Amico report: Hawks

[Boondocks]

disclaimer

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Amico is a free newsletter, written by reporter Sam Amico. You can get the Amico Report delivered directly to your inbox by sending your e-mail address to

samamico22@netzero.com.

The newsletter is free.

The Amico Report is in its fourth season -- and has more than 25,000 readers worldwide. Check it out on great Web sites like InsideHoops.com, AthlonSports.com, NBADraft.net, or for the Chinese version, RoundballCity.com.

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And now on to the good stuff, the part about the Hawks

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Even the Hawks deserve love

Today, I’ve decided to write about a couple of teams I haven’t been writing about much.

Of course, if you've seen the teams I‘m writing about -- the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors -- you’ll probably understand why I haven’t been writing about them. But that ddoesn’t mean I don’t like ’em.

Let‘s start with the Hawks:

• I admire how Antoine Walker has continued to play hard in a no-win situation. Walker remains one of the top two or three passing forwards in the game, and continues to do an underrated job of handling the ball and rebounding.

• Mostly, Walker reportedly has become a strong locker room presence and right-hand man for first-year Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

• Have you noticed that Walker no longer does his little shiver dance after making a 3-pointer?

• I guess the better question is, have you noticed the Hawks at all this season?

• If not, just know that the frontcourt of Walker and power forward Al Harrington are two good building blocks. I also like Woodson and his relaxed, patient approach.

• Woodson owns a championship ring, something he won as an assistant under Larry Brown in Detroit last season. Like Brown, Woodson believes in shutting down the opponent first, asking questions later.

• If Woodson can convince Walker and Harrington to even pretend to play defense on every other possession, he’s really accomplished something.

• Like so many young NBA players, Harrington also needs to learn that numbers don’t make a man. By that, I mean scoring lots of points and pulling down tons of rebounds isn’t enough. If you want to be great, you gotta be clutch. But believe me, this kid has remarkable ability.

• I’ve always had a take-him-or-leave-him attitude toward point guard Kenny Anderson, but now that he’s old and coming off the bench for a bad team, I absolutely love him. Maybe that’s because I’m my rec league’s version of Anderson. At any rate, the Hawks seem to like having him around too -- as Anderson is said to be very helpful in tutoring rookie find Royal Ivey

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• Rookie swingmen Josh Childress and Josh Smith should be good players in this league for a long time. Both are exceptional athletes with winning attitudes. And by all indications, neither is afraid of working hard to improve his game.

• Nothing against Jason Collier or Ivey and Anderson, but it’s clear that the Hawks need an upgrade at center and point guard -- which just happen to be the two most important positions.

• Finally, at the rate things are going, look for the Hawks to wind up with a top three draft pick. Rumors are already flying that they will use it as trade bait to obtain Detroit guard Richard Hamilton. That’s especially true if Brown leaves and the Pistons fail to repeat.

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I like the summary. How in the world did he get the rumor though that we're after Rip?

[Employee8]

Quote:

---

disclaimer

Quote:

---

Amico is a free newsletter, written by reporter Sam Amico. You can get the Amico Report delivered directly to your inbox by sending your e-mail address to

samamico22@netzero.com.

The newsletter is free.

The Amico Report is in its fourth season -- and has more than 25,000 readers worldwide. Check it out on great Web sites like InsideHoops.com, AthlonSports.com, NBADraft.net, or for the Chinese version, RoundballCity.com.

---

And now on to the good stuff, the part about the Hawks

Quote:

---

Even the Hawks deserve love

Today, I’ve decided to write about a couple of teams I haven’t been writing about much.

Of course, if you've seen the teams I‘m writing about -- the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors -- you’ll probably understand why I haven’t been writing about them. But that ddoesn’t mean I don’t like ’em.

Let‘s start with the Hawks:

• I admire how Antoine Walker has continued to play hard in a no-win situation. Walker remains one of the top two or three passing forwards in the game, and continues to do an underrated job of handling the ball and rebounding.

• Mostly, Walker reportedly has become a strong locker room presence and right-hand man for first-year Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

• Have you noticed that Walker no longer does his little shiver dance after making a 3-pointer?

• I guess the better question is, have you noticed the Hawks at all this season?

• If not, just know that the frontcourt of Walker and power forward Al Harrington are two good building blocks. I also like Woodson and his relaxed, patient approach.

• Woodson owns a championship ring, something he won as an assistant under Larry Brown in Detroit last season. Like Brown, Woodson believes in shutting down the opponent first, asking questions later.

• If Woodson can convince Walker and Harrington to even pretend to play defense on every other possession, he’s really accomplished something.

• Like so many young NBA players, Harrington also needs to learn that numbers don’t make a man. By that, I mean scoring lots of points and pulling down tons of rebounds isn’t enough. If you want to be great, you gotta be clutch. But believe me, this kid has remarkable ability.

• I’ve always had a take-him-or-leave-him attitude toward point guard Kenny Anderson, but now that he’s old and coming off the bench for a bad team, I absolutely love him. Maybe that’s because I’m my rec league’s version of Anderson. At any rate, the Hawks seem to like having him around too -- as Anderson is said to be very helpful in tutoring rookie find Royal Ivey

<.>

• Rookie swingmen Josh Childress and Josh Smith should be good players in this league for a long time. Both are exceptional athletes with winning attitudes. And by all indications, neither is afraid of working hard to improve his game.

• Nothing against Jason Collier or Ivey and Anderson, but it’s clear that the Hawks need an upgrade at center and point guard -- which just happen to be the two most important positions.

• Finally, at the rate things are going, look for the Hawks to wind up with a top three draft pick. Rumors are already flying that they will use it as trade bait to obtain Detroit guard Richard Hamilton. That’s especially true if Brown leaves and the Pistons fail to repeat.

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I like the summary. How in the world did he get the rumor though that we're after Rip?

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Rip Hamilton????? No way!!!

And speaking of no love, WHAT ABOUT PEJA??? Give the Manjak some love, too!!!

oh and Walker doesn't do his shimmy dance 'cause the team isn't WINNING. That's the reason.

[Plainview1981]

Rip isn't worth a top 3 pick... He's a cheap knockoff

of Reggie Miller and not much more. I've never been a

Rip fan, but I take take him being on the team... But

not at the price of a top 3 pick.

[Blunt91]

I agree he is not worth a top 3pick. We need another 3point shooter not someone with a midrange game. Heck Al Harrington has a good mid range jump shot from about 15 to 18feet. We keep this draft pick and maybe trade our 2006draft pick if not in the top5.

[macdaddy]

I would think that we would get Rip plus their 1st. Rip would be good on this team. He's a great scorer and Woodson probably realizes that these skinny guys have long, productive NBA careers.

[TheDude]

I like Rip but a top 3 pick? BK better not do that...

[Buzzard]

I agree Doc and I do not see anyteam giving up a top five pick for RIP.

I do not think Walker and Harrington are good building blocks simply because neither will bring the D that we need down low but who knows maybe with a legit force at center and pg it will work.

I like everything else this guy said including the implied threat (Walker is one of our building blocks) that we would and could match any offer for Walker should a team think they may move in and get him without giving us a pick.

Childress and Smith are nice players and lets face it, they need two to three years to mature.

Writers like this are a breath of fresh air. The Hawks are one of the three worst teams in the league yet he can see the positives and also talk about the team needs we have, center and point guard, without ripping us apart.

[Spiral]

It is nice to finally read a nationally published article where the writer doesn't take a cheap shot at the city or the team. If Chad Ford ever steps foot inside Atlanta he should get beat down for all the garbage he's spewed over the years. This article wasn't all that informative, (he pretty much stated the obvious) but we'll take all the positive press we can get.

[Nicholasp27]

we don't need rip when we have chill, who is rip #2...

i'd like to draft a pg, sign one of the 5 centers we all keep talking about and then go with felton/chill/smoove/harrington/center

if that team doesn't end up having enough outside shooting, then we can trade harrington for a sg or sign a sg and go with felton/sg/chill/smoove/center...that's the good thing about the versatility of chill/smoove...we just need either a 2,3 or 4 to go with them and we are set...we need to get our pg and center of the future first and foremost...then play chill/smoove/al together...then we will see what is most lacking from that 3some and trade one of them to get the lacking piece if that is the case...