Kenneth Harrison
Bee Killer
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Josh Pastner era at Georgia Tech has not been successful thus far. Since taking over as head coach in 2016, he had his best record during his first season, going 21 – 16. The following 2017 – 18 season Tech was 13 – 19.
At this point it might be time for Tech (11–9, 3–4 ACC) to pull the plug. Judging from his previous track record the Yellow Jackets are in for diminishing returns. Pastner replaced John Calipari at Memphis in 2009 and he initially had success.
He led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in four of the seven seasons he coached. In his final two seasons his teams went 18 – 14 (2014-15) and 19 – 15 (2015-16).
He has struggled to have consistent success in Atlanta and that has caused the program to accept mediocrity. He has a losing record against Clemson, only beating them once. Clemson is not a basketball powerhouse so that is alarming. The Tigers lost their first three ACC games going in to the Tech game and they won, 72 – 60.
The Ramblin’ Wreck has actually lost their last 14 games at Clemson. Tech has to win games against these types of opponents in order to have a chance at making it into the postseason. I can understand not having success against Duke and UNC but they have to beat the average ACC teams.
Before conference play began, they lost games against teams that are also struggling. In the ACC/Big Ten Challenge they lost to Northwestern. This is a program that just made their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2017 and they are currently ninth in the Big Ten.
They also lost to St. John’s, Gardner-Webb and Georgia. St. John’s is sixth in the new Big East. A non-power five team like Gardner-Webb should not be able to come to Atlanta and win by ten points like they did. The Bulldogs (12-9) are seventh in the Big South so they are not one of the elite small school teams.
Losing to UGA is not acceptable because that’s obviously Tech’s biggest rival. It’s also alarming because the Dawgs (10-9) are struggling and are 11th in SEC play.
It’s going to be an uphill battle to have a winning record in conference play. They lost a close game to No. 12 Virginia Tech 52 – 49.
Georgia Tech beat Syracuse (14-6) on the road so that is a good win. The next game Syracuse beat No. 1 Duke. That gave fans hope that maybe they have a chance against the Blue Devils.
We saw that game this past weekend and Tech played much better than I expected. They played at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which is probably the toughest venue for road teams. They actually led No. 2 Duke at halftime by two points. They held the Blue Devils to a season-low 27 first-half points.
Then the Yellow Jackets extended the lead to eight points early in the second half. After that, Duke’s superior talent took over and they won 66 – 53.
“That’s our only way of survival in this league,” Pastner said. “We have to be really, really good defensively, and that’s who we’ve been in our time here. … That’s just kind of who we are and what we do, and if we don’t do that, we’re not going to have any chance of success.”
The next game is at home against No. 9 North Carolina. At this point we can almost guarantee another season without a tournament appearance. Once that happens, it’s time to make a coaching change.
The Big Game
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
The teams for Super Bowl LIII are New England and the Los Angeles Rams. The game is February 3rd in Atlanta. Both teams were the number two seed in their conference and they had to go on the road to beat the top seed. Both conference championship games went into overtime as well.
This is a tale of two completely different franchises. The Patriots are the best dynasty this century and maybe in NFL history. They have appeared in the Super Bowl 11 times, the most of any team. Since 2001 they have made it to the big game 9 times, winning 5 of them. This is their third consecutive appearance.
Ironically the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady dynasty started with a win in 2002 against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Pats have been counted out most of the season even though they are 11-5. Statistically they are not as impressive, as we have seen in the past. Brady is seventh in the league in passing yards and tenth in passing touchdowns.
New England lost their biggest playmaker, wide receiver Josh Gordon in December. He was suspended indefinitely by the league for violating the terms of his reinstatement under the league’s substance abuse policy.
Rob Gronkowski is also having a down year with only 47 receptions, 682 yards and 3 touchdowns on the season.
The Rams are the best team money can buy. They have two players that are the highest paid player at their position, defensive tackle Aaron Donald ($22.5 mill per year) and running back Todd Gurley ($14.375 mill).
They both were worth the money. Gurley was third in the league in rushing with 1,251 and first in rushing touchdowns with 17. He also had 59 catches, 580 yards and 4 receiving TD’s. Donald led the league in sacks with 20.5.
The Rams also added former Pro Bowlers Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters and Ndamukong Suh to the defense in the offseason.
Jared Goff is only in his third year and he is one of the best young QB’s in the NFL. He was fourth in passing yards and sixth in passing touchdowns.
This is a homecoming for Rams head coach Sean McVay. He grew up in Atlanta and was a four year starter at QB for Marist.
On paper LA is the more talented team. I believe there are several teams that are more talented than New England but they continue to overcome that with superior coaching. For example, both of their playoff opponents, the LA Chargers and Kansas City had superior talent.
We have two recent examples of the Pats playing talented yet inexperienced teams in the Super Bowl with different results. In Super Bowl LI the Atlanta Falcons raced out to a 28 – 3 lead in the third quarter. As we all know New England came back to win 34 – 28.
Last season, against Philadelphia and backup quarterback Nick Foles, they lost 41 – 33. Foles threw for 373 yards and 3 TD’s.
The reason I point that out is because I would have expected a Belichick coached defense with two weeks to prepare to perform better. I also don’t view Foles as a great quarterback. Going in to the NFC Championship I did not have much confidence in Goff. Now I think he can actually lead LA to victory.
Both defenses have played well in the postseason. The Rams are second in yards per game and the Patriots are fourth.
I can never bet against New England in a big game so I give them the edge to win.
Bouncing Bama
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
Going into the college football season the top two teams were Clemson and Alabama. They met in the national championship again this year, making their fourth consecutive match up in the College Football Playoff. Most of us expected these two teams to play but the outcome was shocking.
The Tigers trounced Bama 44 – 16. This is the largest margin of defeat in the Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide got out played and out coached.
Since the national title game last year, the media has hyped up Tua Tagovailoa and rightfully so. Tua has struggled against elite competition and that played a factor in the blowout loss.
He threw two interceptions that resulted in 14 points for the Tigers. The first was returned 44 yards for a touchdown only 100 seconds into the game.
The Tide also had six penalties for 60 yards.
“I just have a feeling that I didn’t do a very good job for our team, with our team, giving them the best opportunity to be successful,” Saban said. “I always feel that way, even sometimes when we win, I think there’s things we could do better or that I could have done better.”
“But particularly in this case, never really ever got comfortable with what we needed to do to win this game, especially on defense, especially the matchups we had in our secondary versus their receivers. That was something that was kind of bothering me going into the game, and as the game unfolded, it worked out that those matchups were a big difference in the game.”
Alabama came back to take a 16 – 14 lead in the second quarter before the wheels fell off. Saban seemed to feel the pressure and made some very puzzling moves.
They struggled in the red zone and ran one the worst fake field goal I’ve ever seen in the third quarter. On fourth and six they snapped the ball to holder Mac Jones and kicker Joseph Bulovas was the lead blocker (no, seriously). He ran right into Clemson’s elite defensive line to lose yards.
One big take away from this game is true freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence is a stud. I knew he was the projected top overall pick in 2020 but I thought the moment might be too big for him right now.
Lawrence threw for 347 yards, 3 touchdowns, completed 63% of his passes and did not turn the ball over. I’m expecting him to be the Heisman front runner next year.
True freshman receiver and Alabama native Justyn Ross had another huge game. He had 6 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore running back Travis Etienne ran for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Tigers only had 1 penalty for 12 yards. They converted on 66% of third downs.
“There was a lot of talk about best ever, all year long,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “We were never in that conversation.”
This is the first time I’ve seen a team with more speed and athleticism against Alabama. Clemson looks like the team of the future but I wouldn’t panic yet if I were an Alabama fan.
They have the topped rated recruiting class coming in this year. The Tigers are also losing several senior defensive linemen.
I fully expect to see a rematch in the playoffs next season.
Rambling Wreck To Quick Lane Bowl
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
One of the best things about the holiday season is bowl games.
We all know the prestigious bowl games are played closer to the start of the New Year like the Rose Bowl or Orange Bowl. Then we have the games that occur prior to that.
That takes us to the Quick Lane Bowl played the day after Christmas. I’ve always heard it was lovely in Detroit in late December so this is a great location.
Georgia Tech and Minnesota will square off in this game. Several Tech players felt disrespected by this bowl selection and took to social media to express that.
“Feels like a slap in the face,” offensive lineman Scott Morgan tweeted.
A-back Qua Sercy: “How do we finish FOURTH in the ACC and get the lowest bowl in the ACC!!! HOW!!!”
Quarterback TaQuon Marshall: “I’m baffled at this bowl game.”
The Belk Bowl seemed like the most likely destination since it’s played in Charlotte and they would have played an SEC team. Virginia was selected to that game despite losing to the Ramblin Wreck. They also were not picked for the Pinstripe and Military Bowl over teams they beat (Miami & Virginia Tech).
One thing that played a factor is attendance. The Yellow Jackets average home attendance (43,087) is the lowest since 2001, which was before Bobby Dodd Stadium’s capacity was expanded. It will be Tech’s first bowl game outside of the Southeast or Texas since playing in the Humanitarian Bowl in 2007 in Boise, Idaho.
This is the first game between Minnesota and Georgia Tech. The Golden Gophers (6 -6) were 3-6 in Big Ten play. This should be a good way to send Paul Johnson out with a win. The Jackets will be short one player, quarterback James Graham who is academically ineligible. He is the backup behind Marshall and No. 2 Tobias Oliver.
Tech is healthy and should have all available weapons for the bowl game.
“I’ve tried to approach it like every other game,” Johnson said. “It’s more about the players. They’re the ones who won six of the last eight games and we want to try to give them a good plan to get ready to go play and certainly (we) want to go out as a winner if we can. That’s been all my effort.”
Tech leads the nation in rushing, averaging 335 yards per game. This is the final game using the triple option so we can expect a heavy dose of the ground game. Minnesota is ranked 63rd in total defense so I don’t expect them to stop the rushing attack.
The Gophers have some explosive weapons on offense. Wide receiver Tyler Johnson leads the team with 1,112 yards, 10 touchdowns and averages 15 yards per catch. Freshman running back Mohamed Ibrahim has 936 yards and 7 TD’s. They had an injury to starting freshman QB Zack Annexstad back in October and he was replaced by Tanner Morgan. They’re almost identical statistically, both throwing over 1,200 yards.
This should be a high scoring game but I expect Georgia Tech to win.
New Sting?
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
By now, we are all aware the Paul Johnson has stepped down as Georgia Tech’s head coach. He was replaced by Geoff Collins. I’m not sure how I feel about this hire so let’s take a look at Collins and his coaching history.
Collins is from Conyers, Georgia so he’s back in his home state. He played linebacker at Western Carolina (1989 – 1992). After graduation, he coached at his alma mater during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
Following a year coaching high school, Collins became the linebacker coach for Fordham in 1996 before becoming the defensive coordinator at Albright College from 1997 through 1998. Collins would leave Albright to become a graduate assistant at Georgia Tech under George O’Leary for the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
He was promoted to tight ends coach at Tech for the 2001 season. Collins would return to his alma mater to become Western Carolina’s defensive coordinator from 2002 through 2005 before returning to Georgia Tech in 2006 as the Director of Player Personnel. The following year he became Director of Player Personnel at Alabama.
He became a defensive coordinator at FIU (2010), Mississippi State (2011 – 2014) and Florida (2015 – 16). Then he took over as head coach at Temple for the past two seasons.
One good thing is that Collins has experience coaching at Tech. He’s also a much better recruiter than Paul Johnson. The current recruiting class ranks 48th nationally and 10th in the ACC. For Johnson’s recruiting classes that is typical. The highest recruiting class under him was 41st.
Collins is aware that there are recruiting challenges unique to Georgia Tech but he is already aware and prepared for that. As the Yellow Jackets director of player personnel his 2007 recruiting class was ranked 15th nationally and included Morgan Burnett, Jonathan Dwyer, Derrick Morgan and Joshua Nesbitt.
The Ramblin’ Wreck has been outmatched from a talent standpoint under Paul Johnson. The gap in talent has only gotten wider between them and the upper echelon programs like Clemson and Georgia. If Collins can consistently bring top 20 recruiting classes in, he can close that gap and make them more competitive against their rivals.
In his two seasons coaching the Temple Owls his record was 15 – 10. That does not sound very impressive on the surface. Temple has been a struggling football program for as long as I can remember. They have only become respectful recently. In his first year in 2017 they were 7 – 6. In 2018 he improved to 8 – 4.
From strictly a coaching perspective, I think Collins is slightly above average. His Owls lost the season opener to an FCS team, Villanova. They are cross-town rivals but he should never lose to FCS competition.
I think this is a good hire mainly because the fan base has grown tired of Paul Johnson and it’s time for a change. His triple option scheme has hindered recruiting. Collins is bringing a pro-style offense and that will help with gaining recruits that want to play in the NFL.
He is also a defensive coach and the Jackets have been abysmal on D. In 2018 Temple ranked sixth nationally in yards per play and are tied for third in takeaways. Only time will tell but I believe Georgia Tech should improve under Collins.
Owls Back To Sleep
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services
The Kennesaw State Owls football team saw their season come to an end earlier this month. The Owls finished the regular season 10-1 and ranked No. 2 in the FCS Coaches Poll. The only loss was to an FBS team, Georgia State.
KSU did not receive much respect for their great season because they were the No. 4 seed in the Playoffs. They lost to No. 5 South Dakota State (10-2) 27-17 in the quarterfinals.
The Owls have only been playing football since 2015 and they are becoming a powerhouse at the FCS level. Despite that, attendance has been declining since the program’s inception.
“I’m passionate about this school and I don’t know why you wouldn’t be. … We got 35,000 students,” coach Brian Bohannon said. “Let see if we can get a couple thousand to come to the game. Let’s raise some heck and have some fun. Let’s see if we can help the Owls win. We’ve got over a million people in this community. Let’s see if we can get a couple thousand to come to the game.”
While attendance was announced at 3,242, there were clearly no more than 1,000 fans actually in the stands.
The Owls lost the season opener to Georgia State 24-20. KSU held a three-point lead with 2 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before the Panthers scored the winning touchdown.
After that game, they reeled off 10 consecutive wins against other FCS competition. They dominated their opponents and won their games by double digits except for the season finale.
The scores against non-conference competition were 49-10 at Tennessee Tech, 62-13 versus Alabama State, 70-13 versus Clarke Atlanta and 24-10 over Samford.
They also breezed through Big South conference opponents beating Presbyterian 56-0, Gardner-Webb 56-17, Charleston Southern 38-10, Campbell 49-0 and Monmouth 51-14. They won the conference title for the second year in a row.
The season finale was against No.6 Jacksonville State. The game was a classic, going to five overtimes. They defeated the Gamecocks 60-52.
Kennesaw State runs the triple option so they have a powerful rushing attack. The leader of the team is quarterback Chandler Burks. Burks rushed for 905 yards and 29 touchdowns. He also threw for 1,043 yards, 10 TD’s and completed 57% of his passes.
Senior running back Darnell Holland ran for 949 yards with an amazing 11.9 yards per carry average. He finished the season with 9 touchdowns. Shaquil Terry was the third leading rusher with 576 yards, 5 TD’s and averaged 7.4 ypc.
KSU had a bye in the opening round of the playoffs so their first game was in the second round against Wofford. They are two of the best rushing offenses in the country and it was a tough game. KSU beat the Terriers 13-10. The win put Kennesaw State at 24 wins in their last 26 games.
The season ended in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. I really hoped they would win this game because they would have played North Dakota State in the next round.
The Bison have been a juggernaut for the last seven years. That would have been a good way to really see where the Owls stack up against elite competition.
The season was very successful and the goal in 2019 is to advance further in the playoffs.
Buzzing Away
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After 11 seasons in Atlanta Paul Johnson has retired suddenly from coaching at Georgia Tech. As a fan I think this is great news. I do think the timing is very odd though.
“It’s been a great run for the last 11 years here on The Flats. I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and am looking forward to having the chance to coach this team one last time at our bowl game next month.”
It seemingly came out of nowhere but CPJ said he contemplated retirement in 2016. After athletic director Mike Bobinski departed for Purdue in 2016, he was replaced by Todd Stansbury.
“To be honest with you, truthfully, had Todd not shown up, I was ready to do this before he came,” Johnson said. “Because it wasn’t much fun. It was drudgery. I think that Todd came in, he understands what needs to happen.”
That is an interesting quote because on the outside he appeared to be content coaching. This is interesting insight into the mind of a coach because we often see them say one thing then doing something totally different.
For example, how many times have we seen a coach claim they love their current job then bolt for the next open position?
Johnson, 61, is fourth all-time at Georgia Tech with an 82-59 mark, and has a career coaching record of 189-98 over 22 seasons. He guided the Yellow Jackets to the ACC championship in 2009, and he finished first or second in the Coastal Division in 7 of his 11 seasons.
He’s known for running the triple option, which is extremely old school since the turn of the century. The Yellow Jackets lead the country in rushing this season and have been a fixture in the top 10 nationally in rushing each of the past 10 years.
Since 2008, Georgia Tech has averaged 301.9 rushing yards per game – second in FBS behind Navy (308.0).
He has struggled recently, having losing seasons in 2015 and 2017. The team got off to a slow start this season going 1-3. They rallied to win six of the next seven. I believe the criticism from fans has worn Johnson out on coaching at Tech.
The Yellow Jackets lost to rival Georgia 45-21. That score is closer than the game actually was.
They were also trounced by UGA in 2017 38-7. He has struggled to beat them and Clemson in his tenure. The talent gap between the programs has only gotten worse because he is not a good recruiter.
More than likely he will take a little time off and return to coaching. I think that’s a good move for him. He is not cut out for a Power 5 school, but I think he would excel at a smaller school or back at the FCS level.
“I think I’m still young enough that I’ll take a break and see if it fits and see if it’s what I want,” he said. “And if not, hopefully the body of work that I’ve had over the last 40 years, if I decide to do it again, I’ll get back in it somewhere else.”
I think Johnson will be remembered fondly by Tech fans in the next few years.
Georgia Tech To Sting Georgia?
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The college football season is almost over. We’re going into the final week of the season, which features rivalry games. One of my favorites is Clean, Old Fashioned Hate from my home state.
This will be the 113th meeting between Georgia Tech and UGA. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 66-41-5. The longest win streak in the series is eight games by Georgia Tech from 1949-1956.
Since 1991 UGA has won 21 of the 27 games. To say they have been dominating recently would be an understatement. Tech did win the last meeting in Athens back in 2016, 28-27. Last season Georgia obliterated the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta, 38-7.
No. 5 Georgia (10-1) has won the SEC East for the second consecutive year and guaranteed a spot in the SEC Championship.
“I try to have a 24-hour rule, too, but this one is different because you don’t have enough time to prepare for them,” Smart said, explaining why he would change things up to begin early preparations for rival Georgia Tech.
The Bulldogs have superior size, speed and talent. They are a 17-point favorite over Tech. On paper, they should win easily but that’s why they play the game.
Georgia Tech (7-4) got off to a slow start but they won four consecutive games. They have won the last two games in Athens so they should have some confidence. The Yellow Jackets lead the nation with 353.7 yards per game rushing.
The Dawgs run defense looked shaky against UMass in their 66-27 win. Georgia surrendered 125 yards rushing in the first half rushing before the Minutemen shifted into catch-up mode for the second half.
“Zero. None,” Smart said when asked after Georgia’s win over UMass if there was anything he could take from this week and apply to Georgia Tech. “No offense we faced all year. Zero. It has zero carry over. I think you see across the country if you watch teams play the triple option, it’s extremely different and so extreme that I don’t think you guys can understand. There’s not one call in our defense. The only common theme is you’ve got to tackle the man with the ball. That’s the only common theme. Outside of that, there’s nothing like it.”
One good thing for the rivalry is Paul Johnson playing the villain. He’s very outspoken about everything even it may come back to haunt him. He’s only 3-7 against Georgia but he still takes time to troll the SEC.
“Week in and week out, I promise you there isn’t any difference in lining up and playing those guys than there is playing North Carolina, Clemson and Virginia Tech,” Johnson said.
“What happened in my opinion is you had really good teams at the top of their league and they got credit. It was almost like the ACC in basketball this year. They all get ranked in the top 15 and then when they beat each other they don’t ever drop. Then you get to the tournament and you don’t do so well and you start thinking maybe they were overhyped.”
The Dawgs could make this game close if they are not focused. They may be looking ahead to their showdown with Alabama the following week. If they sleepwalk this can be a close game. No matter the scenario UGA will notch another W in the series.
Still Buzzing
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I have to revisit something I said about Georgia Tech and Paul Johnson about one month ago.
After the opening week the Yellow Jackets lost three consecutive games. Then they bounced back and won two in a row, topping 60 points each game in the process. The wins were only against Bowling Green and Louisville but they were still impressive.
That was followed up by a homecoming loss to Duke. Yes, Duke football. The Blue Devils have won four of the last five meetings. At that point, it looked like it was time to get rid of Paul Johnson.
The Ramblin Wreck traveled to Blacksburg for a Thursday night game. This was a real turning point in the season. Starting quarterback TaQuan Marshall was injured so Tobias Oliver made his first career start. Oliver ran for 215 yards and three touchdowns to lead them to a 49-28 win. He only attempted one pass and did not complete it.
Oliver seems like the more explosive player so I thought he would remain the starter. Marshall returned last week and played against North Carolina.
“I feel like it’s pretty evident that I can get in and play,” Oliver said. “But at the same time, we’re at the point in the season where I don’t want to get too much that I should be the starter. As of right now, I just want to win.”
Oliver was inserted in the game on the fourth drive, still in the first quarter. He had another great game on the ground with 120 yards and two touchdowns. He also completed both of his pass attempts for 104 yards and a touchdown.
He threw an 86-yard touchdown pass to Qua Searcy, the team’s longest since 2009.
Georgia Tech, which entered the game averaging a nation-leading 366.5 rushing yards per game, ran for 461 yards against a North Carolina defensive line depleted by injuries and suspensions. It was the Yellow Jackets’ fifth 400-yard rushing performance of the season, a school record.
They got off to a 28-10 lead before holding on to win 38-28.
“It got a little crazy there. I thought maybe when we came out and opened the third quarter and put together a nice, long drive for a touchdown and then we got ’em pinned back inside the 20 on the kickoff that maybe we’d get away from them a little bit. But to their credit, they kept playing and they fought back and we did most everything we could to try to help them,” Johnson said.
Now they have five wins and only need one more win to become bowl eligible. They also still have a shot to win the ACC Coastal division. The next two games are home against Miami and Virginia. I know they can win at least one of those games, more than likely against the Cavaliers.
The Miami game is going to be a rare night game at Bobby Dodd Stadium. CPJ has a losing record against Miami and Mark Richt. The Hurricanes have lost their last three games so they are not playing well. This is a very winnable game for Tech.
It looks like Paul Johnson will do just enough to save his job after getting off to a slow start.
Young And Talented
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NBA season has recently started. The Atlanta Hawks finished the 2017-18 season 24-58 and earned the third pick in the draft. They drafted Luka Doncic from Spain then traded him to Dallas for the fifth pick, Trae Young.
In his lone season at Oklahoma, Young established himself as a multi-talented scoring threat. Young finished his freshman regular season leading the country in many statistics: assists (271), turnovers (161), points (848), points per game (27.4), assists per game (8.7), and assist percentage (48.6%).
The 811 points scored in the Big 12 would break the conference’s record for most points scored by a freshman player, which was previously held by Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley.
Young has received a lot of hype with some labeling him as the next Steph Curry. So far, he has done well, leading rookies with 19.8 points per game. His season high was 35 points against Cleveland. The Cavs also have a stud rookie point guard, Collin Sexton. The Hawks won the game 133-111 for the first win of the season.
The next game Atlanta played Dallas in the battle of traded draft picks. Kent Bazemore led the way with 32 points. Small forward Taurean Prince scored 24 and Young had 17. Doncic played well for the Mavs and had 21 points. Atlanta won 111-104.
Doncic is averaging 18.7 ppg, 6.2 rebounds per game and 4 assists per game. We are still early in the season so we cannot tell which team won the draft day trade. I felt Atlanta should have kept Doncic but time will tell which player will have the most success.
The last game was at home against Chicago. The Bulls won 97-85. Prince, Young and Bazemore combined for 15 of Atlanta’s 22 turnovers on a night when the Hawks shot 32.1 percent (27 of 84).
”Coming off two games where we played well (and won), it was a lesson in how you handle success,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. ”Sometimes, we were trying to do too much, and it was evident with our 22 turnovers. … I thought right from the start we were trying to hit home runs.”
So far Prince has been a pleasant surprise in his second year. He’s averaging 20.6 ppg and 5 apg. He forms a solid young tandem with Young.
DeAndre’ Bembrey is also a second year small forward and he’s playing well coming off the bench. He averages 9 points and 5.4 rpg.
The Hawks have some veterans on the team to help. Vince Carter is in his 20th season. He transitioned from being a great dunker into a three-point shooter.
The team is 2-3 and currently ninth in the East. Time will tell if they can sustain this current pace or be one of the worst teams in the league.
There is some excitement around the team, which has been lacking for quite some time. The stadium underwent a $213.5 million renovation and has been renamed State Farm Arena (formerly Philips Arena).
I know they aren’t going to the playoffs but this team is exciting to watch. Young is a potential Rookie of the Year candidate.
