Atlanta Hawks Season Preview

The Atlanta Hawks started their season against the Toronto Raptors in the Air Canada Center. They lost 109-102. This is the type of game you should expect from the Hawks. In my opinion they have a very offensive minded team. If they can work on their defense then I think they can be an elite team in the Eastern Conference. My prediction for the Hawks this year: 4th in their conference. 

With weapons like Al Horford and Paul Millsap, the Hawks will score points by the bunches. They are not the biggest team, but these two can drive to the rim and also score mid-range shots. If Horford gets to the rim efficiently I believe that Millsap can get to the three point line and he can also be a weapon from out there. When you talk about three pointers you can't not talk about Kyle Korver. Korver is currently the record holder for most consecutive games with a made three. His record was snapped at 127 games. That streak spanned 1 full NBA season, and 75 percent of another. That is insane. Besides that Korver is still an elite NBA three point shooter. In the game against the Raptors he went 6 for 7 from downtown in that game. If Korver puts up big numbers this year it could be a very successful season for the Hawks. The last person I want to talk about is Jeff Teague, Teague is an up and coming point guard in this league. I believe that this is the year is his coming out party. In my opinion he can put up 20-25 points every game. I believe that his athleticism and speed can help make up for his lack of size even at the point guard position. Oh and he can shoot a couple threes.

Jeff Teague with a ridiculous crossover on Evan Turner in the 2014 NBA Playoffs.
The three pointer is just icing on the cake 

Now lets talk about the defense. The biggest weakness by far for the Hawks on defense is their lack of size. Neither Horford nor Millsap is tall enough to defend a Pau Gasol or a Brook Lopez. If the Hawks want to have a good defense they have to make teams stretch the floor and defend the three ball well. I believe that they key to a good defense for the Hawks is rebounding. Against the Raptors the Hawks allowed way too many offensive rebounds. If they can limit opponents to a few second chance points a game and they get some offensive rebounds themselves. Their defense can be good enough to power this team through. The last key is for the defense to force turnovers. I believe that if the Hawks can force turnovers they can get on the fast break and get 10 - 12 fast break points a game, that will be enough.

The Hawks are looking forward to a great year if they can play good fundamental basketball.

*Look out for my article about my predictions of the Eastern Conference. 

A Quick Moment to Thank the Atlanta Braves

I want to take this Monday afternoon to appreciate what the Braves achieved in the 2014 season. Now I know that they didn't make the playoffs, and I know that they fired the GM, but in my opinion, they had a great year, and I'll explain more down below.

Before the Braves took the field on opening day their pitching staff was decimated. Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy were out for the year with Tommy John surgery, and Mike Minor was not available for the first couple months of the season. That's 60% of their starting rotation out before opening day. That's devastating for a pitching staff and a team. Yet, the Braves fought on. They went 17-9 in April, and they looked like a great team. Then reality started to catch up. They went on to lose seven of their next eight, and became only four games above .500 in May. They had a better month of June pushing their record to 45-38. July was even better, and the Braves were looking towards a playoff run. They were 58-50 at the end of July, and had a really tough road trip. This is where the downhill journey starts. They went on to get swept in an 8 game road trip by the Dodgers, Padres, and Mariners. And then as you Braves fans remember it was chaos from then on.

Now let me take a look at the positive side. The Atlanta  Braves, the team that had lost 60% of their rotation in the spring, the team that had no hitter that hit over .300, was in contention for an N.L. East title until September. The team that essentially had a lineup with seven hitters due to the second straight dismal year from B.J. Upton. A team that had to release a second baseman that was signed to a 5 year $62 million dollar contract. A team that had a multitude of losing streaks. That team that had guys like Alex Wood, and Aaron Harang in their starting pitching staff. That team had the 5th lowest ERA in the major leagues. That team hung around in a division against the World Series favorites until mid September. That team was the 2014 Atlanta Braves, and they should walk out of that clubhouse with their head held high. They had an excellent 2014 season. Thank you Atlanta Braves!

Atlanta Falcons Week 3 Review

The Atlanta Falcons were trying to rebound from a disappointing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. And boy did they do just that. They put 56 points in the dome against a lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Falcons put up scary fast drives, and their defense was a lot better this game, and hopefully gave the team some confidence. Let's talk about the demolition.

The offense was scoring and scoring and scoring........... You get the point. In the first drive of the game Atlanta took six plays to drive 70 yards in 2 minutes 57 seconds, with the key play being a Julio Jones 25 yard reception. It was smooth sailing from then on.

The Falcons forces a three and out (more on that later), and got the ball. In the next drive the Falcons drove 52 yards, and on the next play Levine Toiliolo fumbled the ball. But the hustle of Devin Hester, redeemed the Falcons, as he forced a fumble on the same play. Then the Falcons kicked it into high gear, and scored 35 points in the first half. Speaking of scoring they jumped out to a 54-0 lead. To give you a perspective on his performance, he scored 29.8 fantasy points. He was pulled out in the middle of the third quarter.

Now let's talk about the defense. The defense was excellent. That's really the only way to put it. They gave up zero points in the first three quarters. The secondary was excellent, the defensive line was awesome, and the safety were excellent. The Falcons won the battle at the line of scrimmage, they prevented the run defense, and they won the game in all aspects. The 14 points that they gave up all came in the fourth quarter, with their backup defense.

Oh and by the way, the defense was so good, they didn't give up a first down until the middle of the second half. No wonder the offense had a multitude of opportunities to score.

This was a great showing by the Falcons in all. They played well in all three aspects of the game offense, defense and special teams. Oh and a quick congratulations to Devin Hester, who broke the record of all time returns for touchdowns. He returned a punt 56 yards, and took it to the house. Congratulations Hester!

Devin Hester returns a punt to the house to set the all-time

 NFL record for return/punt TD's

*Look out for my Week 4 review

Atlanta Falcons Week 2 Review

*Sorry about the late post 

In Week 2, the Falcons came in with a ton of confidence. They had just beaten division rival New Orleans Saints, who had beaten them last year and had gotten their terrible season of to a terrible start. However in Week 2, that confidence did not show up on the field. They started encouragingly, with a 36 yard return by Devin Hester. The offense also got a first down in two plays in their first drive. After that, the offense didn't show up until the 4th quarter. Let's look at both sides of the football, and get my perspective on the Week 2 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

First the offense. The offensive started off slow, and never really kicked it into full gear, Matt Ryan had an awful game throwing three picks, opposed to only one touchdown. The receivers were not getting open, and the offense was just not clicking. There is not much else to say about the offense. They were terrible.

Now lets move on to the defense. The defense was decent up until about halftime. They had given up ten points, along with a couple missed field goals. The only problem was the offense didn't give them much help. Like I mentioned in my previous review, the defense's ability to bend but not break was impressive, but like last week, only in the first half. The defense gave up one touchdown in the first half, but gave up two touchdowns in the third quarter. They did however hold sturdy in the fourth quarter.

Overall a poor perform by the offense and a okay performance by the defense. They will certainly need better if they have a hope of making the playoffs, and winning their division. Their next game is home versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

*Look out for my Week 3 post against the Buccaneers.