Inside_Man

I there are two possible reasons we haven't signed Dion. One is dollars. We're a money losing franchise and are going to play this year on the cheap. If so, Dion's price just went down.

The sense I get though from the limited things we've heard from Billy and Terry is that defense is important to both of them. It may be that they've written off Dion for that reason. I dunno, just two thoughts.

This deal had to happen because AOL can no longer wait for the McDavid deal to close. They must move forward. I interpret today's news as meaning the McDavid deal is shakier than ever. I assume they move forward and ink JT as well.

I sitll like the zone's prediction that a deal with McDavid will be announced, but it will have little cash and lots of very funky and creative financing. The league will veto the deal.

There was a discussion on 790 this AM that McDavid is 80 to 100 million short of what it takes to make the deal. This news makes sense, as with any deal, there's always a way to make it happen 'right away'. Just put up the money. Obviously, he doesn't have it.

They thought that rather than have AOL scotch the deal, they'd attempt to go through with it and make the league play the heavy roll and give McDavid the bad news that this won't fly.

There's just a lot we don't know about DJ. I'd be real curious as to what the Drs. reports are. If he's fully cleared to play, I wish the Hawks gave him a look.

What he's been through, has the potential to be a life changing event. He may have will, drive and determination in much greater amounts than he ever had before, because he knows how close he came to losing everything. Experiences like the one he had can make someone much more mature in a hurry. Time will tell. I'm rooting for him.

Nevahheardofim

http://entertainment.iwon.com/celebgossip/..._01_2003_4.html

The last thing CC is is a sissyballer - the guy can take it to the hole fearless - in fact he's so fearless he trys to do things his body can't take, and he ends up on the IR.

We'd get a lot more minutes from him if he WAS a sissyballer!! (can't say what kind of minutes, though).

Babcock made a major error with CCs contract, and with Hendu's contract too. Fact is, there are always more and new players around and one doesn't have to give insane contracts to anyone but a handful of the best superstar/franchise players in the league, of which this team has none.

I'm no fan of BHD's posts, but I will say there is an element of truth in where he's coming from. White players are marketed to white fans. Some teams fan bases are more white than others. When I was a kid growing up in Boston, blacks didn't go to pro sports events. The red sox were the last ML team to have a black player - it's safe to say the '86 Celts will be the last to win an NBA championship with 3 white starters. Is there a connection? Ya, I think so. But things do change, and you now see plenty of black fans at the Fleet.

Utah is the whitest place on earth. You don't think they try to field as white a team as possible? I'll bet even money that Matt Harpring plays the rest of his career in Utah, and you can bet on him finishing with any of the other teams. I'll win that one. Could the Jazz sell Iverson in Salt Lake? Fughedabutit!! (Why don't they lose that name. There is no Jazz in Salt Lake just like there are no Lakes in LA.)

I don't agree with BHD's blanket assesment of some white players. Good players are good players no matter what color they are. Who was the better passer, Bird or Nique? NOT even CLOSE!! But some white players may get an disproportionate amount of marketing hype as NBA teams market to that part of their audience that is white.

When the Yaoster came to town there was an article about why didn't the Hawks market to Asians. They replied that they have separate marketing strategies to white and black markets. It's how the bidness is done.

Who's your best all-star five that were actually on the court together for one team??

Mine were Shaq,Duncan,KG,Kobe & StevieF -man, that's A lineup!!!!

Become a Thrashers Fan!!

It's workin for me!

Seriously, the Hawks could learn from the Thrashers. They had offensive talent with no Defense and Discipline. They got lucky with a new coach and are turning it around fast.

They show that it's a better idea to take good talent and teach it D and Discipline than to try and build a team from mediocrity. It's easier to teach Glove Defense and Discipline than it is to turn Ira into a scoring threat.

I'm serious about the switch, though. At this point in the year, I'd normally have a couple of Hawks games on the schedule, but I bought Thrashers tickets instead.

How 'bout that HEATER!!!

I agree. JT gives effort, though he does get sloppy at times. The problem is other players who phone in their games from whoknowswhere. FIrst and foremost BigDog and Theo on that list.

Just saw the ESPN news crawl while watching the motocity bowl!!!!

Thrashers not Hawks, but maybe it'll be the start of a trend?

I'm expecting Dion to get major minutes now, whether Lon want's to give it to him or not.

Besides coaching, another Hawks problem this year is not having a 'shooting' shooting guard. We've missed DJ, especially the havoc his D created and his developing inside/outside Dunk-Or-Trey threat.

DJ, Dickau, Davis - guards with "D" names haven't stayed healthy for the Hawks. Let's hope "D"ion doesn't get the injury "D"isease.

Theo played very well last night, making me think that his flu was a major factor in our recent poor performances.

We lost some players to flu last year too. Question, if the Hawks have a payroll of however many hundreds of thousands of dollars for each game, how come these players haven't had flu shots, like the ones you get at Publix for $20?

You could innoculate the whole team for less than they take in on a pair of courtside seats for one game.

Am I missing something here?

IF we win and IF big dog has a big game, then you gotta be upset because the question becomes: How come he doesn't bring it every night?"

Seems that some are saying it's way too early to judge. If games 15 through 18 are bad, we should fix it at game 60?

I tend to think that if the 2nd quarter is bad, then it needs to be fixed in the 3rd quarter.

C'mon. These guys aren't even TRYING!!

Somebody used the word 'chemistry'. There must be a major disconnect on this team chemwise, and since it wasn't there last year, it must involve GRob. My guess? GRob and Shareef are oil and water and want nothin to do with each other.

But I'm just guessin.

We need to split them - winning both is likely outta reach, and losing both would be a big step back.

The score in the 2nd quarter was 33 to 12 we lost - we won the other 3 quarters 81-70.

Here's my idea. Sit Lon for the 2nd quarter. Let Gar or somebody else takeover for 12 minutes. This'll work.

we can't penetrate their zone, and we're ice cold from the outside. meanwhile, we're not rotating leaving perimeter shooters open who are draining everything.

Minnesota coach Flip Saunders said. "Rahim, Terry and Big Dog are a pretty solid trio. We're going to get in at about three at the hotel. That's what this league is about - performing in the back-to-backs."

about back to backs - while it seems that the Hawks have had a tough schedule so far, they've actually played 12% of the season but only 5% (1 of 19) of their scheduled back-to-backs.

Good thread guys... just want to make a couple of points.

basketball and football are constantly evolving as teams think up new ways to stop other teams new ideas that are working. It's way too early to see the full impact of the zone, as no one as yet has used to to win over the course of a season. If they do, then teams will adjust to beat it. And more teams will start to use it.

The new rules are there to get rid of the old 'illegal defense' which was a nightmare. They are also supposed to increase offense, which sometimes they do, but there also seems to be plenty of games that are record low scoring. To me, the new rules make it easier to play defense as one doesn't need to have a slide rule handy to figure out where to be. And of course, the flow of the game is much better which was another intent.

I wonder if these rules will also make it more likely for a 'team' of very good players to win it all, rather than the team with the 'superstar'? You have to go back to the pistons teams to find champions that had a balance of talent. Imo, the Hawks are taking the balanced talent approach and the new rules make such a move more likely to win a ring rather than having a superstar + 4 role players. We'll see.

On another note, thank you-know-who that we didn't sign Deke, who is disappearing into statistical oblivion this year, and is more likely showing his true age, whatever that is.

Now when does this "10 day contract" thAng next to my handle go away? Heck, I remember the Diesel/Walter bouts from Atlanta Access days!

THe hawks did take a risk when they went into luxury tax land with big dog. a lot of teams would touch a deal that lands them in the luxtax.

What would last nights attendence been if VinceC was playing?

There's more decent teams in the east this year, when you do the math, there are a number of teams that will draw.

People will pay to see the Answer, MJ, TMac, Kidd and Pierce. Plus, all those silly knicks fans will come out anyway even though they bite this year. This means that 6 of 7 atlantic division teams should draw well.

Add in Indy and possibly detroit and there are a fair number of good draw possibilities.

There's a bunch of stuph goin on here, and the blame can't be laid at marketing - look - we had a booming economy that pushed the stock market and players salaries to the stratospere. Ticket prices followed, making corporations and wealthy stock holders the vast majority of season ticket holders. The average family is out of the mix.

The nasdaq index has lost 72% - corporations and wealthy stock holders aren't going to buy more tickets if the Hawks have better marketing. Just as nasdaq has lost 72% so should ticket prices drop 72%, but for that to happen, player salaries should drop that much as well. I can't see the air being gently let out of the bubble, rather something more dramatic is likely to restore sanity to sports economics.

This problem exists in ALL sports, but is worse in those with the least revenue sharing and/or national tv deals. Football is in the best shape, which gives mr. blank the flexibility to make an offer to new season ticket holders at family and not corporate price levels.

Ultimately, ticket prices and salaries will come down, but can the NBA do it without a crash that kills the sport? I don't know.

Hawks attendence will improve this year, as it becomes obvious that the chances of seeing them win on any given night are very, very good. Once the falcons and dogs are done and when the better teams come to town I think attendance will reflect the better product the Hawks are putting on the floor.

In a tough economy, there's competition for sports dollars. As good a sports town as Atlanta is, there's a heckuva lotta product competing for those dollars. Columbus Ohio sells out every professional hockey game of the blue jackets. Why? They're the only pro sports ticket in town.

I usually see 2-3 games each year (I try to get freebies for 2 of those and pay for 1 game), and this year I'd like to see 5. What's the price point for me to step up as a ticket buyer? I'd pay $250 a seat for a 10 game package for seats in either the 200 level or the 100 level ends. I'm dreaming but, that's where I would step up and buy.