KYLE KORVER Feature-HAWKEYE

Kyle Threece.

By TIM DAVID HARVEY

#SuperheroSeason

Raincheck. When it comes to Kyle Korver when he reigns...it really pours. If he was tomorrows forecast and you where the scouting report competition, you wouldn't even want to go outside. Forget your umbrellas, they'll just flap and break getting caught up in this storm. Just do yourself a favour and call the game and day on account of rain. If your team needs to unplug the scoring blockage then he is the solution. You know when commentators tell you that teams need to stop the bleeding? Well it's Kyle doing the cutting, not to the basket, but from downtown where he resides. He doesn't just make a home here, he builds a luxury condo there and invites all his teammates to come round and admire what he does on the flatscreen T.V...or Jumbotron as we like to call it. This guy is BIG...even at 6 foot 7 and 212 pounds which a NBA resume calls an "average" height. He's big in the fourth quarter, like a clutch Horry and he goes to work in all those periods Big Shot Bob used to take a break for too. It's like a three point shooting contest when he makes his way around the arc like an All-Star. The Spalding may aswell turn to blue, red and white as it sails through the air. Now who's coming in second? This guy is money. Cluth like the greatest of all-time. He needs a nickname, better than those ones calling him Ashton Kutcher like his Hollywood actor lookalike from Korver's same Iowa beginnings. You see what Kyle is farming from three makes everyone else looking like they've just been 'Punk'd', but there's no smiles and laughs of relief when they've found out who caught them sleeping on camera. This baby faced assassin is more than just a poster boy for teen idols, he's a grown veteran who can rip your playbook off the wall.

He's off the chain when he gets hotter than the Mila Kunis lookalikes he could take to town if he claimed his last role was in 'Two & A Half Men' and not the four he takes to court with as an Atlanta Hawk. He's a party-stopper...if this guy was shooting for beer pong he'd leave everyone else hungover. If he was shooting for the stars, astronomers would give Kyle "Kutcher" a call. If the Miami Heat managed to bring his talents to South Beach they'd already have a ring. Indiana or Oklahoma too...especially with Derek Fisher about to hang up his clutch championship certificate. If this guy was cupid, his arrow would catch more than just his female fans hearts...it'd drive a stake through the opposition. In this superhero season this Atlanta Avenger is Hawkeye, 'Bourne' for the position like Jeremey Renner. With more arrows than you thought where at his disposal. With multiple tricks with each bow thrown too...and you thought only Chris Bridges could get this ludicrous in the ATL. He's got more range than Legolas with his archery amazement looking to one day graduate from The Hunger Games to become a Lord Of The Rings in this NBA Game Of Thrones that currently belongs to the one true king sitting on the throne...but has all sorts of people trying to storm his castle. Atlanta may have not been able to keep pace with the Indiana Pacers in this postseason playoff push but give this eight seed more for their huge, big man talent Al Horford to work with along with the likes of Jeff Teague, Paul Milisap, Louis Willams and the veteran epic experience of Elton Brand and this will no longer be a team that takes the last seed along with a first round exit for their troubles.

Especially if Korver is still a part of their late game, late season big basket live or die by the three life blood. The Jazz lost their music when he left. Like the Bulls did their horns and let's not talk about the Philaldelphia 76ers who would have had more at stake for their woeful season if they kept the extra cheese that Kyle brought to the building. Now the Hawks truly keep their talons in their opponent when Korver lets it fly like a Bird. Larry legend or Sue of the WNBA, you call it because theres not many who shoot it better, from the villian streak of Reggie Miller time to Jesus himself Ray Allen. Kyle Korver got game too, through legends and role playes made for range like the Person's and Barry's of the world. Still theres more to the arc of this guys talent then the golden arches. Just look across the board to the steals, blocks and board figures too. More than a gun for hire this is why guys like Kyle Korver are still in this league while great gunners like Mike Penberthy are not. Guys like this may not be working at McDonalds but the Los Angeles Slam is not the Los Angeles Lakers. Still if Iverson is the crossover, Dikembe the finger-wagging block and M.J. the tongue out dunk and fade then this kid is the three. Able to shoot down the wild west like his name was Doc Holiday (perhaps a new nickname?) engraving his opponents name on a tombstone with the hope to one day chisel his next to Larry O'Brien. It'll take True Grit to do that but this mans got the spurs like he was playing with Duncan and Parker. This season...no this season and last Kyle Korver set the pace with an incredible 127 game streak of made three pointers for this century. Passing two downtowns across the 80 game epic record set from former Boston Celtic spark-plug Dana Barros. A guy no stranger to big, bold baskets himself.

This was a run that was even better than the one Kevin Durant had passing the greatest Michael Jordan's run of games of 25 points or more-with 41-en route to be your Most Valuable Player. It was one of the stories of the season. That trade from Chicago for their old flame Kirk Hinrich and cash considerations sure paid off in a hell of a lot of money. That four year, 24 mill deal was for sure paid off...with dynamic dividends. The same that keep rising like great stock every time he catches and releases like a good fisherman. You can just tell from the way he moves across the hardwood and screens to get himself in position that he's free to do whatever he wants to do from three without the helping pane of the glass backboard to bank him in some assured figures. He's an asset all in himself that is guaranteed to pay off again and again, everytime he sets his feet in the perfect place to release the ball. As he rises the right way, let's go at the very right time you wish you could perfect whether via video game or those arcade hoops it's all gooseneck for the gooseberries of the opposition and the goosepimples of his fans that raise the hair on their necks that follow in unison with their backsides and hands. It's all celebration, champagne or commiseration (depending on who you side with) once Kyle takes a sip and a lift. Spirits thrive or die when this guy is alive from the arc. He mans the perimeter like a security guard who sees everything. Stalking his space like a Raptor, looking for and then exposing the one weakness that will make him go electric...until he shoots the lights out. Lighting up the oppositions candle 'till he blows them all out and away. Little Red Riding Hoods house wouldn't be safe when this guy huffed and puffed. Maybe Minnesota could use this Hawk as a T-Wolf because my what big eyes he's got when it comes to his court vision beyond three.

At 33 this Small Forwad/Shooting Guard is all three, tweaning between positions until he tweaks the twine. Creighton University's fifth all-time scorer also has his jersey up in the rafters of Pella High School in Iowa, that's how many times he threw it up like Saturday morning. He owns a visual communications degree from college studying of the textbook as well as the playbook, 'visual' being the apt word for how he talks to the basket. Can you believe the New Jersey Nets only drafted him 51st, than took his draft cap away and gave him a Sixers one as a trade? No wonder there is no Nets in New Jersey now like Brooklyn can prove in their ground. There aren't 51 players in the league right now that can score better than number 26, let alone that year. He's the one to make all the big numbers on the box score stat sheet, not the draft board. Following some rookie and sophmore three point contests that saw him come third and second respectively, Kyle tied Quentin Richardson for three pointers made with 226 in the 2004/2005 season. Which also became a Philadelphia record that climbed up the steps and jumped for 'Rocky' joy. Career highs and buzzer beaters came off the bench from East to West, before the stampede with the Bulls lead to parade player and champion turned Chicago announcer Stacey King to ask for the "hot sauce" everytime Korver opened for three. There was no slapping the bottom of the bottle for more garnishing once Kyle stuck the knife in. Tt was all Showtime for the Lakewood, California native who grew up watching the 80's Lakers led by Magic Johnson. The tricks of Kyle Korvers trade that now find him in the A, are capital to the success of the franchise. He may not be the face but he's the force behind their fortune. Kyle Korver may just be one player, but he's three reasons why the Atlanta Hawks will always be a force to reckon with when he's around and outside. Leave him open if you wish, but he'll close you down like club 112 after hours. Welcome to Atlanta where the players play and out of towners get got by Kyle Korver every day. The Hawk's eye see's his prey and he'll shoot it down until he gets his prize. That's just how it is when the balls in his possession. From behind the arc Kyle Korver owns this game and that will always be his parting shot.