2023 COMC BINGE - PART 18: SWEET LOU

 THE HAWKS HAVE A CHANCE TO FURTHER TRAINWRECK THE FRANCHISE FOR ANOTHER GENERATION NEXT WEEK SO GOING A BIT OUT OF ORDER ON THE POSTS. HERE'S A HAWKS DRAFT PICK THEY GOT RIGHT. IT WAS 1966 AND THEY WERE STILL IN ST. LOUIS BUT THEY'VE DONE GOOD THINGS BEFORE, MAYBE IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN

1973-74 TOPPS #150 LOU HUDSON

I COULDA SWORN I HAD THIS CARD ALREADY BUT A CHECK OF THE BINDER CONFIRMED THAT I DID NOT. AT FIFTY CENTS THIS WAS A NO-BRAINER ADDITION TO THE VINTAGE HAWKS TEAM SETS. LOU IS ONE OF FIVE HAWKS TO HAVE HIS NUMBER RETIRED AND WAS FINALLY ELECTED TO THE HALL OF FAME IN 2022, A DECADE LATE BUT IN IS IN. I DON'T HAVE A HECK OF A LOT OF 1973-74 TOPPS BASKETBALL CARDS AND IT THINK IT'S DUE TO A COMBINATION OF A FAIRLY UNDERSTATED DESIGN AND SOME DREADFUL PHOTOGRAPHY. MOST CARDS IN THE SET HAVE A POSED MUGSHOT WITH HARSH LIGHTING LIKE THE PHOTO ON THIS CARD OR AN EXTREMELY CHAOTIC ACTION SHOT. IT'S NOT ALL TERRIBLE, THE ALL-STAR CARDS LOOK REALLY NICE AND THERE'S A FEW NICE PHOTOS IN THE SET BUT CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF. I CAN SEE WHY YOUNGER ME WAS MORE DRAWN TO PRETTY MUCH ANY OTHER EARLY 70S BASKETBALL SET

THE BACKS ARE NICE THROUGH WITH A PLEASANT CHRISTMASSY FEEL AND A LOVELY HUGE COMIC RIGHT AT THE TOP. LOU WAS SUPER IN '72-73 AS HE HAD THE HIGHEST SCOREING AVERAGE OF HIS CAREER AND WAS AN ALL-STAR FOR THE FIFTH TIME. IT WAS ALSO THE LAST TIME THE HAWKS WOULD GO TO THE PLAYOFFS WITH LOU, LOSING TO THE CELTICS IN THE FIRST ROUND TWO GAMES TO FOUR. DANG, THAT SOUNDS FAMILIAR.  LOU IS A VERY HAWKS SUPERSTAR. GREAT STATS WITH NOT MUCH PLAYOFF SUCCESS FOR A GARBAGE FRANCHISE

HERE'S A PIC OF THE TEAM BINDER PAGE, I TOLD YOU I'VE BEEN NEGLECTING THIS SET. YOU SEE WAY MORE 74-75 CARDS (INCLUDING ONE OF MY FEW HAWKS CARDS WITH PETE MARAVICH ON IT) THAN THE 73-74S. I THINK THAT'S A 75-76 TEAM CARD AS WELL UP IN THE CORNER. IT'S NICE TO FINALLY HAVE LOU NOW THOUGH, YOU CAN SEE A BONUS LOU OVER IN THE BOTTOM LEFT CORNER!

BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 47: TEAM SET GET

I SNAGGED A CARD FOR THE VINTAGE BRAVES TEAM SET, SO IT'S TIME TO GET ONE FOR THE VINTAGE HAWKS TEAM SET. AND A BONUS MISCUT CARD AS WELL! ONE THAT FINISHES A TEAM SET, HUZZAH!

1975-76 TOPPS DWIGHT JONES

1975-76 TOPPS BASKETBALL IS SUPER COOL FOR TWO REASONS: IT'S THE LAST SET WITH ABA PLAYERS. IT ALSO WAS THE BIGGEST MAINSTREAM BASKETBALL SET AT 330 CARDS UNTIL 1989-90 HOOPS TOPPED IT WITH 353. A BIG SET MEANS TEAMS CAN NOT ONLY GET CARDS FOR THEIR ENTIRE STARTING LINEUP BUT ALSO HAVE A FEW BENCH PLAYERS IN THERE. ADD TEAM CARDS AND LEAGUE LEADERS AND YOU GET A NICELY SIZED TEAM SET! DWIGHT HERE WAS THE LAST CARD NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE HAWKS SET AND I SNAPPED UP THIS WONDERFULLY MISCUT CARD THE MOMENT I SAW IT. IT'S WILD HOW MISCUTS HAVE TRANSITIONED FROM BEING THE CARD YOU USED ON YOUR BIKE SPOKES OR JUST PLAIN TRASHED TO BEING HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER AMONG THE COLLECTOR SICKOS CROWD. THESE USED TO BE WORTHLESS AND NOW THEY'RE GETTING SNAPPED UP AT A PREMIUM LEFT AND RIGHT!

DWIGHT WAS THE FIRST ROUND PICK FOR THE HAWKS IN 1973 AND HAD A PRETTY DANG GOOD CAREER. HE WAS ONE OF ONLY THREE PLAYERS FROM THAT DRAFT TO PLAY TEN OR MORE YEARS IN THE NBA ALONG WITH KERMIT WASHINGTON AND CALDWELL JONES. HE WAS NOT THE BEST PLAYER PICKED BY THE HAWKS IN THAT DRAFT AS ATLANTA TOOK DAVE WINFIELD IN THE FIFTH ROUND. DWIGHT PLAYED CENTER THREE YEARS IN ATLANTA BEFORE GETTING TRADED TO HOUSTON. HE NEVER TORE UP THE LEAGUE BUT WAS A SOLID CENTER AND GOT TO PLAY IN THE NBA FINALS WITH THE LAKERS IN 1983. SINCE WE GOT THE TEAM SET COMPLETED, YOU KNOW I GOTTA SHOW IT OFF

KINDA INTERESTING HOW HALF THE TEAM GOT ACTION SHOTS WITH THE 70S BLACK VOID BACKGROUND AND THE OTHER HALF GOT MUGSHOTS WITH HARD SHADOWS IN FRONT OF A BLANK WALL. THE TEAM SET HAS CARDS FOR TEN PLAYERS AND THE TEAM PHOTO SHOWS ELEVEN. OF COURSE THIS MADE ME WONDER WHO IN THE TEAM PHOTO DIDN'T GET A CARD. SO I CHECKED BASKETBALL-REFERENCE AND THEY  LIST THIRTEEN PLAYERS FOR 1974-75! MORE MYSTERY! TURNS OUT THE GUY WITH NO CARD IS NUMBER 33 IN THE MIDDLE, JOHN WETZEL, WHO HAS HAWKS CARDS IN OTHER TOPPS SETS AND WAS ALREADY WITH THE SUNS BY THE TIME THIS SET CAME OUT. THE TWO COMPLETELY MISSING FROM THE TEAM PHOTO WERE CLYDE LEE, WHO GOT TRADED TO PHILLADELPHIA AND JIM WASHINGTON, WHO WAS SWAPPED TO BUFFALO. BOTH PLAYERS GOT CARDS IN 75-76 TOPPS WITH THEIR NEW TEAMS SO THERE IS COMPLETE 74-75 HAWKS CARDBOARD REPRESENTATION. THIS LEADS TO ANOTHER QUESTION: WHO'S THE GUY MAKING A CAMEO ON DWIGHT'S CARD? AFTER LOOKING UP WHAT PLAYERS THAT MADE THEIR DEBUT IN 1965 WERE STILL ACTIVE IN 1975 AND CROSS REFERENCING THAT TO THE RED AND BLUE TEAM STRIPES IN TEH CORNER I DEDUCED IT WAS CARD #9, JERRY SLOAN. BIG THANKS TO GRITZ ON TWITTER FOR HONING MY CARD DETECTORIST SKILLS WITH HIS 'WHO'S BEHIND DON MOSSI' TWEETS

BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 18: OLD HOX

I LOVE OLD 1970S TOPPS BASKETBALL CARDS AND I LOVE THE ATLANTA HAWKS SO BLACK FRIDAY SALES ARE A GOOD TIME TO WORK ON DEM TEAM SETS

1973-74 TOPPS BOB CHRISTIAN

WHEN I WAS A TINY CHILD AND DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER I MADE THE FOOLISH CHOICE TO BECOME A FAN OF ALL MY LOCAL SPROTS TEAMS. ADMITTEDLY, THIS WORKED OUT PRETTY WELL FOR THE BRAVES. ON THE FLIP SIDE THIS CHOICE HAS COMPLETELY RUINED HOCKEY FOR ME FOREVER. THANK GOODNESS I AM AND ALWAYS HAVE BEEN A LIFELONG PITTSBURGH STEELERS FAN AND NEVER GOT MY GUTS RIPPED OUT BY NONSTOP RIDICULOUSNESS FROM THE LOCAL NFL TEAM. THE HAWKS THOUGH... IT'S FUNNY, BEING A HAWKS FAN HASN'T BEEN ALL THAT PAINFUL BECAUSE THE HAWKS ARE SUCH A GODDAMN FUCKING TRAINWRECK THAT THERE HAVE RARELY BEEN ANY EXPECTATIONS. AT THE SAME TIME THEY'VE USUALLY BEEN PRETTY ENTERTAINING AND HAVE HAD QUITE A FEW SUPERSTARS ON THE ROSTER. DOMINIQUE WILKINS, DIKEMBE MUTOMBO, JOE JOHNSON, TRAE YOUNG. THOSE ARE ALL GREAT, SUPER FUN PLAYERS! WHO HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME NUMBER OF NBA CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS THAT I DO

I LOVE THE HELL OUT OF THE HAWKS BUT RIGHT NOW I'M HAVING SEVERE ANXIETY ABOUT THE POOR CHOICES OF MY YOUTH. BARELY SIX MONTHS AFTER TRADING FOR THE FINAL PIECE TO A CHAMPIONSHIP-QUALITY TEAM THE HAWKS HAVE: WRECKED THEIR BENCH TO GET UNDER THE LUXURY TAX, LET THE OWNER'S KID MEDDLE IN BASKETBALL OPERATIONS, RAN OFF THE GUY WHO BUILT THE TEAM IN THE FIRST PLACE, COMPLETELY ALIENATED THE COACH THAT GOT THEM TO THE FINALS, AND PROBABLY OVERPAID FOR THAT LAST PIECE SEEING THAT THEY ARE STILL AT BEST A PLAY-IN TEAM AT THE MOMENT. WORST OF ALL, THEY HAVE CAUGHT ATLANTA FALCONS DISEASE AND CONSISTENTLY BLOW 15 POINT LEADS EVERY SINGLE NIGHT SO GAMES AREN'T EVEN FUN TO WATCH ANYMORE. ARTIS GILMORE WAS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PLAYER THAT WASN'T A HAWK WHEN I WAS A KID AND I COULD HAVE BECOME A SPURS OR BULLS FAN AND CELEBRATED A PILE OF CHAMPIONSHIPS. AT LEAST THIS TEAM ISN'T A COMPLETE DISASTER LIKE THE 70S HAWKS

THOSE TEAMS WERE PRETTY BAD. THEY RAN OFF LENNY WILKENS IN THE MOVE FROM ST. LOUIS. THEY PICKED DAVID THOMPSON NUMBER ONE OVERALL AND THEN MANAGEMENT FOULED UP THE CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS SO BAD HE SIGNED WITH THE ABA. THEY COMPLETELY WASTED THE TALENT OF LOU HUDSON, PETE MARAVICH AND JOHN DREW. HEY, THEY SOUND A LOT LIKE THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE ATLANTA HAWKS NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT. TED FLIRTING WITH MOVING THE TEAM TO NEW ORLEANS IN THE 80S. TRADING NIQUE AND WRECKING TEAM CHEMISTRY THE SEASON THEY WERE MOST PRIMED TO MAKE THE FINALS. WHATEVER THE HELL WAS GOING ON DURING THE SHAREEF ABDUR-RAHIM ERA. CHOOSING DWIGHT HOWARD OVER AL HORFORD. THIS POVERTY FRANCHISE IS A NIGHTMARE. I LOVE EM THO

1970S BASKETBALL CARDS ARE ALL WONDERFUL. THE DESIGNS ARE GREAT, THERE ARE LOTS OF ABA CARDS AND TOPPS DID A LOT OF WEIRD INTERESTING STUFF TRYING TO SELL CARDS BEFORE ANYONE CARED ABOUT THE NBA. THE 73-74 SET HAS A WONDERFUL ELEGANT DESIGN AND REALLY GREAT TERRIBLE PICTURES. NINETY PERCENT OF THE PHOTOS IN THE SET ARE MUGSHOTS LIKE ON BOB'S CARD HERE OR AWKWARD POSED PHOTOS AGAINST A BLANK WALL. ONLY A SMALL HANDFUL OF CARDS ALONG WITH THE ALL STAR AND PLAYOFF SUBSETS GET AN ACTUAL GAME PHOTO. GO CHECK OUT THE GALLERY, IT'S GLORIOUS CHEESE. THE BACKS ARE AS GOOD AS THE FRONT, CHRISTMASY COLORS WITH A CARTOON, A NICE WRITEUP AND FULL CAREER STATS. IT'S A NICE BIG SET OF 264 CARDS FEATURING 29 DIFFERENT NBA AND ABA TEAMS

COLLECTING TEAM SETS FOR 70S BASKETBALL IS A BIT ODD. THE EARLER SETS WERE LARGER AND HAVE A GOOD REPRESENTATION FROM EACH TEAM, BUT THE LATE 70S SETS WERE ONLY 132 CARDS SO THE NUMBER OF CARDS PER TEAM DROPS A LOT. THE 77-78 HAWKS TEAM SET ONLY HAS FOUR CARDS, NOT EVEN ENOUGH FOR A STARTING LINEUP! THE LARGEST HAWKS TEAM SET IS FROM THE 80-81 TRIPLE PANEL SET WITH ELEVEN DIFFERENT PLAYERS, WHICH IS GOOD. BUT THEY ARE SPREAD ACROSS THIRTY DIFFERENT PANELS, WHICH IS BAD. 73-74 HAS A MANAGABLE NINE PLAYERS PLUS A PLAYOFF FAILURE CARD. THAT'S BIG ENOUGH TO INCLUDE SOME BENCH PLAYERS LIKE BOB HERE

THIS IS BOB'S LAST CARD, ALTHOUGH HE PLAYED ONE MORE SEASON WITH PHOENIX IN 1974. HE PLAYED COLLEGE BALL AT GRAMBLING STATE BEFORE BEING DRAFTED BY THE HAWKS IN THE EIGHTH (!!!) ROUND. NBA DRAFT USED TO BE CRAZY, CHRISTIAN'S DRAFT HAD 20 ROUNDS AND THE HAWKS MADE A SELECTION IN ALL OF THEM. BOB PLAYED ONE GAME EACH FOR THE DALLAS CHAPARALLS AND NEW YORK NETS IN THE ABA BUT MADE HIS WAY BACK TO THE HAWKS AND WAS THEIR BACKUP CENTER FOR THREE YEARS, PULLING DOWN OVER A THOUSAND REBOUNDS IN HIS CAREER. AND THAT'S ABOUT ALL I CAN FIND ON BOB CHRISTIAN, HE'S KIND OF HARD TO GOOGLE AS THERE IS ALSO A BASEBALL PLAYER, FOOTBALL PLAYER AND FAILED CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE SHARING HIS NAME. WHICH IS A BIG REASON WHY THIS POST WENT OFF THE RAILS WITH AIRING MY BASKETBALL FANDOM GRIEVANCES. THAT AND ALL THE COFFEE I DRANK BEFORE WRITING THIS

Hawks win!

They beat Orlando! Hooray! Now we get to be swept in the second round again by the Bulls! Booooo!

Perhaps if I wave this Josh Smith relic I got from Madding at the Bulls players, they'll go blind and miss all their shots. It's so crazy, it just might work!

Thanks, Madding, here's hoping the Blazers take it to 7...

Card Show Top 20 - #14 V103 Tree

Back to the countdown. Number 14 is more a set than a card, but I got one picked out of the set for the 'official' top 20 card. This will be a critically important record 5000 years from now when historians debate the 2011 Freedom Cardboard Atlanta show.

This was the last thing I bought at the card show. Part of the reason I bought it was because I had one dollar left in my pocket and it would be cool to say I didn't leave the show with any money left in my pocket at all. It's not quite as cool now seeing how I have not had a single dollar in my pocket since the show, but it made sense at the time. I got this at the table with all the signed Bobby Cox lineup cards. I didn't have the cash for a  lineup card at this point (why didn't I hit the ATM before the show?? (oh yeah, because I had a mortgage payment due)) but there were cheapo memorabilia boxes there. There was a ten dollar box that had a couple of autographs of people I didn't recognize, some old programs and something I very nearly bought - an old Empire Strikes Back jumbo Topps set. These were the size of the 1980 Supers and were probably from the same year. I should probably be regretting passing on that more than I do, but they were shrink wrapped so I would be hesitant to open it and if I did open it it would be a bitch to store. I'll let you all regret it for me.

There was a five dollar box with more goodies. I bought something out of that box that I'll show off later. I did have a decision between getting that and a Dale Murphy autograph card. Some of you may ask... How could I pass up an autographed Dale Murphy card??!? Well, it wan't a baseball card, it was an ad for some kind of plasma TV. It was vaguely card shaped and signed I suppose. I'm happy with my choice. The dollar box had mostly junk but there were a couple of these sets in there and I ultimately was compelled to snag one:

This lovely artist's rendition of the best basketball analyst around is from a 1979 Coca-Cola/Majik Market/V103 Atlanta Hawks team set. Majik Market was a southern version of 7-11 back in the day. V-103 is Atlanta's biggest radio station and was playing Disco when this set came out. Everyone knows what Coke is. This set is almost identical to a Braves set released at the same time. That one was sponsored by Coke and WPLO, an AM country station.

My 1985 Sport Americana Football-Hockey-Basketball and Boxing Price guide (there weren't a heck of a lot of sets back then, not enough to warrant a separate price guide for hoops) states rather bluntly that "The set is considered quite homely and poorly produced by most collectors". Back then though, I looked upon the Braves set with wonderment as I had no concept of oddball regional issues. That set had Bob Horner's first card! I was also amazed when I learned there was a Hawks version of the set in the mid '80s through that same price guide. While the Braves sets were plentiful at local card shops, I never found any of the Hawks sets. Finding one in the dollar box was a nice nostalgic surprise.

As you can see, the set is fairly minimalistic. Name, artist's rendering, Coke and Hawks logo on the front. Name, position, bio, V-103 and Majik Market logo on the back. The card stock is very thin and glossy on the front. The set straddles a fine line between being elegant and being cheap. This set would look absolutely fantastic if you could get it autographed with a blue or red sharpie though. The set had 15 cards, a full 12-man roster from the 1979-80 Central division champion Hawks along with Hall-of-Fame head coach Hubie Brown and his two assistants. Here's the rest of the set:

Mike Fratello is a pretty big name from the Hawks in his own right. He won 324 games with the Hawks including a Central division championship in '86-87. Not so many playoff wins though. He's another coach turned TV analyst having success calling games.

Brendan Suhr was a longtime scout and assistant coach in the NBA, most recently with the Knicks. This card creeps me out a little bit, the eyes remind me a little of George on this other masterpiece of line art.

5'8" point guard Charlie Criss played parts of 7 season with the Hawks and would later be a color analyst on the local Hawk broadcasts. Man, there's a lot of broadcasters in this set.

Dan Roundfield was the Hawks' high scoring small forward in the early '80s. At least until 'Nique showed up. The Hawks then managed to fleece the Detroit Pistons out of Antione Carr and Cliff Levingston for old and busted Roundfield. You laugh, but that trade may have clinched that Central division championship! Seriously, that's all Hawks fans have to cling to. Don't take that away from us.

Tom's card was the sample card in the price guide for this set. Why? One reason: PORN 'STACHE. Look at that mustachioed smirk on that guy. That's the best 8 points per game mustache you will ever see.

All-Star Eddie! Fast Eddie Johnson from Auburn University! 18 points a game for the Hawks in '80. I don't want to talk about anything else that ever happened in this man's life. Just enjoy the happy smiling face on that card because it went all downhill from here.

One of the neat things about this set is that even the bench players get a card. Jimmy only played 31 games with the Hawks after being traded from Detroit for Ron Lee and scored about 5 points a game. Poor Ron didn't get a card.

Mr. Basketball in Kentucky, NCAA Champion and Final Four MVP with Kentucky in 1978, and the poor guy ends up on the Hawks bench. Jack also had a broadcasting career. Hmm... the Hawks were owned by Ted Turner, who also owned TBS and TNT... I think I've figured out the broadcasting angle here...

Yet another guard. How many guards are on this team? Armond is currently an assistant coach under his former teammate Doc Rivers in Boston.

John was the #10 overall pick for the Hawks in 1973 but I don't recall ever hearing of him before now. John was born in West Germany and this '79-80 season was his last in the league.

Steve tag teamed at center with Tree Rollins for several years. He was a little better scorer, Tree was much better on the boards. His nephew Spencer currently plays for the 76ers. I'll always remember Hawes as the guy getting schooled by Artis Gilmore on an old poster I had when I was a kid that I can't find online anywhere. Man, I wish I could find that poster.

No, not the current coach of the Hawks, that's Larry Drew. John Drew is the guy we traded to Utah to get Dominique Wilkins. John then missed half a season rehabbing from cocaine abuse. What else is there to do in Utah? John became the first player banned for life under NBA Dictator Commissioner David Stern's drug policy. That trade for Utah stunk. About as bad as the Hawks' trade for Danny Manning.

I could have sworn Sam Pellom was a coach or a broadcaster or a reality TV star or a celebrity chef or a United States Senator or something, but the only thing I can find about him online is that he played for the Washington Generals and he's the only player from the University of Buffalo to ever play in the NBA. That's pretty good, though.

And here's the key card to the whole set. Wayne Monte Rollins. Otherwise known as Tree. EVERYBODY in Atlanta knew about Tree. Even people who didn't know what a basketball was. The man's name was Tree, for Pete's sake. This card is from his third year in the league, where he scored a career high 8.9 points a game. He also had 9.4 rebounds and 3.0 blocks a game that year. Now that's a real old-school center right there.I was in absolute awe of this guy when I was a kid. Seven feet tall! Yowzers! One time I asked my uncle if Tree might end up in the Hall of Fame one day. His response: "For what? Lowest points per game for a starter in NBA history?" BASKETBALL IS ALL NOT ABOUT OFFENSE. YA GOTTA PLAY DEFENSE. PUT TREE IN THE HALL.  But let's get Artis Gilmore in there first. Seriously, WTF Basketball Hall of Fame.

Really old package from Madding Pt. 2

Here's highlights from another package from Cards on Cards guy, Madding. We regularly have a Blazers for Hawks hostage swap. This one came months ago, but I'm a lazy bastid who never posts trade packages.

Solomon Jones rookie card! Yay! Sadly, Solomon has moved on to the Pacers. I'm somewhat sad that there will be no Topps basketball set this year. There have been plenty of times where Topps went into hoops hiatus though so I'll just have to be patient for the next set.

J-Smoove! One one of the more attractive SP designs I've seen. Ok, it's gaudy and ridiculous. But it's a GOOD gaudy and ridiculous.

Here's an odd Upper Deck card of  almost prodigal son Joe Johnson. It's got the base card design but is printed on Holofoil. I can barely keep up with all the baseball products, this one completely flew past my radar. Joe got mad after the season and threatened to sign elsewhere, then came back in a hurry when he realized he wasn't going to get on LeBron's team and the Hawks could pay millions more than anyone else. Thanks for taking our money, Joe!

It wasn't all Hawks in this package, but the baseball subjects were a bit... disturbing.

God as my witness, I don't know whether I've been bipped or not.

Cardinals and Blazers will be on their way soon, Madding....

NBA Draft

Ok, the shock has worn off so it's time to get back to sports stuff.

The NBA draft is going on right now. I've missed the first few picks and I don't really care to be honest. The only pick I care about is #19 to the Hawks. Now traditionally, draft day in Atlanta is when the Hawks do something horrifically stupid and ruin their franchise for the next few years. The've done pretty well with Josh Smith and Al Horford recently though so the mood isn't as dismal in Atlanta as it usually is. The Hawks' beat writer seems to think a point guard is in our future, but the Hawks are also enamoured with a big white guy. "Hawks Draft" and "Big White Guy" go together much like nitro and glycerin. Boom goes the draft board. No matter what happens though we did get one needed piece:

Picking up a guy who can score for Acie Law and Cripple Claxton is a helluva move.

The Pick:

Jeff Teague - point guard, Wake Forest.

Whew. I can go to bed happy now.

Thanks, Hawks

You had a winning season...

Got home court advantage in the first round...

Won that series against the Heat...

And made it to the second round against the eventual NBA champions.

Good job, Hawks. Let's get to the Finals in '09-10.

(Thanks to Madding for the Hawks cards)