I'm starting to believe in Sund....

[bumpyphish1]

Not that I ever didn't believe, but with this franchise, you never know. Yesterday, I felt like we did good just by not hiring Grant, and I was willing to give Sund a chance. After reading Sekou's blog and reading some Sund blips, I am cautiously optimistic. I was not happy that BK was let go, but maybe we will come out of this okay. I really like that he seems high on Acie (Acie IS the future and we need to trade Bibby's expiring next season!), so we will see how he does. But, all you negative nancies calling this a bad hire can take a hike. Diesel, exodus, others...you were all wrong about Horford (and myself and others were RIGHT) and hopefully you will all be wrong about Sund.

FIRE WOODY!!!!!!!!!!!

[Packfill]

Quote:

---

Not that I ever didn't believe, but with this franchise, you never know. Yesterday, I felt like we did good just by not hiring Grant, and I was willing to give Sund a chance. After reading Sekou's blog and reading some Sund blips, I am cautiously optimistic. I was not happy that BK was let go, but maybe we will come out of this okay. I really like that he seems high on Acie (Acie IS the future and we need to trade Bibby's expiring next season!), so we will see how he does. But, all you negative nancies calling this a bad hire can take a hike. Diesel, exodus, others...you were all wrong about Horford (and myself and others were RIGHT) and hopefully you will all be wrong about Sund.

FIRE WOODY!!!!!!!!!!!

I think most people are taking a wait and see approach with Sund. If he retains Woody then that is a very bad sign indicative of a puppet GM. If he brings in a good coach and takes care of the Hawks free agents then most people will be on board, even if he is not a "sexy" hire or particularly dynamic.

I have a question on trading Bibby though. Let's say Law is playing o.k. but hasn't really overtaken Bibby towards the trading deadline, do you still trade Bibby if the Hawks are in the playoff picture?

[mrhonline]

Quote:

---

If he retains Woody then that is a very bad sign indicative of a puppet GM.

Not necessarily. If he gives Woodson more than a one-year extension, then I'd buy your argument.

But, with Woodson having JJ's endorsement, I would understand a one-year deal for him.

[KB21]

I think the one year deal will be a major hang up on getting anything done here though. I'm of the opinion that when Rick Sund makes a decision on the head coaching position of this team, then he needs to commit to that person. A one year deal does little to garner a sense of security and confidence in the head coach. I also don't believe Mike Woodson will accept a one year deal. I think he's looking for at least a 3 year extension.

To me, a one year deal is what the ownership wants to give to Mike Woodson. I think they like him, but they aren't so confident in him that they are willing to give him a multi year deal. If Rick gave Mike a one year deal, to me that would be a call made by ownership because they want to give Mike one more chance to show what he can do.

A three year deal or longer to me would mean that Rick has confidence that Mike can do the job and is willing to commit to him.

From Mike's perspective, he's probably done enough with the Hawks playoff push this past season to possibly land another head coaching job in the future if he spends 2-3 years on Larry Brown's staff in Charlotte. So, I don't think there is any benefit to him taking a one year deal.

[Lascar78]

Sund will be fine, but probably not great. He is a vet and we could have done much, much worse. The only thing that scares me is that this roster is very talented and needs one very major trade to balance the roster out. I'm not sure if he will have the cojones to do that. I'm expecting him to play it safe for the most part but we'll see. I'm certainly relieved that we got a veteran presence, I just want further confirmation that he will not be handcuffed.

Overall I feel confident with him at the reigns, especially with no high draft picks immediately.

[bumpyphish1]

My thoughts on the issues presented in this thread.

1) Woody:

If he is given anything more than a one-year deal, then it's a bad indication that things are really screwed in our front office and will continue to be so in the Sund era. It means either A) Sund is a puppet, a "YES Man", etc. or B) He really believes in Woody, which would be another bad judge of coaching by Sund. So, hopefully either, A) Sund decides not to renew Woody and look elsewhere or B) Sund and the Hawks offer Woody a one-year deal, Woody pulls a BK and says "no" and we move on that way.

2) Acie as PG:

What if Acie doesn't look like he is clearly better than Bibby or doesn't progress? Well, first off, I reject the idea that there is a possibility him not progressing this season. I think he showed more than enough glimpses last season and in the playoffs that he is talented enough to be a good PG in this league. I know he has the personality, drive, and determination of a winner. And, PG's always struggle in year one. If Acie can develop a reliable jump shot, there is not doubt in my mind he will be a very good to GREAT PG in this league. Think about Rondo in year 2....Does anyone here really think Rondo has the talent that Acie does? Case and point. Under a decent coach's tutelage, Acie will thrive. Still, there is a chance (especially if Woody is still at the helm) that at trade deadline Bibby will still be seen as the #1 PG on our team. Well, I still say DEAL THAT EXPIRING CONTRACT! It's too valuable a trade asset not to trade, and we need to tweak our roster to become anything more than an above average team. We gotta use that asset to complete our roster!

Finally:

As far as people taking a "wait and see" approach to Sund, maybe more people are moving towards that mentality now with Sekou's somewhat positive article and now that the "knee-jerk" reaction time has passed...maybe so. Still, I have read way too much negative sentiment to say that the majority of people feel this way. Too many people on this board (add Dolphan to this list of anti-Sund talkers - forgot about him) either myre in negativity or just have absolutely terrible basketball judgment for people who follow the Hawks so closely. So, I am not ready to back off of the statement that people are hating on the hire just yet.

[NJHAWK]

I was a huge BK backer as well. However its just as pointless now talking about all the good moves he made and defending him as it is talking about the couple bad moves he made and ripping him. He is gone and thats life. It was a little easier now that we have Sund. Not that I think Sund is better than BK was BUT AT LEAST WE DIDNT HIRE A NOBODY ERROND BOY IN IN GRANT OR THAT STUPID BAD CONTRACT GIVING CAP WRECKER IN BILLY KING. I can live with Sund and while I dont expect the world, Im optimistic to see what he will do to improve on all the young talent we have.

[bumpyphish1]

well put, NJ.

I would also like to say that after looking at all the blemishes (bad drafts, bad coach hires, etc.) on Sund's record, you would like to think that some of the rapid BK haters (which is like 75 % of this board) would realize how foolish it is to call a guy a terrible GM for a couple of errors, only one of which was utterly dumb (The Shelden draft pick), especially considering all the good he has done in getting our franchise the roster that went to the playoffs this season.....

[Diesel]

I'm not quick to assume that Sund will fail nor am I quick to assume that he will do well or even that he will be "OK".

He passed my first litmus for GM in that he is a guy with experience.

When I see his experience, it makes me feel the way that I do when I see Shrimp that was once cooked well, now cold with cold butter on it. I know that he can be better, but I just believe that it's going to take some help.

The third thing that I'm not assuming is that he has the power to make the decisions. They claim in Seattle that he was a Patsy. Seattle didn't have the money to spend so the owners wouldn't green light many of the things he wanted to do. I'm glad that he had that experience because in Atlanta, it won't be much different until the case is finished.