Danny Ferry is slowly destroying the Atlanta fan base..

[cam1218]

You know what's a great predictor of future events??? Past events?? Future actions?? Past Actions?? I peaked over at the optimism thread and saw a post by Benhill boy saying that Danny Ferry knows more about putting together a winning team than any of us.Here is my response. We know more about putting together a losing team that Danny does. And this sir is how you start it. The first bad assumption is that Danny knows how to put together a winning team because he was part of the Spurs organization. Let's make this perfectly clear. Without Tim Duncan.. The gift of 1997... The Spurs would be NOTHING and there is no San Antonio way. Scientifically, the San Antonio way is far too reliant on the impossible happening.. a team having a guy like Tim Duncan as the anchor. Without Duncan, they are just a bunch of shooters with a PG who can drive and shoot = Golden State. More importantly, Danny is bringing the same approach to recruiting that Popp uses. Come play for us. Well when you have 4 championships and Tim Duncan, come play for us is a very good pitch. However, what does Atlanta Have? A history of losing. Yeah, Danny has seen the movements of a winning organization. And we have seen the movements of a losing one.Right now, Danny is making the movements of a losing organization. Take it from an expert! I've been a fan since Fast Eddie Johnson and Dan Roundfield.

The "San Antonio way" may not be the sole reason for their championships, but they do have a certain culture. When is the last time we beat them?They bench Duncan, Parker and Manu and still win games. They have guys who understand their roles. I think it's JayBirdHawk, who had a Pop quote about wanting guys who are over themselves and want to play basketball as part of a team. You see that team play when you watch them. Remember Pop getting fined for benching his "big three" against Miami and almost beating them? The game was close because the team plays a certain way.Would they have won multiple championships without Duncan? Probably not. They would still have an identity though, and Ferry is trying to bring that here. He isn't making the Hawks into some type of "loser" organization.

[Guest]

You know what's a great predictor of future events??? Past events?? Future actions?? Past Actions?? .

You have a better future by not repeating mistakes of the past - overpaying players to long high priced contracts. DF has not done that, and his work is incomplete. Edited July 11, 2013 by JayBirdHawk

[Admin]

Thanks man. My brother (who is also a member) told me about the Hawksquawk years ago and I mostly lurked after joining. I'm not sure what stirred me from my lurking slumber but one possible explanation is that JTB's enthusiasm is leaking across the internet.

Ohh now we get to have a contest to figure out which member your brother is... and no doubt JTB is one of my fav's!

[EazyRoc]

BS, DF got paid big money to be the guy that brought those players to the ATL. He did not get the job done with an entire roster cleared and the most cap space in the league. Y'all can drink all the kool-aid in the world and capspace in 2014, 15, or 16 is going to matter? I'm not buying it.

What the hell ? He did his job by putting us in position. He doesn't have mind control. Dwight and Paul made decisions that were best for them and their families. Somehow that's Ferrys fault ? You guys make NO sense.Hypothetically, I own a company and there are 2 guys I really want on staff, but they chose employers other than me because they want to be closer to home. Somehow that's my fault ?

[ATL_BALLER]

More importantly, Danny is bringing the same approach to recruiting that Popp uses. Come play for us.

So far, Danny has missed on a total of one guy that we know of, who was never coming here anyway. Whether you like Millsap (or what he represents) or not, he called him the minute free agency started and landed him immediately thereafter, and on a very favorable contract no less.

How do you know his recruiting approach anyway? Even if you were right, whose to say a more matter-of-fact approach isn't better than a bells-and-whistles video presentation? If anything, it speaks to a position of confidence. I know, you're going to say our tradition hasn't earned that confidence, but we're establishing a new culture here. It has to start somewhere.

[AHF]

You just said that winning and analytics go hand and Hand.

Well, Utah had both Millsap and DMC the alltime great... Not to mention Korver... and if we get him Mo Williams. They couldn't win a doggone thing. They did worse than us when all we did was play ISOJOE ball. High analytics... NO WIN....

The connection between advanced analytics and winning is busted for basketball. A low adv. analytics guy like Carmelo can will his team more easily than Millsap can. Because Basketball works better when you have players with star power. Not just guys who look good on paper.

Sooo....

Carmelo Anthony 2012-13: 9.5 win shares; .184 WS/48; 24.8 PER; .560 TS%

Paul Millsap 2012-13: 7.6 win shares; .154 WS/48; 19.8 PER; .550 TS%

I'm struggling to come up with what advanced analytics like Millsap's season more than Carmelo. The analytics on basketballreference all suggest that Carmelo was the better player and did more to help his team win both overall and on a per minute basis.

Seems like you would agree with those analytics instead of using that as an argument against analytics.

[Sothron]

I've said it before but I'll repeat:

I like Ferry's drafting so far.

I like Ferry's clearing the cap of bad deals.

I like Ferry at least getting a sit down presentation with Dwight and also we were the ONLY team CP3 was considering leaving the Clippers for. Those guys honestly are both going to regret not teaming up here.

I like Ferry had the balls to at least TRY for those guys.

I like Ferry passing on Teague. Teague is average. You don't play average 8 million a year for four years.

I like Ferry having reasonable deals with Millsap and Korver. Both could be swung as trade bait.

I like Ferry passing Chuck McChuckerson. I can not even EXPRESS the relief I feel at not watching that same horror show.

Basically until Ferry ties us into a long term deal that clearly keeps us on the playoff treadmill or makes a horrible trade he has done a good job so far by my book.

[Watchman]

I've said it before but I'll repeat:

I like Ferry's drafting so far.

I like Ferry's clearing the cap of bad deals.

I like Ferry at least getting a sit down presentation with Dwight and also we were the ONLY team CP3 was considering leaving the Clippers for. Those guys honestly are both going to regret not teaming up here.

I like Ferry had the balls to at least TRY for those guys.

I like Ferry passing on Teague. Teague is average. You don't play average 8 million a year for four years.

I like Ferry having reasonable deals with Millsap and Korver. Both could be swung as trade bait.

I like Ferry passing Chuck McChuckerson. I can not even EXPRESS the relief I feel at not watching that same horror show.

Basically until Ferry ties us into a long term deal that clearly keeps us on the playoff treadmill or makes a horrible trade he has done a good job so far by my book.

I don't think we'll have to worry about being in the playoffs for a while.

[AHF]

I don't think we'll have to worry about being in the playoffs for a while.

I think we will be a bottom of the playoffs team this season if we sign a decent PG and reserve big man. We sure won't be high in the lottery unless the ping pong balls really, really like us. Korver, Millsap & Horford is too good of a frontcourt.

[Watchman]

I think we will be a bottom of the playoffs team this season if we sign a decent PG and reserve big man. We sure won't be high in the lottery unless the ping pong balls really, really like us. Korver, Millsap & Horford is too good of a frontcourt.

Not very good defensively.

[cam1218]

I've said it before but I'll repeat: I like Ferry's drafting so far. I like Ferry's clearing the cap of bad deals. I like Ferry at least getting a sit down presentation with Dwight and also we were the ONLY team CP3 was considering leaving the Clippers for. Those guys honestly are both going to regret not teaming up here. I like Ferry had the balls to at least TRY for those guys. I like Ferry passing on Teague. Teague is average. You don't play average 8 million a year for four years. I like Ferry having reasonable deals with Millsap and Korver. Both could be swung as trade bait. I like Ferry passing Chuck McChuckerson. I can not even EXPRESS the relief I feel at not watching that same horror show. Basically until Ferry ties us into a long term deal that clearly keeps us on the playoff treadmill or makes a horrible trade he has done a good job so far by my book.

That's pretty much spot on and I can't figure out why some fans are struggling to grasp this.

[AHF]

Not very good defensively.

We'll see how it plays out. I am very pessimistic that we will finish with one of the worst 7 records in the NBA or that we will make the second round of the playoffs. Anywhere between low lottery and a 6th seed seems in play. If we signed Teague, I would bet on a 6 or 7 seed.

[Watchman]

I don't see how we can make the playoffs with our defensive deficiencies, and we've really got no sure fire scoring either.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Watchman

[Admin]

I think we will be a bottom of the playoffs team this season if we sign a decent PG and reserve big man. We sure won't be high in the lottery unless the ping pong balls really, really like us. Korver, Millsap & Horford is too good of a frontcourt.

It will be interesting to see how our PG duo of Mack and Shröder affect the team. I suspect they will get us some extra losses this year that we would normally have gotten with a guy like Teague starting.

[AHF]

It will be interesting to see how our PG duo of Mack and Shröder affect the team. I suspect they will get us some extra losses this year that we would normally have gotten with a guy like Teague starting.

Clearly that is true. If we win 45% by going with Mack and herr Schröder playing point instead of 55% we would win with Teague at the point, but we do this after signing quality vets like Korver and Millsap then that is a piss poor job of tanking.

Edited July 12, 2013 by AHF

[Watchman]

If tanking is the goal, we should have acquired high dollar garbage contracts.

[Admin]

Clearly that is true. If we win 45% by going with Mack and herr Schröder playing point instead of 55% we would win with Teague at the point, but we do this after signing quality vets like Korver and Millsap then that is a piss poor job of tanking.

I'm really wondering if at this point we didn't sign Korver and Millsap with plans to trade them to a contender at the deadline this year because you're right it's a very mixed message unless Schröder is a lot better this year than I think he will be and we see a lot of improvement in Jenkins.

[AHF]

I'm really wondering if at this point we didn't sign Korver and Millsap with plans to trade them to a contender at the deadline this year because you're right it's a very mixed message unless Schröder is a lot better this year than I think he will be and we see a lot of improvement in Jenkins.

Korver at $6M/year seems unlikely to draw much in return and Millsap didn't draw any value to Utah last season. Trading Millsap at the deadline buys a team an extra half season with him a year older than last offseason so I am not counting on him drawing good draft assets (particularly when giving up a pick for him last year was worth less than giving up a pick for him next season). If we deal them, I would think it would be to acquire marginal assets and then go into full tanking mode but I have a hard time seeing that play out. I am expecting us to be somewhere in the middle of the pack.

[ATL_BALLER]

I'm really wondering if at this point we didn't sign Korver and Millsap with plans to trade them to a contender at the deadline this year because you're right it's a very mixed message unless Schröder is a lot better this year than I think he will be and we see a lot of improvement in Jenkins.

They're certainly tradeable assets, but, based on what Danny's said re: culture, I really think he signed them to keep them. Plus, what kind of message does that send to other prospective free agents that they could immediately be flipped? Perhaps that's not a real concern - just saying.

[cam1218]

They're certainly tradeable assets, but, based on what Danny's said re: culture, I really think he signed them to keep them. Plus, what kind of message does that send to other prospective free agents that they could immediately be flipped? Perhaps that's not a real concern - just saying.

I agree. Korver and Millsap know a lot more about Ferry's plan than we do. They wouldn't sign with us just for the sake of it.They could be traded, especially Millsap, but I think he is just taking players that he wants while he can. Get a few this offseason and get some more next year, just keep building. We have a lot of money to spend but it doesn't have to all be used on this years FA class.