Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
Antoine Walker thinks that if Erick Dampier can be swayed to join the emerging Hawks, the two of them plus Al Harrington would form the best frontcourt in the country. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and suppose he exaggerated mildly, for dramatic purpose. Would such a frontcourt at least be the best in the Southeast division, where everybody but Walker appears to be cowering in Shaq's shadow?
Let's take a look at each of the projected starting frontcourts in the Southeast division.
Charlotte: Emeka Okafor, Brandon Hunter, Jason Kapono
Miami: Shaquille O'Neal, Udonis Haslem, Rasual Butler
Orlando: Kelvin Cato, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu
Washington: Brendan Haywood, Kwame Brown, Antawn Jamison
Charlotte's frontcourt indeed wanes in comparison. Even if Okafor is twice the player Dampier was last year, even if he averages 20 points and 20 rebounds, both forward matchups favor Atlanta. Large edge Atlanta.
The big deal in Miami is of course the Big Deal. Other than Shaq, though, Haslem is an excellent rebounder and Butler (or Wesley Person if he wins the starting job) is an excellent three-point shooter, but the Walker-Harrington combo again wins out. Is Shaq so much better than Dampier? Slight edge to Atlanta.
In Orlando, Dampier dominates Cato. Call Turkoglu and Harrington a wash. Walker or Howard? A tough call. Slight edge to Atlanta.
Washington's Jamison dominates Harrington. Brown vs. Walker is a tough call, but for argument's sake give the edge to Washington. Dampier dominates Haywood. So Washington vs. Atlanta is like Atlanta vs. Miami: the Wizards have (we are assuming) better forwards but a worse center. In the previous discussion, we gave Atlanta a slight edge over Miami. By the same logic, we should give the slight edge to Washington.
Who would have thought Washington might have such a strong frontcourt?
But we have assumed Brown is a better player than Walker, an assumption we made for the sake of argument. That argument led to a question conclusion. Is the assumption justified?
If you could have, for next season only and at the same contract, either Walker or Brown but not both, which would you take?
Take Walker and call it a day.
Maybe Employee #8 is right. Maybe Atlanta will have the best frontcourt in the division.
TEAM NOTES
The Hawks have released their 2004-2005 regular season schedule.
FromMike Woodson's chatyesterday: Josh Smith and Josh Childress are in the learning mode, with great upsides, if they learn and work hard. They can be great players in this league. I think Al Harrington, who I've watched from afar and admired for years, is a small forward who can do alot of things right now on the floor. He is a well-mannered, good guy, and I look forward to working with him.
Angry at the Hawks owners? Pleased with how they've handled the offseason? Got an idea for how they can make more money? Send email to owners@hawks.com.
Scott Leith ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: The Olympic Games have long had a ban on ad signage in venues. "That's obviously a philosophical decision they've made," said sports business veteran Bernie Mullin, president and chief executive of Atlanta Spirit, owner of the Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers.
The LA Timeswrites: The Clippers signed 7-foot free-agent center Zeljko Rebraca, a native of Serbia and Montenegrao who had played for the Detroit Pistons before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks in the Rasheed Wallace deal.Rebraca, 32, also played 11 seasons in Europe before joining the Pistons in 2001. In four NBA seasons, Rebraca averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds.
Patrick Cassidy ofDime Magazinewrites: We're pretty sure that Antoine Walker is excited about being an Atlanta Hawk. Sure sounds like it. Antoine is excited to have his own squad and is doing whatever he can to recruit Erick Dampier to the squad.He even went as far as saying that he thinks Dampier, Al Harrington and himself would be one of the best frontcourts in the league.Wow! The Hawks will be almost completely unrecognizable to their fans when the season starts. That might not be a bad thing.