Atlanta

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

I wanted to dash this off during lunch break, because its 
usually good luck for me if I post these a full day 
before the game (in this case, two straight games).

The Hawks are one of only a few teams with three guys 
averaging around 20ppg. Lon Kruger's "big three" 
(Shareef, Big Dog and Jason Terry)are averaging over 60 
points and 14 assists.

All three guys are outstanding FT shooters in the 85-90% 
range. The team itself is 3rd in FT% at .796. 

(Sidebar: Doc Rivers' Orlando Magic are shooting a 
stunning .842 from the line so far this year. I doubt 
even the Celtics of the Bird Three era were quite that 
high.)

Terry and Big Dog combine for over 10 trey attempts per 
night, but watch out because there's a new Shareef in 
town hitting .583 from the 3-point line (7-12). Boston's 
3-point defense is a team strength since last year, 
thanks to Obie. Its at .311, tied for sixth.

The Hawks fourth wheel of course is Theo Ratliff, who has 
played in all 11 games (Hawks are 6-5) and is averaging 
3.7 blocks and leading the team with 7.9 boards in just 
28 mpg. Its possible to get him in foul trouble (3.8), 
which may partly explain the low minutes.

The Hawks basically use a seven-man rotation (backups 
Nazr Mohammad and Dermarr Johnson being injured) that 
includes a pair of swingmen in Ira Newble (8.0 ppg) and 
Shaw MVP Dion Glover (8.7 ppg).

Frontcourt help comes from the highly paid Alan Henderson 
(7 ppg, 7 rpg) with spot minutes going to Darvin "Green 
Eggs and" Ham.

The Hawks shoot at an outstanding .462 clip (behind 
Dallas and Milwaukee) and have held teams to .422 (9th).

They've had a tough early schedule that includes a far 
West road trip (losses to Sac, Phoenix and Utah).

In the past week, they've beaten New Orleans and also 
defeated Toronto by 25 points. They lost to the T-Wolves 
last night.

The Hawks are weak at some of Boston's strengths. They 
are -2 in steals and -4 in turnovers, averaging 19.4 per 
game (3rd worst in NBA). Boston is +2.5 in both steals 
and turnovers.

The Hawks are also -2.5 on the offensive glass, whereas 
Boston is finally close to even.

Bottom line is whether Boston's defense will be up to par 
with Atlanta's shooting (.462) and scoring 98 ppg.

Boston can't let our weekend play cancel out all their 
hard work, which is precisely what we allowed to happen 
last weekend.

I'm under the impression, generally, that Boston had a 
poor record last year on Friday and Saturday nights. 

Actually, that's when most back-to-backs get scheduled, 
so maybe that's a factor. The return match on Sat is 
away, which makes it all the more a challenge. 

Anyway, here come the run and gun Georgians. 

Continued improvement on team defense and a return to 
form by Antoine and Pierce would be most welcome, from 
the Northerners.

Go Celts

JH










-------------------
L'e-mail gratuit pas comme les autres.
NOMADE.FR, pourquoi chercher ailleurs ?