Getting on board

It is time for this sports junkie to come clean.  I have now officially boarded the Atlanta Hawks’ bandwagon.  I even pay attention to their schedule now, so I can plan to watch at least portions of games.  In my boldest move yet – prompted by my son’s powerful interest and proximity – I have tickets to a Hawks road game.  Yeah, that's right, a road game!

Don’t get me wrong.  I’ve not jumped ship from supporting some other NBA team.  I’m not one to latch on to another city’s franchise in any sport.  Instead, I have simply abandoned the NBA for at least a couple of decades.

I’ve always been a fan of Atlanta’s sports teams and I attended many Hawks’ games in the old Omni, including a few playoff games.  My interest in pro hoops has just faded in recent years.  The style of play all across the league just has not been able to hold my interest.  It didn’t help that Atlanta teams have been fairly pedestrian during that span.

Sure, I’ve distantly kept up with the league’s superstars and story lines, but the game I enjoyed watching so much in the Seventies and Eighties evolved – and in my opinion – not necessarily for the better. 

This Atlanta Hawks team, however, is genuinely refreshing.

My curiosity started in December.  The Hawks were off to a good start and were winning, so I read a few articles and would catch a few minutes here and there on television when I happened to recall they were playing.  After all, there was still plenty of football to follow and occupy my time.

Then a couple of road trips really raised my eyebrows and got my attention.

In late December the Hawks swept a road trip to Cleveland, Houston, and Dallas. That was three quality wins in the arenas of expected playoff contenders.  On the next extended trip out of Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport, the Hawks reeled off victories at Utah, Portland, and the Los Angeles Clippers. 

Now they really had my awareness!  Winning at home in the NBA is expected – even for average teams, but taking that show on the road with some consistency is another story.

Little did we know at the time, but those West coast wins were three, four, and five of their current and historic sixteen win streak.  Now the whole country is watching and learning more about this team.

If you are not familiar with these Hawks and their style of play, I suggest you start with Coach Mike Budenholzer.  Budenholzer, a nineteen year disciple of San Antonio Spurs’ head coach Gregg Popovich, has quickly convinced a group of players to work together defensively and share the ball unselfishly on offense.

Through 45 games, Atlanta leads the NBA in scoring defense (96.1 ppg) and is second in the league in assists (26.1).

Budenholzer and GM Danny Ferry both arrived in Atlanta following their experiences with the San Antonio franchise.  The Popovich influence is evident and why not?  The Spurs, under his leadership, have won five NBA titles since 1999 and won their division eleven times.

Next, enjoy the players.

They have tremendous quickness at the point and some of the best three point shooting in the league. 

Hawks’ 2009 first round pick Jeff Teague leads Atlanta in scoring (17.1) from his point guard spot.  He also leads the team in assists (7.5), and steals (1.8).  Teague creates for others, beats defenders off the dribble, and defends tenaciously playing just over 31 minutes per game.

Dennis Schroder, another first rounder, is quickly developing into a capable backup for Teague.  He is not yet the same defender as Teague, but Schroder brings energy to the floor and a different look offensively.

Veteran shooting guard, Kyle Korver, spots up for threes at an NBA leading accuracy rate of more than 53 percent.  Fellow guards Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore defend better than Korver and give the offense a more physical style with their minutes.

There’s no true center, but the forward-center mix they put on the floor has been highly effective.  They challenge passes and shots and convert the mid-range jumper better than most of their opponents.

Former Florida star, Al Horford, has really come into his own under Budenholzer, performing at an All-Star level.  He has been a huge reason for the Hawks’ current sixteen game winning streak.  Just this month, Horton is averaging 16.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 1.3 blocks a game.

Paul Millsap leads the team in minutes played and is second on the team in scoring (17.0).  Small forward DeMarre Carroll runs the floor and has shooting range to help spread an opponent’s defense.  Toss in Mike Scott and Pero Antic in their power forward roles and the combinations are varied and flexible.  And the best feature of this whole group has been their commitment to play hard and smart on the defensive end.

For me, the real attraction to these Hawks has been their style of play.  There’s not really a go-to guy with all five starters averaging double figures.  They score in transition and they make the extra pass to get open looks.  Then on the defensive end, the guards extend pressure and they swarm to challenge passing lanes and shots.

Will their style work in the playoffs?  What happens if there are any extended injuries?  Who knows?  Those are questions every team has to answer.

The lack of nationally known, familiar faces and names on the Atlanta roster will continue the media doubt.  That doubt is not going to change until they make a deep run in the playoffs.  Washington and Toronto face similar scrutiny, so expect LaBron’s Cavaliers and Chicago to remain media darlings.  That is simply the status of the Eastern Conference until someone proves they can take the next step.   

I know a lofty 37-8 record and a 7 game lead in the Eastern Conference seems too good to be true this deep into the season, but this is no longer a fluky run.  The Hawks are 12-2 against the Western Conference and have the NBA’s best record against the league’s other top six teams. 

This is a team that has now proven it can win and even get it done on the road.  So I’m going to try to avoid my typical Atlanta sports fan pessimism and cling to a new mantra, “Why not these Hawks?”

Slap that banner on my new bandwagon.

Braves' fans may need new hobbies for a couple of years

Image source: AtlantaBraves.com
The Braves' new 41,500-seat stadium in Cobb County is scheduled to open in 2017.

If you're an Atlanta Braves fan like me, you may just need to find a new hobby this Spring and Summer. Atlanta has shed much of its star power and is obviously retooling for a move into the new Cobb County stadium in 2017. 

I get it. I can be a patient person, but this feels like the first time in about twenty years the Braves enter a season with very little immediate hope. 

It is true the Braves keep stockpiling prospects. MLB Prospect Watch says Atlanta has now picked up 6 of their top 10 prospects with recent moves, but we all know those guys will need time to develop. 

Meanwhile, the established talent that was on the team has been traded away. Justin Upton to San Diego, Jason Hayward to St. Louis, and Evan Gattis to Houston were the big moves so far. That means the Braves are headed toward at least a couple of seasons of maybe 70-75 wins. 

Take a look at the projected 2015 lineup: (via the Braves web site current depth chart)

LF: Zoilo Almonte
CF: B.J. Upton
RF: Nick Markakis
3B: Chris Johnson
SS: Andrelton Simmons
2B: Alberto Callaspo
1B: Freddie Freeman
C: Christian Bethancourt

That's not a lineup that will immediately strike fear in the hearts of the NL East.

On a positive note, the starting pitcher staff is young and talented. Julio Tehran, Shelby Miller, Alex Wood, Mike Minor, and David Hale would be coveted by many teams. The Braves have a decent bullpen with Craig Kimbrel on the back end --- so we can hope they at least keep Atlanta competitive while waiting on the position talent to mature.

I suspect more moves are on the horizon. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports MLB coverage says Kimbrel's current value is likely as high as it will ever be. That means John Hart will be tempted to move Kimbrel also, so don't be too surprised if that occurs during the year. After all, who needs one of baseball's top closers if you're only winning 70-75 games?

Enjoy your hobbies.

Woodland, Cass wrestling teams advance to 2015 GHSA Class AAAAA State Duals Tournament

It was a Bartow County sweep at the Region 7-AAAAA Duals. Woodland and Cass finished first and second, respectively, last Saturday at Creekview High School to qualify for the GHSA Class AAAAA state duals wrestling championships. The tournament begins Thursday at the Macon Centreplex.

Both the Wildcats and Colonels will hit the mats at 2:45pm for their first round matches in Macon. Woodland, named top seed for the tournament, faces Gainesville in the opening round and Cass, seeded seventh, will square off against Jones County. The quarterfinal and the state semifinal matches are scheduled for Friday afternoon and evening. The state finals for all six GHSA classifications will be Saturday afternoon. 

The single elimination format includes a consolation wrestle back schedule to help determine the top four teams in each classification. The wrestle back matches begin for first round losers Thursday night and will continue throughout the weekend. 

It was the fifth consecutive Area/Region Duals title for Woodland and coach Adrian Tramutola’s Wildcats will be a favorite to win it all. He says, however, there will be other top contenders for the title. “I would say Camden, Allatoona, Alexander, Ola, and Cass are in the top six this year.” 

Colonels’ head coach, D.L. Koontz confirmed. “Woodland will be a favorite to make the finals along with Camden County. Camden is a 6A size school competing down a classification in all sports except football due to the GHSA isolation rule.” Koontz, who is confident his team will challenge, confirmed Tramutola’s list and added Union Grove. “It’s our eighth trip to the state duals since 2004 and we’ve only missed the top three one of those times,” added Koontz.

Usually competing in separate classifications, both programs have a strong recent history. The Colonels won the title in 2008 and have runner-up finishes in 2006, 2007, and 2014. Woodland was state runner-up in 2013 and 2014 and won the state duals in 2011 and 2003.

At the 7-AAAAA meet, Woodland defeated River Ridge, 84-0, Cambridge, 50-17, and Cass in the finals, 55-15. Cass had region tournament wins over Dalton, 51-18 and Creekview 33-31 before falling to Woodland in the finals. Creekview finished third and Cambridge was fourth. 

Koontz says his guys need to treat this weekend like others on the schedule.

“We have to wrestle like this is a regular tournament. Some kids get to the Centreplex and are awestruck by the size of the venue. The good news for us, however, is everyone except our freshmen have been down there before. Our kids look forward to this tournament and as long as they make every match a war, the team will do just fine.”

The Colonels’ head coach said the core of his lineup has plenty of state tournament experience.

“We will lean heavily on our main guys. Tyjuan Jett, Dallas Huston, Aaron Matthews, Chance Scrutchins, Tyller Larson, Devin Wills, Montavious Turner, Hunter Quinn, Jordan Mitchell, Josh Morris, Chandler Blum, and Devin Garrett understand what we have to do. Our coaching staff loves this group and will put them up against anyone.” 

Woodland’s head coach is no stranger to the state tournament either. Prior to taking over the Wildcats, his teams at McEachern won multiple state titles and his Woodland teams have challenged each year since his arrival. 

“This year’s team is one of the strongest we’ve had from top to bottom,” said Tramutola. “We have several juniors in the lineup that have been three year starters, so they have tons of experience. Veterans on this team are guys like Jahvar Lewis, Logan Sims, Jake Huffine, Spencer Cooper, Matt Evans, Khalil Morris, Chance Bishop and Brett Shedd. Most of them have wrestled for the title two or three times in high school, so they have that experience to draw back on. We expect those guys to lead the young guys and to keep them calm and relaxed when the money rounds come up.”

With the recent close calls in mind, the Wildcats’ head coach spelled out his team’s formula for a championship. 

“To win the title, we will need a complete team effort. We need guys to go out and score bonus points in a lot of matches. We also need some guys to step up in big spots. It’s four matches in a row to win the title and that is against some great teams, so we have to make sure our guys are ready to go each round and they are not guilty of looking ahead.” 

Tramutola and his squad have clear intentions headed to Macon. “This year’s team knows they have an excellent shot at winning the title that has eluded them in the past. We have a great group of veterans mixed with some very talented young guys. We have wrestled an extremely tough schedule this year so our kids are battle tested,” added the coach.

Koontz credits his extended coaching staff for the consistency of his program. “It starts with the tremendous teaching they do with our kids at Cass Middle. Coach Elrod, Coach Sims, Coach Arnold, and Coach Fallin all do such a great job, the high school coaches get to spend time building on established fundamentals and improving individual skills.” 

In other Area/Region Duals action last weekend, Cartersville just missed a spot in the Class AAAA state tournament. The ‘Canes finished behind defending state champ Gilmer and Heritage-Catoosa. In Region 6-AAA, Adairsville had a victory over Ringgold, but fell to Calhoun and Coahulla Creek. Sonoraville and Calhoun advanced to the state duals from that tournament.

Schottenheimer, interesting hire at UGA

In a clear understatement, Brian Schottenheimer is an interesting hire as OC and QB coach at the UGA. Mark Richt seems genuinely excited about the hire, so for me that's good news. Like him or not, Richt is commonly regarded by his counterparts in the SEC as one of the best offensive minds in the nation. Richt has already been quoted as saying he was "blown away" by his interview with Schottenheimer. Since I've been a Richt supporter all along and CMR is excited to have him, then I'm supportive.

That said, Schottenheimer's offenses with the Jets and Rams were not stellar. On a positive note, both improved dramatically under his leadership and the Jets abruptly fell off statistically when he left for St. Louis. Also let's be honest, neither the Jets nor Rams were anywhere near the top of the league in offensive talent while he was at either. Another consideration is how well he fits into CMR's offensive philosophy. Schottenheimer's offenses and what Richt prefers are virtually identical. Like his dad, Schottenheimer is also known as a quarterback groomer. During his NFL career, Schottenheimer coached quarterbacks Drew Brees and Phillip Rivers in San Diego, Brett Favre and Mark Sanchez with the Jets, and Sam Bradford with the Rams. Bradford has been impressive when healthy, but hasn't taken a snap since early in the 2013 season, thus handicapping the Rams' attack. With 2016 5-star Jacob Eason on his way, the tutelage of Richt and Schottenhemer could be just the ticket to keep UGA's offense among the nation's elite.

Rams' head coach, Jeff Fisher, was apparently blindsided by the departure and -- through my limited research today -- was nothing but impressed by Schottenheimer and his work in St. Louis before this announcement. Maybe something comes out in coming days to indicate differently, but the initial reports out of the Rams organization were both supportive of Schottenheimer and surprised at his leaving.

Welcome to Athens Coach Schottenheimer, wife Gemmi, son Sutton, and daughter, Savannah. Welcome to DawgNation. Get to work and make us proud.

THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF TUESDAY SPIN

The committee surprised me last week (Nov 18) when The Gang of 12 put Bama 1 and FSU 3… Oregon was 2 and Miss St. was 4. Since beginning this endeavor, my goal each week has been to project the final Dec. 7 rankings. I admit, following this process has been interesting and I'd be willing to bet we haven't seen our last upset among the leaders.

My Dec. 7 projection remains:
1. FLORIDA STATE -- Even further enhanced if Georgia Tech can beat Georgia before the Seminoles beat GT.
2. ALABAMA -- Beating Auburn and Missouri or Georgia will solidify a top 2 spot.
3. OREGON -- Rivalry game with Oregon State and will have a tough conference championship game.
4. BAYLOR -- This is the shakiest projection of all, but if they win out they'll get a spot. That's wins over Texas Tech and Kansas State.
FIRST TWO OUT:
5. OHIO STATE -- Buckeyes are first in line if one of the top four slip.
6. MISSISSIPPI STATE -- By Dec. 7, winning a conference will be weighed into the process. We are told that is not a weekly consideration at this point. Bulldogs can't overcome that dagger.

HOW IT COULD HAPPEN:
*TCU is back in the mix if Baylor loses to Texas Tech or K-State, but so is KANSAS ST.

*ARIZONA/ARIZONA STATE winner needs UCLA to lose to Stanford and then upset OREGON in the PAC12 title game. Plus, have some other surprises in Power 5 title games.

*UCLA has to beat Stanford and win the PAC12 title game against Oregon, then have at least one other upset to occur in another Power 5 conference.

*MISSOURI has to beat Arkansas and win the SEC title game. It might be the death of this playoff system if the committee omits the SEC Champion. GEORGIA gets the same consideration.

*WISCONSIN/MINNESOTA winner this week gets my longest of long shots award, just because either can still win the B1G.

Let's Eliminate All GHSA Region Assignments

Several years ago when I was a high school athletic director, I worked as a GHSA region secretary and a GHSA Executive Committee member.  I held those positions for more than a dozen years and was honored to represent the school principals, coaches, athletes, parents, and fans of the regions that elected me.  During and since that time, I've seen GHSA struggle through the expansion of championship classifications, a multiplier for private schools, and a variety of other travel/economic concerns related to re-classification and geographic region assignments.  

During the greatest portion of my time with GHSA, I was also a Georgia representative with NIAAA's leadership training program.  (National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association with the National Federation of High Schools -- the national sanctioning and rules authority for high school athletics in the U.S.) That experience placed me with athletic directors and state athletic association leaders from all across the nation.  As a result, I had an opportunity to share Georgia's issues and concerns and listen to athletic leaders from every state.  Leaning on the information others shared, I once proposed to the GHSA Executive Committee a plan for dealing with many of the re-classification issues mentioned earlier.  My proposal was made more than ten years ago and was not popular with the leaders of the committee. It met immediate resistance and quickly died for lack of support.  I still believe a version of that proposal holds merit and its time has come.

My proposal, years ago, was to eliminate regions.  Allow every school to schedule the way they see fit in each sport, and adopt a computerized-interlocking schedule formula to create the end-of-season state playoff pairings.  The GHSA office could assign small "schedule requirement groups" to require schools within limited travel distance from one another and in the same classification to play one another in each sport.  This should help relieve the argument,"Nobody wants to play us."

Every travel concern argument I ever heard was about required region games, loss of classroom time, and the economic impact on a school.  The 'unspoken', underlying complaint was about competitive balance (i.e., too many strong teams in a given sport (usually football) assigned together.)  I rarely -- if ever -- heard a school complain about travel for a state playoff contest.  They were happy and excited to be in the playoffs!  There were also arguments about the imbalance in size of assigned regions (equal access to state playoff spots).  Without regions, all schools have equal access and can schedule locally or statewide if it best meets their program's financial standing and/or needs.  Schools would have to understand -- in such a format -- that scheduling would be extremely important regarding qualification for the state playoffs or playoff seeding.

The old guard of GHSA has always been "married" to 8 geographic regions in each classification and the pre-set playoff brackets that system creates.  (Yes, I know there have been some changes/acceptance in recent years in Class A, but not in other classifications.) There has also been a mistrust of any seeding formula.  If the highest level of NCAA football can utilize computers to assist their national championship selections, then why not GHSA?

The freedom of scheduling would allow GHSA to host some Saturday "Showcase" events using corporate sponsorship, television, and regional stadiums/arenas (maybe even college facilities) to enable profitable events that "interlock" schedules across the state during the regular season.  For example, imagine football or basketball events -- similar to the Georgia Dome finals -- scattered throughout the regular season where high profile programs from wider geographic areas face off.  These events would improve the "interlocking" portion of schedules and ratings.  They would strengthen the seeding process.  Meanwhile, programs trying to build or repair would have the opportunity to play one another more often.  

Quality computerized ratings programs would make sure those programs competing at higher levels against stronger competition would be rewarded come state playoff time.  Even "reasonable losses" against stronger competition would be rewarded at a greater rate than wins against weaker competition.  If there is not a single computer ratings program that is trusted for seeding, use an average of multiple systems like the BCS does.  I'm sure this state has sports-minded math experts that can create a formula that meets the criteria GHSA may require for playoff seeding.  The state could also adopt Massey, Sagarin, or any of the many other systems already developed.  Some of these are already being used by other states for playoff seeding.  As long as the rating system only uses data for the existing season (no historical standing/rating), then I am confident the seeding would not miss a true potential state champion when it seeds the Top 32 for each classification.  With all the current classifications consisting of less than 75 schools each, we are already placing almost fifty percent of teams in the state playoffs.  That would not need to change, but the 32 best rated teams would make the playoffs instead of four from each region.

Schools could still form leagues/conferences with geographic proximity.  They could still compete for "local" or "regional" championships.  These leagues would just have to build their championship formats within the overall schedule limits established by GHSA.  There would be the added bonus, however, of longevity.  Leagues would not have to change every two years.  They could become long standing and even include schools from more than one of GHSA's classifications.  Once the GHSA state playoffs begin, schools would compete for a state title against just the schools within their own classification.  These leagues would likely remain small, but would potentially include great traditional rivalries despite volatile classification assignments based on growing or shrinking enrollments.

I can also envision a huge media event resulting from the seeding results.  Imagine a TV show that reveals the GHSA state playoff pairings for football and basketball.  For our state, it would be similar to the Sunday Selection Show produced by the NCAA hoops tourney.  Other sports' brackets could be revealed and marketed with online streaming broadcasts.

Is this the perfect ultimate answer?  Maybe not.  It does, however, provide an answer to many of the complaints we hear every two years during re-classification and the assignment of geographic regions.  It also allows schools to decide their own schedules based on their level of success in each sport and their specific travel/economic concerns.

I welcome your questions and comments.

Tag play at plate in Game 3