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September I - 7,2010
SPORTS
Hawks look to stay relevant in
the eastern conference
Charlie Williams IV
Associate Sports Editor
cwmivigmail^oni
S ometimes even when
you lose no one you can
still become worse. This
may be the case the Atlanta
Hawks face for the upcom
ing 2010-2011 NBA season.
Although the Hawks re
signed their all-star shoot
ing guard Joe Johnson.they
still may only be the fourth
or fifth best team in the
Eastern Conference.
After their best season in
over a decade and a fourth
consecutive season of im
provement hopes were high
for Atlanta in the playoffs.
However, after struggling
in a seven game series
with the gritty Milwaukee
Bucks, and then being tram
pled in a four game sweep
at the hands of the Orlando
Magic, ownership made
what some would consider
to be a panic filled decision.
They decided to fire head
coach Mike Woodson after
three consecutive trips to
the playoffs that started in
2008 with the memorable
first round series against
the eventual NBA Champi
on Boston Celtics that went
seven games.
The man who was chosen
to replace Woodson would
be former NBA player and
assistant coach Larry Drew.
Drew is now given the same
cast of characters Woodson
had. but his expectations
may be even higher. Atlanta
is no longer a surprise in the
Eastern Conference and after
that horrible loss to Orlando
where the team appeared dis
interested at times, fans in
Atlanta will be highly critical
of the team this season.
A lot of the criticism will
be directed at the aforemen
tioned Joe Johnson. During
that second round series
against Orlando after a hor
rible game three loss, John
son said “It's about us in
this locker room. We could
care less if they showed up
or not." Of course. Johnson
tried to backtrack on the
statement, but after being
signed to the only maximum
contract of the Summer of
2010. Johnson will have to
back up every penny of the
$119 million given to him.
Johnson deserves a lot
of skepticism because al
though he averages 21.3
during the regular season,
he has a tendency to fade
to the background in the
clutch. Last season, a lot of
big shots and fourth quarter
plays were ran for eventual
Sixth Man of the Year Jamal
Crawford. Johnson must
display that killer instinct
that many say he lacks in
order to justify what some
would call a “ridiculous”
deal.
Even with a new coach
and a criticized star, there
is still hope for Atlanta. The
Hawks return all 10 players
from their rotation last sea
son and add another scorer
in rookie Jordan Crawford
out of Xavier. Crawford
wowed the country during
the NCAA tournament as
many saw his amazing per
formances against Minne
sota where he scored 28 and
the memorable 32 point ef
fort in a 2-OT game against
Kansas State.
The biggest concerns for
the Hawks are at the point
guard and center posi
tions. Although Mike Bib-
by is serviceable and still
a knock down shooter, his
age is starting to show as
he was exposed in the play
offs against the younger,
quicker Brandon Jennings
of Milwaukee and Jameer
Nelson of Orlando. A1 Hor-
fod is an all star center, but
does not possess the size to
stop the likes of Orlando’s
Dwight Howard who domi
nated Horford during the
four game sweep.
Atlanta had their eye on
center Shaquille O'Neal,
but O'Neal decided to take
his services to Boston and
try and win a fifth ring with
the Eastern Conference
Champions who only came
up a few points short of win
ning their second champi
onship in three years. Also
Miami’s free agent signings
of LeBron James and Chris
Bosh to go alongside Dwy-
ane Wade have catapulted
the Heat to the top of the
conference and therefore
pushed the Hawks down a
notch in the minds of most
fans.
The best news for Atlan
ta is that there are still 82
games that remained to be
played and that’s where ev
erything will be settled. If
new head coach Larry Drew
can get Atlanta playing a
little faster and using their
athleticism to their advan
tage, maybe the Hawks can
reach the 50-win plateau
once again.
0
7:10 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets* (ESPN)
Turner Field
7:10 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets
Turner Field
6:00 p.m.
Morehouse College vs. Fort Valley State University
Fort Valley, GA
7:45 p.m.
(24) Oregon St. vs. (6) TCU (ESPN)
Fort Worth, TX
8:00 p.m.
(21) LSU vs. (18) North Carolina (ABC)
Georgia Dome
8:00 p.m.
(3) Boise St. vs. (10) Virginia Tech (ESPN)
Blacksburg, VA
7:10 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Turner Field
8:30 p.m.
New Orleans Saints vs. Minnesota Vikings (NBC)
New Orleans Superdome
7:35 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Turner Field
3:30 p.m.
(20) Florida State vs. (7) Oklahoma (ABC)
Memorial Stadium
3:40 p.m.
(13) Miami (FL) vs. (2) Ohio State (ESPN) j
Ohio Stadium
4:10 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals (Fox)
Turner Field
7:00 p.m.
Morehouse College vs. Lane College j
Atlanta, GA
7:00 p.m.
(19) Penn State vs. (1) Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
1:00 p.m.
Atlanta Falcons at Pittsburgh Steelers (Fox)
Heinz Field
8:05 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals (ESPN)
Turner Field
8:20 p.m.
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins (NBC)
FedEx Field
7:00 p.m.
Baltimore Ravens vs. New York Jets (ESPN)
New Meadowlands Stadium 1
7:10 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals
Turner Field
10:15 p.m.
San Diego Chargers vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Arrowhead Stadium
7:10 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals
Turner Field
12:10 p.m.
Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals
Turner Field
NCAA Football Week One Preview
Frederick Joseph Zak Jr.
Staff Writer
fjzakfe yaiioo.com
Thursday Night Game
< 15) Pittsburgh at Utah
The 2010 NCAA football
season begins Thursday with
one of the most interesting
matchups between the Pitts
burgh Panthers and Utah Utes.
Both teams were BCS con
tenders last year and finished
the season with 10-3 records.
Pittsburgh finished 17th in the
final BCS standings, while
Utah wound up 24th.
Pittsburgh running back
Dion Lewis looks to improve
upon last season, when he
was just a yard shy of having
an 1,800-yard and 18-touch-
down season his freshman
year. Look for Lewis to have
an impressive game on the
ground against a Utah de
fense that gave up 138 rush
ing yards a game last season.
In Utah's defense, they
have a solid offense that will
be led this year by sophomore
quarterback Jordan Wynn,
who took over halfway
through last year. Utah also
boasts about two stellar run
ning backs. Eddie Wide and
Matt Asiata.
Saturday Games
(24) Oregon State at (6) TCU
Saturday, Sept. 4, at 7:45
p.m. in Arlington. Texas, is
where the first matchup of
ranked teams will take
place when the Homed
Frogs of Texas Chris
tian University go
head to head with
the Beavers of Or
egon State.
TCU’s current
ranking is the
highest pre-sea-
son ranking in its
history' and would
be the highest non-
BCS conference rank
ing if it weren't for the
Broncos in Boise, Idaho.
The Homed Frogs’ national
championship hopes ride on
the wave of Andy Dalton.
The quarterback, who was
the 2009 Mountain West Of
fensive Player of the Year, led
TCU's offense to the top of the
rankings, seventh in total of
fense and fifth in scoring.
Oregon State, ranked 24th
in this year’s pre-season polls,
hopes to get that number even
lower by season’s end with
the help of Jacquizz Rodgers.
At 5’7” and 191 pounds, he
is hardly the obvious choice
for best r u n -
ning back in the nation, but if
you have ever seen him with
a football you would under
stand. If Rodgers can some
how improve on his 1,400-
plus mshing yards and 21 TDs
of last season, the Beavers are
a team to be reckoned with.
(21) LSU vs. (18) North Caro
lina
The first prime-time game
of the season begins at 8 p.m.
at the Georgia Dome with
the LSU Tigers battling
the North Carolina Tar
Heels in the Chic-fil-
Kickoff Game.
North Carolina
has high hopes
to improve on
an admirable
2009 cam
paign. North
Carolina’s
strength is on
the defensive
side of the ball,
led upfront by
NFL caliber defen
sive linemen in Robert
Quinn and Marvin Aus
tin. Both Austin and Quinn
were All-ACC first teamers
combining with 94 tackles,
25 for a loss, and 15 sacks.
UNC also has one of the best
secondaries in the nation
and features senior Kend-
ric Burney, who intercepted
five passes last season and
amassed 200 yards returning
them.
LSU is trying to regain its
title as the best in the SEC
West. After years of reign
ing atop the SEC West stand
ings. LSU took a humbling
back seat to Alabama last
year and this year doesn't
look any easier. LSU will
rely heavily on its defense
again this year, with only
four key returning starters
leading the team. The only
standout on LSU’s roster is
cornerback Patrick Peterson,
who last season had 43 tack
les, 13 deflections and two
interceptions.
Monday Game
(3) Boise State vs. (10) Virginia
Tech
The Virginia Tech Hoakies
square off against the Boise
State Broncos on Labor Day
at FedEx Field in possibly
the highest anticipated game
on the 2010 college football
opening schedule.
The preseason ranking for
Boise State is their high
est in school history. Last
year's final rankings had
Boise State at the same po
sition after going a perfect
14-0 and defeating TCU in
the Fiesta Bowl. This year,
however, they plan to ex
ceed last year’s production
by returning 21 starters, in
cluding a potential Heisman
candidate in quarterback
Kellen Moore. Moore, who
accumulated 3,536 yards
and 39 TDs in 2009, is sur
rounded by arguably the best
receiving corps in the coun
try led by Austin Pettis and
Titus Young, who combined
for 24 touchdowns.
Virginia Tech went 10-3
through 2009 and ended the
season in a rout of Tennessee
in the Chic-fil-A Bowl, but
they come into this season
with national title aspirations
of its own. Those aspirations
sit squarely on the shoulders
of the all-everything senior
QB Tyrod Taylor. Last sea
son Taylor threw for more
than 2,000 yards, a thou
sand yard increase from his
sophomore season, but re
mains a threat running with
the ball after totaling over
1,000 rushing yards these
last two seasons. Combine
Taylor with the two-headed
monster they have at tailback
with Ryan Williams and Dar
ren Evans, and Virginia Tech
has one of the most dynamic
backfields in the nation.
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