All the speculation about Hawks guard Josh Childress making a move to Greek basketball powerhouse Olympiakos was made true today after Childress inked a three year deal to ally-oop philosophy and grape leaves for $20 million, way more than he would have received on the NBA market. Being that he is a restricted free agent, the Hawks still have the opportunity to match the deal though it’s about as unlikely as Athens and Sparta getting along.

Give Childress credit for wanting to go some place where he’ll actually start and will probably have a bigger impact than he did with the Hawks. His 11.8 points were barely enough to survive the agoge, though you can bet his numbers will increase against European competition. Childress wasn’t the first to be rumored to travel to Olympiakos; Former Kings standout Chris Webber had engaged in talks to go to Olympiakos before shunning Zeus for the Detroit Pistons.

As for the Hawks, they’re now thinner than the Helot’s pockets at shooting guard. Salim Stoudemire and Acie Law are both too small to play the two, and Marvin Williams is more of a small forward. That leaves Joe Johnson as the only true shooting guard on the Hawks, with Mike Bibby running the point. Will the Hawks move on without Childress, or will they wait for him to make the trek from Marathon back to Atlanta in three years?

With the UEFA EURO 2008 tournament from Austria-Switzerland just hours away, the Sportable staff will bring you team previews leading up to the opening match. Group by group, we will discuss team rosters, flaws. and chances of being crowned European Champions.

Group D Matches:
June 10th: vs. Sweden (Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg)
June 14th: vs. Russia (Tivoli-Neu Stadion, Innsbruck)
June 18th: vs. Spain (Wals Siezenheim Stadium, Salzburg)

Can They Do it Again?
It was something out of Hollywood. Greece started EURO 2004 with a bang, humiliating host Portugal in one of the greatest upsets in the tournament’s history. As if that wasn’t enough, they did it again just a couple of weeks later, knocking off the Portugese again to win EURO 2004 as 150-1 underdogs. This time around, the cast of characters are largely the same, starting with coach Otto Rehhagel. But with a target on their back, can the Greeks prove EURO 2004 wasn’t a fluke? Read the rest of this entry »