Charman212002

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I just don't see how Bruce and the others can look at the product we have on the floor (not to mention our Win/Loss record) an honestly think we don't need a change. We'll find out by the trade deadline just how commited they really are to winning, or if they're just repeating the "Evaluate" mantra.

-Sirs As a die-hard Hawks fan I've tried to defend this organization for the last several years. However, our team's recent play has pretty much sealed the deal for me. I'm done. You all (the owners) keep saying that you're "evaluating everything". Come on, how much longer do you want us to buy this? We've been evaluating for the last four years. Evaluating the entire time you guys have owned the team for that matter. Um, we haven't had a winning season in close to a decade. I'm pretty sure the time for evaluating has past. It's time for action. I'll leave it to your (cough) GM to figure out what that action is, but if I may make a suggestion, it may involve getting a coach who has a clue as to how to win. Like I said just a suggestion. I'm a member of the fan site Hawksquawk.net. We are the teams most avid supporters, but even we at the 'Squawk' have grown disillusioned. You can probably guess what the rest of the city thinks. I'm not one to give ultimatums, but a lack of action before this month's trade deadline (either on the court or in the front office) would send a clear message to your fan-base: We don't give a [censored] about this team or its fans. Please excuse my vulgarity, but another loss to a team we were supposed to be better than has put me in a sour mood. Please keep my suggestions in mind in the coming days. The decisions rest solely on your shoulders, as will the blame if nothing is done. I pray you'll do the right thing. Sincerely -Charlie Sea: Hawksfan hanging by a thread.

Full Disclaimer: I am not a cap-oligist or an expert in team salaries by any stretch of the imagination. That being said... I am going to suggest two players I believe the Hawks should trade for IMMEDIATLY if they want to be true contenders in the East. Both are believed to be available and should be attainable with our assets. Pau Gasol. Obviously I am not the first to bring his name up. I won't bore you by rehashing old arguments, but will simply say this: We need a big that can score consistently; command double teams, rebound decently, and find open teammates. Gasol is THE best option AVAILABLE in the league (see the word in BOLD before you blast me ). He would balance our roster and make everyone of our jump shooters exponentially better. It may cost us Smoove to get him (this sucks and I DON'T like trading a potential superstar) but realistically you have to give up talent to get it. He lets Horford slide over to his natural position, and he gives us a real chance to pull out wins on those (inevitable) days when JJ doesn't have it going. The other guy. Luke Ridnour How many people stayed up to watch the game last night? Luke made the game SOOOOO easy for his teammates down the stretch. His penetration ability is un-believable, he's super quick, and he looks to get his teammates involved before scoring himself. Make no mistake though, the man CAN score. Watching the game I kept thinking "wow, he really is a poor man's Steve Nash". In no way am I saying he is anywhere near the talent Nash is, but I do think their games are similar. I believe he is up there with the Calderons of the League, and most importantly, unlike Jose, he should be available. Seattle is rebuilding and they have Waston to run the show. Luke would be the final piece. A pass first point in the prime of his career. A good-to-great shooter, he world stretch defenses beyond the arc and allow Pau and Horford to go to work. I truly believe adding these two players make us a REAL threat in the East, and not just a contender for the 8,7, or 6th seed as currently constructed. The bottom line is, these two players are upgrades at their position, AND make the rest of our team much, MUCH better. It makes too much sense not to do it right?

Funny that you mention Andre Miller. Hollinger mentioned Atlanta as an ideal location if indeed 'Dre is on the trading block. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-080116 (somewhere towards the bottom) Something to the effect of TLue, AJ, and Lo for Andre. I realize that those expiring deals free up Philly to chase free agents this summer, (ie. JSmoove) but can anyone give a reason why we would NOT do this deal? We're getting the pass-first point guard we all wanted for soooooooooooo long. Additionally I think Andre would hands down be a better mentor for Acie than Lue or AJ ever could. Thoughts?

Did anyone notice (in a response further down) Sekou's comment about a possible Speedy by-out before Christmas?

Amazing!! Anonymous No More!

I thought that kid was halarious! The announcer kept calling him "The Big Man"...a nice way of saying "the fat kid".

I hardly ever post on here, but I love the idea of an annonomous web site become a little less...well, annonomous. [image]http://[/image]

Can I just add that I'm happy we have BOTH guys on our team? People are making it seem like they're going to be playing each other in the games. Whether one is better than the other I could care less about. It's ALWAYS a good thing to have talented basketball players. Just putting that out there.

A little off topic, but I love the way we match up with the Bobcats. It should be fun to watch two teams who (at least on paper) are so evenly matched. Take a look. PG LAW - FELTON SG JJ - JRICH SF MARVIN - MORRISON PF SMOOVE - MAY C HORFORD - OKAFOR Their are no HUGE advantages for ether team that I can see. Four matchups a year? Can't wait!

Vinnie Del Negro An 90's player with a 70's do.

I know I'm fairly new, but if no one minds I'll take the Bucks and their pick. Just let me know.

Oops! Forgot Chill! Man we have a lot of forwards on our team. ...and I'm advocating taking two more. Man I hope the draft will hurry up and get here.

Let me start with a preface: This post is most likely not very realistic and, to be honest, is just more of a fun thought. ...that being said. If we were to take Al Horford at 3, wouldn't it be nice to pair him with Noah if he fell to 11? STOP! Yes I know we need a PG (BELIEVE ME I know , but the fanboy in me drools at the thought of reuniting the big men on the pro level. Watch their highlights on Yahoo! and see how PERFECTLY they complement each others games. One is bruising, tough, and a back to the basket player. The other is quick, agile and plays best without the ball. There's a reason they were two time champs. (And I'm not in anyway a Gator fan; I just know something special when I see it.) There WOULD be a glut at 3 and 4 (I'm assuming one would play PF and the other C. Which one is which is irrelevant to me), but I would have Shelden, Marvin, and Smoove battle it out for the remaining spot. That leaves two talented wings. One can become a heavily used back up and the other can be traded for a vet point. Yes it's not likely, but show me a Hawks fan who doesn't like these front lines: C-Horford PF-Noah ------Athletic SF-Smoove C-Horford PF-Noah ------Jumpshooter SF-Marvin C-Horford PF-Shellhead ------Every rebound ever shot SF-Noah (yes I'm dreaming) Like I said just a fun thought. Any thoughts?

I agree 100%. I find myself on the Squawk 2 or 3 times a day since the draft lotto. Exciting times indeed. ...now if we could just get them to bring the Pac Man unis back...:)

This is an excellent post Mr. Hotline. You have obviously done your homework. I truly believe this is the BEST (also means realistic) senerio for the Hawks offseason. Lue and Zaza have talent, but neither fit the system we are trying to build. We all love what Chillz brings but when it is all said and done, he is a back up and probably wouldn't have re-signed with us anyway. Yi or whomever we would get at three would most likely take a season or two before they could really contribute. That, simply put, is too long a wait. We need to be in win now mode. Again excellent post. All I can say is I hope B.K. is as knoweldgeable about these matters as you are... uh oh.

IMO Gasol is a perfect balance for a roster that is heavy on jumpshooters. He is an EXCELLENT back to the basket scorer. Highlights are of course always biased, but check out some of his clips from youtube. Afterwards picture his inside presence teamed with a slasher like smoove and jumpshooters like JJ and Marvin. Get a point at 11 or trade it for jack and that team is good. Scary good. Eastern Conf. finals good. Make it happen B.K.

I'm with you brother, the Pac-Mans are popular with EVERYONE, old and new school. Our current unis are not bad but are somewhat pedestrian. There's noting wrong with the red, yellow, white, black color scheme. I don't understand why they're messing with that. Part of me is holding out hope that this is just another of the gimmick "throwback" things and not a permanent change. I can dream...

I did some quick research and I get the idea this is what the uni's will look like. http://glf.imageg.net/graphics/product_ima...p1144369reg.jpg (let me know if the link doesn't work. I'm not good with computers.:)

I know this has been rumored for a quite a while, but I saw this on Sekou Smith's AJC Hawks blog from Friday, and according to him it looks like a change is pretty definite. Sekou Smith: "Oh yeah, the new unis thing is legit. It’s arguably the worst kept Hawks secret since “they are drafting Shelden Williams at No. 5, no matter what.” I’ve actually seen them (on paper and in person). The color scheme is new (Red, White and Blue like the old St. Louis Hawks getups). But the style and design isn’t anything radical. There will be no Pac-Man or menacing looking bird with its wings extended. It’s basic stuff." There you have it. Thoughts on what it looks like/when it will be unveiled?

We've all heard the proposed deals between the Hawks and Blazers of LaMarcus Aldridge and Jarrett Jack for Mike Conley at the 3 spot. They're are of course variations packaging Zach Randoph (who almost all of agree we don't want/need), Portland's pick next year, or us sending them Chillz. It brings me to a tough question: If, after all the wrangling is done and the extra add-ons are dropped, the deal came down to LaMarcus Aldrige for #3 straight up, would you do it? Of course all of us would want Jack added on if we could get him and ideally we wouldn't have to part with Childress either, but I'm going off the assumption that both teams will play hard ball and try to minimize who/what they have to give up. Realisticlly we both have something the other wants. The Blazers get Oden's personal point guard and we get a young athletic center who can get up and down the court. While LaMarcus is not the thickist body in the league, he plays the post like a big man (which, before this turns into a Yi thread, despite their similar heights is a major diffrence between the two), is solid on both ends of the floor, and in the East avoids the Duncans/Odens/Yao's etc. of the West. I think a team of PG:Crittenton SG:JJ SF:Marvin PF:Smoove C:Aldridge with Chillz/Shelden/Salim is PRETTY darn skilled, quick, verstile, and young enough, to grow into something special. SO, long story short, if it came down to it, do you do the deal straight up?

O.K. he's no Reggie Miller when it comes to a jumpshot, but is having a Tony Parker clone really a bad thing? The guy does have two championship rings and very well might get his third this season. If it takes Conley a season or so to learn the pro game so be it. NO ONE in this draft (Oden and Durant included) is carying their team to the finals next year, so the learning curve argument (to me) is moot.

It's never my intention to start a flame war, but for the life of me I can't understand why there isn't more support for the easy/logical pick of Mike Conley Jr. at 3. Every other post on the squawk proposes drafting Yi/Wright/Horford or trading away the pick. Um, why? The single BIGGEST source of strife on the squawk for the last 2 years has been BK's passing on Chris Paul and Deron Williams. We already had a plethora of forwards (the argument goes) and needed a dynamic point to run the show. We're blasted around the league and in the media (see today's ESPN Daily Dime) for neglecting to fill the need and instead choosing a swingman. We all cream our jeans picturing a dream backcourt of Chris Paul and Joe Johnson and lament how good "it could have been" if only we had got it right. Well flash-forward to the present and the basketball gods have smiled upon our lowly Hawks(or felt sorry for us and we find ourselves in a position to draft a young, quick, pass-first, natural leader, point guard. Déjà vu. The argument against Conley is that pick 3 is a reach. Huh? Pundits said the same thing about Paul and Williams (Deron) 2 years ago. If a player fills a (dire) need and is the best available talent at the postion, IN NO WAY IS IT A STRECH. None of this is to say that Yi or any of the other proposed players won't become good or great. I don't know that conclusivly. What I do know is, WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER FORWARD. WE NEED A F’N POINT GUARD.:) (sorry….I’ve watched a lot of hawks games over the years. It’s pretty painful sometimes. : ) Drafting Conley is the simplest and most logical pick. We're getting our (pseudo) Chris Paul BUT because BK drafted out of order (this is luck, not a strategy) we get (superstar potential) Marvin Williams and (solid like a rock) Shelden Williams in the package as well. THIS IS THE BEST SENERIO OF THEM ALL!!! (...O.K. maybe getting Oden would have been better but I'm making a point here We don't need to trade for "fill in overpaid vet name" or draft "fill in 6'9 forward we would play at center and then complain about the rest of the season". I understand this is a fan site and half the fun is proposing fun and outlandish scenarios, but it’s really quite simple, DRAFT THE PLAYER WE REALLY NEED, DRAFT MIKE CONLEY JR. Thanks for letting me vent. 

I think you make a very valid point about the downside of his intensity. On the flipside however: This team really lacks an identity. Joe is great talent but is very quite. The same goes for J Smoove, Marivn, Chillz, Shelden, etc. I think someone like Noah brings the (cliché I know) heart and fire of a champion. His kind of passion is rare and extremely important. Someone needs to be diving after loose balls and running the court. Noah excels at this. Fire is also contagious. The crowd feeds off it and so do teammates. Look at the Rodmans, Matt Barnes, and Ben Wallaces of the League, (I'm not nessacarrily comparing their GAME to Noah) these guys lay it all on the line and as a result make their teams better. All these intangibles aside, 2 picks would give our squad pretty good diversity and depth. Take a look: Speed team- PG:Conely SG:JJ SF:Marvin PF:Smoove C: Noah Defense PG:Speedy SG: Joe SF: Chillz or Marvin PF: Smoove or Shelden C: Shelden (and if you need 6 fouls ZaZa. Not the beasts of the east to be sure, but not to shabby either.

On my first try at ESPN's trade machine the sim had us selecting Mike Conely Jr. at #3 and Joakim Noah at #11. Kind of the reverse order most of us have been working with. (i.e. a big first and a point at the eleven spot). Would you be horrified with this situation? Obviously Joakim is skinny as a rail, but if we played up tempo (and if we have Conely directing things we probably SHOULD) it would mask many of Noah's weaknesses (one of which is weakness and I think could work. Suns of the East if you will. I love the idea of a fast breaking team with speed and athleticism at every spot. (no, I'm not B.K. masquerading on the squawk. What do you guys think? It's not ideal (Oden is the instant fix obviously) but to me it's a pretty good consolation prize if we miss out on the top 2. Over to you all.