What makes every Hawks fan MAD.....

[Diesel]

I keep seeing the question ask well why are we still fans. I know the answer and it makes us MAD.

- The Hawks are better than this.

On any given game night, you can look at the opponent and say:

"The Hawks are better than them.". Talent wise, we are better. Reef should be an allstar. Theo should be second team all defense. JT should produce 16/3/8 every night. Jax should be a viable 2nd option.

The problem is that there is no team.

So we spend hours pointing the finger. Should the finger be pointed when a talent filled team doesn't come close to playing up to it's ability.

No way in the world that this team should lose to Orl, GS, and Miami. But they did.

So what to do. Find the cause of all this.

It's simple really.

1. We are not a team.

We don't play defense well. We don't move the ball well. We are like a collection of one on one specialist. It's partly the coaches fault... But it goes deeper than the coach... It's the players too and it's the history. The blueprint has been wrong.

2. JT is a major problem.

I hear you.. I hear you saying.. Diesel, how can a player who scores as well as JT and who hits clutch shots be a major problem? I don't knowif it's basketball IQ or something else but JT is out there playing and it's not to make the team better. It's almost as if he believes that he is the answer. Yes, he's a nice guy... But at the same time, he's not making anyone on the team better.

For reference come back to when he was first drafted. Babcock did the bonehead trade that brought JR/JJ. Since then we have had NO kind of continuity. I remember JT would defer to JR and look for his shot. JR is long gone and years have gone by but JT still does the same thing. If we got Mashburn tommorow, JT would run to the three point line and wait for the ball to come to him. What I am saying is that JT is NOT a floor general. So we have anarchy on the floor.

Now, if somebody gets it going and the other team does nothing, we will win. However, if Somebody gets it going and the other team stops it, I can guarantee a loss. We have no backup plan. We're like a bunch of connections in Series... Like those old style christmas tree lights. When one was out, then all the ones behind that one goes out. Nobody else can step up to carry.

Part of the problem is coaching. However a majority of the problem is leadership.

The thing that makes Hawks fans mad is that the one part of the equation that we can't point the finger to is talent. We have talent. However, sometimes, talent is not enough. Sometimes ability takes a back seat to coaching.

So to answer many of the questions.

If we did get a top 3 pick, we would be no better.

If we had Mello right now, we would be no better. The blue print is all wrong and we can stockpile all the talent we want, it won't help us in the longrun. We have to have some coaching and personnell changes.

Diesel's plan...

1. Trade JT. Let's see if we can get a real SG out of a deal. I'm liking the deal I proposed that would yield Ward/Hapring.

2. New Coach. Fratello. Nuv said.

Notice, I'm willing to hold on to Theo....

3. With the money we make off the JT trade.. In the offseason pick up Damon Stoudamire/Voshon Lenard.

Some of you may dislike Stoudamire, but I know he's a helluva PG with the right coach. Fratello is the right coach.

With the Pick, take the best player available. Stockpile that talent. Next year, we go into the season with:

Stoudamire, Diaw, Harpring, SAR, Theo...

Let's see where this gets us.

Likely, we will still have DD, Ekezie, Jax, Lenard, Hansen, Hendu, Nazr off the bench.

[swolehawk2]

I just wish we could get Fratello or a coach like him, to come in and work with our talent, so he could evaluate them to see who we move and who we keep. When I see JV and JT on the floor at the same time and our SF initiating the play up top...I can't help but wonder if we had a quality vet coach could he get more out of this group and put them in positions where they are more able to succeed. Thats why we need to fire Stotts now...and see if we have a "Hubie Brown type" team attitude change, before we change too many things with the team....however we do need some starting vet guards.....but this goes back to getting rid of your vet guards in the same season and not having talented youth developing behind them.

[atlfaninAZ]

We are in such sad shape. Everyone needs to go. EVERYONE!

The franchise has been on a downhill spiral since the early 90's. Babcock was trying to control 3 teams, poor coaching, and the city of Atlanta just doesn't care. I'm a Hawks fan since 1982 and I'm fed up.

I'm gonna trade my Hawks jersey in for a CLIPPER jersey, today!

[TheDude]

i agree Diesel, we have talent...heck we've had talent... but they don't play together as a team.. and it does lead back to the point guard, the general(also the coach).. jason kidd RUNS his team.. he is the quarterback.. jason terry is not.. he has good natural skills but it all comes back to the everlasting argument- jason terry does not have a nba-level point guard mind or vision...

if we didn't want to do a bunch of trades to try to get this guy or thiat guy(although i like your trade proposals Diesel), all we need to do is get the big point guard that we've talked about a zillion times...i really feel that if we did that and that point guard spent some time with our coach(whoever it may be) to learn and know the type of offense/defense our coach likes to play, then that pg could come in and instantly run our team and we could be very successful..

one position- a big point, and i really feel we click..

if not, then yeah, we should trade jt and stop trying to work a team around him...

[Weez]

the key, now, as we've seen, is a big PG, not just a big GUARD to COMBO guard...

the results are in. Terry's simply not equipped to play the point. He can't do it and maintain his aggressiveness. I've said this before, but the only way it'd work with Terry as the pg, at this point, is for him to really really come into his own and dominate the ball, be our primary option, with Reef second, and let everything revolve around him...ala Starbury and Francis, AI...and I don't know that he's good enough and/or has the right mentality to do that. It'd take something/someone major to make that adjustment, and it'd be a big big risk...and have everyone up at arms when things go badly...

[Gray Mule]

We've got one! His name is Boris Diaw. He was drafted

specifically to complement Jason [Turnover} Terry.

If this is the only problem with Turnover Terry, then we

should be in business.

Attitude adjustment. That's what this entire team needs.

Theo Ratliff was right on the money. This is not a team.

Apparently, they don't understand the concept of team.

They are a talented group of individuals. They play as

individuals. They should be playing as a team. All of

them need a big dose of team pride and personal

responsibility to see that the team prospers. Too

much "Me" and not enough "We" to get the job done.

[macdaddy]

Diesel, that's the simplest best plan you've had yet. One trade, one coaching change, much better team.

I think the problem right now is that Knight know Stotts is getting a raw deal. He may not have been dealt the best cards but its the fans who are really getting screwed by letting him stay in a situation that is not working out.

[Diesel]

I have 3 problems with the idea of a Big PG...

1. You tie up 2 positions trying to cover for1. 2 guys to do 1 job. This is not that big of a problem because I feel that JT is a SG anyway.

2. Having a big PG really doesn't help JT one Iota in terms of making him a better floor General. What it does is tell JT... OK, you are a SG. IN so many ways we have already done this. I think it was last year, I listened to Fratello and Van Gundy argue about how to treat JT. Fratello said that if JT cannot learn to be a floor general, that it's a waste to bring in another player to play Guard for him for this very reason. I agree wholeheartedly with Fratello's statement. However, Van Gundy said that you're either a PG or you are not. Marbury says the same thing. I kind of agree with that too because I cannot recall any player making the change from 2 guard to PG without previous experience.

3. What happens when the Big PG gets hurt? In many ways, Diaw is the guy that we're talking about. He was drafted to be JT's compliment. Well, Now, he's hurt. It seems to me that JT has regressed over the last few years...

[Weez]

I just don't know Mule. REad my post yesterday about Diaw's handles and whether he's a point or a point forward. a slight difference one might say, but an essential one nevertheless

[Weez]

D, I'm not saying that Diaw, at best, would be JT's "compliment" or sidekick, etc...he'd be the pg or offense initiator, and JT would be the sg, plain and simple. Those are the roles, clearly defined. Diaw would generally bring the ball up the court, JT occassionally would. Just like every other backcourt tandem.

When that pg goes goes down, you use his bu...and that may necessitate going with a mini-me bc for a time, but that's what it means if you go this route. I'm not saying it's the right one...in fact, at this piont, I think we should figure out how to best hype/showcase JT and get as much for him as we can, be that at year's end or if it can figured out in season. It's simply not worth the trouble anymore at this point...and it's obvious that he can't run the point.

Perhaps that includes trading Theo, perhaps it doesn't. BUt you trade JT, see what you get in return/package and then go from there. It's time for major changes. And this time, those changes need to start on the court, not in the front office.