Bernie on radio this morning.

[Guest Walter]

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On some level I have to wonder if this is not a psychological ploy on the Hawk's part to challenge both Shelden and Josh. Build a fire under them both. Won't have to wait long now.

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Why spend a 5th pick on a psychological ploy that is convoluted. I know you "hope" it but don't really believe it, but face it BK keeps screwing up.

W

[bird_dirt]

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Walter please stop your Bitching!!. It isn't written in Stone that Shelden will be the starter. Ideally they won't SHelden to start because he played for 4years as a PF in College.

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i'll agree with the first sentence. walter, if you quit bitching, it doesn't mean you need to automatically start becoming an apologist for bk, it just means that you need to move on.

i thought shelden was actually duke's center primarily, not their pf. there is the slimmest of chances that that he could become enough of a defensive presence that he could pull off being an undersized 5, a'la ben wallace. not saying i honestly believe he WILL be the next ben wallace, but really, no one thought ben wallace would be who he has been, that's why he went undrafted. if the league truely is evolving to a smaller, faster game, then maybe there is a chance that we could have sw, js, mw, and jj all starting, or at least playing fairly significant time together. if shelden is to be used to make up for zaza's lack of defensive presence, then why not just get rid of zaza more anyway, since js and mw should be able to create as much or more offensive numbers than zaza does.

if shelden doesn't show much more promise than he did in the summer league (which i doubt), then we won't have to worry about him taking many minutes from marvin or josh anyway, since he'll be collecting fouls so fast that he'll spend most of his time on the bench.

[Blunt91]

Walter I guess you will be glad when Belkin takes over this franchise so he can fire Billy Knight and bring in another GM?

[Popeye]

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We also needed a Pg who fit well with JJ. Why not get Foye or Roy (both far more talented and better prospects than SW) then get the 1-dimensional role player Pf who could step in right away far better than summer-league bust SW in FAcy.

W

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Yeah, let's get Foye or Roy.

Hey Walter when is the redraft gonna be?

I hope it's before this season cause we really need one of those guys, especially now that Speedy got injured.

[slap]

I think Little Billy Knight beat up Little Walter as a kid.

SW hasn't played a second in the NBA yet. It is ignorant to label him as a colossal bust already. If the season shows he is undersized and doesn't have the athletic ability to compete in the NBA, then give BK his just criticism then, but for now, he attempted to solve the need of a frontline lacking bulk and a defensive mentality. I certainly hope he was right, because I'm tired of seeing layups from opponents.

Having said that, I think Zaza, Smoove and Marvin is the best frontcourt you can throw out there, and I hope that they are capable enough defensively to be able to compete.

[Guest Walter]

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Walter I guess you will be glad when Belkin takes over this franchise so he can fire Billy Knight and bring in another GM?

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Is it not possible to want a GM that can build a team without wanting an owner who would wreck it? Your response is as lame as they come, straw-man at its worst.

W

[Guest Walter]

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...then give BK his just criticism then...Having said that, I think Zaza, Smoove and Marvin is the best frontcourt you can throw out there, and I hope that they are capable enough defensively to be able to compete.

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I think you just gave BK his criticism for drafting SW. Why not follow your own advice at least in the same post?

W

[slap]

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I think you just gave BK his criticism for drafting SW. Why not follow your own advice at least in the same post?

W

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That is utter nonsense. Just because there are players better than him on our team doesn't render it a bad pick. Someday, you'll see that there are more than 2 colors in the Crayola box. Until then, good luck maturing.

[Guest Walter]

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That is utter nonsense. Just because there are players better than him on our team doesn't render it a bad pick. Someday, you'll see that there are more than 2 colors in the Crayola box. Until then, good luck maturing.

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Actually, it does. When you have our needs at C and Pf and you draft a Pf with the 5th pick of the draft, he'd better be a GD starter on a 26 win team who traades away their starting Pf or else he himself wasn't a good selection. You absolutely do not EVER consider a BU good for a #5 pick! E-V-E-R! Not ever, ever, ever. Especially when you are a 26 win team losing it's 2nd best player. That is one crayola that isn't gray. You don't consider a 5th pick BU worthy. NOR do you draft to bench your best prospects. BOTH are pretty simple black and whites.

Slap, thank you for your concern but this team will never mature into a contender with mistakes like BK has and is making. THAT is the simple fact. You can hate the messager, but not the message and somebody's got to send that message as it seems lost on most here.

W

[Packfill]

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Jowh Smith is the backup power forward despite the fact that he was a starter last year

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Smith was the starting 3 last year and will be again to start the season.

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That is what I am reading into that statement as well.

[HawksFan87]

Bernie has obvisously been smoking on something when he made that comment forget how good he is on defense in the Summer League he did'nt do jack so until he proves he can do something he will have to earn his minutes.

[Sothron]

I love the fact that they have to justify drafting Shellhead a good ten spots ahead of where he was going to go that they are going to literally steal minutes away from our best/second best player in Smoove. If it wasn't the Hawks I wouldn't believe it.

[DJlaysitup]

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...Having said that, I think Zaza, Smoove and Marvin is the best frontcourt you can throw out there, and I hope that they are capable enough defensively to be able to compete.

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As far as a defensive frontcourt goes - my guess is our best right now would be C-LO, PF-SW, SF-JS.

I doubt that they will ever be the starters, but I bet that threesome sees alot of minutes late in games.

[gsuteke]

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...Having said that, I think Zaza, Smoove and Marvin is the best frontcourt you can throw out there, and I hope that they are capable enough defensively to be able to compete.

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As far as a defensive frontcourt goes - my guess is our best right now would be C-LO, PF-SW, SF-JS.

I doubt that they will ever be the starters, but I bet that threesome sees alot of minutes late in games.

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i haven't seen that scenario thrown out there.

obviously players are rotated in and out at seperate times but that leaves an interesting rotation.

Ren

Shellhead

Smoove

JJ

Speedy

Zaza

Shellhead/Smoove

Marvin

Chillz

Lue

i think we can win with that rotation, and more often than not!

[Yeti]

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As far as a defensive frontcourt goes - my guess is our best right now would be C-LO, PF-SW, SF-JS.

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SW has shown nothing yet. So I'd rather put Este out there and watch him knock people on their butts until he fouls out.

[AHF]

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drafting Shellhead a good ten spots ahead of where he was going to go

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5th was the earliest possible pick he was going to go but there is no way he would have fallen to 15, IMO.

[DJlaysitup]

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...SW has shown nothing yet. So I'd rather put Este out there and watch him knock people on their butts until he fouls out.

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Well no offense...but that's just silly. Besides, Hawks management has already said multiple times that the PF position is Shelden's to lose. Last I heard Bernie said something like "I'm sure Woody would like another power forward for depth, but Josh can fill in there in a pinch".

Bottom line is - "Starting at power forward for your Atlanta Hawks...6'9" out of Duke Uniiversity..."

[exodus]

I don't see why people are in denial about this. If the Hawks felt Smith was a starting pf they wouldn't have drafted Shelden in the first place.

[Guest Walter]

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I love the fact that they have to justify drafting Shellhead a good ten spots ahead of where he was going to go that they are going to literally steal minutes away from our best/second best player in Smoove. If it wasn't the Hawks I wouldn't believe it.

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Ownership even knows it and is consistently defending his drafting at 5 (but not mention of the promise...NO DEFENDING THAT) with talk of SW starting over one of our two best propsects.

Problems SW helps with:

Interior defense at the 4

Problems SW's creates:

Benching, taking minutes, and/or opportunities from each of MW, JS, and JC

Decreased talent relative to MW or JS

Increased difficulty signing at least 2 out of JS, MW, and JC

Push:

Post scoring option...simply too robotic to become a good pro post scorer. May develop a consistent 12' and score 10 PPG but that's not what we need.

No #5 pick should create more problems than he solves for a 26 win team.

W

[bonethugz]

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I don't see why people are in denial about this. If the Hawks felt Smith was a starting pf they wouldn't have drafted Shelden in the first place.

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yes and no. first they didn't know if josh smith can gain that 15 pounds and be effective at 4(still unknown) and we need depth even if smith can be good there. plus what would y'all think if we draft another swingman, ie roy? i'm sure a lot of you, maybe even myself will be "disappointed" about getting another swingman. and starting isn't everything with woodson, didn't ivey start last year?