Who will be the #1 Option?

[Employee8]

Will it be Al or Toine?

My guess is that it will be AW 'cause he has the experience factor in his favor, I guess.

Oh hello everyone! I'm new here and I hope that the Hawks will finally begin to turn it around with AL, Toine, Howard and company....

P.S. Dampier is a MORON for :

A.) Turning down Big Money and a chance to build a Winner(finally) here in Atlanta

and

B.) Going to the Knicks and thinking that he could handle Shaq. ROFLMAO!!

[Nicholasp27]

yeah, i can't believe that people actually think that the Knicks can contend for anything

[Diesel]

No doubt Toine will be the #1 guy. I hope that Toine plays the game that he played at UK... Back when he was the mold of Jamal Mashburn. Employee #8 has always been a guy who can put up triple doubles but he never focused on that. He became shot happy. I think that's the problem he had in Dallas, he wanted to be the focus of the offense. Well, now, he has Al. I don't think Al is quite ready to become a star. I think Al being a complimentary player for right now is perfect for his development. My real hope is in J-Smooth and that he doesn't become a G. Wallace. I think J-Smooth can be the next Nique if we bring him along right...

But for now, I look forward to Walker/Harrington making noise...

BK is smart because he knows that after Walker/Harrington/Woodson gets a lot of buzz in the league, that FAs will want to come here next year when we will have at the least 17 million to spend. Maybe 26-27 million?

[chillzatl]

[Employee8]

Ahem....Don't you mean Walker/Harrington/HOWARD? Though it *would* be funny to see Woodson starting at PG for us or something....

[Diesel]

Actually,

I was talking about Woodson's coaching.

If Woodson can come in strong like Carlisle, Emuss, and Doc did in the past few years, he can make a reputation for himself. Already he seems very professional and very serious.

We need some form of track record to show that Woodson is capable of coaching a winner. A good season will draw free agents like an archietect.

[delanceyj]

I'm sorry, unless I'm forgetting someone on our roster... who is this "Howard" you keep speaking of?

[Packfill]

I was just going to ask the same thing.

[flava]

[OGRat]

??????????

[Employee8]

AARRGGGH!!!!

I meant to say Walker/Harrington/J-SMOOTH!!!!

Unbelievable that I had Dwight Howard on the brain for some reason....

Sorry about that.

[Wretch]

Having two guys with powerful personal agendas. I know, I know. Woodson is going to run a tight ship, #8 is a very mature player who likes to pass, and Al was quite mature in stepping back for the better of the team in Indiana.

Still...

When we acquired Harrington, we really had an empty plate. He was the biggest fish in the bowl and even had Nique singing his praises. We were the perfect situation for him and with the young guys around him (and guys that hadn't been getting it done) Al was primed for a leadership role and being the primary option. Atl bringing in a guy like 'Toine (legitimate scoring threat, All-Star, playoff seasoned) was probably the furthest thing from his mind.

Walker is going to need shots, LOTS OF SHOTS. He's going to be looked at as the primary option, which puts Al in the back seat. Not in terms of how many looks he'll get, or his importance to the team per se. But in terms of where he stood when we first signed him. Al was on a mission to prove himself and had free reign to do so. At a minimum, the ball has now been split in half.

It doesn't stop there though... Walker has his own agenda as well. This is a guy who has come from two winning environments. He was rebuilding with the C's many moons ago and has to be at least a little discouraged coming back full circle - to an abysmal situation far worse than the tradition-rich city of Boston. He helped to rebuild that team, did everything they asked of him, and they dumped him. He had something to prove when he went to Dallas. But wait, there's more!? Now he gets dealt to us...and not exactly for an NBA premiere package. He's got sh#t to prove in a contract year no-less.

Who'll be the #1 option? That's obvious. Though I look for 'Toine and Al to coexist quite well. But even though their games do compliment each other's very well, could we be looking at a power struggle?

Their skillsets fit together like leggos. Though so did Kobe and Shaq.

[Final_quest]

OK calm down. Regardless of who the #1 option is Al will get plenty of opportunities. Toine is going to take a lot of shots, but c'mon others will get to play and shoot. I'm not sure I want Al to be the #1 option anyway. Only two players in the league last year chucked the ball enough for an entire team: AI and Tmac. Both of those players would have loved 2nd and 3rd options. With the remaining talent on this team both Al and Toine might be begging for other people to shoot.

[AHF]

Antoine Walker has already put his ego aside to some extent both in college at Kentucky and in Boston and been a second option for both those teams. At Kentucky (ironically), Tony Delk was the #1 option for the 1996 championship team and Walker split shots with Delk, Walter McCarty, Ron Mercer, and other college stars and they played great together. In Boston, Walker was the #1 option and then took a role as the second option behind Paul Pierce and played very well. There should be plenty of shots for both Walker and Harrington and both of them have shown they don't have to be the center of the universe for a team, unlike Shaq and Kobe.

I don't anticipate any problems from Harrington. He will be going for a team where he was deperate for minutes and a starting role to a team where he will be a starter and will get all the minutes he can handle. He'll enjoy that transition even more if the team can win some games with Walker's help.

Remember, too, that TMac was the second option when the Magic signed Hill and McGrady so it doesn't matter too much what perception is at the time of a trade as much as how things shake out from then on.

[Diesel]

I notice that Knight loves to get Guys in the last year of their contract.. I am beginning to see that those type guys play much harder than guys who are 6 and 7 yrs to go.

Play harder also means that they are more willing to be directed.

Look at last years squad.

Jax came here with a personal agenda.

Knight wasn't so quick to act on JT's contract.

Sura, Rebraca, Pryz all had something to prove.

Knight utilized those guys and there was a good payoff. I think with Walker, he will be the same. He has probably been promised that he will be highlighted and all that he has to do is follow Woodson's order.

Harrington was a good guy to take a chance with. He's been 6th man in a strong program. He's hungry. Sure he has something to prove. But still, I think these guys will coexist.... My concern is that we find the right PG. I think JT wasn't it and I am actually glad we traded him. Now however, finding the right guy for the job means more. We have a young subcore and we're up and running. The best/worse scenerio is that Walker does carry this team to the playoffs and even past the first round. Then what?? Do we resign him? That's when the decisions get big... But that's for BK to figure out. Maybe Walker is a longterm deal pending his performance this year. I mean he's only 27.

[Wretch]

I forgot how much you wanted to see JT leave town. I bet you were doing cartwheels as soon as you heard the news! *lol*

I think everything will be fine, but in the back of my mind...I'm considering these guys' own agendas as they come to a new team.

[Wretch]

And expressing the only real concern that I have. Things ALWAYS look good on paper, and everyone's happy before the boat sets out to sea. When the games start is when reality hits. I look for these guys to go out and play real hard and try to work together when the season starts. But both are coming from winning programs, both have MUCH to prove, and when the losing starts the honeymoon ends.

[Wretch]

I know well what 'Toine did in Boston. To me that is one of the CLASSIEST and most MATURE things that I have ever seen in NBA. I have all the respect in the world for the guy and I don't think he would come in here with a "all about me" attitude looking to pad his stats and move on.

Nor do I see Harrington sitting in a corner somewhere distraught over the acquistion. If anything, it makes his life easier and thus makes his stats better to have a guy that commands so much attention.

Though, outside of the standard answers that you get from players, coaches, and team execs...you know there are things going on in their minds that they don't talk about. They're only human, like everyone of us and these things have a tendacy to spill over in the spotlight. Especially when things go bad.

Worst case scenario...perhaps they don't intentionally work against each other trying to make the best of bad situation. But it could happen and the foundation is there for things to swing that way.

*edit - Also...McGrady's situation shook out very well for him when Hill went down. Who knows if there would have ever been any issues like that or if McGrady would have developed into the ego that he is now?

Even though Walker deferred to Pierce, we're talking about a while ago. When he was well liked and appreciated by the organization...before the business slapped him in the face and before he was dealt again by Dallas. That could change a person and now that he's in his prime, maybe he's more concerned about himself?

[Employee8]

Don't mean to nitpick but Walker is 28.

[Weez]

that's prime age. two years more and it'll be "decline age" by standard age to ability reasoning. bear that in mind too...next year, Walker will want a longterm deal, as it will likely be the last he signs.