Alex Powell

The Atlanta Hawks have been one of the most consistent teams in the NBA for about 3 seasons now. Priding themselves on hard-nose team basketball and even spoiling LeBron James’ return to Cleveland in 2015 by taking the 1 seed in the East, then ultimately losing to them in the conference championship. They also had 4 all-stars in 2015 with their main core of Jeff Teague, Al Horford, Paul Millsap, and Kyle Korver. Now with a 32 year old Paul Millsap as the last member of that core remaining the question remains, what’s next for the Atlanta Hawks?
To begin the 2016 offseason they Hawks traded Jeff Teague to the Indiana Pacers, opening the door for Dennis Schroder as the future leader of the Hawks. Then they brought Dwight Howard back home hoping that the pair of Howard and Millsap will once again lead them to the playoffs. Dwight has been exactly what the Hawks wanted when they signed him, averaging 13.5 PPG and 13.0 RPG. Paul Millsap has also had another solid year, giving him another all-star nod to add to his resume. Dennis Schroder hasn’t exactly had the coming out season that the Hawks front office hoped for when they traded Jeff Teague to Indiana, averaging 17.5 PPG 2.9 RPG and 6.3 APG. Even though Schroder isn’t putting up future superstar type numbers he’s still proving that he can be a starter in this league, but the one thing he’s not shown is that he can be the future of the organization, which is what the Hawks were hoping would happen. Dwight Howard turned 31 in December and Paul Millsap just turned 32 in February, unless Schroder turns into the second-coming of Magic Johnson next season, the time for the Hawks to make a championship run is coming to and end. The Hawks haven’t been using their draft picks wisely either, aiming more for drafting future role players instead of future all stars. They drafted Taurean Prince with the 12th overall pick in the 2016 draft, which many scouts say is way to high considering that he wasn’t suppose to go until late 1st early 2nd round. Prince has been in and out of the D-League this year, averaging 3.5 PPG 2.0 RPG and 0.6 APG and being player that gets most of his minutes during garbage time.
Of the other 29 NBA teams you can look at and find the player of the future for the team, the Bulls have Jimmy Butler, Bucks have Giannis and Jabari, and the Sixers have Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. Every NBA team has that player or players that have the ability to be the future face of the franchise, except the Atlanta Hawks. Yes they have Dennis Schroder but he has not proved that he can be the future leader of the team yet, and part of that reason is instead of planning for the future, they plan for next season. The team lacks a young star, which will come back and haunt them once Paul Millsap is gone. The future of the Atlanta Hawks is bleaker than most people can see, unless they start using their draft picks more wisely and signing younger players with high ceilings, it’ll be a tough few years coming up

To many sports fans, the athleticism of Michigan's stand out linebacker (well we don't really know what he is, best answer is probably Blue and Maize Jesus) Jabrill Peppers is that of nothing that we have seen before. Peppers not only plays both sides of the ball, but he also returns kicks and has played up to 9 positions in one game (quarterback, linebacker, running back, safety, corner, wide receiver, kick returner, punt returner to be exact) which seems tiring to most, but this trend of versatile athletes who can play any position asked is just the newest trend in professional sports and not just in the football world. In the 80's and 90's and kid that went by the name of Magic Johnson started a trend that wouldn't catch fire still the 21st century. Magic was 6'9 and played point guard, but he could also play shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and even played a whole game at center, which at the time was never heard of. I mean an athlete who could literally do it all, it's every young up and coming athlete (and coaches) dream. We've come a long way since those Magic Johnson days, the newest player to that trend? Giannis Antetokounmpo, who actually plays all 5 positions for the Milwaukee Bucks. Giannis, at 6'11, posses the size of a forward center with guard abilities (except you know, shooting) which is every coaches dream player. Players like that used to be very limited, then LeBron James and Ben Simmons came along and renamed the game. This is not a trend just in basketball either, football players are starting to be more than 1 trick ponies too. There is a countless number of high school/college quarterbacks turned corner, safety, running back, receiver, or even tight ends in the NFL, but there's more than just that. Deone Buccanon of the Arizona Cardinals was drafted as a Safety out of Washington State in 2014, but was quickly converted into a linebacker/safety hybrid by the coaching staff. Tyrann Mathieu was also a product of the Arizona coaching staff becoming a safety-corner for the team. Myles Jack who was drafted by the Jaguars in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft played both halfback and linebacker at UCLA but was switched to just linebacker when drafted. Jabrill Peppers is the apart of the next batch of promising athletes for the 2017 NFL season, a projected lottery pick wherever Peppers lands up will really determine where he is played solely on his ability to play literally anywhere on the field, but because of the more physical toll the NFL takes on a player, we shouldn't be expecting to see Peppers play every position imaginable next season.

What if every modern day NBA team was allowed 1 legend in their prime to be added to their squad? Well after a whole night of writing and testing players and teams I have finally came up with my list. Only rules I had were 1) No current players 2) Try to stay away from big names (ex, MJ, Kobe, Magic, Bird, etc) 76ers: Allen Iverson It will take more than just a single player to fix the Sixers, but the return of Philly’s hero AI might make that process a little quicker Bucks: Dikembe Mutombo What the Bucks really lack is a good defensive presence in the post. A tag team of Giannis and Mutombo could be a great duo in the NBA Bulls: Kevin McHale The Bull’s biggest concern is at the power forward position. A skilled player like McHale who can rebound, score in the post, and have a decent midrange game could be great along the big 3 of Wade, Rondo, and Butler Cavs: Ray Allen Now a prime Ray might be a little over powered for this Cavs squad, but in my test they weren’t as good as it seems on paper. Allen could give a shooting guard that can do more than just shoot Celtics: Dennis Rodman The Celtics haven’t had a good power forward since KG left and Rodman could give the Celtics a good PF which is pretty mediocre at this point. His rebounding and defense could fix the problems they had in the past Clippers: Chris Mullin The Clippers have always been that team where they look good in the regular season but bad in the playoffs, the scoring of Chris Mullen and filling a much needed void at SF could be the thing that gets the Clips over the hump Grizzlies: Richard “Rip” Hamilton Now, Rip Hamilton isn’t what some people call a “legend”, but his ability to score is exactly what the Grizzlies need as they lack shooters and just overall scorers Hawks: James Worthy There is many different ways I could’ve gone with the Hawks, but Worthy’s athleticism is something Atlanta lacks and could finally solve a SF problem that they have yet to replace when Demarre Carroll left Heat: Clyde Drexler I know I could of easily put MJ or Kobe here, but Drexler is just a better fit for a Miami team who just lost the greatest player in franchise history Hornets: Patrick Ewing Despite have 4 centers, none of them are really the answer the Nornets need, a duo of Kemba and Ewing could be really fun to watch Jazz: John Stockton Point guard has always been a need in Utah for some time now, and with 2 above average posts and 2 shooters with Rodney Hood and Gordon Hayward, they need someone to dish out the rock Kings: Gary Payton The Kings are another team that needs more than 1 player to be better, but a good passer and perimeter defender like Gary Payton could be a start Knicks: Mitch Richmond The Knicks lack a good perimeter defender, Mitch could do that and he won’t want the ball all the time Lakers: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers have a lot of you players and could be good in a few years, but until then let this be Kareem’s team till its time for them to move in a different direction Magic: Isiah Thomas What Orlando really lacks is a true leader, they have up and coming talent but no true leader, Thomas could provide that on a pretty young team Mavs: Steve Nash The duo of Dirk and Nash return, Nash could provide that leadership and passing that he once did in Dallas Nets: Karl Malone Putting 5 legends on this team couldn’t fix the Nets, but a front court of Karl Malone and Brook Lopez could be a good way to start Nuggets: Amare Stoudemire The Nuggets are a young team who could be good in the future, replacing Kenneth Faried with another athletic PF with a better skill set could be a step in the right direction Pacers: Shawn Kemp The Pacers have a franchise player in Paul George so pairing him up with another athletic freak in Shawn Kemp could be deadly Pelicans: Willis Reed A defensive big guy could pair nicely with Anthony Davis without taking the reigns from Davis Pistons: Larry Johnson The Pistons are heading in the right direction, adding a scorer like Larry Johnson could go well with Andre Drummond who really can only score in the post Raptors: Scottie Pippen (Blazers) I wanted to replace Demarre Carroll with a similar player, an older Scottie Pippen could be the guy letting the other players lead so he can sit back and just play how he plays Rockets: David Robinson Adding another defensive presence in the post could replace the one D12 had left in Houston Spurs: Walt Frazier The Spurs are a team that don’t need much, but replacing an aging Tony Parker with a similar player but who’s better could work Suns: Shaquille O'Neal The Diesel would fill a huge front court problem in Phoenix, Shaq, Bledsoe, and Booker would be a fun trio to watch Thunder: Tracy McGrady This is the team that started this whole idea, Westbrook, Oladipo, and McGrady would be possibly the most athletic backcourt every Timberwolves: Gail Goodrich The Wolves don’t need much with their young team, but a shooter is something that this team lacks TrailBlazers: Hakeem Olajwon Another defensive big guy who can help out on both hands on a pretty young Portland team Warriors: Alonzo Mourning The Warriors don’t need anything at all (so far) but lacking a true center Alonzo could be that guy, and could take less off of Draymond Wizards: Bill Russell Playing Russell at PF could go nicely with this young athletic team

Before you kill me for even making this and pondering the idea of The Germanator leaving Dallas here's 8 reasons why this actually makes some sense. 8. Splash Bros 2.0 Yes this team won't be an exact replica of the actual Splash Bros, but it could be pretty deadly. Dirk made a name for himself by being able to shoot the 3 and CJ McCollum is know for his knockdown ability. Not to mention rising star Damian Lillard being able to do almost everything offensively 7. Veteran presence on a young team The Trail Blazers are a young team with the only true veteran presence being 33 year old Chris Kaman who averaged only 7 minutes this season. Dirk could be that Veteran presence that they need and have the ability to be apart of the team. 6. Damian's sidekick Yes, CJ McCollum was that guy this season and probably will be for more years to come, but you can't have too many right? This way if Lillard or McCollum goes down for an extensive amount of time they don't have to worry about a guy carrying that whole load on his back and they still would have that scoring option available. 5. An answer at power forward Ed Davis had an average/below average year averaging 6.5 PPG and 7.4 RPG with Noah Vonleh averaging far less than that. Both players aren't starters in the NBA, but a guy like Dirk who has been fairly consistent his whole career could just be what this team needs, and Ed Davis would probably do better coming off the bench and being a solid role players like he is now anyway. 4. Getting over the playoff hump The Trail Blazers exceeded everyone's expectations this season after losing basically everyone from last season. Even with everyone last season there has always been that hump that they can't seem to get over, and this might be the solution. This team proved this year that they can win (that's why they're in the playoffs) and can win a lot. Right now, this is a first round, second round team but the addition of Dirk can get this team over that hump that has been there for a while. Might not win a championship but it'll get over that hump 3. Take the load off of Lillard Damian Lillard is by far this team's best players, and McCollum is a good sidekick for him, but he can't carry this team forever. Dirk will be able to lighten the scoring load that Lillard has been carrying and allow him to focus on other parts of his game. So basically this could speed up his development into a top 10 players (which he has the talent to become) 2. Dirk can focus on his scoring Despite what this team does offensively they are a fairly good defensive team with Al-Faruoq Aminu and Mason Plumlee carrying that part of the team. Dirk can focus on his ability to score which is the best part of his game. 1. Trailing the Trail Blazers? They are already the 5th seed with a team full of no names expect 2. The addition of Dirk could get this team to a 3 or even 2 seed (based on how the Thunder did this season) they could be a good team till Dirk decides to hang em' up, which hopefully isn't for a while This would be a huge game changer for Dirk and the NBA. Dirk probably won't leave the Dallas and will retire as a Maverick, but the possibility of this excites me a little NOTE! There is no rumor about this, just my opinion Alex Powell 4/20/16

Sean Taylor was born on April 1st, 1983 in Miami Florida. He attended Miami Gulliver Prep High School where he not only led them to a national championship but broke the schools record for most touchdowns in a season with 44. He later attend the University of Miami Florida where he won a nation championship in 2001 and was a unanimous All-American in 2003. In 2004 Taylor was taken with the 5th overall pick by the Washington Redskins and he quickly became a household name. Known for his explosive ability and bone crushing hits, he became know not only as “Meast” by his teammates, but one of the most feared defensive players the game has ever seen. He was finally voted into the Pro Bowl in the 2006 season and the 2007 season and was named and All-Pro second team in 2007. Now for those of you who don’t know this story you may be asking, why does all of these awards and honors stop at 2007, well that’s because on November 27, 2007 things took a turn for the worst but to get the full story we must back up a few days. On November 18th, Taylor’s mom reported to the police that Sean’s house had been broken into and a few windows were forced open and his safe was broken into. 8 days later on November 26th at 1:45 Sean and his wife were awoken by a noise downstairs. When Taylor got up to investigate the noise an armed burglar broke into the couple’s bedroom and fired 2 shots the first one missing the second one hitting Sean in the femoral artery where he was recovering from an injury and was the reason he didn’t travel with the ‘Skins to Tampa Bay. Taylor’s wife and 18th month old daughter were hiding under the bed and were not injured during the incident. The wound to Sean Taylor’s leg led to lots of blood loss and made Sean go unconscious where he tragically never awoke. After hours in surgery where Taylor’s heart supposedly stopped twice he passed away the next day on November 27th, 2007. When the news hit the sports world was shaken. The next day when Dan Snyder went to the press conference after he news had hit that Taylor had past his eyes were red and his voice was crackling and barely audible “This is a terrible, terrible tragedy” said Snyder. Out of respect of Taylor, the Redskins lined up with 10 men on defense leaving Sean’s free safety stop open. Such a tragic ending for a player with so much potential. Rest in piece 21

Inspiration; A sudden brilliant, creative, or timely idea. What does inspiration mean to you? Is it an idea for a new invention, art piece, innovation? Is it getting motivation from stuff such as art, a video, or even from people? Inspiration can come from anything or anyone such as a quote to your pet(s). I have gotten my inspiration for my work from almost everything humanly possible. Sometimes I just download a picture then go walk around and look at stuff. I have started playing NBA 2k or Madden before and just listening to the commentators talk about the players has given me inspiration. My Australian Kyrie, Bogut, Delly piece I got the idea from Bill Walton talking about Matthew Dellavedova. Inspiration is everywhere, but if you don’t open your eyes your never going to be able to see it. Inspiration can come from other people’s paintings, sculptures, drawings, etc. Just make sure it’s not an exact copy which I have trouble doing myself. Inspiration doesn’t have to be for just art either. James Harden said that he tried to model his game after Manu Ginobilli growing up. Believe it or not ladies and gentlemen, but that is also inspiration. Manu INSPIRED Harden to model his game after him, and as you can see that really helped James in his career. Inspiration is out there, but to find it all you have to do is open your eyes to the world. -Alex Powell 6-12-15

“We don’t do rent-a-player to win championships.” That’s what Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said after their 63-68 loss to Duke in the NCAA championship game. Though it does sound like Bo Ryan is being a sore loser, it also shines light on what could actually be a serious problem in Men’s basketball, should players be able to only play one year of college ball before entering the draft? Though freshman entering the draft have proved to be total superstars in today’s NBA such as Derrick Rose, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, Andrew Wiggins, and Jabari Parker, but attending 4 years of college isn’t always a death sentence. Players such as Tim Duncan, Damian Lillard, Brandon Roy, Steve Nash, David Lee, David West, JJ Redick, and Grant Hill were all players who attended 4 years of college. But since 2000 10 of the 14 players drafted 1st overall only attended 1 or less years of college. Switch to NFL rules, players must be at least a redshirt sophomore in order to file for the draft, but NBA stats the player must be at least 19 or 1 year removed from college. This year 8 players from this years Kentucky that haven’t played their senior year of college yet have filed for the draft. Duke freshman sensations Jahlil Okafor and Justice Winslow have filed for the draft and other Duke freshman sensation Tyus Jones is expect to file also. Now just cause you left college early does not mean that you can not take college courses to finish however many years you missed. Players such as Jeff Green and Jerry Stackhouse and even some of the NBA’s greatest have gone back like Shaquille O'Neal, Vince Carter, and even Michael Jordan have all gone back and finished college. Though the only people that can change this rule is the NBA with 1 year players bringing a spark back to the NBA we shouldn’t expect this rule to be changed for a while. Alex Powell 3/12/15

After being draft 7th overall by the Vikings in 2007, Adrian Peterson has been everything and more for this organization. After an impressive rookie season and falling 9 yards short of the single season rushing record in 2012 and adding a MVP to cap off one of the most remarkable seasons in NFL history as he had just came out of a gruesome ACL MCL tear, and tissue damage injury in his right knee which had the possibly of ending his career. After coming off a historic 2012 season,2013 had nothing but hope for the Vikings, then the injury hit. Peterson was out for most of the season with hamstring, knee, and groin injuries. Coming into 2014 with newly drafted rookies Anthony Barr and Teddy Bridgewater, the future looked bright for Minnesota. Then in October 2014, photos had surface of the brutal beating of AP’s son. AP was forced to sit out the rest of the season without pay and without any communication with the Vikings franchise. Now that the charges have all past out, the Vikings face a new challenge, to keep or release Adrian Peterson. After Peterson clearly stated he does not think it is best for him to play in Minnesota anymore, the Vikings have a tough decision, but Minnesota had a trick up there sleeve. Minnesota did say in a news report that “They have no plans on trading Adrian Peterson” but what’s Minnesota trick? Peterson’s contract has him staying in Minnesota till 2018. So obviously there are no signs pointing to AP leaving Minnesota anytime soon, but the question is, what happens when his contract is up? Peterson turned 30 on March 21st. And with his contract going till 2018 by the time it is up Peterson will be 33 years old. And with battling injuries his entire career, what will the future hold. One of the top spots to look out for in 2018 will be the Cowboys considering they have been recruiting AP since his was drafted. At this time though we can really only wait and see what happens. Alex Powell 3/28/15

Stayed tuned for my first article on Adrian Peterson, and what is to come of his career