Chris Barnwell of Hawks Hoop: Unlike years past, this year the Southeast Division looks wide open. Not only that, it’s the most powerful it’s been in years. The defending division champion Miami Heat may have lost LeBron James, but they still have one of the five best coaches in the NBA, and two to three all star level talents. The Wizards are coming off a year where they advanced to the second round, and some think they should have gone as far as the Eastern Conference Finals. There’s some swagger going on in DC with John Wall claiming to have the best backcourt in the NBA. To help their quest for the conference finals and beyond, the Wizards went out and signed Paul Pierce; another year older, but he’s still as crafty as ever.
Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution: Hawks starting small forward and defensive stopper DeMarre Carroll answered five questions from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in advance of Wednesday’s season opener at the Raptors. Q. Now that training camp is over, what are your expectations going into the regular season? A. My expectations for the team is to go into the season and do what we did all preseason and summer and get off to a good start. Me personally, I want to go out and get my teammates going. Coach wants be to be more of a leader and that’s the biggest thing I’ve got to do at the beginning of the season.
Peachtree Hoops: IT’S HERE!!!! WE MADE IT!!!! BASKETBALL IS BACK!!! Finally after such a long wait and very long and annoying summer, Hawks basketball has finally returned. With the return of NBA basketball, we also get the return of the nation’s power rankings. There have been many moves made around the league so it will be interesting to see where the writers from different websites see the Hawks. So let’s not waste any time and get started with this week’s power ranking roundup.
