located at peachtreehoops.com.

The new blog is part of the SBNation network of blogs which, in addition to the aforementioned upgrade in design, offers far more features for readers than I have proven capable of providing on my own.

Thanks to everyone who has read me here. Special thanks to those of you who have taken the time to comment on anything I've written. I hope you'll all choose to participate as much, if not more, at Peachtree Hoops.

Josh Smith Interview: "I'm Still Hungry."

Sekou Smith asks some questions of the team's best player.

I offer this first response as supporting evidence for my contention that Josh Smith is smarter than the only head coach he's ever played under.

Q. You and Al Horford did most of your work last year within the framework of the offense as opposed to anything schemed specifically for the two of you. Are you guys yearning for more designed opportunities that cater to your abilities on the offensive end?

A. I think so. We’re both good enough post players that we can make moves and cause double teams on the block. Al showed that last year and I showed that whenever I got a chance to get the ball in the post. I think we can have an inside out presence, even though we’re undersized, we can cause a lot of mismatches. And I think that helps our team out to have a more balanced attack.

Unfortunately I can also offer the following two responses as supporting evidence that my assumptions should always be treated as such.

Q. One of the biggest knocks of your games is you take a lot of 3-pointers, a lot of ill advised 3-pointers. But you obviously feel comfortable taking those shots. How confident are you in that part of your game now?

A. I feel comfortable. You saw me out here [today], taking and making 3-pointers and mid-range jump shots and they were going in. I feel more confident than I ever have in that part of my game. Listen, I know people are going to scrutinize my game even more now that I’ve got a new contract. They’re going to wonder if I’m all of a sudden satisfied and relaxed or am I going to keep getting better and maintain my hunger. I’m a competitor and I’m still hungry. I go in the gym and work hard every single day to work on my overall game. And you can see the improvement on the court. And all the people that knock me for the shots I take … it doesn’t mean anything to me.

You're a 26 percent three-point shooter, man, 26 percent. For your career. IN almost 400 attempts. Stop it. Shooting three-pointers may feel rebellious and cool but it's really just self-destructive.*

*Strictly in terms of being a basketball player. I do not believe that missing three-pointers, no matter how badly they're missed, how violently they carom off the side of the rim or the backboard itself will actually damage Josh Smith as a human being.

Q. Considering the additions and subtractions made since that Game 7 loss to Boston, is this team as good, better or worse going into training camp?

A. I think it’s a little better because the guys we added have been in the playoffs, been in situations and have been on winning teams. They’re veterans who know what it takes to win. Mo Evans played a huge role in Orlando last year. Flip Murray gives us another breakdown guard who can create off the dribble so Joe won’t have to dribble through three and four people at a time. Mo can knock down a consistent 3-point shot and gives us another offensive weapon to spread the floor. And they’re both good defenders. Randolph Morris is a big body that gives us some much needed depth inside and I think overall these are all good additions to our team.

I have no doubt Flip Murray will gladly pick up any dribbling-through-three-or-four people slack Joe Johnson might allow him.

Hot Spots Now Available Again For Hawks Players

Courtesy of an excellent Micah Hart post examining how Maurice Evans might be expected to make up for the loss of Josh Childress's offensive production, I learned that the Hot Spots for Hawks players are back up.

Frankly, I'd forgotten about them as NBA.com ignored my e-mails about whatever bug allowed me to see shot charts for 29 NBA teams but not the one I harp on about and my season review posts (which originally intended to draw heavily on the freely aggregated data) dragged on and on before sputtering to a conclusion. But, with access restored, I can now definitively state that Josh Smith made 381 of 646 (59%) layup or dunk attempts, 44 of 164 (26.8%) of shots inside 15 feet that were neither layups nor dunks, 66 of 224 (30.4%) of two-point jump shots outside of 15 feet, and 25 of 99 (25.3%) of three-point attempts.

By all means continue posting up Joe Johnson, coach.

Elsewhere, Drew's excited about Josh Smith's arms. And, to date, three other things for next season.

What?

Sekou Smith has either lost his mind or is mining an extreme satiric strain this morning by suggesting that the Atlanta Hawks are winners in free agency.

Even with the departure of Josh Childress to Greece, the Hawks made out like bandits on the free-agent scene. They kept Josh Smith in the fold for a mere $58 million and added much needed veteran help in Mo Evans and Flip Murray at crucial backup backcourt positions at minimum prices. A six-year deal for Smith with the same annual salary would have ended up being around $72 million, which is a bit more than the Hawks were willing to pay their starting power forward. But the Memphis Grizzlies did the heavy lifting for them by presenting Smith with an offer sheet the Hawks matched within hours after receiving it — making good on their promise to do just that when Smith turned down a $45 million offer before the start of his fourth season.

I like Sekou Smith. He takes his job seriously, writes well, and deserves all our sympathy for having to read even some of the comments left on his blog. But I'm not buying this.

• Josh Childress's departure is, in and of itself, seriously damaging. Factor in that Childress was a restricted free agent and the Hawks lost him for nothing and it was, as international media attention would lead you to believe, an historical blunder by the franchise.
• Josh Smith is a relative bargain financially but that figures to be off-set by Mike Woodson's inability/disinterest in maximizing Smith's on-court contributions.
• Maurice Evans should be a slight positive addition. He is not capable of replacing Josh Childress's value, however.
• Flip Murray is a bad basketball player who figures to take minutes away from Acie Law IV, who might be a useful basketball player. Rick Sund signing Murray to play basketball will prove to be worse a worse allocation of resources than Billy Knight signing Speedy Claxton not to play basketball.

That's not a winning slate of free agent decisions.

Season Review: The End of the Bench

Previously: Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Josh Childress, Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby, Acie Law IV, Zaza Pachulia

A quick wrap-up of those who played few minutes last year and should (with one possible exception) play even fewer minutes this season concludes the player-by-player review of the 2007-08 season.

Mario West

West didn't play much; his 270 minutes were spread over 64 games with 20 appearances consisting of less than one minute of playing time. West's effort was always obvious even as he displayed skills useful to winning basketball games less frequently. Part of the problem lay not with West but with Mike Woodson utilizing a player poorly (Shock! Horror!) . Rather than using West's energy to disrupt the opposition's second unit for a couple of minutes every so often, Woodson decided that Mario West was a defensive stopper who should guard the other team's best wing player for one half-court possession at the end of a quarter. West usually responded to this assignment by committing a foul at the first opportunity.*

*Mario West scored 59 points, grabbed 48 rebounds, and committed 61 fouls in his 270 minutes of playing time.

West played fairly well in the two games he started, scoring 11 points and grabbing 7 offensive rebounds in 31 minutes. If you put him on the court with good players the other team may forget about him long enough for him contribute positively. If he hopes to stay in the league as an energy guy for a another season he'll have to learn to defend without fouling. If he hopes to stay in the league for any significant length of time, he'll also need to start knocking down jump shots. He made 2 of 12 jump shots in his rookie year. If he didn't spend the summer working on his lateral movement and shooting thousands of corner three-pointers he'll find Jeremy Richardson or Thomas Gardner holding down his old roster spot.

Solomon Jones

Jones looked every bit the project in his rookie season but there were a few skills (shot selection, free throw shooting, shot blocking) that looked as if they might serve as a foundation for a career coming of the bench and providing useful minutes.

None of those skills were evident in Jones' second season. His field goal percentage fell from 50.8% (128 attempts) to 40% (30 attempts). His free throw shooting dropped from 78.7% (75 attempts) to 55% (20 attempts). He blocked almost half as many shots per minute while committing fouls slightly more frequently. He also managed to turn the ball over on 22% of the offensive possessions he used.

Furthermore, he looked every bit as bad as his numbers would suggest. His lack of basketball awareness or game-readiness rendered his athleticism largely useless. I've no idea why the Hawks have chosen not to send Jones to the D-League so he can get some practice playing basketball. Of course, the bigger question is why they wasted the 33rd pick of the draft of the 2006 Draft on Jones in the first place, other than to demonstrate what can be accomplished when Billy Knight's drafting acumen combines with Mike Woodson's facility for developing young players' skills.

Despite his desperate need for anything approximating game experience, Jones declined to play on the Hawks' summer league team, a decision which should make it more likely that the Hawks trade him for someone, anyone willing to take on his guaranteed contract.

Jeremy Richardson

Over the last two years, Jeremy Richardson has played 152 minutes of NBA basketball across 33 games for 4 different teams. It would be folly to try and derive any meaning from his NBA stats.

He's scored effectively and efficiently in over 1000+ D-league minutes. He deserves a chance not just to make the 2008-09 Hawks roster but to earn some minutes in the rotation (If only due to Josh Childress's massive absence.) as either a shooter or scorer, essentially serving as second-unit insurance for both Maurice Evans' jump shot and Acie Law IV's dribble penetration.

Salim Stoudamire

Salim will be missed by those of us prone to forever believe in his potential to serve as a (likeable) Jannero Pargo type. Rarely used in any way that made sense during his final season in Atlanta, Stoudamire compounded matters by shooting the ball often and with very little success in his rare appearances setting career lows in two-point, three-point, and free throw shooting. Still, I'll root for him wherever he ends up.

Season Review: Zaza Pachulia

Previously: Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Josh Childress, Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby, Acie Law IV

Depending on how valuable you feel signing Stephen Jackson, getting one good year out of him then trading him straight up for Al Harrington was, Zaza Pachulia stands as either the best or second-best (Readers are likely all too aware that there is no third choice for this title.) free agent signing of the Billy Knight era. Not that Zaza has become a fan favorite simply for not being Jason Collier, Esteban Batista, Lorenzen Wright, or Speedy Claxton. I've no doubt more people took note of his productive play than his reasonable contract, though the latter didn't hurt nor did his clear disdain for favorite fan target, Head Coach Mike Woodson.

Pachulia largely escaped criticism last season which was largely fair. He was hurt. His absence was obvious but he wasn't very good even when he played. Limited to 943 minutes last year, Pachulia was far less effective than expected: attempting fewer shots while making a lower percentage of them, matching that diabolical double (fewer attempts/lower percentage) in terms of free throws, not lowering his turnover rate, grabbing fewer offensive rebounds, and appearing even more limited than usual defensively. I believe it's fair to speculate that the drop from getting 2000+ above-average minutes out of Pachulia to getting less than 1000 poor minutes from him cost the Hawks 1 or 2 wins last season even before considering who (Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Solomon Jones) picked up some of those lost minutes*.

*Josh Smith (possibly) and Al Horford (almost certainly) picked up some extra playing time in Pachulia's absence so 1 or 2 wins may well be the extent of the damage.

A return to the form (if not the volume of minutes played) displayed during his first two seasons with the Hawks falls quite heavily on the reasons-to-be-optimistic side of the 2008-09 expectations scale. A healthy Pachulia would help in the half court offense (both by scoring efficiently and as an offensive rebounder), provide the opportunity to play Al Horford at the 4 should matchups necessitate doing so, and allow Randolph Morris to be brought along slowly in the wake of his wasted 16 months with the Knicks.

On the other hand, even having access to a healthy, productive Pachulia for 15-18 minutes a night likely won't be enough to keep the Hawks in the playoff hunt past the All-Star break at which point his reasonable, expiring contract and ability to be a useful role player will quite possibly make him a desired piece for inclusion in a trade wherein Rick Sund gets someone to take on the remainder of Mike Bibby's contract. Or Marvin Williams' contract. Or, if the right offer were made, Joe Johnson's contract.

Zaza may not be long for Atlanta but I'd like to see him go out on a high, healthy note and solidify his time here as having been mutually beneficial. And, hey, there's no law against trading a guy at the deadline and then re-signing him once he's officially a free agent.

Up Next: The rest

Subtraction by Addition: Hawks Sign Flip Murray

I thought signing Jannero Pargo was a bad idea but leave it to the Atlanta Hawks to take an unappealing hypothetical transaction and do one worse by making an unexpected actual move that's far more dispiriting: signing Flip Murray to block Acie Law IV.

Rick Sund:

"By signing Flip, it provides us with another experienced player who has the ability to play multiple positions for us. Because of his versatility, he will be a valuable asset for us as a reserve, and we look forward to the contributions he'll bring this season."

Here's looking forward to Murray playing both guard positions (badly), embodying the inverse of Josh Childress (Murray dominates the ball and scores only by taking lots of low-percentage shots.) on a nightly basis, and providing Josh Smith with some healthy competition for hoisting the most cringe-inducing three-point attempts.

Murray's managed to attempt 616 three-pointers over 332 career games despite making just 27.9% of those attempts. For his career, he scores 15 points per 36 minutes but needs 14 field goal and 3.8 free throw attempts per 36 minutes to get those points. He has been more willing to pass the ball recently, having raised his assist rate to something resembling a point guard's the last two years. I'm skeptical that he'll maintain that rate as he transitions from playing with his Piston teammates in Flip Saunders' offense to playing with his Hawk teammates in Mike Woodson's "offense," but he did deign to pick up some assists during his time with the Pacers last year.

If your not sufficiently sated by my encompassing pessimism, Micah Hart offers a far more positive reaction to the signing here.

UPDATE: There's also an interview with Flip Murray now up on the official site:

Hawks.com: The Hawks have lacked guys who can create their own shots in the past. Is that something that you see as part of your role with the team?

FM: Definitely. I had a conference call with the team when we were negotiating the deal, and I got a chance to talk to Coach Woodson. I asked him exactly what role he was looking to fill, and he said he was looking for a combo-guard, a guy who could create his own shot and make plays happen on his own. Hearing that opened my eyes and made the decision that much easier for me.

Ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.

(Pause)

Quietly chokes back tears.

Hawks Sign Thomas Gardner & Othello Hunter

The news, in short, from the team's release:

The Atlanta Hawks have signed free agents Thomas Gardner and Othello Hunter to contracts, it was announced today by General Manager Rick Sund. Per team policy, terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

Thomas Gardner could fill Salim Stoudamire's (shooting) shoes, but, unlike Stoudamire, there's no reason to expect Gardner to make many shots. Disappointment pre-empted, I guess. Gardner's much bigger than Stoudamire but unless he added some skills while playing in Belgium, he's no better a defender.

Othello Hunter, I like. Given the opportunity, he could go a way toward replacing some of Josh Childress's offensive rebounding contribution. Though undersized (6-7, 220) even as a collegiate post player, Hunter grabbed 15.7% of possible offensive rebounds on Ohio State's 2007 NCAA Runners-up team and 11.2% of possible offensive rebounds on Ohio State's 2008 NIT Champion team.

Hunter should be capable of backing up Josh Smith on nights when the opposing team does not make it necessary for Al Horford to playthe 4 much, if at all. Even better, unlike recent, previous iterations of energy guys (Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright, Solomon Jones, Esteban Batista) on the Hawks' bench, Hunter both comes at relatively little cost and provides actual energy rather than mere plodding or awkwardness.

Sanity Prevails

The Hawks match the offer sheet and pay the man his money.

Next step: build a team around Smith and Horford.

Mark Bradley needs to get on that particular trolly. His otherwise reasonably critical column regarding the organization's decision-making process refers to Smith as the team's "third-best player."

Sekou Smith's reaction blog entry quite rightly focuses on the future: Smith and Horford. (He also floats the idea of signing Jannero Pargo which I doubt will come to pass but should it will result in endless whining in this space. Signing Shaun Livingston, on the other hand, is exactly the sort of risk this franchise should be taking.)

Joe Johnson is a good player but not a franchise player. The Hawks need to explore his trade value in an effort to acquire assets to go along with their 2009 lottery pick. Rick Sund also needs find out if Mike Bibby's expiring contract is worth more to another team that it is to the Hawks. If another team wants Zaza Pachulia or Acie Law IV or will take Marvin Williams in a deal for Bibby or Johnson, the Hawks need to suck it up and make the deal. This team isn't going to make the playoffs as currently constituted and coached. I'm not sure the difference between 20 and 30 wins is worth anything. A 20-win season might shock the decision-makers into confronting the reality of the franchise's situation.

Ultimately, this season will let us know whether they want to continue to field an incompetent but sort-of competitive team or they're willing to build a team that has a chance to make a playoff run at some point in the next 3-5 years. Smith and Horford plus annual or bi-annual lottery picks should make the former possible with minimal effort. The latter requires both long-term planning and the willingness to take a hit in the short-term. I'm not especially optimistic but I do believe that at one's core is a desire to win. I hope Atlanta Spirit LLC begins to demonstrate some human ambition.

Grizzlies Offer Josh Smith $58 Million

There's little information beyond that included in the post's title. Report comes from the Memphis Commercial Appeal (HT: Micah at Hawks BasketBlog). The Hawks have seven days to match the offer.

For those interested in contemplating a sign-and-trade, here's the Memphis roster with salary information though the Grizzlies have sufficient cap room to sign Smith without giving anyone up.

2008-09 Schedule Released

The version of the 2008-09 schedule up at the official site is not perfect at the time of this writing (a game listed as @Seattle, and games against Miami in Boston and Memphis in Madison Square Garden) but the dates and opponents appear to be accurate.

Quick thoughts...

• An 0-8 start appears possible.
• With 14 of the first 22 games on the road, I may need to adjust downward the remaining length of tenure with the hawks of both Mike Woodson and Mike Bibby.
• The season could be over for all practical purposes before the new year should the Hawks struggle during their eight-game homestand from December 13-29.

Nick Fazekas Is Available

No real news transpired during my brief vacation so I'll get the proverbial ball rolling this week with a free agent suggestion for the fine folks sitting in their offices on Marietta Street this morning.

Nick Fazekas is available.

I advocated signing Fazekas immediately following the Mike Bibby trade. Dallas had released Fazekas as part of the machinations necessary to acquire Jason Kidd. The Hawks did not sign Fazekas and went with Solomon Jones as their fourth big man for the remainder of the season.

Fazekas signed with the Clippers and was effective in limited minutes. Effective in limited minutes is the most one should expect from Fazekas but effective in limited minutes would be a great improvement relative to recent end-of-the-rotation contributors. The prospect of a Fazekas/Pachulia frontcourt tandem is frightening to ponder, at least when the other team has the ball but I think Fazekas would complement both Al Horford and Josh Smith* on the court.

*Despite the majority of the content of this post, the Hawks really should be focused on re-signing their best player; the consequences of not doing so being something I'd rather not contemplate unless I must. Hence this post about Nick Fazekas.

Fazekas is limited athletically but I feel that is either overstated or his college career is under recognized. He was a far mroe effective player at Nevada than other athletically limited college stars who fell into guaranteed lottery money.

The Hawks do not appear to be in the market for anybody who would dramatically improve their frontline talent. There remains a significant opportunity to improve the bench. Replacing guys who cannot contribute to winning NBA games with even decent role players could be worth a win or two to the Hawks (or about half as many wins as I assume they could gain by replacing Mike Woodson with someone competent).

Nick Fazekas makes shots. Nick Fazekas rebounds. Nick Fazekas would probably work cheap.* Rick Sund, the ball is in your court.

*Know your audience.