Packfill

Quote: Am I the only person here that is completely against adding any more soft jumpshooting big guys?..I have no interest in David Anderson or any other eurotype big men..We need a tough defensive pressence inside..We have Zaza who is about as tough as any euro gets, we need a compliment to his skills. Agreed. From what I read Bargnani is a tall small forward type so not sure he fits here anyway.

That's the whole thing, Jaric is a decent enough player but given his salary and the fact that he has limitations as a point guard, he is not enough of an upgrade to trade for and to waste cap space on.

If Jaric was any good he would not be losing playing time to Marcus Banks - who couldn't beat out Delonte West or Orien Greene. Jaric is a poor man's JJ, without the steady jumper. He does not fit a need. Griffin is a head case bench player, who is duplicative of Josh Smith. If the Hawks are going to trade Al why not trade him for something the team really needs like a starting caliber point guard, starting caliber center, or young developmental prospect to fill either of the two aforementioned positions.

No. Neither player are difference makers and no sense clogging up cap space with guys who really are bench players.

Good coaching helps too.

What is wrong with Delk is that he is not a good player. He is a dime a dozen undersized shooting guard.

If that is the case we have developed a nice core of swingmen and just need some big men and point guards to complete the puzzle. We are a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the bread - tasty sure, extremely messy, but not satisfying.

It is not very informative. In a nut shell, Marvin is a disappointment based on his draft position (but he things he has potential) and Salim is a "surprise" because he is a second rounder who will definitely have a decade long career because of the niche he fills - i.e., shooter. Oh, and Paul is far and away the cream of the crop.

Please send me some of whatever you are smoking.

I don't think Zaza is one of the top 5 candidates for that award.

If they dump Theo and Patterson, who do they have left making any real coin - other then Randolph and Miles? Randolph has a max contract and Miles has a large one, but otherwise isn't their roster entirely made up of young players: Outlaw, Telfair, Blake, Jack, Monia, Kryapa, Webster, etc.

I am sure BK has a plan. Of course that plan probably involves acquiring another 6'9" player.

Well this is probably a good thing as the Hawks can give more playing time to Ivey and Salim to see if they have the ability to be more than back-ups.

Quote: It helps Dallas to get Al because it would give them a 2nd top notch post scorer, but also a guy who can step out and hit the 3 when he is on. They have been dying for a guy to be able to score on the low block for years to team up with Dirk and this would finally enable that. Stack can play the 2 for them and provide the outside and mid range game. This makes no sense for Dallas. They have plenty of scorers, they need defense and we know Al does not help them in that regard. In addition, I am fairly certain that Dallas is very happy with their current starting small forward - Josh Howard. No way they give up that athleticism and backcourt depth for Al.

Quote: In the 2006-2007 season, 40-45 wins will be a reasonable expectation, IMO, as well as a playoff push. Progress. I just wanted to take the opportunity to call you a hypocrite. A few weeks ago you called me a "moron" for suggesting those very same expectations for next year.

So what? That doesn't make him one of the best UNC players of all time, just one of the best freshmen. No one is arguing that he was a good freshman, just that his limited stay at UNC did not result in a body of work that warrants his inclusion on the list of all-time UNC greats.

Quote: His freshman numbers on a per 40 minute basis, compared to their per 40 minute numbers, were the best out of all of them. If he had stayed at NC for three years, he may have gone down in history at the greatest player to ever play at North Carolina, and that's saying something. BTW, his per 40 numbers at NC as a freshman was 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. Jordan only averaged 17.5 points per 40 minutes as a true freshman. Per 40 minute numbers do not in any way equal to real world accomlishments of the many great players that played for UNC. Do not belittle their accomplishments with some trivial argument about how Marvin is the greatest player of all time.

Quote: Quote: I think you might get some different opinions on that from guys named Jordan, Worthy, Dougherty, Perkins, Carter, Jamison, Stackhouse, Wallace, etc. Actually it's completely factual that he's their best ever freshman on a per 40 minute basis. Best player? no. Best freshman? probably not. Best freshman per 40? Certainly We can only speculate as to how well he would have done with more minutes though KB claimed he was one of UNC's best players ever, that is what I was refering to. No way do his per 40 minute number equal the real contributions those other guys made to that program.

Horrendous trade by NY.

Quote: You just proved my point. Marvin brings everything to the table, relative to skill set, that Jamal Mashburn brought to the table, and Marvin adds elite level athleticism and super length to the equation. Marvin also put up the greatest freshman per 40 minute numbers in North Carolina history, so he can be considered one of their best players of all time. I think you might get some different opinions on that from guys named Jordan, Worthy, Dougherty, Perkins, Carter, Jamison, Stackhouse, Wallace, etc.

Quote: I posted not long ago that a veteran coach like Mike Fratello might have 3-4 more wins at this point than Mike Woodson does right now with this team. How long have I been stressing that this is all part of the natural progress a young team makes. For those that haven't noticed, the Hawks have matched last season's win total, and it isn't even the All-Star break yet. The Hawks are on pace to win around 23 games, which is a 10 game improvement over last season. I believe the Hawks will probably end up somewhere between 25-30 wins, which would be a truly astonishing turn around from last season. You can take a look at the history of the NBA and see that teams rarely have 10+ game turnarounds from one season to the next. San Antonio (35 and 36 game improvements), Cleveland (18), Denver (26), Phoenix (33), NO(on pace for big improvement), Miami (17 game improvement 2 years in a row), Chicago (24) are some recent examples, so I don't think going from historically awful (13 wins) to just plain bad (25-30 wins) is very meaningful until we see if the team makes additional strides towards being competitive next year.

I imagine there is but the chances are very slim given that the team should be significantly better next year because of (1) the experienced gained by the rookies and second year players and (2) further reinforcements brought in through the draft and free agency. I think it is reasonable to expect major improvements from the team given those factors. If they don't then Oden becomes a possibility, but that would mean three years of rebuilding would result in no improvement.

We might as well stop talking about Oden because the only way he becomes a Hawk is if the team tanks next season, which is unlikely to happen assuming some modest roster improvements this off-season.

My only problem with Bargnani is that his game, despite his height, seems more perimeter oriented which means he is really a small forward. The Hawks have enough small forwards and it would be a mistake to take another.

I can somewhat appreciate what Hots is saying. I was as positive as anyone until this summer (go back and check my posts if you want) when BK lost his marbles. I just have been very disappointed with the way the team and organization have been put together. I understand that Rome was not built in a day but the Hawks are still lacking in the two most critical areas on the floor (the positions that arguably take the longest to develop - center and point guard) and all 3 of the first round draft picks in the past two years have been used on players who play the same position. In addition, the coaching and defensive effort is terrible. There hasn't been an NBA champion in over twenty years that lacked good interior defense and yet the Hawks have not addressed this area - unless Josh Smith can harness his raw athleticism into something more than a weak side shot blocker. As fans we need to question the direction the team is taking. I will give BK one more off season to put this team in the right direction, but if he pulls more of the "JJ is our point guard" type of BS then he has to go.