Atlanta Hawks preview

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Atlanta's tepid home fan support is unlikely to ever be a factor, but the 
Hawks are still a miserable 0-6 on the road, while having cruised to three 
straight home wins by a total of 47 points (knocking off Miami, Utah and 
Boston). Dion Glover and Shareef Abdur-Rahim are both local Georgia 
products, which might start to explain their superior performances in front 
of their friends.

Many will view Shareef as the "anti-Toine" until the day they die. Both are 
hybrid players with open court passing skills, but Shareef shoots better 
inside the paint, is taller and more athletic. Walker has more fire. Does 
it matter? One thing its hard not to point to is that Shareef's teams have 
won 19, 8, 23 and 22 games in the past four seasons (.311 overall, 2-7 this 
year). We've used the "proven loser" argument against Walker, but there is 
no comparison. Shareef's played on three-man teams (Dickerson is an 
excellent all-around player and Bibby is a decent point guard) while Walker 
has had Pierce and two year's worth of a weaker Eastern conference. Its 
pretty much a wash I guess, but I know who I'd prefer to have on the team 
in a big game.

Right now both players are struggling with their shot. Shareef is stuck at 
.377 overall thanks to 15-56 (.268) in his last 4 road games. Containing 
him will be a big key on Wednesday night. Shareef basically rocked bin 
Walker's casbah on Saturday (okay, v.lame metaphor), outscoring him by 6 
points while producing 12 boards and 2 assists. Walker will need to keep 
Shareef busy on both ends, and Walker's teammates will need to double team 
and hope to cause some turnovers.

Sidebar: the fan-friendly Shareef might be the consensus starting power 
forward in the depleted East this year. He wins by default. Only bin 
Walker, Shareef and Detroit's clumsy Ben Wallace rank in the NBA top-15 in 
rebounds per game. Meanwhile Derrick Coleman (17.3 ppg 9.3 rpg) might have 
the second best all-around stats behind Osama bin Walker (23.4ppg 11.6 rpg, 
5.6 apg). In terms of track record,  Antoine last year led all NBA forwards 
in assists, but this year he ranks just behind Pippen and Kevin Garnett. At 
this stage, frankly no one in the East deserves to start in an All Star 
game at the power forward position.

By contrast, a guy like Paul Pierce has a much higher mountain to climb, 
although we fans are all behind him. It would be his first All Star 
appearance if he makes it.

Back to the Atlanta Hawks. Indiana tonight and Boston tomorrow will be 
Atlanta's 7th and 8th road opponent against just 4 home games. With all 
their injuries, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Boston would 
have had a similar record as Atlanta at this stage (3-7). Don't judge 
Atlanta by their record.

The Hawks won't have a loser mentality. Every win counts as they wait for 
Theo Ratliff to return and signicantly upgrade their defense. We all know 
the Hawks were a media darling among NBA prognosticators this year and how 
anxious/confident they will be in going for their first road win.

The Hawks demonstrated some of their playoff potential (a 65 point first 
half) against Boston, and we can't let that happen again. Plus they 
humilated the Celtics on the boards, holding Boston to over 10 below its 
average.

On the injury front, Alan Henderson and Ratliff are still out. Kukoc comes 
off the bench largely because he's struggling with his shot (.327 and let's 
keep it that way) and in light of the emergence of Dion Glover, a draft 
steal a few years back who's emerged so far with 13 points per game on .540 
shooting. He's probably playing out of position at small forward, as Bryant 
Stith did last year for Boston. But so far we haven't stopped him at all. 
Its a gut check game for Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce.

As meaningless games go, this one has its points. You've got a big revenge 
factor. You've got the "who wants to start in the All Star Game?" showdown 
between Walker and Shareef. And you've got Joe Johnson's momentarily 
derailed but still legitimate Rookie of the Month race. All these reasons 
to tune in and root for our favorite players to play well.

But here's the REAL reason why this meaningless Atlanta game is worth 
turning in for from wherever you are (radio broadcast will start around 2am 
Paris time). With a win, Boston can take sole possession of first place if 
the Nets lose tomorrow at Utah. I'll be the first to admit that Boston's 
start is due to the schedule. But having noted that, how many times in the 
last decade have we been able to tell friends that we're fans of the "first 
place Boston Celtics"? It would be fun to be able to say that once (before 
the Sixers and Orlando blow right past us). ;-)

Pasted below is the latest Yahoo/The Sporting News analysis of the Hawks. 
It is out of date by a week
or so and these things are done by laymen/journalists, not scouts. I think 
its fair to give it the same credence as you would a scouting report 
written by Peter May. ;-)

Go Celtics!

Point guard: Not much happening here. Emanual Davis might not hold on to 
his starting job if he continues to be this underwhelming. Problem is, 
Jacques Vaughn has not been much better. He did, however, make 4-of-5 shots 
in Friday's loss to Philadelphia. Grade: D.

Shooting guard: Jason Terry just does not have the pep in his step seen 
much of last year. Part of it is his deferring to the newcomers, especially 
Shareef Abdur-Rahim. But if the team is to flourish at all, Terry has to be 
assertive. Grade: D.

Small forward: This spot goes to Dion Glover now, and he has been the 
team's most consistent player. Glover has played under control and has 
taken shots in the flow of the offense. Toni Kukoc, meanwhile, has been 
abysmal. He missed all six of his shots against the 76ers and had no impact 
as a playmaker. Grade: C.

Power forward: Abdur-Rahim is struggling with the responsibility of 
carrying an injury-depleted team. His shooting has been terrible as he 
faces multiple defenses because neither Terry nor Kukoc are playing well. 
The team got a nice lift from Cal Bowdler against Philly, but it was in a 
loss. Grade: C-.

Center: To ask Mohammed to play extended minutes in the middle is asking 
too much. He can flourish for short spells, but over 48 minutes he gets 
less effective as the game goes on. The problem is that with Ratliff out, 
there is no one to spell him. Grade: C-.

Bench: Glover was moved into the starting lineup because he's playing so 
well, but Kukoc has been less than what is needed as a reserve. Vaughn 
brings energy and seems to have found his shot, and Bowdler's production 
might merit more time for him. Grade: B-.

Coaching: Lon Kruger is as puzzled as the next guy in the rash of injuries 
that has befallen his team. He's tried every combination imaginable, with 
10 players starting already this season. Also, he's moved his most 
consistent player, Glover, into the starting lineup at small forward to get 
some punch there. It's just that not much is working right now with the 
lack of manpower. Grade: C.

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