FROM NOV. 7, 2010 (Full Post with Comments)

In all honesty, Nash is the former MVP that motivated this series of posts. His warm up routine is extremely active and specific. Every time he has visited Philips Arena in the past three years he has gone through the same routine.

Nash first enters the main floor with the scoreboard clock showing 65:30.

He begins his routine close to the basket before quickly moving to a spot on the right side of the lane about 10 feet from the basket. Unlike a lot of players, his shots are not a relaxed catch and shoot from a flat-footed position. Instead, Nash is constantly in motion and often precedes his shots with a game-like move such as a jab-step or dribble. Near the end of his shots from the elbow (probably around 40-50 shots total in the 10-15 foot range) he alternates using one dribble with either hand before his shot.

The next spot for the former MVP’s warm-up routine is the top of the key, where the college 3-point line would be. He starts with a short jab-step, hesitate and pull type shot before moving to shooting off of one dribble in various directions. He hit his first 11 shots from this spot and ends up hitting a ridiculous 46-of-53 overall.

Up next is 3-pointers, starting with the right corner. This is the most standard part of Nash’s routine, as he goes with a basic catch and shoot technique. He seems to be trying to shoot 12 from each spot, but interruptions and misses may alter the exact number. Here are the breakdowns from each spot:

• Right Corner – 9/13
• Right Wing – 9/12
• Top of the Key – 11/11
• Left Wing – 10/12
• Left Corner – 13/17
  TOTAL – 52/65 (That is 80% for those of you keeping score at home)

On to free throws, Nash does not waste time with a dribble routine, instead he uses a simple catch, focus, shoot pattern. He shot 15 free throws. He made 15 free throws.

Nash finished his warm up with 10-20 layups with either hand coming from underneath the basket.

He leaves the main court with 49:20 showing on the arena scoreboard, making his routine an efficient 15 minutes and 50 seconds.

Not bad for a pre-game routine. Just a small sample of the work ethic that made him a two-time MVP.

First thing is first, let’s take a look at Wilkins spot on the list. Wilkins was part of an impressive 1979 game that included (among others) Byron Scott, Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Clark Kellogg, and Ralph Sampson. Here is what Ronnie Flores from ESPNHS.com had to stay about ‘Nique as a prep:

Dominique Wilkins, Washington (Washington, N.C.), 1979
Legendary McDonald’s All-American selection committee member Howard Garfinkel dubbed Dominique “The Human Highlight Film” at his Five-Star Camp and the name stuck throughout his Hall of Fame career. ‘Nique competed in every major summer camp and played in five national high school all-star games (players can’t do that now) after averaging 30 points and 17 rebounds as a senior. In high school, he showed signs of becoming what he’s now considered — one of the NBA’s greatest scoring forwards and a master dunker.

Apart from Wilkins, there are five others that were included in the “Top-35″ that have donned a Hawks uniform:

• Doc Rivers: Doc holds career and single-season assist records for the Atlanta franchise while playing 8 years as a Hawk from 1983-91. Rivers scored 20 points in the 1980 edition of the McDonald’s All American Game.
• Christian Laettner: Laettner played 3 years for the Hawks averaging 15.8 ppg. Laettner battled with an impressive front court in the 1988 game, with Shawn Kemp and Alonzo Mourning also suiting up.
• Glenn Robinson: The “Big Dogg” played 69 games with the Hawks during the 2003-04 season, averaging 20.8 points per contest. Robinson combined with Chris Webber to score 58 points in a West victory during the 1991 game.
• Jerry Stackhouse: The only current Hawk named to the top-35, Stack participated in the 1993 game. He played his senior season at Oak Hill Academy (VA) where his team went 36-0 and won the “national championship” behind his 25.6 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4 assists per game.
• Danny Manning: Manning only played 26 games as a Hawk, averaging 15.7 ppg. He played in the 1984 McDonald’s All-American Game.

There you have it. It is quite an honor to be included in this list. Just think of all of the great players that have participated in the first 34 years…

Atlanta (15-6)
Pace: 93.0 (22), Off: 102.5 (9), Def: 95.6 (4)
Atlanta is mostly winning with defense, while getting just enough offense from Joe Johnson and a random teammate selected nightly. Marvin Williams has made 10 of his last 13 threes, and Johnson’s wild three at the end of regulation helped the Hawks pull a victory out of thin air in Detroit on Friday.

Two weeks earlier, Shuhmann did not seem convinced that the Hawks would be able to survive without Horford’s services and had them in the middle tier of the rankings at #13:

Atlanta (9-4)
Pace: 92.6 (23), Off: 103.3 (8), Def: 95.9 (5)
Eventually, the Hawks will probably struggle without Al Horford, but they’re 2-0 since he was ruled out for the next 3-4 months. Maybe Ivan Johnson, who won the game for them on Saturday, can keep them afloat.

Even last week, when the Hawks inched up to the tenth position in the rankings, you could read between the lines and hear Shuhmann (and others) saying, “Yeah, they are finding ways to win at home, but let’s see how they do on this road trip.”

Now that Atlanta has won three times in four games during their five-game trip that criss crosses the country, some of the skeptics are running out of reasons to doubt the Hawks.

I feel like we keep hitting repeat on the “Flying Under the Radar” track. The Hawks are now sitting at the #4 spot in the league-sponsored power rankings, but no one is really talking about them. Not to mention the fact that they have beaten the top-ranked team (Miami) on the road and dismantled the third-ranked team (Chicago) at the Highlight Factory.

It is fair to say that the Hawks players want respect and attention for their play on the court, but not in the form of rankings and 30-second features on SportsCenter. They might have even given up hope for that after years of being overlooked. They want their opponents to know that they are for real, and in that regard they are succeeding each time they step on the court.

Check Out the Full Rankings on NBA.com

Kirk Hinrich has been rehabilitating his left shoulder after having a surgical procedure performed on it in early November. He was cleared for all non-contact drills after a January 3 check-up in Chicago, and hopes to be back in uniform at some point during the Hawks current five-game, nine-day road trip.

When Hinrich returns, the Hawks will have another option in a backcourt that has received contributions from many sources already this season. Before last Friday’s game with the 76ers, Larry Drew talked about the challenge of having increased depth this season:

Meanwhile, Al Horford underwent surgery on his torn pectoral muscle on January 17. Horford was re-examined by Dr. Xavier Duralde on Saturday, and it was determined that he could begin strengthening work in six weeks.

Other notable facts about ’95 that Jerry forgot to mention…

• The Atlanta Braves won the World Series
• The DVD was invented and developed
• Yahoo! and Ebay were both founded
  (No… Hawks.com had not been launched yet)
• Braveheart won the Academy Award for Best Picture
• Alanis Morissette and TLC topped the music charts
• Andre Dawson (400 HR’s), Eddie Murray (3,000 hits) and Cal Ripken, Jr. (consecutive games) all reached career milestones

]]> http://hawksbasketblog.com/2012/01/20/back-to-the-beginning/feed/ 0 http://hawksbasketblog.com/2012/01/20/back-to-the-beginning/ http://feeds.feoconsulting.com/~r/AtlantaHawksBasketBlog/~3/z4T_BPiyKno/ http://hawksbasketblog.com/2012/01/19/jamal-returns-to-the-highlight-factory/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:12:45 +0000 Jon Newberry http://hawksbasketblog.com/?p=1388 Jamal Crawford has played for a host of teams throughout his career, including two very productive years with the Hawks. Wherever he goes he quickly becomes a fan favorite for two main reasons.
1)  Jamal is most accurately described as a scorer, and the way he plays the game is pure entertainment. Take your pick between breaking people down with ridiculous handles, rising up for 4-point plays, or attacking the lane for tricky floaters. Jamal does it all on the offensive end.
2) Jamal is a great guy. He treats fans and media with a great deal of respect and appreciation.

Watching Jamal warm up a few minutes ago showed why both reasons are still valid. The enthusiasm in which he greeted familiar faces (from ‘Nique to Philips Arena staffers to Zaza) showed the personal impression he left here in Atlanta. The jump shots he hit reminded me that we better have a hand (or two) in his face tonight.

This year, the Hawks took a different direction with the make-up of their bench. The bench has maintained the same level of scoring production, while increasing other areas of production such as defense and rebounding.

This year’s version of “The Difference” is a group effort. Already this season we have seen McGrady come up huge down the stretch in Miami, Radmonovic light it up against Chicago, Greene hit clutch shots against Minnesota, and that doesn’t even include the work of Ivan Johnson or Zaza Pachulia.

If you only enjoy “pretty” wins with little adversity and overwhelming teams on pure talent alone, then this might be a frustrating season for you.

The Hawks won their third straight game on Monday, defeating the Toronto Raptors 93-84 at the Highlight Factory. It was the latest win where Atlanta grabbed an early lead and then fought tooth and nail the rest of the way to maintain it. The game featured 46 fouls and 54 free throws (14 fouls and two technicals in the third quarter alone).

Atlanta took the lead with 6:35 remaining in the first quarter and never gave it back, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that they were “in control” the whole game. The lead only reached double digits for 12 seconds of the second half.

Josh Smith (28 points, 15 rebounds) and Joe Johnson (27 points, 6 assists) continue to set the pace for the Hawks, stepping up their games to make up for the void left by Al Horford’s injury. With Horford out Atlanta is often playing undersized, putting more pressure on their frontcourt to rebound and defend. J-Smoove has not shied away from the challenge, and tonight turned in another stellar performance.

“He’s just playing,” commented Jeff Teague after the game. “Not worrying about anything, about missing shots or anything…just playing. And I think it’s carrying over to everybody. He has me playing like that, not worrying about things, turnovers, things like that…just staying steady.”

The early results of the 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting were released by the league earlier today, and Josh Smith was not among the top-10 forwards in votes received. It is the latest example of how fan voting isn’t always accurate.

Don’t give up hope yet that this may finally be the year that Josh breaks through to add “All-Star” to his impressive resume. The fan vote only determines the starters, while two or (most likely) three reserve forwards will be determined by the Eastern Conference head coaches. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony seem to be locks for the fan vote based on the early results and historic precedence, so it is really a handful of forwards competing for the collective nod from the coaches.

One day after Smith dropped 30 and 13 on the Bobcats, I felt it was a good time to make the argument for Josh to make the trip to Orlando in late February.

Smoove is the ONLY player in the Eastern Conference that ranks in the top-10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks among forwards. That’s right, not even LeBron or ‘Melo can make that claim. James is actually the only other player to rank in the top-10 in four out of the five categories.

Josh’s overall numbers are definitely enough to get the attention of many Eastern Conference coaches, but they have been even more impressive recently.

After a relatively slow start (10.2 ppg and 7.2 rpg in December), Smoove has taken his game to a whole new level. Over the last eight games he is averaging 20.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.9 spg and 1.8 bpg.

On paper, Smith looks like he should get some serious consideration to make this year’s team… but history has proven that there are factors other than what is found on the stat sheet that determine how coaches vote for all-star reserves.

It is safe to say that players that have made the All-Star team before have a decided edge over those who haven’t. This puts guys like Josh and Chicago’s Luol Deng at a disadvantage against players like Garnett, Pierce, Bosh and Stoudemire.

Coaches also tend to vote for guys that are leading the better teams in the conference. If the Hawks continue to play well and have one of the four or five best records in the East when the coaches cast their votes, then that should help Smoove’s chances.

There are plenty of games between in the condensed schedule between now and when the coaches votes are due, but if this recent stretch is any indication of the type of play we can expect from Smith all season long, then J-Smoove will be a hard name to leave off the ballot.

- Marvin Williams (ankle) did not travel with the team for their two-game trip
- Tracy McGrady (back spasms) did not dress for the game at Indiana
- Al Horford (sprained shoulder) left Wednesday’s game and will be re-evaluated on Thursday in Atlanta

The good news… None of the injuries seem to be serious.
The bad news… With the condensed schedule this season, even small injuries can cause players to miss 5-10 games.

Most seasons a player will play through minor injuries with one eye on an upcoming break in the schedule. This season the Hawks will be 50 days into the season before they get consecutive days without a game.

As mentioned earlier, none of the injuries seem to be serious. Both Marvin and Horford had x-rays that came back negative, and no specific incident has caused McGrady’s back pains. Still, an added measure of caution must be taken this season, when time to heal is at a premium.

Here’s hoping that the troops are back from the inactive list as soon as possible.

Last week the Hawks let a big lead slip away against the Bulls in Chicago, right before the start of a stretch of three games in three nights. Then they lost to the Heat in triple overtime at home on Thursday. Then, after getting into Charlotte at 3am, they needed overtime to beat the Bobcats on Friday night.

At the end of a physically and mentally draining stretch of games, the Hawks chemistry was surely going to be tested against the Bulls on Saturday night. The blowout win helped Atlanta pass with flying colors. (Note: the final margin of 15 points did not do justice to explain how much the Hawks dominated this game. Check out a full explanation from the AJC’s Michael Cunningham.)

Re-watch the highlights from Saturday night (if you haven’t watched them yet, where have you been?) and keep an eye on the Hawks bench. As the Hawks are exploding on their 18-2 run to end the first half the bench might even be more active than the players on the floor. The only team to play nine games in their first 12 days of the season is jumping around and joking with each other like kids that only have 30 minutes of recess to get rid of all their energy.

My personal favorite was when Joe broke Deng’s ankles to end the half. Focus in on T-Mac. McGrady (894 career games) grabs Ivan Johnson (5 career games) and wrestles with him while turning away, as if to say, “Don’t watch. That’s not right to treat someone’s ankles like that.”

Here is a zoomed-in view courtesy of Fox’s X-MO:

Some great examples that were not visible on the highlights:

- The Hawks bench standing up in unison before Vlad even releases the ball on his fifth 3-pointer of the night.
- Josh Smith with some creative towel movements to celebrate another ‘And-1′ from Ivan Johnson in the second half.
- Everyone at the Highlight Factory loved seeing dunks by both Zaza Pachulia and Jason Collins on the same night.

Yes, it is only one win. But at the end of nine games in 12 days, to get a blowout win like this that has everyone feeling good about their game is huge with this year’s condensed schedule.