TheNorthCydeRises

Like I said . . . I'll leave it alone. But if any of you Falcon fans think that they're closer to a title than the Hawks . . . with the Super Bowl Champion Saints in the same division . . along with Dalas, Green Bay, and Minnesota ( if Favre comes back ) in the NFC, then I don't know who are really the delusional ones. And hotlanta . . That's the point. The falcons are no better off than the Hawks. But if the Falcons liose a wild card game, everything is OK . . because Blank is likable. On the flip side, if the Hawks don't at least make the EC Finals next year, the ASG, JJ and anybody else will be burned at the stake, and there will be serious talk about breaking up the team and starting over. It's just 2 different mindsets for each franchise. And to be honest, it's always been like that.

@ DKD . . . and the Hawks didn't have some of the lowest ticket prices in the NBA up until the past 2 years? And do those $100 season tickets still exist, now that the Falcons are at least a playoff contender now? Or did Blank drop the ticket prices down after the Vick fiasco? @ DLP . . so as you, AHF, and some others point out, this isn't necessarily a performance issue. This is a public relations issue. I guess the Hawks aren't accessible enough to the fans, for them to really embrace them. The apathy is still crazy though. The Hawks have made 3 major moves in the past 3 years: - traded expiring contracts for Mike Bibby, who at the time still had 15 million the next year remaining on his contract. - traded expiring contracts for Jamal Crawford, a player that most teams around the league would've never taken a chance on, mainly because he still had 2 yrs - 20 million on his contract at the time we traded for him. - secured JJ to a max contract, to make sure the Hawks at the very least stay a playoff contender for years to come. So I think people need to stop calling them "cheap". We've been over the salary cap for a few years, due to those contracts. The way to build up your payroll in the NBA, is by signing your own guys to big money, long term contracts . . or by trading players for big money contracts. The Hawks, for the past 3 years, have shwon tha they're willing to do both. But I'll leave this alone. Blank is defintely a good owner, and he's well-liked. And because of that, the apathy toward the Falcons will never equal the apathy toward the Hawks, unless the Hawks reach the NBA Finals. I think that's the reason the ASG, JJ, Marvin, and Josh Smith don't worry too much about what the fans and media say about them. Unless they do something truly great, all of them are always going to be in a "damned if you do . . damned if you don't" sitiation in ATL.

@ nbasuperstar . . . my loyalty is to the Hawks . . . period. Has been for 25+ years. And if Shaq represents a 500 per game increase in fans, that could translate into possibly 3 million extra dollars in revenue, when you count ticket sales, concessions, team merchandise, arena advertising, etc. 500 fans per game would only equal a 20,500 jump in attendance. But it would push our attendance numbers over 700,000 per year for the first time in franchise history. @ High5 . . . PR Dept? No. I'm a fan just like you are. I guess the difference in me, is that I see much more positive in this team, than the majority of the fans. While I didn't initially like the Drew hire, I'm at least willing to give him a chance. And if he turns out to be a real good coach, how many people will give the ASG credit for hiring the right guy, at an absolute bargin basement price?

And Wretch proves the exact type of apathy I'm taking about. Despite 3 consecutive playoff appearances, 90 home wins in the past 3 years, and our first 50+ win season in 12+ years, he STILL has only negative things to say about this team . . . despite us being in position to duplicate at the very least what we did this season. The entire core from last year is coming back ( minus ) the coach that 90% of the fans hated . . and the apathy is STILL THERE. Why? Because we sold a dang 2nd round pick? Because we traded Chill for peanuts, even though he obiously didn't want to play here? Because "insert favorite scrub player here" is no longer with the team anymore? Because we overpaid to retain our 4-time All-star? The scrutiny this team takes, not only from the media, but also from the fans, is amazing to me. The Hawks could win 55 games, but lose to the 65 win "SuperFriends" team in Miami, and fans would STILL be pizzed at the Hawks like they were a below .500 team.

This is why I want them to go out and secure a deal for Shaq. I realy want to see if a deal like that changes the perception of the ownership group with the fan base. It's just funny that people are rattling off a lot of off the field stuff, rather than what the Falcons actually put out on the field. And people readily make excuses for why the Falcons did this or that, but the Hawks get no leeway whatsoever. It is what it is though. I'd love to see if bringing in Shaq would help a little to change the perception. Or will the apathy toward Atlanta's best pro sports team continue. Oh I forgot . . . the Braves are finally winning in the regular season again . . so people will hype them up over the Hawks as well.

So as long as the owner is "fan friendly", and the team stays OK . . .then everything is all good with the Falcons I guess. It's just a different level in expectations between the two franchises. The Hawks were terrible, then improved dramatically, and fans are apathetic toward them because they're not a great team. But the Falcons, as long as they appease the fans, can get away with being mediocre.

Soth . . and how has that translated to the success of the Falcons? Because at the end of the day, that's what it's all about. Shoot . . . the Knicks owner spends "gobs of money". But until it translates into more regular season wins and playoff appearances, his spending is all for naught. I'm not defending the ASG by any stretch of the imagination. I'm just wondering where all of the love for Blank is coming from, seeing that the Falcons, by most NFL standards, is a mediocre football team. Fact is . . over the last 5 years, the Hawks have been a much more successful franchise in ATL, than the Falcons.

Quesiton to you ATLiens. Fans praise Blank to no end in ATL . . . but what has Blank actually done for the Falcons, outside of setting up that entertainment / food court outside of the GA Dome? A lot of you act like Blank is spending money left and right on the players that he wants. But the only real commitment he's ever done, was give Vick all of that money. We're talking about a Falcons team that has won 10+ games only 2 times in 11 years. And they just had their first back to back winning season. In essence, the Falcons haven't done any more than the Hawks have during that time frame. So what does Blank ACUTALLY do, to gain so much admiration from the fan base?

Because when fans don't like a player, they need a reason to justify their "hate".

So let's see. You want him to basically take 30 million less a year, making him sign a 6 yr - 90 or 95 million dollar deal ( 15 - 16 million a year ). Nine . .. even you wouldn't do that. Especially when one of those desperate teams would've given JJ a 5 year - 100 million deal in a heartbeat ( and possibly frontloaded the contract ). Fans kill me, acting like the difference in millions of dollars is nothing. I thought the ASG might be able to secure JJ for 6 yrs - 105 to 110 million. But they didn't want to take a chance and not lose him, because they knew they couldn't replace him with a player of his caliber. And even if JJ gave back 5 million per year on his deal, we're still over the salary cap. If JJ made 11 million per year next year, we'd still be over the cap, and couldn't spend more than the MLE to sign a center.

Exactly. Where's Exodus at? I'm sure he's not shedding any tears about Chill being officially gone from the Hawks. Chill was a nice player. He was great to have for our running game. But since Chill has left, the Hawks have seen their win total increase by 16 games in 2 years. Chill obviously doesn't want to play here, so I'm cool with just letting him go. He was not signing that QO, just to make maybe 3 million of the 4.8 million after taxes.

But Chill is NOT signing a QO. That's the point. He's not coming back here, and will not sign a cheap QO just so we can deal him to someone else. He'll go right back to Greece and make more money. I personally have no problem with simply letting the dude walk, just to get his cap hold off the books. But we did at least get something of "value" for him. If memory serves me correct, we acquired Flip Murray for less than 2 million ( not via trade, but he was a low salaried player ).

T-Mac? The guy who shot 39% FG with the Knicks last year? No thanks.

Exactly. Chill was never coming back here. So getting anything for him would be a plus. With the trade exception, we can go out and get a player that would've cost more than the MLE . . . or a couple a decent players at MLE level or less. IF Sund uses the TE, this is a good deal for Chill.

Don . . did you see T-Mac play last year? The guy is a shadow of himself. He was a guy that always used his athletic ability to get himself anywhere he wanted on the court. He was never a great shooter. More like a streak shooter. The injuries have taken a dramatic toll on his overall game, pretty much limiting him to a below the rim player that settles for jumpshots. He's never been a good enough shooter to be that type of guy. He shot 39% FG and 24% 3FG in NY last year. The only thing he did better than Marvin, was pass the ball. Otherwise, Marvin was the better player last year. T-Mac's only chance to be a starter, or even a contributor in this league, is to become a good spot-up shooter . . . something he's never been. There's a reason why T-Mac hasn't even been rumored in any deal, despite him being an unrestricted FA. Don't be surprised if he ends up in Miami for the league minimum, just so he can have a chance to win a title. But for the most part, T-Mac is DONE. He had a good career, even though he never could get his team past the 1st round in the playoffs. He's nowhere near worth the MLE right now.

I think summer league definitely means something . .. if you suck in it. Good players aren't supposed to suck in Summer League. At the very least, they supposed to look like they belong in the leauge, but just need some fine tuning to their game.

Well Joe Crawford straight up balled at the Orlando Summer League. So hopefully Jordan will have some of his game. As for Orton, he definitely sucked. He shot 15% FG. . . as a Center. I mean, how do you even do that? He had more fouls than points. Incredible. But this is NOT a deep draft. Those big guys that went in the 2nd round are just about all going to suck. LOL . .they may not suck as bad as Orton, but make sure you look at some of their stats this time next week.

This is what I was trying to tell people. Miami will have no problem whatsoever filling out that bench with vets who know how to play. People quickly forget that Flip Murray was basically a vet minimum guy. All the Heat need to acquire, are speecialty type players that do ONE thing particularly well. He could be simply a shooter . . or a rebounder . . or an on the ball defender . . or a shot blocker . . or any type of skill. As long as the 3 stars stay relatively healthy, they're going to be a good team. A REAL GOOD TEAM. They may not win it all, but they'll be right there. Make no mistake . . the Hawks WILL have to worry big time about this team.

And with that mindset, we won't get past whomever in the 2nd round, because we decided to take the less talented player. This team needs a guy who will mix it up in the paint on both ends . . . not an inefficient shooting pick and pop guy. While both guys were great defensively last year in Cleveland, Shaq is by far the better offensive player. Big Z shot terrible last year, while Shaq was stll a very efficient bruiser on the inside. Shaq put up better PER 36 numbers than Horford did last year. Shaq is the better player, and the bigger box office draw. If The ASG, Sund, and Drew are "afraid" of Shaq's personality . . it simply means that this organization and the fans aren't ready to compete for a spot in the NBA Finals yet.

A lot of it depends on Teague. If he's going to be the starter, he at least is going to have to prove that he can run and defend at the point guard position for at least 20 minutes a night. Also, Jamal Crawford had a career year with us. Was it a fluke, or was it the effect of playing with all around better players? And the big question, does Drew's offensive system make us a better team? And if it has problems, do we go back to what worked for us last year? ( As much as people hated the ISO offense, a lot of the times, our ability to ISO was our strength. . . see Boston ) I still believe this still a top 10 team in the league, regardless if we add anybody or not. But adding a big man ( Shaq ) would help.

This is the ultimate test for that Cleveland fan base. When I went on my rant asking if we ( Atlanta Hawks fans ) are a "Championship Level Fan Base", this is the type of situation in which a true "Championship Level Fan Base" would NOT turn its back on the team . . even if the star leaves. It is imperative that the city of Cleveland continues to support the Cavs with the same enthusiasm that they supported them when they had Lebron in the mix. And that means that they have to CONTINUE to go to the games, regardless of what happens. This is definitely tough for that city, because Lebron was pretty much the economic engine spurring on the economic growth in downtown. Cleveland has to take a page from Chicago and NewYork right now. The only way they're going to get through this, is to become a UNITED FORCE that stands behind that team . . regardless of what happens. If they do that, and they're able to get themselves in position to get a star player that can get them back to contender level, they just may be able to overcome this. We will see now who are true Cavs fans . . . or who were simply Lebron fans.

This was what I was about to point out. Even if Lebron went to the Knicks or Nets or Bulls, the Cavs could be like . . . "ok . . well give us some pieces we can work with, or some expiring contracts." But Miami has absolutely nothing to send Cleveland . . . they even just traded Michael Beasley to Minnesota, so the Cavs couldn't even get him in return. The got NOTHING. The biggest star in the league, and he simply leaves you high and dry. That's why the owner is pissed. And it's a situation for them in which they KNOW that good free agents don't necessarily want to play there ( kind of like Atlanta ). So they'll either have to overpay somebody, or sign a bunch of lower level players. And a lot of good players have already been gobbled up. They couldn't focus on other players, because their entire focus had to be on Lebron. The one good thing they have going for them is that Byron Scott won't let that team quit one bit. Personally, if I were them, I'm calling Golden St TOMORROW, and see if they would take Delonte West, Anthony Parker, and Sebastian Telfair ( all expiring contracts ) . . for Monta Ellis. At least then, the Cavs could have a star player to team with Jamison to give that team a fighting chance to secure a playoff berth. LOL . . the entire situation is bad. They may need riot police when Miami plays their first game in Cleveland. Having said that, I definitely appreciate a low key star like Joe Johnson even more now, when I see stuff like this play out. He played it cool the entire free agency period, and really didn't make a big deal out of it throughout the season last year. No playing for the cameras. No interviews. None of that crap. He simply let the teams woo him, weighed his options, and made a decision 2 days later.

This is why I'm not mad at the Hawks one bit for giving JJ the contract that they did. If we'd flinched even a little, JJ was gone . . and all of those fring replacements that people brought up ( Salmons, Haywood, etc ) would've been priced right out of our MLE range. We would've been weakened . . . while Miami, NY, Chicago, and Milwaukee all got stronger. And we'd still have to deal with Boston and Orlando. And Charlotte would have us dead in their sights. This was NOT the summer to be playing around with people, trying to negotiate the best deal. There are/were too many buyers out there, willing to pay whatever it took to get the guy that they wanted. Well folks . . . it's official NUCLEAR WAR IN THE SOUTHEAST DIVISIOM

Bus . . I think he's talking about last regular season, in which Miami blew us out twice, and beat us a 3rd time, to go 3 - 1 against us. Miami will have no problem filling out a decent roster, with or without Lebron. Without Lebron, they can bring in 2 or 3 guys that make 4 mill per year. They have 2 decent frontline prospects as draft picks. Dexter Pittman is a 300 lb dude that they can stick in the middle to take up space. Jarvis Varnado is a skinny PF that is the all-time leading shot blocker in NCAA history ( that's the guy I wanted the Hawks to take ). And they reportedly have a deal on the table for Mike Miller ( 5 yrs - 28 mill ) Just keep in mind that a guy like Flip Murray was basically a low salary guy for us. And he dang near turned out to be the 6th man of the year for us back in 08 - 09. Are the Heat better than us? LOL . . even though Wade has had our number recently, I'll say no. But depending on the type of vets they can add, they could be close . . . real close.

That's hilarious. GP and C-Webb rival Kenny and Charles on TNT,when it comes to comedy.