Nurlman

I lurk more than post, but I'm in. I'm bringing the kiddies. Thanks, Bruce!

Heh. Suddenly Walter is nowhere to be found. Tell them again what a steaming turd Shelden is, Walter. Don't worry about me, though - I've discovered the "ignore" feature. I'm starting to really enjoy this board.

Quote: Josh Smith has all of the talent in the world but he has to find his way. Josh is trying to do so much and in reality there are things that he just does very well and thing that he doesn't do well. Most players at some point mature into what they are going to be by the 3rd-4th year of nba life. Hopefully it happens to Josh Smith this year. What do we know about JS? Certainly Smoove is a gifted shot blocker and that he is athletic but that is it. Is he a great at any of the following; rebounding, defense, scoring, shooting ball handling, setting picks, positioning himself to receive the basketball in a scoring position, post offense/defense, setting up teamates, leadership, finishing around the rim or free throw shoting the answer is no! In fact he is not even above average in many of the above categories. But the reason why we like him so much is that he is only 20 and can potentially develop and be excellent at skills that require athleticism. Let us all hope he does! That's as harsh an assessment as I can imagine. He's 20 years old. He's improved dramatically each of his two years; there's reason to think, especially as he grows into his body, that more significant improvement is forthcoming.

To quote the late, mostly great Jeff Denberg, Mookie was "an ardent but poor shooter."

Am I missing something? Isn't this a stupid deal? Someone help me understand what BK is thinking. Cap space? So what?

Quote: Harrington deal close but stalling By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/28/06 The terms of the sign-and-trade deal that will send Hawks free agent Al Harrington to Indiana are nearly done, according to two people familiar with the negotiations. The Hawks will sign Harrington to a six-year deal worth an estimated $60 million and then send him and reserve center John Edwards, both former Pacers, back to Indiana in exchange for cash, a future draft pick and a trade exception. The sticking point of the deal is the cash the Hawks will receive according to those familiar with the negotiations. The Hawks want more than the Pacers are willing to give. A deal for Harrington has stalled nearly a month after the NBA's free-agent negotiating period began. "No, there is no deal. There is nothing new to report," Hawks general manager Billy Knight said Thursday afternoon. Can someone explain to me why we want the trade exception? And why we're shipping out a big and not taking one (Harrison/Foster)? Are we making room for Wilcox or similar, maybe?

If all the young players project with incremental improvement and the new guys integrate quickly, especially defensively, I anticipate very significant improvement. I would think .500 is not unreasonable at all. Strengths: Young legs, enthusiasm, upside, absence of distractions Weaknesses: Still need interior defense; experience, especially playing defense together. I think BK's done a nice job this offseason. I hope the last piece is a rugged interior-type like Magloire, maybe Foster, and not Murphy, esp. at $10m x 5.

Projecting his minutes to 32 with no improvement he goes 11ppg and 6.3 rpg. I think he'll improve more than that. 16 ppg 7.5 rpg 80% from line 35% from 3 46% from field 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

Quote: This could be the sleeper pick of the draft. Sleeper picks are picks that appear to be shitty at first but turn out to be extremely talented and productive players. Douby is halfway there in that he appears to be shitty. Classic

I love it. They roast everybody pretty well.

Outstanding Draft Analysis A little late, but good reading... On the front page, there's a nice story about Isiah executing four players to free up cap space...

Quote: Traded Chill and #5 for him. Traded MW for Livingston. Livingston/Lue JJ/later acquired role playing Sg/Sf JS Bargnani ZaZa/defensive role playing big or ANY of the 3 franchise Pgs last year JJ JS Bargnani ZaZa/Defensive role playing big W Wow. Nice lineups, Walter. I'm 42, 5'9", molasses slow and white; I think I can penetrate that interior. [image]http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiExhK9EaUcA5cSJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBjb3ZrYjNkBHBvcwM0BHNlYwNzcg--/SIG=1j1362n25/EXP=1152439729/**http%3a//images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view%3fback=http%253A%252F%252Fimages.search.yahoo.com%252Fsearch%252Fimages%253Fp%253Dspanish%252Bmatador%2526sm%253DYahoo%252521%252BSearch%2526fr%253DFP-tab-img-t%2526toggle%253D1%2526cop%253D%2526ei%253DUTF-8%26w=155%26h=242%26imgurl=www.magicmakers.com%252Finternet%252520jpg%252520S%252Fspanish%252520matador%252520blue.jpg%26rurl=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.magicmakers.com%252Finternet%252520jpg%252520S%252Fspanishmatadorblue.html%26size=8.2kB%26name=spanish%2bmatador%2bblue.jpg%26p=spanish%2bmatador%26type=jpeg%26no=4%26tt=295%26ei=UTF-8[/image]

Bad assumption. Their lawyers have done an abysmal job protecting their interests.

Quote: He ordered that the other owners are to "not initiate the purchase, sale, trade or negotiation of any NBA or NHL player contract ... excluding contracts involving present or future draft picks and contracts for any other player with a contract duration of one year or less." Hmmm...does this mean O'Bryant could still be had in the GS deal?

Quote: Judge slows potential sale to Belkin But also limits Spitit owners to one-year deals By TIM TUCKER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 07/06/06 Rockville, Md. — Steve Belkin won't be taking over the Hawks and Thrashers anytime soon, but the other owners will be operating at an apparent competitive disadvantage against the rest of their leagues. The Maryland judge who last month ruled that Belkin is entitled to buy out the other Hawks and Thrashers owners at cost issued a stay of the ruling Thursday, but attached a significant condition. He ordered that the other owners are to "not initiate the purchase, sale, trade or negotiation of any NBA or NHL player contract ... excluding contracts involving present or future draft picks and contracts for any other player with a contract duration of one year or less." That means that, during an appeal process likely to last a year, the Hawks and Thrashers will not be able to sign free agents to contracts of longer than one year or to make trades for players with more than one year on their contracts. Such a handcuff seemingly will put the Atlanta Spirit ownership group at a competitive disadvantage against other clubs in the trade and free-agent markets. Montgomery County (Md.) Circuit Court Judge Eric Johnson said in court Thursday that the order would not apply to players with whom negotiations already have been initiated, meaning, for example, that the Hawks apparently are free to complete their planned signing of free agent point guard Speedy Claxton to a multi-year contract. As another condition of the stay, the judge ordered the owners to post an appeal bond of $11.4 million – a small fraction of the bond amounts of $120 million to $450 million suggested by Belkin to protect him against any drop in the value of the franchises during appeal. The judge also ordered that during the appeal process the other owners can make no changes to the teams' current management without the consent of Belkin. Judge Johnson ruled last month that the owners breached the terms of their agreement to buy out Belkin, triggering Belkin's right to buy them out at cost instead by July 13. Thursday's stay means last month's ruling is on hold until the appeal of the ruling is decided by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals. Looks like Speedy's in under the wire.

From FoxSports.Com: Quote: Speedy Claxton, Hawks Can do: Push the ball. Show quick first step and readiness to penetrate. Use screen/rolls to great advantage. Drive both ways. Create his own scoring opportunities. Hit mid-range jumpers. Apply defensive pressure. Can't do: Run a ball club. Shoot consistently from 3-point range. Must do: Become more of a facilitator than he's ever been before. Prognosis: Is best suited to be a scorer off the bench because his passwork is only a secondary consideration. As the projected starter, he's definitely the wrong type of point guard for the Hawks. Exactly how does his analysis match up with his conclusion? If he can do all those things - defend, push the ball, drive, dish, hit midrange jumpers - and averaged 6 dimes/30 minutes in 04/05 before Chris Paul got there - how is he the wrong type of PG for the Hawks? I do agree he hasn't hit the three and that he's not been given the reins before, but does that mean he can't? Looks like he's still developing. An interesting trend on Claxton: When at Hofstra, he didn't shoot threes well (15%)his first year, got a little better each year, and by his senior year hit 38% (and made 1.6/gm). Looking at his pro stats, the same thing appears to be happening, as he's gone from 0% to 27% in four years. Made about 1/gm last year. If he could make 1.5/gm and stroke 35%, that would open up his game - and our floor - nicely. But I still think he's a nice fit even if the long range stuff doesn't come. Not sure what Rosen's issue is.

Howsabout we don't even consider that?

Outstanding. Best post of the offseason.For the record, I like the pick. Time to stop drafting upside and fill some clear needs. Not sexy, but necessary.

Elton Brand. If he can defend, rebound and block three shots a game (which he did his last three years in college), what's your beef? How 'bout we let him fail before we pronounce him a failure? It's hard to argue with the logic of the pick. Interior defense uber alles. Shelden is the best interior defender, and he's not a plodder. He fits with our club. I really do like the pick.

Damn right. This is a good pick. We've taken enough upside gambles. We got an enforcer in the paint who should also be able to run with our offense. A fine pick, in my estimation.

We're gonna get Shelden, and I'm good with it. It's not the sexiest pick, but we need a sheriff in the paint and he can do that. He's listed at 6-9, not 6-8 as all you haters keep saying, has a Brandian wingspan. The only taller guys who are interesting are Aldridge, Bargnani and O'Bryant, and all of them are soft defenders. We don't need soft. We need a rock. Defense, rebounds, blocked shots. And not an offensive liability. Sounds good to me.

Out-freakin-standing. You captured their essence.

Honest question. Not trying to cause trouble. WHO has said that Belkin is Donald Sterling II? Gearon/Levinson? Billy Knight? They've got a dog in that fight, dontcha think? People who draw paychecks signed by the foregoing? They've kind of cast their lot, too, seems to me. I'm not sure the guy is the devil. There are two groups who say he is: the people who keep losing to him in court - and who stand to lose millions of dollars and an asset to him because of their own stupidity; and the people aligned with/paid by those people. I remember seeing Belkin's email - "Max for Johnson is OK, but I cannot approve 2 protected number ones and Diaw for him. The price is too high." Then the Spirit told us that's not what he meant, that he was just cheap. But that's not what he said. Turns out Belkin was probably right. Diaw wasn't a throwaway and one pick should have been sufficient, in the context that PHX might not have matched anyway. The Spirit also told the judge in Boston that Joe Johnson to ATL was analogous to Larry Bird in BOS, remember that? Kind of oversold it, didn't they? The Spirit, for all their money, have a lousy battery of lawyers working on their behalf (and I can judge that, being one myself). They have been outmanuevered in every proceeding. "Judicially sanctioned theft"? More like, "I can't believe you were stupid enough to agree to these terms that the judge is simply enforcing." The team's won - what - 36 games the last two years? Plays defense like a sieve for an ostensibly defensive-minded coach? Have a GM who is just a miserable, arrogant human being? Won't give his fan base the time of day? Belkin would be worse? Worse than what? Color me skeptical.

Our biggest need is interior defense. I'm for interior defense. It ain't sexy, but there you have it. Shelden's a good pick and we've tried to ring the upside bell plenty of times - with pretty good success, actually. Yeah, we need a point, too, but I think we can find that in the league somewhere, maybe an S&T using Al. Interior defense.

Quote: On this day Joakim Noah was Florida’s version of the truth and the truth had been set free. Noah filled up the box score with 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, five blocked shots and three steals to lead the Gators to a 76-50 win over South Alabama, advancing the tenth-ranked and third-seeded Gators (28-6). He was everywhere in this one. He is a skilled player and a difference maker. He probably needs another year, but he's 6'11" and long, kinda fits the BK mold - but an aggressive rebounder, too. Great character. Kind of a non-traditional family - Swedish mom, Cameroonian dad. Gators won the SEC primarily because Grandpa back in Cameroon was sacrificing live chickens on their behalf.