Packfill

Quote: Cool link, and very Encouraging!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow, if we can make the playoffs, doubly great seeing as Pheonix will be receiving our non lottery draft pick. Makes the Joe Johnson trade look even better. I bet Phoenix is hating that trade now, if for no other reason that they signed Diaw to that bloated contract! That stiff, even steve nash could only make him good for so long. Correct me if I am wrong but is Phoenix not one of the top teams in the league? Did they not make the playoffs last year? Was the reason they have not won a championship because they lacked perimeter scorers or did it have something to do with a lack of interior defense, which obviously JJ would have provided?

Quote: You continue to talk about the JJ trade while Colangelo was quoted since taking the Toronto job that he was instructed to “match” the Hawks offer by Sarver. What you fail to realize is that Marion is overrated. Sure he puts up great stats, but much like our local stst stuffer, his team is not convinced those stats are translating into victories at crucial times. Here’s what I recall from the ‘04-05 playoffs, JJ was a FAR superior clutch performer and game changer in that last playoff series than Marion. I’d bet a small fortune that if Nash were asked whom he would perfer, Marion or JJ, that he would choose JJ each and every time. I agree that the team could be better with better decisions. That is pretty obvious. But the fact still remains that other teams get to fix their mistakes (and each and every GM has their own list of mistakes) while we are stuck with the hand we dealt to ourselves. It’s simply not an even playing field. Could it be better sure. But are you telling me that the Hawks have been operating on a level playing field since August, 2005? Dumars dumped Darko, his mistake. He essentially traded the #2 pick (that could have been Carmelo, Bosh or Wade) for Rodney Stuckey. BRILLIANT. Mullin trades/buys-out all of his bloated salaries while taking back comparable money, we can’t do that. Orlando is the benefactor of a lucky ping-pong ball bounce. They have wasted 3 consecutive lottery picks and had a head coach reject them within 72 hours of signing a contract. But Dwight Howard (and a $100M+ contract for Lewis) have erased all of those errors. Bulls? This franchise traded Elton Brand essentially for PJ Brown. Needed a low post scorer and traded away Aldridge for Tyrus. Needed a big SG and turned away from B. Roy. Needed low post scoring and walked away from trades for Gasol (and possibly KG). Gave away Tyson Chandler for an ancient and undersized Ben Wallace. Lakers? Ask Kobe about his GM’s successes. Knicks? Let’s move on. Bobcats? Let’s move on. Portland? The new guy is the benefactor of an owner who bought out Steve Francis’ contract and has paid for several late 1st round picks in the past few years. Where’s our think-pocketed owner? Absolutely, BK could have done better. But he’s operating without a safety net and you seem determined to ignore the fat that we’re the only ones using a keyboard without a backspace or delete key. 29 other teams have that, we don’t. Was that written by an 8 year old? Half the teams the guy mentions have been in the playoffs since the 2005 draft. And BK does have a safety net in that he works for the least intelligent group of owners ever. Plus, does it matter who is better between JJ and Marion? Neither one has ever led a team to the playoffs.

Quote: if we had paul or deron, we wouldn't have Marvin, Shelden, Horford or Law if Law is 80% of paul/deron, then isn't an 80% paul/deron + marvin + horford + shelden better than a 100% paul/deron? also, deron wouldn't be doing as well in our 'system' as he does in sloan's...he'd still be GREAT and we'd love having him as our pg, but he wouldn't put up quite the numbers that he does That is a pretty stupid way of looking at things. And beyond that, so what? So they don't get Marvin - Paul/Williams are better and play a more important position anyway. So that means they don't get the 5 pick the next year - big deal, Sheldon stinks. Maybe they get the 10th pick and take someone like Rudy Gay, Ronnie Brewer or Hilton Armstrong or Paul Milsap in round two, all are better. Get to 2007 draft and you don't need Law so the only player you are missing is Horford, which is a loss but if you have Milsap you can take a flyer on a Sean Williams/Hawes type of guy. In the end, you are left with a better basketball team.

The wrong BK was fired!

Quote: beating the bad teams and winning on the road are two signs that we HAVE arrived course, the Hawks are schizo, so our biggest sign that we've arrived is a 1-2 month period of consistency Agreed.

I think after those first five, buys like Marvin, Josh, Rudy Gay, Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis and Ronnie Brewer enter the conversation.

Who are the five best players age 22 or younger in the NBA right now? My picks: Lebron James Dwight Howard Chris Paul Al Jefferson Loul Deng

Quote: I am getting tired of all of these stupid posts about trading Josh Smith for Gasol, Jermaine Oneal, etc. Bernie Mullins has stated publicly on the 680the fan (local station) that they are resigning Josh at the end of the season. Bernie stated "Josh Smith will become a Superstar in our league". If the CEO view Smoove as a superstar and said that the Hawks will match any offer in the summer, then why to people on this board assume that he will be traded. Steve Smith even stated that on 680 that he would trade other players (e.g. Childress, Shelden, ZaZa)before he would think about moving Josh due to his athleticisim and shot blocking. People assume that Gasol or JO already haven't been offered for Josh by Grizzlies or Pacers. The hawks could have easily traded Josh and the number 3 pick for Amare. Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Al Hoford will not be traded. They are all cheap (remember the lawsuit) and building blocks for this franchise. You are believing something Bernie Mullin said? That guy is a dolt and has a track record of saying one thing when reality proves to be vastly different. Plus, Bernie is essentially a taling head with no real authority at all within the organization.

In response to your question on Speedy: HE WILL NOT HELP THE HAWKS IN A MEANINGFUL WAY DURING THE TERM OF HIS CONTRACT BECAUSE OF INJURIES. Those are the facts, unfortunately. Once you accept them it is easier to just forgot he is on the roster.

Quote: Not only a coach but maybe even more so a legit "this is my team and I'm the captain" type of PG who could literally keep the ball out of Smooves hands outside of the paint. He could just say get your butt in the paint and I will get you the ball, if not you are going to do a lot of watching. This is how I feel about being a Hawks fan If only the Hawks had an opportunity to draft a true franchise point guard over the course of the past three years . . .

I don't think Josh Smith is a very good all-around defender.

Can you really call it "good defense" when both teams make very poor shot selections, usually without being forced into such shots, and neither team can hit the broad side of a barn? Was it good defense that made Heinrich toss away a fast break lay-up? I agree that rebounding is part of a teams defense because it involves positioning and effort, neither of which the Hawks do well. Let's face it, both teams were garbage last night. The Hawks were just a smellier version of garbage then the Bulls.

Quote: Hawks are a second half team. I think we're in good position right now. Good position? Getting outrebounded 2-1 is a good position to be in? If Chicago wasn't playing equally bad the Hawks the game would be over already. If Woody has any balls he opens the second half with Salim/West/Jones in place of JJ/Marvin/Smoove.

PATHETIC!!!! Both teams. All players. All coaches. The Hawks always seem to play down to the competition. It almost makes sense that they have a better shot of winning against good teams because those are the only games they show-up for. Five first round picks invested in forwards and this team still doesn't have anyone that can consistently score in the low post.

So Conley's injury is because he is small and Law's injury is just a freak occurrence. 70 games of Chris Paul per year would be better than 82 games from any current Hawk not named Joe Johnson.

Josh Smith has not received a lick of coaching since he arrived in the NBA. Neither have the other Hawk youngsters but at least they had the advantage of a year or more of solid coaching at the collegiate level. This is also exactly why this team needs an experienced point guard who can actually play. They need someone who takes charge of the ball. Some young guys like Chris Paul, or a young Jason Kidd can do that, but those types are hard to get (of course BK whiffed on that). This team needs a coach on the floor, because it is not getting any coaching from the bench. I just hope that Law grows into the role before it is too late to save the rest of the team.

Parker is toying with the Hawks.

Quote: Honestly I have no clue who will win. My homerism tells me that we can win because we have shown SIGNS of being better. My basketball knowledge side says we get beat by 15 points. Ginobli killed us last year, and we can't just focus on one guy. Agreed. San Antonio is the kind of veteran, well coached, fundamentally sound team that should steamroll the Hawks. Best chance for winning is if San Antonio is disinterested in the game. Biggest problem is the Hawks have absolutely no one to stop Parker from getting into the lane.

My biggest problem with Woody is the fact that he is a bad coach. I can see why the players like him - the guy lets them do whatever they want is is a push-over.

Quote: Quote: we are pretty good at blocking shot #1 in the league and #14 in the league in steals but we are #21 in the league in points allowed #25 in the league in forcing turn-overs #26 in the league in field goal percentage allowed #28 in the league in assist per game allowed These stat have to get better before we can start to win! what this means to me is that we have natural talent (blocks and steals are more geared to natural talent) but not coached defense (positioning, man defense). What it means is the Hawks have players who are willing to gamble, often resulting in easy buckets for the opposition when the gamble doesn't pay off. That and the fact that the team is poorly coached.

How long is Acie supposed to be out? I can't believe the Hawks season is once again riding on the play of a rookie. Just goes to show that three wrongs (Speedy, Lue and AJ) don't make a right (i.e., decent point guard). I notice Udrih is playing well in Sac-town.

I think at some level a players team needs to have success before the individual can be considered one of the best. Not that this applies to JJ, but lots of o.k. players but up really good stats on bad teams.

I think the reason Joe doesn't get alot of respect is because the team has been so terrible during his tenure here. If the team wins and becomes relevant again then he will suddenly gain much more respect.

Quote: LOL firing Billy for putting out a playoff talented team out there??? One bad draft, is a stupid excuse to fire someone, theres GM who have had way worst draft than Billy Knight. Not to mention, he had to do all of this, with the stupid ownership situation holding him back. Um, you do realize that Billy Knight is responsible for two of the worst coaches in NBA history? Does anyone honestly think that is coincidence? Does it take a rocket scientist to build a base of good young players when you have 5 lottery picks to work with, 4 of which were in the top 6?

Quote: They don't. Its just a soundbite they would use to explain why they hired yet another cheap assistant coach as opposed to spending real money to hire an experienced NBA coach like Fratello. This is why ownership is the first thing that needs to change. Get decent owners and the GM and coaching nightmares come to an end immediately.