TheNorthCydeRises

LOL . . . nice. But then again, what if this DID happen? I mean, it's not like the league is forcing them to sell the team. They've just made a verbal commitment to sell. My fear has always been that Gearon and his group would sell, then buy their way right back into power with the new ownership. Like say the Hawks sell for 1 billion, which would give Gearon and Seydel roughly 250 million. If they did buy back in for say 100 million, they would have a lower percentage stake, but still be owners . . . and still make almost a 150 million profit from when they bought in back in 2004.

He got suspended for not being able to ( or winning to ) filter the content that he was reading. He didn't have to read that verbatim, to get a point across that labeled Deng as being "deceptive". He trusted his former sources in Cleveland and ran with exactly what they wrote. Had Deng been Jewish and white, and Ferry been Black, that same kind of backlash would've occurred. His inability to filter what he was reading, is what got him in trouble. Gearon is absolutely a snake for taping that conversation. Gearon makes an assumption in the e-mail that he wrote to Levenson, telling him to fire Ferry or make him resign. Gearon's assumption was that the comments "were not from a private conversation — they were in a business environment on a business matter in front of a dozen or more people," . . . "If Ferry would make such a slur in a semi-public forum, we can only imagine what he has said in smaller groups or to individuals." Whether correct or not, that was his assumption. And if he shared this assumption, others within the organization may have as well. The situation isn't nearly as cut and dried as some of you make it out to be. If this was just a simple mistake in "reading" something inappropriate, I believe that he would've only been fined. But the fact that the exiled one stayed silent and didn't even try to defend himself initially, leads me to believe that he possibly could've made things a lot worse for himself and for the Hawks, if he came out and said something in defense of himself. His "personality" may have shown through, and been the thing that buried him. If new ownership wants him back, he'll be back. Until then, we are in good hands with Bud making the key personnel decisions for the franchise. We'll see what kind of contract offer Millsap will get in the summer, if Bud is still the GM, and if he can convince Millsap to come back.

Lavine is ridiculous . . . wow.

Damn Kyle.

It's a possibility. But then that's all the more reason to give Bud total control. Make him the coach and the GM, and he'll have no incentive to go anywhere.

The real question is . . . . how does Steve Smith get his face on this list? Because he came up with the Mt. Rushmore NBA thing? Smith wouldn't even be on Atlanta nor Miami's Mt. Rushmore.

Interesting thread to say the least. I knew from the time that I read that initial Saporta article back in ( September? ) about Dortch being mad at Ferry for blocking the statue, that this would be trouble for the exiled GM. And it's not just about the statue. It's about Levenson and Ferry basically alienating EVERYONE in the franchise, and doing things like how they wanted them to be done. They had final say on everything, while everyone else were simply in the background, taking orders. So the people who had egos in the front office ( Gearon, Nique, etc ), this "demotion" in their organization power was a hard pill to swallow. For those of you dissing Nique . . . Nique IS the Atlanta Hawks. He knows it. The city knows it. Hell, the entire NBA knows it. And until we do something great ( which hopefully happens this season ), he will continue to be the face of the franchise. As for Bud not being able to handle both being the GM and the coach, consider this quote from Bud back in October. “I feel like there’s not a huge difference, to be honest with you,” Budenholzer said to Wallace. “Preparing for camp and little things that needed to be decided — who’s coming, who’s not, where we’re staying — so there’s a few of those conversations that impact my day. A few more people are probably coming into my office than prior. It gives me a comfort level when I think I’ve been involved in a [spurs] program where the assistants and coaches have had a lot of input. R.C. [buford] and [Gregg] Popovich, those guys were amazing about listening. They valued our opinions. And now, I value everybody’s opinion.” Let's not get it twisted people. If the exiled GM were not to come back, we have a man in Budenholzer who actually came from the franchise that shaped the philosophy that the exiled GM now subscribes to. Ferry learned that in his 2 years in San Antonio . . . as an Assistant GM . . . under R.C. Buford and Popovich. Bud spent 17 years in San Antonio under those same men, and was involved in the decision making process for the Spurs. So it's not a stretch to believe that he could operate just as or even more efficiently than the exiled GM, because he actually knows MORE about the Spurs culture, than the exiled one does. Bud would have no problem handling both the coaching and GM duties. And Wilcox ( a dude that worked under Ferry in Cleveland ), understands what kind of players fit in Bud's system. But back to Nique. Would some of you REALLY want to work for a man that didn't place much value in what you meant to the company? I think that's what Nique's mindset is right now. Could you REALLY respect someone, that didn't respect you? If Ferry didn't care about a Nique statue . . or was hesitant on extending his tenure within the organization . . or lothed Ryan Cameron as an arena announcer . . or immediately got rid of Arthur Triche to change how the team was marketed . . it kind of shows that Ferry wanted to almost obliterate what little history the Hawks had, and mold and form everything into his own liking. If that meant not giving an icon like Nique his statue, so be it. Nothing wrong with that mindset, seeing that's normally what the "new guy" does . . change things to his liking. But when you do that, it may not sit well with longtime fans or longtime executives within that organization.

Nique never played alongside a guy who was as good as Scottie Pippen ( edit: or Dennis Rodman ) Come on now.

Only on page 4 of the reading of this thread, but RandomFan's post is the best one yet. He hits on just about every point as to why the exiled GM will not be brought back.

Disgraceful that Joe Johnson isn't an option on this.

Everytime I see that Kemp over Lister dunk, it reminds me of what Josh Smith SHOULD'VE BEEN as a NBA player. But while Kemp catches that ball at the 3 point line, and immediately attacks the paint for the slam . . . Smith would've caught that ball, took 1/2 step back to make sure he was behind the 3 point line, and shot a 24 foot jumper. Instead of being more like Kemp, Smith wanted to be more like Rasheed Wallace.

Basically it's about Bud trusting him and using him correctly, which he seems to have a knack for doing with other players on the team.

One of the things that was very evident in the Memphis game, is that a defensive team that focuses on Kyle Korver, can limit his touches. So what do you do if you have Kyle Korver AND Ray Allen to account for?

Sorry man. We're a good. . . check that . . . great team now. The days of cheap tickets are gone, at least for now. That reminds me, I need to get my tickets to the Dallas game in a few weeks. If I don't get them now, 200 and 300 level tickets will be $80+ by the week of the game. That's how much in demand the Hawks are these days. If you see some $40 tickets, you need to snatch them up ASAP.

Brandon Knight is definitely deserving. Who in their right minds picked Milwaukee to be not only in the playoff mix, but with a shot to be a top 4 seed in the EAST? If not for us, Milwaukee would be the best story in the Eastern Conference. Jason Kidd has done a wonderful job with that squad. Having said that, Kyle should definitely be the replacement. As lethalweapon3 stated, the East already has 4 PGs on the All-Star roster. Adding a 5th PG, and leaving off the most feared spot-up shooter in the league, just wouldn't be right in my opinion. If Kyle gets into the All-Star game, you'll see guys not only doing their thing, but also wanting to pass to Kyle . . just to see how many 3s he could make. The real question is this. If Kyle DOES make the All Star team, what other guy would you want to see out on the court when all 4 Hawks are in? Because you know Bud would do it for at least a few minutes. Lebron would be the obvious choice, but I would like to see Jimmy Butler play with those guys. He's a restricted free agent in the summer, and while he may command a big money deal, he may not get it from the normally cheap Bulls. PG - Teague G - Korver F - Butler PF - Millsap C - Horver That's a hell of a squad right there.

Since people are bringing up old threads . . . It's interesting to see the jump that Teague has made this year. - 1st All-Star appearance - currently has a 22+ PER and a 57% Total Shot percentage - career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals. - arguably the MVP of the Hawks right now - and most important . . almost has the trust of the entire fan base

No. The most we've ever won in a season, was 57 games. That last happened in 1993 - 94.

The only time we can win games while getting demolished on the glass, is when we're shooting the ball well. At that point, the rebounds are less of an issue. But in a game like tonight where offensive possessions are precious, you can't give your opponent 17 extra opportunities to score. Fastbreak points: ATL - 14 . . MEM - 9 . . ( ATL +5 ) 2nd Chance Points: MEM - 22 . . ATL - 6 . . ( MEM + 16 ) Hawks lose by 6.

In the history of Hawksquawk, I've never seen an overall bad player defended so much on here. And it's not just on here . . . people LOVE Pero all across Hawknation. When Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, or even Vladimir Radmanovic played like Pero does now, the fan base blasted all of those players to the moon. The problem with Pero, is that he views himself as an offensive player as well as a defensive player. And Bud hasn't put the stop sign on him taking 3's. For a guy that can't shoot, he looks for his shot a hell of a lot. If he'd just take an 18 - 20 foot shot . . a shot that he can actually make . . instead of a 23 foot shot, he'd be more consistent offensively. It's absolutely amazing the lengths some of you go to, to defend Pero. Even his great +/- number ( a statistic that USED to be clowned on here ) is like a mirage. There are games in which his contributions definitely affect his positive number on the court. Most games though, it's usually one of his teammates producing at a high level, along with the team playing effective defense, that contributes to a positive on the floor number. Even tonight, he didn't play as bad as he's been playing in recent weeks, but he was a non-factor in a game in which we could've used SOMEONE on the frontline to be a factor.

Even if they go an incredible 29 - 3 over these next 32 games, that still only puts them at 59 wins . . . forcing the Hawks to merely go 18 - 13 over that same stretch.

National media are idiots. Cleveland is currently rolling, and have a 30 - 20 record. Hawks currently sit at 41 - 9, and have been rolling since Thanksgiving. The maximum number of games Cleveland can win, is 62 games . . and they'd have to go 32 - 0 to get there . . . ( or win 41 straight games ) For the Hawks to reach 62 wins ( which has to include a victory over Cleveland on March 6th over that stretch ) . . the Hawks simply have to go 21 - 11 the rest of the way. But heck, we've won 34 of our last 37 games, so I guess anything is possible.

My thing about adding a 3rd big on the team is that I simply don't trust Pero Antić to do the dirty work while he's in the game. Maybe a guy like Brand will get more playing time than him in a tough playoff series, but even he can't play on a nightly basis. The two weaknesses on this team has to do with rebounding and length. It doesn't show its ugly head until we have an off shooting night or play a talented frontline. But when it does show up, it's a glaring issue with this team. It's nothing to be overly concerned about right at this moment, but when games slow down during playoff time, it could really show up. We need to be able to possibly match up against any team we play against. To add another person on the roster, someone has to be traded or cut. Jenkins is the prime candidate. The only other expendable people on the roster are Muscala and Mack. What people may need to realize is that this may be our one and ONLY shot at winning a title. Barring some catastrophic collapse in the next 33 games, this team is going to win 60+ games, get the #1 seed, and post the best record in franchise history. But all of that will mean nothing if we run into a team in the playoffs that could exploit our weaknesses. Playoffs are all about matchups. The Hawks would do themselves well if they tried to patch up any potential cracks in the armor. Adding one player with some length and rebounding ability could really do Horford and Millsap a lot of good on both ends of the floor. And it may be the difference in the Hawks being beat in the 2nd round ... or winning a championship.

Baze played well last night. What's most impressive us that he played 40 minutes.

First chillzatl. Now CBAreject? Who's next? Exodus?

Die hard Hawks fan for 31 years. They could go 0 - 82 and they'd still be my #1 team. But with the Grizzlies in Tennessee, it enables me to also see a lot of Western Conference basketball. And since they take precedence over the Hawks when they play on the same night on SportSouth, it's hard not to follow and root for them. One of the better weekends of my NBA Fandom took place when I drove 4.5 hours to Atlanta for Game 3 vs Orlando back in 2011, in which Jamal Crawford banked in a 3 with the shot clock winding down, to seal the game. Then I drive back home, got about 4 hours rest and drove 3 hours to Memphis for Game 3 of the Memphis vs San Antonio series. In that game, Zach Randolph makes a 3 with the shot clock winding down to seal that game. It was at that point in which I became a fan of what the Grizzlies were about as a team and as a franchise, and not just followed them casually. Their marketing campaign and in-arena experience is great. I'm glad Koonin has gotten our marketing where it should be.