Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
According to their current roster, the Atlanta Hawks have two players listed as capable of playing the center spot: Predrag Drobnjak and 42-year-old Kevin Willis. Drobnjak's never played more than 24 minutes in his three-year career with two teams. Willis averaged less than 10 minutes last year. So who else is going to play center?
Perhaps Drobnjak can average 30 minutes, and Willis can get back up to 10. That still leaves a solid 8 minutes of basketball at the center position, not to mention what happens when either of them are in foul or health trouble.
Jason Collier's a seven-footer who might have to slide over to the center spot though he's listed on their roster as a forward.
After that, the rest of the players top out at 6-9 and are either forwards or guards.
Will Antoine Walker be playing center for the second season in a row? Will Chris Crawford have some mop-up duties?
The Hawks are going to be fielding a fairly small and fragile frontline. The slightest injury to Drobnjak or foul trouble will mean a lot of points in the paint for opposing teams.
Perhaps they should have offered more to Erick Dampier...
TEAM NOTES
Training Camp Central: New owners, new coaches, new players, new attitude. The 2004-05 Hawks season promises to be a memorable one and as the season gets under way, get all the latest Hawks news, notes and features at Training Camp Central.
Ira Winderman ofThe South Florida Sun-Sentinelwrites: Also available are tickets to the Heat's lone home exhibition appearance, Oct. 18 against the Atlanta Hawks.
J.A. Adande ofThe LA Timeswrites: Temple basketball Coach John Chaney once used the Atlanta Hawks' sudden dismissal of Isaiah Rider as a launching point to the topic of head cases.He concluded that you can't end stupidity. Ever. "If you see someone who's stupid and crazy, run away," he advised. But instead pro sports teams will embrace anyone who can run fast, jump high or crush a fastball, no matter how nutty they might be. (After Rider wore out his welcome in Atlanta, the Lakers took a chance on him.)