In a year where tanking has taken on such outsized notice, the Atlanta Hawks deserve special acclaim for the nosedive they have orchestrated.
It looked from the beginning like it would be difficult for Atlanta to miss the play-offs. Al Horford and Paul Millsap were paired together at the beginning of the season for one of the better frontcourts in the league, especially so against this year’s weak Eastern Conference.
Jeff Teague is a quality point guard. Kyle Korver is maybe the most prolific three-point shooter in the league. And they had a plenty respectable bench with the likes of Mike Scott, Elton Brand, Shelvin Mack and Louis Williams soaking up reserve minutes.
On top of that, rookie coach Mike Budenholzer proved his aptitude early on and they even boasted a pair of intriguing rookies on the court with young, athletic German Dennis Schroder and veteran European import Pero Antic.
The Hawks had that genuine rarity in this year’s East - some upside.
But how effectively have they killed that.
Atlanta actually own the right to swap first-round draft picks with the Nets this year due to a the Joe Johnson trade. For a minute there, it looked like they could go on competing and still enter the lottery by doing just that.
Then Brooklyn got their act together, and Atlanta started a massive slide.
On February 1, the Hawks beat the Timberwolves and improved to 25-21, which made them one of the East’s four best teams at the time.
Since then, they have gone a remarkable 1-14, dropping to eighth in the conference and, they probably secretly hope, soon out of the play-off picture entirely.
With Detroit, New York, Cleveland and Boston all trailing by five games or less, they stand a good shot at making that drop.
Al Horford did get hurt, which explains a lot of it. Asked to carry a heftier offensive load, Millsap, Teague and Korver have all seen their form dip a bit.
Gustavo Ayon (now hurt himself) stepped into the starting line-up and was mostly ineffective.
But this is also a team where Williams, a nice bench scorer but generally overmatched in larger roles, suddenly gets 30 minutes on consecutive nights (February 11-12, losses to Chicago and Toronto). Where Dennis Schroder, looking largely lost at the NBA level in his rookie year, is getting in some 20-minute games, because why not?
A team that was dressing only eight or nine guys on some nights – as they did when they blew an 11-point first half lead to Detroit on February 21 with an eight-man rotation.
A team that let Millsap, their best player with Horford out, sit five consecutive games with a bruised knee and really, really heal up.
To be fair, it might be a cynical play, but it’s the right one.
The Hawks are ran by smart people in general manager Danny Ferry and Budneholzer, the coach. They know the stakes, and they know what they sacrifice if they actually do make the play-offs.
None of the players on the Hawks are trying to lose, of course. Management has, ever so subtly, simply put them in that position.
While their competition – Washington, Cleveland, Brooklyn, Charlotte – looked for reinforcements, however modest, at the trade deadline, they let the Hoford-less Hawks carry on as is.
Well, the Hawks did trade for 37-year-old Antawn Jamison, who they immediately cut.
Plain and simple fact is Atlanta are diving, and they’re doing it better than most.
And, chances are, when they’re making their lottery pick in June’s draft, they won’t feel particularly compelled to apologise to anyone.
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THE DRAFT
The final phase of player recruitment for the T10 League has taken place, with UAE and Indian players being drafted to each of the eight teams.
Bengal Tigers
UAE players: Chirag Suri, Mohammed Usman
Indian: Zaheer Khan
Karachians
UAE players: Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber
Indian: Pravin Tambe
Kerala Kings
UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Abdul Shakoor
Indian: RS Sodhi
Maratha Arabians
UAE players: Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
Indian: S Badrinath
Northern Warriors
UAE players: Imran Haider, Rahul Bhatia
Indian: Amitoze Singh
Pakhtoons
UAE players: Hafiz Kaleem, Sheer Walli
Indian: RP Singh
Punjabi Legends
UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Sandy Singh
Indian: Praveen Kumar
Rajputs
UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed
Indian: Munaf Patel
PFA Team of the Year: David de Gea, Kyle Walker, Jan Vertonghen, Nicolas Otamendi, Marcos Alonso, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Christian Eriksen, Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, Sergio Aguero
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Rawat Al Reef, Adrie de Vries (jockey), Abdallah Al Hammadi (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Noof KB, Richard Mullen, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qaiss Aboud
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Jabalini, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7pm: UAE Arabian Derby – Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Dergham Athbah, Richard Mullen, Mohamed Daggash
7.30pm: Emirates Championship – Group 1 (PA) Dh1,000,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
8pm: Abu Dhabi Championship – Group 3 (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Irish Freedom, Antonio Fresu, Satish Seemar
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