Kenneth Harrison
Same Old Story
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2023 NFL regular season has concluded. The Atlanta Falcons had an outside chance at making the playoffs if they beat New Orleans and if Tampa Bay lost in the last weekend of the season. They lost to the Saints, 48 – 17.
It’s never fun to get blown out by your archrival, but the ending of this game was talked about. The Saints put in backup quarterback Jameis Winston and they were supposed to take a knee to run the clock out. They were lined up in “victory formation” but Winston handed the ball off to Jamaal Williams for a 1-yard touchdown with 1:10 left in the game.
Saints head coach Dennis Allen says he had nothing to do with that and he tried to apologize to Smith after the game.
“They did that on their own. That’s not acceptable,” Allen said, adding that Smith “should be” upset about it.
“The score was already 41-17, so I don’t know how much worse it can get, but I got a ton of respect for Arthur Smith and the coach that he is,” Winston said. “I didn’t want to disrespect (Smith). That was not my intention. My intention was to lead the team that I’ve been with the entire year and we made a collective decision that we wanted to get one of our guys that they fight with — blood, sweat and tears, every game — in the end zone. I’m going to feel good about that.”
Falcons head coach Arthur Smith was fired a few hours after the game. Atlanta lost four of five games to end the season.
Smith coached the Falcons for three seasons and had the same record every year, 7 – 10. An interesting fact about him; his father is FedEx founder Fred Smith.
Firing him was the right move but Atlanta should have also fired general manager Terry Fontenot in my opinion. He was also hired in January 2021 with Smith and he is largely responsible with putting the roster together.
The Falcons desperately need a quarterback and so far, Fontenot has failed to address that. I think if they had a serviceable quarterback, they would have won two more games this season.
“Decisions like this are never easy and they never feel good,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said in a statement released at 12:03 a.m. Monday. “We have profound respect for coach Smith and appreciate all the hard work and dedication he has put into the Falcons over the last three years. He has been part of building a good culture in our football team, but the results on the field have not met our expectations. After significant thought and reflection, we have determined the best way forward for our team is new leadership in the head coaching position.”
It is very early so we do not know who the new head coach will be. Blank and Chief Executive Officer Rich McKay will lead the search for Smith’s replacement.
Fontenot will provide input along with other members of the Falcons and AMB Sports and Entertainment organizations.
The 2024 draft order is set for the teams that did not make the playoffs and Atlanta has the eighth overall pick. They desperately need a quarterback but I think they are picking too late to get a franchise QB. We will see if they trade up or try to acquire a veteran.
Hungry Panthers?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I am not sure if we can call Georgia State’s 2023 football season a success.
The Panthers did go 6 – 6, which is good enough for bowl eligibility. That is an improvement on the 2022 season where they finished 4 – 8. Georgia State U did go 8 – 5 in 2021 and I expected them to have similar success this season.
They got off to a 4 – 0 start and they looked like they were going to cruise through the season.
The highlight was against Coastal Carolina. They played a Thursday night game on ESPN. Coastal Carolina has been one of the most high profile members of the Sun Belt Conference over the last few years. The Panthers beat them on national television, 30 – 17.
Darren Grainger was 15 of 26 for 191 yards and kept the ball 13 times for 47 yards to help the Panthers (4-0) extend their best start in school history. Marcus Carroll carried 29 times for 150 yards and a score.
Georgia State leads the series 4-3 with the visiting team winning every time and Grainger, a Conway, South Carolina native, has two of the wins.
The next game they lost to Troy at home, 28 – 7. The Panthers rebounded and won their next two games against Marshall and Louisiana. At this point their record was 6 – 1.
I’m not sure if the team relaxed at this point but they lost the next five games. The first game of this losing streak was at Georgia Southern, 44 – 27.
They lost the next two home games to James Madison and Appalachian State by the same score, 42 – 14.
Then they had to travel to Death Valley to play No. 15 LSU. The Tigers needed an easy win, GSU needed the money, and everything worked out perfectly. LSU won, 56 – 14.
The final game of the season was at Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia. The Panthers had a 21 – 0 halftime lead. They gave up 18 fourth quarter points and lost to the Monarch, 25 – 24.
One of the bright spots on offense was running back Marcus Carroll. He rushed for 1,350 yards. 13 touchdowns and he averaged 4.9 yards per carry.
QB Darren Grainger is GSU’s career leader in total offense, touchdown passes and touchdown responsibility while ranking second in passing yards and fourth in rushing yards. This season he had 2,364 yards passing, 17 TD’s, 7 interceptions and he completed 67% of his passes.
Playing in its third bowl game in the last four seasons and sixth in nine seasons, Georgia State faces Utah State (6 – 6) on Saturday, Dec. 23 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise. The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be nationally televised on ESPN.
“I wish it would snow a foot,” head coach Shawn Elliott said about his team’s bowl game.
Georgia State is 3-2 in bowl games, including wins in its last two bowls, the 2021 TaxAct Camellia Bowl and 2020 LendingTree Bowl.
“We’re in the day and age of the transfer portal, and everyone is aware of who we’ve lost in the portal, and what we have to do, so this preparation time has been very important to us,” Elliott said. “We have some new tackles, running backs, secondary guys. But that’s college football. You can’t complain about it, you have to engage and make the most of it, and that’s what we’ve done.”
We will have to wait and see if Georgia State can snap their losing streak in the bowl game.
Cream Of The Crop
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Georgia high school football state championships are set. They will be played December 11 – 13 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Let’s take a look at some of the matchups.
Class 7A
No. 8 Milton (12-2) beat No. 6 Grayson (11-3) 45–35.
Miami-committed QB Luke Nickel was 31-of-50 passing for 434 yards and four touchdowns. He had a pair of 100-yard receivers: C.J. Wiley (10-136-1) and Tristan Payne (8-148-2). Milton led in total yards 588-424.
Milton won the state championship in 2018 and they are in their third state championship in six seasons.
No. 5 Walton (14-0) beat Camden County (10-4) 41–25. Wake Forest-committed QB Jeremy Hecklinski was 16-of-23 passing for 317 yards and six touchdowns.
Walton led 21-0 at halftime, then only 21-17 in the third quarter after Camden County returned an interception for a touchdown, but Hecklinski rebounded with TD passes on Walton’s next three possessions. Hunter Teal had six receptions for 163 yards.
Makari Bodiford rushed for 108 yards. Wendell Gregory had three tackles for losses. This is Walton’s second state finals appearance, the first since their 2011 runner-up finish.
This will be the first championship game in the highest classification without a Gwinnett or South Georgia team since 1985 (Clarke Central vs. Warner Robins).
Class 6A
No. 2 Thomas County Central (14-0) beat No. 7 Marist (12-2) 13–7. TCC took a 13-0 lead in the first half with 1-yard runs by Ezekial Bogan and Trey Brenton, the first after a 16-play, 80-yard drive, the second after the first of three lost Marist fumbles.
Brenton rushed for 195 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries.
This is the first state championship game for the Yellow Jackets since 2002. They have defeated five top-10 teams on the road this season and broke Marist’s 14-game home playoff winning streak.
No. 10 Woodward Academy (12-2) beat No. 4 Douglas County (13-1) 24–21. Woodward trailed 14-0 in the first half.
Landon Walker was 15-of-22 passing for 152 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 61 yards.
This is their first state final appearance since 1980 when they won the 3A title.
Class 5A
No. 2 Creekside (13-1) ended Jefferson’s (13-1) undefeated season, 28-17. The Seminoles overcame a 14-0 first half deficit.
Vinson Berry was 14-of-25 passing for 178 yards and two touchdowns.
Shane Kelley had eight receptions for 90 yards. Roderick McCrary rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.
Creekside forced three turnovers and held Jefferson to 204 total yards.
This is Creekside’s second state finals appearance, the first since their 2013 5A championship.
No. 3 Coffee (14-0) beat No. 1 Cartersville (13-1) 33-18. The Trojans built a 24-0 lead so the game was never close. This is their second finals appearance, the first since 2017 when they lost.
Class 4A
No. 6 Perry (12-2) defeated Starr’s Mill (10-4) 28-24. Colter Ginn was 20-of-31 passing for 382 yards and two touchdowns.
Kory Pettigrew (4-131-1) and Dakarai Anderson (8-166-1) each had more than 100 receiving yards.
Ahmad Gordon rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries. This is Perry’s first state finals appearance and they started playing football in 1954.
No. 7 Stockbridge (12-2) defeated No. 1 Benedictine (13-1) 45-31. North Carolina State-committed RB Jayden “Duke” Scott rushed for 310 yards on 27 carries and scored 3 touchdowns.
This is also the first state title appearance for the Tigers, which started football in 1964.
Carolina Blues
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NFL season is still in progress and the Carolina Panthers fired head coach Frank Reich. Reich was just hired in January 2023 and he signed a four-year contract.
Reich is a former backup quarterback known for making huge comebacks before he became a coach. In 1984 he led Maryland to a victory over the No. 6 Miami Hurricanes after trailing 31 – 0 at halftime.
In January of 1993 he led the Buffalo Bills to a Wild Card playoff win over the Houston Oilers, after trailing 35 – 3 early in the third quarter.
His playing career ended in 1998 and he started coaching in 2006. Reich was the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016-17. He helped the Eagles win Super Bowl LII, which is the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
He took over as the head coach in Indianapolis in 2018. He coached the Colts for four and a half seasons, compiling a record of 40 – 33 – 1. He was fired halfway through the 2022 season after getting off to a slow start. Indy made two playoff appearances while he was there, winning one playoff game.
It is interesting the Panthers hired him after having being barely above average for the Colts. Carolina traded up to draft Alabama quarterback Bryce Young No. 1 in the 2023 draft. They had to know this would be a tough year but it was worse than they anticipated.
Carolina is 1 – 10 and in position to have the worst record and top draft pick in 2024. That pick was traded to the Chicago Bears.
Reich was Carolina’s first starting quarterback, starting the first three games for the Panthers’ expansion team in 1995 and going 0 – 3 before he was replaced by rookie quarterback Kerry Collins. Reich had thought of this return to the Carolinas as a head coach as a chance to put a “magical” ending onto his 30-plus year career as an NFL player and coach.
“It was a great opportunity,” Reich said. “The way the doors opened up for it was amazing. But there’s not always a storybook ending…. I also take comfort and find peace and strength that there is a next chapter of my life. I do believe that. I do believe God ordains our steps.”
Owner David Tepper fired him Monday, after they lost to the Tennessee Titans 17 – 10. He was fired in person by Tepper at Bank of America Stadium shortly before the news was announced.
“There’s a heart-pounding disappointment in not hitting the marks that we needed to hit to keep this going and try to get it turned around,” Reich said. “It hurts me for the guys, the team, the coaches and the fans.”
Reich was expected to help Young develop and so far the results have not been good. The roster is also bad so that has to play a factor.
Tepper seems to be running the Panthers into the ground. Reich spoke in a press conference a few weeks ago and he spoke about Tepper’s hands-on approach. I think that is going to be a problem with landing a good coach.
He purchased the Panthers in May of 2018 for $2.2 billion, the highest in NFL history and he did not have any other investors.
The best record they have had was 7 – 9 in 2018 when Ron Rivera was still the coach. He hired Matt Rhule in 2020 and he was fired after five games in 2022.
I’m not sure what the future holds for this franchise but they will be at the bottom of the NFC South for a while.
Fixed Wreck?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This is the first full season for Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key.
He took over as the interim head coach last season after Geoff Collins was fired. The Yellow Jackets started the 2022 season 1 – 3 before Collins was relieved of his duties. Once Key took over he went 4 – 4.
It looks like that momentum has carried over to this season. Tech is bowl eligible for the first time since 2018, which was Paul Johnson’s final season.
Key is a Georgia Tech alumnus and football letter winner. It is impressive that he lead this team to a bowl game because it did not look possible about halfway through the season.
They were 2 – 3 at the end of September. They suffered an embarrassing home loss to Bowling Green and it looks like that was the turning point.
The next game was at No. 17 Miami and they pulled off an improbable win that turned the season around. The Hurricanes should have taken a knee in the final minute of the game but they ran a play and fumbled. Tech recovered and Haynes King threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Christian Leary with two seconds remaining to win, 23 – 20.
“We should have taken a knee,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.
Said coach Key: “We kind of thought they were taking a knee.”
Miami outgained GT 454-250 and had 23 first downs to the Yellow Jackets’ 12 but it did not matter.
They beat Syracuse 31 – 22 at Bobby Dodd Stadium to become bowl eligible. As a result, Orangeman head coach Dino Babers was fired after coaching there for 8 years.
The defense played well and held Syracuse to 94 yards at halftime.
“With them coming out in that Wildcat offense and running the ball a bit more it kind of allowed us to showcase our talents as a linebacker group and show that we can actually stop the run,” linebacker Paul Moala said.
Syracuse ran for almost 400 yards the previous week in a win over Pittsburgh. The Jackets contained the Orange to half that total.
“We really simplified things in this game, ran some simplified things within the plan, allowed the big guys up front to be able to do what they do,” Key said. “Good plan put together by the defensive guys in being able to do that and came up with some key turnovers at some key times.”
Quarterback Haynes King has played better than expected. He was at Texas A&M for 3 seasons and he did not do much before transferring to Georgia Tech. King has passed for 2,597 yards, 26 touchdowns, 15 interceptions and he’s completing 62% of his passes. He’s also the second leading rusher with 624 yards, 7 TD’s and he averages 6.4 yards per carry.
Running back Jamal Haynes is the leading rusher with 850 yards, 7 scores and he averages 6 YPC.
I think the program is taking a step in the right direction to be a solid winning program that can expect to play in a bowl game each season.
Barking Up The Right Tree?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We all know Georgia is a football school. The Bulldogs have had a tough time finding consistent success on the hardwood for men’s basketball. Let’s take a look at UGA and see if they can turn that around this season.
Mike White is in his second season as the head coach in Athens. He coached at archrival Florida previously from 2015 – 2022. He replaced Billy Donovan but he did not have the same level of success. His record for the Gators was 142 – 88 with four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Last season the Bulldogs went 16 – 16 in his first season. They are losing their top three scorers from last season but the team was 190th in offensive efficiency. Former four-star prospect Jabri Abdur-Rahim is the best returning player. He was the most efficient player for the Dawgs last year but he played the role of a non-creator.
Point guard Justin Hill transferred to UGA from Longwood last year. He started ten games but his offensive impact was inconsistent. He is expected to be better this season.
There are some new faces that are expected to make an impact. Senior guard Noah Thomasson played at Niagara the last two seasons. He averaged 19.5 points per game last year. We will see if he can make the jump from the MAAC to the SEC.
White brought in four freshman, all are four-star players. They are point guard Silas Demary Jr., wing Blue Cain, power forward Dylan James and wing Mari Jordan.
They also have four more transfers, headlined by seven foot senior center Russel Tchewa (South Florida).
The season opener was against Oregon in Las Vegas in the Naismith Hall of Fame Series tournament at T-Mobile Arena. The Ducks won 82 – 71. It is impressive that they fought to get this game within single digits.
“I loved the fight down the stretch,” coach Mike White said after the game. “The press was really effective for us, and this is really not a pressing team. But we fought to the bitter end. If we get the ‘pick 6′ at the end it could have been a little more respectable than that. But we fought to the end.”
Abdur-Rahim showed new-found offensive aggression and led the Bulldogs with 18 points, including three 3s. RJ Melendez overcame a slow first-half start to finish with 12 points and Cain scored 12 and had a pair of steals in his first collegiate game.
The Dawgs shot 30 three-pointers, only making ten of them.
“I liked our spacing and I like that this team got off 30 3s. That’s what this team needs to do. Sixteen turnovers was too many and we broke off our some of our execution on four or five possessions, which bled us a little,” White said.
The next two games are at home against Wake Forest and North Carolina Central.
After that they travel to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship. The first game is against No. 13 Miami. Depending on the outcome the next round is against Kansas State or Providence.
I think Georgia will have another .500 season. If they do better than that I would consider it a success.
A New Buzz
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The NBA season has started and college basketball is right around the corner.
We are going to take a look at Georgia Tech and see what we should expect this season.
Former head coach Josh Pastner was finally relieved of his duties after last season. He coached at Tech from 2016 – 2023 with a record of 109 – 114. He was replaced by Damon Stoudamire.
You might remember Mighty Mouse from his playing days. He was a point guard at Arizona and was a three-time First-team All-Pac-10 player (1993-1995). He was also Pac-10 Player of the Year (1995) and a consensus first-team All-American (1995). He was drafted No. 7 in the NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors and he was the first player drafted by that franchise. He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1996.
Stoudamire played in the NBA from 1995 – 2008 for the Raptors, Trail Blazers, Grizzlies and Spurs. He has been coaching since he retired. He was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics from 2021 – 2023. He was the head coach at the University of Pacific (2016 – 2021) and his record was 71 – 77.
I think he has done a good job of putting together a good coaching staff that consists of veteran and young coaches.
“I’m excited about the people we’ve been able to bring in to this program,” said Stoudamire. “This is a versatile group, and it’s a youthful group. I wanted some younger guys for the most part, but we do have some experience on the staff as well. I like the diversity, I like the different basketball minds that we have. We have a mixture of college and pro backgrounds that will serve us well.”
Karl Hobbs was a great hire. He was the associate head coach at Rutgers from 2016 – 2023. He was the head coach at George Washington (2001 – 2010) and he was an assistant at UConn for two separate stints.
Terry Parker, Pershin Williams and Nate Babcock were also hired. He also hired his former Portland teammate, Bonzi Wells.
The Yellow Jackets return their leading scorer, junior guard Miles Kelly. The 6’6 Stone Mountain native averaged 14.4 points per game last season. They also have returning players Dallan Coleman, Kyle Sturdivant and Lance Terry.
A transfer player expected to make a big impact is big man Tyzhaun Claude. Last season at Western Carolina he averaged 15.4 ppg and 8.6 rebounds per game. They also have transfer point guard Amaree Abram (Ole Miss) and small forward Kowacie Reeves (Florida), who have major upside.
Tech has only made the NCAA Tournament once since the 2009-10 season so the program is trying to change that.
At ACC media day Stoudamire was asked what his goals were this season:
“You know what, I haven’t made any goals. Honestly, I don’t know what a successful season looks like, but I do know this, I think this team is just going to keep getting better and better. I can see it. It’s probably the first team that I’ve ever been a part of where the offense is ahead of the defense.”
The season begins November 6, at home against Georgia Southern. They have two more home games after that, against Howard and UMass Lowell. They should get off to a fast start.
I do not expect them to make the NCAA Tournament this season but I think their record will be around .500.
Gritty Gators
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s crazy to think that Florida has not been a national title contender in quite some time.
The last time the Gators won the national championship was 2008. The following year, they finished the regular season undefeated but lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Somehow, their decline coincided with Nick Saban taking over in Tuscaloosa.
After Urban Meyer left in 2010 there has been a revolving door of head coaches. Billy Napier was hired in 2022 and so far, his record is just above .500. He is only in his second season but some fans are wondering if he is the right man for the job.
I actually think he is. I also think it would create a bigger problem for the program if he were fired after this season.
A coach needs some time to establish a winning culture and recruit. Napier coached at Louisiana for four seasons prior to arriving in Gainesville and his record was 40 – 12. He had double-digit wins the last three seasons.
It is tough to watch rival Georgia in the same division win back-to-back national championships while UF is struggling to be bowl eligible.
So far, I think the season has gone well for the Gators. They are 5 – 2 heading into the Georgia game so they are on track to have a good season. They have a chance to upset some teams the last half of the season, starting with UGA.
Coach Napier spoke about some of these things during the bye week. He was asked about how Georgia tight end Brock Bowers’ ankle injury will affect Florida’s preparation:
“Yeah, we’re in the middle of the open date now. We’re working on ourselves. We’re obviously right in the middle of evaluating what we do well and the things we need to do better. We’ll start commenting on Georgia and work on Georgia later in the week.”
Running back Montrell Johnson played for Coach Napier at Louisiana and was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year (2021). He transferred to Florida last season once Napier took the job and he is one of the best players on offense. He leads the team in rushing and he is averaging 5.2 yards per carry.
Coach Napier spoke about Johnson’s progression:
“Montrell is one of the more impressive young men we have. Obviously he’s physically talented. More importantly, he’s got really good practice habits. He’s tough, he’s durable, he’s smart. He can catch, he can protect. He’s been very productive. The guy’s over 2,000 yards now in his career. He’s been with us, this will be Year 3. I think Montrell wants to please; he wants to have success; he works as hard as anybody; and he’s a selfless guy. So anytime we ask him to block he does a fantastic job. I think one of the things you gotta do is try to get the ball to your players that are explosive and capable. Sometimes that will require the running back to be a blocker and Montrell has done that really well.”
Trevor Etienne is right behind him in rushing and he’s averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
Florida is outmatched against Georgia but I think they will play hard and make it a close game. Their final three games of the season are at #19 LSU, at #20 Mizzou and #4 Florida State. I think they will beat at least one of those teams.
Bowers-less Bulldogs
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s not often that the best offensive player on a college football team is the tight end.
The last time we saw that was in 2020 when Kyle Pitts was at Florida.
That is also the case for the Georgia Bulldogs. Junior tight end Brock Bowers is a two-time All-American and he’s a projected top five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Bowers suffered a high-ankle sprain in the first half against Vanderbilt.
After being helped off the field and attended to in the medical tent on Georgia’s sideline, Bowers was escorted out of the stadium and taken for a magnetic resonance imaging, MRI exam. The Bulldogs knew what they were dealing with before their plane left Nashville.
He will have surgery on his ankle and that raises several questions. Will he return this season or is his college career over?
Bowers could choose to come back for a College Football Playoff run for the two-time defending national champion Bulldogs. Due to his on-field success and numerous Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities over the last two seasons, he is represented by a considerable management team. Along with Bowers and his parents, that group ultimately will decide whether he will continue his collegiate career.
The tight-rope surgery to repair a high-ankle sprain requires on average a recovery time of four to six weeks. Starting right tackle Amarius Mims underwent the same surgery on Sept. 18 and has yet to return.
Freshman tight end Lawson Luckie also had this procedure in mid-August and recently returned to the field.
Bowers has been the centerpiece of Georgia’s offense this season. He leads the team with 41 catches for 567 yards and has 4 touchdowns. He had more than 100 receiving yards in each of the past three games.
“Next man up,” quarterback Carson Beck said after the game. “That’s what we’re all about here at Georgia.”
With Bowers sidelined, Georgia will turn to sophomore Oscar Delp, freshmen Pearce Spurlin III and Luckie.
“I was proud of them,” head coach Kirby Smart said. “… Those guys practice every day. They take all of the same reps. I thought our guys did a great job.”
As it stands, Bowers would finish his Georgia career fifth in receiving with 2,395 yards, sixth in receptions with 160 and second in touchdown catches with 24. He would leave unchallenged as the greatest tight end ever to play for the Bulldogs.
It’s never a good time to have a star player injured but UGA is getting to the toughest part of their schedule.
That starts with playing rival Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 28. Then the Bulldogs play home games against No. 20 Mizzou on Nov. 4 and No. 13 Ole Miss the next week before going to No. 17 Tennessee on Nov. 18.
Georgia is clearly not as good as they have been over the last couple of years, so they might struggle without Bowers. The SEC is not as strong as it has been in previous years so that will help. We will see what playmakers step up in his absence.
In Need Of Highlights
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s October now so the NBA season will begin later this month.
There are typically about four teams that have legitimate chances to compete for a championship. Atlanta is normally not one of those teams.
Let’s take a look at the Hawks and what we should expect for the 2023-24 season.
Star point guard Trae Young is entering his sixth season in the league. He’s a two time NBA All-Star (2020, 2022) and he averaged 26.2 points per game and 10.2 assists per game last season.
The biggest struggle the franchise is having is adding another great player to the roster.
Atlanta is typically decent enough so they do not get a high draft pick. They consistently pick in the middle of the first round so they add role players. Also, they are not a free agent destination and I am surprised by that.
A couple of decades ago the franchise also had this problem with Dominique Wilkins. Hopefully history does not repeat itself and they don’t waste a star players prime years.
Last year they finished the season 41 – 41 and beat the Miami Heat in the Play-In tournament. Then they lost to the Boston Celtics (2 – 4) in the first round of the playoffs.
Head coach Nate McMillan was fired in February and he spent three seasons with the team. Quin Snyder was hired as the head coach a few days later.
The Hawks drafted guard Kobe Bufkin (Michigan) with the 15th pick in the draft. The sophomore earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors. He’s a 6’5 left hander and hopefully he can become a solid scoring option.
In the second round they drafted 6’6 guard/forward Seth Lundy (Penn State). He’s a four year starter and as a senior he averaged 14.2 ppg and 6.3 rpg.
They also brought in two veterans in guards Patty Mills and Wesley Matthews. They will both contribute to leading the team and sharing their knowledge with the younger players.
The team emphasized how important it is to establish good habits.
“It’s about a day in day process about creating good and sustainable habits so that when you do reach those goals, you can continue to surpass them, because you’re leaning on the process of your work, rather than just ‘we’re doing anything we can to just achieve this specific goal,’” general manager Landry Fields said. “So that sort of paradigm of that mindset is really what we’re hopping on right now.”
Spacing the floor is also crucial to their success this season.
“I mentioned spacing a lot last year and spacing allows you to move the ball, it allows you to attack and even though you think it’s subtle, if you’re spaced properly sometimes that can be as simple as like you’re not in someone’s way when they get to go lay the ball in,” Snyder said. “So again, you’re doing something for someone else.”
Another goal entering the season is establishing an unselfish mindset.
“This season is about hard work,” Snyder said. “I would like for that to be characteristic of our system, us being a selfless team is huge and you can point to that in so many different areas, whether it’s taking the charge, making the extra pass, running back on defense, celebrating your teammates successes, all those different things.”
The season will begin at Charlotte on October 25 and is followed with a home game against the Knicks two days later.
I think they will finish the season slightly above .500 with an early playoff exit.
