archie44

I've tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but this is worse than when Lon Kruger and his staff didn't even know the NBA rules on that play at halfcourt a few years ago. That's just pathetic. How is this team going to grow if the coach forgets the players on the bench? Yeah, give him credit for admitting it, but it only shows the real problem with this team. Billy Knight is really on the spot. He better not screw up any pending Al Harrington trade. It could be a pivotal point in the Hawks' history. He must get good value for this guy, since Harrington has proved he's pretty damn good. But Woodson? After that admission in the paper, he needs to be fired. That's just inexcuseable.

This just means he's going to be cheaper, which will be good for us. If we could draft one of those two great point guards and then sign Brown and Chandler, we'll be on our way.

The kid is older now. He has to stay healthy, and yeah he has to perform. But I think I like his upside more than Swift. And I think the question you have to ask is, "What would he do in our environment?" If he came home, would he do better? I think he would.

He is a tweener. Wouldn't it be better to allow the two Joshes to play the 2 and the 3? Trade Harrington. Forget him. Get a pick and a decent project for him and let Childress and Smith get better. They need to continue to develop and in two years they'll be tremendous NBA players.

Pre-Draft workout. He was unbelievable. Amazing. We all knew that day that he would be the top pick in the draft that year. Well, now we have a chance to go get him. We can afford two free agents this summer, and Kwame MUST be one of the players signed. He's still got loads of potential. PG: Paul or Williams SG: Josh Childress SF: Josh Smith PF: Tyson Chandler C: Kwame Brown That's a pretty damn good nucleus. Plus, we'll get two decent picks in next year's draft and pick up a solid player and a pick in the Harrington deal. We'll be on our way.

and I'm the biggest idoit in the history of basketball. I'm sorry for predicting that Josh Smith would be a bust. I'm sorry that I didn't remain in the legal world instead of going over my head and becoming a commentator. I'm sorry my first appearance on the NBA Draft coverage for ESPN was also my last. I'm sorry I'm the biggest embarrassment ever to come out of Duke. I'm sorry I thought Josh Smith was going to flop. But then again, I'm Jay Bilas. What should you expect? =================== Just kidding. I am not Jay Bilas. But he sure was an idiot, wasn't he? Folks the world learned tonight that we have a future. Some of us knew it all along. Now we've just got to go complete the puzzle.

Quote: Probably a Willis signing. We have a winner.

Thursday is the day. NEWS is coming Thursday.

Even though I don't want Adonal Foyle (6 million? Huh?) I will take that as a huge compliment.

that he is not a bust. In his rookie season, he averaged: 4.5 ppg 3.5 rpg 14.3 minutes per game In his second season, he averaged: 7.4 ppg 5.3 rpg 22.2 minutes per game This season he is averaging: 10.3 ppg 7.0 rpg 28.1 minutes per game Not to mention 14 ppg and 8.5 rpg since the start of the new year (i.e. January 2004). THAT IS IMPROVEMENT. Man I hate being right. And I thought Chicken Stanley would show up to bash me on my subtle Kwame comment. Quote: We have been losers since 1999, and it doesn't sit well with me. Be patient? We have been losing since 1999. That is way too long to suit me. I know it's tough. I hate to lose too. But you know what's even more disappointing than seeing a team we thought was going to be worth a damn turn out to be worthless (like the one we started out last season with)? A team that is expected to do well and can only get into the second round (like the teams from the 90's). We must take the steps we've taken now to get to the top of the league. What were you wanting to do? Add a player to Reef, Theo, and JT? This mix did not work. ERASE THE BLACKBOARD AND START OVER. Quote: What convinces you that Knight will be any better than Babcock was? He hasn't done anything to prove it thus far. Have you been in a spider hole in Bahgdad the last ten days? Knight has taken a team that was two summers from being able to do squat and allowed it to: 1. Get in position to get a top three draft pick 2. Cap room that starts now instead of later Yea. Billy has proven a lot in the last few weeks. He's proven that he has the knowledge to ADMIT that the mix that was in place DID NOT WORK. Theo, SAR, JT, Dion are all great guys. But it just didn't work. Why do you think Jerry West didn't take the job? He knew this mix would not work. We had three options: 1. Play through this season, get a top 10 pick, and have Brandon's cap space available. We still would have not had any money to improve ourselves. So therefore we more than likely would have had the same nucleus for next season. - Now what was this option going to accomplish? Not a damn thing. We would probably still be a team that would win 30 games next season and get a #10 pick. Wippy'd-frieckin-do. 2. Scrap this team and start over. Get cap space and be so damn bad we'd be guaranteed a top three pick (which we desperately need, especially with a Georgia kid who IS A HAWKS FAN FOR CRYING OUT LOUD as a potential pick). I vote for #2. Thank God Billy Knight did as well.

t and you're bitchin about Kwame Brown. Woah.

(PREPARE FOR A LONG POST HERE FOLKS) Well ole Arch told you we weren't done. Sure enough Sheed is in Detroit and Larry Brown is getting his best suit ready so he can show off his new prize. I want to thank Black Hawk and others who are giving Billy props. He deserves it. He has changed the entire future of this team in 10 days. Ten days ago we were just another mediocre team that might get a break in the lottery and might get a mediocre player to join our mediocre players next season. Now we simply SUCK and have an excellent shot at a top three pick plus we've got more cap room than the Yankees have millionaires. Several points: 1. I wasn't too upset that Knight didn't get a pick from the Blazers. Not sure why. Just thought the cap room was enough. You may know I thought Shareef Abdur-Rahim was the biggest waste of flesh to ever wear a Hawks uniform. So I was just glad he was gone. 2. However, now they he got a first round pick from the Pistons, I do kinda wish he had gotten another first rounder. Even if it was just used in another deal down the road. It would have been nice to have three first rounders next season, since we've got to get eight players with $21 million bucks. 3. But we're still in good shape with draft picks. We'll probably have five out of the first 40. Plus don't forget we've still got a future 1st from Phily, which is also a good trade option. And who knows what those second rounders (3) can be used on (i.e. trades or picks). 4. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THURSDAY'S TRADE: We now SUCK. I mean our roster is the worst thing I think I've ever seen in my life. Holy crap are we going to be bad. We've got 28 games left and we'll be lucky is we win five games. We've gone from having Shareef and Theo to Pryzbilla and N'Diaye! Holy crap. 5. We need to lose. Why win and be fifth or sixth going into the lottery. Guys we need a TOP THREE PICK. We need Dwight Howard. He is a Hawks fan who wants to be with us. 6. Don't forget what we'll be able to do with our cap space. Let's say a team needs a third team to broker a deal. We're there man. The cap room in itself has value even if we don't spend it all. What does it give us? FLEXIBILITY. That's something we haven't had in a long time. We've always been stuck in mediocrity - not good enough to be a Champion and not bad enough to win the lottery. But now we are bad enough to win the lottery. 7. Who cares if we don't sign a BIG time free agent this summer. Let's get enough to field a team and if we have to we'll suck again. Then we'll get another great draft pick and STILL have $11 million dollars in additional cap room once Henderson and Crawford get off the books following next season. 8. I'm going to repeat something Black Hawk said: I WANT TO BE A DOMINATING TEAM - not a decent team. Question: What do the following teams have in common? a) Blaylock, Smith, Mutombo, Laettner, Corbin, Henderson b) Blaylock, Smith, Lang or Laettner, Long, Augmon, Ehlo c) Blaylock, Wilkins or Manning, Koncak, Willis, Augmon Answers: a) They all won between 46 and 57 games. b) None of these teams were EVER going to win a NBA title Now do you really think that Terry, Glover, Jackson, Abdur-Rahim, and Ratliff were ever going to do anything? Hell they weren't even as good as the three teams just mentioned. They were on paper, but paper is only good to use in the toilet on this year's team. 9. Billy Knight has totally turned this franchise around. But it's going to require something on our part: patience. Don't be pissed if we don't get Kobe this summer. It might be summer of 2005 before we adequately complete our team. 10. Let's build this team up and construct a WINNER. It's been tried before. Chicago tried it with Brand and then Chandler and Curry. They've done nothing so far. The Nuggets have done it with Nene and Carmelo. It's working pretty good. Who knows how we'll do? But to get to where we want to go (i.e. playing in the first week of June) we have to go down to the bottom. 11. We must trade Jason Terry. Not to get more cap room (although why not - we're on a roll!) and not even necessarily because of what we can get in return (although I want KWAME!). But we need to trade Jason Terry because part of the problem of this team has been his inability to play one position with exception. He can't run the point and he can't defend the two. Let someone else deal with this tweener. We need a point guard. Let's get a young player (KWAME!) and a lottery pick (and draft the guard from UConn maybe?) and start over. 12. We will, eventually, get a tremendous free agent. They'll see the cap room. They'll see the draft picks. They'll see the big name head coach (oh yea almost forgot about him). They'll see the opportunity to come in and be the man. Who knows who it will be or when it will be (again be patient). But we will get a tremendous free agent. 13. Please stop striving for mediocrity. If we have to suck for another year before we dominate, let's do it. We do not want a team that will be an automatic exit in the second round. We are about to go into a division that we can win - easily. But first we have to suffer a bit more before the reward. Please be patient and be thankful that someone had the testicles to ignite a fire to this bad puppy and blow it to high heaven. Tonight's Final Question: Who is a bigger lame duck? Terry Stotts or Mike Lamb? Answer: STOTTS. He'll curse us now, but wish he coached us later.

It's rollin round the bend And I ain't seen some winning since I don't know when I'm stuck in Hawkster Prison and time keeps draggin on. ==== Just a prediction folks. Don't get all nutsy on me. But I think Rasheed is toast. C'MON Dumars. Panic and give us DARKO!

When we first made the deal for Rasheed Wallace a week ago, I thought there was no way we were going to trade him again. We got what we wanted: tremendous cap room at the end of the season. But now, as we move closer to the Thursday deadline, it's obvious that the option of moving Wallace must be considered. He's got New York on his mind, and Isiah Thomas has his mind on Rasheed. Plus Larry Brown suddenly has this Billy Bob Thornton look on his face. Wallace looks like Angelina Jole did to ole Billy Bob a few years ago. Larry is in love with Rasheed and wants him bad, particularly since his team has lost six in a row. Maybe we can do something with Wallace in the next 30 hours. Billy Knight is in his own fantasy league here, trading players like we all traded baseball cards back in the day. If he's smart, and he's proved he ain't no dummy the last few weeks, he'll play Detroit and New York against each other. NY would have to include a third team. They just don't have the available cap room we would need. Detroit could offer a package of players who will be free agents at the end of the year (Sura, Rebracca, Hunter, Fowlkes) and a first round draft pick. I've already proposed that the Hawks hold out for Darko Milicik, the second overall pick in the draft a year ago. If the Pistons want Wallace bad enough, maybe they'll be stupid enough to give up Darko. They know if the Knicks get him now, he's only going to stick around with Isiah after this season. You know that Isiah hates the possibility of Wallace, a player he covets, going to his former Pistons team. So would he go arrange a deal, something he's done frequently in his six weeks on the job, to make it impossible for us to turn down. Can he find us an unprotected lottery pick somewhere in the deal? All of a sudden, the Hawks are the Seattle Mariners. We have Randy Johnson up for grabs, and the bidding could get high. I wasn't too concerned with not getting a draft pick out of the Blazers, but now with the Pistons and Knicks having a cow over Wallace, it looks like we might be able to get at least a first rounder in a trade. You know what I'd tell Isiah if I was Billy Knight? "If you can go and get us Kwame Brown in a three way trade with the Wizards, we'll get you Rasheed Wallace." But we also have Michael Doleac available, who all of a sudden has become a valuable left-handed reliever teams are wanting for the stretch drive. Could we actually get a first rounder for Doleac? Would that be a steal or what? The next 30 hours will be interesting.

Atlanta trades: SF Rasheed Wallace (17.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.5 apg in 37.2 minutes) Atlanta receives: SG Bob Sura (3.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.6 apg in 13.4 minutes) C Zeljko Rebracca (3.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.2 apg in 10.6 minutes) PF Darko Milicic (1.0 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.2 apg in 3.4 minutes) PG Lindsey Hunter (3.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 1.5 apg in 16.0 minutes) Change in team outlook: -5.6 ppg, -0.6 rpg, and +1.0 apg. Detroit trades: SG Bob Sura (3.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.6 apg in 13.4 minutes) C Zeljko Rebracca (3.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.2 apg in 10.6 minutes) PF Darko Milicic (1.0 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.2 apg in 3.4 minutes) PG Lindsey Hunter (3.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 1.5 apg in 16.0 minutes) Detroit receives: SF Rasheed Wallace (17.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 2.5 apg in 45 games) Change in team outlook: +5.6 ppg, +0.6 rpg, and -1.0 apg. TRADE ACCEPTED Due to Atlanta and Detroit being over the cap, the 15% trade rule is invoked. Atlanta and Detroit had to be no more than 115% plus $100,000 of the salary given out for the trade to be accepted, which did happen here. This trade satisfies the provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You have been assigned Trade ID number 1521668 If Detroit wants him bad enough, and Larry Brown seems to want him pretty bad, then he'll give us Darko! The Pistons have lost 6 in a row. They are getting desperate.