dlpin

The celtics would also love if the hawks slowed it down and played a half court offense.I mean, if there are two things that the celtics do really, really well right now is half court defense and playing small ball.Since the all star break, when the celtics started playing small ball with KG at center, the only teams to significantly (10+ points) beat the celtics were:76rs twice (who did it by destroying boston on the boards, with at least a +10 rebound differential in both wins)Kings (beat the celtics on the boards, but more importantly forced the celtics to play at a much faster pace than usual - celtics average a 90.1 pace, this game had a pace of 98)See a pattern?Other notable losses included the bulls without Rose (+8 rebound differential in favor of the bulls), the raptors (+13 rebound differential), and the knicks (+10 rebound differential).If Aaron Gray can get double digit boards against the celtics, there is no reason Jason Collins shouldn't get at least half that.

As the board's resident celtics fan, I have to correct the record and say that the celtics are a terrible rebounding team.The celtics would love nothing more than to have an opponent play small ball against them. Hawks' playing small ball against the celtics is like a dream come true for Doc. The best thing possible for the celtics, from a match up point of view, is Pierce on JJ, Hinrich on Bradley, Marvin on Bass and Josh on KG.

word around boston is that Allen, Rondo and Pietrus will sit out regardless of health. Some are pushing for them to sit KG and Pierce too.

Also, I can't believe I missed this earlier, but Wilkens is already in the hall of fame as a coach, class of 1998.

the reason Payton isn't in is because he is not eligible yet. You have to have been retired for 5 full years before being nominated. Gary Payton retired in 2007, so this summer will be 5 years. Reggie Miller was eligible for the first time last year, and he retired in 2005.

Gary Payton has a ring, 2 1st team all nba selections, 5 second team, 1 defensive player of the year award and 9 1st team all defense. 8th all time in assists, 4th in steals, 28th in points. He is as much a guaranteed hall of famer as any player can ever be without winning the mvp.

How is anything "almost assured?"For the hawks to have homecourt in the first round, they would have to:stay ahead of the celticsstay ahead of either the magic or indianaBoth conditions would have to apply.The celtics have one more loss than the hawks, but the two teams face each other twiceIndiana has one fewer loss, does not play atlanta anymore, and only faces 3 playoff teams from here on out, one of them a chicago team that might have already clinched home court on the last game of the seasonorlando has the same number of losses and play the hawks at home.So things are completely up in the air.

By this perspective, Lebron should be the player of the month then. The only stat categories that Josh did better than Lebron in March was rebounding and blocks.

Doc isn't going anywhere. Doc signed a 5 year, 5 million per year deal last year. The Joe Johnson trade was before Ainge's time there. And it was one of the worst trades in celtics history. Phoenix wanted either Kendrick Brown or Joe Johnson. Chris Wallace (the celtics GM at the time, who later would go on to Memphis and do the Gasol trade) thought that Kendrick Brown had a better future and traded Joe Johnson. The celtics should have kept Joe Johnson, and Ainge had nothing to do with him leaving. While Joe Johnson certainly is overpaid, the celtics should have kept him and would have kept him if it wasn't for Chris Wallace's incompetence.

What OKC has is luck. People talk of great ownership and of how great Presti is, but a couple of things go differently and they would be the laughing stock of the NBA.First, let's remember that this team is only possible because they intentionally tanked for a few seasons in order to get the team out of seattle. Not many ownerships and fanbases would accept prolonged tanking like this.Then they got really lucky. 4 teams had better odds of landing a top 2 pick than they did in 07.And on top of that, they could rely on other team's lack of luck or competence.What would they have to show for 3 years of tanking if they had ended up with the 5th pick in 07? Or if Portland had picked Durant instead of Oden? Or if Michael Beasley fell to them in 08?A little change at the picks in front of them and they might have had a team with Oden and Beasley instead of Durant and Westbrook...

Doc is a coach that has grown on me.I think Doc has a few flaws that can be pretty aggravating on a less than contending team. I think he is not very good at managing players' minutes, and he is not a great Xs and Os type of coach. Before the big 3 got together in Boston, I think pretty much every celtics fan wanted him gone. But I think he learned a lot on the Xs and Os front with Thibodeau there.Doc's main strength, however, is just how much respect he gets from his players. He is excellent at creating chemistry, managing egos, getting everyone to buy into the team concept. He is a true players' coach, and one of the reasons the celtics always seem to get at least one vet to sign on for the minimun. He gets the maximun effort out of his players. Just look at Big Baby Davis' career after he left the celtics: he can't seem to stay out of trouble and is having his worst season. Players want to play for him (Pietrus could have easily signed with the Bulls and would probably be starting over Ronnie Brewer) and to play hard for him.

The only way the Hawks can face indiana in the first round is if one or both pass orlando.Hawks passing the celtics is not enough, because the celtics (or philly) would still be a top 4 seed, and if orlando was ahead of the hawks and indiana, orlando would be 3, philly/celtics 4, hawks/indiana 5 and 6.

In the NBA, in the first round home court advantage is decided by record, not seeding. If a team wins the division but has a worst record than the lower seed, they will not have home court advantage. Right now, the celtics would be number 4 seed, but would not have home court advantage over either the hawks or the pacers, who are fighting for the 5th seed.

NBA seeding changed after the 06 playoffs. In 06 the division champs were guaranteed top 3 seeds.In the west, that meant that Dallas had the 2nd best record and still ended up the 4th seed, despite having won 16 more games than the nuggets, the 3rd seed. After that, division champs are guaranteed a top 4 seed, but that is all.This exact scenario has happened with the Hawks in the past. In the 09-10 season the magic won the southeast division and the celtics won the atlantic division, but the hawks ended up with the 3rd seed because they had a better record than the celtics, who ended up with the 4th seed.Also, keep in mind that seeding does not determine home court advantage in the first round. If the season ended today, the celtics would be the 4th seed, but would NOT have home court advantage over the pacers (5th seed) because the pacers have a better record.

Either way, all 3 teams are middle of the pack or worse. Not much to do with the hawks specifically.

Falcons' attendance ranking these past few years, as a percentage of tickets sold:17th, 19th, 23rdBraves' attendance ranking these past few years as percentage of tickets sold:20th, 17th, 17thNot much better than the hawks as a percentage of tickets sold:20th, 19th, 20thRight now I am really close to a marta station. If I want to go to a game, it is a 10 minute train ride for me. If I were to drive, it would be 30 minutes in regular traffic conditions. Worse than average and it would be even longer.

As an outsider (both as someone who moved to Atlanta as an adult and as a fan of another team - the celtics) let me just say that there is nothing particularly bad about Atlanta fans. I generally don't like these claims that fans of X team are this, or of Y team are that. People are people. Differences in the level of team support have a lot more to do with demographics and market than they have to do with the team.For example, the point that Hawks fans are too negative on their own team is just outright false. Take a look at any celtics fan forums and you will see people demanding to trade Rondo, wanting Ainge fired, and wanting Doc gone despite 2 finals and 1 championship in 4 years. All fans are like that.The real reason Atlanta fans don't show up are related to 3 things:1- large section of the population from outside town. Someone posted the cite above. But if you look at middle class and above, who are the people who could afford to go to the games, I'd bet closer to 3/4s are out of towners.2- Poor infrastructure. If you don't live by a MARTA station, you are going to be stuck in traffic for a long time to get to a 7pm game.3- Just too much to do. Atlanta is a great city, with great weather, lot's of cheap entertainment alternatives, 2 other pro sports teams, 2 top college programs, and several minor leagues.In Boston in January, you go to celtics games because it is very easy to get to the garden (several lines take you there) and there is very little you can do with your family on a cold winter night. In Atlanta, on a january evening it is still warm enough outside to grill in your backyard, and sometimes even to go play outside.

I think Pierce probably shouldn't be an all star this year. But there is no question that Rondo should take Joe Johnson's spot for one single reason: without JJ, the east has only Deron Williams as a real guard on the bench. Iguodala made it as a guard but he plays small forward for the sixers.

2 things drive media coverage: 1- market size and interest 2- superstars (especially the ones with the big endorsement deals that also buy ads on ESPN). Atlanta has neither. And it is not just ESPN, or anything like that. I listen to both 680 and 790 on my way to work and back. I can't remember the last time either mentioned the hawks, even though they are the only Atlanta team playing. Hell, Atlanta is 22nd in attendance this year.

not to mention that teams paying the luxury tax do not get the money from the luxury tax, which is divided among the non paying teams.

the thing is that Gordon will be a restricted free agent soon. Will the hornets have been sold by then? Will the NBA authorize a max deal, even if he still hasn't reached his full potential? If this franchise is still a mess in a year, he might just decide to play his restricted year on the offer sheet and become a free agent as well.

I think it is also interesting that the NBA relented on its stance that they also needed to get rid of Okafor's contract. Other than that, the laker trade involved more assets that would have allowed them to be a borderline playoff team now, but the clipper package can potentially be a home run if the minnesota pick turns out to be a good one. So this is a riskier deal, but with a lot more potential.

The NBA wanted Gordon AND minnesota's pick. And I am sorry, but that is way too much for a guy with knee problems on the last year of his deal. The minnesota pick is unprotected, and given all the new faces and changes over there should easily be a top 5 pick in a year with a very deep draft.

I don't get how the original trade for the lakers was a bad deal for the Hornets. Sure, the lakers didn't give up much (though I wouldn't call a top 5 power forward and the 6th man of the year "nothing"), but that is because the Rockets were willing to give away talent to get cap space. Kevin Martin is a 20+ scorer, Scola is an 18/8 man, Dragic is a decent back up PG and Odom is the 6th man of the year. The hornets would have been in playoff contention. And if they wanted to blow it up, they could get a ton of players and picks by trading these pieces to contenders. You don't think the bulls would do something like Asik plus the bobcats pick for Martin? That the celtics wouldn't give Jeff Green plus the clippers pick for Odom? That the spurs wouldn't be willing to give Splitter+picks for Scola in order to put together one last run? As for the "new nba," it is the same as the old NBA. Teams trading expiring contracts for 50 cents on the dollar are as old as free agency.

Here's what Vegas expects, in terms of dds of winning the eastern conference: Miami Heat -110 Chicago Bulls +250 Boston Celtics +500 New York Knicks +1000 New Jersey Nets +1200 Orlando Magic +1400 Indiana Pacers +2000 Atlanta Hawks +2300 things will change based on what howard does. In terms of wins, the ranking is: Miami 49.5 Bulls: 46.5 Boston: 41.5 Orlando: 41.5 Knicks 39.5 Hawks 35.5 pacers 31.5 sixers 30.5 Might be some good values there depending on how that matches up with your expectations.