lethalweapon3

Hint #19: This wonderful lady's husband! Together they created a foundation benefiting Metro Atlanta youth. One of their kids, who goes by the handle "jabri404", is presently at the Team USA National Under-16 minicamp and trials. ~lw3

I had to run to Wiki to check it out, and apparently it was Terry Stotts' staff (2003-2004 season). As a trivial note, he was hired by the Hawks a few months after being fired at Columbia University, the Lions' 2-25 record in 2003 the worst in that Ivy League school's (already terrible) history. ~lw3

FWIW, here's Bontemps article. For the record, I thought Dwight was Bill Bellamy. ~lw3

I had a good time laughing yesterday about the Tim Bontemps piece in the Washington Post, ranking the top 40 players "since the NBA/ABA merger." (There's nothing else to do, apparently). Especially since the character drawings WashPo likes to use to accompany the rankings are always hilarious! I also found Dwight's ranking of #27 to be awfully kind. So did the hemorrhoidal Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe. But as New Englanders tend to do, he took his critique way too "fahr". And of course, The Worldwide Leader takes it upon itself to post his off-camera spew online for the world to... enjoy. I'm giving Mr. Met our Harry the Hawk uniform for a day. ~lw3

Hint #18: Once recalled, after being picked near the bottom of the 1st round, "I cried my eyes out all night, and I'll never forget those guys picked ahead of me." Getting stuck playing for Sterling's Clippers would induce tears for anyone, too. Bought a house back near his hometown after his rookie year; when he retired from the NBA, he built a 7.000 square foot "castle" AROUND the older home. He doesn't live in the vacant mansion today, although it's unknown whether the activities above had anything to do with that. ~lw3

Yes, and I'll never forgive Vince McMahon for what he did with his "character" during the Raw/Nitro Monday Night Wars, once he pried him free from Ted's grasp. Dusty Rhodes in yellow polka-dots was bad enough of a sight! ~lw3

Hint #17: "Hey, Czar, Telestrate THIS!" **chokeslams the basketball** ~lw3

Not quite, but good guess on Randy! The Wittless One was shipped out as part of the 1988 trade to get Theus. This other "future coach" departed the Hawks several years after that, and like the answer to this question, had TWO separate stints in a Hawks uniform. ~lw3

Hint #16: No, Marvin wasn't the team mascot. But Marv and this guy both came of age within minutes (albeit many years) of each other. Eventually became a girls high school coach, and helped prep the former Tallest Man in Canada for the NBA Draft. ~lw3

Hint #15: Not the coach on the left, not the coach in the middle... the coach on the right. ~lw3

Hint #14: Despicable He. He's nobody's minion in China, though! ~lw3

Hint #13: This news anchor's late dad. A former NBA champ and NIT MVP, he was The Dream before The Dream. ~lw3

Hint #12: Don't you be givin' me that fishy look! ~lw3

Hint #11: One of the gentlemen in this photo. The Hawks got some pretty good use out of him, apparently before the aliens got to his crew. ~lw3

Hint #10: One of these three sad-trombone Jazzmen. C'mon, Salt Lake City can't be that boring, Paul! ~lw3

Hint #9: One of these two Gulls. (BONUSES: name the Draft year when we acquired him via trade, and the future NBA head coach we traded away to get him) ~lw3

You're close! No, not THAT Atlanta Hawk surnamed Williams who was arrested for kidnapping! lol ~lw3

Hint #8: This Ram was like a Fox... at least, until he got busted kidnapping people! ~lw3

Hint #7: The guy who owns this place, and probably could've used a visit here back in the day. ~lw3

Hints #5 and #6: Two tons o' fun! The Hawks somehow got BOTH these guys (not looking like this, though) in the same trade! "Shocking," ain't it? ~lw3

Hint #4: "Vut are you staring at?" Dennis probably had this player's poster as a kid. These days, he'll probably get to set him up for lobs! ~lw3

Hint #3: Dem sideburns, tho! Once nabbed 35 rebounds in a game for an "ACC" team. Drafted by an expansion team, this guy scored 44 points over back-to-back days during his All-Rookie season against the Hawks, who were so impressed they traded to get him four months later! ~lw3

Hint #2: "Oh, c'mon, Teddy, why should we be tanking?" (BONUS: Identify the actor who plays Teddy.) ~lw3

Doing a twist on past "Name That Hawks Draft Pick" threads to highlight players acquired, via trade, either on NBA Draft day, in the days leading up to the Draft, or in the post-Draft days leading up to free agency. (e.g., Nique won't count, since his 1982 arrival came over two months after the Draft). In addition to NBA veterans, the players can include rookies drafted in the year of the trade, but not draft picks selected in future years. Away we go... Hint #1: In addition to Crossfit, this guy enjoys seeing his name featured prominently on bakery trucks... and not just in Mexico anymore! ~lw3

I wasn't too worried with the Dream falling behind early, because the quality of their shots were much more in the flow of a decent offense than San An's (Mo Currie was trying to play 1-on-5 at times). It was just a matter of Atlanta keeping up the movement in halfcourt, and beating their opponents down the floor off their turnovers late in the game. Rebkell user "toad455" does the dirty work and routinely tracks attendance figures relative to the prior season average. Throwing in yesterday's lunchtime game, by my rusty math the Dream are about 1,332 fans below last year's season-long average of 5.614, 3 games in with 14 left to play. Still, I doubt that it's cause for alarm quite yet. Two of the three opponents played thus far are not popular draws for any WNBA club (post-EDD Chicago, San Antonio with an 11:30 tip). The Dream have always been on the back end of the league in attendance. Only Dallas, who just moved from Tulsa to a college gym in Arlington last year, draws fewer fans from year-to-year. Even bringing every one of 2016's average fans back would have the Dream ranked 11th out of 12 teams right now. But the team has certainly budgeted for the lost draw of playing in the increasingly popular area of downtown Atlanta (no "casual attendees" just walking up), and the lost draw from Angel's departure (fewer "knowledgeable" and "star-catcher" fans). Plus, they have an intermittent home schedule to start the year (hardly any more games at McCamish until the end of June). And almost all WNBA clubs build up attendance as the season goes along, so those 2017 averages are sure to bump up for everybody. Atlanta's current numerical drop is not as steep as that of more established teams (Phoenix, Indiana, New York). Indiana, like Atlanta, is finding its way without its franchise icon (permanently, in the Fever's case), while the new-car-smells of Brittney Griner and Tina Charles may be wearing off. One thing we take for granted here in ATL is an excellent regional TV package. There are a few WNBA clubs that don't have virtually all their home games aired on regional cable. In many WNBA metros, if you really want to see your team with any sense of regularity, you have no choice but to turn off the TV/put down the phone and get your fanny to the arena. The Dream certainly benefit from the added TV publicity, the sponsorship potential, and the reliability of quality broadcasters like Bawb and LaChina. Even without the dedicated fans in-house, the Dream likely catch up with many of these other teams in the TV revenue department. Much like the NBA, the WNBA benefits from being in a TV-friendly media market like ATL, even if its viewers are more interested in basketball per se than the local basketball team. They also have the benefit of being in a multi-sports town where the teams' PR outfits are actively helping promote one another, via social media and at live games (e.g., Tiffany getting to pound the big railroad tie at the Atlanta United game around the corner). The Dream, thankfully, are not on an island to themselves. All this team can do is continue winning, especially playing well at home and in the few cases they get a national spotlight (ESPN 2/NBATV/Twitter). The Dream have an asset in Coach Michael Cooper, who has been mixing in media rounds during the NBA Playoffs to help promote the WNBA on TV and radio. His NBA pedigree helps to woo some of us local bump-on-a-log sports fans with XY chromosomes to make the leap and head over to GT for some games. A fairer measure will come after the first homestand following the All-Star Break in July. The more Coach Coop's team looks like a playoff contender without Angel around, the better off the Dream will be attendance-wise. ~lw3