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Sorry to bare that news, but this team is not going to make the playoffs this year. They will have a chance to make it next year if they get the right players in FA and draft right in the lottery, but not this year. This is a year to develop the young talent we have on this team into a cohesive group. Playoff bound.....NO. Talented but young.....YES.

I think what BK is doing is good, however the only thing I think he could of done better is keep some of the players that were producing from last year. A healthy Bob Sura would have helped this present team tremendously. Keeping Pryz instead of Collier should have been done. Collier is garbage...a bench player at best and he is our starting center!! Other than those two moves I don't think BK could have done anything better. He has done the right thing, now we just have to have patience for a year or two until we get the 1st pick in next years draft and get two good FA veterans to add to Harrington and Walker and then we will be much better.

Good informative articles. I will give Chill the benefit of the doubt. He definately seems to have an impressive resume in College and High School. I really hope that carries over to the NBA. So far it hasn't but it is early. I think one of his biggest problems he is having is that he played forward in college and is a totally different position than Shooting Guard in the NBA. Two totally different approaches and skill sets. I will give Chill a chance and hopefully Chill and Smooth will come together and be something special!!

I distinctly remember nbadraft.net having Childress ranked in between 11th or 15th for weeks. I am not sure about draftcity.com and when he moved up, but he only moved up weeks before the draft on nbadraft.net. Exactly when I am not sure because he wasn't on my radar for the Hawks to draft him anyway, so I didn't keep up with him. He came into the Hawks drafting him 6 radar screen very late in the game. I personally didn't keep up with his rise but I DO KNOW at one point he was not a Top Ten Prospect at least by nbadraft.net standards. Deng was rated higher than him on both boards even up to the draft. We should have drafted Deng at 6!!

We should have drafted Deng over Childress. Childress has the worst mechanics in his jump shot that I have ever seen. His jump shot looks like a shot put and to top it off he misses as at an alarming rate. Deng is already showing impact on a team better than the Hawks. How long are people going to give Childress a pass? He has to show something...he hasn't done that at all. Not even a smidget of promise in his game, especially for the 6 pick in the draft. Childress was a bad bad pick at 6. He would have been a good 17 to 18th pick where he was originally projected anyway!!! We jumped the gun in the week before the draft and he skyrocketed up the draft because of the Hawks interest. Childress was not a top ten prospect two weeks before the draft.

I was one who truly wanted to draft Josh Smith at 6 for real....people called me crazy. Josh Childress is not the player we should have draft with the 6 pick. I think Deng will turn out to be a much better player than Childress. He is proving that right now. Childress is not ready!!

Exactly!!! I couldn't have explained it better!!

Josh Smith with Limited Offensive Skills??? Where did you get this from. The only thing Josh Smith is lacking right now is a little confidence, age and playing time. He showed game after game that he can be potent offensively and defensively in Summer League. He can shoot the 3, mid range and slam it down consistently. Give him time to develop his game and get some confidence on this level. He will start to shine. This was not a publicity move for the city of Atlanta. Everyone was shocked he was still on the board at 17. He was a Top 10 pick weeks before that, even rated as high as No. 2. In terms of potential, he was ranked higher than JR Smith. JR didn't decided to go pro until he had a few nice High School All-Star games. This kid will turn out to be a superstar....give it time!!

You are right....Josh Childress has had time to show something. They have played 4 preseason games, numerous Summer League games and he has done absolutely nothing warranting the 6 pick in this draft. At least show me some light at the end of the tunnel. I am starting to think this was a bad pick. And don't talk about this is a rookie and it takes a lot of time. Deng is lighting it up. Snyder is lighting it up. J.R. Smith is lighting it up. Jameel is starting to show signs of why he was the college player of the year. Howard is playing strong. But Childress??? His jump shot is horrible and he is getting playing time and he is not out of high school!! He is really disappointing me.

This kid will be a good one...trust me. Royal Ivey is the only other rookie not signed right???

Actually Josh Childress was originally not a Top 10 pick. He was rated around the 12 to 16 pick. His stock rose in the weeks before the draft tremendously. It rose even more possibly to the Hawks the week before the draft. So Childress didn't start out as a Top 10 pick. He did well in some workouts and interviews and his stock rose. On the other hand Smith at one point was rated right behind Howard. His stock dropped because of his attitude. Childress may workout well and warrant that 6 pick. Time will tell!!

Very good analysis and post. I revisit the draft in my head all the time too. Did we get the right person at 6. Everytime I see Deng (doing well in pre-season) slamming in a Bulls uniform I start questioning the Childress pick. Josh Smith at 17 was a steal anyway you look at it. He has the tools to be a superstar, he is just too young right now. Everytime I see Childress shoot that unorthodox shot up for a miss I question this pick. However I have to remember that he is still a rookie and it will take time. But when I see other rookies that are producing right now like J.R. and Snyder again it brings me back around to the 6 pick. With the lack of shooters on this roster, evident by last nights shooting...J.R. would have been a very nice pick for this team. We had our options and we decided to go with Childress. Now can Childress live up to the 6 pick??? It's early and I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

My evaluation: Kevin Willis is our best center hands down. Collier and Drobs didn't show me anything. It is refreshing to see a true point guard Kenny Anderson in a Hawks uniform. He ran the offense very well. Very impressive with the handles at 34!! Al Harrington just got triple teamed every time he touched the ball. He forced too many shots. He should have passed out a lot of times but he chose to force shots. He is the truth however and will be a force on this team. Toine is a guy the Atlanta Hawks need. We don't need to remotely think about trading him. He takes the ball and tries to score when everyone else seems tentative on offense. He is very much needed on this roster. He missed too many open shots last night however. His shooting percentage was not good last night. If he hits his open shots he will be extremely valuable to this team. Josh Childress plays well without the ball. When he gets the ball he shows that he is a rookie in this league. I hate is shooting form. He shoots like Shawn Marion and he misses most of his shots (terrible percentage). If your shot looks that bad at least make them!! I have to agree Josh Smith looked very lost on the offensive end. He rushed all of his passes. He was obviously nervous. Playing time will help with his nervousness. I think he is pressing too much. He didn't look that way in the Summer Games. He showed what he can do on defense which is block shots!! He will improve with more minutes. For the first time in my eyes, Royal Ivey looked like the best rookie on the court. He played very good defense. Hit some open shots. He played well especially on defense. Barry was nice off the bench. He was the only player that could sink a jump shot from the perimeter last night. This team is lacking shooters.....AGAIN!! Crawford will be missed tremendously!!

Quote: Woodson is coaching this team to win. That's what I've been hearing in his comments and echoed by the players. Guys will have to earn time. Whether it holds water or not makes no difference. The young guys will only get opportunity when and if they earn it. So he is coaching to win with Josh Childress playing heavy minutes and doing terrible??? He is coaching to win yet he sits his best rookie defensively and offensively on the bench the entire game??? Josh Childress, Donte Smith and Royal Ivey have earned time and Josh Smith hasn't?? Explain that one. Josh Smith has proven he can play better than all three of those guys....period!!! But he can't get off the bench in PRESEASON and they can?? That makes absolutely no sense to me. It doesn't add up. Josh Smith based on his Summer League play has earned some time off the pine at least in preseason!!! Preseason games don't count....play all of your rookies and see what they can do. When Josh Smith came in the game for a minute a so at the end of the game, he immediately showed what he can do with a highlight alley-oop slam.

I totally agree with Hotlanta. Josh Smith should be getting minutes in pre-season. How has Josh Childress earned minutes and Josh Smith haven't when Josh Childress is terrible right now? How can you develop effective rotations when you haven't even played Josh to see if he fits into some of those rotations. I hope Woodson doesn't have something personal against Josh Smith. Every word that has come out of his mouth about Josh seems to be leaning toward the negative side. The guy always proves himself when he is given the opportunity. If Josh Childress is getting opportunity, then Josh Smith (Who was the MVP of this team in the Summer League) should get minutes. He is getting less minutes than Donte and Ivey? Go figure this is preseason not the regular season!!!

Do you think Ivey will make the active roster? He will make it out of neccesity if he does.

Exactly....this is a big loss, but we have to pull out the positives in this loss. He is gone for good so we have to pull together with what we have and hope this helps our younger guys develop. His NBA career is done.

on this new Atlanta Hawks team with the injury to Crawford. This will give a young guy a chance to step in. Big loss and I never wish an injury to anyone, but this may be better for the team in the long run with the development of our young players. Maybe Josh Smith can get more time on the court.

http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/ha...04/06hawks.html Hawks give GM Knight multiyear extension By JOHN MANASSO Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer Published on: 10/5/04 Hawks general manager Billy Knight received a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract extension, which is at least three years, a person familiar with the negotiations said, ensuring that Knight will be around to see through the reclamation project he began last season. Knight, who began the job on an interim basis in April 2003 when Pete Babcock was fired after 13 years, has spent only one full season as general manager. The Hawks went 28-54 last season with players mostly inherited from Babcock's tenure. Knight's signature moves include the hiring of coach Mike Woodson, an assistant under Larry Brown with last season's NBA champion Detroit Pistons. He's also made a multitude of trades, particularly the ones for Al Harrington and Antoine Walker, signings and draft picks that brought in 11 new players. The trades also will give the Hawks at least $20 million under the salary cap after this season. While his tenure has been short, Knight is viewed as a rising star in the league and the Hawks were contacted by several teams for permission to speak with Knight about hiring him away. Knight's contract was set to expire at the end of the season. "I think people throughout the league have been very impressed with Billy," said Steve Belkin, one of ownership group Atlanta Spirit's five board of managers. Belkin sits also on the NBA's board of governors. "First of all, the draft choices he made when he was over at Memphis [including Shane Battier and former rookie of the year Pau Gasol] and people have been impressed with how he handled our salary situation and gave us more room under the cap." Belkin was asked to respond to how critics might point out that it's one thing to take a team apart but another to post a winning season. "I think he's put the pieces together," said Belkin, who declined to comment on the contract's number of years or dollars. "One piece was the coaching staff. To hire someone like Mike Woodson and hire someone like [former Pistons assistant] Herb Brown and someone like [former Pistons assistant] Larry Drew. We have a staff that knows how to win championships. "[Knight] has shifted the culture. He's created a winning-attitude culture. We don't have any players who will be problems. Billy's character criteria for players is very high." Knight confirmed that other teams wanted to speak with him and agreed that the contract means he wanted to stay in Atlanta. "It's very true," he said. "I like Atlanta. I like the city. I like the people. I like the organization and these owners have allowed me great latitude over the restructuring of the organization. Everything over the team, they've allowed me to do that. "Whether I have a one-year contract or a 10-year contract, I'm still going to do what I think is best to help our team. I certainly appreciate that the ownership and [Atlanta Spirit CEO] Bernie Mullin have shown a lot of confidence in me in what I've done thus far and what I can do in the future. That is a good feeling."

Theo was very injury prone in Atlanta. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but he missed a very high percentage of games when he was with Atlanta. He finally played a lot last year, but at one point I thought that he may retire. Theo is past his prime. I think Theo played on pure happy adrenaline last year. He wasn't happy with Atlanta. Portland had one thing that Atlanta didn't have and that was hope for making the playoffs. Lets see what he does for an entire year in Portland.

I totally agree Wretch. This team may not do it this year, but we have a damn good foundation. I think we have just the right mix of youth vs. vets. Harrington and Walker will be our work horses and goto guys. I can't wait to see the development of JSmooth and Childress. They are going to be special. We have enough big bodies now to at least give us a presence downlow. Nothing special about them but at least we have them. We finally have a non-turnover prone true point guard. The major area of concern to me is Shooting Guard. I see Barry as a 6th man and not really the starting shooting guard. Hopefully Walker can make up for the lack of Shooting Guards until Childress is ready. Or next offseason we need to go out and get a legitimate veteran Shooting Guard. This is where this team will hurt this year.

Big mistake!! Theo has lost a step or two and he is injury prone. He is not the same player he was when he played with the 76ers. The injuries have slowed him down.

This comes from ESPN Insider.... Training camps get underway next Tuesday – and we'll finally get our first real look at who spent their their summer vacation sipping gin and juice by the pool and who spent the offseason improving their game. Scrub to star: Who will be this year's Zach Randolph? For a number of top young players in the league, the opportunity to break out from obscurity to stardom is there for the taking in October. Last year it was young players like Zach Randolph, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and Ronald Murray who came on strong. This year? In the spirit of the preseason and the optimism that exudes from just about everywhere, Insider examined depth charts, summer league performances and talked to NBA GMs and coaches to find 10 players who could be on the brink of breakout seasons. Some are young (rookies, however, are excluded), a few have some experience under their belt, all of them have the ability to make significant contributions to their team this season. Al Harrington, F, Hawks You've got to be careful what you ask for. Harrington, tired of playing the sixth man on a championship-caliber team, asked Larry Bird to trade him to a team that would give him more minutes and a more prominent role in the offense. Bird pulled the trigger and sent him to the Hawks – a team desperate for just about everything. Expect Harrington's numbers to explode in Atlanta, especially if Antoine Walker ever gets around to passing the ball. He's just 24 years old and still has plenty of room to grow offensively. He's got a great chance of averaging 18 and 10 this season. Hopefully, the better stat sheet will make up for all of the losses he's going to suffer through this season.

I think the media tries to equate not having a lot of fans at the game (recently) to having a losing franchise, when this is totally wrong. The Hawks have a better history than probably 60% of the teams in the NBA.

This team will be much better than the 29th ranked team in the NBA. It kills me that they talk about the Hawks as if this is the losingest franchise in the history of the NBA. This team won and was in the playoff consistently before the last 5 years or so. They have had many more winning years than losing years. This consistent losing has only been in recent years. People have very short memories!! The Hawks were a winning franchise. They just couldn't get out of the 2nd round, after having several excellent opportunities to do so. A few years they should have been the NBA champions, if not for the lucky and cheating Boston Celtics and the Bad Boys of Detroit. If Boston hadn't beaten the Hawks by cheating of course in that 7 game series against Dominique and Co., this Organization would of had an NBA championship. This is not the worse organization in the NBA by a far stretch. Boy some media has Short memories!!