Packfill

Quote: Quote: Um, rookies Horford and Law. Don't you think the Hawks are relying on them this season? I do. Same with "young veterans" Smoove, Childress, Marvin, Sheldon, etc. So trade Law and Horford for aging veterans? I don't understand you! The players that will be counted upon will be the guys that were playing last year not the rookies. The rookies are for support! Speedy, Joe, Marvin, Smoove, Zaza are the starters! Childress, Lue, Shelden are 1st off the bench then Law, Solomon, and Horford. So again, who do you want to trade for an aging veteran? Swing and a miss. I never said anything about an aging veteran. I said they need more veterans if they are going to win consistently. It is no secret that veteran teams do better then inexperienced teams in the NBA. If you read what I wrote they need to figure out which of the young guys are keepers and then trade the rest for veteran help. Every team does this when they reach a point where they are ready to "win now."

Quote: Get a national TV game before we do... Wednesday 12/19/07 7:00 PM Utah vs. Charlotte I don't know about you guys...but this pisses me off. And I hope it pisses off the damn team. I know MJ is part owner now and I know they added Jason Richardson...but, they haven't done JACK. If it sounds like i'm hating...I am! Maybe we'll get some TNT love or something??? Seeing that ruined my day! What's the criteria for going National??? They did have a better record then the Hawks last year, so I am not sure why they shouldn't get a national TV game before the Hawks..

Quote: Quote: BK's continued plan to rely on rookies and young veterans as opposed to established veterans. I don't know what rookies you are refering to and which young veterans you want replaced for old veterans but the guys most people are waiting for like josh Smith seem to be untouchables. Other than he and Marvin Williams, who are you talking about? Um, rookies Horford and Law. Don't you think the Hawks are relying on them this season? I do. Same with "young veterans" Smoove, Childress, Marvin, Sheldon, etc.

I really think it is hard to guess how good or bad the Hawks will be this season because of BK's continued plan to rely on rookies and young veterans as opposed to established veterans. Hopefully this is the last year of rebuilding and the Hawks will make moves at mid-season or after this season to bring a better balance of experience and youth to the roster with the goal of winning games rather then developing talent. At some point, play time has to be over. Like a lot of people, I am frustrated with how long this is taking and the many missteps along the way.

Quote: If the expected trade goes thru, making at least one team an almost instant favorite to win it all in the east, then we must reasonably assume that the west just became weaker. Unless, both teams really got better because of the trade. Did that happen? I believe the team in the east traded the future, which will make their trading partner better eventually, for the "Right now" improvement that they gain. Gotta like the "Instant" contender. Lots of very good vet players, just past their prime but with plenty of fuel left in the tank for a couple more years. Now their biggest worry has to be, keeping all these older guys healthy and making sure they stay happy, (chemestry) for the next couple of years. Hawks may loose more eastern games due to this, but we must remember, if this team is winning, someone has to be loosing and it may be the team in front of us. Also, if the west is weaker, we have a better chance of winning these games, so it all works out. GO HAWKS !!!!! Well, I don't think the West is losing at sleep since the Wolves didn't even make the playoffs last year.

Quote: They have Perkins, Big Baby, Lowe and Scalabrini to pair with Garnett in the post too. Rondo / Pruitt (USC rookie) Allen / T. Allen Pierce / Gomes / Wallace Garnett / Big Baby / Lowe /Scalabrini Perkins / Garnett Looks like they ship out Jefferson, Ratliff, Green, Telfair, future 1st. They may have to invlolve a little more salary to = Garnett's contract. Rondo's perimeter defense is great compliment to Allen and Pierce's offense. Mike Wilks, B. Knight, and Dee Brown are some veteran PGs still left in free agency for cheap to help Rondo stabelize the PF position. B. Knight could really run that team well while being a great tutor for Rondo. As long as Ray, Pierce and KG commit to team ball that is a solid team. Rondo, Perkins, Gomes and co. just need to play tough defense. Brevin Knight would be an excellent signing for that team.

Quote: Not sure every team feels like they improved. Seattle is essentially rebuilding for example. Last year Detroit lost Ben Wallace, and replaced him with Nazr, not an improvement. Things don't always work out as planned, but it seems like we've added some good players. Injuries should be less of a factor, so we should improve. Here's a good question. Remember Big Dog? Across the league who is this year's acquisition that will submarine his team? I don't know if he submarine's his team since they were bad to begin with, but I think the Knicks acquisition of Randolph doesn't help them in the win column unless they make some other moves to bring in a defensive minded big man to team with Randolph. Curry, obviously, isn't that guy.

A number of the posters on this site believed the team was playoff caliber last year but for the injuries, so this year there should be no excuse. Of course, the same people will probably still raise the "too young" excuse again.

I agree that BK should have been fired already. That said, if the team doesn't make the playoffs, and he is signed to a new contract after this season, then it will be a further blight on this franchise.

At the end of the day, the Hawks drafts will only be as good as the team is. If the team fails to make it to the playoffs (hopefully this season but without a doubt they better make it by next season) then it was a waste of draft capital. Basically, this is BK's last stand. If the team stinks and wins 30-something games and misses the playoffs then he is gone (assuming the inept ownership can at least do that).

I don't think Lue has any clue how to run a team.

Quote: Quote: Best case scenario is that the entire team is sold to a third party. As long as the third party isn't ASG or Donald Sterling version 2.0. I would be willing to take my chances as of now just to get out from the legal restrictions and get this team operating on a level playing field again. Since the Hawks currently have the worst ownership situation in professional sports history it is hard to believe and new owner could be worse. Donald Sterling would be an improvement.

Best case scenario is that the entire team is sold to a third party.

If the Spirit Group lose then it seems they may have a strong malpractice claim against King & Spaulding. Really poor drafting on their part. I would get reemed if I gave a draft with such lose language to one of the partners I work with.

Quote: .....Larry Drew's son is a high school senior point guard out in California. I am bringing this up because there was some speculation that the reason Drew wanted the Sacramento job was so he could see his son play. Well, Larry Drew Jr. committed to North Carolina on May 23rd. Had Drew taken that job, he'd only have the one year to see his son play. With his son coming to North Carolina, Larry will get more opportunities to see him in college while staying with the Hawks. What are the chances Woodson and his assistants are signed to new contracts after this season to keep them in Atlanta? Drew wanted to leave to get some job security with a more stable franchise, to see is son play his senior year of high school was a bonus.

No doubt. The team actually won some games during the TW era and wasn't the laughing-stock of the league.

Quote: Give me Isiah. Isiah would be great with the Hawks budget because he would not be able to trade young talent for big salaries. Almost all of his trades suck but he has done a remarkably good job unearthing quality NBA talent in the later portions of the draft.

I year at $4 million is a good deal for NJ, they need another veteran big man in the hopes of making some noise in the playoffs. It is not much of a signing, but for insurance purposes it makes sense for them.

Is $50 million realistic in terms of a new deal for Smoove? If he improves only a little from last year, then he is an 18 pt, 9.5 rebound, 3 block, 3 assist guy. Those types - particularly when they are still very young and raw - get big money tossed their way. JJ got a max offer from the Hawks and never averaged more then 17 points a game (albeit on a better team so his 17 may be more meaningful). Seems like he could get a max deal offered to him if he becomes a restricted free agent next year, particularly if he has a good year. $50 million would be a bargain.

Quote: I think Shelden is a 13-15/8-11 guy in the NBA for a long, long time...not to mention being a very solid post defender, screener and leader... He was a bit of reach at 5, I agree, But once the word got leaked BK didn't really have much bargaining power at that point...BK shot himself in the foot by letting it leak out. However, I think in the end he did the right thing by drafting the guy he wanted. Since the Hawks have now drafted Horford I question whether Sheldon will get the minutes to put up the type of numbers you are suggesting. I am not saying he can't given the minutes, just that it is unlikely he gets a consistent 30 minutes a night now with Horford.

This team desperately needs better coaching and more experience. I doubt ownership/management steps-up to the plate on either account.

Quote: Quote: I don't really care how the individual stats play out personally. Big Dog, Reef, Ratliff, & JT filled up the stat sheet but could not win squat. I agree I'd rather see this stat: 44-38 That would be awesome. Not sure it is realistic, but it would be awesome.

Quote: Quote: I realize the Bulls are a playoff team, but they still have one of the best collections of young talent in the league: Hinrich/Duhon[?] Gordon/Sefelosha [sp] Deng/Nocioni Thomas Noah But the scary thing is we even match up with the most talented young team in the league in Chicago if Law and Williams match Hinrich and Deng which is not as realistic as you may think considering the talent of those two young guys. Also although we don't have the depth at PG, we got them beat at depth overall with Shelden, Solomon, Zaza, Childress, and Salim. I think having great depth in terms of young talent is nice, but if the Hawks ever want to contend they will have to replace some of that young talent with veterans. The Bulls, as an example, have the veteran front court players who have been through the playoffs before to aid in the youngsters progress. Maybe they use this year to figure out what they have and then fine tune things next year with a veteran free agent or veteran through a trade to help add experience. In the end, the most important thing is winning. A great young nucleous is meaningless if it never results in a competitive team. At some point the Hawks need to make the transition from rebuilding to competing. Hopefully that time is soon.

I realize the Bulls are a playoff team, but they still have one of the best collections of young talent in the league: Hinrich/Duhon[?] Gordon/Sefelosha [sp] Deng/Nocioni Thomas Noah

Until BK's "vision" wins some games it is kind of hard to praise him. Realistically, if you are bad enough over long enough a period of time such that you are in position to accumulate 7 first round draft picks, including 5 lottery selections and 4 top 6 picks in a five year stretch you better have some good young talent on your roster.