Charman212002

Just a quick question. Indy is currently 1 game ahead of Phily in the standings (i.e. in the draft it's 11-Phily 12-Indy/Hawks) with each playing tonight. Phily plays at Toronto and Indy is home aganist a banged up Washington team. So what happens if Phily wins and Indy loses? By my math they would have identical records. Does deciding 11 or 12 come down to a coin toss or does it go by conference record or something. Either way, 4 and 11/12 is something to be optomistic about heading into the lottery and draft. Thanks in advance.

It's a fair question. Their stats as far as I can see are pretty similar but I tend to think Bogut is a better passer and has more of an upside. Andrew Bogut PPG 12.3 RPG 8.8 APG 3.0 SPG .74 BPG .53 FG% .553 FT% .577 3P% .200 MPG 34.2 Zaza PPG 12.2 RPG 6.9 APG 1.5 SPG 1.07 BPG .50 FG% .474 FT% .786 3P% .000 MPG 28.1

Oops! Should have put Mo Williams instead of T.J. Ford at the point. My bad.

I read Chad Ford's chat yesterday and it got me thinking. In it he mentioned the Bucks would probably trade Andrew Bogut if they landed the #1 in the Draft and picked Greg Oden. So my question to you all is: Would we be interested in such a deal, and what would it take on our part to score Bogut? While his numbers are far from the Shaq/Yao level, Andrew is a legit 7'0 big man who can rebound and shoot at a good to great level and his passing skills are excellent. Let's assume we don't land a top three pick. Would Milwaukee take Marvin for Andrew straight up? It would be a swap of the top of the 05' draft class filling needs for both teams. The Bucks frontline would consist of Oden/ Villanueva/Williams(Marvin) and ours would be Bogut/Williams(Sheldon)/Smith. Both teams benefit in the long run. On our end Josh Smith could slide over to the more natural small forward position, and his help defense could only improve playing next to two solid (if not spectacular) big men. Draft the best point available with the Indy pick or trade it for Jarrett Jack (my preference) and suddenly our Frankenstein roster of wings would look like a real team (and a pretty good one at that). Hawks: PG: Jarrett Jack or Indy pick SG: Joe Johnson SF: Josh Smith PF: Sheldon Williams C: Andrew Bogut 6th Man: Josh Childress Bucks: PG: T.J. Ford SG: Michael Redd SF: Marvin Williams PF: Charlie Villanueva C: Greg Oden 6th Man: Ruben Patterson I could see both of these teams battling near the top of the Eastern Conference for years to come. On paper they’d be great match ups, and if nothing else they’d be pretty darn fun to watch. Of course for all of this to Happen Milwaukee has to land Oden. However, with the 3rd worst record the scenario is really not all that far-fetched. And so I turn it over to you Hawksquawk, what do you think?

Long time lurker, first time poster. Don’t grill me to bad O.K. I’m going to apologize in advance for this post’s length, but honestly there’s a lot to fix right? Perhaps with about only a third of the season done it’s a tad pre-mature to be thinking off-season, but with the way the Hawks are playing lately...maybe the sooner the better. Anyway, not all of the following ideas originate with me, I enjoy many of the posts made by you fellow squawkers and agree with many of them (a little Diesel, a little Walter, some Mr. Hotline and CBAreject...) and I’ve piggybacked on some of them. I truly think as bad as we’ve played we’re actually pretty close to having something pretty special. So with out further ado a newbie’s plan for the fixing the ATL... Step 1: TANK! (controversy already I know) Look, I’m all for being as competitive as possible, but as others have pointed out, look what stepping up play ( from terrible-to- merely bad) did for us in the D. Howard sweepstakes. Fate has offered us a second chance. The name of the game is ping-pong balls people, the more the better. A top 3 pick or bust. Step 2: DRAFTING! I’m going on the assumption we land the 2nd or 3rd pick. We’re the Hawks we don’t score #1's (if fate does smile on us though, the no brainier is snagging Oden) but 2 or 3 is O.K. in this instance. And who do we take? Two words: Joakim Noah (more controversy!). Yes he’s skinny, yes he’s probably pretty weak, and yes his hair looks really bad, but he is EXACTLY what we need (just bare with me, it WILL make sense). What he DOES bring is speed, rebounding, in inside scoring touch, and amazing passing skills (for a big man or otherwise). But most importantly he adds FIRE! A team of quiet nice guys (JJ, Marvin, Chillz) needs someone like Noah to run his mouth and bring the energy, and Joakim is simply the BEST at doing this. If your still not behind this pick give me a couple more steps and maybe it’ll get clearer. Step 3: DRAFTING! (Part 2) We have Indy’s lotto protected first and we could put it to EXCELLENT use. Besides the 5 our other glaring hole is at the 1, and I don’t think we have to look very far to fill it (Alexander Memorial Coliseum to be exact). JAVARIS CRITTENTON. He’s young, quick, smart, a good shooter and passer, easily able to penetrate and most importantly to B.K. he's 6'5! Crittenton along with Smoove gives the team a bit of an ATL identity and this is most definitely a team that needs some sort of angle to bring back an alienated fan base (plus didn’t they play together in High School? CHEMISTRY!) And if I failed to mention it, the kid can PLAY! Step 4: FIRE WOODY! If sure he’s a nice guy and I’m sure our injures and youth have severely handicapped him, but the team has lost it’s confidence in Mike. In addition, his style of play (i.e. walk it up slow, isolate for JJ, everyone else stand around) is ALL WRONG for our young guns. They should be fast breaking non-stop and dunking on an ageing and slow East. I’ve heard the name Paul Westhead knocked about (admittedly I don’t know much about him, I’m too young) but honestly anybody who can implement a Mike D’Antoni type offense gets my vote. Which brings me to... Step 5: RUN! RUN! and RUN SOME MORE! The Hawks as a ground it out half court team are terrible (see the last 7 seasons for further proof) but in an up-tempo style they become something SCAREY! Marvin, Salim, and JJ are deadly jump shooters and Smoove and Chillz are terrific slashers. What they lack is a quick, penetrating point who can distribute AND shoot (what you get if you could make Speedy and T Lue one player) and a big who can outlet, run the floor and pass (do steps 2 and 3 make more sense now?). A starting five of Javaris, JJ, Marvin, Smoove, and Noah, with Salim, Chillz, and even an undersized (but better protected) Sheldon Williams coming of the bench in a run and gun system could easily become the Suns of the East. Fast, versatile, and able to drop 120 points on any given night. This might (and I stress MIGHT) have been the team Billy Knight envisioned all along. So there it is. A newbie’s plan for fixing what ails our beloved Hawks. Yes there are risks (we DON’T want to give PHX the #4 pick!), flaws (Noah won’t stop the Odens and Howards of the league, (who can?) ) and improbables (BK firing his best friend?!) but the upside is (again) DOWN RIGHT SCARY!!! What do you think?