TheNorthCydeRises

Different rap demographic. And that's why others are saying that no one is going to shoot up a Drake or Kanye concert. Those guys aren't rapping about guns, violence, and/or street life. Sometimes, the rappers who talk about those things, attract fans that come from those backgrounds. Then things pop off . . . like it did in Little Rock, AK last weekend. ( FYI on rap nightclub shootings: I have a theory on how some of those guys get guns even into high security nightclubs that pat everyone down. 3 ways: - breaking down small guns and putting it, and the clip, inside their sneakers. - women, who may be checked far less thoroughly by male security, sneaking a gun into the club for their male acquaintance - guy in a wheelchair, who may be checked less thoroughly, bringing in the gun ) But when you talk about well known Black comedians, like Cedric the Entertainer and D.L. Hughley being patted down, and whose audience is going to be 40 yrs old and over, now it's on a different level. This is the reason why the TSA pats down old women and kids at airports, even if they aren't real threats. If you have a rule, you don't deviate from it for anybody. If you treat everyone the same, people may complain . . but you can always refer them to the policy. When you deviate from policy, you open yourself up for trouble.

See, that's what I was thinking. I didn't know the back story, but that's the only way a lawsuit like this would have any merit. If he brought it up, got shot down, and lost his job for it, then he definitely has a case. And for what? A 20 second per person wand and pat down?

UMMMM . . . you may want to post the stats of Dennis in this past series, and compare him to JJ and Smitty . . . and then re-ask that question. I'm not down with the Dwight bashers, but Dennis straight up BALLED in that Washington series.

It's actually the opposite. Everywhere he leaves, the team gets worse 75% of the time. - Orlando . . . 5 straight losing seasons with 35 wins being the most. - LA Lakers . . . 4 straight losing seasons with 26 wins being the most. - Houston . . . . got way better, but had to change coaches, move their star SG to PG, and had to bring in 6 different players ( with one of them winning 6 Man of the Year ) - Atlanta? Check that . . . only Houston didn't decide to tank, after Dwight left them. They went out and cleaned house, and got better. The other 2 franchises basically gave up. And it looks like the Hawks are about to do the same.

There wasn't a ton of stories about it, because the Hawks beat writers have never been the types to "rock the boat". Here's a thing about "selfishness". There are 2 types of "selfish". People who just want everything, and don't care about anyone or anybody else, regardless of the outcome. Or people who want more, in order to be more successful. A lot of people thought Russell Westbrook was a "selfish" player, when he played alongside Durant. They felt that he should defer to him more, regardless of how successful the Thunder fared. Once Durant left, Westbrook ( from an on the court standpoint ) became even more selfish, but not a word was said to him because people felt that he had to be selfish in order for the team to win. It would be one thing if everyone around Dwight was balling, we were winning, and he was the one crying and whining about being more involved. Bug if we're losing, and most everyone around him was playing like crap, and he wanted more touches to help the team win, that's the 2nd level of "selfish". So the Hawks organization potentially blew this team up, all because one of their better players wanted a bigger impact on the game and they couldn't handle his whining? LOL . . what in the hell do you think Dennis is going to do next season? He's the one that has already clashed a bit with the coach. If they can't handle Dwight, what happens when Dennis starts taking 20 shots a game, because he feels that all of the kids around him are garbage? If he starts to talk about doing more, and being more vocal in the locker room, are they going to pawn him off too? When losing happens, you're not supposed to be happy or just accept that sh-t. You're supposed to be pissed. And if you feel that you can get the team out of the losing rut, and you're not getting a chance to do so, are you just supposed to sit there and let the team die? I said right after the Dwight trade that if they also trade Millsap, this fan base better be patient as hell with Dennis, because he's going to want to do it all and may not play the way everyone ( and the coach ) expects him to play.

Selling off Dwight for scrubs and letting Millsap walk, was easy. If he wants to impress me, get rid of Baze's contract and turn that into a "flexible asset". If he can do that, he'll get props from me.

Are you going to do your job as a local fan, and support that team with your money? Not trying to get into your business, but it's easy to say that you want the Hawks to "bottom out", but are not willing to pay to see the product.

Yeah, if he gets an A+ for the offseason, I need a $40K raise at work for the smaller projects I'm doing.

14 ppg - 11 rebs per 36 minutes. I don't know about giving him the max, but he is an impactful player on the defensive end. One of the better young center prospects in the NBA. LOL . . who was it in the other thread that said that Hawks fans will never agree on who they want at center?

I know right?

vs the team that knocked us out of the playoffs And he has about 10 other videos where he's straight killing guys on the offensive end. Give me an old school center with lethal post moves, instead of these wannabe shooting guards at center that couldn't spell "post". Just because the league has gone pick and roll crazy, doesn't mean that old school basketball and old style players can't be successful.

LOL . . . OK vs us vs the rookie of the year vs the world champs This dude may not play much defense, but don't talk like he's a scrub. He'd instantly be the 2nd best player on the Hawks ( as constructed right now ).

So are you starting Prince and Crowder? Because it makes no sense to bring Crowder in, and have him come off the bench. So we're going small with Prince at the 4 and Crowder at the 3.

Why wouldn't you want Prince to play big minutes? That's really the only way he'll get better very quickly. If Prince can really ball, increasing his minutes won't be a problem. He averaged 31 minutes during the playoffs. He's ready to play 30 - 35 minutes on a nightly basis.

This is a nice farewell letter by Hayward. https://theplayerstribune.com/gordon-hayward-decision-free-agency-nba/

But that IS his bigger picture. If he wants to field a team that is "competitive", but not good enough to win, a scrub like Diamond is the perfect player to add to the team. I would bet $5 that if the pic isn't included, that he'll still make the deal. The pic isn't the deal breaker. He wants Diamond. When he comes here, watch how Schlenk gushes all about that kid.

Schlenk is focused on Diamond Stone. The pick and Jamal are secondary. That's what he wants. Diamond is probably a guy that he identified at Golden State, so he wants to bring him here. If he has to buy out Jamal to get Diamond and the pick, that's what he'll do. LOL . . now whether we agree with that, is a different story.

I didn't love it, but I did support it over choosing Brandon Roy ( because he and JJ played the same position ). Shelden was the player that we needed. We needed a guy that could play in the middle and anchor the defense. We already had 3 SF's and JJ at guard. There's no reason why his skills as a rebounder, defender, and low post banger shouldn't have transferred to the NBA level. But it because obvious that his lack of athleticism and vertical size would be his downfall, if he were to play at center and against bigger players. Interesting overview of Shellhead's career http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Shelden-Williams-18/

20.9 PER in 2200 minutes of play . . . oh I forgot . . . empty stats. As for the question at hand, Dennis BETTER be the most impactful now and in the future, If he's not, this team may be dead in the water for 7 - 10 years, unless Collins and/or Prince become All-Star talents.

Vol's point was that Bud didn't adjust his coaching style to fit the talent that he did have. And I disagree that he tried to maximize our talent. He tried to stick with the 2014 - 15 formula, even when his top gun ( Korver ) was struggling ( compared to how he normally shoots the ball). The Hawks took 2137 three's last year at a 34% clip. That's only 15 attempts less than the 2014 - 15 squad that shot 38% from 3. And everyone knows that the 2014 - 15 Hawks thrived on Korver's historic shooting, along with Demarre shooting close to 40%. This season, Korver did get to above 40% from 3, by the time he was traded, but his looks became fewer and less impactful. But other than the sporadic shooting from Dunlevavy and Moose, none of the rotation guys shot over 36% from 3. It's a big difference from being the #2 three point shooting team in the league by percentage, from the #23 three point shooting team in the league, like we were last season. Baze was struggling, but still getting playing time and plenty of shots. The kids were rotting on the bench, despite the team being in a straight freefall in late Nov - early Dec. Delaney was masquerading as a viable option at PG. You can't be a mediocre shooting 3 point team, but expect your team to make shots on a nightly basis. And then when they don't make shots, blame the players. And no matter how much people hated Dwight, the fact remains that on last year's team, he was one of our most reliable and consistent offensive options. He was one of the strengths of the team by just about every offensive and defensive metric. While he didn't fully embrace the offensive scheme, he was still underutilized, especially in the playoffs.

Just my take on the Schlenk statement after trading Dwight. Green = most people would see those words or statements as being positive. Yellow = most people would see those words or statements as being neutral or viewed with caution. Red = most people would see those words or statements as being negative. The problem with his statement, is that he said the word "competitive" 7 times. And I have to put that word in yellow, because he uses it almost like he's saying . . "we just want to be good enough for fans to think that we can win, even if I don't care if we win or lose." Here's the definition of "competitive": ( adj ) - well suited for competition, having a piece that makes for successful competition - having a strong desire to compete or to succeed As of this moment, does the actions of the GM fit this definition? Now, that definition has the word "succeed" in its description. So what does "succeed" mean? ( verb ) 1. to happen or terminate according to desire; turn out successfully; have the desired result: Our efforts succeeded. 2. to thrive, prosper, grow, or the like: Grass will not succeed in this dry soil. 3. to accomplish what is attempted or intended: We succeeded in our efforts to start the car. 4. to attain success in some popularly recognized form, as wealth orstanding: The class voted him the one most likely to succeed. 5. to follow or replace another by descent, election, appointment, etc .(often followed by to). 6. to come next after something else in an order or series. So what is Schlenk's true definition of being "competitive"? And what is "success" to him? If a fan is comfortable with his initial quote after the Dwight trade, OK. But if a fan wants a clear cut answer to the two questions I just stated, and they feel he hasn't answered those questions, they have every right to question his every move.

LOL @ that hybrid tank / tractor / steamroller. And the "suck it fans" with the middle finger. Creative.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not of the opinion that you should ALWAYS get something for a player leaving you, especially if they don't immediately benefit you financially ( see Dwight deal ). But when you talk about a guy like Millsap, yeah, you should definitely get something for a talent like that. So he doesn't get a cookie if he's able to get a little something for Millsap. That's supposed to happen. Ferry sold Joe Johnson for pennies on the dollar, but at least he had the sense to use the TPE to get Kyle Korver . . who was the real asset in the JJ trade. To your point, the following season saw us have the cap space to add Millsap, Demarre, and a new contract for Teague. But it wasn't just the JJ expiring contracts that gave us the room. It was the fact that Marvin was traded for Devin Harris on his final year of his deal the year before . . and because we let Josh Smith completely walk. At the end of the day, cap space is important, but only if you're able to get the players that you're targeting. Too often times, teams with cap space have to spend that money on secondary players, and not the main targets they cleared the space for in the first place. We missed for many years during the last rebuild, to get that elite player, despite having the available money. That's why fans poo-poo on cap space, and would rather have talent and draft picks in return.

Understand who the real target is in this potential deal. It's definitely not Jamal . . . ( thank you Jesus for not making me root for him again ). And while a late 1st round pick would be nice, that's not the target either. The target is definitely Stone. High energy young big, that can rebound, be somewhat of a rim protector, and has offensive versatility to his game. In 13 D-League games, he averaged 16 ppg - 7 rebs - 1 blk. That sounds OK . . until you see that he did all of that in just 22 minutes a game. And for a guy who didn't take a single 3 pointer while he was an 18 year old in college, he made 10 of 27 threes in the D-League last season. So at least from an offensive standpoint, this is a guy who is an intriguing prospect that could one day serve as the primary reserve center on the team. He likes to score when he gets the ball, and has shown the versatility to score in many ways. His big negatives right now, is that he's a hatchet man . . . like Friday the 13th Jason-like hatchet man. And he's a turnover machine, mainly because once the ball goes into him, it's not coming back out. ( That's also the fear/concern with John Collins, by the way . . although Collins turnover rate is far lower ). At the very least, Stone may be a guy that we can showcase in Erie, before he makes his Hawks debut later this year ( if tank season is in full effect ).

We were supposed to get something for a 4 time All-Star. It would be criminal if he didn't get something for him. That's why people were pissed 24 hours ago.