Update From The Meeting With BK

[Lascar78]

Just a quick post because I have stuff to do, but I just got back from the game and went to the season ticket holders' meeting before the game and got to meet BK. As traceman said before he is a completely different person than when he talks to the media and answered everything quite honestly.

These are the main points you guys would want to know:

-BK has not shopped Al around. Many teams have called, he has basically told them we are not interested. BK's plan is to re-sign Al. The plan is to talk numbers in the offseason and hopefully work something out. Al is here to stay in BK's mind

- BK is completely focused on getting us a big man. He thinks this is far and away our biggest problem and will do what he can to get more size (not just height) in here ASAP. He said this many times. Big man big man big man.

-I asked him if he agreed with me that the need for a pure point is almost as important as our need for a big man, because the Joshes and Marvin are very talented but don't know how to get their shot off. First he said that if he could get his hands on a Nash or Kidd type player he definitely would, but that other than that, he was pretty much focused on a big, emphasizing that bigs were harder to find. Reading between the lines, he doesn't see a real need for a distributor at this time. This was quite disappointing to me.

-I also asked him why we didn't sign Curry after we brought him in, and whether it was because he was scared of the heart issue or scared of his work ethic. BK said "no I wasn't scared about his heart at all ... *awkward pause* ... yeah I was scared" (everyone laughs). Joking aside, he explained that the real problem was money. We really wanted him at a reasonable price, and Curry wanted the ridiculous deal he ended up getting with NY. I feel much better about us not getting him knowing that. BK understands how badly we need a big, but was not willing to completely break the bank for a risk

-Also of note, the hawks tried to bring David Anderson over this year , but CSKA offered him big bucks for this year so he chose to take the money for that year. They will try to bring him over next year, and he wants to play in the NBA. He pointed out that he is likely a backup in the NBA

- BK thinks that a young coach is the best fit for a young team , so they can identify and relate to their coach. This made no sense to me, but I get the feeling that if Woody is fired, it will be ownership's decision and not BK's anyhow.

There you have it... I might remember other stuff later. Very cool to meet him and have him be so frank.

[Gray Mule]

Thanks for sharing!!

[SouthernBred]

Did he say re-sign Al...wtf!!! Why on Earth are we gonna re-sign Al if we drafted Marvin. I am a very big Marvin Williams fan but, why in the h3ll did we draft him ahead of guards if Al is here to stay

[Dakin]

no way harrington re-signs unless its to trade him immediately afterwards

[Lascar78]

I don't know. I guess he must just look at it that we're accumulating the best talent and we can figure out who to ship (if anyone) later. He said that they could have gone with Paul or Deron and that they knew that they'd all be good players but they felt Marvin would be the star and that it shouldn't be judged 1/2 a season, you judge a draft after years.

He definitely said he was sure Marvin would be a starting SF in the NBA.

He definitely said he intended to try to keep Al, that he liked him, liked his family, had drafted him etc...

I suppose the only way that makes sense is if he sees Al coming off the bench (doubtful) or if he sees Al as a PF, which is where he's been playing anyway. In that case Smith is coming off the bench for the foreseeable future.

Of course it is still very very possible that Al wants way more money then we want to give him and that we end up doing a SNT. This is still what I see happening, but I didn't realize that their primary intent is really to keep him, and they haven't been shopping him. BK said he reads the Al trade rumors as they happen and that he laughs because it's news to him. But he did talk to Indy and they would trade Artest for Al but ATL wants nothing to do with Artest.

Oh by the way they talked about Chill's jumper and how they called it the flying elbow because he put his right elbow so far out. He said they were working on correcting that and that although it would never be the picture perfect J Marvin has, he is improving. He also mentionned that Marion is able to get his shot off with a low release, and that Rip Hamilton is the type of player they think Chill can become.

[Lascar78]

oh and he also went on at one point about how you can hardly ever get a franchise player through trades because teams don't let them go, so you have to take your best shots through the draft. Basically more explanation of the Marvin pick

[exodus]

Thanks for the info.

This just cements my opinion that BK will have to be fired for the Hawks to ever be good. Right now they are 28th in defense and also 28th in turnovers. If they keep Al and don't get a pg they will still struggle in both areas.

Everyone on this board with the possible exception of KB can see that the Hawks need a quality pg, both for offense and defense. The fact that he thought JJ could play the point and the fact that he still thinks they don't need a pg shows how clueless he is.

I can only hope that the owners know enough about basketball to see through his nonsense.

[mrhonline]

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Did he say re-sign Al...wtf!!! Why on Earth are we gonna re-sign Al if we drafted Marvin.

I am a very big Marvin Williams fan but, why in the h3ll did we draft him ahead of guards if Al is here to stay

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I think almost all of us are wondering that.

Paul/Deron + Al >>>>> Marvin + Al

[Nicholasp27]

ugh

i wanna trade al for a true point that can defend...that'll help our defense and our offense and our chemistry and our improvement and force woody's sub patterns to be better

then i wanna draft one of the rebounding defensive bigs

then i wanna get an experienced coach in here

i like what bk's moves have been in the past 23 months that we've been rebuilding, but i don't like his plans of not looking hard for a diamond in the rough pg and looking to resign al

hopefully some team will make him a Godfather request and he'll trade al

teams want artest and they'll get more desperate by the deadline...hopefully we can get some team to crack and offer up a good pg for al so they can get artest

[Final_quest]

I don't doubt anything Lascar said, but I also am not convinced that BK would not shop Al.

A GM cannot say that he's shopping a player like that. I don't care if the doors are closed, you don't say that. I won't believe it until Al signs on the dotted line.

All BK has to say is, "We wanted to resign Al, but we couldn't pass up this deal."

This will be quite an interesting off season.

[Seano]

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He definitely said he was sure Marvin would be a starting SF in the NBA.

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Wow, what a relief. **sarcasm**

There are 30 starting SF's in the NBA right now, some of them good- some not so good. As the second player taken in the draft, Marvin Williams had damn sure better be something more than just another 'starting SF'. The #2 pick, you need to get a star- not just a starting player. I would think that Billy Knight's expectations for Marvin would lie much higher than that. If not, then something is very wrong and Knight needs to be held accountable for that.

We as fans deserve way better than this. It's like a freaking Mickey Mouse show, or that movie Groundhog Day where the same things keep happening day after day after day in this endless loop. Our endless loop consists of stupidity, poor management, poor coaching, poor choices in personnel, the incompetence and futility just go on and on and on. It's terribly disheartening as a fan, and makes me feel there's a possibility that at some point I'll just say the hell with it and give up on the Hawks for good- because this is about as enjoyable and fulfilling as banging your head repeatedly against a brick wall. It's sickening what these fools have done and seem to still be doing to this franchise.

Anyways, that was interesting Lascar. Thanks for posting it.

[SouthernBred]

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He definitely said he was sure Marvin would be a starting SF in the NBA.

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Wow, what a relief. **sarcasm**

There are 30 starting SF's in the NBA right now, some of them good- some not so good. As the second player taken in the draft, Marvin Williams had damn sure better be something more than just another 'starting SF'. The #2 pick, you need to get a star- not just a starting player. I would think that Billy Knight's expectations for Marvin would lie much higher than that. If not, then something is very wrong and Knight needs to be held accountable for that.

We as fans deserve way better than this. It's like a freaking Mickey Mouse show, or that movie Groundhog Day where the same things keep happening day after day after day in this endless loop. Our endless loop consists of stupidity, poor management, poor coaching, poor choices in personnel, the incompetence and futility just go on and on and on. It's terribly disheartening as a fan, and makes me feel there's a possibility that at some point I'll just say the hell with it and give up on the Hawks for good- because this is about as enjoyable and fulfilling as banging your head repeatedly against a brick wall. It's sickening what these fools have done and seem to still be doing to this franchise.

Anyways, that was interesting Lascar. Thanks for posting it.

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Aint that the truth...

[SmooveTheFuture]

What did he say about Josh Smith???

[KB21]

BK will leave no stone unturned in his quest for a big man.

[Lascar78]

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What did he say about Josh Smith???

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nothing much really came up with him. BK didn't give a speech or anything, it wsa just right to questions as soon as he got there. Smith looks good so there were no questions about him.

At one point I remember him talking about how Josh was intentionally looking to dunk less and trying to establish a jumper. No new news on Josh basically.

[KB21]

The Hawks biggest need is a center that can play defense. That is very clear. We lead the league in lay ups allowed, and Josh Smith is the only player we have that has done a halfway decent job of defending in the post.

A good defensive center that can block shots and eat up double digit rebounds will make the biggest difference on this team. Teams like Detroit, Washington, San Antonio, Miami, Chicago, and Minnesota, among others, are proving that having the so called "true" point guard is an overrated thing. Teams can use motion offense and ball movement to overcome the lack of having a pick and roll type of point guard like John Stockton.

I'd rather have a good Penny Hardaway type of point guard that has length and can dominate a game with his scoring as well as his passing anyway. Oh! We already have that in Joe Johnson.

[Lascar78]

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Wow, what a relief. **sarcasm**

There are 30 starting SF's in the NBA right now, some of them good- some not so good. As the second player taken in the draft, Marvin Williams had damn sure better be something more than just another 'starting SF'. The #2 pick, you need to get a star- not just a starting player. I would think that Billy Knight's expectations for Marvin would lie much higher than that. If not, then something is very wrong and Knight needs to be held accountable for that.

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Well I would imagine that his expectations are higher. I think he was saying that just to clarify his position mostly as some think he could be a PF or whatever. Also he was talking to his youth, and how he is younger than Smith. He said that while he is not ready right this second there is no doubt that he will start at SF for us. I don't think that means that he can't be a stud. When talking about the paul/deron vs. Marvin, he made it clear that they took Marvin because they thought he had the most true star potential

[Nurlman]

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BK will leave no stone unturned in his quest for a big man.

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Maybe he can check Doral, where OJ searches for Nicole's killer to this day.

[Lascar78]

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ugh

i wanna trade al for a true point that can defend...that'll help our defense and our offense and our chemistry and our improvement and force woody's sub patterns to be better

then i wanna draft one of the rebounding defensive bigs

then i wanna get an experienced coach in here

i like what bk's moves have been in the past 23 months that we've been rebuilding, but i don't like his plans of not looking hard for a diamond in the rough pg and looking to resign al

hopefully some team will make him a Godfather request and he'll trade al

teams want artest and they'll get more desperate by the deadline...hopefully we can get some team to crack and offer up a good pg for al so they can get artest

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agreed all the way.

I think BK is a pretty simple guy. I think he tackles one problem at a time and is in no rush. He said multiple times that the goal was to bring a championship to Atlanta, period. He really doesn't seem to care what happens between now and then. Right now he sees the lack of bigs as our #1 problem (which it probably is), and that's what he's looking to adress. If he adresses that, one would hope that he'd see that PG / coaching is our next biggest problem, but one would hope he could already see that.

The crowd seemed split on coaching. Many thought Woody has to go, but many thought that you couldn't judge a coach until you've given him the players to succeed, and that's what BK thinks. If it's up to BK, Woody will be here next year. I'm not so sure that the owners agree so we'll see. Someone specifically asked if they were looking at Silas, and he said that he knew and liked Silas and that he is available, but he likes Woody.

Oh well, hopefully in the end we SNT Al, draft a big (it appears the top of the draft has better bigs than PGs anyhow), and we can only hope that he'll improve our PG situation. I meant to ask him why they don't bring in Howard Eisley but I forgot

[Johnnybravo4]

I agree with BK..we don't need a "traditional" pg...we need a point guard that can play. And we have him..we just don't start him. We saw last night what Salim can do with starters minutes and I think we should go ahead and make him the starter.

We need bigs, but only at the back up level. Zaza avgs 12/10, are we going to sit him on the bench to start Nene? Lemarcus Aldridge?

What we need is a new coach. Give Stan Van Gundy a big contract, get him out of retirement.