ATL PM: Atlanta Sports News 7/1
Mar 4, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague (0) before the first half against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 104-88. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to July everyone. The NBA Free Agency is kicking off and the MLB season is in full swing so there is a bunch of stuff going on out there.
The poll for today has to do with the Hawks point guard situation:
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Zaza Pachulia prefers Hawks, will visit other teams (Peach Tree Hoops)—Pachulia seems like a great guy by all accounts and he also seems like a decent option to have coming off of the bench. I don’t see why the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement:
"Pachulia has reportedly drawn interest from several teams including the Portland Trail Blazers. He made $5.3 million last season but played in just 52 games and missed the end of the season with an Achilles injury that required surgery.Pachulia also told Greene that he thinks he will be 100 percent recovered from surgery by the time training camp opens."
Dennis Schroeder: A Closer Look At The Hawks’ Draft Pick (Soaring Down South)–PG Dennis Schroeder has a chance at making an immediate impact on the Atlanta Hawks and William Perry looks at what he could bring to the table:
"At only 19-years old, Schroeder is viewed by scouts as somewhat of a project. A project with extremely high upside though, as he has already been given the nickname of ‘German Rondo,’ a player he shares many attributes with. Schroeder’s extremely long arms and ability to play both ends of the floor are two main sources of comparison with Rondo. The major difference between the two is that Rondo prefers to assist while Schroeder is a score-first point guard.Schroeder is praised as a lethal penetrator and excellent ball handler, aggressively attacking the basket with ankle-breaking quickness. Defensively, he is regarded very favorably by pro scouts. He uses hyper speed and quickness with his long arms to badger opposing ball handlers up and down the court."
Midseason Review (Tomahawk Take)–Benjamin Chase breaks down how the Braves have done at every position:
"The Braves have reached the halfway point in the season. To start, a few team numbers. The Braves have a record of 48-34, which places them 3rd in the National League and in a tie for 4th in all of baseball in record. They currently hold a 6 1/2 game lead on first place in the NL East, the largest lead of any division in all of baseball. The pitching has allowed the second least runs in baseball, and the offense is 4th in the National League in total runs scored. It’s hard to say it’s been a rough start, but at times it does feel like it has been rough with the team’s veteran starter, Tim Hudson, finally showing signs of age and hitters like B.J. Upton,Dan Uggla, and Jason Heyward coming out of the gate so poorly. That said, as guys who started hot (Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, Ramiro Pena) have come back to Earth somewhat, those aforementioned three hitters have seemingly come to life. The team has done all this while having the second-youngest hitters in the league and the third-youngest pitching staff in the league! Let’s look back on how the team has performed in the first half of the season:"
Depth Chart: Here’s how the Falcons will enter training camp (AJC)–Mr. Ledbetter breaks down what the Falcons will look like as they head into training camp:
"Falcons backup running back Jacquizz Rodgers is not sure how the carries will be split with the addition of free-agent signee Steven Jackson.Last season, Michael Turner handled 66.4 percent of the carries by Falcons running backs (222 of 334 carries). Rodgers had 28.4 percent (94 carries) and Jason Snelling had 5.2 percent (18 carries).Jackson had 70.4 percent of the St. Louis Rams carries (257 of 365) by a running back in 2012.“When I get in the game, I’m going to try to make my plays and try to get my number called more often,” Rodgers said after last Tuesday’s minicamp practice. “I’ll try to make every carry and every catch count.”"