Future of the Franchise

[TheDude]

Yeah we still got some games left but it's as good time as any to talk about it since we can see the difference between a championship caliber team and one trying to get there eventually. And it seems we are pretty far off right now. It puts in perspective the difference between the two situations. And we are pretty far away.

In my opinion we are baby-stepping our way in development. Think about it, the increments in which we progress since we started getting our young players are in such small increments. This year was especially a disappointment in how much we progressed since we added better players (Horford, Bibby late) and had a young point to groom (Law) and didnt have any major injuries. What will we do NEXT year, go to the playoffs and win 2 games in the first round. Then the year after that maybe go all 7 games or god forbid win on series. And then the year after that win a series and one game in the next series.

It's time for a jump.

First we start with coaching. Number one is Woody has to go (DUH!). There is a difference between fans just calling for the coaches head because the team doesn't do win as much as they want (most of the time this is the case) and actually understanding that the coach is not very good at all. And that's our case. We simply do not have an offensive system and our players are all seemingly on the bottom of the basketball IQ scale even though they are bright kids for the most part. This is our biggest problem. Coaching. I think our players play with hussle most of the time, they play with natural talent, and they play with balls most of the time. Yet, with our without Bibby, we just are not a very good halfcourt team at all. It's all one-on-one basketball. This is not me saying this, this is me, almost every person on this website and almost every opponent's tv announcer that we hear. This has to be done and this has to be done as soon as the playoffs are over. We need to either get a big name that will get our team more respect and publicity and that our team will respect (Larry Brown) or we need to get a coach that's an x's and o's guy that actually knows what the hell he's doing. No college coaches, no boring assistants who bring nothing to the table. Get the real deal.

We have a weird and fairly broken team. That's not to say it won't work, but it is weird and we need position signings that help offset that. We all know both Joshes present unique skillsets but each has unique inadequacies also. Some of it can be fixed, some cannot (p.s. Chilldres- SHOOT IT WHEN YOUR OPEN!). I'm fine with the lineup we have now with one exception- Marvin Williams. I'm not sure what the deal is with this guy but he's just not developing. I've defended him several times in the past, but the kid just is not showing anything to me special. He's supposed to be our Paul Pierce? Dude he is so far away from that, it is insane. Forget Paul Pierce, just a starting SF on a championship team is light years ahead of him right now. He's a glorified spot shooter now and he better get his groove together in the offseason or he may be gone. We sign a cheap tough defender in the paint with some size.

For the love of god, Acie Law needs playing time. I've said it a zillion times. He has shown he has the unstoppable ability to get to the rim, has great defensive quickness and has good size. Let the kid play and get some experience, playing through the bad. This kid is our future and if we want to speed up the future, he needs the rock.

Get Solomon Jones some playing time. He is raw but how do you develop raw players? YOU PLAY THEM. This means that if we start the season as a solid team, any spare minutes we can give away, he needs to be in there.

If we get anew coach and GM, I hope we still bring in David Andersen. I think his skill set can help us.

[Packfill]

I think getting rid of BK and Woody is a huge step in the right direction. Those guys have done more harm then good then good to the franchise.

Assuming the Hawks retain most of the current squad (i.e., sign Smith and Chill and no major trades) I think they still need a tough veteran big man. A guy like Antonio McDyess or even Reggie Evans would be great to have off the bench. Anyone like that available in the off season?