- Created on 18 April 2013
Hawks Get Larry Drew's Wish - 6 Seed in the East - With Unimpressive Loss to Knicks
The Atlanta Hawks did everything they could to give away the number 5 seed in the Eastern Conference and in the end it was just enough. With an ugly, sloppy and starless loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday night, the Hawks claimed the sixth seed they seemed to have been angling for the last two games of the season.
"I've said it before. We are going to err on the side of caution with just one game remaining,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said before Wednesday’s game. “It makes no difference, five or six (seed). We split with both teams so I would rather play it safe than to be sorry."
The Hawks lost the game 98-92 and will now head to Indiana for their first-round playoff series.
The outcome of the game turned out to not matter much. The Bulls took care of the Washington Wizards 95-92 to grab the fifth seed and a first-round playoff matchup with the Brooklyn Nets. The Bulls finished a game ahead of the Hawks, who had a one-game lead before losing two straight to end the season.
Al Horford, Josh Smith, Kyle Korver, Jeff Teague and Devin Harris all played the role of spectators against the Knicks. The Knicks continued to rest their top players as well. Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith did not play.
Despite the absence of big names, Madison Square Garden was still a packed house (team officials called it a sellout, with 19,033 in attendance, but there were a few empty seats) and while none of the Hawks took the opportunity to shine, Knicks forward Chris Copeland stole the show.
Copeland, the rookie who has averaged just under 15 minutes a game this season, posted a career-high 33 points in 40 minutes of play. He had 30 points through three quarters and looked like he was headed for 40 or 50 before injuring his shoulder early in the fourth.
“[Copeland] is fine, he had a hell of a game,” said Knicks coach Mike Woodson after the game. “He’ll sleep well on that.”
The rookie from the University of Colorado has had an exceptional past two games. Copeland’s 33 points Wednesday and 32 points on Monday against the Charlotte Bobcats made him the first Knicks rookie since Bill Cartwright to score 30 points in back-to-back games.
“He’s been phenomenal and a really pleasant surprise,” Woodson said of Copeland. “Going back to training camp, we didn’t know if he would make our ball club. He’s gotten better and he’s learned. We knew he could score, but not like this.”
The Hawks rookies were not quite phenomenal. After going 0-6 from 3-point range and 2-13 overall against the Toronto Raptors Tuesday night, rookie guard John Jenkins was again frigid from the floor, shooting 0-6 from beyond the arc and 8-19 overall. He finished with 20 points, but his shot was simply not there.
The Hawks were 2-13 as a team from 3-point range.
Fellow rookie Mike Scott had 23 points to lead the Hawks in scoring, but did it on 22 shots. He did get his second straight double-double, finishing with 14 rebounds.
The move to rest the starters in the second half against Toronto and the entire game against New York seemed quizzical, but perhaps Drew had a plan all along. Horford told the Daily World that the team didn’t arrive in New York until 3 a.m. Wednesday morning and returning to the New York metro area for a series starting Sunday against the Brooklyn Nets may not have been what Drew wanted.
“Now we know what we need to focus on and who we need to focus on and move forward,” Anthony Tolliver said. “… As soon as we came in [the locker room, Drew] already started talking about [the Pacers] and what we are going to do to prepare for them. Now we have to start our second season.”
The Hawks play the Indiana Pacers Sunday April 21 at 1 p.m. The game will be televised on TNT. The second game, also in Indiana, will tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday April 24 on NBA TV. Game three, the first game in Atlanta, will be Saturday April 27 on ESPN at 1 p.m. Game four’s tip-off time and television schedule have not yet been announced.
Atlanta and Indiana split the season series 2-2.
- Created on 18 April 2013
NBA Playoffs Full Schedule, Game Times, TV Schedule
Here is the complete schedule and national television & radio arrangements for all First Round series, as provided by the Atlanta Hawks team staff. The Hawks begin their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, April 21 at 1 p.m.
Listed are the teams and location, followed by the local stat time and the EDT start time and television network that will be broadcasting the game.
Oklahoma City vs. Houston
Game 1 - Sun April 21 Houston at Oklahoma City 8:30PM 9:30PM TNT
Game 2 - Wed April 24 Houston at Oklahoma City 6:00PM 7:00PM TNT
Game 3 - Sat April 27 Oklahoma City at Houston 8:30PM 9:30PM ESPN/R
Game 4 - Mon April 29 Oklahoma City at Houston TBD TBD TBD
Game 5 * Wed May 1 Houston at Oklahoma City TBD TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri May 3 Oklahoma City at Houston TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 5 Houston at Oklahoma City TBD TBD TBD
San Antonio vs. L.A. Lakers
Game 1 - Sun April 21 L.A. Lakers at San Antonio 2:30PM 3:30PM ABC/R
Game 2 - Wed April 24 L.A. Lakers at San Antonio 8:30PM 9:30PM TNT
Game 3 - Fri April 26 San Antonio at L.A. Lakers 7:30PM 10:30PM ESPN
Game 4 - Sun April 28 San Antonio at L.A. Lakers 4:00PM 7:00PM TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 30 L.A. Lakers at San Antonio TBD TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu May 2 San Antonio at L.A. Lakers TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 4 L.A. Lakers at San Antonio TBD TBD TNT
Denver vs. Golden State
Game 1 - Sat April 20 Golden State at Denver 3:30PM 5:30PM ESPN
Game 2 - Tue April 23 Golden State at Denver 8:30PM 10:30PM TNT
Game 3 - Fri April 26 Denver at Golden State 7:30PM 10:30PM ESPN2
Game 4 - Sun April 28 Denver at Golden State 6:30PM 9:30PM TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 30 Golden State at Denver TBD TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu May 2 Denver at Golden State TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 4 Golden State at Denver TBD TBD TNT
L.A. Clippers vs. Memphis
Game 1 - Sat April 20 Memphis at L.A. Clippers 7:30PM 10:30PM ESPN
Game 2 - Mon April 22 Memphis at L.A. Clippers 7:30PM 10:30PM TNT
Game 3 - Thu April 25 L.A. Clippers at Memphis 8:30PM 9:30PM TNT
Game 4 - Sat April 27 L.A. Clippers at Memphis 3:30PM 4:30PM TNT
Game 5 * Tue April 30 Memphis at L.A. Clippers TBD TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri May 3 L.A. Clippers at Memphis TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 5 Memphis at L.A. Clippers TBD TBD TBD
NBA Playoffs 2013 - First Round Schedule
page 2 of 2
National
Local EDT Broadcast
Eastern Conference
Miami vs. Milwaukee
Game 1 - Sun April 21 Milwaukee at Miami 7:00PM 7:00PM TNT
Game 2 - Tue April 23 Milwaukee at Miami 7:30PM 7:30PM NBA TV
Game 3 - Thu April 25 Miami at Milwaukee 6:00PM 7:00PM TNT
Game 4 - Sun April 28 Miami at Milwaukee 2:30PM 3:30PM ABC
Game 5 * Tue April 30 Milwaukee at Miami TBD TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu May 2 Miami at Milwaukee TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 4 Milwaukee at Miami TBD TBD TNT
New York vs. Boston
Game 1 - Sat April 20 Boston at New York 3:00PM 3:00PM ABC/R
Game 2 - Tue April 23 Boston at New York 8:00PM 8:00PM TNT
Game 3 - Fri April 26 New York at Boston 8:00PM 8:00PM ESPN
Game 4 - Sun April 28 New York at Boston 1:00PM 1:00PM ABC/R
Game 5 * Wed May 1 Boston at New York TBD TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri May 3 New York at Boston TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 5 Boston at New York TBD TBD TBD
Indiana vs. Atlanta
Game 1 - Sun April 21 Atlanta at Indiana 1:00PM 1:00PM TNT
Game 2 - Wed April 24 Atlanta at Indiana 7:30PM 7:30PM NBA TV
Game 3 - Sat April 27 Indiana at Atlanta 7:00PM 7:00PM ESPN
Game 4 - Mon April 29 Indiana at Atlanta TBD TBD TBD
Game 5 * Wed May 1 Atlanta at Indiana TBD TBD TBD
Game 6 * Fri May 3 Indiana at Atlanta TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sun May 5 Atlanta at Indiana TBD TBD TBD
Brooklyn vs. Chicago
Game 1 - Sat April 20 Chicago at Brooklyn 8:00PM 8:00PM ESPN
Game 2 - Mon April 22 Chicago at Brooklyn 8:00PM 8:00PM TNT
Game 3 - Thu April 25 Brooklyn at Chicago 7:30PM 8:30PM NBA TV
Game 4 - Sat April 27 Brooklyn at Chicago 1:00PM 2:00PM TNT
Game 5 * Mon April 29 Chicago at Brooklyn TBD TBD TBD
Game 6 * Thu May 2 Brooklyn at Chicago TBD TBD TBD
Game 7 * Sat May 4 Chicago at Brooklyn TBD TBD TNT
Additional scheduling information will be furnished as soon as possible consistent with the need to fulfill league obligations.
If First Round series are completed in six (6) games or less, the Conference Semifinals may move up to begin on either Saturday, May 4 or Sunday, May 5.
*If necessary
All games, except those televised on ABC, are available to be televised locally.
TBD - To Be Determined R - ESPN Radio
SUBJECT TO CHANGE As of (4-18-13/1:51 AM EDT)
- Created on 17 April 2013
Former Georgia Bulldog Coach Indicted on Ponzi Scheme Charges
Jim Donnan, former University of Georgia football coach, stood before a judge in a federal courtroom Tuesday in Macon after being indicted for operating a Ponzi scheme from 2008 to 2010.
Donnan and his business partner, Greg Crabtree, were charged with 85 counts of fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.
Donnan and Crabtree were the managers of GLC Limited, a supposed wholesale liquidation business based in West Virginia that earned profits by buying leftover merchandise from major retailers and reselling them to discounters.
GLC promised investors returns from 50 to 380 percent. The Securities Exchange and Commission discovered that $12 million of the $80 million raised from almost 100 investors was used to purchase leftover merchandise. Remaining funds were used to pay fake returns.
The two are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, unlawful transportation of interstate securities and money laundering.
Donnan and Crabtree pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday and were released on $25,000 unsecured bonds with travel restrictions.
- Created on 18 April 2013
Time Has Changed the Color of NCAA Games
If you tuned into the start of the 1963 NCAA championship between little Loyola of Chicago and mighty Cincinnati, it looked like few, if any, of the college basketball games you'd ever watched before.
Seven of the 10 starters from the two teams were black.
Fifty years later, one of the more revolutionary contests in sports has largely faded from memory. Ask any player at this year's Final Four about the game that changed the color of college basketball and they'll likely cite the 1966 finale, when tiny Texas Western, with its five black starters, upset all-white Kentucky. That's because of the popularity of the book, ''Glory Road,'' and even moreso the movie released in 2006, which detailed the exploits of Texas Western and its coach, the late Don Haskins.
But if anything, the mood in the country was much more racially charged in 1963. That atmosphere provides the backdrop for ''Ramblers,'' a new book in which author Michael Lenehan pulls together all the disparate threads that produced Loyola's serendipitous championship run.
The previous fall, riots erupted at the University of Mississippi when a lone black man enrolled there, and the unwritten rule among college coaches was you could play one black on the road, two at home and three if you were way behind.
''When I tell my kids those stories,'' said Ron Miller, who became Loyola's fourth black starter at the end of the 1962 season, ''they think I'm exaggerating.
''The night we played, none of us had a sense of what it meant. We'd run across some ugly scenes, playing in the South, but I grew up in New York City watching St. John's and NYU, so I'd seen black players before and never thought much about it. But not long after we won, I went home for Easter break and so many people came by to congratulate me, my mom just left the door open. Then I went over to my cousin's store. He said, 'I'm really proud of you guys. I never thought I'd see so many black faces on a court all at the same time.'
''That was the first time I realized it was more than just another game, more even than a championship game. It's nice to be able to look back now, from a distance, and think we helped a little, maybe gave some people an opportunity that wasn't there prior to that.''
- Created on 17 April 2013
Kinder, Gentler Mike Tyson Tells His Story at the Fox Theater
Mike Tyson, who is bringing his Spike Lee directed, one- man stage show "Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth," to the Fox Theater on April 20, says Lee is a stern taskmaster.
"Spike is very demanding. He's going to try to get the best he can get out of you. I don't think many people can work with him. It's difficult," Tyson said in a recent telephone interview from his Las Vegas home.
After a successful run on Broadway, the one man show produced by James L. Nederlander embarked on a 36 city tour over three months and wraps up in New York in May.
Shows at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas and in Los Angeles and Detroit brought out celebrities like Mike Epps, Tommy Hearns, Charlize Theron, David Arquette and Latoya Jackson,
Tyson's former boxing rival Evander Holyfield is scheduled to attend the show at the Fox.
The one-night only show lasts one hour and 45 minutes and is Tyson on stage sharing his life with a back drop displaying video and photos. The boxer, who retired in 2006, says the audience here should expect passion and emotion.
"They'll laugh and cry. I give them all of me," Tyson says.
After a history of violence, cocaine use, diagnosis of bipolar disorder, conviction and time served for rape, eight children, three wives and bankruptcy, having dissipated the more than $300 million made over his career, Mike Tyson is looking for peace.
Tyson, who will be 47 on June 30 and was ranked No. 1 on ESPN.com's list of the hardest hitters in heavyweight history, said his crazy, destructive and wild ways of the past are long gone.
The operative word for him now is "grateful."
"I'm very grateful to have a wife who cares about me. I don't deserve my wife. I'm at a place in my life where I am committed. She goes everywhere I go," he said of his current and third wife Lakiha "Kiki" Spicer who wrote the script for the show.
Tickets for the show range from $57.15 to $142.50 and can be purchased on line at FoxtAtlTix.com
