Stotts Era

The Atlanta Hawks kicked off their preseason schedule with bang on Wednesday night at Philips Arena.  Usually I could careless about the preseason, but I am absolutely pumped about this year.   The Hawks made noise in the offseason by resigning veterans Mike Bibby, Marvin Williams,  and ZAZA Pachulia.  Rick Sund made an incredible move by trading anemic Speedy Claxton and Acie Law IV to the Golden State Warriors.  I love Acie Law IV, but hope he does poorly in a way to prove Woody is a good coach.  The Hawks acquired Jamal Crawford in this trade, which is an absolute steal.  Crawford could start on half the teams in the nba and he is a prolific scorer, who can take over a game at anytime.     Sund also did not mess up in the draft, when he selected Jeff Teague from Wake Forest University.  Teague was a great selection and will prove to be a serviceable backup to veteran Mike Bibby.  He has the potential to be a star in this league.  The Hawks also signed veterans Jason Collins and Joe Smith.  The Hawks have lacked veteran dept on their rosters in the past and this will result in more wins for the Hawks.  Al Horford was asked about if he liked more bigs being in camp and he said it was a relief to have more than 3 bigs in camp.  The Hawks now have Al Horford, ZA ZA Pachulia, Joe Smith, Jason Collins, and Randolph Morris as their bigs.

This is the best Hawks team probably since the Steve Smith and Mookie Blaylock days, which dates back to 98-99.  The Hawks have been the laughing stock of the NBA during this ten year period.  Last year marked the first winning season since the 98-99 season (strike shortened season).  Atlanta has the potential this year to challenge the big three of the eastern conference.  My prediction this year is the Hawks finish 51-31 and reach the Eastern Conference finals.   The Hawks are not the only team to strengthen their roster, but they will have a better season this year.  This team likes playing together and they will beat more teams this year.  On a side note you heard it here first the Cleveland Cavs will digress, with the Shaquille O’Neal acqusition.  If only Shaquille O’Neal could get Robin Lopez to join the Cleveland Cavs so that he could really ham it up.  This team will have a lot of wins in the regular season, but will lose in the playoffs.  Shaq, Lebron, Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao (New Robin Lopez), and of course Delonte West Hamming up!! The NBA is FANTASTIC!!

From ESPN’s Marc Stein:

The Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors are closing in on a trade that would find a new home for Jamal Crawford.

NBA front-office sources say that the Warriors and Hawks will soon complete a deal sending Crawford to Atlanta for Acie Law and Speedy Claxton.

Warriors coach Don Nelson made no secret of the fact that Crawford wasn’t in his future plans. By shedding Crawford’s longer contract and by virtue of insurance payments that will cover some of the costs of Claxton, Golden State would secure a decent measure of payroll relief with the trade.

Less clear is what impact the move will have on Atlanta’s forthcoming negotiations with free agent-to-be Mike Bibby. Although Crawford is not a pure point guard, he’s a prolific scorer whose arrival could affect the sort of contract offer Bibby expected to command from the Hawks.

stay tuned for stotts era draft coverage

Charles Barkley from TNT asked this question several times the other night.  I have have to say I agree with him 100 percent.   I do not always agree with what Charles Barkley has to say, but he hit the spot on this one.  The Atlanta Hawks lost 108-93 last night and have lost the home court advantage to the Heat.  The Heat now have 3 games at home to Atlanta’s 2 games at home.  We have to go to Miami to a crowd that is going to be extremely rowdy.  Apparently the crowd will be dressed in black, and I can guarantee it that there crowd with have a college like atomoshphere.  Judging on what I saw in 2006 the Hawks are in trouble.

Atlanta needs to develop some sort of a half court game.  Running the offense through Joe Johnson and picking for him is not going to work in a series.  Mike Woodson job is on the line in my opinion and will be let go if we do not win this series  In game one the Hawks were flying down the court playing an uptempo game.  In game 2 the Hawks came out flat and not with same intensity or attitude.  I don’t know what it is about the NBA, but I see this a lot.  During my early days of watching Basketball in the late eighties and early nineties I never saw good teams do this.  I know the argument may be that we are just not a great team, but I think we are.  There is no excuse to come out like we did the other night.  We are a better team and no I do not think the reason why we lost was because of Dwayne Wade.  The Hawks need to come in Miami with an attitude and a chip on their shoulder because they are a better team.  Let’s at least get a split in Miami and be ready for game 5.  RISE UP ATLANTA!!

Who: Hawks (47-35, 31-10 home, 16-25 road) & Heat (43-39, 28-13 home, 15-26 road)
When/Where:
Game 1: Sunday, April 19, 8:00 ET, Philips Arena
Game 2: Wednesday, April 22, 8:00 ET, Philips Arena
Game 3: Saturday, April 25, 6:30 ET, American Airlines Arena
Game 4: Monday, April 27, 8:00 ET, American Airlines Arena

Season Series: Hawks 87 Heat 73 on 12/12/08 in Miami,
Heat 95 Hawks 79 on 1/26/09 in Miami,
Hawks 91 Heat 83 on 2/27/09 in Miami,
Hawks 81 Heat 89 on 2/14/09 in Atlanta

Key Hawks:

Key Heat:

Prediction: Hawks in 7

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