Packfill

The lack of EXPERIENCE and reliance on POTENTIAL is the rosters primary weakness.

That is a load od BS and you know it. They made the decision to allow the assistants to interview for other jobs which can only mean that they made the decision to allow them to leave - only to change their mind later on. Plus, it is the captain that goes down with the ship, not the crew. If the assistants are lucky enough to go to a ship that is not taking on water then they should be given that opportunity. You are potentially damaging their career opportunities by forcing them to stay an additional year with almost zero chance of being signed to a new contract in the end.

This is by far the worst ownership situation in professional sporting history. Total embarassment to the city and franchise.

Total bush-league move by BK and the Hawks management. Another great day to be a Hawks fan!

I agree, Roy would have been perfect for Charlotte. I think the success of both Charlotte and Atlanta will be largely dependent on the development of each teams young point guard. Felton still needs alot of work and Law is a rookie, so only time will tell. I also think it is hard to tell how good these teams will be if they can't keep their players healthy. Both franchises and horrible health last year.

Definitely Derrick Coleman. That guy had all world physical and basketball talent/skill but lacked the mental capacity to realize his potential. Stanley Roberts is another guy that had great skill as an offensive post player but could never get his life and weight under control.

I think they envision Jason Smith playing some power forward. He is supposed to be quite athletic. That said, they could be angling to have assets to trade as part of a sign and trade during next summers free agent period. My sense is that they have loaded up on swingmen in the past two drafts in the hopes that one of them breaks.

Why do you consider Philly's draft a joke? They got Thad Young, Jason Smith and Byers. That seems like a talented group to me. You factor in how well they played after the AI trade, a decent mix of vets and kids and they are definitely in the playoff picture for the East (which granted is not saying much).

Quote: My ideal lineup for the Hawks next season - list by mpg at each position not level of play: Law/Speedy/AJ/Lue JJ/Chill/Salim Marvin/Chill/Josh Smith Josh Smith/Shelden Williams/Al Horford Al Horford/Zaza Pachulia/Shelden Williams Deep bench/inactive/trade bate: AJ-Lue (one or the other is trade bate as a desirable bench player and expiring salary), Lorenzen Wright (rooted to bench), Solomon Jones (gets significant minutes only with an injury). Things are looking better in the ATL! I don't know if that is ideal but it is probably the best the Hawks have. I would probably flip Marvin and Chill but it doesn't matter that much.

Quote: I really hope they don't budge and force him to choose between not being in the NBA (for at least 2 years) and going to Milwaukee. Incoming draftees can't have this power or the smaller teams will never compete. Not to mention that he's so unproven. Agreed. He should ge black balled from the NBA if he refuses to play for the Bucks. The same thing should have happened to Francis.

Horford has alot of upside. He should be a good player for the Hawks. Whether he is better off at power forward or center in the long term is another question which depends in large measure on the nature of competition.

I think Law is going to be crucial because one of the Hawks' biggest problems on offense is the lack of easy baskets - the Hawks desperately need a point guard who can create easy scoring opportunities for all the athletes on the team.

Quote: Quote: I guess that makes up for.... Childress over Deng, Iguodala, and Al Jefferson MW over (insert point guard here) Shelden over Roy, Foye Then again, no it doesn't. chill provides more 'wins' than deng/iggy Did you watch the playoffs? Deng carried Chicago. They WON a playoff series! The Hawks have won 70 total games during Chills tenure with the Hawks.

Quote: I couldn't agree more. There are a lot of GMs that would line up to get this job just based on the talent that BK has put into place and the flexibility he has given the team. Unlike other teams, you haven't seen Billy Knight go out and give these high priced contracts to players that will never be good enough to warrant those deals. Look at Cleveland. They are now regretting giving Larry Hughes that contract and are trying to trade him. Seattle is looking to deal Luke Ridnour one year after signing him to an extension because they want to get out from under that contract. Billy wisely waited to spend his money on a legitimate player, and he got Joe Johnson. Luke Ridnour's contract is substantially similar to the one BK gave Speedy Claxton. Is Speedy good enough - or healthy enough - to warrant his contract?

I am not sure where the Hawks rank in terms of talent (that is very subjective), but absent significant injury, I think we should be disappointed with anything less then a winning season and a playoff appearance.

Quote: That just shows that Jerry doesn't get out himself and do the leg work. He likes to sit back in his office and believe that just because he is Jerry West, things will automatically happen. The guy is the most overrated GM in basketball, but you will never see any of the talking heads criticize him. He won with Billy's players, and after he traded them off, he had the worst season in the NBA. You keep saying that West won with BK's players but that is a complete fallacy. Yes BK drafted Gasol and Battier but that team doesn't win anything without West coming in and righting the ship - he had to make over the rest of the roster. Biggest thing he did was obviously hiring a competent coach. Then bringing in Posey (who had a career year that year), trading for Miller, etc. All these moves made it possible for Memphis to win games. If BK remained at the helm that team would not have won anything. There is a reason BK has never presided over a winning team.

Well done but I am not sure what the point of this post is. Interestingly, the only guys appearing on that list who are close in dimensions to Horford are Bosh, Amare, Okafor and Brand.

Quote: No...quit assuming. Durant and Wright don't even play the same position, thats apples and oranges. JC and Conley do however. And they faced each other numerous upon numerous times. And JC was the better prospect. And their college stats are not that much different, despite Conley playing on a much better team. You don't think OSU would have been in the title game with JC? Not to bring up high school but...JC won a championship with D Howard in high school. But you know what, he took his time right back there without any help from a dominant big man. Conley however, has rode the shoulders of Oden, since high school to a #4 pick. Congrats to him. Aren't Durant and Wright both skinny power forwards? How else is Seattle's trade for Jeff Green explainable?

I think the only rationale for trading Childress is that he likely won't resign with the Hawks once his contract is done. Maybe things change but it appears the franchise is committed to Marvin as the starter so Chill may want the challenge of starting elsewhere. So in that sense, it would be wise to move him for something rather then lose him for nothing.

Leaving management and coaching aside, I think the biggest thing the Hawks need is experience. There is no substitute.

Quote: Quote: I consider Jason Terry more of a true PG then Acie Law sorry. Its safe to say that Baron Davis, Mike Bibby and Andre Miler has had more individual and team success than Terry. Wasn't Jason Terry college player of the year his senior season?

That is a horrible move by the knicks. They need defense not low post scoring.

Hawks had a solid draft. I will consider it a double. Problem is they have needed to hit a home run at least once in the past 4 years but haven't.

Gives me great comfort going into pick 11.

Allen, Pierce and Jefferson sure will fill up the scoreboard.