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SalvorMallow

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Posts posted by SalvorMallow

  2. Quote of the Game

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    Nique is a big homer but he's always got good points and commentary on the game. I really enjoy hearing him.

    The worst thing about the broadcast is the window they have when someone else is there with them. Why do we need to see them talking? It's so redundant, it's a complete jinx. Our offense dies every-time the window is there.

    I was getting mad last night at the window. They had it up for long stretches of the game when John Battle was chatting with them. It makes it tough to see, especially when you're watching on a 14" laptop.

    I thought it was strange that they did that during a nationally televised game.

  3. Quote of the Game

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    Don't know if you guys caught this, but after Kevin Love went 1-8 and was a sieve on defense, he exited the game with back spasms.

    Nique's analysis was "When you're having a tough night, everything starts to flare up!"

    Haha that dude cracks me up.

    BTW, did anyone else hear Nique call the game at halftime?

    No fear of jinx at all.

    • Like 3

  6. Good Look for the Hawks

    in Homecourt

    Posted

     

     

  7. Sorry Ferry Haters =(

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    http://www.nba.com/2014/news/features/shaun_powell/12/30/atlanta-hawks-begin-steady-climb-in-eastern-conference/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt3b

     

     

    His rough summer has turned into a bittersweet winter, no doubt, because how much fun can it be to remain estranged from a team you created?

    A team flirting with first place in the East?

    A team that, suddenly, is doing the very thing some in the organization openly questioned: garnering curiosity -- if not dollars -- in Atlanta?

    Danny Ferry is living in exile in the Atlanta area, just a few dozen bounce passes away from Philips Arena, where the Hawks are doing what they can to turn heads.

    A month ago they had a neat little record in the East many snorted at because the Hawks hadn't played anyone. After 15 wins in 17 games -- including victories against Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers, plus road wins vs. Houston, the L.A. Clippers and Dallas -- Atlanta has raised its swagger. The Hawks are essentially the anti-Cavs: low on star-power, high on unity, through the roof on value.

    "It's a team that keeps on fighting, and everyone has bought into the system," said Al Horford. "We go out, play unselfish basketball and let the rest take care of itself."

     

    Can the Atlanta Hawks win 60 games?

    The Beat panel answers a viewer question about how far the Atlanta Hawks can go this season.

    Put this team in New York, L.A. or Philadelphia and folks in those big, depressed basketball cities would be losing their heads a bit. As it is, the Hawks are toiling in perhaps the worst sports town in America and certainly a hard-to-please basketball burgh that's been in hibernation ever since the last reel of the Human Highlight Film ended.

    Dominique Wilkins retired in 1999 and today, as the team's TV commentator, he's still the most famous Hawk in the building. That's the hard sell of the Hawks, and that's what indirectly contributed to a long, hot basketball summer in Atlanta.

    That's when Ferry, then the general manager, and a leaked memo from ownership put the franchise in a pickle.

    Ferry mentioned in a team conference call how Luol Deng, a 2014 free agent the Hawks considered pursuing, had "a little African" in him, a crack at Deng's supposed tendency to deceive. Separately, Hawks majority owner Bruce Levenson complained in a memo (which he revealed) about the Hawks' woeful attendance and openly wondered how to attract more white fans.

    In a city that gave birth to the Civil Rights Era, this felt uncomfortable. Ferry and the Hawks didn't receive much backlash because the general manager and team fell on their sword quickly and thoroughly, aiding the healing process. Levenson immediately announced plans to sell his share, and the Hawks remain active in their pursuit of a potential majority owner.

     

    Best of Inside: Atlanta Hawks

    The guys discuss why no one is talking about the Hawks, they have won eight straight games and are one of the top teams in the east.

    As for Ferry, he has gone great lengths to educate himself on all matters of race and culture. How can anyone condemn a man who goes that route to redemption without being nudged? What Ferry said was probably more due to ignorance. It was an insensitive observation by someone who doesn't have a history of being racial. Plenty of prominent blacks in and out of basketball gave Ferry a pass and stressed the need to move on: Magic Johnson, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, even Deng. In any event, after he was placed on indefinite leave, he took it upon himself to meet with community leaders, Hawks players and even took an NBA-sponsored trip to Africa.

    Ferry's leftover work on the court appears to be just as impressive. Coach Mike Budenholzer, whom Ferry hired in 2013, is running a team that plays hard, hides its weaknesses and shares the wealth. Because of this, "Bud" is a Coach of the Year front-runner.

    Ferry and Bud were groomed by the San Antonio Spurs organization and that imprint is evident. However, there is one big difference. The Spurs have three future Hall of Famers, while there's a small possibility the Hawks won't have a player in the 2015 All-Star Game. How weird would that be if, by chance, the Hawks are leading the East by then?

     

    Arena Link: Paul Millsap

    Paul Millsap joins GameTime after helping to push the Hawks over the Rockets on the road.

    Paul Millsap, Horford, Jeff Teague or Kyle Korver should garner a All-Star reserve spot, even though none of them are producing earth-moving numbers or contributions. In any event, the Hawks are satisfied playing team ball ... not that they have much choice. Atlanta has never been a destination city for free agents, despite its charms: great weather, a reasonable cost of living, diversity and nightlife.

    Their inability to get a true star has affected the box office and echoes can be heard in Philips Arena on most nights. The Hawks are 24th in average home attendance this season and finished 28th, 26th and 23rd in that department, respectively, the last three seasons. Sparse crowds and support is probably enough to scare A-list free agents away.

    Depending on whom you ask, other excuses range from a lack of traditional success (the Atlanta-era Hawks have never reached the conference finals) to lack of faith in ownership. Atlanta product Dwight Howard made it clear as a free agent two summers ago he had no plans to return home, not even to play alongside boyhood pal (and now Houston teammate) Josh Smith.

     

    Up/Down Report

    The Starters' Up/Down report covers whether the Hawks are a contender, Vivek Ranadive's plan to play 4-on-5, and Nick Young wanting to star in "Kazaam 2".

    Despite these challenges, Ferry went to work anyway. He came to a team that had maxed itself out and managed to re-tool the Hawks with minimum pain. His greatest feat was dumping Joe Johnson's massive contract to the Brooklyn Nets without taking back a bad contract. That same summer, he shipped Marvin Williams' albatross deal to the Utah Jazz.

    Ferry eventually replaced Smith with Millsap, a much more reliable all-around player who is on a team-friendly contract ($9 million per). He traded for and then re-signed 3-point shooting ace Korver and two summers ago, drafted German point guard Dennis Schröder. He's already pressing Teague for playing time and is often on the floor deep in fourth quarters.

    Despite a 38-win season, the Hawks were a pleasant playoff surprise and took the Pacers to the limit. They've continued that trend so far in 2014-15, especially lately. Even if they break even from here, the Hawks would finish with nearly 50 wins.

     

    GameTime: Dominique Wilkins

    Dominique Wilkins checks in with GameTime to speak on the Hawks' winning streak.

    Because they don't rely on a designated weapon, the Hawks move the ball (second in the league in team assists) and simply locate the open man. Horford's return from his second shoulder procedure has been a significant lift, and Bud is getting the most from a bench comprised of second-round picks and lightly regarded free agents. Mike Scott, Pero Antić, DeMarre Carroll and others aren't bashful about taking big shots in the clutch.

    "I'm just happy I can work my way back and not be the person holding back this team," Horford said, laughing. "The last couple of weeks, I've felt normal. And it's good to feel that way and be productive, because this is a good group of guys, a solid team to be around."

    Recent wins over top teams in the West prove the Hawks aren't a fluke. Whether they're a serious threat to win the East depends on them staying injury-free, maintaining their sharp 3-point shooting and managing a few more message-sending wins over the Toronto Raptors and Bulls.

    Meanwhile, another bit a drama is taking place quietly. Ferry's fate is up in the air and will be largely decided upon by the new owner, whomever that will be and whenever he/she will arrive. Until then, "Bud" will handle the personnel duties, and while that might seem burdensome for a coach, this will only become an issue should the Hawks become buyers at the trade deadline.

    Here's the cruel thing about that now-infamous memo from Levenson about the Hawks' inability to get people to the games: Their biggest supporter, the man who built the team and made this hot start possible, is reluctantly a part of the crowd that stays away from Philips Arena. Still stranded in exile, Ferry can only sit and home and watch on TV.

     

    • Like 1

  9. Something that's REALLY bugging me regarding media coverage

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    Yeah I agree with you.  ESPN is one thing and is to be expected.  The AJC dropping the ball on this team, when the team needs it the most, is inexcusable.  The Hawks are on the cusp of becoming the premier sports franchise in Atlanta and the AJC needs to recognize that and support them.

     

    It's not just disappointing for the city of Atlanta, it should be embarrassing for the paper to not have the foresight to get in front of what will be one of the biggest stories of the year as the hawks go to the conference finals.

  12. Official Game Thread: Hawks - Clippers

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    DMC was a beast!!! Great team win, very proud that they pulled this one out. Been a great string of games.

    Crowd was great tonight; towards the end it felt like the crowd was into it like a playoff game.

    Surprised to hear that about attendance because when me and my buddy walked in the ticket checker said it was "standing room only" and then they made that exact same statement over the PA during one of the breaks. Looked pretty damn full to me. (I didn't know they would actually allow people to come in and stand, thought you had to have a seat...?)

     

    Phillips was sold out tonight.

  15. Danny Ferry is awesome

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    IF it's not a part of the cap, I don't consider it "having to pay his contract"... are you an owner or something?

     

    I guess you're booing Detroit for waiving Smoove also right?

    I guess you applauded our owners for keeping up a roster spot for Terrell Brandon and Speedy instead of cutting ties and getting better.

    The way I see it, if it would have come to Amnestying Joe, Somebody would have picked him up.

     

    But what do we gain from that over the move that we made?

  16. Teague listed as "Probable" Pero "Questionable"

    in Homecourt

    Posted · Edited by SalvorMallow

    What does Pero contribute to this team besides jacking up 3 pointers? What does he do that Payne can't?

    That last play was just added to the long list of reasons Payne/Muscala should be playing over Pero.g

    Pero plays solid team defense and extremely good post defense.  He draws tons of fouls, sets hard, timely screens, boxes out, draws out the opposing teams big mean to the three point line, packs the paint on defense, etc...  He might not get a lot of blocks, but he sure diverts a lot of shots. 

     

    The reason he doesn't get a lot of blocks is because he doesn't take risks around the rim.  If you watch him, he exclusively goes straight up with his hands straight up when he's defending in the post unless he intends to foul.  This makes opposing players furious because they don't catch Pero on gambling hand-slap fouls while theyre in the act and dont get calls for hard contact because they run into Pero as opposed to the other way around..

     

    He generally does a great job of disrupting and frustrating opposing bigs.

     

    He's also shot pretty well in the past 3 games against top flight competition.  He is 4/6 from 3 and 8/13 FG over the last 3 games. 

     

    I think Pero drew 3 fouls in a row in the 4th quarter when the Mavs were making a huge run, severely disrupting their rhythm and allowing us to stay in the game.

     

    Unless you think Budenholzer is an idiot, then you have to imagine he has a reason for making Pero our primary backup big man.  Or, you could think that you have a better eye for evaluating talent than our coach who has managed to make this one of the most impressive seasons the Hawks have ever played.

    • Like 3

  17. Teague listed as "Probable" Pero "Questionable"

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    I don't want him dribbling at all. He was past half court. all he had to do was stop and the Mavs were going to foul him. I chunked the remote on that play.....

     

    No he wasn't, I just rewatched it.  He was about 2 feet behind the three point line on the mavs side of the court.  He made it about 5 feet before he got stripped by Parsons.

    • Like 1

  19. Teague listed as "Probable" Pero "Questionable"

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    "right ankle sprain"... Should be held out just because he's terrible.  I mean Payne can't be that bad.

     

    Everyone is dogging Pero on that last play..We should be complimenting the Mavs defense.  Our second string center caught an awkward pass at mid court with nobody open.  You expect him to dribble the ball down the floor defended?  That's insane.

    • Like 1

  20. Teague listed as "Probable" Pero "Questionable"

    in Homecourt

    Posted

    TBH I'm honestly excited for JT to come back.  Would love to see his effort especially now that we have a near starting caliber backup nipping at his heals.  Hope to see "Playoff Teague" a little more consistently, lest Dennis will cut into his minutes. 

     

    Also would've been nice to have him last night.  He has been doing a great job closing out games this year.

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