Packfill

Quote: I can see them offering Drew the HC job and trying to sell it as a "keeping the hire internal with a coach the players already respect and keeping a system the young players are familiar with" deal. Or offering it to a top NBA assistant who just wants his first HC job in the NBA. They are not going to spend real money on a real coach until the ownership situation is fixed. Look at how they handled the Thrashers after ousting Hartley. What "system" do the Hawks currently have?

I didn't see "new ownership" as an option. But that is the best place to start.

Quote: Quote: Anxious to see Larry Drew? Take a look at the Thrashers... sticking with an "internal coach" for the remainder of the season. Given the ownership situation, what credible coaching candidate would come here, only to potentially be fired the day after Belkin wins (if that happens)? That is basically the story so far on Woody. There was talk internally of giving him until the first of December or right after Thanksgiving. But the same problems remain: AS does not want to pay him to stay home if they fire him and most importantly they aren't going to spend the $$$ to bring in a real credible head coach like a Fratello. One of my sources told me that Rick Adelman's agent twice contacted Knight about a possible job. And both times the answer was no due to the ownership situation and Knight's inability to promise Adelman a stable front office and a stable job opp. The Spirit believes it will eventually get rid of Belkin and hold the team. And when that time comes then they will pursue a serious coaching candidate. From what I have been told several times over the years is that Woodson is a cheap fix and if they fire him they will just plant one of the assistants as the head coach. Unless the Spirit changes internally and is willing to spend some $$$ then we are stuck with Woodson or some other desperate-for-a-first-HC-job top NBA assistant coach hired to replace him. so in sum: Hawks have crap owners. Hawks have crap GM. Hawks have crap coach. Hawks have crap record. The sure don't make it easy to be a fan of this team.

Both need to be fired, about three years ago. If nothing else (and there are plenty of other reasons) BK goes deserves to be fired for hiring Woodson and retaining his services for as long as he has. BK has had the opportunity to hire a coach with two different franchises now and both times he got stinkers. BK probably has the worst winning percentage of any GM in NBA history given that his two coaches have had the worst and third worst winning percentages of all time. The real fundamental problem with the Hawks remains the ineffectualy ownership group. They have no clue and have allowed this franchise to exist under the spector of a law suit for too long.

Acie was supposed to be "ready" when they drafted him.

Quote: Looking at coaches who've managed to survive at least 200 games, these are the ones with the worst winning %: Sidney Lowe 25.7% Tim Floyd 28.0% Mike Woodson 28.2% Bill Musselmann 28.8% Woodson's 3-6 start has actually improved his %. For extra credit can anyone guess the name of the GM that has hired two of the worst coaches in NBA history?

I don't know about all that hyperbole but Yi has far exceeded my expectations, without a doubt. If he can develop any type of inside game watch out.

Quote: First. I feel like:

If I were GM I would have made some very different selections in the draft the past few years. That being said, if I am stuck with what the Hawks currently I wait until December or even the off-season so I can figure out what I have.

If we were talking about the Eric Snow from 5 years ago then signing him would make sense. The Eric Snow of today is way past his prime and probably not much more of a help then the second rate veteran point guards the team currently has.

That last picture in your signature is gut wrenching.

Quote: Will we ever "currently" have both? Probably not until the team gets a GM that considers those things important. His history, both in Atlanta and Memphis, suggests that he does not.

Well, since the team hasn't been winning for a decade now it is hard not to pick something to get excited about. For the past four years, all fans have had to look forward to is the development of the young players. Winning is still something that is not happening on a regular enough basis. Supposedly this is the year the team wins at least half its games, at least that is what I am hoping for (not that mediocrity is a great thing, but it beats bad).

What this team needs more than anything right now are two things: (1) Good coaching and (2) good point guard play. The Hawks currently have neither.

Fantastic. Smoove probably has some legit issues with Lue, since Lue doesn't really pass to anyone, but that kind of attitude is inexcusable. Someone needs to get control of the situation. Sit him on the bench if need be.

Given the still outstanding ownership mess I don't see any real coach agreeing to come in to replace Woody, which means it will be one of the assistants promoted to head coach. Not that the coaching can get much worse, but the reality is nothing is likely to happen until the end of the year.

Quote: Quote: I see Chris Paul had 21 assists last night . . . Then why don't you go be a Hornets fan Do you need a tissue?

I sure hope so, but with Woody at the helm it is more difficult to see that happening.

Next year. The team is still young, although I would argue they have the most experienced group of young players ever assembled, and it appears they will need more seasoning before becoming a credible playoff threat. That is disappointing because the organization has stated that this is the year. I would expect them to improve dramatically in the second half, maybe even getting an 8th seed - but would get bounced from the playoffs right away due. I think Horford is going to be a great addition. I definitely wanted Conley, but can't complain about Horford. Hopefully Law finally solves the huge hole this team has had at point guard for the past ten + years. I also think Woody has to go for the team to take the next step. Smoove probably has the most natural talent of anyone on the team - when you factor in passing ability, natural timing, athletic ability and assertiveness, if he could ever harness his talents fully it would be a sight to see. He probably would have benefited tremendously from a couple of years in a good college program with solid coaching.

I see Chris Paul had 21 assists last night . . .

Quote: Quote: Quote: You guys act like this is NBA Live or something, with the fatigue level turned off or something. Marvin played 26 minutes and he was fatigued? This is not about the 1st quarter. This is about Lue playing like crap and getting too many minutes; and Marvin being our leading scorer in the 1st half and only playing 10 minutes in the 2nd half. Buzz . . the people on this thread were complaining first about Marvin being taken out of the game in the 1st quarter, when he had the hot hand. Now if you want to switch this to Lue getting 25 minutes tonight, that's a different story. No way he should've gotten that many minutes, shooting like that. If his offensive game isn't on, he doesn't need to be out on the floor. And I'll also agree that Marvin should've been put in that game way earlier in the 4th quarter, even with 5 fouls. But when it comes to Marvin being subbed out of a game in the 1st quarter, it's an issue not really getting all up in arms about. The bigger issue is why Marvin's teammates seem to be almost freezing him out in the 2nd half of these games? Or why Woody isn't calling individual plays for Marvin in the 2nd half? News flash: Woody's only offensive scheme is give the ball to JJ or, failing that, whomever happens to be standing at the top of the key and hope for the best.

Quote: Quote: The other I like a lot: JJ, Chillz, Marv, Smoove, Horford I think this lineup would be scary to a lot of opponents. Some would be fast enough to blow by and some could post us up all day, but most teams would have difficulty both scoring on this team and defending it. Why would teams have difficulty scoring against that line-up? None of those guys are great defenders. Every point guard in the league not named AJ could easily blow right into the lane.

Quote: Quote: Superior coaching is also needed. Well, I think we may need a plan B, if that's the case.... If the team wants to win a championship then it is pretty obvious a coaching change will need to be made.

I think the Hawks need to play like the Pistons if they want to win a championship because they do not have a Duncan/Shaq/Jordan/Hakeem type of dominator. In other words, they need to play solid team basketball with contributions up and down the roster, play tough defense and generally be smarter then the opponent. Superior coaching is also needed.

Quote: He is reasonably quick but I attribute it more to savvy and length. His wingspan is something like 7 feet so he can play off of smaller player a bit and still challenge their shot and can get his hands up to challenge larger players as well. Hopefully Marvin will one day learn to use his 7' plus wingspan for something.