Ball in Stern's Court(article from Marc Stein)

[hotboyj]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...marc&id=2130377

Basically tells the different paths Stern can go in handling this situation.

[Packfill]

This is a truely unfortunate situation.

When you think about it, there is basically no way that the Hawks can field a competitive team, outside of great drafting and retention, if Belkin remains in power - because no free agent will sign and the GM will be handcuffed in future deals.

[Admin]

[drzachary]

Did he say anything besides "tiny fanbase" ?

I was thinking it was actually a pretty polite article for ESPN.

[Admin]

It wasnt as bad as his last article, but he still took every possible liberty he could in insulting us.

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Worse yet, they probably miss out on the first marquee free agent in memory who actually wants to be a Hawk, making Johnson more valuable to Atlanta than Belkin cares to consider.

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Belkin's survival, besides alienating what's left of the Hawks' tiny fan base

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Would Johnson, who has already stunned many league observers by choosing Atlanta over Phoenix

[AHF]

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It wasnt as bad as his last article, but he still took every possible liberty he could in insulting us.

 Quote: 

Worse yet, they probably miss out on the first marquee free agent in memory who actually wants to be a Hawk, making Johnson more valuable to Atlanta than Belkin cares to consider.

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Belkin's survival, besides alienating what's left of the Hawks' tiny fan base

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Would Johnson, who has already stunned many league observers by choosing Atlanta over Phoenix

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The tiny fan base crack is harsh but accurate.

The other two remarks are 100% accurate.

[NickJYD]

I have no problem with Steins piece. he thinks its good for us to get Joe, and it would seem to me that he probably likes what we've tried to accomplish this summer. Hes just stating facts. Lost in the previous responses to this article is the sentiment that the deal will get pushed through whihc seems to be what most all of us want. I came away from the article feeling better about things and slightly more optimistic.

[AHF]

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I have no problem with Steins piece. he thinks its good for us to get Joe, and it would seem to me that he probably likes what we've tried to accomplish this summer. Hes just stating facts. Lost in the previous responses to this article is the sentiment that the deal will get pushed through whihc seems to be what most all of us want. I came away from the article feeling better about things and slightly more optimistic.

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I agree. I even actually wrote Stein and thanked him for doing some good reporting on a situation that the national media has really overlooked.

[Final_quest]

Considering the situation, I thought Stein was fair in his comments. The Hawks do have a tiny fan base, statistically.

[OGRat]

Those comments are truth not friction.

[Admin]

and in case you guys cant see this, there are degrees to which you can state the truth. He could have said things completely different though to not be so insulting.

Instead of: "Worse yet, they probably miss out on the first marquee free agent in memory who actually wants to be a Hawk, making Johnson more valuable to Atlanta than Belkin cares to consider."

He could have said: "Worse yet, they probably miss out on the first marquee free agent in the past several years that both the Hawks and the player have had a mutual interest in..."

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Instead of: "Belkin's survival, besides alienating what's left of the Hawks' tiny fan base"

He could have said: "Belkin's survival, besides alienating the Hawks' fans"

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Instead of: "Would Johnson, who has already stunned many league observers by choosing Atlanta over Phoenix"

He could have said: "Would Johnson, who chose Atlanta over Phoenix"

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See, thats what I mean. He could have plainly stated the facts without giving his clearly biased opinion about the Hawks and without trying to make us look like a pathetic franchise. Why rub salt in the wounds of what is left of our tiny fanbase by writing what he did? Thats my point. I never said his comments werent in line, I just disagreed with his method for making them.

[mudderfudder77]

Quote:

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and in case you guys cant see this, there are degrees to which you can state the truth. He could have said things completely different though to not be so insulting.

Instead of: "Worse yet, they probably miss out on the first marquee free agent in memory who actually wants to be a Hawk, making Johnson more valuable to Atlanta than Belkin cares to consider."

He could have said: "Worse yet, they probably miss out on the first marquee free agent in the past several years that both the Hawks and the player have had a mutual interest in..."

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Instead of: "Belkin's survival, besides alienating what's left of the Hawks' tiny fan base"

He could have said: "Belkin's survival, besides alienating the Hawks' fans"

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Instead of: "Would Johnson, who has already stunned many league observers by choosing Atlanta over Phoenix"

He could have said: "Would Johnson, who chose Atlanta over Phoenix"

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See, thats what I mean. He could have plainly stated the facts without giving his clearly biased opinion about the Hawks and without trying to make us look like a pathetic franchise. Why rub salt in the wounds of what is left of our tiny fanbase by writing what he did? Thats my point. I never said his comments werent in line, I just disagreed with his method for making them.

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Why does Stein need to sugarcoat it? So you can feel good about being a Hawks fan?

The Bulls got 7 years of this kind of treatment and the Clippers are going on 20 years of it...

[Plainview1981]

What? YOu think the Hawks started getting this treatment

yesterday?

[CBAreject]

That's just good journalism. Anyone can state facts, but what separates a good writer from an average writer? He makes his articles interesting. A necessary consequence of that is having his own bias bleed through on the printed page.

Most of ESPN hates the Hawks for whatever reason. In fact, only the Falcons really get any love from national sporting news. Even the successful Braves are not one of ESPN's darlings. Be that as it may, most of these guys write interesting articles. The job of ESPN is not to report the news. No, it's to SELL the news. There are plenty of other news sources, but it's ESPN's colorful and opinionated reporters that make them #1 on cable TV and on the web.

I've always thought Rob Neyer rooted against the Braves, and I still believe he does (picking the Phillies to unseat them 5 years running). I don't like that about Neyer, and I think it's funny when he's wrong every year. Thing is, I still read the guy because he writes an interesting article. Part of the reason he's interesting is that he's biased. Take away opinions and you have sterile and robotic reporting that no one wants to read.

It's like someone asking Dolfan to create a graphic using only pure black and white without colors or shades of grey....and no curves either. There's only so much you can do with that.

[CBAreject]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=2130388

Now this is just too much

[pathway23]

The Great Philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Marx would have major problems with these journalists...they don't pass along knowledge, they just pass along opinions.

[AHF]

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The Great Philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Marx would have major problems with these journalists...they don't pass along knowledge, they just pass along opinions.

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Ratto, yes.

Stein's article has a lot of information and knowledge.

[Buzzard]

Quote:

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and in case you guys cant see this, there are degrees to which you can state the truth. He could have said things completely different though to not be so insulting.

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I have been quiet on this matter about as long as I can stand it.

I just cannot see anyone not insulting us at this point. We are the laughing stock of the league and a complete embarassment from an business organazational stand point.

As far as I am concerned everyone of our owners should be fired for putting this half ass policy in place that would allow one 30% owner to block seven owners who have 70% holdings when the intent of the agreement was to accomplish the complete opposite!

I have lost all faith in this ownership team and until there are some major changes, I will not beleive a word that comes out of their mouth.

In other words, I will not beleive it until I see it. They have lost all my trust in their ability to run this team as a cohesive unit.

[pathway23]

That is an outside Atlanta viewpoint, and also the ignorant inside Atlanta viewpoint. The 8 owners other than Belkin are very tight, very much in support of GM Billy Knight and Coach Woodson, and have done a lot to reach out to fans. I don't know what is the matter with Belkin. He obviously put on a mask when he joined this group. He was making it look like he was really excited and part of the team. Really I think from day one this guy wanted total control of the basketball side and wanted to be a Sterling type GM, being a Celtics fan at heart. The Washington guys really weren't into basketball, they were into the hockey. Then the lockout came and they had nothing to see but basketball so they got into it and became tight with the Atlanta ppl, into basketball. I think that Belkin went into this deal thinking privately but not disclosing to the other guys that he wanted to control the basketball operations, and since he would have the largest share he would be governor and at the same time express what was in the best interest of the team. He thought the Washington guys wouldn't pay attention to basketball and since they were also from the North like him they might vote in his favor just for grins. He thought as governor and having as much of the team as the Atlanta guys they could be silent partners, or forced to be so because he could count on Washington. His role as governor hasn't been a problem yet he has been powerless all this season, As the Washington and Atlanta groups have consistently outvoted him 2 to 1 on everything. He is a bitch having a hissy fit now. Its all his fault. He is an [censored]!

I don't think the other owners when they voted Belkin in had any idea he would abuse the power as he has. His actions are solely the cause of the embarassment of the team and also the ownership debacle. He violated the principles of the agreement by failing to express the will of the majority of the owners.

[OGRat]

Dude you are going to need some tougher skin to make it through these next few years. This treatment is only going to get worse depending on what happens with our ownership team.

Don't blame the writer, blame the organization. These guys are too rich to aire their dirty laundry in the streets.