Bradley -- "You'll see the Hawks playing in May"

[Admin]

I'm so impressed I'm willing to issue a guarantee of my own: If the Hawks don't finish at least fourth in the Eastern Conference next season, I'll refund the purchase price of today's AJC to 10 readers. (Why only 10? Because I'm doing this out of my own shallow pocket.)

Forget scraping into the playoffs as No. 8 seed. The Hawks are about to get really good. The Hawks are about to rise as fast as the Nets and Celtics did. I'm not saying the locals are primed to unhorse the Lakers. (I'm impressed, yes. Nuts, no.) I am saying the locals are poised to seize on a series of splendid maneuvers and the ongoing weakness of the East. I'm saying you'll see the Hawks playing in May 2003.

Yeah, yeah. I know how incongruous it is, coming from an observer who spent the better part of a decade hating everything the Hawks tried. What can I say? This franchise suddenly got smart. Pete Babcock made a good trade with Philly (albeit one with an excruciatingly deferred impact), then a great one with the Grizzlies. Then he executed a draft night deal so slick as to have been lifted from the Jerry West -- sorry, Pete; sore subject, I know -- handbook.

Dan Dickau would have been a terrific pick at No. 10. At No. 28, he's a one-man windfall. If he's half as good as Steve Nash, he'll help the Hawks immediately. I'm betting he's 75 percent as good as Steve Nash. I'm betting Dickau starts at point guard and thereby alleviates two Hawk concerns: He'll man a position that has suddenly become the key to sudden success -- witness Jason Kidd in Jersey -- and he'll move Jason Terry to shooting guard permanently, which is where Terry belongs.

Dickau and Terry are a nice backcourt. The front line should be the East's best. (Yeah, we were saying the same this time a year ago. Who knew Theo Ratliff would play 82 minutes as opposed to 82 games?) Ratliff is a defender first, and for the first half of the 2001-02 season the Hawks were defenders last. Figure he makes everybody better because he'll block the occasional shot. Figure he cares so little about offense that he won't demand the ball from Dickau and Terry and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

About Abdur-Rahim: After five years in Canadian exile, last season was supposed to be his moment of arrival. That, too, got deferred. Owing to Ratliff's absence, Abdur-Rahim wound up having yet another big year for yet another bad team. The law of averages weighs mightily on his side: He's way past due to find a roster capable of complementing his many skills. This is the season he gets one.

With Ratliff in the middle and Dickau at the point, the other Hawk elements fall into line. DerMarr Johnson, who may not be Tracy McGrady but who absolutely isn't Doug Edwards, can move to small forward. (The Hawks think Ira Newble is their small forward of the future, but on this tiny issue they're wrong.) Dion Glover can move to the end of the bench, which is where he belongs. Toni Kukoc is too old to play 32 minutes a night, but he can offer quality relief as a sub. Nazr Mohammed is a substandard starter but a solid backup.

The Hawks won 33 games last season. They believe Ratliff is worth 10 more. I'm guessing Dickau adds five. That makes 48 wins. Where would a 48-win team have finished in the NBA East? Why, fourth. I'm guessing the Hawks will do that well if not better, and I'm prepared to put (some of) my money where my intuition is. I'll keep the names of the first 10 who respond via e-mail, and if the Hawks wind up lower than fourth in their conference I'll dispatch 50 cents to each. The Hawks have $500,000 riding on making the playoffs, and here's my five bucks saying they'll have the homecourt edge in Round 1.

[Guest]

Maybe he is being sarcastic?

[ATLien_]

I really don't understand how any quote un quote sports jounalist can actually think a backcourt of DD and JT could start and be sucessful? Aren't these guys supposed to be knowledgable in sports? When was the last time a backcourt of 6-0 and 6-2 one anything? I don't know the history of basketball all that well but I would wager to say it didn't happen much.

I would love to email bradely and simply ask him how do we match up against Kobe, McGrady, Pierce, Allen and the list goes on. Now I am sure that JT would get his points vs. all these guys but how many will they score? 30..40 .. 50 maybe? Now lets just say JT is going to score 30 at best he cancels the other guy out and how often is that going to happen?

I just don't understand how anyone who is supposed to be a knowledgable sports journalist can utter such garbage and believe it.

[Gray Mule]

There are games played over the season that a team will win,

and the other team can do nothing to stop you.

There are other games you are going to loose, no matter what.

Great teams loose some games -- Very poor teams win some games.

That is just the way it is.

The rest of the games are usually very close and can go either way.

These make up the majority of the season, about 85-90 0/0 of them.

Check out the scores for the season in the NBA. Most games are very

close - many even go into overtime before a winner can be decided.

The first half of last season, Hawks lost a lot of games with key players

on the IR. Health is our main concern. We must stay healthy. If this

happens and Hawks play up to their potential, these close games that

we lost last season will go in the win column this season.

The point is, there is very little difference between winning and loosing

in the NBA. With the additions we have for the season ahead, we should

improve to the point of being in the race for the east all season.

Gray Mule

[Blunt91]

He is also wrong about Glover belonging at the end of the bench and Dermarr moving over to SF. I thought Curtis Bunn and Terrance Moore were the only dumb sports writers but Mark Bradley is making me believe he belongs in that group.Bradley making statements like that makes me feel happy he doesn't come by on HawkSquawk anymore to give his professional opinion.

[Traceman]

I don't think the Hawks see Ira as their SF of the future but rather as a very nice piece. I think they see him as an exceptional role player, nothing more nothing less.

I don't think that Glover belongs at the end of the bench.

I don't think that moving JT to SG is a good idea and I damn sure don't think that's where he belongs.

I don't think Dickau would have been a good pick at #10, particularly with Caron Butler still on the board.

I don't think the PG position has "suddenly become the key to sudden success" just because of what Kidd did in NJ. Kidd is the BEST PG in the NBA and one of the 10 best players in the NBA, that's why he had a huge impact. Hell, Marbury went to Phoenix in that deal and they sucked. I damn sure don't expect Dickau to be anywhere NEAR as good as Marbury, at least this year.

I don't even know if I agree with him that as we are constructed right now, that we are good enough to be the 4 seed in the EC. Other teams have improved themselves significantly and will improve themselves even more before the season starts. I think we still need to acquire one more solid player who can score at the SG or SF position. If we can do that, I think we will be in great shape. If not, a lot of things have to go right before Bradley's prediction will come true.

[KB21]

Most recently, Allen Iverson (5-10) and Eric Snow (6-2) were on an NBA Finals team. Their size wasn't the reason they got beat by the Lakers.

How about Isiah Thomas (6-0) and Joe Dumars (6-2)? Consider that Vinnie Johnson was 6-3 and came off the bench for them, their back court overall was small. They won two Championships.

[Traceman]

be strong enough to guard SGs as Snow is and Dumars was. Hell, Dumars gave Jordan fits, you KNOW his size was not an issue. Can you see JT trying to guard Jordan?

In addition, Dickau will NEVER be Zeke and JT will NEVER be Iverson either. If JT is to reach greatness, it will have to be as a PG. Don't get me wrong, I think Dickau has a chance to be special but Zeke has to be one of the best PGs EVER.