VarsitySlacker

Quote: If you want to talk most electric..... History Lesson. Braves vs. Pirates. 1992 NLCS Fulton County Stadium. 52k Braves fans doing the chop. Fransico Cabrera Cracks a double... Dave Justice comes home to tie the game. Sid Bream Rounds 3rd comes home to slide in for the win. I miss pennant races and I have not watched much Baseball since that year because that was the year the biggest brave fan I have ever seen (my grandfather) died. I learned how to be a real fan watching him suffer through with Gary Matthews Sr., Gene Garber, and old Dale Murphy. Tonight... it was just as electric as 1992. Not as meaningful.. but just as electric. Tonight, I believe that we can beat this team and Cleveland. I would love to see the story take us to the ECF. Maybe we can get our good friends Orlando! I was five when this happened, so I never got to experience the wonderful time when Atlanta was excited about the Braves, but I was actually talking about this to my father today, when I was trying to explain what game one was like. The city of Atlanta is so often characterized by "arrive late, leave early" that the rest of the nation thinks of us as fair weather fan, which makes it that much harder for those of us who do care. That's why this is so sweet.

I love this team. I loved them when it was Mookie and Smitty, I loved them when it was Rider and Jackson, I loved them when it was JT and Reef. So seeing this team mature and play well is a joy for me. This is the team that I've been hoping to see for the past two years. And what this proves to me is that Billy Knight DID know what he was doing. He's made mistakes, yes, but has been fortunate enough to be in a position to have corrected them. This is a talented team. It has holes, and it is streaky, but most teams are. I still contend that there is more of a problem with Mike Woodson than Billy Knight. But that's not what this thread is about. Anybody who has been paying attention all year knows that the Hawks are good at home, and abysmal on the road. Like, opposite ends of the stratosphere. But the fans of Phillips Arena have really turned it up in the playoffs. Why is that? It's not because the Hawks are the trendy team to like. We finished the season with a losing record. We're the worst playoff team ever, record wise. SAS and Chad Ford mocked us. But we are here. We are the legions of Hawks FANS who came out of the woodwork for the postseason. The ones who watched us trade Steve Smith for a headache, Jason Terry for Employee#8, and forgot that we needed a Point guard when a HOF caliber one was available. We are the ones who came out, filled up Phillips Arena, and drowned out the "rabid" Celtic fan base. So this one is to Diesel. To Walter, to gsuteke, to JohnnyBravo. To Lascar, DocHawk, and chillz, and to graymule who has suffered more than most of us combined. To all of you who are fans of this franchise, and not just hoppers of the bandwagon. You've suffered for ten years, and you were determined to get the most of this playoff appearance. I know I was. And you came out of the woodwork, and whether or not I'm overstating it, you influenced the game. I go to Georgia, I've witnessed an electric stadium. And the only sporting event I've ever seen that was more electric that Phillips Arena in game one was Georgia/Auburn from this year. Because there were no bandwagoners, no trendy fans who didn't really know about the game. There were Hawks fans, because it's finally our time to rise up.

Section 306. Also, Atlas is a sissy for not wanting to pay to drive from Athens to Atlanta and buy tickets, because that's what I'm doing (student) and I'm paying for three friends to go with me. And I'm not rich. This is the first Hawks playoff game in a decade, there is NO REASON to not go out and support your team.

Quote: The NBA should blackout the rest of this series. Seriously. The NBA has a bad image problem and a one sided series like this doesn't help. It makes the NBA look worse. Why exactly are you here? Nobody here thinks the Hawks are going to contend for the championship. Most of us don't think the Hawks are going to win a single game. All of us still want Woody gone after this season, and the vast majority of us want BK gone as well. That being said, we're still going to cheer for our team, and hold out hope that they might win a game. What would have been the positive in us losing out and not making the playoffs? It wasn't going to be a draft pick, because ours was going to Phoenix. However, another year without the playoffs, tainted as they are, would have disillusioned the young talent that we do have at a crucial point. Why do you continue to moan and complain? If you don't want to watch the Hawks, then don't. I don't mind a little criticism. I actually stood up for Walter's stick, because he made educated points. All you do is whine. and whine. and whine. every thread. every person. What do you hope to accomplish? Tell me, I'd really like to know.

Quote: I shall dub him....Roy Stiffbert You know you're overrated when Johnny_Bravo doesn't think you'd make a good Hawk. I think the analogy of Brandon Haywood is not a bad one. Someone who you can stick in the middle and complain that he sucks, but is going to be overpaid because he can suck at the 5. Not bad enough to be Patrick O'Bryant, though. I still like Thabeet over him, because of his raw defensive potential. I'd rather have Hibbert than Zaza, but he's certainly not worth trading one of our key pieces for. I still don't believe in your scouting analysis, Mr. "Brandon Wright is the answer"

Quote: We don't need someone to dish out assists as much as we need someone who can score when JJ or Bibby goes to the bench. Childress cant create a shot, Zaza barely can and Solo has no shot. The only 2 who have the ability is Acie and Salim and Salim is better at it than Acie is. If Acie is there to create shots (aka, doing what a POINT GUARD is supposed to be doing), then I have far more faith in Childress's ability to score than I do Salim's. And the fact that you're talking about Salim being able to create a shot is laughable, because unless I've been watching the wrong team, Salim's idea of creating a shot is "yep, the basket is in the general vicinity of in front of me. Looks good to me" I don't disagree that he might be better given more, consistent minutes, but until he realizes that chucking up five shots in 5 possessions without passing the ball is not going to impress anybody (honestly, regardless of whether or not he makes them), then he doesn't need to be on the floor hindering the offense. I'll take the chance on good ball movement creating a shot over the Salim Stoudamire Show giving us a 30% chance of offense any day of the week.

The Hawks have a thousand people who can play the 2/3 The Hawks need someone who can back up Bibby at the point, and still keep the offense moving. Over a 36 minute average, Acie Law dishes out twice as many assists as Salim Stoudamire has ever done, in any of his three years as a player. Assists are not a perfect stat, but JohnnyBravo has never used perfect logic.

Quote: Quote: A disclaimer, however, all this *itchin' won't do a dam thing. It's not like Marv, Mike, or Billy are on HS every day seeing what the fans are saying. Marvin, Mike or Billy might not read the Squawk (or they might, who knows?), but at least one of the Hawks ownership group has posted here in the past, indicating that he's aware of the place at least, and as to whether he's a regular reader- again, who knows? I can't remember who it was (was it Gearon Jr.?), but he posted here prior to the Hawksquawk Night at Phillips Arena, and I believe some posters from here actually got the opportunity to sit and chat with him during the game that night. I know he wanted to meet Diesel. He mentioned that specifically on this board, and I'm serious as a heart-attack about that. I don't know whether Diesel made it to that game though.... 1) It was Bruce Levenson. 2) He absolutely was serious. He walked up and down the aisle that night yelling out to our section, "where's Diesel?" Diesel was nowhere to be found.

The best time for me is afternoon or later on Mondays or Wednesdays, or anytime (the later the better) on Saturdays or Sundays (man needs his sleep)

I'll play. I enjoyed the last one, even though I was near last for the majority of the season. Everyone falling out propelled me into 5th.

West has survived off his defense since high school. It was his defense that got him the scholarship at GT, when Hewitt went to scout someone and came away with the player that held him to 6 points. It was his defense that put him in the rotation, and his defense that got him the non-roster invitee in summer league. To say that his defense is a myth is false. However, saying he's no better than Ira Newble is not false, but also not necessarily a demerit. If you haven't noticed, Newble is still in the league playing defense. He's not a superstar, but a quality bench player, which is what Mario is capable of doing. His offense is pretty rough, but for a defensive stopper, we could do much worse. If nothing else, he does certainly deserve to be out there in front of Salim.

We really don't need to be trading 2 for 1 right now, especially when our cap is already so close to the limit. It might work salary wise, but when we have to sign the additional three players, it's not so easy.

Quote: Quote: Quote: Quote: Tell me that David Robinson is the third best player of all time. Of course not, but conversely are you saying a players greatness can be completely measured by stats? Not at all. Allow me to say what my original post should read to you. According to Hollinger's formula, PER, statistically David Robinson is the third greatest player of all time. Do you believe that a formula that, statistically, has David Robinson as the third greatest player of all time to be one that should really be considered an arguing point over a player's merit? PER is the best single stat i have seen to measure a players production. However like all stats it can't measure a players value with 100% accuracy. If you know of another single stat that measures production better than PER I would like to hear about it. Here are the top 10 in PER currently. 1 LeBron James, CLE 2 Amare Stoudemire, PHO 3 Chris Paul, NOR 4 Kevin Garnett, BOS 5 Manu Ginobili, SAS 6 Tim Duncan, SAS 7 Chris Bosh, 8 Kobe Bryant, 9 Dwight Howard, 10 Dirk Nowitzki, DAL Guess who the leading candidate for the MVP is right now. I could post the PPG leaders, and you'd still have the exact same point. My point is not that there is a perfect stat that we should all be using. Obviously, there's not. My point is that you can't pull out that stat, which was formulated by subjectivity, and say "here's why x player is not as successful as y player is" Especially with comments like "Horford is xth among rookies in PER", not bearing to fact that if a player gets a layup and an assist in Salim Stoudamire-esque minutes, their PER is going to be heavily tainted, which is why this statement is no better than the efficiency numbers quoted.

Quote: Quote: Tell me that David Robinson is the third best player of all time. Of course not, but conversely are you saying a players greatness can be completely measured by stats? Not at all. Allow me to say what my original post should read to you. According to Hollinger's formula, PER, statistically David Robinson is the third greatest player of all time. Do you believe that a formula that, statistically, has David Robinson as the third greatest player of all time to be one that should really be considered an arguing point over a player's merit?

Quote: Quote: Quote: Quote: Al Horford is the most efficient rookie in the NBA. That is because efficiency isn't a per minute stat and Horford plays more minutes than anyone but Durant. Of course he should have more efficiency points than a guy playing 10 minutes per game. Let's talk about PER. According to Hollinger's moon formula, the best three players of all time are: Michael Jordan (obviously) Shaq (debatable, but okay) David Robinson. David Robinson. Not Wilt Chamberlain, or Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuawan, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Julius Erving...David Robinson. As much as I have tremendous respect for the man, David Robinson is nowhere near the third best player of all time. And any formula that puts him there is probably not going to be the say-all of comparing a player's worth. First of all i didn't say it was the say all of a players worth, but you are showing that you are young by trying to diss DRob. DRob's rookie year in the league he averaged 24 ppg shooting 53%, 1 rebounds, 3.9 blocks and 1.7 steals. Granted he was an old rookie but still DRob was nasty. Tell me that David Robinson is the third best player of all time. Tell me, that you can say without a doubt that he was a more dominant player than Hakeem Olajuwaun. Like I said, I have tremendous respect for Robinson, as a person (One of few prominant Christians in professional sports, as well as his Navy stuff), and as a basketball player. And he's certainly one of the best 50 of all time. But number three? Really? Can you honestly defend that over the legends?

FACT: The entire team has publicly cried for management to make some sort of move. FACT: The Hawks have been the laughingstock of the league because LOL SWINGMEN and LOL NO POINT GUARDS FACT: This trade at worst, at least appeased those two needs. OPINION: Joe Johnson and Josh Smith have seen Knight at least attempting to improve the team. It might not have been you, but someone was crying about how Smith was going to bolt as soon as he could because of the crap that was going on here. Any steps to ramify that should be taken. FICTION: Mike Bibby is untradeable. Case in point: Remember trading for Terrell Brandon? Cap space is valuable. (Yes, I know it was the exemption from Brandon's contract because of injury. It doesn't lessen my point) FICTION: Anybody here knows whats going to happen. Bibby is not old. He's also not necessarily bad. He's also a proven point guard. This means that JJ can let someone else run the offense competently, and doesn't always have to be the last option. This also makes Smoove the third option, and Marvin the fourth, taking some pressure off of them. And it makes it significantly harder to double team anyone, because there's no longer a black hole at any position on the team. I'm not a huge Bibby fan. But he is at least competent, and only signed for this year and next. Someone is eventually going to cry about short-term fixes and not building for championships, but I made a bet this year with my roommate that the Hawks would make the playoffs. And if the Hawks do make the playoffs, not only do I get my money, but the city of Atlanta might finally get some respect as a basketball team. That's something money can't buy. Ask New York.

Quote: Quote: Al Horford is the most efficient rookie in the NBA. That is because efficiency isn't a per minute stat and Horford plays more minutes than anyone but Durant. Of course he should have more efficiency points than a guy playing 10 minutes per game. Let's talk about PER. According to Hollinger's moon formula, the best three players of all time are: Michael Jordan (obviously) Shaq (debatable, but okay) David Robinson. David Robinson. Not Wilt Chamberlain, or Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuawan, Magic Johnson, Bill Russell, Julius Erving...David Robinson. As much as I have tremendous respect for the man, David Robinson is nowhere near the third best player of all time. And any formula that puts him there is probably not going to be the say-all of comparing a player's worth.

I'll be the first person here to say that I did not watch enough college basketball to translate anyone's game to the pros. Though I probably DID watch as much of Horford as anyone here did of Yi, but that's beside the point. The point being that I'm not the authority, and don't want to get knee-deep into this argument. However, a couple of years ago, before the 2005 draft, someone made a thread comparing Chris Paul against many of the ACC PGs in head to head matchups (Primarily Jack, Felton, Gilchrist, and I think Duhon, but I may be mistaken) I looked for this thread, but could not find it. What I remember vividly, though, from watching the games and reading the statlines, is that Jarrett Jack in particular, as well as many of the other star PGs, absolutely dominated Paul in all aspects of the game, offense, defense, and passing. Obviously, these head to head matchups are indicative that Chris Paul was overrated and that we should have chosen Marvin, who flashes potential. Right?

Quote: Quote: FWIW, my sources in Athens says Mercer is behind schedule in his knee rehab and they are preparing to play this season without him. What I love about UGA basketball is all the guys on the team who come from 25 miles of my house. I saw them grow up and play in HS. Makes it alot more fun to follow. Where'd you go to school, coachx? I was in the Collins Hill class of 2005, so I graduated at the same time as most of these guys.

Quote: It's funny that you Marvin groupies, Always have to throw that out there. Trust me I know he is'nt a threat to Smoove.... That's the least of my worries... I just want him to perform like a number 2 pick, forget him being injured he was'nt the only one who was, Other players on this team where and they still did all they could every game..... Jesus Christ, you're posting like a drunk 12 year old. I'm generally pretty passive about it, but your abundance of comma splices, horrible grammar, and blatant fan(girl)ism has made your post absolutely atrocious. We have a "preview post" button. Please use it.

Quote: Dale Davis. Nothing says scoring about Horford. IF we're lucky maybe Horace grant. 22 ppg?? That's just funny. It's called puff puff pass. Stop holding! See, the irony of this (not saying that I agree with either of you) is that you compared Shelden Williams to Karl Malone, and I'm pretty sure that you've conceded that Al Horford is a better Shelden Williams.

I won't take this bet, because I refuse to acknowledge summer league as worthwhile. However, I've got an open bet to both Diesel and Walter, that by the end of the season, Horford's "big three" (PPG + RPG + APG) will be higher than Yi's. $20, take it or leave it. (Proceeds to Hawksquawk, of course)

Boston has a top three of Allen/Pierce/Jefferson. If they can stay healthy, that's certainly good enough for the playoffs in the east, possibly to go deep if they all hit hot streaks at once. They gave up a lot of value, but short term this trade worked well for both teams. It's obvious, though, that I really undervalue draft picks. Allen for the 5, West, and a contract? J-Rich AND a draft pick for Brandan Wright? Wow...

Quote: Quote: I consider Jason Terry more of a true PG then Acie Law sorry. clad you made your position clear. is there a way to blank out a certain user's posts? Yes, the ignore user list in your profile. Coincidentally, I'm using it right now.

Throughout my entire (albeit releatively short) tenure at this board, all I've seen is people griping about draft picks. About how everybody* knew that player x was a better idea than player y, and how player c is a bust** and we should have obviously picked player a instead. It's almost completely followed up by a refute with tainted evidence proving the contrary. So put it here. Not your list of possible draft picks, this is not where the Dieselputer tells us that Morris Almond is going to be the steal of the draft, rather, it is where Diesel tells us he wants Yi at Three. Again, I'll start: I want: To trade both picks. Barring that, at the 3 I want: Al Horford at the 11 I want: Javaris Crittendon. I think Mike Conley will be the best PG available this year, but in one or two years Crittendon will be better. If Conley is still available at the 11, though, I would probably take him. See, this is easy. Now your turn, unless you're scared. *everybody = me and people who agreed with me. **bust = not who I wanted to draft