emeans

I like Maurice Williams, but I don't won't Cassell. He is on the downside of his career and getting old. We need someone with experience but can grow with the team also. No one too old!! Maurice Williams would be very nice.

Please say NO TO CASSELL!!! He is past his prime and I would have rather have a rookie PG than bringing in an old man to run the point. No to Cassell!!! Waste of money at this stage of rebuilding.

Agreed!!! I would take Sene in a heartbeat!! We need to trade down and get two picks!!

than the Paul/Marvin pick last year. Aldridge will be the big X-factor in this pick. If Aldridge turns out to be the real deal and we pick Shelden then BK would have made two very controversial picks in two straight years. I think in the long run Marvin will turn out to be the right pick, even though Paul came out the gates blazing. I personally would select Aldridge over Shelden. Aldridge could be the 1st pick in this draft while Shelden is more projected to go 8 through 12. You have to go with Aldridge!!

Quote: Please tell me why he shouldn't be the 5th pick? BECAUSE YOU CAN GET HIM LATER!!! Is that simple enough for you!!

Quote: I think that Shelden is the second best player in this draft behind Morrison. Period. I think that Shelden fits our need better than anybody. You have fell and bumped your head. And that bump is pretty big. Shelden the 2nd best player in the draft?? What are you smoking? We need a 6'11" to 7 footer that can play way more than we need a 6'8" to 6'9" forward. And by the way adding to the other slew of forwards we have on this roster. I am sorry we don't need another small forward. We need a legitimate tall PF or a Center or a PG. Also, if Shelden is projected to be picked around 9 or 10 you trade down and get more value for the 5th pick!!! You don't waste that pick like that. Belkin is looking pretty damn good to me right now the more I hear of picking Shelden with the 5th pick.

I totally agree if BK REACHES and picks Shelden at 5.....I am rooting as hard as I can for Belkin to get sole ownership of this team and clean house. Belkin would need to fire everyone from the top down if this happens. Management is clueless is they pick him at 5. Now if they trade down then I am okay with Williams, but not at 5, especially is LA is still there.

I totally agree if BK REACHES and picks Shelden at 5.....I am rooting as hard as I can for Belkin to get sole ownership of this team and clean house. Management is clueless is they pick him at 5. Now if they trade down then I am okay with Williams, but not at 5, especially is LA is still there.

I like that proposal!! 8 and 15 would be nice for Atlanta.

Now that is funny as hell!!! That was a good post. I am laughing my butt off from this post.

I second that...I don't see anything wrong with what he said. Some of the guys on here are so biased especially KB and Belkin is not a bad as some people on this forum make him out to be. I personally think Belkin was right in disagreement in giving up so much for JJ. He was willing to pay the maximum to JJ, however giving up 2 1st and Boris was too much and I sure we could have gotten him for less. As much as people don't want to admit it he was right in his stance. And to show you how much more smarter he is over the other owners he is holding their balls in his hands right now. He is much smarter than all of those other owners and the proof is in the pudding!!

Personally from Day 1 I never like how Woody handled Diaw and Josh Smith. Josh Smith luckily had a few games during his 1st year in the mid-season where he was so good Woody couldn't take him out. But if Josh Smith made one error he was pulled and baraded. Josh made Woody play him by winning a few games with his defense. Meanwhile Antoine Walker and Al Harrington could have damn near 10 turnovers in a row and he wouldn't even look their way. Not a word, no benching, nothing. Let Diaw make one mistake and he is either benched for 3 games or getting his ear chewed out by Woody. I use to hate that about Woody. He was extremely two faced with preferential treatment of the players he liked. He has gotten much better this year because he finally started punishing Al for his blunders, but year 1 he was terrible and that is one of the main reason Diaw is not with us and why Diaw could never get going in Atlanta....but Diaw had a lot of talent.

Very good points tmac. The sorriest coaches in the NBA always have players that improve, sometimes entire rosters improve with experience and years of maturity....that is a natural progression under ANY COACH. KB is trying to make it seem as if Woody and only Woody would have improved Marvin and Smoove. Stotts would have had the same improvement. Basically his contention of improvement happens on ALL TEAMS with rookie coaches or not. Once guys get confidence, reps and minutes they usually play better.

95%?? Not really Lascar. I only see maybe 3 to 5 people who truly see that the Hawks Organization made a big mistake in the handling of Diaw. Everyone else seems to for the most part think it was all Diaws faught. The national and local media is definately laughing at us and Pheonix fans are flatout smiling from ear to ear. Only us Hawks fanatics will not admit that we made a big mistake. Let me ask this question. Knowing what you know about Diaw right now and you had a choice between him or Woody staying as coach. Who would stay??

Well said Playmaker0017. Some people are posting that anyone who thinks that Diaw could play in Atlanta has low B-Ball IQ, etc. A bunch of foolishness!! We all have to admit that we made a mistake in giving away a very talented player because of a rookie coach not knowing how to handle his personnel.

Exactly DJlaysitup. It kills me that none of these denial Hawks fans want admit to themselves that maybe....maybe...maybe Woodson was the problem Diaw didn't do well in Atlanta. Then most of these Hawks fans are so hypocritical in saying well it was the system. So is that how you evaluated JJ before he came to Atlanta?? If that was the case you damn well would have been saying what we gave up for a "SYSTEM GUY" in JJ was way too much. He put better numbers up in Atlanta than he did in the "MIGHTY PHEONIX SYSTEM" that makes everyone better when they really aren't that good. JJ is doing better outside the "SYSTEM"!! Like I said before if Diaw makes the All-Star game next and years to come this was a mistake precipitated by Mike Woodson. Lets call it what it is and stop trying to sugar coat everything.

If Diaw makes the All-Star game next year and years to come....this will be the biggest blunder.....EVER!! I totally agree with this columnist.

Quote: A year ago, Boris Diaw wasn’t deemed good enough to play in 16 games for one of the worst teams in NBA history. The same Boris Diaw scored 34 points and hit the winning basket in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals Wednesday. For all the teeth-gnashing spawned by the Hawks’ drafts over the years, their mishandling of Diaw stands as the greatest mistake since they re-upped Jon Koncak in the summer of 1989. A confession: Based on his two seasons as a Hawk, I didn’t think Diaw could play. (Or, more precisely, I didn’t think he cared to play.) Billy Knight obviously saw something more, having drafted Diaw with the 21st pick in 2003 when Josh Howard was available. Somehow that vision wasn’t transmitted to Knight’s coaches. Because Diaw’s two seasons here involved two head coaches — Terry Stotts in 2003-04 and Mike Woodson in 2004-05 — it’s not fair to lay the entire blame at the foot of one man. But it’s instructive that Diaw played in 10 more games and logged an average of seven more minutes as a rookie under Stotts than as a second-year man under Woodson. Diaw worked fewer minutes for a team that finished 13-69 than Tony Delk, whose career is nearly over. Think about that. Think about an organization that claims its focus is on player development failing to develop the guy who would go to Phoenix in the Joe Johnson sign-and-trade and turn into the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Knight contends that it’s wrong to make too much of this seeming transcendence, saying the Suns’ free-flowing style can’t be compared to any other team’s. “Boris is in a good situation,” Knight said. And then: “You think having Steve Nash makes a difference?” Which brings us, rather neatly, to larger issues: If the Suns could get the most out of one of the Hawks’ many young swingmen by playing full-tilt basketball, shouldn’t the Hawks consider doing likewise? If you’re thinking outside the box and building a roster of swingmen, do you want the stodgy Woodson — whose mentors are old-schoolers Bobby Knight and Larry Brown — as your coach? Finally, if a point guard like Nash makes so much difference, why don’t the Hawks have a point guard? Even his detractors would concede that Knight has assembled more talent than the Hawks have had this century, but assembling talent is only half the battle. (The lesser half, actually.) To succeed, the assembly must conform to a design. Why import a rookie head coach to guide a developing team? Why not hire someone older and more patient? Why keep giving heavy minutes to Al Harrington, who won’t be part of the Hawks’ future, as opposed to Marvin Williams, who’s expected to be a cornerstone? Why not give Diaw every chance to fail? The Hawks saw Diaw more as a point guard; the Suns, who as we know have a point guard, deploy him down low to stunning effect. When Diaw was drafted, he was touted as being able to play any position. Shouldn’t the Hawks have tried him at every position? Shouldn’t Knight have suggested that Woodson lose not with journeymen like Delk and Tom Gugliotta but with the young guys Knight has gone to such lengths to find? Everyone makes a mistake in the draft. It’s far more alarming to have drafted a bona fide player and to see him blossom only after he’s gone. “At one point there was a label on [Diaw] that he was a soft, non-competitive player,” Phoenix coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters Wednesday night. “He’s just the opposite. … He’s one of the most competitive guys we have, just an intelligent basketball player who knows how to play.” Presumably Diaw knew how to play all along, but the Hawks couldn’t decide what to do with him. More than the 125 losses this franchise has suffered the last two years, the Diaw fizzle stands as evidence the Hawks don’t even know what they have, let alone where they’re going. Mark Bradley

Not One Cent.....He is too old!!

Again another fan in denial. Diaw has not just had 1 good game...he has had an entire good year!! Yes, Phoenix has Nash and Marion, but I will say this. The Phoenix Suns are not in the Western Conference finals pushing for the FINALS without Boris Diaw. The Phoenix Suns are not the second seed without Boris Diaw. Hate Diaw all you want but the kid is having a huge significant impact on the Suns. Diaw was damn near unstoppable last night. Diaw had a few facial slams last night....see what a little confidence does. Diaw may be in the All-Star game next year.

Diaw needed to be left the "f" alone and let him build his confidence and familiarity of the game thru minutes. Diaw has a very quiet demeanor so the yelling stuff doesn't get across to well with him. With Woodson yelling, the fans yelling, probably the entire coaching staff yelling and then getting more yelling on the bench on top of being bench for an entire game......you tell me what his reaction would be. Last night when they interviewed him all he talked about what the coach and organization putting trust and confidence in him giving him the confidence to do whatever he needed to do on the court. Do you ever see Pheonix's coaching yelling and screaming at him??? Hell no!! Diaw has been successful everywhere except with the Atlanta Hawks.

KB21 you missing two things. First of all that was his ROOKIE season and you can't truly evaluate a player after his 1st season. This is what I am trying to get thru you guys head about Marvin. Stop evaluating him after 1 year. And yes Terry Stotts, Raheem and Theo Ratliffe went on record several times saying how good Diaw was and was going to be once he got some experience under his belt. They raved about Diaw his rookie year!! They all saw the potential this kid had and they went on record saying so. Lastly, I didn't say Woodson couldn't coach, you made that reference. I am saying Diaw didn't succeed because of Woodson, however that doesn't mean he can't coach!! But to sit there and say Woodson had nothing to do with Diaw's unsuccessful stint in Atlanta is foolish!!

At some point all of us Hawks fans are going to have to stop being blinded by Hawksitis (A condition of being a Hawks fanatic) and realize that this organization has made some major mistakes that could affect the rebuilding process negatively. I am sorry if you don't see throwing Diaw in this trade for JJ as a mistake. You are blind or just don't want to admit it because you have Hawksitis. I know some people will say "Well what do you want, change coaches to satisfy the players??" Once a GM has decided on his players, it is the coach and coaching staffs duty to put players in positions where they will succeed. It is their duty to talk and motivate players that will ultimately lead to their success on the court. If you have to change your approach to get the best out of a player you do that. The bottom line is the product on the court, not personalities. Woodson and only Woodson is the reason Diaw failed in Atlanta. It is Woodson's responsibility to communicate to Diaw in a way that he can succeed and not the other way around. Diaw doesn't need a coach screaming in his face every play and every timeout (I saw this 1st hand too many times) and Woodson has to adjust his approach. You find out what buttons to push with players and you use those buttons to get the best out of them. Screaming and scolding doesn't work with every player. He used that same approach with Smoove and luckily it has turned out for the better, but that almost got ugly too. The fact that Diaw didn't respond well to Woodson's coaching style led to Diaw being a THROW-IN in the JJ deal. I know all of the replys are going to be "Well he wouldn't play or shoot the ball for us, even when the coach told him too". Before you post that ask yourself "Why??".....there is a reason for everything!!

is a prime example of why you don't give up on players too early. Some of you guys want to give up on Marvin and Salim after 1 year. I am here looking at Diaw and saying damn this guy is good and we had him and gave up on him after 2 years!! I don't ever want to say that about Marvin on another team!!

Ditto....I agree with you on this one Diesel. I think Roy is the best player in this draft!! Brandon Roy is the Dwayne Wade of this draft.