Sports Page Atlanta

Later on tonight, the Atlanta Hawks will be facing the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  Not an easy task since the Celtics have the best record in the NBA with a 66-16 record including a 3-0 record against the Hawks.

Here is how some of the Hawks have fared against the Celtics individually.

Most points per game vs Celtics this season:

Al Horford - 15.7

Josh Smith - 15.7

Joe Johnson - 15.3

Rebounds per game vs Celtics this season:

Al Horford - 9.7

Josh Smith - 6.7

Mike Bibby - 6.0

Assists per game vs Celtics this season:

Mike Bibby - 8.0

Joe Johnson - 5.3

On the other side the Celtics have scored very well against the Hawks.

Kevin Garnett - 23.7 points per game vs Hawks this season

Paul Pierce - 22.3

Sam Cassell - 20.0

Ray Allen - 15.0 

The Atlanta Hawks are in the playoffs…. ok you know that already, but let us look at how the Hawks players did in some of the stats… (sorry Dave, I beat you to it…)

• Points Per Game - Joe Johnson 21.7 (16th in NBA)
• Rebounds Per Game - Al Horford 9.7 (18th in NBA)
• Assists Per Game - Mike Bibby 6.0 (18th in NBA)
• Blocks Per Game - Josh Smith 2.8 (2nd in NBA)
• Steals Per Game - Josh Smith 1.5 (19th in NBA)
• Field Goal Pct - Josh Childress 57.1 (22nd in NBA)
• 3-pt Field Goals Made - Joe Johnson 169 (11th in NBA)

Two heads of the state of Georgia basketball teams will be losing some hair in the near future.

Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Woodson will be shaving off his hair before the post-season starts. Coach Woodson made that promise last season, but he didn’t have to do it then, well he has to do it now! Woodson says he has never had a bald head before.

Another Georgia head coach, this one being Dennis Felton of the Georgia Bulldogs will be shaving off his moustache. He made a promise to the students that if the Dawgs won the SEC Tournament he would shave it, they did, and he will.

He will actually do it in front of the Tate Center Students Center on the campus of the University of Georgia on this Friday at noon. The are giving away free SEC Championship T-shirts and posters to the first 100 fans that show up.

Due to the fact the Indiana Pacers lost last night against the Washington Wizards, the Atlanta Hawks will claim the 8th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.  Yes, that is right, the Atlanta Hawks will be playing in the playoffs (most likely against the Boston Celtics.)

This will be the first time the Hawks will make the playoffs since the 1998-99 season.  The Hawks were led that year by head coach Lenny Wikens and players like Steve Smith, Mookie Blaylock and Dikembe Mutombo.

This team still has two regular season games left before the playoffs start including a home game tonight against the Orlando Magic.

Their is an official ticket center online at www.hawks.com or at 1-866-715-1500.

The Atlanta Dream’s first ever draft pick is Tamera Young. Young was the 8th overall selection of this year’s WNBA draft. She is a 6′2″ guard from James Madison University. During her stellar season, she averaged over 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists per game. She also is a graduate of Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina (some guy named Michael Jordan went there.)

The Dream’s 2nd pick was Morenike Atunrase from Texas A&M and the 3rd pick was Danielle Hood from Hartford.

On the local front, Tasha Humphrey was taken 11th overall by the Detroit Shock. Georgia’s 2nd all-time leading scorer will enter a roster already filled with two former Lady Bulldogs (Deanna Nolan and Kara Braxton.) She is already a physical player and will learn even more from her new head coach, Bill Laimbeer.

In the 2nd round, the San Antonio Silver Stars selected Georgia Tech guard Chioma Nnamaka.

Georgia Tech gave women’s basketball coach Machelle Joseph a new 4-year contract worth $1.3 million.

Joseph led the Yellow Jackets to back-to-back 20-win seasons and 2 straight NCAA Tournament appearances. She is 84-66 in her 5 seasons as the Georgia Tech head coach.
photo credit: normancjr

Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson was awarded the Kia Eastern Conference Player of the Month award for his play during the month of March.

Johnson, who has led the Hawks into playoff contention for the first time since the 1998-99 season, averaging 24.9 points and 7.0 assists in 42.2 minutes in March. Johnson scored 20-or-more points 12 times, including eight straight with 20-plus, and 30-or-more points three times.

Also given an award was Al Horford, who was awarded the T-Mobile Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award for the month of March.

Among Eastern Conference rookies in March, Horford ranked first in scoring with 11.9 points per game, as well as rebounds with 8.7 per game. He tied career highs of 20 points and six assists on March 19 at New Jersey, while pulling down 15 rebounds. In addition, Horford recorded six double-doubles. Horford has had double-figure rebounds in 37 games and scored 10-plus points on 32 occasions this season.

Hopefully the Hawks are not counting their chickens yet, but they are signing people up for pre-sale tickets for the playoffs this season. This will begin on Tuesday (it is no April Fool’s joke). Go to the Atlanta Hawks website for more details.

Currently the Hawks are up by 2 1/2 games for the 8th and final playoff spot over the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference. The have 9 games remaining in the regular season.

The Lady Dogs and Lady Jackets both received bids to play in the NCAA Tournament this year.

Georgia is making their 25th NCAA appearance overall and will be an 8th seed and face Iowa in Norfolk, Virginia on Sunday. The winner of that game will face either North Carolina or Bucknell.

Georgia Tech is making their 2nd straight NCAA appearance and will be a 10th seed and Iowa State in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday. The winner of that game will face either Rutgers or Robert Morris.

For 70% of the game, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and the Virginia Cavaliers were locked in a heated, back and forth battle. But with 11:43 remaining in the second half, and the score tied 59-59, the Yellow Jackets decided to pull away, scoring on eight of their next nine possessions and eventually prevailing 94-76.

Anthony Morrow and Jeramis Smith led Tech in scoring with 18 points each, and a total of five Yellow Jackets reached double digits in scoring. Morrow also lef the team in rebounds with seven, in what will be his final ACC tournament. Next for the Jackets… the Duke Blue Devils.

Georgia Tech lost to Duke in February by 13 points, 71-58 and have lost 22 of the 24 games played against the Blue Devils. The last time these two teams met in the ACC Tournament was 2005, and Duke won that match 69-64. Pushing those glum statistics aside, many feel that Georgia Tech is playing the best basketball of the year, right now.

Time to face the Evil Empire. Duke will be a challenge. They are a 3-pt taking machine. We need Coach Hewitt to design another effective defense. That will be a challenge, because you can’t key on one guy. We need to push the tempo and we need to establish some inside game.

This team can do it. They are capable. They are playing their best ball of the year. Can it continue for one more night? Abso-freakin-lutely!!!!

And AJC columnist Mark Bradley also thinks that Georgia Tech has a fighting chance tonight.

I can see Georgia Tech beating Duke Friday.

I can see the 16-loss Jackets playing on Saturday in the ACC tournament.

I can see the team that cannot reach the NCAA tournament as an at-large invitee giving itself a fighting chance to get there as an automatic qualifier.

I can see all these things happening. Maybe you see none of the above. I understand if you don’t. I’ve watched Tech all season, same as you. But what I’m seeing now isn’t the team I watched lose those seven home games. What I’m seeing now is something close to the team I thought this could/should be.

The Yellow Jackets are going to have to continue with their hot streak, and in fact play near flawless basketball to beat the top-10 ranked Blue Devils tonight. A win tonight, and continued winning through the weekend, is Tech’s only shot at an NCAA birth.

Game time is 7:00 and you can catch the action on WATL or on 790 The Zone.