PoppaFritz

One problem I see. We would be the worst perimeter shooting team in the league.

Let me clear one thing up. I can't stand watching Big Dog play. You are 100% right about him being selfish and that he doesn't play hard all the time, which drives me crazy. Still, consistent scorers in the half court are hard to come by and Big Dog provides that. That being said, I just hope we don't throw him away without getting something in return. Yes, his value isn't as high as it was when we got him but I think it would be a mistake to exchange him for cap relief and nothing else.

Dolfan, you are probably right about GRob being worth more than what people have been purposing of getting back. That concerns me too, look at Milwaukee they are sitting with the #8 pick and Kukoc for Big Dog...I would hope that we could get at least a mid-first round draft pick and solid veteran in return. If not, we should hang on to him and see what happens next year. Obviously there are times when you have to cut your losses and move on but has it really come to that? It's not like the Wizards when they traded Webber for Mitch Richmond and Richmond wasn't a contributer. I'm not a fan of Big Dogs but at least he can put the ball in the hole, that should be worth something in a trade.

Maybe Diesel's right about the Hawks trading the pick but this franchise doesn't do anything a normal NBA franchise would do. From ownership (or lack of) on down this franchise can make your head spin. Remember last year they traded up to get Dickau and never worked him out. I agree that it is strange they haven't brought in more 1st round prospects considering their scouting staff is so small. Wouldn't they want to get a first hand look at prospects???

I saw him play in a couple High School All-Star games. What I noticed first off is that he doesn't play with much fire. Skill wise, he is fairly versatile but doesn't do anything really well. He's a descent athlete but not particularly explosive. I don't think he has a really good pro upside but he could be very effective in College because he can score on the perimeter and in the paint.

It looks like the conversation has centered around the modern day centers but this got me thinking....Who had the best single season for centers of all-time? Statistically, I couldn't find anyone that compared to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 1975-76 season. Kareem(75-76): 34.5 pts - 1,383 rebs - 413 ast - 119 stl - 338 blks Other noteworthy seasons (I included Duncan's stats from this season): Chamberlin(59-60): 37.6 pts - 1,941 rebs -168 ast M. Malone(82-83): 31.1 pts - 1,188 rebs - 142 ast - 76 stl - 125 blks Olajuwon(93-94): 27.3 pts - 955 rebs - 287 ast - 128 stl - 297 blks D. Robinson(94-95): 27.4 pts - 877 rebs - 236 ast - 134 stl - 262 blks S. O'Neal(99-00): 29.6 pts - 1,037 rebs - 284 ast - 35 stl - 233 blks T. Duncan(02-03): 23.3 pts - 1,043 rebs - 316 ast - 55 stl - 237 blks Back to the topic at hand it looks like a dead heat between D. Rob and T.D. as far as who was better in their MVP seasons. I'll give a slight edge to D. Rob. I was glad to see him go out on top!

Are we in any position to get Brad Miller from Indy? I doubt he wants to play for Atlanta when he can play for a contender. Still, he would add some toughness to this team and would allow us to move Theo or SAR. Another free agent I was looking at who might be a bargain pick up is Dan Langhi from Phoenix. They won't resign him because of Casey Jacobson. He's 6'11 and can play on the perimeter. He's not the answer but might be a nice addition.

I'm not going to get into this...but 2 things. At least you know Dickau is going to play hard and work hard (unlike some other so called "professionals"). Also, we've seen in the Finals that shooting the basketball is a rarity these days. As Dickau became more comfortable during the year he began to show his ability to shoot the ball. I'll leave it at that.

I agree they probably wouldn't want to take on Big Dog's salary but that brings up the question...What team would be willing to take on his salary? He's gonna be a [censored] to move any way we look at it. The main point I was trying to make was that the Clippers have some interesting players that could step right in and help us.

I was looking at teams rosters who have multiple players that could help us. The team that I kept coming back to was the Clippers. They have youth and athleticism, the one thing they really need is a consistent scoring threat in the half court. So how about trading Big Dog and Dion for Maggette, Wilcox and Piatkowski. I know we would have to sign and trade Dion and the Clippers would have to do the same with Piatkowski but I think it benifits both teams. If they don't want to trade Wilcox, we could exchange Wilcox for Ely. This would give them a consistent half-court scorer and Dion would add to thier athleticism. For us we get Magette, a young, athletic wing who should continue to get better. We also get Wilcox who has a tremendous upside and could help spell both Theo and Shareef. Finally, Piatkowski would help our perimeter shooting and add some veteran leadership. JT/Dickau Ira/Piatkowski Maggette/DJ Shareef/Wilcox Theo/Nazr

I think Tony Parker's great and it's nearly impossible to turn your back on a 21 year old player of his caliber but if you can get JKidd...you get JKidd!!! If I were the Spurs I would turn my attention to Jermaine O'Neal because Parker has proven to be a very effective lead guard. But like I said if JKidd wants to play for your organization, there's no way you pass that up. JKidd said that his descion would rest on the teams ability to win the NBA Title. The Spurs are going to be contenders for many years. Can the Nets put the pieces around JKidd so that he can win a title? Probably not. If winning is that important to him and I think it is, he may very well end up in a Spurs uniform next year.

I'm happy to see that everyone believes that the Nets have a chance, but what has changed since the playoffs started? I was starting to think that the analysts were just saying that the Nets had a chance to build interest in a potentially lopsided series. But now I'm seeing it from delusional fans. All the Nets have been doing is beating up on overmatched teams. They are the only team that is even remotely close to a complete team in the Eastern conference, which explains their dominance. Still, if they were in the Western Conference they might not have made it out of the 1st round. The teams in the Western Conference can play any tempo and at times it looks like they are struggling because they are just playing against better competition. The match-ups may work on paper but the truth is I don't see the Nets winning more than one game. It's just a different level of talent that the Spurs have been competing against. The Eastern Conference teams are lucky to score over 80 points a game, the Spurs can win scoring 60 points or 120 points. There wasn't any reason to think the Eastern Conference could win before the playoffs started and to me there still isn't any reason. I hope I eat my words on this because I would love to see a good series and I love JKidd but it's not going to happen.

I was looking at the players that might be available from 21-58 and it looks like there are quite a few good prospects. One thing I noticed is that there isn't that much of a drop off in talent and good players should be available in the 2nd round. So, I was thinking it might be a good idea to turn that one 1st round pick into two 2nd round picks. Maybe trade down with Milwaukee and get their two choices. Heck, they owe us any ways for getting them a lottery pick. I just don't see an impact player at 21, no one that would be able to step in and start from day 1. So why not increase our chances of landing a couple good players. I would hope that at least 2 of the 4 picks would be solid pros and we could even take a chance on a European player who might not be ready for a couple of years, but has a good upside to him.

Did you see him when he was coaching Houston? He was completely clueless, terrible recruiter, terrible bench coach. In fact a friend of mine played against Houston when he was coaching and said that he wouldn't even go into the huddle during a timeout, his assistants did all of the coaching during games. He was more of a face that the Universtiy used to promote the program but it didn't work because he was such a horrible coach. I think it would be a huge mistake to make Clyde the GM.

I agree Steve Smith would be a good veteran pickup. He probably doesn't have much left but his added perimeter shooting would be a welcome addition. My one concern is that I heard he was a negative influence in the locker room when he was with Portland. Which was a suprise to me because he and Scottie were the team Captains. I do remember hearing that they were really trying to move him his last year in Portland because he was such an A-hole to the younger players. Not that the attitudes improved without him. You guys might know more than me from his Hawk days about what type of teammate he is but that's what I heard.

Being the Laker hater that I am. It was so sweet watching Robert Horry miss that 3pt. My favorite moment should probably be some incredible performance by an individual but that was just so sweet. Just curious if anyone else had any moments that stood out?

I discussed that recently with a friend of mine who is a high school coach. How do you get through to players like Artest if you are a coach? How do you make them realize their actions are hurting the team? It's probably impossible to talk to them rationally about their actions and not allowing their emotions to control the way they play. So, we came to the conclusion that you need to convince them that their ability to control their temper is another skill that they have to develop, just like shooting, dribbling, passing and playing defense. Especially with Artest you have to convince him that the area that's holding him back from being a marquee player is his attitude. What ever team has Artest on his roster should check with Mo Cheeks and see what he did to calm Rasheed down this year. He's still emotional but this year he learned just how far he could go and didn't cross over that line too much this year. It's a tough spot for coaches because these type of players play off of their emotions so you don't want them to loose that intensity but they have to develop the discipline to control their temper. If that doesn't work, then it's counseling and if that doesn't work maybe it's time to look into straight jackets.

I can't stand Penny, he is the epitome of the spoiled athlete. He was at the top of the NBA, someone who had the ability to change the game. Then a huge salary and a few injuries later he becomes a role player. His versitality is a plus but I think he is as soft as pancake batter. Call it the Vin Baker syndrome. He lost that killer instinct years back and I don't see any upside to his career. He should stay in Pheonix and work on his golf swing.

ORDER OF SELECTION FOR NBA DRAFT 2003 Teams entered in the NBA Draft Lottery, which will determine the order of selection for the first 13 picks, listed in order of overall record (worst record first) and chances out of 1,000 in the Lottery: Team Record Chances 1st Pick 2nd Pick 3rd Pick Denver 17-65 225 22.50% 20.30% 17.63% Cleveland 17-65 225 22.50% 20.30% 17.63% Toronto 24-58 157 15.70% 15.80% 15.66% Miami 25-57 120 12.00% 12.68% 13.39% L.A. Clippers 27-55 89 8.90% 9.75% 10.78% Memphis (1) 28-54 64 6.40% 7.20% 8.23% Chicago 30-52 44 4.40% 5.05% 5.91% Atlanta (2) 35-47 29 2.90% 3.37% 4.02% New York 37-45 15 1.50% 1.77% 2.14% Washington 37-45 14 1.40% 1.65% 2.00% Golden State 38-44 7 0.70% 0.83% 1.01% Seattle 40-42 6 0.60% 0.71% 0.87% Houston 43-39 5 0.50% 0.59% 0.73% The order for the remainder of the first round picks is as follows: 14. Milwaukee (3) 15. Orlando 16. Boston 17. Phoenix 18. New Orleans 19. Utah 20. Philadelphia (to Boston) 21. Indiana (to Atlanta) 22. New Jersey 23. Portland 24. L.A. Lakers 25. Detroit (4) 26. Minnesota 27. Sacramento (to Memphis via Orlando) 28. San Antonio 29. Dallas 2003 SECOND ROUND DRAFT CHOICE ORDER 30. Cleveland (5) 31. Denver (to New York) 32. Toronto (to L.A. Lakers) 33. Miami 34. L.A. Clippers 35. Memphis (to Milwaukee or to Seattle via Milwaukee) 36. Chicago 37. Atlanta 38. Washington 39. New York 40. Golden State 41. Seattle 42. Orlando (6) 43. Milwaukee (7) 44. Houston 45. Phoenix (to Chicago) 46. Boston (to Denver) 47. Utah 48. New Orleans 49. Indiana 50. Philadelphia (8) 51. New Jersey 52. L.A. Lakers (to Toronto) 53. Detroit (to Miami or to Chicago via Miami) 54. Portland 55. Minnesota 56. Sacramento 57. Dallas (9) 58. San Antonio (to Detroit)

Just curious what the latest news was regarding the Hawks head coaching situation next year. After watching all of the playoff teams this year I can't help but think it's time to get some life into this organization. I know it's the playoffs and the games, players and coaches are naturally more intense but I can't think of more than a couple times all season that I ever saw Stotts or one of our top players get after a teammate for missing a defensive rotation or any type of mental lapse. Yet, I've seen it numerous times during these playoffs, from the top coaches and players in the NBA. The leadership that these Coaches and players show by expecting nothing less than perfection is something missing from the Hawks. It starts with Stotts, he is just too passive for this team. I don't want to say that it is entirely his fault because the players have to take some ownership in this team. But, there were numerous games this year where the Hawks would make a poor rotation defensively or not make a play because of effort and Stotts would just sit there with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face like he had no control over what was happening. This team might not respond to a more vocal coach but that's half the problem, this team needs to toughen up mentally. I was watching the Mavs-Blazers game and Don Nelson was chewing everybody's rear-end and Dirk and Nash were getting after Najera and other role players if they would miss a defensive assignment. I thought it was great! You could tell they were not only putting forth the effort themselves but they were making sure these mistakes didn't happen again. I think the same can be said for Kobe and Phil or Iverson and Larry Brown, they expect a lot of themselves and their teammates. Maybe the Hawks just don't have those type of personalities but if they continue to float through next year like they did this season they won't be seeing the playoffs, again. IMO, this starts with Stotts and I think we need to look at other alternatives.

You guys are sort of right about the cap. To say it doesn't matter at all isn't true. It does matter to teams when players of value are available via free agency. If we can free up enough cap space to add a franchise player in 2-3 years, then it might be worth taking on Glenn Rice for a year. What has to be determined is if we can win right away or not. Franchises that free up cap space are counting on not being successful for a couple of years. I don't think the Hawks are to that point yet but if they don't make the playoffs next year it might be time to clean house and free up some cap room.

Maybe Utah beats them 5 years ago. But now? Not a chance!

I don't think the NBA should change the current seeding process because I like the tradition and rivalries it builds. But it would be interesting if the teams were ranked 1-16 regardless of their conference. 1.San Antonio vs 16.Milwaukee 8.New Jersey vs 9.Indiana 4.Minnesota vs 13.Pheonix 5.Lakers vs 12.Utah 2.Dallas vs 15.Houston 7.Portland vs 10.Philadelphia 3.Sacramento vs 14.Boston 6.Detroit vs 11.New Orleans Some interesting things would probably take place: 1. Minnesota would loose to the Lakers any way the playoffs are setup but at least KG would get that 1st round monkey off his back. 2. Houston would make the playoffs. Pushing Orlando into an early summer vacation. Unfortunately, no T-Mac dominating any team in his path, but Yao and Stevie Franchise would get a chance to win one for Rudy T. 3. Intersting 2nd round match up between Detroit and Sacramento. Defense vs Offense. Too bad for fans of hard-nose defense but offense wins out in that battle. (Isn't the old saying "Defense win Championships"? or is that Shaq and Kobe win Championships.) 4. The Final Four would consist of the best four teams, Lakers vs Spurs and Mavs vs Kings. But that's how it looks like the Western Conference semifinals is shaping up any ways. Maybe, the Eastern Conference should be allowed to have their top 2 teams combine their rosters to play the winner of the West. 5. As a side note, I can't wait until Kobe and T-Mac do battle in a 7 game series. Hopefully, Orlando runs the table this year and sets that matchup up.

KB, I agree with most of your player evaluations but I don't agree that Jones has a bigger upside than Turkoglu. Turkoglu's ballhandling is above average for a player 6'10. I don't see his aggresiveness on offense as a negative. The Kings look for him to be an offensive spark off of the bench and he gives them that. The problem for him is they just have too many bodies in front of him. The thing that I like about him is when Peja was injured last year he stepped up and filled his role very well. I think he just needs playing time to be consistently effective. Jones' stats are ok but playing for the Cavs he's getting minutes, so they are a little skewed. He wouldn't put those numbers up with the Kings, he would be like Gerald Wallace. Plus, Jones doesn't help us with our perimeter shooting. I will give him one thing he is an incredible athlete and he rebounds well for a guard/forward.