Fresh Loaf

RAGING ELECTION: Both candidates win a state and both claim momentum, but Obama gets more delegates. Remaining primaries are: W.Va. (May 13), Ky. (May 20), Ore. (May 20), Mont. (June 3), S.D. (June 3) and P.R. (June 7).

KNIGHT OUT: Hawks GM Billy Knight steps down.

BEE MINUS: Survey released Tuesday shows that more than a third of the nation’s honeybees have been lost since last year. As Thomas reported Monday, air pollution is one likely factor; UGA entomologists studying colony collapse disorder also point to shrinking food supply, parasitic mites and the recently identified Israeli acute paralysis virus.

DEATH PENALTY: Back in action, as William Early Lynd was killed last night.

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN: First-ever Georgia Climate Change Summit, hosted by Georgia Tech Tuesday, brings together scientists and policy experts in the hope of starting an action plan to address global warming in the state. Georgia’s currently one of 12 states that not only doesn’t have such a plan, but isn’t even working on one.

‘FLAT LINE’: Apalachicola Riverkeeper hosts a two-day tour of the Chattahoochee Basin’s terminus to draw attention to what Florida officials contend is an Atlanta- and Georgia-first policy of water use and watershed management.

GIVING UP THE GHOST: Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, the musical by Stephen King and John Mellencamp scheduled for an April 2009 opening at the Alliance, has been postponed.

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Atlanta Hawks’ GM Billy Knight gets a lot of grief for the team’s eight-year absence from playoffs. On the eve of the sixth game in the Hawks-Celtics surprisingly competitive playoff series, however, the question really is: How’d such a talented group of players end up with just a 37-45 regular season record?

Head Coach Mike Woodson is accountable for that under-performance, as he showed again Wednesday with poor coaching decisions, a pre-game press conference that lay blame for a loss on his players before the game even happened, and an embarrassing “pep” talk (in which he depressingly quoted Phil Jackson instead of coming up with his own inspiration).

I’m thinking now that Knight’s gotten a bad rap. First, he had to dig the franchise out from Pete Babcock’s truly horrible roster moves. Then, this year he tried to do the right thing — fire Woodson — but ownership wouldn’t let him.

Just rate Knight’s major roster moves after the fact, and he looks pretty good. Here’s what I came up with when I rated his No. 1 picks, major trades and major free agent signs on a zero-to-10 scale (”5″ being an average, fair deal for the team):

Josh Childress, 7th pick: 5

Josh Smith, 17th pick: 8

Joe Johnson trade: 9

Marvin Williams, 2nd pick: 3

Zaza Pachulia signing: 6 (not saying he’s great, but all-in-all he’s turned out to be a savvy addition)

Speedy Claxton signing: 2 (he didn’t know Claxton would be injured but could’ve guessed)

Sheldon Williams, 5th pick: 1

Al Horford, 3rd pick: 7

Acie Law, 11th pick: 4?

Mike Bibby trade: 6

That’s a respectable 5.1 average. Yeah, yeah. He missed drafting a point guard for two straight years, but balance that out with Johnson, Smith and Horford — and with undoing Babcock’s incredible mess. Winning two (at least) against the Celtics ought to let Knight keep his job. Am I missing something?

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More than a week later and we’re still scratching our heads over AJC Hawks beat writer Sekou K. Smith’s loving, warm-fuzzy profile of Hawks GM Billy Knight, who, with the luck of the bounce, went from the doghouse to the penthouse in the June 28 NBA Draft by getting the third pick. It was the best-case scenario, as Knight is now able to keep both first-rounders (from Phoenix and Indiana) and will draft third and 11th.

Maybe Smith was just trying to put out some positive mojo for Knight, who, by most objective observers, is one of the league’s worst GMs. Here’s but another observation from the blog site Can Danny, which placed Knight in the “Bottom of the Barrell [sic]” category with the following observation:

That Marvin Williams pick is looking worse and worse. And while Knight lucked out in getting a #3 pick, that could turn out to be a one year reprieve as the Suns get the Hawks pick next year regardless of where it is and right now, it’s looking like it’ll be in the lottery. Billy’s got the pieces to make some moves this offseason but what he doesn’t have are the pieces to make a playoff team. If Knight doesn’t clean up the mess of a roster he’d made, the Suns will be sitting pretty in ’08.

Amen, blogger!

While I would like to be included in that cynical group that believes this year’s draft crop is vastly overrated, with Brandan Wright, Al Horford and Yi Jianlian, it’s got just the type of “project” and “glass ceiling”-type big men Knight seems to lust over. (See Williamses Marvin and Shelden.)

Billy, we may not love ya, but we still have hope you’ll do the right thing, suck it up and draft Ohio State point guard Mike Conley Jr. at No. 3 (or trade to move down a few slots and get him later). While Boston GM Danny Ainge is creating a South Georgia-sized smoke screen by putting it out there that he covets Jianlian, he’d be a fool not to take Conley, who may only need one year of NBA seasoning before he breaks out.

Currently, NBADraft.net and Draft Express have Atlanta taking Brandan Wright at No. 3 (ugh!).

But if Knight grabs another mediocre big man or small forward (though Corey Brewer, Jeff Green and Julian Wright are intriguing) to add to his not-so-bumper crop, it’ll be a wasted draft.

At least Smith, blogging from Orlando’s draft camp, says the prevailing winds suggest Conley’s the best choice.

Pull the trigger, Billy. Get straight to the point, and out of the barrel.

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