_sturt_

Perhaps it (ie, the Walker draft pick) will all work out to our benefit after all is said and done, though... who knows.

Was that "Silas" or "Bilas" who said that...

Lounge-ML-63747-ML-

If so, what's keeping you from committing? Please educate me. Not to be critical -- I'm sincerely clueless how anyone who's been paying attention still hasn't made their decision.

Okay... there's seemingly hundreds of sports, and four of them include professionals... the question remains... why? Under what possible good, consistent logic is that the case?

It could certainly help if, next time, the previous year's NBA championship team is selected wholesale, filling only those slots created by the foreigners on that roster with other All-Star caliber players. And yet, don't you just wonder why the Olympics is "amateur-participant-only" for every other sport except basketball? That would be my druthers... deny any country the right to play any player who does the sport for a living.

Fairness and good basketball are not mutually-exclusive concepts. It's unfortunate that somehow some people have come to believe that they are. In the main, college basketball is proof that a game can be called according to the rules, giving both teams a virtually-equal possibility of winning the game, and still can be entertaining. Go back before the Stern era of NBA basketball, or even the early years of his reign, and you can still see a game that is just plain beautiful to watch. And it's why, unless the Hawks are playing, I refuse to watch an entire NBA game these days... after a few minutes, it's just appalling and is an insult to my intelligence, again, not unlike watching professional wrestling.

...is seriously askew. I contend that the problem is not with the interntional refs, but with the NBA refs who have become the equivalent of professional wrestling refs at times... calling what they want to call, and mostly letting what should be ballet with a roundball to be turned into Austrailian rules football. Don't get me wrong -- I want to see the US win, of course. But every time our guys get called for traveling or palming the ball, I have to admit that it gives me some satisfaction to see officiating that is honest to the actual rules of the game.

No... that's just the point... BK still has a huge hole to fill at PG. Delk might have served as a stop-gap, but that's all he was.

Relying on Tony Delk to start at PG challenges history. Delk is what he is -- a poor man's new era Byron Scott who might've been less a journeyman through his career had the injury bug not been such a consistent pest. Delk is an adequate idea for a Vinnie-Johnson-kind-of-role. Any other idea of how to use him is a venture into unproven waters.

Getting dealt to Atlanta for GP is the same as being property of the Celtics... he's adamant that he's not moving his family east.

Amen on Hastings. Didn't he do some TV work right after he retired? Pre-Nique, though he ended up starting eventually, Steve Hawes started out as a no-name.

It's popularly accepted that the NBA game -- with its uneven standards for calling fouls and violations -- is different from that of college ball. Turning aside from the Damp conversations for a moment... what's the consensus here, espeically among those of you who've watched this current team struggle... is the international game called significantly differently from the NBA, and is some part of this struggle due to NBA players unable to get used to international officiating?

Source for this revelation???... I can't find anything myself.

...if that was all that matters, he'd already have signed or the deal would have already been made. His quotes in the press can serve one purpose at this point... to attempt to drive up the Hawks offer.

The theme of Billy's transaction history is to acquire versatility... and few players come along as versatile and as multi-talented as Twoine. Thus, I'm tending to be not-so-cynical about this one... it has the makings of a win-win situation for both parties long-term.

Headline says one thing... then the report says another... if someone's being paid to edit, they went to sleep. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/bask...rade/index.html Source: Mavericks deal Walker Explosive forward sent to Hawks for Terry, Henderson and draft pick By Marty Burns, SI.com Brought to Dallas for his explosive offense, Antoine Walker's inconsistent play quickly put him on the trading block. The Mavericks and Hawks have agreed in principle on a trade that would send Antoine Walker and Tony Delk and a future first-round draft pick to Atlanta in exchange for Jason Terry and Alan Henderson, according to a league source. The trade couldn't be made official on Tuesday because the NBA office was closed, but it is expected to be announced on Wednesday. The Mavs have been seeking help at the point guard position since veteran Steve Nash left the team to sign a free-agent contract with the Suns. Though not a pure point, Terry played the position often in his five seasons in Atlanta and is a proven scorer. He has two years left on a three-year contract that pays him $24 million. As part of the deal Dallas also gets Henderson, the veteran power forward, and Philadelphia's protected first-round pick in 2007. Henderson is in the final year of a contract that pays him $8.3 million. Along with Christian Laettner (one year, $6.1 million), he gives the Mavs insurance in the event they decide to make a future trade. For Walker, the deal is a chance for a fresh start after a disappointing 2003-04 season in Dallas. The 6-foot-8 former all-star gives the rebuilding Hawks a proven frontcourt scorer and a veteran presence. In the last year of a contract that pays him $14.6 million, he could be used in a midseason trade or allowed to walk away at the end of the season for cap space.

Nothing against Knight or Stotts specifically, but I'm just really saddened that this franchise has become locked into the tar pits of the NBA lower class... I can't conceive that Stotts heart is in this... it's his job by default...the best that he could do, and the best that the Hawks could do... not exactly an arrangement that conjurs images of a renewed playoff legacy... and while I'm less dissatisfied with Knight, I've never been on-board with all those who make him out to be the next Donnie Walsh... heck, I'm not even that thrilled if he were the next Donnie Walsh, frankly... he's had a few successes, but also it's strange to me that no one seems to want to balance that conversation with his longer list of disappointments ... and ultimatey, I agree with Diesel that this probably only means that the McDavid sale remains unlikely to be completed in the near future... just a very sad day, actually, for Atlanta Hawk fans... another in a long line.

Admittedly I haven't read every thread, but its interesting to me to see how much talk there is here about everything else except for who the Hawks new GM should be... how many years had people written out-loud prayers on HawkSquawk for Pete Babcock's replacement, but now, even as McDavid has practically said he will bring in a veteran GM with some success, this board appears strangely silent on that. To me, next to the bigger issues that the league has, this is the biggest decision sitting on the stove. And aside from the silly notion of MJ becoming Hawks GM, I'd love to know who are the prime candidates considered by the experts here... anyone wanna step up to the plate?

Hi guys. Long time no post, I know. You'll understand if you care to read this letter I just was motivated to send to David Stern. To Whoever Cares: I mourn for the NBA. Having just read a USA Today columnist citing severely declining TV ratings, I felt compelled to write and briefly share with Mr. Stern or anyone else who cares to know, why at least one lifelong NBA fan has completely lost interest in this league, though not the game itself. 1a) INCONSISTENT OFFICIATING, which leads to a suspicion, not of "fixing" games, but of "enabling" one team to have a 51% chance of winning rather than a 50% chance. I'm not one for conspiracy theories. But whether one exists or not is really not the issue... rather the *mere perception* that there *might be* some compulsion from the league office to orchestrate this "enabling" thing is the problem. Is this just anecdotal with me? I don't think so, but as a researcher by trade, I have to admit it may be. But this is too salient a question to leave unanswered, and you would be well-advised to seek out some reputable firm to see if this is an undercurrent that you are battling unaware. And if it is proven substantive, I leave it to you to decide how you deal with that perception. 1b) Have you ever really stopped to think about how suspicious the NBA lottery appears? People don't have to be predisposed to conspiracy-minded-ness on that one... from that first Patrick Ewing derby that, oddly enough, was won by a crippled New York team, you have left yourselves wiiiiiide-open to incredulous reactions on that one, year after year. And the latest LeBron James derby, won by the Northeast Ohio Cavaliers, did nothing to help you either. The point to both 1a and 1b is that, what is at best the appearance of slight manipulations (or, at worst, an outright WWF-style sham) causes me too much disgust to continue to care... and I haven't really cared since the Los Angeles-Portland playoff series of 3 or 4 seasons ago. (Btw, I was NOT a fan of either team.) I remember the exact moment. Steve Smith had just mauled Shaq on a breakaway lay-up in the 4th quarter... just literally decked him, and the ref incredibly looked the other way, obviously uninterested to send Shaq to the foul line at that critical point in the game. I turned the TV off. That was it. Why the best college refs seem to be able to call reasonably consistent games and NBA refs cannot is beyond me. I beg for a return to the days before the Bad Boys, when the NBA game and the NCAA game were so much more alike, and getting beat up int he lane wasn't just a given, non-chalaunt, fact of NBA life. And if my begging doesn't work by itself, perhaps a continued nose dive in TV rathings will. Heal your game, Mr. Stern. Realize that no other professional sports league has left itself open to these questions as yours has. Be proactive and perceive your responsibility to guard your league against the *smallest* perception of corruption. Otherwise, I have no reason to care about professional basketball, in the same way I have no reason to care about professional wrestling.