TheNorthCydeRises

The league needs to tell us where the foul was on that play. Devin didn't touch him.

LOL . . . oh wow. So JayBird had shopping on her mind when she made this post.

I thought this was going to be about a Hawks cheerleader that I didn't know about, even though I know you meant Zaza.

First ever playoff HOME win, I meant to say . . in regards to Memphis.

You guys may have really hit on the big picture, especially from what I see outside of Atlanta and the lack of loyalty to their sports teams. Maybe it isn't the teams that they're not loyal to, but the city itself. When is the last time MOST people were proud to be from or in Atlanta? The 1996 Olympics? Maybe the true problem is that Atlanta ( the city itself ) is actually smaller than any city in the NBA. The actual city itself only has a little over 400,000 people in it. All of the growth in the area has taken place AROUND Atlanta, instead of IN Atlanta. One of the things I've noticed over the years is that the residents in the counties outside of Fulton Co. will almost never reference themselves as "being from Atlanta". They'll tell you quick that they're from Marietta or Decatur or Dunwoody, but never say "in general" that they're "from Atlanta". Maybe one of the issues from a loyalty standpoint, is that the rest of the metro area purposely separates itself from Atlanta. It's easy to support a "winner". Anybody and everybody can support a winner. It's much harder to simply "stick by your team". And if there is no pride in your city, maybe that's the root cause of the problem. The Hawks marketing people are horrendous though. Back in 2011, I did something I never did before. I went to back to back playoff games in Atlanta and Memphis, since I basically live halfway between both cities. That Friday night, I was in ATL for Game 3 vs Orlando. That was the dramatic "bank shot 3" by Jamal Crawford to seal the game. A shot that I consider one of the most dramatic shots in Atlanta Hawks history. From a marketing standpoint, the Hawks had everybody dress in white, with the in-game experience not being much different. The crowd, I must admit, was in playoff mode, because they understood the magnitude of that game. Had we lost it, we probably lose the series. The crowd was in to it. Then I drive back home, got about 6 hours sleep, and made the trek to Memphis to go to their Game 3 vs San Antonio. They were in the same situation the Hawks were in. Win, and they have a 2 - 1 lead and control of the series. Lose, and they probably lose that series to the Spurs. And once again, it was a dramatic 3 pointer that helped seal the game. This was Memphis' first EVER playoff win. The difference is Memphis is how the team is marketed. Their "Believe" campaign of the last 2 years blows our "Highlight Factory" campaign out of the water. The "Believe" campaign embraces the entire city and metro area to support the team, and "believe" they can win a championship. And they've now incorporated that with their new nickname for their arena . . "The Grindhouse". Our "Highlight Factory" campaign encourages our fans to some see dunks and blocks, while we win games. With the Hawks, it's "come to the Highlight Factory so you can be entertained". Style over substance is what we try to sell. Two totally different mindsets.

It's like I said while the game was going on. Without Josh in that lineup, you had the right people shooting the ball, and the right people in the paint to get rebounds. You didn't see Petro or Ivan drifting out to the 3 point line. They stayed inside 15 feet for the most part, and did a great job on the boards. Even on the offensive rebound and put back, there's no way that Smith makes that play because he would've been nowhere around the basket to grab that rebound. He would've had his hands out waiting for that pass, so he could take a 21 footer. In that Miami game, Smith took 3 shots outside of 20 feet, and missed them all. I think the last straw for Drew was his very last shot. Hawks were down 8, with a chance to cut it to 6. Josh makes a good move to the basket to get fouled, but makes 1 - 2 FT. Dahntay gets the rebound, and the Hawks now have a chance to cut it to 5. But lo and behold, with about another 10 - 12 seconds left on the shot clock, he fires up a 20 footer ( in which he was wide open ) . . . clank. That's when Drew looked at Ivan and told him to get in the game. And we never saw Smith again. He was scoring all around the basket in the 1st half of that game. But was still taking those jumpers and missing them. Drew probably had enough, while Smith probably had some words directed at him. So Drew did what he thought he had to do ( with the team making up a knee injury story ).

The problem with Atlanta, and the reason why it's a bad sports town, is because they're not LOYAL to their home teams. It doesn't matter if it's the Hawks, Falcons, or Braves ( who have won a championship ). As soon as some sign of trouble arises, the fans will BAIL OUT on the team. The other thing is that fans find every reason in the world to NOT attend a game. - Oh the traffic is too bad - Oh the tickets are too high - Oh the economy is too bad - Oh the game starts too early - Oh they don't have a superstar - Oh they have never won a championship - Oh we have too many transplants in the city - Oh I can't find a place to park close to the arena - Oh I'm scared of the homeless people in and around Philips Almost 5 million people in metro ATL, but I guess 4.9 million of them are transplants, leaving only 100,000 true ATLiens to go to games. And even THEY don't like the team. It's excuse . . after excuse . . after excuse. What happened to Korver last night would've never happened in Memphis ( a city with 4x less people in the metro area and a franchise that has never made it out of the 2nd round ), because 1) Memphis is a true basketball town with loud, hardcore fans even when they don't sell the place out 2) Most of them wouldn't have sold their tickets to Laker fans, because they'd want to see their team BEAT THE LAKERS more than they'd want the money Laker fans would've definitely been in attendance, and you probably could hear them in Memphis, or any other arena in the league. But they wouldn't have drown out the home team fans. Just to put it in perspective, these are the current playoff teams that if the Hawks had their talent, the fans wouldn't unconditionally support - Brooklyn - Boston - Indiana - Milwaukee - NY Knicks They'd support the superstar laden Miami Heat. And they MIGHT support a Derrick Rose led Bulls team, but definitely not the current Bulls without Rose. Out West? - Memphis - Denver - Houston - Golden St - San Antonio So the only rosters the fans in that city would unconditionally support, would be the rosters on the Heat, Lakers, Clippers, Bulls, and Thunder? Those are the only 5 rosters the people of ATL could get behind? And even if those rosters falter, they'd bail on them? Yeah . . . that's the reason it's a bad sports town.

Ivan grabbing an offensive rebound that Josh would've never grabbed, because his butt would've been out by the 3 point line waiting for Al to pass it to him. Up 5 . . 33 seconds to go . GET IT DONE !!!

Regardless of the outcome of this game, I'll give a standing ovation to Jenkins, Ivan, and Petro. Way to come up big tonight gentlemen. This game may come down to Devin and his ability to break down Nash. Up 3 with 2:59 to go. Close it out . . . please.

Speak of the devil. Petro knocking down jumpers now.

Petro showing high BBIQ tonight. Great pass to Tolliver for the layup

That time, Al gave the ball up instead of racing it back up the court, and Devin gave it back to him for the pretty alley-oop. That's why big guys don't need to be bringing the ball up the court. Fill the dang lane and you'll get it back. Game definitely at the Hawks pace. Keep running those fools, and stay on the boards.

I agree. I don't know what he ate before the game, but he needs to keep eating it. He looks great tonight.

Bench currently have 23 of the Hawks 29 points. No Josh Smith = the right people taking jumpers . . and an extra man in the lane to get a rebound.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL HHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORDDDDDD !!! Become a legend tonight dude. Dunk on Dwight's azz next time. What a play!!

It's a damn shame that Ivan can't get consistent minutes on this team. All that dude does is BALL!! NBA GM's are idiots. He's easily a 5 million a year player, with the way he can score the basketball and defend one on one.

Horford has a chance to be a Hawks legend tonight. Put up big numbers in a win tonight, and even Al's strongest critics may have to agree that this is HIS TEAM now.

I could care less if Brooklyn gets a title. But Hawks fans can't say anything about them, because at least they're going for building the best possible franchise they can. And they're not using money as the excuse for not building it.

Oh really? http://nba.si.com/2012/12/04/pau-gasol-trade-talks-los-angeles-lakers-mitch-kupchak/ Like I said, there was possibly a time in which the Lakers would've made a snap decision to rid themselves of a player who was showing that he couldn't play in their system. Oh really? Pau is a free agent this year? We're going to have 20+ million in cap space next year? You sure about that boss? I said that the Griz weren't just going to GIVE Rudy Gay away, just to get under the tax. And they didn't. When you get a solid defensive SF like Tayshawn Prince, who can also knock down timely outside shots within that Grizzlies offense, and decent young players like Ed Davis and Austin Daye, you didn't just GIVE Gay away. They traded him for players that fit specifically within their system. The problem with you is that not only do you not understand the mindset of desperate teams, you have no imagination whatsoever. I used Toronto as an example of what a desperate team looking to remake themselves, will do. The team could've very well been Sacramento or Detroit or even a playoff level team like Milwaukee, who may think that flipping Monta Ellis + filler for Joe Johnson would help them retain Brandon Jennings for the long haul . . and possibly make them a more balanced team overall. You talk as if teams will never take chances in this league and that every contract in the world is untradeable. Yep. I'm the fool. Oh wait . . . http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1492190-nba-rumors-charlotte-bobcats-a-perfect-fit-for-rudy-gay http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2012/11/michael-jordan-says-bobcats-called-thunder-about-james-harden/ Michael Jordan Q & A Q: James Harden was just traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets. Were the Bobcats ever in the mix to acquire him? A: ‘We made a couple phone calls. That’s all I can say.’ Q: Do you still believe a major free agent would come to the Bobcats? A: ‘If the (collective bargaining agreement) operates the way it’s supposed to, there will be very few teams with the right cap space (to pursue major free agents). Hopefully we can start picking them off that way, by maintaining our flexibility. Maybe we can provide them with the financial reward most players are starting to look for. Hoping the CBA will work that way for small-market teams – some parity.’” ( i.e. - the Bobcats will get desperate to bring anybody of star prowess to the squad, if they can't get what they want in free agency ) Not mad at all. Just disappointed that all of you are drinking the Ferry kool-aid. Let that man bring in something significant FIRST, before acting like he knows what he's doing. Trading away players and shedding salary is the easy part. Building a winner is something entirely different. Let's see who that dude targets next summer and in 2014. And let's see who he can actually get.

Diesel, I refuse to believe that this team will crash and burn like that. It will be the worst case scenario if they do. Surely they can go at least a little above or below .500 in these next 19 games.

Brooklyn was one of the worst teams in the league last year, and have been for about the last 4 years. They blew up their "core" of ( Kidd, Carter, Jefferson ), and tried to reconstruct it through the draft. They tried to do it with draft picks ( Lopez, Terrance Williams, Favors ). ENTER PROKOROV: DECEMBER 2010 . . as the majority owner January 2011: They go all out to try to get Carmelo Anthony - FAILED February 2011: They saw an opportunity to get Deron Williams, due to his turmoil in Utah, they LEAPED at the chance to do it. They essentially dealt Favors and what would be Enes Kanter to Utah for Deron. July 2011: Nets seriously begin their hot pursuit of Dwight Howard. Nets fans call it, the "Dwightmare" March 2012: Nets trade Okur, Shawne Williams, and their draft pick ( who would be Rookie of the Year - Damian Lilliard ), to Portland for Gerald Wallace. It's clear that the Nets are trying to build around a possible Deron - Dwight duo, even if neither are locked up after 2012. June 2012: Nets trade 5 dead roaches and a draft pick for Joe Johnson. This will be the turning point for Deron making a decision to re-sign with Brooklyn, and even stopping the pursuit for Dwight Howard July 2012: Nets re-sign Brook Lopez to a 4 year deal. 2012 - 13 season: Nets are on pace to go from 27 wins last year ( adjusted for 82 games ) to 48 wins this season. A 21 game improvement. And the core of that team will at least get another year to play with each other, to gain even more chemistry if need be. People could very well make the argument that the Nets could have these players as key guys on the team. PG - Lilliard G - Brooks F - Favors C - Kanter C - Lopez They'd be a young team, and the Nets would surely have a lot of cap space. They'd be a young and exciting team, but they wouldn't be a playoff squad. Not yet anyway. Brooklyn simply chose to go the opposite way. Get Deron and secure him. Go after Howard. When he isn't an option, go after JJ and resign Lopez . . . and go from there. That's a total remake of a bad franchise in just 19 months. As for the Hawks, it has nothing to do with how much better or worse we are over Brooklyn. It has everything to do with how we are going to build this team, and the mindset behind it. How can Hawks fans criticize anything the Nets franchise does, when we're not willing to do anything even remotely to what they're doing? We're not in position to talk about anything that anybody else does.

Eddie . . I've said from the time that trade was made, that it was a bad deal. I said from the jump that they at the very least had to get Marshon Brooks. But I wanted Gerald Wallace as well. The trade was BAD. That cap space isn't going to mean crap, if we can't get one of the top free agents to Atlanta. And we may have even burned the bridge to even retain Smith, who we also may lose for nothing. If Ferry wanted to make his own team, he should've done what Wretch said, and blow it up COMPLETELY last year. He shoud've traded JJ AND Smith, and possibly even Al, and just reconstructed the Hawks the way he wanted to. If that saw the Hawks winning 25 games this year and going back into the lottery, so be it. At least we'd know where we stand as a franchise, and what the actual game plan was. But if his plan was to create enough cap space to lure Dwight Howard and Chris Paul to Atlanta, that was stupid as hell, because neither of those guys are coming here. There's no plausible reason why they would leave their current situation, to come to Atlanta. So if those two aren't coming, who will Ferry target? Or more importantly, who will he OVERPAY to bring to Atlanta?

The "Joe defenders" have been here all year. It's the people that don't like Joe that have been constantly been bringing his name up throughout the year. They're the ones hoping he crashes and burns in Brooklyn, to validate the move to move him for NOTHING. It's just that when it comes to this topic, it's silly for Hawks fans to try to clown the Nets for taking on JJ's contract, when they obviously had a concrete plan in place to build a playoff contender RIGHT NOW. They have an owner that is willing to do anything and everything to build the best team he possibly can. Matter of fact, I'll let current coach PJ Carleismo and Sixers coach Doug Collins tell it: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/nets/2013/03/nets-are-projected-to-pay-about-58-million-in-luxury-tax-over-first-two-seasons-in-broo PJ Carleismo: “Couldn’t overstate it. It’s one of the best things an owner can do (willing to pay into the luxury tax). Giving a coach a longterm contract is more important,” quipped Nets interim coach PJ Carlesimo. “But other than that I think when you have an owner that’s willing to spend money and not pay lip-service. All the owners say they want to win a championship, When you have someone that is committed to winning it and is willing to expend funds to do it, give us the resources, that’s fantastic.” Doug Collins: “In this business if you’re going to keep your own free agents, it is a huge luxury,” Philadelphia coach Doug Collins said. “When you look at a team like Oklahoma City, they had to trade James Harden because of that situation." “The important thing is if you’re going to pay a luxury tax you’re going to have to have a good team. That’s the most important thing. And Brooklyn has a very good team. They’re a much-improved defensive team over what they were last year. And they have a chance if they have everybody healthy to make nice run in the playoffs.” Those are two veteran NBA coaches who have been in and around this league for a long time. What they're basically telling you is that you don't win by being "cheap". Most good players will get paid. Good players cost money. And if you want to win a title, you need great players with a few good players. And unless you get real fortunate like OKC and draft all of your good/great players at the same time, you have to PAY to have those types of players on your team. What PJ is telling you is that his owner doesn't mind spending whatever he can to bring a title to Brooklyn. So how in the hell can Hawks fans talk about what Brooklyn is doing, when we've only been a taxpaying team ONE TIME in our entire history? And even then, we paid the tax stupidly, by keeping Stackhouse and Dampier. Let's see if ownership and Ferry are truly willing to build a title team here. Let's see if they'll take a chance and go significantly into the Luxury Tax if necessary. Some people have always said that "if you will build it, they will come" ( talking about the fans ). Let's see if they'll build it out of steel, or if they'll build it out of dirt and mud.

Yeah .. . let's look at the facts: FACT: The Hawks are getting destroyed by every decent SG or SF in the league, because we have no one who can even remotely defend the position other than Josh Smith. Ferry brought in a bunch of shooters/gunners, but did nothing to address the defensive side of the basketball. People can make a case that he replaced he 29 ppg that JJ and Marvin was giving us last year. But he didn't replace the solid defense that both of those guys provided. And that has seen the defense go from giving up 93.2 ppg to 96.8 ppg. FACT: Despite an increase in shooting percentage, and playing at a faster pace, the overall offensive production is literally the same as last year. 97.1 ppg vs 96.6 ppg last year. And a point per play number of 0.93 vs 0.92 last year. This is an offense that people said would easily average over 100 ppg. But every good defensive team finds a way to shut us down. And when we get shut down, we can't turn around and shut them down. So we lose. FACT: We traded a guy who was a 6 time All-Star for 5 dead roaches and a draft pick we may not even can use for 3 years. We didn't add a single tangible asset to this team from that trade. Didn't gain a guy we could possibly use in a trade, nor a young player to try to develop. So Ferry has to sell to Josh Smith and Al Horford that the move is for the "future", and that we're going to build something great by adding talent with the "cap space" left by JJ. FACT: And speaking of Josh Smith, he's the same guy that Ferry seemed to love during the summer, with Smith giving the love back . . only to see Ferry desperately tried to trade his butt for about 2 weeks leading up to the trade deadline. What happened to that love? And will anybody blame Smith for leaving us high and dry when the summer comes, when he sees his GM try to deal him? FACT: Danny Ferry took the first deal he could find to deal JJ, regardless of how bad it was. He didn't even try to shop JJ around the league, weigh ALL potential offers from other teams, and make a deal that would be in the best interest of the franchise. He's convinced you, and the ownership, that having "cap space" was in the best interest of the franchise. FACT: One of the big reasons for Brooklyn's success this year, has been the play of the 2nd unit. A 2nd unit that is led by #7, who was the former #2 here. For most of the season, JJ has had the highest + on the court rating of any Net. He's also had the biggest - rating when he's off the court. According to 82games.com, it's a difference of almost 16 points. That means that the Nets play much better with him in the game because he's not an offensive or defensive liability. But especially because he gives that 2nd unit a big advantage when he can function as the main scorer, and prevent people from doubling guys like Andray Blatche, who has seen his entire career path change by going from an outcast with the Wiz, to being a key role player with the Nets. FACT: And as far as my plausible hypothetical scenarios that I present . . . this is the damn NBA. You never know what teams are thinking and what they might think they need or want during the season. Whose to say that when the Lakers were going through all of their turmoil, that they couldn't be talked into making a straight up trade of Joe Johnson for Pau Gasol? Think D'Antoni wouldn't have been all-in for getting a former player that he knows would be great with both Kobe, Nash, and Howard, with Pau struggling finding his role in his offense? And you think that a frontline of Gasol - Horford - Smith wouldn't have bolstered this Hawks team to another level? That would've been a major coup for the Hawks, if they could've flipped JJ for Gasol. I'll go on record to say that we won't get a better player than Pau Gasol this summer with that "cap space". Whose to say that when Toronto was looking to make a splash for a good player and remake their franchise, that they wouldn't have inquired to see if JJ was available, with us pulling out the type of deal that Memphis did with Rudy Gay? Instead of desperately trading Rudy away for scraps . . they waited until a deal opened up that would help the franchise overall. They've won 14 of 17 games since that trade, mainly because they flipped offensive only minded guys, for guys who can give you timely offense, but give you great defense and rebounding ( Prince, Daye, Davis ) . THEY had a plan, when it was time to move their high priced "star". Whose to say that a desperate franchise like the Charlotte Bobcats wouldn't call Ferry around the trade deadline, and try to work out some sort of deal with us? They need something . . anything. No big name free agents are going to Charlotte, even though they'll throw MAX deals toward a couple of people ( including Josh Smith ). And their "college style" team with the college atmosphere they were trying to create there, is a complete failure. Maybe they team Kemba with a big guard like JJ, and have those 2 be your short term building block, and see what happens. Like I said . . this is the damn NBA. And some of these franchises know that they're not going to land a big name, no matter how much "cap space" they have. So despite a player being overpaid, they'll take a chance on him to see if he can get them back to playoff level. Forget championship level. For teams like that, getting back to playoff level is the goal. In Ferry We Trust . . is the motto around here . . even if we have no idea what the hell he's going to do. Here's your play-doh. Make that statue out of him and sit it in front of Philips if you want.

Specifically a scoring wing that can create his own shot at any time. A guy you can give the ball to, and possibly run pick and roll or ISO with him, and see him score a basket or get to the line. Kyle can do neither of those things. And that's why he's a role player, and not a guy you can build an offense around. The more I look at how this team is made up, the more I can see Ferry targeting a guy like Kevin Martin. Ferry seems to like those types of shooters, so Martin may fit what Ferry is looking for. Martin is more of a 2 guard though. So that would still leave us without a legit SF, especially one who can defend the position.