chickenstanly

"Jason Kidd will go down as the best PG to play besides Stockton."

_________________________________

Come on now. I guess Magic Johnson will have to settle for thrid place with all of his rings and assist titles?

"College basketball is not what it used to be, it's watered down as hell....."

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As is the NBA.

I say Rick Barry or Kareem. Both of these guys have great BB knowlege and have been blackballed because they were aloof, opinionated and not well-liked in the 'good-ole boy'network that exists in the NBA's front offices.

"Why would he bet that the Hawks will lose?"

Because he thought the bet would win? At least that's what most people have as motivation when making one.

"From Uruguay, a little country that is very proud of his man in the NBA, i forgive any of you guys that don't know nada about us"

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Don't your soocer players, like, eat each other and stuff?

Chicken

There must be a "Josh" Williams out there someplace.

Because what young Naoh will ultimately end up with is quite likely what he either earns himself or inherits. Just like the rest of us.

Obviously, no one yet has posted any legitimate reason to believe that Noah may stay in school as a result of having a father who was a tennis player. But many of you have certainly posted this reference (father/family) when speculating about his possibly entering the draft. Is this something that he is on record as mentioning? Or simply another HawkSquawk feeding frenzy based on nothing?

You seem to believe that just because a kid doesn't come from the ghetto and *MAY* have a comfortable future as a result of lineage, that this would be worth risking NBA millions in the event he should get hurt in college.

I'm sorry but... "I was in France when Noah played" is really not very convincing.

Many of you have mentioned the wealth of Yannick Noah. Can anyone point to some reputable estimate of his net worth?

Also, equally important would be how much versus the NBA money of a top 2 pick?

Is he definately in Yannick's will? For what percentage? How about brothers, sisters or other aires?

Anything that he makes in the NBA will be HIS. And his NOW!

My guess is that son would be able to buy and sell dad several times over within several years of NBA life.

Howdy BHD!

"Vlade was one of the most unathletic starting centers I've ever seen, he chain smoked for quite some time before 'getting serious' one year in Sacremento."

Are you saying that chain-smoking has a negative affect on athleticism?

Does the NBA have the right do do it?

Absolutely.

Is it racially aimed?

Obviously.

"That's the bottom line.

"I pray that I'm wrong, But I'm sure I'm right!"

__________________

How are you sure?

I understand why you have come to your "opinion". You've done a good job of stating this.

To me, "sure" is something that you could only be --- after the fact?

And if you were indeed "sure", then praying that you were wrong would seem a bit silly, as it would make it impossible for your prayers to be answered.

Like saying, "I'm sure that the Spurs won the 2005 NBA Title, but I pray that the Pistons won".

What about Julius Erving, Mark Aguirre, Adreian Dantley?

Small Forward was "the position of the stars" back in the 80's. Whether or not that translates into todays style of play is anyone's guess.

Don't you all remember that everything hinges on whether or not Kwame is still available?

Well, this time I'm sure he is! Just trade the #2 to Washington for him.

Seriously though, it's nice to see all of you engaged in a legitimate debate this time as to who should be our pick.

This is the way it should be in a situation where one is choosing "in the dark", so to speak.

Lary Bird - Slow, can't defend

Magic Johnson - No outside shot, bad knees

Julius Erving - No outside shot, can't handle the ball

Michael Jordan - No outside shot, only average ball handler

Charles Barley - Overweight, undersized, no outside shot

Everyone should remember that Wilt never won a championship until late in his career. And he dwarfs Jordan as being by far the most dominant player of his era.

The 80's Lakers and Celtics were so good that could have played an all-star team made up of the rest of the league and probably won most games.

Magic was great, but without Kareem, he would not have

5 (if any) rings. Sorry.

Let's flashback to the Portland team with Walton. This is

an example of how when great big men cancel each other

out, it all comes down to the surrounding cast. That year,

Walton had a better team around him than Kareem and they

defeated the Lakers in the WCF.

The 76ers never could do it until Moses came along. As great

as Erving, Cheeks, Toney, etc were....it still took Moses

to allow them to get past the Celtics/Lakers. And Cheeks was a top 3 point guard. (the truth of the matter was they

could not guard Kevin McHale, while Bird/Dr.J canceled each other out. As did Cheeks/DJ and Caldwell-B.Jones/Parrish.)

The Jordan Bulls were an anomolie, but unless you think you have a Jordan on your hands, I wouldn't use them as a blueprint. I have my doubt whether it would even work now in the age of zones.

I can't say I have the answer, but I'd say that you MUST have 2-3 players that are top 2-3 at their position in the league. This is for a dynasty. I think the Pistons were a freak thing and not the makings for a dynasty.

Just look at the Lakers/Celtics for a second.

Celtics SF Bird Top 1-2 in league

PF McHale #1

PG DJ Top-3

C Chief Top 4

Lakers SF Worthy Top 3

C Kareem Top 1-2

PG Magic #1

The lakers had the advantage of better bench players

with Mychael Thompson and McAdoo. When walton came

to Boston, the Celtics won. With these two teams, it

all came down to bench play as to who was better each

year.

>It would be nice to have a few fights break out every now >and then just to get the passion back, because I am scared >it might last.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Well, I could always come back and unite everyone!

Say, What's been up, BHD? Ya' been making it alright?

Take the entire world as your player pool. Choose captains and pick teams.

No matter how they were picked, there would only be ONE impossible match-up.

Only one man who there is no answer for. Not even close.

One man who would command the attention of multiple players,

regardless of who was on your all-world team.

SHAQUILLE O'NEIL !!

Shaq is beyond the shadow of a doubt the greatest basketball

player in the world. His numbers may not always reflect this, but it does not change the fact.

Duncan and Garnett both put up great numbers and are

great players. Garnett the better athlete. Duncan the

better player.

Neither could check Shaq or score on him at will as

he could do them without any effort.

All of you know that this type of discussion is

not allowed by the owners of this site. They

removed the O/T section because it invited this

type of thing. Now ya'll are doing it on the

basketball section ? Why ?

Fwiw, neither of the parties are anyting more

than a joke. Call them "Dumb and Dumber", if

you will.

All they have to do is give all of you two

choices and you will oblige and pick one

of them.

Sad !

Another comment from one who played against him:

Bill Walton on Kevin McHale:

"Kevin McHale was the second best low-post

player I ever played against, after Kareem."

Just like Barkley, Jordan, Billy Cunningham

and many others, Walton was also aware that

McHale played with Bird.

Notice he didn't say 2nd best PF. He said

"low-post player". Period.

I don't think the Hawks will hire a coach until

they have some idea of the team they will put

on the court next season.

That means waiting to to see who they pick

up in the draft as well as who they may be

able to land through FA.

There are too any unknowns at this point and

the coach should fit the personel and not vice-

versa.

Right now, there is no real team in place.

It's much easier to fit a coach to a team than

attempt to build a team around a coach.

Was Magic the equivalent of Kobe ?

At least Diesel's assesment of Kobe ?

I say, Yes !

Kareem was the equivalent of Shaq.

How can Magic get such an overwhelming

nod as best Laker ?

Because he smiled a lot ?

Not only did he have Kareem, but also

Worthy and Jamaal Wilks before him.

Also don't forget Norm Nixon and Scott

in his prime. And Bob Mcadoo and Mychael

Thompson as well.

Bottom line:

Magic NEVER carried anything. Those

Lakers were great teams. Stacked teams.

Period.

Kareem was the go-to guy. The one that

opened everything up for the others because

he was un-guardable.

My vote is Kareem.

Aren't Shaq's numbers off this year ? Why not

nominate him, too ?

TMAC is a bum. He is still living on a rep created

in one playof series some years ago.

Can anyone say Chris Crawford !

Putting up mumbers for a scrub team means nothing.

Orland is the ultimate scrub team.

Or is Sura now Magic Johnson ?

When a game is played, somebody has to score,rebound,

etc.

If the Lakers played a rec league team, and won

158-62, would some player who scored 25 for the

rec league team be an NBA quality player ? No.

Stats mean nothing except on a winning team.

The real stars have always contrbuted to wins,

not losses. That's what makes them great players.

The whole idea is to win. Not whine. Which fits

TMAC ?

really hope we can get howard, okafur or smith

if not, we'll have either go small with a guard or take a big risk on a european big, who most likely will not be a franchise player

if we go small, we may get a franchise point, but we will still have the weakness we have right now, the paint

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This is an interesting thought. Why has this board

been so quiet on JR Smith ?

It seems that Howard has become this years version

of Kwame Brown with this group.

Not that Howard doesn't have potential, but that

is doesn't excuse such a fixation on a high school

player.

Just like the draft containing Kwame a couple of

years ago, there are no certain bets like Shaq

or Duncan this year. So it seems foolish to fixate.

Being from Gerogia or Atlanta has no importance

whatsoever.

1. Bob Petit.

2. Elvin Hayes

3. Karl Malone

4. Tim Duncan

5. Hakeem Olajuwaun when Sampson played....

6. Spencer Heywood.

7. Connie Hawkins

8. Kevin Garnett

9. Charles Barkley

10.Tom Chambers

__________________________

Where's McHale ?

Ask Barkley to compare McHale to Duncan. See

what he says. It would be interesting.

Barkley once said that McHale "was the best

player he ever played against in his life".

Duncan is comparable. The rest need not apply.

Hakeem is a center. Malone has longevity but

nowhere near the shear talent.

If stats were a measuring stick, Russell would

have been considered only "average". You can't

go on stats.

"I can't believe people actually believe that the draft lottery is rigged"

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Why not ? There are actually people out there that

believe that people who couldn't fly Cesna's flew

large airliners like fighter pilots into buildings.

1990-89 Pistons - Thomas (best example of a "team" over a superstar even though Thomas is a top 10 PG of all time)

1988-84 Lakers or Celtics - Magic or Bird (best or 2nd best player)

1983 Sixer - MVP Moses Malone

1982 Lakers - Magic

1981 Celtics - Bird

1980 Lakers - Magic

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1990-89 Best Player ..... Jordan

1988-84 Best player ..... Kareem as well

1983..................... Some would still say Kareem

1982..................... Kareem

1981...................... Kareem

1980...................... Kareem

But your point is valid.