Mike Gearon on 790 now..2:45

[KB21]

How much of that is due to the fact that Jerry West can't build a team without the help of being in LA?

[frosgrim]

What I understand is that the court restriction is on ALL personel moves, players, office, coaches, GM etc. The restriction is completely insane and keeps both the Hawks and Thrashers from doing what they need to do to be competative. I would think that this will be over-turned soon once the NBA and Players Union file grievences.

[TheDude]

how long should it take a GM to take an existent high-salary underacheiving team into a reasonable salary, playoff worthy team?

1 year?

2 years?

an honest answer..how long do you think it takes? how difficult do you think it is to do that?

because that's what a lot of people are saying without saying it...that it's easy to turn around a team like the Hawks and make it a playoff team within 2-3 years...just a breeze.

[Seano]

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Maybe it was because of Sidney Lowe, maybe it was his want to trade Bibby for Odom (leaving Abdul-Rauf as their starting PG), maybe it was actually trading Bibby for White Chocolate, maybe it was the big contract he handed out to Michael Dickerson, maybe it was that they never compiled more than 23 wins (FRANCHISE RECORD at the time), maybe it was there being no improvement in the team since he took over, maybe it was Ike Austin, I could go on but I am starting to get sick...

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LOL. I would have to say those are some good points.

I agree with tmac that BK needs to start showing some results sooner rather than later. Yes he inherited a mess here, yes he had to strip the whole thing down, yes he had to strip the whole thing down in order to rebuild it, yes for the past two years the team has been extremely young, children really. BUT, all that being said, he's got the players he wanted in place now. This is exclusively his team on the floor, so it's time to see some winning results- and enough with the excuses already. That's yesterdays news, now we need to start winning.

I hope he can do it personally, cause I really like his eye for talent- if not his skill at acually planning and implementing a coherent strategy for building and assembling a team. That's still pretty questionable to me, though I do believe we are on the right track. This is a relatively complete team.

And if Woodson is part of the problem, then BK needs to acknowledge that and give him the boot if necessary. I know they're friends and everything, but it's time to quit screwing around and get serious about putting something competitive out there on the floor.

[Plainview1981]

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*Mike was giving glowing praise of Zaza Pachulia, comparing him favorably to Andrew Bogut. He also said that people around the league believe that Zaza was the biggest free agent steal of the past five years. They really like Zaza, so any thoughts some of you may have of them replacing him as a starter, I highly doubt that will happen.

*Mike said they have addressed their biggest free agent need by getting a fast, pass first point guard that can push the ball up the court. Mike said that it was Billy's belief that a young team like the Hawks needs a veteran point guard, not a rookie point guard. He also said that the only true point guard in the draft was Marcus Williams.

*Mike couldn't say anything on the court ruling because he could be in contempt of court if he talks about it.

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Thanks! I know people on here get on Zaza a lot, but I love the way he plays. For a 21 year old, I think he has a pretty high ceiling. I think his offense is pretty good and he made some good srides passing. He's not selfish, and he looks like a caveman. He was certainly a steal.

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People overate youth... Almost always assume it will lead to improvement.

[Plainview1981]

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.......giving Billy Knight about a 5 year extension. Based on the information we have available to us, the only restrictions that were put into place were player movement restrictions. I'd like to see the court fall out if Spirit decides to give Billy a 5 year extension.

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Building a disjointed team where the players don't have a chance to play gets you a 5 year contract?

[Packfill]

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How much of that is due to the fact that Jerry West can't build a team without the help of being in LA?

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Name one half-way decent coach BK has hired. Just one.

[Final_quest]

That's ridiculous man.

It should take 2 years to overturn a roster, and make the playoffs!!! Wow, so a draft that featured 4 franchise players in the top 5 picks had nothing to do with Denver's success.

You expected us to make the playoffs after one season of rebuilding. Isn't that a bit unrealistic.

[drzachary]

The Nuggets also drafted Carmelo Anthony! Not a fair comparison.

[TheDude]

2 YEARS??!!!

2 YEARS??!!

dude, that is preposterous and i haven't used the word preposterous in years. if it was that easy every team would be in the playoffs every two years...

you used Denver as a comparison...but you could use a MAJORITY of the teams in the NBA as a comparison for the opposite point of view.

[Final_quest]

Cleveland didn't even make the playoffs in Lebron's first two years.

Blinded by BK hate again. First to support Belkin, now this.

[TexasPete]

Billy now has 3 good small forwards on the roster. He has drafted a forward with 5 of his last 6 picks. We don't have a good team but we have some good players.

Foye would have been much better than Shelden...time will prove that committing to Shelden a month before the draft was stupid at best...

Chill over Iggy was bad...Chill over Deng was bad...

I like Marvin but CP3 is the real deal and we would have an awesome backcourt now...

BK's and his eye for talent is just a little overrated don't you think? I hear this crap about his "eye" for talent. Please. When you pick EVERY YEAR where the Hawks pick you are going to get a decent player. The question is...did you get THE best player available when they called your name? BK typically does OK...not hardly the best. He has a better chance of getting fired this year than extended. He is going down with his best bud Woody...barring a miracle. The best thing going for him is that the SPIRIT are a bunch of nincampoops.

[Final_quest]

Hey man, your points have been argued to death on this board. I definitely see mistakes BK has made, and I don't ride his jock like some do.

Still, if you think you can tear down and rebuild a roster in 2 years that is an unrealistic expectation.

We can all draft better in hindsight. I got 3 names for you though: Josh Smith, Salim, and Diaw. Those guys were not taken in the first six picks, and have turned out pretty well. The acquisitions of Zaza, JJ, and Harrington, have turned out pretty well too. That's the "eye" people talk about regarding BK fwiw.

[TexasPete]

Diaw? You mean the same guy he thought so much of that he GAVE away? That Diaw? Your points have been argued to death as well...the BK apologists defending the garbage...the glut of forwards and the lack of coaching.

As it turned out we could have turned this around quicker than we have...this lineup looks better to me...just ONE change.

JJ

Foye

Marvin

Josh Smith

ZaZa

Foye would have played given us better perimeter D and the man can score. Instead we get a 6'8 PF with little upside. Shelden was a mistake and that will be proven in short order. When you get a look a Foye by December you will understand we made a HUGE mistake.

[Lascar78]

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Diaw? You mean the same guy he thought so much of that he GAVE away?

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I could have sworn we got Joe Johnson back in that trade, but if you say we gave him away you must know better than I

[Final_quest]

The point is he saw something in Diaw, and drafted him. What about all the other GMs who passed on Diaw? Does BK have a better eye than them or not?

Usually it's the Marvin haters that dislike BK so much, but you are essentially posting that you like his moves apart from Sheldon. So, I guess you are different in a way.

[Final_quest]

I read your post including this section:

01-02 Traded NVE and Raef, finished 27-55

02-03 17-65

03-04 43-39 playoffs and still under the cap

Now you look at the Hawks.

03-04 Traded Big Dog, Shareef, Theo finished 28-54

04-05 13-69

05-06 26-56

Do you understand why I would think you thought we should have been in the playoffs last year? Also, what point do you consider to be rebuilding?

I don't count 03-04 because we were planning to make the playoffs that year.

[Guest]

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I don't count 03-04 because we were planning to make the playoffs that year.

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Well thats where we differ so lets just leave it at that.

[Yeti]

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Thanks! I know people on here get on Zaza a lot, but I love the way he plays. For a 21 year old, I think he has a pretty high ceiling. I think his offense is pretty good and he made some good srides passing. He's not selfish, and he looks like a caveman. He was certainly a steal.

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I like ZaZa, he plays hard all the time. Lately we seem to be branding a lot of players with the "no heart", lack of motivation, or lazy label. And it's usually well deserved. But that's not a complaint I've heard about Zaza yet. He needs to learn to play defence - but he works hard.

[mrhonline]

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Lately we seem to be branding a lot of players with the "no heart", lack of motivation, or lazy label.

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Troy Murphy, anyone?