SB Nation Atlanta: All Posts by Phil Foley

Atlanta Hawks Announce 2011 Preseason Schedule, Play Lakers Twice

2011-08-21T02:56:30Z

File this in the ain't gonna happen folder for now, but nevertheless, the Atlanta Hawks and the National Basketball Association are at least putting up a front that Mickey Mouse is going to come out waiving his magic wand (or that sorcerer kid or someone) and that there will be preseason basketball in a few months.

And if there is preseason basketball to be had in October, your Hawks will be going to Disneyland.

Yes, folks, with new potential owner Alex Meruelo being a Cali kind of guy, Atlanta's regular "boring" preseason schedule with games against teams like the Charlotte Bobcats, Orlando Magic and the best team ever to lose to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals* (a/k/a the Miami Heat) are off the sked and Los Hawks are headed to sunny Cali for most of the road part of their theoretical preseason schedule.

Should there be basketball, (does it seem like I doubt there will be?), the Hawks preseason slate is listed below.

Date

Team

Time

October 10

vs. Detroit Pistons (Philips Arena)

7:30 p.m.

October 12

at Los Angeles Lakers (Ontario, Ca.)

10:00 p.m.

October 13

at Los Angeles Clippers (Staples Center)

10:30 p.m.

October 15

at Los Angeles Lakers (Staples Center)

10:00 p.m.

October 18

vs. Indiana Pacers (Philips Arena)

7:30 p.m.

October 20

vs. New Orleans Hornets (Philips Arena)

7:30 p.m.

October 26

at Dallas Mavericks
(American Airlines Center)

8:30 p.m

New Hawks Owner Alex Meruelo Locked Out From Answering Real Questions

2011-08-18T21:40:26Z

It seems like every time new Hawks owner-to-be Alex Meruelo tries to answer a question, he gets locked out from giving a straight answer.

The new potential owner of the Hawks talked to the AJC's Michael Cunningham about the purchase of his newest toy -- an NBA basketball team. And it seemed like Meruelo, who may or may not be the the future majority owner of the lone major tenant left at Philips Arena got no closer to answering a question that Hawks fans might actually care about before ~~the invisible hand of David Stern~~ Meruelo's advisers cut the casino, television, construction and real estate titan off at the pass.

"We have people that run the [basketball] operations of the Hawks," Meruelo told Cunningham. "What I am hoping to do is ..."

And just like that, Meruelo's "people" silenced the Atlanta owner, reminding him that what he was going to do was a "prohibited subject," leaving Hawks fans to wait -- likely until that silly NBA lockout thing is over -- about Meruelo's philosophy.

What we do know is that Meruelo is a "very hands-on" guy in his other business arrangements.

And this was one heck of a "business arrangement."

It's rumored that Meruelo may have gotten close to no real money down and more like assumption of debt deal to potentially liberate the city from the scourge that is the Atlanta Spirit -- the least honest ownership group in North American professional sports.* The aforementioned Spirit -- who was crying poverty when they dumped the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg now was so flush with cash that they could arrange owner financing for 40-percent of the $300 million "enterprise value" deal for the Hawks.

While the sale is expected to close with a vote of the NBA's Board of Governors at some point during the summer of NBA lockout discontent, Hawks fans probably still won't have a clue as to their new majority owner's basketball philosophy.

Meruelo may be able to make personnel decisions on GM Rick Sund and coach Larry Drew after the deal closes.. But don't expect much of a comment about what Meruelo wants to do about adding players or even salary. The last thing the new Hawks owner wants is to invoke the ire of Stern, who would welcome him to the league with a nice hefty fine.

Alex Meruelo, New Atlanta Hawks Owner, Knows How To Buy Low And Sell High

2011-08-08T12:00:51Z

Alex Meruelo bought a casino in Reno that was once worth $151 million for less than $45 million. He grew a chain of Latino-focused pizzerias into an empire and he just closed a deal to buy a Spanish language television station in Los Angeles.

Now he has his sights on purchasing the Atlanta Hawks and the operating rights to Philips Arena from the dysfunctional Atlanta Spirit and become the first American of Hispanic decent to have a majority ownership stake in an NBA franchise.

But not much else is known of 48-year-old Cal State Long Beach grad, who will likely become the Hawks next principal owner.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Meruelo is a first-generation Cuban-American who was born in New York before moving to California. His parents fled Fidel Castro's Cuba after the communist revolution in the one-time island paradise and headed to Florida and New York before settling in Los Angeles.

Like most first-generation immigrants the Meruelo family owned a business - a tuxedo and bridal shop in downtown Los Angeles. He got his first business break when his father leased him the tuxedo part of the business - a business which is now a vast empire that holds everything from restaurants to construction companies to real estate.

Meruelo opened up his first La Pizza Loco, a pizzeria that catered mainly to the burgeoning Southern California Latino market in 1985. That company, which offers toppings like jalapenos and a substitute refried beans sauce, expanded to a chain of over 50 restaurants.

He's since added three other food chain-type restaurants in the Greater Los Angeles market. He diversified into real estate, operating over 310,000 square feet in 25 retail and mixed-use centers sprinkled throughout Los Angeles along with 15 apartment buildings comprising of almost 900 units.

Meruelo also owns a number of construction companies, a bank and a venture capital fund. He also sits on a pair of corporate boards.

But the future potential Hawks owner's biggest splashes came this year when the Meruelo Group, the corporate umbrella name for most of Meruelo's holdings, closed on a $42.45 million purchase of the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nev. The deal paled in comparison to the $151 million sales price of the resort to its previous owner, which had the property foreclosed upon by JP Morgan Chase.

The Meruelo Group also made his first foray into media, buying Spanish language station KWHY 22 from NBC Universal in July.

Meruelo is unabashedly a Republican who has contributed to the Republican National Senatorial Committee, the Republican Party of California, Senator John McCain, John Ensign, California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina and former President George W. Bush.

One of his few contributions to a Democrat, Colorado congress hopeful Jared Polis, was met with controversy after it was revealed that Meruelo made a $10,000 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth, a group that looked to torpedo the Presidential campaign of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry in 2004.

Meruelo's experiences in business also did not come without controversy. His $80 million offer to buy the Rubio's Restaurant chain - a chain of fish taco food joints in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and Colorado - resulted in a class action lawsuit. The business was eventually sold to a Connecticut-based restauranteur instead.

But when Meruelo has successfully acquired companies, he has helped give those businesses access to the capital they need in order to grow. Meruelo sensed a business opportunity when he acquired Herman Weissker, Inc., then a fiber optics company, in 1999 when the bottom fell out of the fiber market.

Once put under Meruelo's control, the company got larger access to the capital markets and diversified, transforming into a full-service utility company.

"When Mr. Meruelo bought the company, it took us to a new level," Herman Weissker Senior Vice President Pete Van Emon told Construction Today in 2005. "Our bonding has increased eight times, and it's been a great help in stabilizing our operations."

Herman Weissker has also succeeded by following Meruello's mantra that the company's employees and equipment form the foundation for delivering quality service.

Hawks fans hope that Meruelo will follow a similar blueprint with their beloved basketball team, a team that the Atlanta Spirit could not get over the proverbial hump in their seven-year stewardship of the franchise.

Of course, the success of the franchise could easily be determined by the settlement the owners and the players come to when the NBA lockout invariably ends. Having an owner with deep pockets could go a long way to righting the lack of salary maneuverability that may plague the Hawks if the league gets its way and installs a hard cap near the luxury cap threshold.

If a hard cap is implemented, it is expected that teams may be permitted to buy out the contracts of players to maneuver themselves within the NBA's new rules. Atlanta, which brushed but never exceeded the cap during the Spirit's run, could conceivably shed a bad money contract or two to give the team a chance to retool.

New ownership can also go a long way toward investing in areas where the Spirit proved woefully inadequate, like the front office and coaching staffs.

Meruelo could also potentially pour money in addition to the $7.7 million set aside to renovate Philips Arena. That money was set aside when the Spirit renegotiated the terms of the bonds with the Atlanta and Fulton County Recreation Authority and refinanced the arena.

Whether the ownership change will reap Atlanta's first NBA championship obviously remains something that only time can tell, but any change is a good change, especially when Hawks fans are ridding themselves of the Atlanta Spirit - the least honest ownership group in North American professional sports.

Change in this instance can only be good.

Zaza Pachulia Changes Mind On Turkey As Mo Evans, Etan Thomas Consider Overseas Hoops

2011-07-23T18:29:42Z

Zaza Pachulia won't be playing in Turkey after all. The reserve Atlanta Hawks center announced via Twitter that he was not headed to play alongside Deron Williams for that Besiktas team that seems to be flirting with Kobe Bryant instead.

@zaza27Zaza Pachulia

There was lot of talking me going to play for Besiktas during lockout.We couldn't agree on the terms and I'm not going to play for them.

However, a couple of other one-time Hawks could be headed overseas.

Etan Thomas, who is a VP in the union could be headed to Spain according to a HoopsHype report. The rub, however, is in the troubling reason why.

"He doesn't see the lockout ending this season," Thomas' manaager Carlisle Sealy told the website.

Of course, for those of you who have been reading Atlanta SB Nation and SB Nation's coverage of the lockout, that shouldn't come as much of a surprise. When David Stern is claiming just about every team is losing money and that the owners need to protect themselves from themselves and the players see things otherwise, a resolution is going to take a while.

Folks like Thomas and even former Hawk Maurice Evans will likely lace up overseas this season.

Evans, another union VP, has flirted with signing with Spain's Real Madrid or the Turkish club Anadolu Efes according to HoopsWorld.

Atlanta SB Nation will continue to bring you developments as David Stern's lockout continues. But also check SB Nation and Peachtree Hoops for other updates in what should be a rocky road to labor peace.

Dwight Howard May Play In China During NBA Lockout

2011-07-19T02:27:58Z

Add Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic to the list of NBA star players threatening to take their talents overseas while David Stern's silly little NBA lockout shuts the door to the game developed in Massachusetts for the foreseeable future.

The former Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy Star told my colleague George Henry of the Associated Press that he could be headed to some country other than the good ole U.S.A. to play basketball next season.

"I’m not at liberty to talk about it," Howard said, "but there’s a huge possibility about me going to China or me going overseas to play basketball."

The Atlanta-native would be the second of a growing list of big-name talent outsourcing their talent around the globe. New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams has officially accepted a contract offer to play in Turkey. And more likely than not, he will play alongside your Atlanta Hawks reserve center Zaza Pachulia.

The globalization threat seems to be the implementation of a bit of "stragetery" by NBA players to let Stern know that they have options other than sticking around and not getting paid while NBA owners such as your hometown (and presently hockey-less) Atlanta Spirit claim poverty.

Kobe Bryant is flirting with playing in Turkey and Steve Nash may be headed to Europe or China.

But it's not just the superstars headed out of the country for a while. "Depth" players who were poised to become free agents in what is increasingly looking like "the year of the lockout" such as Sonny Weems and Sasha Vujacic have already inked deals to play next season and beyond overseas.

Can "Superman" be far behind?

"If I decide to go overseas, the main thing is for me to continue to get better, not to do the things that I normally do, but do better at the things I’m not good at," Howard told the AP. "So I can use that talent to go overseas, working on my skills and staying in great shape."

Who knows Magic fans, maybe Howard will find his long-lost free throw touch if he languishes in China for a while.

Hawks Jamal Crawford Could Follow Zaza Pachulia To Turkey Or Play In Europe

2011-07-13T11:14:37Z

Add Jamal Crawford to the list of players that may be headed to Turkey or elsewhere in Europe.

Our own Kris Willis from Peachtree Hoops (and college basketball and Atlanta Dream editor on SB Nation Atlanta) picked up on a piece behind one of those silly ESPN paywalls, which revealed that the Atlanta Hawks sixth-man is looking to take his services to the same Turkish league that will likely see Zaza Pachulia and Deron Williams lacing up the athletic shoes when the start of the season is probably delayed by heavy-handed NBA commissioner David Stern's silly little lockout.

While Pachulia and Williams will probably play for the Besiktas team, Crawford would probably play for a different team in Turkey or elsewhere in Europe.

The only difference in the negotiations is that Crawford is a free agent. That has made some of his potential suitors more reluctant to give the 2009-10 NBA Sixth Man of the Year an out-clause in his contract like Pachulia and Williams will have when their deals are finalized.

That's a non-starter with Crawford's agent Aaron Goodwin.

"So far in the conversations for Jamal Crawford, teams have shown [both a] reluctance and a willingness to have that clause in there," Goodwin said. "Obviously, we would never pursue it without a clause being in there where the player can opt out."

Playing abroad seems to be the trend -- or at least a strategy -- for the players in during the lockout. Also headed to Europe are Toronto Raptors swingman (and former Arkansas star) Sonny Weems and Darius Songaila of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Of course, Stern could stem the tide if he and the players union actually got to the negotiating table and worked out a deal. But that's about as likely right now as Stern's little buddy Gary Bettman reversing course and bringing the Atlanta Thrashers back from Winnipeg. Not going to happen in the NBA -- at least in the short term.

Are Al Horford And Josh Smith More Valuable Than Joe Johnson? Basketball Reference Thinks So

2011-07-12T14:27:37Z

Atlanta Hawks fans have argued among themselves. They have heard it from other fans around the NBA. The argument goes something like this: Joe Johnson is overpaid. Al Horford and Josh Smith are better.

Well, it seems like Neil Paine of basketballreference.com agrees. Or at least that's what his mathematical APBRmetric-thingy says.

Using a formula that I could never figure out, Paine ranks the top 593 NBA players of 2012. And three Hawks finished in the top 60.

Al Horford is the top ranked balla in the ATL, finishing one out of the top 20 at No. 21. Josh Smith dunks his way into the No. 27 spot, while max-contract man Joe Johnson didn't even crack the top 50. The $119 million man ranked 51st in the survey.

The usual suspects topped the list. Ringless LeBron James of the Best Team Ever (not named the Dallas Mavericks)* was No. 1, followed by Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant. Kobe Bryant finished No. 8.

As far as the rest of the future an former Hawks go, Jamal Crawford was No. 117 on the list, followed by Marvin Williams (No. 213), Zaza Pachulia (No. 323), Kirk Hinrich (No. 404), Jeff Teague (No. 427) and Damien Wilkins (No. 467). Etan Thomas came in at No. 486, while Hilton Armstrong ranked 553rd. Jason Collins finished in the 556th position and Josh Powell was dead last at No. 593.

Pape Sy and Magnum Rolle were not ranked in the survey, nor was 2011 second-round pick Keith Benson.

Zaza Pachulia Confirms He's Close To Joining Deron Williams On Turkey's Besiktas

2011-07-11T11:25:16Z

David Stern's pain is the Turkish league's gain.

Hawks center Zaza Pachulia confirmed to both USA Today and the AJC that he's close to inking a deal to join Deron Williams on Turkey's Besiktas squad.

The Atlanta Hawks reserve center told the AJC's Michael Cunningham that he has a verbal deal in place to head to the NATO nation to play some hoops, if all or part of the NBA season is a casualty to the lockout.

"They have interest, I have interest and we have talked about price," Pachulia told the AJC. "It’s not official now."

Under the terms of the proposed deal, Zaza would hang out in Turkey, which is adjacent to his home country of Georgia (the Republic, not to be confused with the state Atlanta is in), get some cash for playing ball and head back to the States if that pesky little NBA lockout thing is finally resolved.

Adjusting to Turkish-style play shouldn't take much at all for Pachulia, who spent six years as a teenager there playing ball. He also speaks the language and holds a Turkish passport.

Pachulia and Williams of the New Jersey Nets are not the only ones who may be headed overseas. USA Today reports that former Alabama star-turned-Toronto Raptor Sonny Weems is headed to Lithuania to play ball next year and former Philadelphia 76ers reserve Darius Songaila will spend next season overseas in Turkey.