Braves Check in: 80 Game Edition

Hello, and welcome once again into the world of professional sports in the ATL. We’ve reached the halfway point in another baseball season, so the time has come to check in once again on our very own boys of summer. But before we talk about the Braves, let’s take a look at the offseason moves made (and not made) by Atlanta’s Air force.

As the NBA draft approached, the Hawks were reportedly considering several players as candidates for the fifteen overall pick. Bobby Portis of Arkansas, Kelly Oubre of Kansas, and Kentucky’s Trey Lyles were all mentioned as possibilities. Fine, I thought. Any of these guys could fit well into coach Bud’s system. I made it home from a busy day just in time to see Atlanta end up with: Tim Hardaway Jr?

That’s right. After a pair of trades, the Hawks ended up with a small forward who spent his first two pro seasons with the woeful Knicks. As you may have guessed, my initial reaction to this development was: what? But once the surprise wore off, I realized that Hardaway, who is the son of former Golden State star Tim Hardaway Sr (Utep two-step, anyone?), could be the next DeMarre Carroll and improve on the 11.5 points per game he averaged for the Knickerbockers.

Speaking of Carroll, who recently signed a four year, $60 million contract with Toronto, it was clear to most fans that the Hawks would be unable, or at least unwilling, to resign him for the money he could get elsewhere. Faced with keeping Paul Millsap, who stayed with Atlanta for three years and $59 million, it just won’t feasible to pay Carroll as well. Besides, as much as I love everything Carroll did for the Hawks, don’t forget that prior to playing in coach Bud’s system, he never averaged more than six points per game. While I’d love to see Carroll continue to excel, I have my doubts that he can put up the kind of numbers he did in 2014-15 under another coach.

On to the Braves, who through Sunday, July 5, stood at 40-42. While not a great record by any means, it is definitely better than most predictions called for midway through the season. As unlikely as it seems, the Bravos are only six games out of first place, and remain in the hunt in the mediocre National League East. Since we’re halfway home, a few thoughts on the season thus far:

-John Hart really had a good offseason. While some of the moves he made were controversial, many of them have paid off. My vote for his best? Sending Craig Kimbrel and Melvin (BJ) Upton to San Diego for Matt Wisler, Cameron Maybin, Jordan Parocheck, and Carlos Quentin. As much as I hated to see Kimbrel go, Maybin has put up career best numbers so far, hitting .294 with 7 homeruns, 39 RBI, and 15 stolen bases. Also, Wisler looks like a future star. In three starts he has gone 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA.

-Jace Peterson could be our second baseman of the future. Though he has cooled off lately, he has driven in 35 runs, stolen 8 bases, and filled a prominent hole in the lineup as the lead off hitter while doing an excellent job in the field.

-Freddie Freeman is as vital to the Atlanta lineup as any player in the National League is to his. While they were never exactly menacing to opposing pitchers this season, without Freeman, who has missed the last 16 games with an injury, they’ve been quite anemic. From June 21 to June 26, the Braves scored a grand total of five runs in five games.

-Some of the veterans the Braves brought in are performing above expectations. In addition to Maybin, a few others are really getting the job done. A.J. Pierzinski has basically taken over the starting catcher job, deftly handling the young pitching staff while hitting .267 with 5 home runs. Journeyman Kelly Johnson has filled in in leftfield and at first base, hitting .265 with 6 home runs and 25 RBI. Jason Grilli, the 38 year old closer, has converted 22 of 24 save opportunities while striking out 42 in 31.2 innings.

-Julio Teheran has struggled, while Shelby Miller has excelled. Teheran, who was supposed to be the Braves ace, has been wildly inconsistent. He’s been great at home, posting a 5-0 record and a 2.04 ERA, and downright awful on the road, where he has gone 1-4 with a 7.40 ERA and allowed 11 home runs in 48.2 innings. Miller, by contest, has been nothing short of dominating. While his record stands at just 5-4, his 2.04 ERA and 88 strikeouts have put him in consideration for a spot on the NL All Star roster. Only a lack of run support has prevented him from being mentioned in the CY Young conversation.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, no one expected much from the Braves this season. In fact, the only thing I asked of them was that they stay relevant until football season approached. I predicted that they would be a .500 team, and so far, that is about what they have been. But due to the weakness of the NL East, they are in the conversation when it comes to playoff contention. I love the scrappy play, especially after watching last year’s team, which couldn’t have hit a beach ball had the opposing pitcher floated one up there. Here’s hoping that they can keep it up.

That does it for now. I’ll be back soon with more thoughts on the NBA free agent period, and more analysis of the Braves as they grind through the long season. I’m also working on something special for you veteran fans, and I hope to have it ready in a week or two. In the meantime, keep the faith Atlanta. See you soon!

 

This and That

In the wake of the conclusion of the NBA season and the NFL draft coming and going, we’ve reached that time of year when it can seem that there isn’t much to talk about when it comes to Atlanta professional sports. The Braves are the only one of our big three that is currently playing games, and so far they’ve been about what we expected: competitive but not exactly a world beater.

Not to worry! While each sport has an “offseason,” there really isn’t much downtime in the world of pro sports; at least not for the people who keep the teams running. Managing a sports franchise is a full time job, and for the hard core fan, so is pulling for one.

With that being said, I’ve spent the last few days coming up with some tidbits from our home teams. While talking about day to day operations may not be as exciting as recounting game action, at least it gives us something to get us through the long hot summer. So let’s get started.

Falcons

The big news this week was the release of former first round draft pick Sam Baker. After taking Matt Ryan with the third overall pick 2008, Atlanta traded back into the first round to get Baker. Thinking they were getting a left tackle to protect Ryan, what they actually got was an injury prone player who competed in all sixteen games just twice in his seven seasons with the Falcons. After Baker missed nearly all of 2013 and 2014, the writing was on the wall.

In other OL news, the Falcons lost tackle Lamar Holmes to a broken foot this week, further depleting a line that struggled mightily in 2014. While Holmes may be back in time for the preseason, an injury this early in the year gives me a disquieting feeling. After all, the Falcons have been decimated by injuries of late.

On a more positive subject, new head man Dan Quinn held his first mini camp this week. There seems to be a new attitude in Flowery Branch, as the players work to learn the schemes of Quinn and new OC Kyle Shanahan. Even with a coach as successful as Mike Smith, at some point it takes new ideas to shake things up. Quinn seems to have the attention of his players.

During the mini camp, fans were treated to the first images of first round pick Vic Beasley in an Atlanta uniform. Here’s hoping Beasley can improve a pass rush that ranked somewhere below anemic last year. And let’s not forget Julio Jones, who eased all of our minds when he stated on Wednesday that he has no plans to hold out as he enters the final year of his contract. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Hawks

There was quite a bit of news involving the Hawks this week, beginning with the latest development in the Danny Ferry saga. The rocky reign of the erstwhile General Manager appears to be at an end, as the Atlanta Hawks board voted in favor of a buyout on Friday. Ferry, who has been on leave since a recording of his racial insensitive comments about potential free agent signee Luol Deng surfaced last off season, will be paid more than the remaining balance on his contract.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer will promoted to Team President, while continuing to coach the team. Assistant General Manager Wes Wilcox will assume the GM role. The dismissal of Ferry had been rumored for weeks, with the thinking being that new owner Antony Ressler, whose purchase of the team is expected to be finalized next week, wouldn’t want to deal with the distraction.

In other news, the 2015 NBA draft is just four days away, and the name I most often see attached to Atlanta’s 15^th overall pick is former Arkansas Razorback Bobby Portis. I would be perfectly okay with this pick, as Portis would fit very well into coach Bud’s system. He is a 6-10 power forward with a great motor who can also his the jump shot.

One of the reasons I like Portis is the uncertainty surrounded Paul Millsap, who will likely command a max contract. Will the Hawks be willing to give him one? What about fellow free agent Demarre Carroll? While no one will offer Carroll the kind of money Millsap will get, someone could very well make him a very rich man. Will Atlanta resign one or both of these key pieces? Time will tell.

Braves

As the only one of the big three to be currently in season, the Braves have surprised quite a few people by hanging around in the National League East. Through June 20, they are only two games out of first place, though as was the case with the Falcons and the NFC East, this fact says a lot about the underachievement of the division as a whole.

Still, there have been promising signs. Jace Peterson continues to impress as second base. He has been a steady presence in the field, and has developed into one the best clutch hitters on the roster. Another who has outperformed expectations is centerfielder Cameron Maybin. Essentially a throw-in in the deal that moved Craig Kimbrel and Melvin (B.J.) Upton to San Diego, Maybin has been so good that the team released projected starter Eric Young Jr.

Equally impressive has been the performance of young pitchers Williams Perez and Matt Wisler, the latter of whom allowed just one run over eight innings in his major league debut on Friday night. As Julio Teheran and Alex Wood have struggled with consistency, Perez, Wisler and Shelby Miller have helped keep the Braves’ heads above water.

That about wraps things up for now. I’ll be back in the near future with my thoughts on the NBA draft, as well as a Braves mid-season check in. Until next time, keep the faith Atlanta!

 

The Day After

So the Hawks’ season is over. It always comes to this at some point, at least for every team but one. The day after is the worst, when we fans spend our time speculating on what could have been. Of course, after Sunday’s crushing loss, Tuesday night seemed almost like a foregone conclusion. In many ways, that overtime loss was everything that the NBA is supposed to be: a back and forth contest that wasn’t decided until the last possession; though it would have been nice to be on the winning side of it. Before we proceed with the postmortem on the 2014-15 season, a few thoughts on that gut wrenching game three, and the series overall:

-The Hawks showed a ton of heart fighting back from a ten point deficit in the fourth quarter of game three. With Kyle Korver out with an injury, and Al Horford lost to an ejection, it was inspiring to watch guys like Kent Bazemore and Mike Scott attempt to rally the troops. Plus Jeff Teague’s 30 point outburst was a thing of beauty.

-Speaking of Horford’s ejection, I felt like the officials should have left the call at a flagrant one.

-Matthew Dellavedova plays out of control, and his recklessness caused Korver’s injury and nearly hurt Horford. Though Horford’s ejection hurt the team, I have to say that I enjoyed his Dusty Rhodes impression. For you younger readers who may not know Rhodes, perhaps The Rock works better?

-I don’t know why Pero Antic continues to get minutes for the Hawks. He is a complete liability in every facet of the game.

-Even though Lebron James is a prima donna, and even though the league does all it can to help him out (see this ridiculous flagrant foul call from game one as exhibit A), and even though I get sick of his overblown injury act, it’s hard to argue with his line from game three: 37 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists. All his faults aside, he is the best player in the game today.

-The Hawks were never able to find that magic they displayed during the regular season in the playoffs. Though they showed flashes of brilliance, their postseason effort was workmanlike in the extreme.

But enough about the disappointing ending. Now it is time to look back at all the great moments and accomplishments of the 2014-15 Hawks; a team that finished the 2013-14 season with a 38-44 record and lost in the first round of the playoffs. The very fact that we are talking about losing in the Eastern Conference Finals makes this season something special.

This years’ team won sixty games. Sixty. Anyone who tells you that he or she saw this coming is a liar. The Hawks ran away with the Eastern Conference. So much so that by New Year’s Day we were already talking about resting players for the postseason. Some of my favorite things about the season just passed include:

Kyle Korver: Korver’s outside shot became a signature play for the Hawks. When he found even the tiniest of openings and rose into the air, the entire crowd at Phillips Arena would rise to its feet in anticipation. Korver was so good this season that he nearly became the first player in NBA history to shoot 50% from the field, 50% from three point range, and 90% from the free throw line.

January: 17-0. That was Atlanta’s record in January. No team in NBA history had ever gone undefeated for an entire month. Not Jordan’s Bulls. Not the Lakers of Magic and Kareem. Not even the mighty Celtics of Bill Russell. They were so good  that the entire starting five was named player of the month. The perfect January was part of a 19 game winning streak, and an incredible run of 31 wins in 33 games that effectively assured the Hawks of the number one seed.

Four All-Stars: For a team that rarely gets mention in the national media to have four players make the All-Star team is remarkable. Horford, Teague, Korver, and Paul Millsap all made the team. On top of that, the one starter who didn’t make it, Demarre Carroll, was the team’s best player during the playoffs.

Coach Bud: I remember being pleased when San Antonio assistant coach Mike Budenholzer was named the head man in Atlanta. I was hopeful that in time, he could install the system that the Spurs rode to so many championships. But I never though it would happen so soon. The NBA’s coach of the year led the Hawks to heights they’d never previously experienced.

Big wins at home: The Cleveland win just prior to and the Golden State win just after the perfect January were absolutely awesome. I’ve never seen Phillips area the way it was during those games.

Knocking Paul Pierce down a notch: After watching Pierce beat us in game three, then nearly beat us in game five, it was more than a little enjoyable to watch his last second shot in game six get waved off by the officials. Whoever said a man shouldn’t take comfort in another person’s misfortune?

The Home Team: For so many years, I’ve had to live with most of the NBA fans I come in contact with pulling for other teams. San Antonio, L.A., Chicago. Not that it came as any surprise. After all, Atlanta is a city full of transplants. But still, I just don’t see the fun in latching onto whatever team is currently winning and proclaiming it as yours. I guarantee you that none of the championships these bandwagon fans won will ever be as satisfying as the one the Hawks will bring home one day.

Okay, that pretty much does it. Time to put the wraps on this incredible season. The Hawks have some key decisions to make during the offseason regarding both keeping their own players (Millsap, Carroll) and possibly going after a big name free agent (Marc Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard). But no matter what happens, when the next season tips off, I’ll be there. I know you will be too. Until then, keep the faith Atlanta. We’re getting there. Slowly but surely, we’re getting there.

 

Narrowly Averting Disaster: How the Hawks Advanced into the Great Unknown.

The Atlanta Hawks have advanced to the Eastern Conference finals. How I’ve waited to write this statement! The Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968. Entering Friday’s game six vs Washington, they had never gotten past the second round of the playoffs. Note my use of the phrase had never. At roughly 10:00pm on May 15, 2015, the Hawks laid to rest nearly 50 years worth of demons. Of course, the exorcism didn’t come easily.

After looking forward to game six all day on Thursday, I ended up arriving late to the party on Friday. Circumstances dictated that I remain at work until nearly 7pm, which resulted in my listening to most of the first quarter of the game on the radio in my car. Of course sometimes a curse can become a blessing, and I spent a little quality time with the long time voice of the Hawks, Steve Holman, who nevers fails to entertain.

I made it home just in time to witness an early lead evaporate. The Wizards, who trailed by seven points midway through the period, ended up leading by one at the end of the first quarter. I immediately began to slip into “here we go again” mode, but forced myself to remain upbeat as the second quarter got underway.

Toward the end of the first half, Paul Millsap took over. Using a variety of post moves and jump shots, he led the Hawks back into the lead. At the half Atlanta led by six points, largely due to Millsap’s fifteen points.

During halftime, my wife Dena returned from a trip to Taco Bell with Mexican pizzas, tacos, a burrito, and some nachos. I know, it souds like a lot. But due to my deeply held belief that is it very wrong to throw food away (thanks Sesame Street!), I polished off every last scrap just in time to settle in for the second half.

After an up and down third quarter, the Hawks led by eight points. In the fourth quarter, I began texting with my brother Matt after every significant play. Here are a few of the texts I sent during this most stressful of periods, which I feel will do a better job of expressing my feelings than anything else:

-Regarding Pero Antic, to me the Hawks most polarizing player:

“Keep it going, and keep Pero on the bench where he belongs”

“Antic is the kiss of death. Get him out of there!”

-During Washington’s comeback from a ten point defecit:

“Blowing it.”

“Blown.”

“No lead is un-blowable.”

-After a pair of horrible foul calls against Jeff Teague:

“They’re cheating for Washington.”

“The refs are ridiculous!”

-During the last few minutes, as the lead changed hands a number of times:

“For the love of God, please!”

“Gotta be kidding me!”

“I can’t take this.”

-After Al Horford missed a free throw in a 94-91 game to give the Wizards one last chance:

“No chance he was going to make both.”

“It always comes down to this. Keep Paul Pierce out of there.”

That’s right. Paul Pierce. Paul F*****g Pierce. Nearly every game in the Hawks-Wizards series had come down to Pierce with the ball and a  chance to either win the game or tie it. With six seconds to play, Washington prepared to inbound the ball. Surely, I thought, the Hawks would do whatever it took to deny him the ball.

The inbound pass went to John Wall (whose broken hand I’d become supremely tired of hearing about by then). Wall was double-teamed, and it looked like the clock might run out. But with a couple of seconds left, he was able to lob a pass to Pierce. Then this happened.

It seemed that Pierce had done it to us yet again. But if you watched the entire video clip, you’ll know what happened next. If you didn’t, here are a few more texts which will tell the story:

“That was still in his hand!”

“This should not count!!!”

“Yes!!!!!!”

Yep, for once the refs made a call in our favor. The fact that it was the correct call in no way guaranteed that they would make it. But in this case they did. Pierce’s miracle shot was waved off and the Atlanta Hawks advanced to the conference finals. As happy as I was, I felt even better for Holman, who’s been through so many tough seasons. Listen to his call of the final moments of the game here.

In the aftermath of the Hawks win, I’d like to call attention to a man who has become my favorite member of the team over the last few weeks: Demarre Carroll. In a game where Kyle Korver was held to just two points, and the Hawks got just 14 combined points from the bench, Carroll led the way with 25 points and 10 rebounds. It was a performance that will go down as one of the best in Atlanta postseason history.

That wraps it up for now. I’ll be back in the coming days with more on the Hawks, as well as a Braves check in and the finale of my top 20 Atlanta sports stars list. As always, keep the faith Atlanta! Conference finals here we come!