Sekou Smith Article on Day with Billy Knight

[ncthompson11]

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl..._to_make_1.html

Sounds to me like BK is quite a jerk. Also i found something wierd about this quote below.

"But for the long term good of the franchise it’s hard to take on a big contract like that for a short time because you could stymie the growth of your young guys, and you could also limit any other opportunities you might have because of the [salary] numbers involved."

Didnt we do that with anthony johnson?

[AHF]

Interesting article. Thanks for the link.

BK needs to get things right this offseason. There is no room for missing on picks or signing busted veterans.

[TexasPete]

HF, I'm glad you brought that up. Here is a GM who claims to know when guys are prone to injury and then we sign a guy who they say was only expected to play 55 games anyway?

That is just total BS, CYA garbage by owners and a GM that are incompetant. They can't get their house in order they don't have a freaking clue.

Fasten your seatbelts for another BK's folly draft. Why fans get their hopes up that BK is going to suddenly figure things out is well beyond me.

[ncthompson11]

speedy didnt even play 55 did he?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Quote:

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http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl..._to_make_1.html

Sounds to me like BK is quite a jerk. Also i found something wierd about this quote below.

"But for the long term good of the franchise it’s hard to take on a big contract like that for a short time because you could stymie the growth of your young guys, and you could also limit any other opportunities you might have because of the [salary] numbers involved."

Didnt we do that with anthony johnson?

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No . . because AJ's deal isn't a big contract. The 2.8 million that AJ will make next year is nothing. It's when you combine AJ's 2.8, with Lo Wright's 3.2, with Lue's 3.5, and Speedy's 6.3 million next year, where it becomes a problem. But AJ's number by itself still only makes him the 8th highest paid Hawk on the team next year. ( 9th, if Josh Smith signs an extension this summer )

What BK is talking about, is doing something that I think he should do ( if it became available ). And that is go after a Jason Kidd, even though he's owed another $40 million over the next 2 years. Add Jason Kidd to this team, and we're immeadiately in the playoffs barring an injury to him. It's also a quick fix to the PG problem and the perimeter defense problem.

But at the same time, you're only looking at him being here for 2 years, unless he signs an extension for far less money. And you're probably looking at giving up one or two of the young players that BK covets, before he knows what his true ceiling as a player is.

If Kidd coming here didn't work, we're not only screwed, we're probably in borderline luxury tax land while being screwed, with no way to upgrade the team until Kidd leaves. Plus, you would have the prospect of JJ definitely leaving the year after Kidd's contract ran out. It's kind of the situation that Jersey has found themselves in for the past 2 years.

BK is definitely a dude that could care less what anybody thinks. When you read this article, you wonder if he still doesn't have the utmost confidence that the combo of Lue, AJ, and Speedy can get it done here. If that's the case, he'll say no to a PG when the draft comes around.

[macdaddy]

Harrington and Walker were guys rounding out our roster. The more capable our young guys have become the less we see vets here getting playing time. AJ didn't take time away from any young guys because unfortunately we don't have any at that position.

What he is saying is true. This is why Delk, Barry, Googs, Slava couldn't get off the bench even though they might have been superior to the guys who were playing at the time. And its why we don't trade for decent veterans with inflated contracts.

I fully expect at least one of AJ, Speedy, Lue to be traded.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Quote:

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Harrington and Walker were guys rounding out our roster. The more capable our young guys have become the less we see vets here getting playing time. AJ didn't take time away from any young guys because unfortunately we don't have any at that position.

What he is saying is true. This is why Delk, Barry, Googs, Slava couldn't get off the bench even though they might have been superior to the guys who were playing at the time. And its why we don't trade for decent veterans with inflated contracts.

I fully expect at least one of AJ, Speedy, Lue to be traded.

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Actually, you could make the case that Walker's presence actually stunted Harrington's development as a player here with the Hawks. I was all for Al getting the chance to be "the man" here. I thought that he and JT would make for an interesting duo. But BK traded JT and Hendu the first chance he got, to acquire Walker.

If it worked, BK would be hailed as a genius becaue Walker still had talent at the time, even if he did have the 2nd worst shot selection in the league ( #1 is Jamal Crawford ). If we dramatically improved, Walker probably signs an extension with us, and the Hawks are back in the playoffs. LOL . . but I think most hardcore b-ball fans knew that Walker being the leader and "go-to-guy" on this team, wouldn't work at all.

So if it didn't work, BK could always say that the Walker deal was made because he was an expiring contract and an easy way to get JT and Hendu's salary off the books a full year early. And that's what the deal accomplished. And it gave us enough money to go after JJ.

But by doing that, he killed Al's chance to possibly be "the man". LOL . . then he did it again with the JJ deal. Remember, Al was still a young guy when we acquired him ( 24 )

So now, I guess he's fully committed to giving the Joshs and Marvin every opportunity to develop, without bringing in somebody that can possibly take major minutes away from them. We'll see if that holds true with this draft.

[TheDude]

BK needs to get a young point in here NOW. not neccessarily to make the playoffs this year but to be groomed for future use with our young guards and forwards...to grow with....

side note, i've decied on law i think for my point..need someone who can shoot and i beleive he's the best shooter of the bunch....

[macdaddy]

To give BK some credit he was right not to resign Walker or Harrington even though he may not have gotten what he should have for them. A lot of people wanted them resigned.. well at least Al and so far he's not shown that he could be a major factor on a good team.

[Packfill]

This is classic BK double talk.

Sekou should have grilled him about the whole notion that they only expected 55 games out of Speedy.

If you read into it a little, it makes me real nervous that BK thinks the point guard situation is fine the way it is (or even if he doesn't think that way, he may keep the status quo just to spite the naysayers in the unlikely event the collection of castoffs the Hawks have perform adequately).

The other major thing is how he describes the teams style of play, or rather lack-there-of. He said the team is built to be versatile. What the heck does that mean? I rather be good then versatile any day of the week.

[ncthompson11]

the only non versatile part of our team is that none of our young guys can shoot the 3 besides Joe and salim. Not very versatile to me. There only versatility is they can play the 2 ,3, or 4 but they dont have many versatile skills.

[Plainview1981]

Quote:

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This is classic BK double talk.

Sekou should have grilled him about the whole notion that they only expected 55 games out of Speedy.

If you read into it a little, it makes me real nervous that BK thinks the point guard situation is fine the way it is (or even if he doesn't think that way, he may keep the status quo just to spite the naysayers in the unlikely event the collection of castoffs the Hawks have perform adequately).

The other major thing is how he describes the teams style of play, or rather lack-there-of. He said the team is built to be versatile. What the heck does that mean? I rather be good then versatile any day of the week.

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If you want to understand what Billy means you have to look at the Jazz or Spurs of sorts... Teams that have the potential to beat you at just about any kind of play.

The problem is you need strong fundamental players. JJ is the only player in the starting lineup that fits that IMO. Some will argue Smoove, but he can't shoot and he's got little to no ball handling ability.

ZaZa is a sloppy player, Speedy can't shoot and Marvin's game is VERY limited. It just don't seem to that Billy can even get his own gameplan to work out correctly.

[Swatguy]

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There only versatility is they can play the 2 ,3, or 4 but they dont have many versatile skills.

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[Dejay]

After spending three top-8 picks in the lottery over the last few years, you'd think that this team would be further along in the 'process' than they are right now. JJ is the only guy on the roster who could be labeled a 'complete' player. The rest of the roster are stocked with guys with glaring holes in their repetoire.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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After spending three top-8 picks in the lottery over the last few years, you'd think that this team would be further along in the 'process' than they are right now. JJ is the only guy on the roster who could be labeled a 'complete' player. The rest of the roster are stocked with guys with glaring holes in their repetoire.

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So who do you expect to be a complete player?

Our 20 year old Marvin Williams who just finished his first year as a starter (even though he missed time to due to injury and played injured) or our ROOKIE Shelden Williams (who also played injured but for even longer)

Do you fans really think that's realistic?

I just think it's encouraging BK acknowledged the deficiency at PG which means there is a chance we use sense and take the best available PG at #11 (barring the catastrophe of Indy getting a top 3 pick)

[shug94]

Or he could be trying to smokescreen everyone again. I think these comments mean it is LESS likely he will take a PG.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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Or he could be trying to smokescreen everyone again. I think these comments mean it is LESS likely he will take a PG.

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Yeah I didn't look at it like that. He did keep mentioning health. Maybe that was a subtle way of saying Speedy is still our guy.

I almost hope Conley and Law are gone just to save the humiliation of passing on them.

[Dejay]

After seeing how the likes of Paul, Williams, Roy, Deng, et al performed compared to the guys that BK brought in, the answer is, ummm, YES.

[Plainview1981]

Quote:

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After spending three top-8 picks in the lottery over the last few years, you'd think that this team would be further along in the 'process' than they are right now. JJ is the only guy on the roster who could be labeled a 'complete' player. The rest of the roster are stocked with guys with glaring holes in their repetoire.

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If Smoove had the ball handling he'd be fairly close.

But this team has atleast two extremely flawed plays in ZaZa and Speedy. Those are the two positions that need to be addressed the most obviousally. The problem is that I get the sense Billy doesn't understand the value of these positions.

It's going to be hard for the team to make a big leap until they get some real talent at PG. Everybody says that the team would have been in the playoff race had there not been so many injuries.

Making the playoffs alone don't make you a good team. The Hawks are not close to being a good team and neither was Orlando (I admit I thought they were close) as Detroit never even seemed to take them seriousally and still swept them.