The Ones Left Standing - ATL vs CHI, 4th Q Recap
by J@3 on Thu Mar 10, 2005 1:18 pm
THE BEGINNING, BUT NOT TOO FAR
If you were making your NBA debut, in a team with 14 other players making their debut would you want your first game to be away, or at home in front of twenty thousand fans who had just come off having to put up with one of the worst team performances in basketball. Better still, would you want to know that the team originally had the number one pick overall in the NBA draft, but was forced to pass it up due to managements radical new experiment in which the team would consist entirely of undrafted rookies. This was the dilemma facing every player on the Atlanta Hawks roster as they took the court against the New Orleans Hornets. The first game being at home was always going to be a struggle, they weren't just up against a growing Hornets team who had taken steps in the off-season to be a more cohesive unit, they were up against some of the most tortured fans in NBA history. In the locker rooms before the game, no one was really aware of what they were getting themselves in for. Alot of inconsistant performances in the pre-season, and the teams non-participation in summer league competition meant that a horrible preparation was made even more difficult by the youngsters sitting around already thinking the World was over. When the word came that tip-off would be in five minutes, a collective shiver was sent down the spine of every player on the roster. Casually strutting out onto the court, Rafer Dalton repeatedly rubbed his hands up against his jersey trying to get rid of some of the sweat created by the nervous energy he had. His basketballing career ever since he started college was laden with injuries, all it would take is one blow to set him back again and in a league where everyone is more physical and stronger than most other athletes, the odds were increased even more. As the starting five walked out and came face to face with their opposition, it was obvious where the confidence in this game lay. A good start would do the World of good for Atlanta, but if New Orleans got on a run it could be the nail in the coffin, a very early nail at least.
Atlanta won the tip-off thanks mainly to the seven-foot three frame of Ben Chin. Working the ball around the perimeter, Atlanta capitalised on their first chance as Alexander Morton nailed an open three pointer to give the Hawks their first score as a 'new' unit. The team had viewed itself as a brand new franchise in the NBA, trying to shake off the image of the undesireable Atlanta Hawks of last year even to the point of going back to the jerseys of the Dominique days, which proved popular with the fans at least. It was obvious that Morton knew what he was doing out there against NBA competition, he lead the Hawks to a quick 10-0 lead and for a while the stadium was silent. Not due to frustration, or lack of things to cheer about, but just out of pure shock. Not wanting to give Morton the spotlight entirely, Rafer Dalton and Dean Ollie showed some nice instinctual link up play to rally the squad to an unlikely 17-8 lead. New Orleans gradually pulled back the lead, trying to match the scoring spree put on by the surprising Hawks. The only small tears in the newly found fabric the Hawks had created for themselves was a fitness thing. After six minutes or so it looked like the team could collapse at any moment. Players were doubled over trying to get as much oxygen as they could, and the substitutes were flowing in the game long before New Orleans even looked towards their bench. Dean Ollie made sure Atlanta could finish the quarter off strongly, his 10 points and 5 rebounds providing the platform for a surprising 35-28 lead. Although with the players struggling to keep up even with their own fast breaks, no one was sure what to expect from here on in.
Predictably, it was New Orleans who made the most of Atlanta's fitness woes. Baron Davis scored 5 quick points, including a three pointer right in the face of the much taller Ben Chin. New Orleans ripped through the Atlanta bench and the game started going as planned as they took the lead and extended it to 45-37. Baron Davis was almost unstoppable as he casually walked through the defense anytime he wanted en route to the hoop. Rookie sensation Obasi Nyarko chipped in aswell, scoring six points and providing a problem for the offensively gifted, but defensively challenged Alexander Morton. Dean Ollie and Rafer Dalton return to the court and all of a sudden Atlanta look like a different team. Running the pick and roll like a modernised Stockton and Malone, Ollie finishes off Dalton's excellent passes with thunderous dunks that in one occasion sent a shock right down the spine of PJ Brown when he was on the receiving end of Ollie's 248lbs frame as it crashed into him, the ball following quickly after. It seemed like a good thing at the time, but the Hornets pulled away once more through the huge scoring bursts of Baron Davis, well supported on defense by Jamaal Magloire, imposing himself in the same fashion that saw him picked for an All-Star game. Unexpectedly, the Hawks fought their way back into the game thanks mainly to the dominance of Ben Chin. The big Korean showed his offensive skills with a series of quick cuts towards the hoop which were rewarded with nice passes inside by the point guard combination of Rafer Dalton and Damian Pine. Atlanta levelled the scores at 61-61, until a late flood of scoring in the last 2 minutes of the quarter put New Orleans in front 71-61 at the end of the half, Baron Davis giving the Hawks problems with 20 points
Atlanta came flying out of the blocks for the third quarter, lead by the impressive Dean Ollie. His six quick points in succession were also helped along with four rebounds as Atlanta closed the gap to four points and started to push the ailing Hornets. Unfortunately for the Hawks however, not all that starts well ends well as New Orleans went on a scoring run of their own, lead once again by Baron Davis having a fantastic game with 25 points already. After the Hornets start steadily dominating Atlanta on the defensive end, marked by Jamaal Magloire blocking an attempted Dean Ollie put-back dunk, things are shaken up as Ephraim Mattrick and Nicholas Onyango are introduced into the game. Mattrick announces his arrival by curling around a screen set by Chin and driving the lane aggressively, ending the play by bringing the ball back behind his head and flushing it right on top of the flailing Jamaal Magloire. Mattrick picked up a foul on the play and hit the free throw to bring the scores to 78-70 and put the pressure back on New Orleans. Riding on the crest of a wave, Rafer Dalton puts some excitement into the match by throwing an alley-oop pass to Dean Ollie for his 11th assist of the game, Ollie finished the play by throwing it down strong with two hands. This is where the joy would end however, as another Baron Davis lead New Orleans flurry comes as most of the Hawks bench end up on the court all at once. Struggling with the prospect of trying to contain a team that's hot, the Hawks find themselves down by 12 with only three minutes left in the quarter. Nicholas Onyango imposes himself by scoring an impressive 6 points in only fourty seconds, and suddenly the Hawks are back in the game...
COMING UP:
Fourth Quarter: Can Atlanta finish off New Orleans and win in front of their home crowd?
If you were making your NBA debut, in a team with 14 other players making their debut would you want your first game to be away, or at home in front of twenty thousand fans who had just come off having to put up with one of the worst team performances in basketball. Better still, would you want to know that the team originally had the number one pick overall in the NBA draft, but was forced to pass it up due to managements radical new experiment in which the team would consist entirely of undrafted rookies. This was the dilemma facing every player on the Atlanta Hawks roster as they took the court against the New Orleans Hornets. The first game being at home was always going to be a struggle, they weren't just up against a growing Hornets team who had taken steps in the off-season to be a more cohesive unit, they were up against some of the most tortured fans in NBA history. In the locker rooms before the game, no one was really aware of what they were getting themselves in for. Alot of inconsistant performances in the pre-season, and the teams non-participation in summer league competition meant that a horrible preparation was made even more difficult by the youngsters sitting around already thinking the World was over. When the word came that tip-off would be in five minutes, a collective shiver was sent down the spine of every player on the roster. Casually strutting out onto the court, Rafer Dalton repeatedly rubbed his hands up against his jersey trying to get rid of some of the sweat created by the nervous energy he had. His basketballing career ever since he started college was laden with injuries, all it would take is one blow to set him back again and in a league where everyone is more physical and stronger than most other athletes, the odds were increased even more. As the starting five walked out and came face to face with their opposition, it was obvious where the confidence in this game lay. A good start would do the World of good for Atlanta, but if New Orleans got on a run it could be the nail in the coffin, a very early nail at least.
Atlanta won the tip-off thanks mainly to the seven-foot three frame of Ben Chin. Working the ball around the perimeter, Atlanta capitalised on their first chance as Alexander Morton nailed an open three pointer to give the Hawks their first score as a 'new' unit. The team had viewed itself as a brand new franchise in the NBA, trying to shake off the image of the undesireable Atlanta Hawks of last year even to the point of going back to the jerseys of the Dominique days, which proved popular with the fans at least. It was obvious that Morton knew what he was doing out there against NBA competition, he lead the Hawks to a quick 10-0 lead and for a while the stadium was silent. Not due to frustration, or lack of things to cheer about, but just out of pure shock. Not wanting to give Morton the spotlight entirely, Rafer Dalton and Dean Ollie showed some nice instinctual link up play to rally the squad to an unlikely 17-8 lead. New Orleans gradually pulled back the lead, trying to match the scoring spree put on by the surprising Hawks. The only small tears in the newly found fabric the Hawks had created for themselves was a fitness thing. After six minutes or so it looked like the team could collapse at any moment. Players were doubled over trying to get as much oxygen as they could, and the substitutes were flowing in the game long before New Orleans even looked towards their bench. Dean Ollie made sure Atlanta could finish the quarter off strongly, his 10 points and 5 rebounds providing the platform for a surprising 35-28 lead. Although with the players struggling to keep up even with their own fast breaks, no one was sure what to expect from here on in.
Predictably, it was New Orleans who made the most of Atlanta's fitness woes. Baron Davis scored 5 quick points, including a three pointer right in the face of the much taller Ben Chin. New Orleans ripped through the Atlanta bench and the game started going as planned as they took the lead and extended it to 45-37. Baron Davis was almost unstoppable as he casually walked through the defense anytime he wanted en route to the hoop. Rookie sensation Obasi Nyarko chipped in aswell, scoring six points and providing a problem for the offensively gifted, but defensively challenged Alexander Morton. Dean Ollie and Rafer Dalton return to the court and all of a sudden Atlanta look like a different team. Running the pick and roll like a modernised Stockton and Malone, Ollie finishes off Dalton's excellent passes with thunderous dunks that in one occasion sent a shock right down the spine of PJ Brown when he was on the receiving end of Ollie's 248lbs frame as it crashed into him, the ball following quickly after. It seemed like a good thing at the time, but the Hornets pulled away once more through the huge scoring bursts of Baron Davis, well supported on defense by Jamaal Magloire, imposing himself in the same fashion that saw him picked for an All-Star game. Unexpectedly, the Hawks fought their way back into the game thanks mainly to the dominance of Ben Chin. The big Korean showed his offensive skills with a series of quick cuts towards the hoop which were rewarded with nice passes inside by the point guard combination of Rafer Dalton and Damian Pine. Atlanta levelled the scores at 61-61, until a late flood of scoring in the last 2 minutes of the quarter put New Orleans in front 71-61 at the end of the half, Baron Davis giving the Hawks problems with 20 points
Atlanta came flying out of the blocks for the third quarter, lead by the impressive Dean Ollie. His six quick points in succession were also helped along with four rebounds as Atlanta closed the gap to four points and started to push the ailing Hornets. Unfortunately for the Hawks however, not all that starts well ends well as New Orleans went on a scoring run of their own, lead once again by Baron Davis having a fantastic game with 25 points already. After the Hornets start steadily dominating Atlanta on the defensive end, marked by Jamaal Magloire blocking an attempted Dean Ollie put-back dunk, things are shaken up as Ephraim Mattrick and Nicholas Onyango are introduced into the game. Mattrick announces his arrival by curling around a screen set by Chin and driving the lane aggressively, ending the play by bringing the ball back behind his head and flushing it right on top of the flailing Jamaal Magloire. Mattrick picked up a foul on the play and hit the free throw to bring the scores to 78-70 and put the pressure back on New Orleans. Riding on the crest of a wave, Rafer Dalton puts some excitement into the match by throwing an alley-oop pass to Dean Ollie for his 11th assist of the game, Ollie finished the play by throwing it down strong with two hands. This is where the joy would end however, as another Baron Davis lead New Orleans flurry comes as most of the Hawks bench end up on the court all at once. Struggling with the prospect of trying to contain a team that's hot, the Hawks find themselves down by 12 with only three minutes left in the quarter. Nicholas Onyango imposes himself by scoring an impressive 6 points in only fourty seconds, and suddenly the Hawks are back in the game...
COMING UP:
Fourth Quarter: Can Atlanta finish off New Orleans and win in front of their home crowd?
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J@3 - Posts: 19815
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by Mick on Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:21 am
That's what we want! Great recap.
You have exactly 5 seconds to post the 4th quarter......
dammit.
I guess this is going to be a regular 'style' to post without the end? If so, how long do you plan before releasing the end?
You have exactly 5 seconds to post the 4th quarter......
dammit.
I guess this is going to be a regular 'style' to post without the end? If so, how long do you plan before releasing the end?
- Mick
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by J@3 on Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:10 pm
Thanks guys... yeah it'll be a regular thing, I figure it's something to keep people coming back... although the only reason this one has taken longer to post is because I went out all day, but yeah I won't post a recap unless I've written the WHOLE thing, just so I don't leave people without a 4th quarter for weeks on end 
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by J@3 on Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:11 pm
THE FOURTH QUARTER
Ridley Tyrell gets the Hawks off to a good start in the fourth by forcing the turnover and sprinting the length of the court to finish off the play with a flashy one handed dunk. Atlanta's tenacious defense goes unrewarded however, when J.R Smith's pull up jumper eliminates all of Tyrell's good work. Ruslan Badzim hits a close jumper to pull one back and scoring the first basket in his NBA career and also bringing Atlanta to a more than achieveable 4 point defecit. It might've just been coincidence, but when Baron Davis stepped back onto the court it was obvious that things were going to get just that little bit more difficult for Atlanta. Davis started where he left off in the third quarter, scoring at will and virtually killing any confidence the Hawks had grown over the last five minutes. A new team full of inexperienced players just didn't know how to deal with an established veteran who was having one of the biggest games of his career. The worries were compounded when Dean Ollie was horribly outrebounded by PJ Brown after a rare Davis miss. This could go two ways for Atlanta. Brown goes back up and puts New Orleans up by 15 with only 3 minutes to go and virtually seals the win, or the following could happen... after Brown took the rebound straight from Ollie's hands, he immediately went back up for the dunk and basically the nail in the coffin. Out of nowhere, Ollie jumps up and swats the ball hard off the backboard, knocking Brown to the floor in the process. It was one of the meanest blocks seen in the NBA, and even though it really had no influence on the outcome it all but announced Dean Ollie to the league. At 20 years old, he wasn't about to start getting scared of any player, no matter how experienced they may be. Ben Chin tries to inject some life back into the Hawks once again with his superb three-sixy lay-up and the impeding foul shot from it, but it wasn't enough as an Obasi Nyarko three pointer sealed the victory for New Orleans, and relegated Atlanta's first home game to a resounding loss, 120-106. Baron Davis takes Player Of The Match honours with a huge 41 points and 5 assists, not the welcome to the NBA that the new Hawks were hoping, but it can't get any worse than this, right?
Ridley Tyrell gets the Hawks off to a good start in the fourth by forcing the turnover and sprinting the length of the court to finish off the play with a flashy one handed dunk. Atlanta's tenacious defense goes unrewarded however, when J.R Smith's pull up jumper eliminates all of Tyrell's good work. Ruslan Badzim hits a close jumper to pull one back and scoring the first basket in his NBA career and also bringing Atlanta to a more than achieveable 4 point defecit. It might've just been coincidence, but when Baron Davis stepped back onto the court it was obvious that things were going to get just that little bit more difficult for Atlanta. Davis started where he left off in the third quarter, scoring at will and virtually killing any confidence the Hawks had grown over the last five minutes. A new team full of inexperienced players just didn't know how to deal with an established veteran who was having one of the biggest games of his career. The worries were compounded when Dean Ollie was horribly outrebounded by PJ Brown after a rare Davis miss. This could go two ways for Atlanta. Brown goes back up and puts New Orleans up by 15 with only 3 minutes to go and virtually seals the win, or the following could happen... after Brown took the rebound straight from Ollie's hands, he immediately went back up for the dunk and basically the nail in the coffin. Out of nowhere, Ollie jumps up and swats the ball hard off the backboard, knocking Brown to the floor in the process. It was one of the meanest blocks seen in the NBA, and even though it really had no influence on the outcome it all but announced Dean Ollie to the league. At 20 years old, he wasn't about to start getting scared of any player, no matter how experienced they may be. Ben Chin tries to inject some life back into the Hawks once again with his superb three-sixy lay-up and the impeding foul shot from it, but it wasn't enough as an Obasi Nyarko three pointer sealed the victory for New Orleans, and relegated Atlanta's first home game to a resounding loss, 120-106. Baron Davis takes Player Of The Match honours with a huge 41 points and 5 assists, not the welcome to the NBA that the new Hawks were hoping, but it can't get any worse than this, right?
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by J@3 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 4:33 am
I added the boxscore, I'm only doing the Hawks boxscore because it takes bloody ages to do, and I'm not overly bothered with how other teams play. I'm not sure what I'm doing tomorrow, if I go out there probably won't be an update but if I stay in there'll 80% be a preview + possible recap 
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by FendeR` on Sun Mar 13, 2005 9:34 am
For having a team of all undrafted rookies, doesn't sound like it's too hard for you. Besides Baron Davis (who would be gone if your rosters were updated as of the trade deadline) you guys matched up very closely with the Hornets.
FendeR` - Captain
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by J@3 on Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:11 pm
Thanks guys, appreciate it.
without giving too much away, try saying that after 7 games or so, it's not pretty. Awesome avatar btw.
For having a team of all undrafted rookies, doesn't sound like it's too hard for you. Besides Baron Davis (who would be gone if your rosters were updated as of the trade deadline) you guys matched up very closely with the Hornets.
without giving too much away, try saying that after 7 games or so, it's not pretty. Awesome avatar btw.-
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by SkipToMy_Lou on Mon Mar 14, 2005 1:39 pm
Great writeups Jae, at least Ollie and Dalton played well
Play the game, win the fight!
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I'll go back and get it later then I'll post the preview and if I'm not feeling as lazy as I usually do I'll write a recap aswell.by J@3 on Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:51 am
Atlanta travels to Chicago after losing their big home debut to New Orleans on Wednesday. The Hawks kept themselves in the game for the first three quarters but let it slip when New Orleans turnt it on in the fourth. It wasn't all negative however, as strong performances from Dean Ollie and Rafer Dalton were enough to give the coaching staff some optimism heading into their first away game of the season against a Chicago team who also lost their opening game. The "Baby Bulls" movement has come along even mroeso this season by drafting young prospect Trent Steele. Coming up against another young team might give the Hawks some confidence as the Hornets were vastly more experienced then the Bulls are. On the other end of the scale, it could also give the Bulls the boost they need seeing asthough it's becoming very rare that they come up against a team with even less experience then they do. With a combined 12 games NBA experience between the whole team, it's upto the Hawks to find something to pull them through against the favoured Bulls.
The Hawks bring Lawrence Mack and Ridley Tyrell into the starting line up, completing a series of changes that include the signing of Grant Skinner, an impressive athletic big man who became famous for his highlight reel dunks in college, and infamous for his complete lack of scoring ability in any other offensive area. Along with Skinner, another new arrivan in Zan Ouakili, an ultra athletic young small forward who doesn't have a great deal of basketball experience behind him having lived in Nigeria his whole life, it is thought that his raw athletisism and intelligence was enough to get him signed. The final signing was a combo guard out of South Alabama, Donyell Spencer. It is thought Spencer played himself out of the NBA Draft by not being able to decide whether he was a point or shooting guard. Spencer comes to the Hawks as a combo guard, and will take the roster spot of the vastly unimpressive Fidel Gibb who moves to the IR along with Junichi Hui and Lee Arthurs who has had some recent off court drama's.
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by J@3 on Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:13 am
TAKING THE BULLS BY THE HORNS, AND BEING STABBED REPEATEDLY...
Lawrence Mack, after being so nervous before the game that he nearly requested to start off the bench, shakes off any doubts by scoring the first four points of the match. Taking advantage of some great passing from Rafer Dalton, Mack proves to be too quick for the lumbering Eddy Curry. The battle of the guards plays out differentely early on as to how it was predicted. The media had been pushing the battle as a huge advantage to Chicago, with the highly skilled scoring combo of Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon supposed to overpower the new combination of Rafer Dalton and Ridley Tyrell. Surprisingly, the four guards went at each other early on and cancelled each other out with neither group gaining an advantage. After Ridley Tyrell had defensively padlocked Ben Gordon so well in the game, he started to tire and found himself in foul trouble early on. Noticing this weakness, Hinrich switched to shooting guard and began to overpower Tyrell, scoring a quick 7 points to take the Bulls to a fast 12-8 lead. An early highlight reel moment from Dean Ollie had an adverse effect, as it actually spurred the Bulls on further. After Rafer Dalton crossed over Kirk Hinrich, he drove the lane attracting the defensive presence of Antonio Davis, who left Ollie wide open. Noticing the switch, Dalton threaded the ball through to Ollie who was standing just outside the key. Eddy Curry tried to come across to help out, but in a move showing his immaturity he immediately tried to block Ollie as he charged at the hoop. It was too late for Curry unfortunately, as Dean Ollie threw the ball down right on top of the young Bull and mockingly hung from the hoop staring him in the eyes. The Bulls went on a ran after that, mainly due to the injection of rookie guard Trent Steele. who lead Chicago to a 24-18 lead. It looked like increasing even more, until Nicholas Onyango once again proved to be a valuable boost off the bench steadying Chicago's scoring spree with two big blocks as the young Bulls tried to penetrate the lane. Onyango's second block, swatting a Luol Deng shot off the backboard, seemed to fire up the Hawks as their bench players went on a mini-scoring run of their own. Zan Ouakili made sure Trent Steele didn't get too confident by blocking his lay up so hard it went back past the three point line to Donyell Spencer, who scored his first points by sprinting up the court with the ball and finishing off with a two handed dunk bringing the score to 26-24. Trent Steele managed to scrape himself off the hardwood to score another two points before finishing off the first quarter with a drinking dunk with only 2.4 seconds left. Onyango missed a buzzer beating three pointer to end the quarter with Chicago leading 30-25. The Hawks were almost imitating their opening game by blitzing the Bulls to start, but falling off as the first quarter progressed.
The second quarter could only be described as basketballing suicide for the Atlanta Hawks. Antonio Davis used his experience against Dean Ollie, pushing the youngster around and just generally making him look like a kid. Ridley Tyrell tried his best to keep Atlanta in the contest by shutting down Bulls scoring machine Ben Gordon. Tyrell's defensive play had been hugely questioned in his high school days, as most scouts saw him as a scorer but not much else. It was always claimed by his coaches that his man to man defense was highly underrated, as his skills and understanding were all there it was just a matter of putting them all into practise for big games. Obviously this didn't sit well with college recruiters and Tyrell remained as a noted defensive liability. Stopping Gordon from scoring, as impressive as it was, wasn't enough to keep the other Bulls from picking up the slack as Eddy Curry and Kirk Hinrich went on to score 14 points between them. Curry took full advantage of the dominance of Antonio Davisby feeding off his strong offensive rebounding efforts. Dean Ollie had shown some strong rebounding instincts in his first game, but as a pro he was learning that it wasn't all strong boxing out and positional play. Davis used every trick he'd learnt in his twelve years to make it near impossible for Ollie to gain position. Hinrich on the other hand, was starting to find that Rafer Dalton's natural instinct was to try and swipe the ball from Hinrich's hands at every opportunity. It was plain to see that despite his attempts, Dalton wasn't exactly a defensive recreation of John Stockton. Numerous times he lunged at the ball only for Hinrich to run straight past him and drive the lane for a basket. Hinrich used Rafer Dalton's defensive frailties to score 15 points via a mix of driving lay ups and three pointers. As if ripping the perimeter defense of the Hawks to pieces wasn't enough, the Bulls started to dominate inside too through Eddy Curry who outplayed Lawrence Mack in the opposite way that he had been dominated by Mack earlier himself. Mack's speed was no match for Curry's strength, as he just overpowered Mack and kept the flow of scoring running well for Chicago. Zan Ouakili made his debut count as he used his wiry frame to out-jump virtually the entire Bulls lineup to slam home a missed shot from Rafer Dalton. He kept the play inside as it became obvious that the rawest part of Ouakili's game was his shooting. One thing that obviously wasn't as raw however was his ability to play to his strengths. He did just that by keeping to put back dunks and short range shooting and slowly tried to bring Atlanta to some sort of respectable score. It wasn't nearly enough though, as Al Harrington injected himself into the game against his old team by completely outclassing Atlanta with his inside/outside game that no Hawks defender could seem to stop. The Bulls finished the first half strong on the back of Harrington's play, blowing the lead out to 22 points 61-49.
Stepping out onto the court for the third quarter, the Hawks looked somewhat rejuvenated. It was obvious that the locker room speech wasn't a positive one, in fact, several fans heard loud banging and yelling coming through the tunnel. It meant that Atlanta were being given a violent blasting, or making an aggressive German porno. Hopefully it hasn't come to that just yet. The Hawks new aggressive attitude meant that they fired out of the blocks, completely shutting down the Bulls defensively. Unfortunately though, Atlanta's eagerness on the defensive end did not transend as well on the offensive end as they continually missed chances to pull the Bulls lead to something attainable. Despite all of they defensive flair, the Hawks could only manage to reduce the lead by a single free throw. After watching the first one and a half games the Hawks had played, it because clear that there were a few screws loose in the Atlanta gameplan. They could be brilliant in attack, scoring at awill but at the cost of being bad defensively, or they could be fantastic on defense and horrible on the other end of the court. If they could find a way to bring a great offensive and defensive game together they could be a play off team easily. This is easier said than done though, and with an average age of 21 years old it could be a few years before they even become a cohesive unit let alone play off contenders. The Atlanta revival was shut down as somehow Eddy Curry tripped over his own feet and threw the ball towards the hoop while at the same time somehow crashing into Grant Skinner and drawing a foul just in time to see the ball drop through the net. This bizarre play was followed by some Rafer Dalton brilliance, weaving his way through a double team and launching an off balance three pointer that swished brought the lead back to 20. No one was really sure whether to hail the Dalton play as a touch of greatness from a talented young point guard, or as a show of selfishness at a point in the game where team work is key. Lawrence Mack found the scoring touch that had earlier escaped him by taking the lead under 20 after some smooth footwork found him enough space to slam the ball home and score his eighth point of the game. The earlier part of the game where Eddy Curry had ripped Mack apart offensively had left it's mark on the scarred confidence of the lively 19 year old. A spring was seemingly back in his step as he eagerly ran up the court, only to have Ben Gordon nail a three pointer right in his face. Gordon threatened to release the offensive angst that had been unvoluntarily kept under wraps by the unheralded defense of Ridley Tyrell. It was left to Grant Skinner and Zan Ouakili to pick up the pieces offensively with Skinner's spectacular lay up over three defenders enough to end the quarter down by 18, 88-70. Was it a consolation play, or the beginning of a miraculous comeback for Atlanta?
COMING SOON: Can Atlanta come from behind and win their first game of the season?
Lawrence Mack, after being so nervous before the game that he nearly requested to start off the bench, shakes off any doubts by scoring the first four points of the match. Taking advantage of some great passing from Rafer Dalton, Mack proves to be too quick for the lumbering Eddy Curry. The battle of the guards plays out differentely early on as to how it was predicted. The media had been pushing the battle as a huge advantage to Chicago, with the highly skilled scoring combo of Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon supposed to overpower the new combination of Rafer Dalton and Ridley Tyrell. Surprisingly, the four guards went at each other early on and cancelled each other out with neither group gaining an advantage. After Ridley Tyrell had defensively padlocked Ben Gordon so well in the game, he started to tire and found himself in foul trouble early on. Noticing this weakness, Hinrich switched to shooting guard and began to overpower Tyrell, scoring a quick 7 points to take the Bulls to a fast 12-8 lead. An early highlight reel moment from Dean Ollie had an adverse effect, as it actually spurred the Bulls on further. After Rafer Dalton crossed over Kirk Hinrich, he drove the lane attracting the defensive presence of Antonio Davis, who left Ollie wide open. Noticing the switch, Dalton threaded the ball through to Ollie who was standing just outside the key. Eddy Curry tried to come across to help out, but in a move showing his immaturity he immediately tried to block Ollie as he charged at the hoop. It was too late for Curry unfortunately, as Dean Ollie threw the ball down right on top of the young Bull and mockingly hung from the hoop staring him in the eyes. The Bulls went on a ran after that, mainly due to the injection of rookie guard Trent Steele. who lead Chicago to a 24-18 lead. It looked like increasing even more, until Nicholas Onyango once again proved to be a valuable boost off the bench steadying Chicago's scoring spree with two big blocks as the young Bulls tried to penetrate the lane. Onyango's second block, swatting a Luol Deng shot off the backboard, seemed to fire up the Hawks as their bench players went on a mini-scoring run of their own. Zan Ouakili made sure Trent Steele didn't get too confident by blocking his lay up so hard it went back past the three point line to Donyell Spencer, who scored his first points by sprinting up the court with the ball and finishing off with a two handed dunk bringing the score to 26-24. Trent Steele managed to scrape himself off the hardwood to score another two points before finishing off the first quarter with a drinking dunk with only 2.4 seconds left. Onyango missed a buzzer beating three pointer to end the quarter with Chicago leading 30-25. The Hawks were almost imitating their opening game by blitzing the Bulls to start, but falling off as the first quarter progressed.
The second quarter could only be described as basketballing suicide for the Atlanta Hawks. Antonio Davis used his experience against Dean Ollie, pushing the youngster around and just generally making him look like a kid. Ridley Tyrell tried his best to keep Atlanta in the contest by shutting down Bulls scoring machine Ben Gordon. Tyrell's defensive play had been hugely questioned in his high school days, as most scouts saw him as a scorer but not much else. It was always claimed by his coaches that his man to man defense was highly underrated, as his skills and understanding were all there it was just a matter of putting them all into practise for big games. Obviously this didn't sit well with college recruiters and Tyrell remained as a noted defensive liability. Stopping Gordon from scoring, as impressive as it was, wasn't enough to keep the other Bulls from picking up the slack as Eddy Curry and Kirk Hinrich went on to score 14 points between them. Curry took full advantage of the dominance of Antonio Davisby feeding off his strong offensive rebounding efforts. Dean Ollie had shown some strong rebounding instincts in his first game, but as a pro he was learning that it wasn't all strong boxing out and positional play. Davis used every trick he'd learnt in his twelve years to make it near impossible for Ollie to gain position. Hinrich on the other hand, was starting to find that Rafer Dalton's natural instinct was to try and swipe the ball from Hinrich's hands at every opportunity. It was plain to see that despite his attempts, Dalton wasn't exactly a defensive recreation of John Stockton. Numerous times he lunged at the ball only for Hinrich to run straight past him and drive the lane for a basket. Hinrich used Rafer Dalton's defensive frailties to score 15 points via a mix of driving lay ups and three pointers. As if ripping the perimeter defense of the Hawks to pieces wasn't enough, the Bulls started to dominate inside too through Eddy Curry who outplayed Lawrence Mack in the opposite way that he had been dominated by Mack earlier himself. Mack's speed was no match for Curry's strength, as he just overpowered Mack and kept the flow of scoring running well for Chicago. Zan Ouakili made his debut count as he used his wiry frame to out-jump virtually the entire Bulls lineup to slam home a missed shot from Rafer Dalton. He kept the play inside as it became obvious that the rawest part of Ouakili's game was his shooting. One thing that obviously wasn't as raw however was his ability to play to his strengths. He did just that by keeping to put back dunks and short range shooting and slowly tried to bring Atlanta to some sort of respectable score. It wasn't nearly enough though, as Al Harrington injected himself into the game against his old team by completely outclassing Atlanta with his inside/outside game that no Hawks defender could seem to stop. The Bulls finished the first half strong on the back of Harrington's play, blowing the lead out to 22 points 61-49.
Stepping out onto the court for the third quarter, the Hawks looked somewhat rejuvenated. It was obvious that the locker room speech wasn't a positive one, in fact, several fans heard loud banging and yelling coming through the tunnel. It meant that Atlanta were being given a violent blasting, or making an aggressive German porno. Hopefully it hasn't come to that just yet. The Hawks new aggressive attitude meant that they fired out of the blocks, completely shutting down the Bulls defensively. Unfortunately though, Atlanta's eagerness on the defensive end did not transend as well on the offensive end as they continually missed chances to pull the Bulls lead to something attainable. Despite all of they defensive flair, the Hawks could only manage to reduce the lead by a single free throw. After watching the first one and a half games the Hawks had played, it because clear that there were a few screws loose in the Atlanta gameplan. They could be brilliant in attack, scoring at awill but at the cost of being bad defensively, or they could be fantastic on defense and horrible on the other end of the court. If they could find a way to bring a great offensive and defensive game together they could be a play off team easily. This is easier said than done though, and with an average age of 21 years old it could be a few years before they even become a cohesive unit let alone play off contenders. The Atlanta revival was shut down as somehow Eddy Curry tripped over his own feet and threw the ball towards the hoop while at the same time somehow crashing into Grant Skinner and drawing a foul just in time to see the ball drop through the net. This bizarre play was followed by some Rafer Dalton brilliance, weaving his way through a double team and launching an off balance three pointer that swished brought the lead back to 20. No one was really sure whether to hail the Dalton play as a touch of greatness from a talented young point guard, or as a show of selfishness at a point in the game where team work is key. Lawrence Mack found the scoring touch that had earlier escaped him by taking the lead under 20 after some smooth footwork found him enough space to slam the ball home and score his eighth point of the game. The earlier part of the game where Eddy Curry had ripped Mack apart offensively had left it's mark on the scarred confidence of the lively 19 year old. A spring was seemingly back in his step as he eagerly ran up the court, only to have Ben Gordon nail a three pointer right in his face. Gordon threatened to release the offensive angst that had been unvoluntarily kept under wraps by the unheralded defense of Ridley Tyrell. It was left to Grant Skinner and Zan Ouakili to pick up the pieces offensively with Skinner's spectacular lay up over three defenders enough to end the quarter down by 18, 88-70. Was it a consolation play, or the beginning of a miraculous comeback for Atlanta?
COMING SOON: Can Atlanta come from behind and win their first game of the season?
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J@3 - Posts: 19815
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2004 3:25 pm
- Location: MLB
by Dean on Sat Mar 19, 2005 6:35 pm
This Dynasty Is Awesome, and you havent even played one game. im hooked.
i like that you named the guy Dean (my name) Ollie. make him the franchise player PLEASE. ok i will settle for the JJ Redick/Jay Williams-like guy
EDIT: Shit. Ive got to start checking for a second page before i post. thats the second time ive done this. ok, let me redo my first line.
This Dynasty Is Awesome, and i havent even read the first game. im hooked.
i like that you named the guy Dean (my name) Ollie. make him the franchise player PLEASE. ok i will settle for the JJ Redick/Jay Williams-like guy
EDIT: Shit. Ive got to start checking for a second page before i post. thats the second time ive done this. ok, let me redo my first line.
This Dynasty Is Awesome, and i havent even read the first game. im hooked.
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Dean - "Wait, this isn't like the time that you bought a hamster, named it virginity, and then lost it?"
- Posts: 1337
- Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2005 5:21 pm
- Location: Australia
by J@3 on Sat Mar 19, 2005 8:39 pm
nice one... yeah this is the 2nd game, I'm typing up the 4th quarter right now. Dean Ollie is his real name, I haven't created any of the players on my team they're all actually undrafted rookies. I was simming the other day on a different franchise and I actually got the same draft class which I found these players in -
J@3 - Posts: 19815
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2004 3:25 pm
- Location: MLB
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