ATL AM: Atlanta Sports News 6/17

Jun 16, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich reacts on the bench against the Miami Heat during the first quarter of game five in the 2013 NBA Finals at the AT

Happy Monday everyone and welcome to the first edition of ATL AM this week.

In today’s poll we are going to discuss whether or not the Hawks are actually starting to become an organization like the Spurs:

AJC–Carroll Rogers writes that Brandon Beachy has some inflammation in his throwing arm… which is actually good news. It could have been worse, and apparently he just needs rest. This is another reason why I would prefer Beachy to go to the pen:

"An MRI Saturday morning revealed what both Braves physicians and Brandon Beachy suspected – he has some inflammation in his surgically-repaired elbow but no structural damage and just needs some rest.Beachy said he’d been experiencing some discomfort recently and just hoped it would improve before his originally-scheduled return Tuesday against the Mets. But he struggled to get comfortable in three innings of a minor league rehabilitation start on Thursday night with Triple-A Gwinnett.“I’ve just got some inflammation,” Beachy said. “It’s been building up and just wasn’t going away like the other muscular stuff had and felt like I had some fluid in there….We’re just going to give it some rest and it’ll clear out. I’m not worried at all. It’s just unfortunate, the timing of it. I wish it would have happened three weeks ago instead of right now.”"

AJC–Apparently the new kid, Alex Wood is an option to start one of the double header game that Brandon Beachy has been scratched from. This would be cool to see. For those who don’t know, Wood has been a starter until the Braves pulled him up to help out the bullpen:

"The Braves don’t plan to announce who will pitch in Brandon Beachy’s place on Tuesday against the Mets until after Sunday’s game, but it appears they’re considering giving rookie left-hander Alex Wood a spot start.Wood, who has spent the past three weeks in the Braves bullpen, took batting practice for the first time Saturday afternoon with the rest of the Braves rotation, an indication he could have his first major league start in the near future.When asked if the Braves are thinking about Wood to start one of the games of Tuesday’s doubleheader, manager Fredi Gonzalez said: “I’m kind of open. We’re seeing how we get through these next couple days and see what our options are.”Beachy was scratched from making his highly-anticipated return from Tommy John surgery after feeling elbow soreness during his final minor league rehabilitation start Thursday night."

TheFalcoholic–Apparently the Richard Seymour possibility for the Atlanta Falcons is dead:

"There were many good reasons to believe Richard Seymour would end up in Atlanta. He wanted to play for a contender, he’s from the area and the Falconsneeded more help at defensive tackle.Ultimately, though, we may have wanted to connect those dots a little too badly. While there were reports of contract negotiations all along, reports that have now more or less been confirmed, it appears the Falcons are either not getting Seymour at all or negotiations will need to pick up again down the line:I don’t care to speculate about why this might be, though certainly the Falcons didn’t have a ton of cap space to make a big offer, and they may have lacked the will to do so. What’s important to take away is that any potential deal is dead, at least for now. The Falcons could attempt to re-visit them, but I think it’s more likely that they sign another free agent or just bolster their depth from within."

SoaringDownSouth–Wesley Morton writes about what I have been thinking for a while–that the Hawks are becoming a version of the San Antonio Spurs:

"It goes by different terms: “The Spurs model”,“The Spurs philosophy”, etc. Some would have you believe it doesn’t exist; that the Spurs have no different philosophy as the 29 others organization other than to achieve the pinnacle of competitive basketball by any means, the elusive Larry O’Brien trophy. There are a lot of misguided labels and misconceptions of this successful franchise. “Boring basketball?” Maybe if you consider a team that finished the 2012-13 season 4th in points per game and 6th in offensive efficiency. In addition, it’s hard to try to nail descriptions to an ever-changing organization in an ever-changing league that forces innovation to be able to compete.Gregg Popovich, the legendary Spurs head coach, recently created a stir about his comments regarding domestic and international NBA players saying foreign players are “fundamentally more hardworking than most American kids”. Regardless of the actual merit of the statement, it goes a long way to explaining San Antonio’s international plan of attack. A quick glance at the current roster reveals that only 6 of the 15 players were born in the United States. Currents Spurs hail from all over the world, including France, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. That’s not necessarily to say to American players have not been a key focus over the years (see Kawhi Leonard, David Robinson, Bruce Bowen, etc.) or that international players have always been solid finds. Heck, it even depends whether you consider Tim Duncan to really be international (he was born and raised in the US Virgin Islands). But there is something to say for a group that shuns signing flashy, usually domestic, players looking to build the next superstar duo, trio or any other super group.In that same piece, Popovich talks about the lack of entitlement most international players have when compared to their American counterparts. He describes them as coming to the NBA as humble and coachable as opposed to unappreciative and lacking some basic fundamentals. This mentality even trickles down to those permanently seated on the bench. Mike Budenholzer and Quin Snyder, who currently compose the Hawks coaching staff, have both even had experience coaching in the Euroleague."