niremetal

Choosing for what?

One-on-one tourney? Ja.

Pick-up game at Piedmont? Luka.

To be the centerpiece of this team given the other pieces that are already in place? Trae by 100 million light years.

Also, re Bogi's D--people saying he's a poor defender are going based on I-don't-know-what. His advanced defensive stats all indicate that he was one of the better perimeter defenders on the team. His DRTG, DBPM, and DWS were actually all slightly better than Huerter's. He's not going to shut down Devin Booker, but neither is Huerter.

5 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

The Hawks probably won more games without Deandre Hunter so I guess Hunter isn't an important "piece to the puzzle" according to your metrics

Bogi's stats after McMillan named him a starter on March 26:

• 21.1 ppg
• 3.8 rpg
• 4.2 apg (vs 1.4 turnovers)
• 1.6 spa
• 50/49/90 shooting
• Hawks were 18-7 in the games he played (and 1-2 in the games he didn't, though that's not a large enough sample size to be meaningful)

Hunter was never healthy after McMillan took over, so that's a non-sequitur. I'd think that we would have been even more successful if he was healthy (as evidenced by the fact that we crushed the #4 seed in the East). It's nuts to argue that Bogi didn't ball out and was not a key part of the team's success down the stretch, which is I suppose why you're falling back on straw men and distractions to try to make your argument.

12 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

More drama for your mama!

So, where to start? It probably goes back a ways, but simplify things by beginning with the Atlanta Dream's loss last Friday in Seattle.  Odyssey Sims made some key plays to help Atlanta narrow the Storm's fourth-quarter lead. With six minutes left and his team down by a couple scores, coach Mike Petersen subbed out second-year scoring guard Chennedy Carter and entered All-Star Courtney Williams into the fray.

The ploy almost worked. Scoring 11 points in the final five minutes, seemingly answering every one of Sue Bird's and Jewell Loyd's makes with one of her own, Williams' potential tying triple with two seconds to spare missed and allowed the Storm to escape at home with the 91-88 win. What could have been an encouraging sign of a team beginning to gel instead revealed one coming apart at the seams, in large part because Petersen didn't see fit to work Carter back into the mix for the closing six minutes.

Whatever went on behind the scenes as the Dream headed out to Las Vegas, with rumors of locker room strife between Carter and Williams, bubbled over early in the game versus the Aces. Chennedy started but was subbed out again midway through the opening period, and she took exception when Courtney, the sixth-year pro, sought her out. For her sophomoric sideline exercise, Carter was sent to the locker room and never returned.

The clearly distracted Dream (6-11, 2-8 after their 4-3 start) went on to allow the most points they've ever allowed, at least in regulation, in a 118-95 drubbing. With all respect due, it wasn't Carter's penetration-heavy offense that was sorely needed, not so much as the on-ball defensive effort that was lacking, in the absence of would-be leading scorer Tiffany Hayes. The ensuing days have been a recurring exercise in cryptic tweets from Chennedy, and shows of support for Courtney from longtime Dream veterans Hayes and Elizabeth Williams.

It's not so much a house divided, as it is an important new addition to the house sliding into the ground, due to the lack of a solid foundation. This is the only WNBA franchise that can boast of having a former star player literally shoot (and not a basketball) at a former teammate, and it has the kind of pockmarked history that shows, when it comes to players and/or coaches' internal relationships, you cannot spell "Malcontent" without A-T-L. "Stars going AWOL until coaches get fired" kind of vibes, around here, is nothing new.

What happened in Vegas didn't stay there. Carter is suspended, indefinitely, and thank goodness for the All-Star-plus-Olympic Break that begins after today's game in Connecticut (7 PM Eastern, CBS Sports Network) and Sunday's back home versus sad-sack Indiana, because a month ought to be enough time for cooler heads to prevail. Fans of WNBA teams with cap space are hoping the smoldering continues into August, elevating the pressure to gift a mopey Carter (14.2 PPG, a value marred by her exits in the prior two games) out of town to its logical height as that month's Trade Deadline approaches.

But many of the vets themselves are likely to move on in 2022 free agency, so the stage, as it once was for then-rookie Angel McCoughtry in 2009, belongs to Carter, however precariously, and to rookie backup Aari McDonald. It would help if the team had clear stewardship from the top on down. I only imagine VP Renee Montgomery now has just a little more time to be hands-on with internal matters over the coming weeks.

Until the Break, Petersen is left to help the rest of his charges snap out of their funk, and he can point directly at an Indiana team that just snapped their 12-game slide last week by beating Jonquel Jones, Brionna Jones and the Sun (12-6, 3rd in WNBA). The Sun's All-Star bigs got very little in the way of backcourt help from Jasmine Thomas and Briann January, and with their depth already poor even with Jonquel back from Bahamas duties, coach Curt Miller knows his collective needs a balanced offensive attack, four quarters strong, to fend off Atlanta.

After a strong start to the season, the Sun can't afford to set back into the rest of the WNBA pack right before the league break. Their visitors from Atlanta, meanwhile, just want the storylines to return their focus toward the activities on the court.

 

Let's Go Dream.

~lw3

A few things here...first, LW3, you're a hell of a writer on this stuff. You literally just shed more light on why Carter got suspended than every national sports news outlet combined. Thanks, because I was baffled as to what happened with Carter. Also, did not know anything about the shooting you referenced...definitely didn't know that Chamique Holdsclaw did something like that. Damn.

You should seriously look into starting a blog. WNBA is taking off--not just saying that because this is the first year I've followed it closely. Ratings are way up.

Confession, though: The Storm are my #1 team. I moved out to the Pacific NW a few years back and started getting into WNBA ball this past year since my daughter started getting into hoops and I wanted her to see that girls and women play at a high level too. The Dream weren't around when I was a kid, so my WNBA loyalties were not yet spoken-for, and I went local. I also like the Mystics a lot, mainly because I think EDD is the GOAT...even bought her Nike UNVRS kicks, though in red so they double as my Hawks gameday shoes. Pissed that they've seemingly discontinued them.

2 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Yeah, I want him at 20. I haven't been too impressed with none of these guys in general, they all got along way to go. At least this kid is worth it. He's not a Giannis where he's a superstar waiting to happen. He's not that but he's a rare prototype that most teams could use but a team like Atlanta really could use. Especially with Okongwu in the wings. 

He sounds awesome, but do you really think there are other teams out there that will be so high on him that they would spend a first-round pick on a NAIA guy? I'm no insider, but considering the lack of track record of guys successfully going straight from NAIA to the pros in the last 30+ years, that seems like it would be a pretty out-there move. Is there a real risk that he won't be available in the early second-round? If not, seems like it would be fairly easy to move up to take him by packaging one of the gazillion stockpiled future-second rounders with the #48. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons why those future seconds were stockpiled in the first place...

16 minutes ago, niremetal said:

It's niremetal checking in from Portland (which is where I live now).

Just here to say that I'd stopped noticing how annoyingly homer-ish the Blazers TV commentators are until I watched them call this game tonight. Comment on Covington's dive and Dame's charge: "John Collins knocking Blazers down left and right" X-D

The commentary after they showed the replay was hilarious enough to warrant me recording/posting it. Take the 18 seconds, you won't regret it.

(Image of my daughter in a Dame jersey edited out. She's wearing a Trae shirt underneath it, tho)

It's niremetal checking in from Portland (which is where I live now).

Just here to say that I'd stopped noticing how annoyingly homer-ish the Blazers TV commentators are until I watched them call this game tonight. Comment on Covington's dive and Dame's charge: "John Collins knocking Blazers down left and right" X-D

Sup y'all?

I can't imagine that Silver is out looking for new ASG investors, nor can I imagine that many billionaires will be interested in buying less than 100% of the team--and none who would be willing to join an ownership group as dysfunctional as the-artists-formerly-known-as-ASG.

Oh, and btw - sup, Squawkers?

I would prefer to keep Ferry but I think there is just too much pressure from Atlantans and the National media for us to keep him. I see stuff on the local news about boycotting and what not. it's just too much negative press and unneeded distraction.

This.

And another consideration: other GMs may be less willing to talk to Ferry about trades etc. All the NBA front offices are (understandably) very nervous about appearances when it comes to racial issues. Probably more than a few owners and GMs feel like Magic does and want Ferry put somewhere in the same circle of NBA hell as Sterling and Levenson. And even if just 5 teams don't want to deal with Ferry, the other GMs and owners will know that, and so will players' agents. We'll end up paying a "Danny Ferry premium" in trades and free agent signings for at least a year.

Ferry has been a great GM, but this could easily end up castrating him as a GM going forward.

I was just thinking about how awkward it would have been if this came out after he signed with us.

If Ferry felt the need to read that "scouting report," I doubt he ever had the slightest intention of signing Deng.

Got to save those for the playoffs.

I agree. They'll be perfect both for eating and for shoving up LeBron's you-know-what.

2 allstars?

Im not gonna rehash the argument about the offseason. I think the stands will be empty this season without the star the more casual fan who buys tickets wants. There are a handful of diehard Hawk fans that wouldn't fill a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. The ones that pay for tickets don't want middle of the road teams. I spoke to a fellow businessman this past weekend in Indianapolis and he has had 10 season tix for over 15 years, but he is done with the inept organization.

I just came into say - some things never change. This thread is like a time warp. The same people bitching about the team and its management that always bitch about them. Change the year on the timestamp of this post and it wouldn't matter.

For me, I quietly wrote off the old Hawks core as not-good-enough-to-contend (at least without shaking up the "core") after the lockout. I recognized that the Chicago series was the high watermark of that squad. This summer represents the first time I'm interested to see what the Hawks do in over two years. They are rebuilding on the fly, which is a hell of a lot better than throwing the entire team to the trash heap and praying that you win the lottery and land a superstar in the Top 3 of the draft. They have guys who play hard and play the right way.

My only gripe is that our coach drinks and drives and doesn't take responsibility for his actions. To be blunt, that's a terrible example to set for the community. And if you don't care about that, then care about this - fighting the charge will end up being a distraction for the team the entire season. If I'm Danny Ferry, I tell Bud "plead guilty, own up to what you did, and put this behind you. Otherwise, get the hell out."

But...I'm very interested to see what our players can do.

Brooklyn Decker has her beat though...

AND.....she's married to Andy Roddick. Tennis wives get about 20 bonus hotness points from me.

She's hot, but that's not nearly as entertaining as this "topless-on-a-horse" classic:

Agreed - and don't forget about freethrow shooting....yikes.

They would kill the Spurs. Coach Pop wouldn't know who to hack.

/ / / / / / / / / loves the horse-racing reference.

I'm still smarting over Smarty Jones.

IMHO, if Person X says that any topic pertaining to homosexuality is inherently political or religious in nature, that says more about Person X than it does about the topic.

This is a rather important event in pro sports. Collins is not like Amaechi because Collins will probably play again. Big bodies like Collins usually hang around the NBA until their late 30s, because teams always like to have at least one behemoth in reserve. Look at how long guys like Caldwell Jones, Herb Williams, Rick Mahorn, Olden Polynice, Sam Perkins, Mark West, etc hung around. It still was just 2 years ago that Twin basically was the key to beating Orlando in the first round - we rarely had to double team Dwight with Twin's 300 pounds driving Dwight crazy for 6 games.

Considering that that's the last memory most NBA fans have of Collins - him being the Hawks' resident Dwight-stopper - I'm not surprised the Hawks community is taking an interest in this story.

Undercuts a lot of stereotypes, considering that Collins is mainly known for being a tough low post defender not afraid to take a charge or stand his ground against the likes of Shaq and Dwight. He probably has the highest "elbows-taken-to-points-scored" ratio in recent NBA history.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/

Like several people have said, ISO Melo > ISO Joe. And Tyson Chandler > any post defender we've ever had. That's the only "difference" between Woody then and Woody now. His "dominate defensively and let the offense take care of itself" style a perfect fit for New York. And even there, I don't see how his team makes real noise in the playoffs as long as he has no offensive Plan B besides one-on-one play.

...and when Smoove is on the block where he belongs, he gets double teamed...

When Mugsy Bogues was on the block, he was double-teamed. No team leaves a player in single coverage within 5 feet of the basket (unless he's being guarded by an elite on-ball post defender...which the other team invariably assigns to Horford rather than Smoove, when we play a team that has one).

There is a lot of pressure for Horf and Smith to perform. When you are the only two players on the court that the defense respects, it quickly becomes 5 on 2.

So backing off 10 feet when someone gets the ball on the perimeter and begging them to take a jumper...qualifies as respect?

You can add a lot of Squawkers to this list as well. And it seems even now there are still a few who can't admit we are a better team in a better position now than before.

I am among the people who doubted we could make the playoffs this year. I was wrong. Teague and Horford stepped up way more than I thought they would. Glad to be wrong about that, because young assets are going to be essential to rebuilding this team into a contender.

Unfortunately, I still don't see who is going to make tough shots for us when defenses tighten in the playoffs. And for the future, we look like a team that, instead of being 1 player away from being a "Final Four" team, is instead destined to be a non-homecourt playoff or high lottery team. So I most certainly don't think we are in a better position than we were a year ago.

How is this "crap?" You listen to a broadcast of a game and when a team is described as hard working, disciplined, but not as athletic. What players do you see?

The San Antonio Spurs.