Hawks remain unbeaten, hold off Ambassadors, 74-70

D-LEAGUE AMBASSADORS (0-2) vs. ATLANTA HAWKS (3-0)Hawks 74, Ambassadors 70Game 3, Rocky Mountain Revue, Monday, July 21, 2008 SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH --- It's Day Three, and the days be-a-draggin'...but at least we're still unbeaten. No matter how humdrum it may seem this point, personally, my attitude shifted into another gear this morning when I got news -- if I can l swap sports for a moment -- of the New Orleans Saints consummating the deal to obtain TE Jeremy Shockey from the New York Football Giants. "The "U's" in the Big Easy, peoples!!! Granted it, the Shockmeister's coming off an injury and maybe a bit of hurt feelings from his lack of contributions to the Super Bowl champs last year, but this is a huge acquisition for the Who Dats. If they (Saints) can get anything -- and I mean anything from RBs Deuce McAlister (coming off major knee surgery) and Reggie (where has the burst gone?) Bush, they could make things interesting in the NFC...really interesting. Can't you tell by now I'm from N'Awlins?? And I won't even get into talking about the defending champion LSU Tigers...can't wait for the Dawgs to head to Death Valley in October...can't wait. That's for our PR intern Jennifer, my friendly arch-enemy when talking SEC football around the office -- at least I can "tolerate" the Georgia loudmouths, those Gators on the other hand -- I've had it up to here!!! (that's for Luke Steele from our video department and Ryann Nursey, one of our talented receptionists -- and you too, big Al Horford, HA!). I had to tell my main man Blog K (that's Hawks beat writer Sekou Smith) that watching ESPN's College Football show prior to coming to the Salt Lake Community Center got me all pumped up. Alright, enough about the pigskin, let's get back to why we're here. But-t-t-t, I will digress to toss up one other thing. Spoke with Acie Law at shootaround this morning (yes, they even workout like that during summer league) concerning the $155 million weekend epic "the Dark Knight" to get his reviews, and the movie critic not only raved about it -- he went twice yesterday. TWICE!! He took in an afternoon showing with Mario West and went back to catch the late night show. Both times he said the theatre was jam-packed. I've heard from about four friends who have echoed the same thoughts and you can rest assured that I will check that out in the next day-or-two. Tell you what! This D-League team is nothing short on energy -- they are determined to make sure NBA scouts in attendance take a look at their skills and evaluate them fully. One of these NBA teams will get beat by them, and it better not be today. Right now, they are giving it to our Hawks, but the game is tied at 10, as Othello Hunter (Atlanta's most consistent player after two games) puts it up-and-in. Former DePaul coach Joey Meyer is the sideline boss of the team, heavily West Coast-laden -- with players from UC Santa Barbara, Nevada, Southern California, San Diego and Pepperdine listed on their roster. Making his first appearance of the RMR is center Olumide Oyedeji, who arrived in town last night and not a moment too soon. The Hawks, despite their unbeaten record, has lacked size and bodies inside -- not for a lack of trying by Assistant GM David Pendergraft -- and his familiarity with Oyedeji (who spent a little time in Seattle with Pendergraft and GM Rick Sund) earned him a spot on the roster. While we expected former Cal forward/center Jamal Sampson last night as well, his absence is a mystery at this point and management isn't expecting him to show up. Let me get this out of the way right now, as the Hawks lead 16-12 (1:09 left in the first). I know there's been a lot of activity out there today at it relates to forward Josh Childress and the reported offer he may receive from the Greece team Olympiakos. Sund's position is to not engage the free agent process through the media, and I can definitely understand that -- I'm not a media person (or reporter), I'm a team executive unable to tell you the goings-on regarding his situation (Childress') or Josh Smith, because I and the franchise can face stiff fines from the people at Olympic Tower in the Big Apple. We've already received one fine from the league this year (remember the $50K big one for the Miami mess?? -- a tad bit excessive, in my humble opinion), so I'm not going down that road. I work for the Hawks, I don't play...if you get my meaning. But Sund did speak earlier today with Sekou Smith and you should be able to find out what's the latest, currently at www.ajc.com. I told you the D-Leaguers were tenacious and they currently have a three-point lead as we're underway in the second quarter. They got two straight three-point bombs from Nick Lewis, a 6-10 forward from San Diego, and the crowd is certainly pulling for them. As fans are, they can switch on a dime as Speedy Claxton throws a alley-oop to Hunter to give the Hawks a 25-23 lead...and switch right back when Glen McGowan (from Pepperdine) slams home an Ambassador miss. In earlier action today, the last two arriving teams -- New Jersey and Golden State -- finally decided to show up. And put a win in the Warriors column, as they posted the first 100+ game of the RMR, beating the Nets 108-84. One of my favorite players from last year's NCAA season -- Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts (CDR) tallied six points off the bench. His teammate, first round pick Brook Lopez from Stanford, had 16 points and six rebounds. GState had six players in double figures with former Georgia Tech guard Anthony Morrow tossing in a game-high 23. Warriors' first round pick (and former LSU Tiger...can't help representing the home state) forward Anthony Randolph had 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks. He didn't shoot the ball well at all though, hitting only two of his 10 FG attempts. With a win today, the Hawks will be in sole possession of the best record, as previously undefeated San Antonio was knocked off in Monday's first game 84-77, to the Dallas Mavericks. Gerald Green was finally inserted into the starting lineup (Mario Elie must have read my stuff...haha) and continued his torrid scoring, registering 27 points in 33 minutes. Law has it moving again, as the Hawks jump out to a five-point lead with 3:45 remaining (33-28). Hunter currently has eight points, while Law has five and Jeremy Richardson adds four to the leaders. Atlanta's hitting 52 percent from the field. Hunter and Richardson enters today's action among the top seven scorers in the RMR, with Hunter second amongst the rebounders at 7.0 rpg. West is fifth with 6.5 rpg, while Claxton leads everyone in assists at 5.5 apg. Atlanta also has the top two FG shooters -- Kevinn Pickney and Hunter -- and Luke Jackson is tied for third. At the half, the Hawks enjoy a 37-30 lead with plenty of balanced scoring, which has to please the coaching staff, and 11 assists on 16 made field goals. Sharing is good... Also making an appearance today is former Hawk guard and legend Lou Hudson. He always makes a point of checking out the red-and-white, check that, now the red-white-and-blue birds when we come to Salt Lake City. Hudson's doing pretty good these days after suffering a stroke several years ago. He's still supporting his old team, even wearing the old warmup jacket from the Mookie Blaylock days (boy, looking back on it, those things were u-g-l-y). Speaking of ugly, Atlanta's West just got blammed on by the D-League's Josh Gross for the first points of the second half. He got him good!!! It woke the Ambassadors up and they went on a 11-3 run to start the third before the Hawks regained the lead on an Law jumper, 41-40. They increase it on Law's FT (converting an illegal defense tech) and Thomas Gardner's (Missouri) triple to go up by five minutes later. The Hawks are on a 10-2 run over the last two minutes. They can seemed to put these guys away though...it's now a three-point game (49-46). Atlanta's gone cold, hitting only 44% overall, while the D-Leaguers are currently hitting 47.2 percent of their shots. At the half, the Hawks were shooting 47.1 to 42.3 for the opposition. Fortunately, we're still winning, taking a 53-49 lead into the final quarter. Taking control. The Hawks have streaked to a 10-point lead on a 6-0 burst to start the fourth, and the Ambassadors call timeout. And the beat goes on...Jackson with a three, a rebound and a nice dish to Hunter who's fouled on the way to the basket. He makes the freebies and it's 62-52 as the Hawks pull away. Things get a little ragged down the stretch, and the D-Leaguers go on a 14-6 run over the final three minutes to put a scare in the Hawks, but Atlanta seals it with a strong drive by Law (who misses the three-point opportunity) and FTs by Jackson and Pinkney, as the Hawks win 74-70...whew!!! Hunter and Jackson led Atlanta with 13 each, with 10 of Jackson's points coming from the free throw line. Gardner tossed in 11 and Law finished with 10 (3-8 FGs). Atlanta's first up Tuesday, with a 2:15 matchup against San Antonio (4:15 ET), while Dallas plays Golden State, and New Jersey takes on Utah (the D-League and Iran Olympic teams will have the day off). CURRENT STANDINGSAtlanta Hawks 3-0Golden State Warriors 1-0Dallas Mavericks 2-1San Antonio Spurs 2-1Iran Olympic National Team 0-1 (pending tonight's game against Utah)New Jersey Nets 0-1D-League Ambassadors 0-2Utah Jazz 0-2 (pending tonight's game against Iran) SCORING BY QUARTERSAmbassadors ----- 16 - 14 - 19 - 21 --- 70Hawks --------------- 16 - 21 - 16 - 21 --- 74 LEADING SCORERSAmbassadors ----- McGowan 17, Gross 12, Elliot 10Hawks --------------- Hunter 13, Jackson 13, Gardner 11, Law 10 LEADING REBOUNDERSAmbassadors ---- Brown 6Hawks -------------- Pinkney 9 ASSIST LEADERSAmbassadors ---- Elliot 5Hawks -------------- Claxton 4, Jackson 4, Law 3, Hunter 3 more...