I feel guilty for posting: latest from Levenson

[ATL_BALLER]

Really, the guy has been incredibly cool to consistently return my emails, and give them some thought (not just mindless fluff). Say what you want about the ASG, but I don't know of any other ownership groups that would take the time to respond. Also, it's clear they have an emotional investment in addition to their financial one, and I pray they prevail in court.

Anyway, I recently wrote a long email to Bruce, asking if it was obvious to him that BK/Woody were not the right fit. I feel guilty about sharing a private email without his permission, but I think it's important you all hear his response. Nothing suprising, but here you go:

Email start

Right after Billy left, Memphis had two 50-win seasons. It was his team. They brought in big name Jerry West and it's been downhill ever since. Shane Battier, the glue on that team, was dealt by West and is now the glue of a resurgent Houston team.

Chill is one of the most sought after players in the NBA. Our team production when he is on the court is off the charts. Yes, his efficiency rating is slightly below Deng and Iggy and he is asked to play a different role on our team, but you are dead wrong to argue that it was a bad pick. If you want to talk about bad decisions, 15 teams passed on Josh Smith, 11 of whom made a big mistake. Should we hire those GMs? Should we hire Jerry West?

Both of our teams have continued to improve every year since we've owned them. I don't believe Arthur, whom I have a great deal of respect for, can make that claim.

Marvin (20), Josh Smith (just turned 21), Zaza and Chills, have shown enormous improvement under Woody. Other coaches would not have been as patient and not have allowed them to learn from their mistakes. They and Joe are the nucleus of our team and their upside is huge. Look at Smoove's improvement from last year. Do you think it's by accident? Do you think Woody and his staff have had anything to do with it.? Ditto for Marvin, who was hampered by injuries the entire first half of the year. Roy and Foye have had better rookie years than Sheldon and most of the rest of the players drafted ahead of them. We drafted Sheldon to play a specific role on our team. Don't write him off after one season (he has played with a bad shoulder all year).

We have won half our games since Smoove returned from his operation and we are winning now even without Joe and Speedy. We will set an nba record this year for man-games lost to injury and virtually all of those injuries were to our top seven players.

You can second guess every GM's picks and trades, but speedy was the best available free agent point guard last summer and we got him. A healthy speedy next year will prove that move was a good one. And Za , who you neglected to mention, has been a lot more valuable for us then ten other big men signed for twice the price or more by other teams. Should we hire those GMs? I stack that deal right up there with the Texans deal for Arthur's backup QB. And Solomon Jones may very well turnout to be the steal of last year's draft -- another Billy move you neglected to mention. Solomon had never been properly coached until this year. He increasingly is reminding me of a raw Camby who has shown enormous progress under Woody this year.

I am excited about our team. The young guys are still very young but with Joe out they've shown we are not a one dimensional team. Would I love Derron or Iggy on our team. You bet. Do I love having Smoove, Joe, Chill, Marvin, and Za as the youngest core five in the NBA -- ABSOLUTELY. It's tough to be patient, but our goal has always been to build an exciting, winning team that's built to last. Barring injury we were a playoff team in a weak East this year. Not perfect but not bad for year three of the rebuild.

Have a good weekend.

Bruce

And here was my response, combining my sentiments with some of your collective points:

Bruce,

Thank for responding, as always. I love the Hawks, and I like most of the players—I wouldn’t be so passionate about all this if that weren’t the case.

I agree with some of the points you make: I’m not saying Chill is a bad player—I actually like him—and recognize his value to this team. Solomon was a fantastic pick late in the draft. And Za Za, though a black hole defensively, is a nice bargain as an offensive center.

Also, I see that the Hawks have improved. However, it’s relative—we’re talking about improving from a 13 and 26 win seasons, respectively. I still don’t see the identity with this team. I don’t see the hunger every night. I know we’re young, and have had a dearth of injuries, but so have many teams, and some have responded. We did have a nice stretch after Joe went down, but we now seem to be limping to the finish line.

Regarding Billy: He has assembled some nice pieces—2 great ones in fact. And yes, every GM makes mistakes—but he’s whiffed much more than he’s succeeded. With as many lottery picks as we’ve had, we should be in a better position, in the standings and talent-wise. In the past three lotteries, Billy was basically looking at three options, and in my opinion, he went with the worst option in all three scenarios:

2004 – Chill over Iggy and Deng (Again, Chill is a solid, important piece. Iggy and Deng, however, are burgeoning All-Stars.

2005 – Marvin over Deron and C-Paul (2 franchise point guards, the hardest position to fill, and we already had Chill and Al. This pick, with the JJ signing, essentially relegated Chill to the bench.)

2006 – Shelden over Roy and Foye. I still can’t believe this pick, injured shoulder or not. I would even have been cool with Marcus Williams, who’s looking like a real PG. And why did Billy promise to take him, when the player has no leverage? I’ll never understand that. With Smoove and Marvin at the forward spots, he drafted a backup with the 5th pick in the draft. At this stage of rebuilding, you can ill-afford that luxury. At least take Roy, who has value as an asset. Shelden has zero value, on-court or off.

Regarding Woody – developing talent is only part of the equation, and quite frankly, I don’t think Woody has excelled in that department either. As much as Smoove has grown, I don’t see much improvement in Marvin, and Diaw won the 6th Man of the Year one season removed. Even you think those are isolate examples, with the youngest roster in the NBA, what choice did Woody have BUT to be patient?

Worse, his actual coaching is highly suspect:

-He doesn’t utilize momentum—his substitution pattern is predictable, with no regards on how a player is faring.

-He runs an offensive system that is a terrible mismatch for the talent he’s coaching. He has the Hawks walk the ball up the floor and play halfcourt offense most of the time.

-His use of the pick and roll offense, even though none of our guards are great passers and none of our big men can shoot.

-The team's lack of discipline in their shot selection. Our over-dependence on jump shooting is a big factor in our inconsistency.

-Good coaches don’t let teams squander seemingly insurmountable leads, or play so inconsistently. From beat writer Sekou Smith: The Hawks proved once again that no lead is safe, whether it’s their own (they squandered a 15-point cushion and loss to Portland Friday) or that of an opponent (they erased a 23-point spread and actually took a lead on the Mavericks Sunday before bowing out gracefully down the stretch). It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve seen, the Hawks ability to step in the same pothole night after night. For the love of goodness, the repetitive nature of the Hawks’ ineptitude is hard to watch every night. Teams know they’ll fold one way or another, provided you keep the pressure on no matter what.

Trust me, Bruce, it kills me to be this negative. There’s nothing I want more then to glow with pride about this team. I just don’t think the right GM/Coach tandem is in place to take us to the next level. I hope I’m wrong.

[exodus]

Nice post. It is cool that he responds even though i don't agree with him. I have very little confidence in BK and havent since the '04 draft.

[TexasPete]

Great post to Levenson. I have also made numerous contact with him thru email. What bothers me is the way these guys always stick up for every move they make. It's not just a public front...these guys truly believe that Chill was the better pick over Deng. They also defend Woodson who is clearly a terrible head coach for this team.

There is no congruency between anything these guys do. BK drafts out of his ass and selects players ill suited to Woodson's system. Crazy.

I am no longer going to support this team with season tix. I've already told them that somebody else can have my seats. The reason is that they actually think that what they have done is the right thing.

And the Shelden fiasco was the last straw. This guy can't play. BK ignores the obvious picks and takes guys out of some crazy vision he has in his head and it never produces the best player. NEVER.

I love the way they talk about Chill. They talk about what they ask him to do. As if Childress has any choice to play any differently. Chill is a role player and isn't even that great on defense.

Bruce is a nice guy but he is clueless. And that goes for the rest of the ASG as well. These guys pooled resources, bought a team, and have no idea how to run it or who to put in place to help them out. The whole thing is a shame.

[bumpyphish1]

I'm down with BK. Woody is a completely different story.

ATL Baller, I have yet to complement you on your sigs. Those pictures are absolutely epic. Who is that "playing" Yoda?

[Guest Walter]

1) thank you. Levenson has to realize that this stuff gets out (goes to point #2)

2) I hope Levenson doesn't believe >50% of what he's saying and is only saying it to present what he realizes may result in a public statement. I refer you to something I said in a previous post:

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It simply boils down to one question:

Do you subject the Hawk franchise to BK's lotto draft Russian Rulette again when the last 3 consecutive trigger pulls have resulted in hollow-point shots (worst of 3 considered prospects picked) to its head?

Generally there is only one bullet in a six shooter. BK seems to have misunderstood the rules of the game, instead loading it for a gunfight and pointing it at the franchise. Ownership should exercise the same callousness in loading the gun pointed towards BK's job security...now.

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If Levenson really does believe what he is saying, perhaps the "emotional investment" you cite my be negatively affecting his critical thinking in much the same way it had many Hawksquawkers continually, maybe even now, giving BK the blind faith benefit of the doubt, that his master plan will unfold from this withered flower of a rebuild. I imagine he has some personal investement with BK as well. If so, he really has to get over himself and think about the franchise by making the very hard but necessary decisions. It shouldn't be hard given he probably has tens if not hundreds of millions invested in it succeeding. Sombody has to step up for this franchise and if Levensøn or anyone else is just a puddle of emotions, paralyzing his judement and action, then we're FAR worse off than I could have imagined.

3) Atlas, you have the right minded grasp of the situtation and made the properly judged case very well. Ownership that does open themselves up (at least in terms of receiving, because we can't know to what extent Levenson is saying what he should or what he believes at this point) doesn't have the insight the ASG has. In fact, Billy Knight doesn't have this insight as publically he has insulted the opinions of all fans. I don't know what more you can do as it's obvious that you have a similar "emotional investment" and somehow manage to think objectively.

Note: I wrote Levenson the "BK & Wody next year?" poll results

W

[AHF]

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It's not just a public front...these guys truly believe that Chill was the better pick over Deng.

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He doesn't say Chill was the better pick over Deng. Read what he says. All he is saying is that Childress is a good player, taking him was not a "bad pick," and that much more significant mistakes were made by the GMs who passed on Josh Smith in that draft. I actually read this as a tacit admission that Deng might have been a better pick but that Levenson believes they are close enough in value that Chill was a good, valuable selection.

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Chill is one of the most sought after players in the NBA. Our team production when he is on the court is off the charts. Yes, his efficiency rating is slightly below Deng and Iggy and he is asked to play a different role on our team, but you are dead wrong to argue that it was a bad pick. If you want to talk about bad decisions, 15 teams passed on Josh Smith, 11 of whom made a big mistake. Should we hire those GMs? Should we hire Jerry West?

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[ATL_BALLER]

Heh heh, thanks. That would be Bruce.

[ATL_BALLER]

Walt - did Bruce respond to the poll results?

[rwbatema]

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Chill is one of the most sought after players in the NBA. Our team production when he is on the court is off the charts.

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Nothing shocking, but the numbers agree with him.

http://www.82games.com/0607/06ATL9D.HTM

Childress' Net of +7.4 is the best on the Hawks.

[Guest Walter]

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Walt - did Bruce respond to the poll results?

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No, but I also immediately sent him a 2nd email with my own opinion. It was not as "well-reasoned" as yours. I stated that for a team building through the draft to ALWAYS pick the 3rd worst prospect amongst the 3 considered was indefensible. I said the past offseason was the most important for the franchise and was thuroughly mishandled (promise to SW, signings, et.). And lastly I stated that I don't know where ownership was during all the other management mistakes, but in no way, shape, or form should they allow JJ to return this season, that he would never sit himself and Woody has already demonstrated that he would play him to near death (compartmental syndrome), that JJ and the team should be "shut down" so the young players get more time and opportunity and a team without capital has a real chance to turn this rebuild around this offseason, and that Ray Allen and Seattle are this year's similar example for sitting a player.

I did not expect a return email after that.

W

[TheDude]

you know, i don't know why some people spend so much time and focus on targeting the Childress pick...it's not like Chill is so much worse than those other players...at best, maybe they're just a little bit better....so what? 3 players all drafted around the same time...all pretty much with the same level of talent and the one we got MAY not be quite as good as the other two but pretty close..

i can understand the complaining about the Marvin pick and even the Shelden pick but the Childress pick is just nitpicking.

[ATL_BALLER]

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I did not expect a return email after that.

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I laughed out loud after reading that.

Anyway, keep us all posted if he does respond.

p.s. I'm the big Baller, not Atlas. Assuming you've fixed your spelling errors (Phoenix, definite), let's work on getting your identities straight.

[Guest Walter]

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I did not expect a return email after that.

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I laughed out loud after reading that.

Anyway, keep us all posted if he does respond.

p.s. I'm the big Baller, not Atlas. Assuming you've fixed your spelling errors (Phoenix, definite), let's work on getting your identities straight.

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...and sorry.

W

[exodus]

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you know, i don't know why some people spend so much time and focus on targeting the Childress pick...it's not like Chill is so much worse than those other players...at best, maybe they're just a little bit better....so what? 3 players all drafted around the same time...all pretty much with the same level of talent and the one we got MAY not be quite as good as the other two but pretty close..

i can understand the complaining about the Marvin pick and even the Shelden pick but the Childress pick is just nitpicking.

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Deng averages 6 more ppg than Childress. He is much bigger and also faster. That isn't a small difference. Just recently Deng scored 38 pt and only 2 were at the foul line. Childress will never do that.

Also remember that before JJ they believe Childress was a 2. If they had drafted Deng, who is clearly a 3 (and a very good one) there is a better chance that BK would have passed on Marvin.

[Sothron]

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you know, i don't know why some people spend so much time and focus on targeting the Childress pick...it's not like Chill is so much worse than those other players...at best, maybe they're just a little bit better....so what? 3 players all drafted around the same time...all pretty much with the same level of talent and the one we got MAY not be quite as good as the other two but pretty close..

i can understand the complaining about the Marvin pick and even the Shelden pick but the Childress pick is just nitpicking.

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Deng averages 6 more ppg than Childress. He is much bigger and also faster. That isn't a small difference. Just recently Deng scored 38 pt and only 2 were at the foul line. Childress will never do that.

Also remember that before JJ they believe Childress was a 2. If they had drafted Deng, who is clearly a 3 (and a very good one) there is a better chance that BK would have passed on Marvin.

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Exactly. We could have Deng and Smoove and then nabbed Deron instead of Marvin. Good times for all Hawks fans...sigh.

[Guest Walter]

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Exactly. We could have Deng and Smoove and then nabbed Deron instead of Marvin. Good times for all Hawks fans...sigh.

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We could have used Deng say with the Indy pick to get Gasol. Deng had FAR more trade value than Childress at the time of the draft and continues to have FAR more trade value now.

W

[Sothron]

The fact the Bulls won't even consider trading Deng for a 20/10 PF/C in Gasol speaks volumes of his worth. Chill isn't even in the same strata in terms of relative value. Nor will he ever be.

[Yeti]

Absolutely Hilarious !!! Obviously we are watching the games from the wrong side of the arena. To me, the glass is now more than half empty but Bruce seems to see a full glass of Champagne. There is some truth in each statement but when you put them together you get a picture of a team that I was looked for last fall - but never showed up. This is just an attempt to whitewash a pile of dung.

If he is happy with the current team's performance, then I question his standards. He should be demanding excellence and not accepting mediocrity (or less). We are screwed.

[Diesel]

And you knew I would..

There was not a fervent defense of the Marvin pick. He actually said nothing about the Marvin draft pick. Like a good Hawks fan, he did defend Marvin (as much as he could) by saying that Marvin has been injured and that has slowed his development. But there's something there that makes me believe that Bruce wanted Paul. It was rumored that some wanted Paul and some wanted Marvin. It is my belief based on what I read that Evil Lord Belkin pushed for Marvin. Seeing Bruce give no defense of the pick, leads me to believe that Bruce and maybe some others may have saw it the same way that I saw it.

I think the AS made their stand Two months too late!!!

[ATL_BALLER]

...the bit about Billy spending $13 mil on three back-up PG's. Even if Speedy was the best available PG, it was a weak market - and it was obvious (and still is) that we need a pure distributor, something little Craig is not.

Man, that would've really helped drive it all home. Oh well-