I feel guilty for posting: latest from Levenson

[TroyMcClure]

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I agree about the price, but I don't think you can say that Speedy is not a distributor...

While healthy here for a stint, he was over 8 apg.

I think you would have a better argument just citing that Craig is overpaid for a guy with his injury history... but to that, Bruce will tell you and I will agree, that if Speedy comes back healthy next year, you get a distributor as well as probably the best on-ball defender playing at the PG position in the league.

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Bruce will tell you and I will agree, that if Speedy comes back healthy next year, you get a distributor as well as probably the best on-ball defender playing at the PG position in the league.

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I just stopped convulsing from laughter! Whoo!

Thanks, D! We've been agreeing way to much lately. I'm not joking here, Speedy probably would not be the best on ball defender at my gym. The guy sucks in every way imaginable. He's a shoot first pg with absolutely no shot.

How about the way he sags and alway misunderstands the angles. He lets guys catch it clean around the arch and he's just getting there when they let it fly.

He sucks so bad that A.J. almost seems good in comparison.

How about not wanting someone with Speedy's work ethic or lack of desire to compete?

That's a lot more important than this mysterious "on ball defense" that he is supposed to bring.

[TroyMcClure]

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...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-

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You are assuming they can comprehend reality. lol!

[Diesel]

When I consider what kind of PG Speedy really is, there's a lot of what went on this year that I have to put to the side. I mean, he did average over 8 apg for a stint and he collected ..

Let's just consider the numbers:

In 42 games, he collected 72 steals.

In 42 games, he collected 185 assists.

Let's just pick on a real shoot first PG (Jason Terry)

In 70 games, he collected 69 steals.

In 70 games, he has collected 374 assists.

Let's pick on another PG (Andre Miller)

In 46 games with Philly he has collected 58 steals.

In 46 games with Philly he has collected 336 assists.

One more for the road (Chauncey Billups)

In 60 games, he has collected 70 steals.

In 60 games, he has collected 433 assists.

Now, in this group, these are supposedly some of the best PGs in the league. IN more games than Speedy played this season, None of them has more steals. They sure trump Speedy in Assists still, I would like to see what Speedy can do with a real offense being coached instead of hand it off to Joe Stand back and let him work.

Moreover, on last year:

Speedy: 71 games, 339 assists, 108 steals. Just to put some things into perspective.

[TexasPete]

Lunar, reality check. These owners aren't even CLOSE to billionaires. They are successful guys who had to chip in to even finance the deal. These guys are rich by almost any standard except professional sports owners. In that arena they would be considered at the lowest end of the spectrum. And one of their partners (Belkins) cash is currently NOT available. Further, it has been reported that they lost 20M last year and this year will likely be in that ballpark.

There are not many organization that can withstand that kind of red ink. Let's just say that kind of loss puts a dent in cash flow. These owners must be living hard off the lines of credit because they are losing their asses.

No, Mark Cuban is a billionaire. Dolan is a billionaire. Kroenke is a billionaire. These guys are low millionaires and cash is a major concern.

[TroyMcClure]

Half of Speedy's steals come from deflections that other people make. If the ball bounces to you, it's a STEAL!

Most importantly, he does not turn those steals into assists.

[TroyMcClure]

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Lunar, reality check. These owners aren't even CLOSE to billionaires. They are successful guys who had to chip in to even finance the deal. These guys are rich by almost any standard except professional sports owners. In that arena they would be considered at the lowest end of the spectrum. And one of their partners (Belkins) cash is currently NOT available. Further, it has been reported that they lost 20M last year and this year will likely be in that ballpark.

There are not many organization that can withstand that kind of red ink. Let's just say that kind of loss puts a dent in cash flow. These owners must be living hard off the lines of credit because they are losing their asses.

No, Mark Cuban is a billionaire. Dolan is a billionaire. Kroenke is a billionaire. These guys are low millionaires and cash is a major concern.

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Almost any Billionaire with an ego to match would do.

[TexasPete]

Speedy sucks. He was a typical "best available" pick. In other words, we can't get the type of PG we really want so lets overpay a guy in the next tier down.

Our PG should be Brandon Roy (yes, Diesel, he can play the point all day long) or Randy Foye.

What did we get at the 5th pick? Literally nothing.

[AHF]

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It does kind of sound like he admitted mistakes were made in the 04 and 05 drafts though when he said..

"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 was kind of suttle, but he pretty much admits fault without really defending it.

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Agreed. That was my point earlier.

[Sothron]

Sure, let's post field goal and three point percentages. I'm sure Not So Speedy kills those guys in those categories.

[TexasPete]

I read it differently. I think he puts Chill in their class and always has. I think he believes that there were 3 great choices available at 6 and we got one of them.

His attitude is 6 one...half dozen the other.

[AHF]

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I read it differently. I think he puts Chill in their class and always has. I think he believes that there were 3 great choices available at 6 and we got one of them.

His attitude is 6 one...half dozen the other.

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I don't think it is but I understand where you would read that. I just think you have to do a bit more reading between the lines when an owner is sending emails out into the public domain. If word got out that an owner was badmouthing his own players it would be ugly. Saying that he would love to have Deng or Iguodala or saying they were great picks "but I love Chill" or "but Chill was also a great pick" is about as close as you are going to get, IMO.

In terms of efficiency, Chill is about equal with those guys (so he isn't far from them) but I read Levenson's responses as close to a concession.

[TexasPete]

I have talked with Levenson a few times (although not since the summer) and his attitude about Chill has always been the highest praise and how lucky we are to have him. I have brought up Deng with him several times and he always dismissed it. Again, I haven't talked with him in awhile and the gap between Deng and Chill has gotten much bigger this year. It is becoming clear that Deng is the much better player and is 3 years younger.

My experience with Bernie and Bruce is they never give an inch when they defend BK's mistakes. With them they are just thrilled with everything. That is the sad apart.

[Diesel]

Of course they are better shooters than Speedy, but if that's what you wanted, then stick with Ty Lue and call it a day. Hell, Lue shot almost 45% from three.

Still something tells me that as a team, we wanted better defense on the PG...

Better defense just makes more sense right now. You may disagree, but I just happen to think that JJ is not a great defensive guard and we don't run very good defensive schemes... so when the schemes change and we have good health, we'll be a better team.

[TexasPete]

Lue is not a distibutor. Speedy is not a distributor. AJ is not a distributor.

The Hawks need a guy to get the ball into the right hands at the right time. We need a true distributor.

[Diesel]

Well, Speedy may not be a distributor but in our offensiveless offense but I'd take his almost 5 apg right now!!

[gsuteke]

the excuse machine is out in a major way in this email from Levenson.

[AtLaS]

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Half of Speedy's steals come from deflections that other people make. If the ball bounces to you, it's a STEAL!

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You have GOT to be kidding. Speedy creates more havoc than any PG we've had on defense since Mookie, and I'm a HUGE Speedy basher.

Defensive pts per 100 possessions

Speedy:

ON COURT: 105.2, OFF COURT: 110.9. Net -5.7

AJ:

ON COURT: 111.5, OFF COURT: 108.8. Net +2.7

Lue:

ON COURT: 111.9, OFF COURT: 107.8. Net +4.1

http://www.82games.com/0607/0607ATL.HTM

Speedy is 8.4 ppg better defensively than AJ, and 9.8 ppg better than Lue. Speedy has the best defensive On Court/Off Court rating of every player on the Hawks. In fact, most players have a + rating. -5.7 is GREAT for a player on a losing team.

Speedy may be horrible at a lot of things, but defense isn't one of them.

[Diesel]

That's really nifty.

Did that particular stat suggest who spent more time playing with Smoove, JJ, and Chillz?

[lunar]

if you count $500 million as "low" then i want to see your interpretation of high. either way 20 million is chump change especially seeing as though the cost is divided between 8 people. this isn't the florida marlins, if they couldn't take a loss, then they wouldn't have been able to get a team. belkin was final piece to the puzzle, but they were willing to buy him out for a reasonable price. may not be one of the five richist owners, but don't think that they are chumps to the NBA business.

[BossTweed]

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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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I agree with you. I also wonder why no one ever compares our drafts to other teams? They only compare it to the best possible situation. Chris Paul, Deng and Roy. We could have had that draft, great. Who else could have had them? Why didn't they (perhaps no one else was in a situation to get them)?

I think Levenson has a good point about other teams making mistakes as well. Sure, other teams may have gotten good players, but over the 3 years, do other teams have a better total package than the Hawks from a similar draft position (say the Bucks, Seattle, Toronto, Charlotte, or other teams consistently in the lottery over the past few years). BK may not be perfect, but is anyone perfect? Someone show me! Prove that whatever GM we could get after we fire BK will/can do a better job.