From Kyle Korver re: Danny Ferry

[Guest]

Hawks president of basketball operations and general manager Danny Ferry has preached a message of flexibility since taking over personnel decisions last summer. The front office leadership has impressed Korver and the veteran is on board with the direction of the franchise. “I’ve really enjoyed Atlanta a lot,” Korver told HOOPSWORLD. “It’s a good life here, you know? It’s a good city. I believe in the direction Danny Ferry is going. There are some really good pieces here and we play fun basketball. Free agency … I don’t want to talk about it a whole lot yet but I’ve really enjoyed my time here with the Hawks.” Read more at http://hoopshype.com/rumors.htm#B59uapCkC0iojVxx.99

[macdaddy]

Could take that a couple different ways

- i like it and would like to stay

- it was a fun one year in my career

[MaceCase]

Not getting as much pub as his Chicago and Utah comments, huh?

[Bahamut]

It sounded good until that last comment. This is one guy I want us to lock up.

[frankthetank966]

You can't compare CHI to ATL. Chicago is one of the biggest NBA markets right there with NY, LA, MIA, and BOS. There's a reason there is ESPN Chicago and not ESPN Atlanta.

[Guest]

Hey board, what was all that one in a million talk?

[Brotha2ThaNite]

I would love to keep Kyle Korver but as I have said, "If you look at his stats, his best years come in contract years." Still 75% of how he has played this year is better than must good shooters in the NBA!

[benhillboy]

Hopefully Kyle can get off tonight. Teams have been paying lots of attention and manpower to prevent him from getting looks. Artest did a pretty good job on him last time.

[macdaddy]

Hopefully Kyle can get off tonight. Teams have been paying lots of attention and manpower to prevent him from getting looks. Artest did a pretty good job on him last time.

It just further shows that more than anything else we need a scoring wing. Kyle is awesome because he shoots such a high percentage but since shooting is his only way to score he can be shut down. Still he's a great guy to have on the team. We have some good quality players this year. It'll be interesting to see who we keep.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Hopefully Kyle can get off tonight. Teams have been paying lots of attention and manpower to prevent him from getting looks. Artest did a pretty good job on him last time.

Did you see the way Miami was swarming that dude last night? He maybe got one open look all game.

Korver is 6 - 21 from 3 in the last 5 games. Most notably, he's only had 24 shot attempts total in the last 4 game, for a 5.4 ppg average. One thing about good defense is not just forcing a guy to shoot a low percentage, it's forcing him to reduce his attempts altogether.

[Watchman]

His quote seemed all past-tense to me. I don't see him staying really.

[macdaddy]

His quote seemed all past-tense to me. I don't see him staying really.

Yeah. "i've really enjoyed my time here with the Hawks" doesn't sound so good especially since this season isn't even over.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

It just further shows that more than anything else we need a scoring wing. Kyle is awesome because he shoots such a high percentage but since shooting is his only way to score he can be shut down. Still he's a great guy to have on the team. We have some good quality players this year. It'll be interesting to see who we keep.

Specifically a scoring wing that can create his own shot at any time. A guy you can give the ball to, and possibly run pick and roll or ISO with him, and see him score a basket or get to the line. Kyle can do neither of those things. And that's why he's a role player, and not a guy you can build an offense around.

The more I look at how this team is made up, the more I can see Ferry targeting a guy like Kevin Martin. Ferry seems to like those types of shooters, so Martin may fit what Ferry is looking for. Martin is more of a 2 guard though. So that would still leave us without a legit SF, especially one who can defend the position.

[Bahamut]

You can't compare CHI to ATL. Chicago is one of the biggest NBA markets right there with NY, LA, MIA, and BOS. There's a reason there is ESPN Chicago and not ESPN Atlanta.

It's called championships

[Dragitoff]

Did you see the way Miami was swarming that dude last night? He maybe got one open look all game.

Korver is 6 - 21 from 3 in the last 5 games. Most notably, he's only had 24 shot attempts total in the last 4 game, for a 5.4 ppg average. One thing about good defense is not just forcing a guy to shoot a low percentage, it's forcing him to reduce his attempts altogether.

That's true, but where Kyle would be better utilized is on a team with a low-post scoring threat. If we had a legit scorer down low that defenses had to concentrate on, it would give Kyle more open looks. Remember earlier in the season when teams would double Josh? Kyle was killing it from deep. The past few games, teams have looked to shut him down completely because they'd rather see Josh jacking up those jumpers and anyone else on the team for that matters. Atlanta is a jump shooting team with a few really good jump shooters and a few inconsistent ones. If you focus on the ones that are really good, you roll the dice with the ones that are inconsistent and hope it's an off night for them. With a low post scorer, you have to give them so much attention because for them, it's easy to get buckets down low.

[MaceCase]

That's true, but where Kyle would be better utilized is on a team with a low-post scoring threat. If we had a legit scorer down low that defenses had to concentrate on, it would give Kyle more open looks. Remember earlier in the season when teams would double Josh? Kyle was killing it from deep. The past few games, teams have looked to shut him down completely because they'd rather see Josh jacking up those jumpers and anyone else on the team for that matters. Atlanta is a jump shooting team with a few really good jump shooters and a few inconsistent ones. If you focus on the ones that are really good, you roll the dice with the ones that are inconsistent and hope it's an off night for them. With a low post scorer, you have to give them so much attention because for them, it's easy to get buckets down low.

Remember when Kyle was on the Bulls with both Rose and Boozer......and we shut him down by just putting a quicker guard on him to get around all those screens? No amount of personnel will keep a good defense from focusing in on a particular target. It then becomes a matter of can they perform against the greater pressure or if their teammates can take advantage of the amount of attention being focused off of them.

[Dragitoff]

Remember when Kyle was on the Bulls with both Rose and Boozer......and we shut him down by just putting a quicker guard on him to get around all those screens? No amount of personnel will keep a good defense from focusing in on a particular target. It then becomes a matter of can they perform against the greater pressure or if their teammates can take advantage of the amount of attention being focused off of them.

I don't disagree, but with a low post scorer and a deadly perimeter player, you have to pick your poison. Most teams don't have the defensive abilities to shut both down. That was my only point. Since Kyle is our most consistent and deadliest permiter player and we lack a low post go-to-guy, defenses can now focus on Kyle and dare the others to beat them by driving, scoring in the post, or jump shots.

[MaceCase]

And my point is that you are being overly simplistic. Carlos Boozer is one of the best post scorers in the league and Derrick Rose is a superstar perimeter scorer and yet the Hawks were still able to "pick their poison" between those two greater threats and still shut down Kyle with such an easy adjusment. You are highly overrating both Kyle's ability to get open and the availability of good post scorers. This is Kyle Korver, not Reggie Miller we are talking about here.

[Dragitoff]

And my point is that you are being overly simplistic. Carlos Boozer is one of the best post scorers in the league and Derrick Rose is a superstar perimeter scorer and yet the Hawks were still able to "pick their poison" between those two greater threats and still shut down Kyle with such an easy adjusment. You are highly overrating both Kyle's ability to get open and the availability of good post scorers. This is Kyle Korver, not Reggie Miller we are talking about here.

I understand Korver isn't Reggie Miller, but teams do respect him and plan defenses maybe not solely around him, but keying in on him as a person you cannot lose track of. The Hawks were able to shut Korver down because they chose to. Now, the difference is they had a guy who plays man defense well on Boozer usually (Josh Smith) who allowed them to stick to man coverage as opposed to double teaming.

The Hawks are a 2 trick pony offensively now. Jump shots or fast breaks. We are not a good half-court team when the jump shots aren't falling and we don't have a person who can get us the easy buckets in the post. If you're criticizing my "point" as being overly simplistic then you're essentially criticizing Danny Ferry, Otis Smith, and other GM's who had a dominant big man who commanded extra attention in the post so they surrounded him with deadly shooters. Ferry didn't technically have that; however he did try to set this team up with the hopes of getting Dwight to replicate the Orlando Finals team of a few years ago, but with better defensive and better outside shooters (Korver, Morrow, Jenkins, etc... vs. Richardson, Anderson, and Lewis)

By no means am I claiming Korver as a focal point of offenses or defenses for that matter. He's merely a quality part of a squad that good teams have that can make a difference for you on offense and you have to pay attention to on defense.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Love Korver, but I still don't believe that he'll be back unless a significant change is made where he believe he can win here. I'm glad he is content with his current situation, but every player in the league says they love living in Atlanta, but that doesn't mean he wants to play here. He is 32 years old and only has 3-4 good years left. Maybe if Dwight happens, he'll re-up and make our bench really damn good. What he said that really got me was his praise of Ferry. This team is heading in the right direction and we will be great someday...