Atlanta Krunk
Ballin' it up in the ATL
April 18, 2013 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
When you think of states that are very entrenched in basketball, you generally don’t think about Georgia. It’s true that Georgia isn’t hugely into basketball. However, there are still plenty of people who appreciate it.
At the high school level, there are a number of schools that are considered to be pretty important. The first that comes to mind is Wheeler High School. It’s long been known for some really good basketball players, including some at the NBA level. J. J. Read the rest of this entry »
June 8, 2012 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
The Georgia AA basketball roundup is an exciting change to see what is going on in the great Georgia Peach state! There is so much talent represented here. Lots of these players have a great chance at furthering there career in basketball. It is awesome to see the talent in these players at such an early age.
The AA basketball for Georgia really represents a small portion of the major talent that will be displayed in the SEC. These great teams from schools like South Atlanta, Lamar County, Jefferson County and Fulton County are elite.Get more information Read the rest of this entry »
May 1, 2011 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
High school basketball in Atlanta continues to produce a ton of talent. During the 2010 – 2011 season, four prospects stood out above the rest. Two are seniors and two are juniors. Two are post players, one is a point guard, and one a versatile wing player. They are all heavily recruited.
1. Nick Jacobs, South Atlanta High School. Jacobs is a beast in the post. At 6 – 8 and weighing 260 pounds, he is a man among boys. His post moves are still raw but he is strong, athletic, and Read the rest of this entry »
April 16, 2011 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
All sports are full of unsung heroes. These are the athletes that are willing to put in the time and the energy, not necessarily to be the best, but to be a significant contributor on their teams. In basketball, these are the players who are willing to take the charge, make it difficult for other’s to score and who impact the game without the stats necessarily reflecting their impact. That effort is what has made Mario West Atlanta’s underdog hero.
Mario West Read the rest of this entry »
April 3, 2011 at 12:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Jeff Teague is the kind of player the Atlanta Hawks need: a young player with a nice upside. Teague has demonstrated flashes of NBA talent during his short career. Now that he is getting the opportunity to play significant minutes, Teague is delivering.
In his recent start against the Portland Trail Blazers Teague came up big with 24 points, five steals, four rebounds, and three assists. He even blocked three shots, impressive as a point guard. His successive stat lines have not been as stout, so you know that Teague was amped up for his big start. Read the rest of this entry »
January 8, 2011 at 12:00 am · Filed under Atlanta Hawks
With the Hawks season well underway, well, somewhat underwhelmingly underway at least, one can’t help but look at the off-season and wonder whether letting Mike Woodson go was the right decision. Sadly, like my League Pass on DIRECT TV Atlanta has absolutely no playoff game, even if we show up nightly in the regular season. The Hawks aren’t off to a bad start, not by the Hawks standards fans were accustomed to throughout much of the 2000′s, and to be fair, an injury to Joe Johnson has also hindered the team to function at full strength towards the end of 2010. Still, for an organization that dismissed its coach after its first 50-win season since the Bill Clinton Impeachment Trial, such strong natured actions are not without the repercussion of close scrutiny.While the wins and losses aren’t terribly disconcerting at this point, the performance of the much hyped Larry Drew motion offense is yielding mixed results. On the bright side, assists have skyrocketed from the middle of the pack to top 10 in the league up over 2 full dimes per game, indicating a trend away from the largely iso-driven offense that became a staple of Woody sets over the past several seasons since Joe Johnson’s arrival, further perpetuated by the additional scorer/ballhandler capabilities of Flip Murray and Jamal Crawford over the past 3 seasons. The downside? Total points have also dropped, topping the 100 PPG plateau last year, but safely below that high watermark so far this season. Read the rest of this entry »
August 24, 2010 at 3:01 pm · Filed under Atlanta Hawks, NBA
With all the maximum salaries, mid-level exceptions and Bird rights clauses being thrown around in NBA off-season discussions, it’s safe to say even the casual basketball fan is walking away from this summer with a little more knowledge about NBA bookkeeping and the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Over the past few months, a lot of statistics and numbers have been thrown out as to forecast how teams will perform, what kind of future roster flexibility will be available and even what players might be on the move come this time next year and the year after. But weeding through the entire matrix of formulas and figures, one very underpublicized and underreported stat shines through in the evaluation of the 2010 free agency period: Dwyane Wade is only 6 months younger than Joe Johnson.Granted, right now Dwyane Wade is a much more high impact player than JJ, and if you could guarantee the same continued output going forward, it would seem Wade’s value greatly exceeds that of Johnson. Johnson’s deal is actually larger than Wade’s, as Wade, LeBron and Bosh all accepted reduced contracts in order to play together, however in talks leading up to their signing, no one in the NBA, from analysts to GMs to even fans, seemed to bat an eye at signing Wade to a max deal. Johnson’s contract on the other hand was declared “the worst in the NBA” before the pen had even touched paper. Considering their two vastly different styles of play, in three years can you absolutely say you would rather have Wade than Johnson? Read the rest of this entry »
August 24, 2010 at 2:52 pm · Filed under Atlanta Hawks, NBA
The 2010 off-season was a revolving door for most teams in the NBA’s Southeastern Conference. As the heat of August winds down, the winds of change in Atlanta, however, fell short of the gale force blasts sending franchise altering reverberations through cities such as Miami and Washington D.C. Not to say Atlanta’s summer was without addition or subtraction, after all, the past three months have seen a coaching change and entry draft, not to mention some free agency afterthoughts (i.e. Josh Powell). Still, the thinking among many Hawks fans is that this off-season served more as a reaffirmation of the team’s current strategy rather than the strategic overhaul some say is needed. By most accounts, the Hawks have hit a plateau as far their potential performance with their current core roster. Despite the fact that the Hawks have continued to improve their regular season win total in each of the last 5 seasons, the team is yet to move past the second round of the playoffs, stuck somewhere in between the upper echelon of Eastern Conference contenders and safely above the lottery bubble. Virtually every preseason forecaster will find the Hawks somewhere in the same playoff field, but with the same certainty they will guarantee Atlanta players are at home (as in watching on TV, not home-court advantage) when the conference semifinals roll around. Read the rest of this entry »
August 24, 2010 at 2:48 pm · Filed under All-Time Teams, High School Basketball, Local Legends
Point Guard: Louis Williams, South Gwinnett High School After leading South Gwinnett to a 5A state title in 2005, Williams was not only named Mr. Basketball Georgia, but also Naismith Prep Player of the Year. Williams graduated as the second all-time leading scorer in Georgia high school basketball history and would’ve taken his game to the states flagship university, the University of Georgia; however, Williams was declared ineligible prior to his freshman year. Williams declared for the NBA Draft where he was selected by the 76ers. After struggling in his rookie year, Williams has proven himself as a valuable contributor, improving in every year in the league. Still relatively young, his NBA future looks bright.Honorable Mention:Derrick Favors, South Atlanta High School The power forward had a remarkable high school career, not to mention a solid freshman year at Georgia Tech. Unfortunately, the youngster had the misfortune of being boxed out on this list by Abdur-Rahim, arguably the cities premiere high school talent of all-time.Javaris Crittenton, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy Dwight Howard’s teammate during Crittenton’s sophomore season at SWACA formed the second half of one of the greatest tandems in the history of high school basketball. Crittenton more than held his own after Howard graduated as well, receiving his own recognition as Mr. Basketball Georgia, however Louis Williams was simply more prolific and faced tougher competition on a regular basis. Crittenton spent a year at Georgia Tech, where he had a very solid freshman year, before turning pro. Read the rest of this entry »
August 24, 2010 at 2:34 pm · Filed under All-Time Teams, High School Basketball, Local Legends
Power Forward: Shareef Abdur-Rahim , Wheeler High School The Atlanta Hawks faithful went into a frenzy when it was announced the Memphis Grizzlies would be trading their hometown hero for the rights to draft Pau Gasol. Looking back, the trade would mark the first time Billy Knight screwed the franchise (though this time from the outside, as the Grizzlies GM), however, Abdur-Rahim remains one of the most accomplished players in Atlanta high school basketball history, winning the state’s Mr. Basketball award in back-to-back years in ’94 and ’95.Small Forward: Josh Smith, McEachern High School Smith would later transfer to basketball magnet school Oak Hill Academy in Virginia for his senior season, though he remains the heart of soul of basketball and the city of Atlanta. Even hailing from Delta’s hometown the current Hawks power forward (small forward in high school) is still state’s highest flier, rejecting would be baskets while slamming the rock with authority on the other end. Read the rest of this entry »
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