Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
They don't have quite the worst record in the league - that honor belongs to the New Orleans Hornets - but the Hawks don't have any real injury excuses besides Chris Crawford. And third-worst is only one win ahead of them. The Hawks would have tied the expansion Bobcats if they'd scored one more instead of one less than the Nets on Monday. Yet by several measures, Atlanta is the worst team in the league. Why?
They are only third-worst in points scored: New Orleans and New Jersey score less. And they are only fourth in points allowed: Washington, Orlando, and Boston all give up more points to their opponent. But those statistics can be masked by the pace of the game. In terms of the difference between the points they score and the point they give up, Atlanta is dead last, worse than New Orleans and worse than Charlotte.
On Jeff Sagarin's widely followed ratings on USA Today, the Hawks are in worst place, but that is merely because it is the point differential that matters. The actual ranking is a synthesis of that and a rating based on wins and losses only, in which the Hornets are the worst. The average still brings the Hawks to last place however.
At the end of the day, does it matter whether they're worst or second-worst or third-worst? What's the fun in debating that dubious distinction?
Why are they so bad? Al Harrington and Antoine Walker are super talented players that in the right situation would be All-Stars. It's not immaturity: the Bulls have a bunch of rookies and youth but they seem to get it together. It's a bit of a mystery.
NEXT GAME
The Hawks (7-28, fifth in the Southeast) take on the Southeast's, and the East's, most powerful team as they fly to sunny Miami-Wade county TODAY to take on the Heat (28-11, first in the East). The game starts at 7:30pm Eastern and will be broadcast on WPXA and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
From today'sPlayer News & Movement, the most complete and current basketball updates on the web, by Tracy S. Graven:
The Hawks Fan Jam presented by Sprite will be at Greenbriar Mall from Friday, January 21 through Sunday, January 23 during mall hours ...Josh ChildressandJason Collierare scheduled to pose for pictures and sign free autographs from 3:00-4:00 pm on Sunday ... At the Atlanta Hawks Fan Jam, fans can participate in basketball and dance clinics, win prizes playing interactive games and meet Hawks players, mascots and dance team members.
INJURY UPDATE
Kevin Willis(back),Tony Delk(hand), andChris Crawford (knee) are all on the injured list. Crawford is out for the season.
Michelle Kaufman ofThe Tallahassee Democratwrites: The Miami Heat and the University of Miami men's basketball team are both playing tonight. Guess which one is the hotter ticket? Hint: Not the game involving Shaquille O'Neal. The nationally televised UM game against No. 4 ranked Duke at the Convocation Center has been sold out for weeks, a rare occurrence in a city that typically yawns at college basketball. Meanwhile, you can still get tickets to see the Heat play the Atlanta Hawks at cavernous, 19,600-seat American Airlines Arena.
The Miami Heraldwrites: This is the third of four meetings this season against the Heat's Southeast Division opponent. Miami is 2-0 against Atlanta this season, and 8-1 against the Hawks in the teams' past nine meetings dating back two seasons.Despite losing eight of their past 10, the Hawks' acquisition of Tyronn Lue from Houston has helped make them a bit more competitive, with the point guard averaging 11.5 points and 5.3 assists since last month's trade.
Sekou Smith ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: A year ago the idea of the New Jersey Nets being in last place in the in their division, Shaquille O'Neal leading Miami to the top of the heap in the Eastern Conference and the Chicago Bulls reeling off seven consecutive wins, all at the same time, would have been laughable. But it's no laughing matter. All three things have happened. And the Hawks get an up-close view of all three surprising Eastern Conference entities this week, having lost to the Nets Monday and facing the Heat today in Miami and the Bulls Friday in Chicago. "The fact is you can be a joke one day and in the NBA Finals two years later depending on who is wearing your team's uniform," Hawks forward Al Harrington said."I don't think that's a secret around this league. We all know it."