OldTimeHawk

Heat coach one of the best ?? With all the talent they had they could have had virtually ANYONE coach that team and win. They have a stud at center but for large stretches of the game he is either on the bench of out of the offensive flow. He was an overpaid babysitter that is struggling now because he doesnt have the luxury of a stacked roster . I think we sweep them easily if we play them - and I see them getting nasty to try to rattle us.

we are making history - but seriously let them continue to doubt - I like the players playing with a chip on their shoulders.

things you cant control dont matter - what does matter is the things you can control - like being prepared mentally and physically, having a great game plan and executing it. When you can figure out how to overcome the refs and their fascination with the marque players let me know. All the Hawks can do is show up and play hard - who we play doesnt matter to me.

does it really matter ?? If we are healthy we should bring things to the table that every team should fear. Its great to have an easy path to the finals, but personally I dont care how they line up I just want our team healthy so we give whoever we are playing our best shot.

only disheartening thing I see is that the Hawks stood pat instead of trying to add another element ( rebounding perhaps ???) to the team. That basically means Bud has to figure out a way to get the team to contnue to scrap and do the dirty work night in and night out. Its a very long season and all teams have ups and downs, but this team has to simply play hard every night or else we get a result like the Toronto game. Maybe what we need is a few games where we are playing lesser teams and shake the lineup and get the bench a few starts and try to preserve our starters a little more here and there. But I really feel like when its time to turnit on we will.

the cancer has been within the Hawks for years - its just been privately managed behind the scenes.

In as much as Ferry knew we had to change the roster, he also knew he needed to change the culture. Like it or not Nique and all the others were part of that culture . No one can be entirely sure what Ferry saw that was troubling within the organization but if the casual fan sees dysfunction what do you think goes on in the background behind closed doors. Ferry should have known there would be folks waiting for an opportunity to pounce, he just left his guard down and got nailed for reading that report, an offense that would equate to a ticky tack foul on the court being assessed as a flagrant ( In my opinion. ) .

racism is inherent to every race period. There is no such thing as reverse racism ALTHOUGH I an understand the meaning in todays society. Its kinda like domestic violence - the way the media defines it is man vs woman when the reality is no one is immune from the effects of domestic violence . Same way with racism - based on our countries history racism is almost exclusively portrayed as a white issue when the reality is it knows no color.

now the strategy is diminish and detract ?? Its sad that the race card is played so often by not just blacks but by whites with an agenda. Ferry took his lumps and whether he is or is not the Hawks GM will never take away the fact that he took the risks, he made the moves, and he deserves ALL the credit for reconstructing this team and luring coach Bud from San Antonio. I totally agree with the poster above - leave it to the season ticket holders and it would be a landslide to reinstate Ferry - and does anyone really believe this bs that major corporate players would abandon the Hawks , ESPECIALLY after the commissioner of the league and Deng has basically said Ferry wasnt a racist ??? This is basically more propaganda coming from a sore loser owner and others within the organization that felt like Ferry was becoming too powerful .

I think the Hawks need to get over themelves and understand the league perception of them still hasnt really changed. Everyone including the refs still think the Hawks are doing it with smoke and mirrors and will look for any excuse to bring them down. What I want to see is that scrappy defense that has been missing for a few weeks - however we may not see it until we get helathy and our designated instant D guys return .

we just happened to get fouled a lot in the process of shooting - fouls were nearly the same at games end . But I agree with the sentiment that the refs, once they established a tone for how they were going to allow the teams to play should have got the hell out the way - BUT Im also a conspiracy theorist and think perhaps for the good of the game ( $$$$$$$$$) decided to manipulate a few things and keep the final score closer. After all it could bea preview of the finals and this is an optimal time to start building the hype.

winning cures all ills - the only ones protesting will be the same old professional protestor types. This isnt 1959 and Ferry isnt a racist - he made a mistake in rereading a scouting report and he should have known better - but who knew ?? AL Sharpton has made a career out of making racially charged comments and hes a Whitehouse Regular .

sorry , maybe I was suffering from indigestion after choking on all that "elitist " crap that was getting served up by Ferry detractors. At this point I think something more than "Ferry is a racist" or "elitist " would be refreshing.

actually Ferry had imput on Teague too when he matched the offer the Bucks were giving. There was talk of acquiring Brandon Jennings - and lets face it - Teague had only shown flashes of consistancy in the previous systems offense which was as dysfunctional as ASG with iso Joe and Josh Smith consistantly f'ing things up . So lets give Ferry a gold star for that too. Basically he scoured the league for individual skills and personalities that he thought could fit the system. The risk was all his and if his evaluations failed to materialize it was all on him. We now have mulitiple stars on this team in my opinion - the difference with our stars is they are largely selfless and put team before personal numbers or stats .

the GM is the driving force of the final product on the floor. Hes the one that evaluates and gets the pieces he thinks will work within the system. This team as it is constructed is perfect for the system. In the Hawks case Ferry is the one that deconstructed the team, hired the coach, evaluated and signed the players. So for anyone to take that credit away is biased. Its funny he was getting 100 percent of the blame from certain people here - Isnt it only fair he should at least get some credit ??? Ferry not only needs to remain here, he needs a nice raise.

teamwork - do you think the league is going to get back to playing real basketball with players that are willing to scrap , play defense and hustle ?? Hawks have proven that desire and hard work more than make up for the " Superstar " requirement. I dont know what Ferry saw in this bunch cause most have bounced around the league or just never quite made their mark - BUT collectively they bring their own unique set of skills that make the sum of the parts much greater than the individual pieces - hats off to Danny Ferry for making us all forget what a dysfunctional bunch ownership is - and last but not least FREE DANNY FERRY !!

did the Refs swallow the whistle ?? Seems like they are in awe of the Hawks and are trying to even the odds ....

Shot clock Violation !! Tightening down the screws on D !!!

notice they have basically tried to shut down Korver - hate to tell you Thunder this aint no one trick pony !!

Dang you better knock the Hawks out early cause if you dont they will bust you up over 3 quarters - same script night in and night out!

I saw the direction they were trying to head in last year but we just didnt quite have the bench to do it, then we lost Horford. Even before the injuries happened we were still trying to get everyone on the same page but were making progress. This year I knew we were going to get better with our aditions if the team bought in and played team ball. I just honestly thought we would begin meshing a little later in the season - basically play near .500 ball and make a trade before the deadline, and then gel in the last third and make noise in the playoffs. Not a homer but I thought Ferry did a lot of things that if they went wrong would seriously damage his cred going forward. But surprise surprise - bet ya if you took a poll today Ferry would be ushered back ceremoniously. Even by some of the ones that considered him "elitist " . ( Well maybe not THOSE guys , hey I cant be right about everything. :)

your'e just a Danny Ferry / Thabo Elitist !

Detroits playing with confidence and getting away with some rough stuff, but the Hawks have to realize they are not the Hunters anymore, they are the Hunted and need to understand teams are gonna bring their A game and try to knock off the upstarts....

the best marketing ?? JUST WIN BABY ! You can market your ass off but if you dont show any inclination to put a winner on the court folks are simply not going to support you. Thats why we lost the Thrashers . Thats why you could routinely go to a Hawks game and have more fans of the opposing team in the stands. Winning changes everything - a commitment to win will keep fans in the seats even in an off year.

when it gets right down to it , isnt his defense really what the Hawks need ?? Anything extra is bonus but bottom line is hes getting better as time goes by . Anyone that cant view him as an asset on this team is as biased as the hate Danny Ferry crowd.