Weekend thoughts

- First of all, I was slightly wrong about the Hawks, in that I said they were done after game 3, and they in fact ended up winning the worst 7 game series in NBA history. That's not an exaggeration...look it up. You won't find another series where all 7 games were such blowouts. It doesn't even seem possible that a seven game series could be as un-compelling as this one was. If two teams are so close to each other that the series would go the distance, you would think that at SOME point there would be a tightly contested game. You would be wrong.

Some encouraging signs:

• Josh Smith posting up, trying to get to the rim, and taking fewer stupid shots. There were only 2 or 3 times in game 7 where he decided to take a long jumper. In all of those situations, he was wide open, so I can see why he thought they were good shots...but if he has that much room to work, he needs to be using it to drive to the basket. Dude just can NOT hit a jump shot consistently.

• Joe Johnson's play in Game 5, when he was being aggressive and attacking BEFORE the double team arrives. He drives me crazy receiving the pass and then patiently waiting for the double team before making a move. In game 5, he was better, and was much more effective. Unfortunately, that's the only game in which he did that. Sure, he was very impressive in Game 7, but you shouldn't have to count him on heating up from 3-point land the way he did in order to get a big game out of him. He has the ability to get to the front of the rim, he just doesn't seem aggressive enough to want to use it.

And, yes, these were encouraging signs, but ultimately I don't think it matters. Lebron is not just hungry this year, he is STARVING, and I expect that he will do what superstars do and lead his team to a pretty easy series win. Cavs in 5.

That being said, Woodson probably deserves to keep his job, I guess. I'm still not happy with the way this team plays a lot of the time, especially on offense, but you can't argue the fact that the team has gotten progressively better every year under his tutelage, nor do I see any other candidates out there who I think would be a huge improvement.

- Dollhouse season finale is this Friday night...this show got progressively better, in my opinion, and I would love to see Joss get the chance to finish telling the story. Last week's episode was pretty mind blowing, with the reveal of Alpha (which I was not spoiled for, thankfully) and a whole new batch of possibilities. I think the show could get even better. The ensemble cast has proven to be very talented and enjoyable to watch, and they could probably expand some of those roles and not ask Eliza to carry the show. Because, sorry to say it, but she is the weak link on this show. She is great to look at, but I only really buy her performances about half the time.

Here is how I know this is a well-written and conceived show: during the last episode, there is a fight scene between Ballard (the FBI agent) and Boyd (the head of security for a company that basically specializes in human trafficking)....and I wasn't sure who to root for.

- Also, since I have lost a few shows here recently, I picked up a couple of others...How I Met Your Mother and Big Bang Theory. I am THOROUGHLY enjoying both of them, especially Big Bang Theory. Really, really funny stuff.

- Braves ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE! Decent pitching, absolutely ZERO offense, especially with B-Mac out of the lineup. Chipper went 0-0 with FOUR WALKS the other night, because there is nobody else to be afraid of in this lineup. Francouer is definitely better with his new stance, but he seems to be sacrificing power for contact...which is fine, and probably better for him, but this team needs some power somewhere.

And good grief, Jordan Schafer...kid's got loads of talent, but he is currently on pace to strike out 205 times. He has 30 strikeouts in 77 at bats. Yikes. Wouldn't be surprised to see him take a trip to Gwinnett, although Bobby still seems to have a lot of faith in him...he batted him leadoff the other night. Which is probably not a bad idea, as he should certainly see more pitches to hit batting in front of Yunel Escobar than he does in the 8th spot.


- Sympathies and prayers go out to the family of David Cook, who lost his brother Adam last week after a long battle with cancer. David still made his scheduled appearance at a 5K fundraiser for cancer research.

- Nothing much going on in Dawg news, except that the Diamond Dawgs are in the middle of a horrible free fall after spending much of the year ranked #1 in the country. I'm starting to think it's just not good for any Dawgs team to be ranked #1. We don't seem to handle success very well.

- Only 124 days until kickoff!