Nurlman

Batista's coming along. He has value. He can't play more than 15 minutes a game right now because he's a walking foul. I think he could be the type of take-no-crap 4/5 the Hawks can use, an 8ppg/8rpg guy - but he's got to figure out how to stop mugging people.

Wow. JJ has one bad shooting game and now he's not a primary offensive option? The guy had 9 boards and 17 dimes, for gosh sakes. It's not like he's a palsy out there.

Quote: Noah's a decent college player, but I don't see his game transferring to the pros. He's not that athletic, he lacks size, and he needs to work on some moves or he'll be destroyed in the paint on the next level. Top ten is high for him IMO. Whoa. He's a legitimate 6'11", runs the floor like a deer, has great ups and timing. His offensive game could use some work and he'll need to get thicker (don't most 19 year olds?), but from last year to this year he's made amazing strides. You're entitled to your opinion, but I'd urge you to take another look at him.

Quote: Didn't see the whole game, but Noah did not look that dominant to me. No, they were running on fumes, Noah included. Taurean Green was horrible - 8 turnovers. He couldn't hang on to the ball long enough to get it down low to Noah. But Noah did have the game winning put back followed by packing the last gasp USC shot. He rose to the occasion.

Although Belkin may be scum and would make a terrible owner, his lawyers have repeatedly outflanked Atlanta Spirit's. They'd better get new representation before Belkin owns their wives, cars and dogs.

Quote: Well, when you consider Swift, Swift's upside is hugh. He's 7'1 with good footwork.. He's just starting to taste some real minutes and he's rebounding and blocking. Against the Mavs, he had 12 points, 9 boards, and 3 blocks. That's not a lot, but that's pretty good for a guy 2 yrs out of HS... And Zaza's age is three years out of high school. The only difference is, he's already showing some serious upside. I think if Zaza is paired with a defensive 4-5 - so he doesn't have to carry the mail on the defensive end every night - he'll be fine. He needs to improve, but he could be an adequate defender with a little help. I think the discussion is moot anyway, because BK will trade Zaza when pigs fly.

Quote: Joe isn't worth a loto pick, 1st pick, 70 million plus a solid role player. I'm not saying that JJ is a bum or isn't any good. He might be. Not only is he good, he's a splendid player. Quote: He's just overpaid. Maybe not. You been watchin'? As much as it pains us, sometimes you just have to be patient and let guys come together. They've got work to do - biggest problem is, this is a genuinely bad defensive team - but I gotta say, Joe Johnson is earning his money. He'd be an all-star if he were doing this on a better team in a better market.

Quote: ... because we have next to nothing in big men. ZaZa is a joke IMO, he couldn't guard the front door. Until we acquire big defensive player this team will go nowhere. I think Zaza will look a lot better as the #2 interior defender rather than the #1 interior defender. He's overmatched a lot now because we don't have that big defensive player you speak of.

Quote: So far a clear majority simply want Al gone. Of course it may take another day or two to get a full response. No, I voted that I wanted him gone because I want a SNT. It's not that I think he's garbage.

Quote: BK will leave no stone unturned in his quest for a big man. Maybe he can check Doral, where OJ searches for Nicole's killer to this day.

Quote: I thought Batista was in the WWE? Batista thinks he's in the WWE, too. That's why he only gets eight minutes a game. Eight minutes, five fouls.

Quote: When has he not been honest?... You don't turn a ship on a dime. You have to swing out and loop it around. Every decision he has made as the GM of the Atlanta Hawks has been made with the long term future of this franchise... and if you can't handle the fact that the best drafting philosophy is to take the best player available, then you are weak minded. I think the problem is that he didn't take the best player available. It looks like the best player available and the Hawks' need actually dovetailed, he had the #2 pick, and he blew it. And you can be truthful without being an ass. If he made a little effort and were a little more genial it wouldn't cost him a thing. He'd still be the boss, and nobody else's opinion would count but his own, he just wouldn't come off as an [censored] to his constituency. I still like most of his moves - Marvin's not terrible now, and he's going to be good, he was just the wrong pick - and I think Knight did the right things and I think they're headed in the right direction. I just think Knight's an [censored].

There are times when he looks real bad, but basically the problem is that Al has value on the market and his skill set is duplicated here. Triplicated. Quadruplated. Sell.

That's lazy writing. Gee, a coach of a losing team who's trying to remain positive and teach and improve his club in spite of the frustration of losing? A guy who sees several games that could have gone the other way? Wow. Earth shattering.

Quote: My only reason for bringing up JJ... JJ does have upside. But right now, we are playing him Ray Allen, Kobe, Tmac Money... And he's playing like Jrich... It's not bad, but it's not 70 million either. I think JJ has a lot of value and could bring us a first round pick as well as 1 or 2 good players. I say this knowing that our fix will be for us to get a PG that can run the offense and make JJ a full time SG. If we do that, we have overpaid for him, but we must start somewhere. How about we send JJ to Phoenix for Boris Diaw and a pair of firsts?

Quote: most people here seem to love rondo. ... he's a better shooter at this point than rondo, though rondo may be quicker. Rondo shot 30% from 3pt range last year and 58% from the line. I'd like to see those come up to adequate levels before canonizing Rondo. Glue defense and real good point, though. I'd like him more at picks 5-10 than 1-3.

What draft picks do the Hawks have the rights to in the next two years? Are they their own? Do they have any others? Which of them were traded but lottery protected, and how many places deep? If the Hawks keep a protected pick from Phoenix this year, do they have to give Phoenix their pick in 07-08 or something else? And if the Hawks finish 1-2-3 in the lottery this year, what are the respective chances of them landing the first pick? Thanks.

Quote: I think that we should set our sights on Rondo... I have been waiviering between Brewer and Rondo and I just have to go with ROnDO... I think it will be interesting when these two meet up this year. For what it's worth, even though Brewer is a Big guard, what I like about Rondo is his speed and his length. That's right Length. Rondo makes up for his height with his reach. I think it's impossible for him not to grow a little more. He's what I would call a ball Hawk... My prediction is that he will be very close to leading the NCAAs in Steals and in assists. I think he's a good compliment to JJ. Speed and Defense... Plus he knows how to get others in the game!!! RONDO RONDO RONDO.. Rondo can't shoot a lick. He's horrible. He's Brevin Knight.

Oh my God. What a shame. Best to the Collier family in this time.

Mine are cancelled too.

Quote: Except that Chandler is very athletic and Edwards is sub-par athletically. Sounds more to me like a poor man's Joel Pryzbilla or Adonyl Foyle. Pryzbilla and Foyle are poor men.

We deal junk We get gold I love it! I'm sure Denver, Dallas, Cleveland and Golden State would be thrilled.

I'm expecting one more move for a big man. Don't know what it will be, but the Big White Stiff approach to back up Zaza won't be sufficient. I wish he'd make a run at Tyson Chandler, back and all, or pull the trigger on a Magliore deal. I guess he could be thinking, "I can't get the guy I want for the price I want, so that's stage 3, next year." Then we win 26, keep our lottery pick, the ping-pong balls bounce our way, and we wind up with a fabulous college Big.

Uhhh... I think that's 'cuz he's trying to make a big deal of it for the few that have hung in. I'm thrilled the offer isn't all over the place.

Quote: Philips Arena is a CASH COW putting out 95 million dollars in profit in a year where a great number of it's dates were blackout dates due to Hockey not playing and missing the NHL allstar game. Where is this number coming from? With a thumbnail valuation, if this is true, the Arena's worth somewhere between $500m and $1 billion dollars and the teams are absolutely incidental. I think this is way high, but I agree Belkin and the others got the deal at a discount. My understanding was that Belkin had a put option built into the original deal (the ability to demand the group buy his stock back) by 2006 at 85% of its purchase price. I'm sure, in light of the circumstances, he was able to negotiate terms more favorable than that, but I don't believe he could have moved his partners to pay 3x market value of 16 months ago. Why would they bother? If he'd held a gun to their head, they'd have simply removed him as Governor and let him stay on as a de-nutted minority owner.