A good post by a long time Sonic fan about Sund

[oiatlhawksfan]

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Unbelievable hire.

Rick Sund is one of the best basketball minds in the business. He was handcuffed by an owner who was not willing to shelve out a ton of money in Seattle and he was able to put together a talented and deep team in each of his seasons -- while consistently coming out on the better end of any trade that he was involved in.

He really only made one mistake in the draft and that was drafting Mo Sene in 2006. Robert Swift would have been a very good big in this league had he not tore his ACL in 2006 and Johan Petro is about as good of a center that you are going to get with the 25th pick in the draft. There aren't too many bigs picked behind them that truly make the Sonics regret drafting those two with the exception of Al Jefferson.

Atlanta has not been known for making a ton of competent moves in the past but that is all about to change. You have a winner in Sund.

[Guest]

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He was handcuffed by an owner who was not willing to shelve out a ton of money in Seattle and he was able to put together a talented and deep team in each of his seasons

Good thing he is coming to Atlanta where he won't be handcuffed by our owners at all.

I do see it as a plus that Sund has had to deal with bad owner and transitional ownership in the past that he won't be overwhelmed by that coming into Atlanta. But that post is definitely biased saying that he has consistently came out with the better end of trades.

[DrReality]

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Unbelievable hire.

Rick Sund is one of the best basketball minds in the business. He was handcuffed by an owner who was not willing to shelve out a ton of money in Seattle and he was able to put together a talented and deep team in each of his seasons -- while consistently coming out on the better end of any trade that he was involved in.

He really only made one mistake in the draft and that was drafting Mo Sene in 2006. Robert Swift would have been a very good big in this league had he not tore his ACL in 2006 and Johan Petro is about as good of a center that you are going to get with the 25th pick in the draft. There aren't too many bigs picked behind them that truly make the Sonics regret drafting those two with the exception of Al Jefferson.

Atlanta has not been known for making a ton of competent moves in the past but that is all about to change. You have a winner in Sund.

It's nice to hear some positive in the midst of a lot of negatives. I for one want to give him a chance because I want to see the Hawks succeed. I think we should know a lot more about him within 45 days.

[AHF]

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It's nice to hear some positive in the midst of a lot of negatives. I for one want to give him a chance because I want to see the Hawks succeed. I think we should know a lot more about him within 45 days.

Agreed. I am not enamoured with his draft history and think his coaching hires have been spotty but I am taking a wait and see approach like everyone and hoping Gearon's inability to give a real answer to the question of Sund's authority isn't a sign that ownership will be making the key basketball decisions.

[KB21]

I listened to the interview, and I heard Michael Gearon state very plainly that Rick Sund will have the power to hire and fire the head coach.

Dimino made the statement early in the interview that people want to know that Rick Sund is the guy, that he will be the guy that decides the fate of Mike Woodson, that he will be the guy that decides to resign Josh Smith and Josh Childress.

Gearon's response was "That is absolutely correct."

There is no gray area to that answer. It's a very clear response that in no way dances around the statement.

Gearon even says that any questions about a player or a coach needs to be referred to Rick Sund next Wednesday. Gearon says that if you want a GM to be successful at a job, you have to give him the authority to do it. I don't know how much clearer the answer can be.

[AHF]

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I don't know how much clearer the answer can be.

I hope you are right, but I certainly fear that Woodson will be back this year by mandate of ownership.

[Packfill]

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I don't know how much clearer the answer can be.

I hope you are right, but I certainly fear that Woodson will be back this year by mandate of ownership.

That is my fear as well.

I am going to support Sund unless "he" retains Woody, in which case I am going to operate under the assumption that he is Gearon's lap dog until proven otherwise.

[pimp]

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Gearon says that if you want a GM to be successful at a job, you have to give him the authority to do it.

That sounds funny coming from a guy that wouldn't let his GM fire Woody or trade for Calderon, a couple of months ago.

[KB21]

The supposed trade for Calderon has no basis in fact. There is no factual information that suggests that trade was even on the table.

When the ownership didn't allow Billy to fire Mike Woodson, it wasn't the first time ownership has not given the approval to fire a head coach and it won't be the last. Like I said, that one incident has been blown completely out of proportion, especially when you consider the fact that making a change at that point would have probably killed the Hawks chances of getting into the playoffs. Interim hires never work out.

[pimp]

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especially when you consider the fact that making a change at that point would have probably killed the Hawks chances of getting into the playoffs. Interim hires never

work out.

Do you really think firing Woody would have greatly damaged their chances of going 37 -45?

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Interim hires never work out

Greg Popovich was the interim coach of the Spurs after they fired Bob Hill.I would say that worked out well for the Spurs.

[jerrywest]

at least he isn't their Hotlanta1981

[KB21]

Greg Popovich was also the general manager of the Spurs when he stepped into the position vacated by Bob Hill. The Spurs also won only 17 games under Pops that year (20 games total) and got the first pick in the draft (Tim Duncan).

I don't think the Hawks make the playoffs if they fire Mike Woodson and hire Larry Drew as the interim head coach.

[oiatlhawksfan]

same person

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The legend himself, Rick Sund, is on the move to the Atlanta Hawks. Excellent hire for the Hawks. Anyone on this site knows how much I am a fan of Slick Rick. Most people wouldn't consider a great move but considering how Rick put together a very balanced and competitive team on the cheap here in Seattle I would imagine that he is going to make considerable upgrades to the Atlanta roster.

I wouldn't expect Mike Woodson to be the Hawks coach for long. Rick is definitely not afraid to make tough decisions and despite the fact that I know that he would never admit it

, Sam Presti has probably learned a ton having Rick serve as an advisor for the Sonics last season -- even if it was just hearing from Rick Cho, Assistant GM for the Sonics, about strategies that Rick has implored in the past.

On a scale from 1-10 I would categories Rick's tenure in Seattle as a 7. His biggest fault was drafting Mo' Sene in the first round and signing Calvin Booth to a ridiculous contract. His best moves were obviously the Ray Allen/Gary Payton trades, the Wilcox/Vlad trade, the Fortson/Booth trade, his keen ability to sign undrafted free agents (Reggie Evans, Damien Wilkins, and Andre Brown), and his ability to negotiate with pending free agents.

Injuries to Robert Swift (and an absolutely horrific rehab program) probably hurt Rick's stock more than anything else but he is easily my favorite GM to run the Sonics.

How would you categories Sund as the Sonics GM?

[Plainview1981]

Still sore that I took care of your wife, eh?