Hawks Trying to Prove a Theory.

by Diesel.

As we look at the landscape of the NBA, the championship picture has centered around teams having a "big three". Whether it be: Bosh, James, and Wade or Garnett, Peirce, and Allen, or even Bryant, Gasol, and World Peace the road to the finals have been paved with teams that have moved to get at least three all-star quality players. However, this years rendition of the Hawks will not display three all-star quality players, however, there is a "total team approach" in the building of this team. In fact, Danny Ferry has put together a team of Hard Working, Blue Collar type players whose attitudes have always been team first and whose history shows a history of toughness. In short, the Hawks are going to combat the big threes of this league with balance and toughness.

Many Hawks fans were on the edge of their seats waiting to see what direction Ferry would take as it pertained to matching or not matching the contract signing of point guard Jefferson Teague. In the 9th hour of waiting on a decision about his future, Jefferson Teague received a phone call from Ferry and Coach Bud telling him that they were going to match Milwaukee's contract offer and make Teague their starting PG for the third season in a row. The move was a signal to show the NBA that the Hawks were not about to field a team not capable of winning many games in hopes of getting a top draft pick in next years draft. The practice being spoke of is called being in "tank mode". Many teams are in tank mode in order to get the prize in next years draft, high school standout Andrew Wiggins. Some have compared next year's draft class to that of 2003 when Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Chris Bosh were feature draft picks. Fortunately for Hawks fans, Ferry doesn't see the logic in tanking. As one expert has stated, "tanking in today's NBA is a revolving door and not a route to a championship". So what is Danny Ferry's route to a championship with the Hawks?

Danny Ferry started this project by resigning Sharp Shooter Kyle Korver. Korver finished last season averaging 10.9 points and making 45.7 percent of his 3-point shots to rank second in the NBA. He has made a 3-pointer in 73 consecutive regular-season games, the league’s longest active streak. While some speculated that Korver was an addition to inspire Chris Paul and Dwight Howard to join forces in Atlanta, it never hurts to have one of the best three point shooters in the league on your team.

After being rejected by Chris Paul and Dwight Howard, Ferry then made the decision to allow Atlanta Native and fringe all-star Josh Smith to pull his best prodigal son imitation and leave his home for a far land (otherwise known as Detroit). It is no surprise that as soon as J-Smoove was signed on the dotted line by Joe Dumars, the city of Detroit applied for bankruptcy. Soon Piston fans will find out what Hawks fans already know, with J-Smoove, it's always an emotional roller-coaster. There will be some days when the fanbase is up and there will be others when the fanbase will question, why did he do that. However, everyday, you can expect that Smith will play hard and Smith will make mistakes. Ferry realized that the Atlanta native who said that "Ferry was bringing a winning attitude to the Hawks" no longer fit the imagine of his team.

Ferry went on to replace Smoove with three players that were often overlooked in the person of Paul Millsap, Elton Brand, and DeMarre Carroll. Milsap is the exact opposite of Smith as a player. As a player, Smith could never conform to the position that best fit his ability. Instead of being a driving, slashing, and finishing Power forward ala Shawn Kemp, he believed himself to be the next coming of Larry Legend. There were so many games where Smith would park himself at the three point line and wait on somebody to throw him the ball; most times out of mere desperation. Hawks fans won't have that same problem with Millsap. Millsap is a statistic accountant's dream player. Millsap is a player who knows his limitations and has mastered every area of his gifting. He's an efficient shooter, a good rebounder, a good defender, and a good free throw shooter. The Hawks have happily traded in the constant roller coaster of a fringe All-star who at times was his own worse enemy for a consistent, blue collar worker who comes to Atlanta with his lunch box and his hard hat.

Elton Brand is the second part of this equation and where some would see age and mileage, there's really skillset and maturity. Brand brings something to Atlanta that there hasn't been since Shareef played here. A player trained in the art of playing the low post. Even though Brand is not likely to get starter's minutes, having a player like Brand around to play spot minutes at both the C and PF and give the team a low post threat is something that will benefit this young team greatly. These attributes were not missed by the second year GM. "Elton brings a veteran presence both on and off the court and is a welcomed addition to our locker room, his ability to play center or power forward will give our frontcourt a great deal of versatility and we think he will be an outstanding fit to our program."

The third part of the equation is a small forward who was overlooked in Utah. Ferry would seem to be the ultimate chess player if his trade of Marvin Williams to Utah last year was just an attempt to make Utah forget about their development of DeMarre Carroll. Carroll is that defensive wing player that is a forgotten element on a lot of championship teams. Carroll is to basketball what barbecued ribs are to food: nothing fancy, but highly addictive. His defense is the kind of defense that continuously harasses players who believe that they can get their shot off on anybody (hello Lebron). He earned the nickname JunkYard Dog At the University of Missouri where he learned how to "Scrap" for everything he got. He has even scrapped for his place in the league. Being bounced from team to team, this is the first time where he was shown that he was really wanted by a team. Ferry signed both Millsap and Carroll early in the free agency process in order to show them that they were a part of the plan and not afterthoughts. With the legends of being elbowed into a concussion, having his teeth repositioned at the half, and coming back to play in the third quarter of the same game, Atlanta fans will take a liking to the attitude and play that the Junk Yard Dog will bring.

In a time where many people suggested that the Hawks should pack it up, develop younger players, and start the tank mode, Ferry and his championship attitude is setting a course to show that tanking is the farthest thing from his agenda. His agenda is to combat the elitist attitudes of those teams who have big threes (and fours if you count the New York teams) with a team that will work hard, do the right thing, be tough, and play as a team.

Diesel is that dude on Hawksquawk that posters love to hate but will have to learn to love because he's the best thing going!