sturt

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While I remain uncertain why anyone regards Glen Willis as holding any more compelling opinion than Joe or Jane Hawksquawker... assuming anyone does, since I'm sincerely unaware either way, having not done the poll... This can't be all that satisfying, can it? So, yay... they made the obvious trade for Bey, thanks Golden State for that phone call... and... now comes that "hard work" of figuring out how you're going to capitalize on that trade or let it go to waste... And? What? I'm aware of nothing they did with the Collins TPE. And. Drafted a player in the middle of the pack who, like most players drafted in that range, might have a ceiling as a rotation player. And. I don't know. What? What's so impressive that Glen seems to suggest there's reason for enthusiasm since Feb 2023... dunno.

She's not wrong. And I know Jay cringes every time she discovers she and I agree, but this is pretty much what my attitude was last off-season. You're going to come to this place in the road in the journey sometime after you left Tankville... what are you going to do once you get there? So. Still. Brutal truth that no one wants to talk about... we know what Ressler is going to do once you get there... So what's the point? Hawks fans' options are as follows: (a) hiatus... not acceptable to anyone here except muah, as far as I would know... (b) collect rabbits feet, or otherwise do whatever it is you do to appeal to the random Luck gods to smile on your team... or (c) learn to enjoy hamster life. Or, yeah, (d), tank... and postpone circling back to this same place in a few years, prepared to do b and/or c again. That's it. Those are your options. Choose whichever gives you greatest satisfaction.

To which Antony Peter, I'm told from well-placed sources (ie, pretty much, his own mouth, speaking to Schultz last year), would respond... "But you don't get it. Everyone in the office loves Nicky... just ask them. They'll back me up. "Schlenk was just too controlling. He didn't play well with others. "And coaches? Huh? "Didn't I get rid of LP when you said I should get rid of LP? "Didn't I get rid of Nate when you said I should get rid of Nate? "What do you want from me?!? How is any of this my fault?!?"

While I could quibble with the words "cut and run"... one doesn't have to run, only cut, and going on hiatus (or sabbatical or whatever term one prefers) can be the most appealing option when rationality and emotional peace are held as paramount... I'm left curious how sentence A presents "reason" to "not"... and that, not to seek an argument, rather just trying to listen and gain understanding... particularly in light of the next words... So... yeah. Again. To what end? Who's kidding whom?

Yep. And. Still...

I do not disagree with this. But I would have disagreed with it, AHF, if you'd have chosen to use the words "championship caliber" instead of "good." For example, SAS will be championship caliber sooner than ATL will be, imo... but ATL might conceivably be good sooner than will SAS. If I were to embrace Soth's assertion, I would point to OKC's pending plausible championship run as the obvious model to pursue. (Now, I say that ignorantly because I don't have any real knowledge of what OKC seems capable of doing--I'm only looking at the standings and seeing they broke through this season.) But OKC has had a GM who is generally well-regarded in league circles, and an ownership group that has similarly been enthusiastic in words, but about to prove whether or not they're up to taking the next step, ie, in deeds. What does ATL have. I don't even bother putting a question mark on that, as-if to ask. It's a statement.

Oh dang... love the Mighty Mouse avatar, my friend. Ya know, we need audio avatars around here to go with the visual...

Ordinarily, I'd be up for this. But this isn't ordinarily, so I'm forced to ask the unpleasant question... to what end, tho? Aren't you just submitting yourself to suffering for a few years, only to find your team right back in this same place? With a new-ish owner who seemed engaged (read "ready to do his part"), and with a GM who'd been credited as a critical piece in San Francisco in building their championship roster, and with a highly regarded head coach groomed under Pops... at the moment the decision was made last time, there was a whole lotta reason for anticipating a big payoff to some extended down time. What do you have now in comparison to that that should cause a person to say, "Yeah, I think this time we'll see that big payoff."... ? If one has made his/her decision, "I'm just too immersed in this, and can't think of replacing the Hawks in my daily regimen as a thing," feel good that you're in the majority, I guess. But unsolicited suggestion from one in the little tent over here across the river... I'd encourage you to just enjoy whatever winning you can possibly enjoy for as long as you can enjoy it until this owner sells out. Why suffer any more than you have to... right?

Genuinely didn't mean to. So, I'm fascinated. Educate me... what part of... ... is inaccurately summed up as... ...? And let's just say I was waaaaay out in left field, regardless. To my mind, the independent reader of those words probably is intelligent to recognize that when one says "all I got from that comment was yada yada yada," it's that person's interpretation of what he read, and saliently, not necessarily how the other person him/herself might sum up the thoughts written. But hey. You wanna really see someone put words in someone else's mouth? Try this: In context, this was asserting that point about me. And it's utter nonsense, RE. There is ignorance (by the dictionary use of the term) in characterizing me this way because it's bass-ackwards. I believed the team going into last off-season was on the verge of success given my confidence in the new coach and how I'd seen them take the fight to the Celtics in 6 games. You own that. But did I bother to slap you around about it? Hell nah, just now bringing it up, given this framing of my remarks as putting words in your mouth. Didn't matter that much to me. You seemed to feel a need to let off some steam, and my reply to you was anything but oppositional. I haven't done the poll to know. But I'll sleep better tonight knowing RE doesn't care that I hold it. I mean, it already came through without you having to say it, but thanks for that reassurance. You're the best. More objectively and sans snark... we share the perspective that more people are like you than are like me in that respect. And/but since it's not a matter of popularity, but logic, I'm quite content with my economic view of sports as a consumer entertainment option. I make choices. And one of those choices is to use sports for my pleasure, for my recreation. Make no mistake, this hasn't always been my paradigm. I've been where you are for most of my life, I promise, RE. It's no fun to feel powerless, to sublet my mood/attitude to how my sports interests are succeeding or not. To be clear, though, you also presumed too much when you said... ... because when you adopt the economic paradigm, one of the freeing things is that there's no one to answer to. To be fair to you, yes, I know you probably took that away from my question "Should I have regrets," but what's missing in your analysis is that I only chose to frame the question that way as a way of prompting people to help me understand what's undergirding any remaining ambition for this franchise under this owner. You took it, evidently, as self-doubt, when it was rather just a choice of words chosen to compel others to think out loud so I could see their thinking. So... these words... ... were mine before you wrote them. I just didn't get upset enough to say them. I'm bored now. None of this matters to me. Won't be replying to whatever you write in response, so feel free to take advantage of that fact to whatever degree you'd like.

I have to be transparent that while I didn't bother visiting here very often, I probably caught over the course of the season I'll say 10-12 game highlight reels. Of those, it was a coin flip if I watched the entire 10-ish minutes or just sped to the last 2 to see if there was a good ending to the game. And yeah, I did see some of that, which was great. But when I would glance at the standings, the surface conclusion was that he may be putting down highlight tape but it didn't seem to be translating to winning. Then again... again... that's just it... I didn't make any study of it to know if he was getting zero support. Similarly, I'm vaguely aware that Trae had to miss a bunch of games and as Supes mentioned that DJM also regained some of his SAS regard for at least some of that time.

Can't recall a season that we weren't saying these words or a paraphrase of that, of course. Right? And but... I was fine, me... I was content for the journey here just like I've always been with regard to any other sport... until last off season. Our owner made vividly clear to me that there is a ceiling, and it will only be by sheer luck, not by his acquiescing to spending at any critical moment, that this franchise will ever finally get to even sniff the promised land of an NBA Finals. What some (not you, mac) apparently miss is that I didn't give up on my team... my owner effectively extinguished any flame of hope, and I'm not going to stand by and pretend I didn't understand how loudly his actions spoke. It's not about soldiering through down times, either. Had it come out last off-season that the team was going to outright tank, at least there would have been some subterfuge to keep me or anyone else from the knowledge of how Ressler really thinks about these things... and I would have stuck around like I always have. Indeed, if it ever became apparent that Jerry Jones was accepting of hamster status for his teams, that would have the effect just as this has had the effect of snuffing out any hope that my rational mind could muster. So, sure, you can have significant changes... but to what end... what's the reason for expecting that you're not just going to get right back some day to playing a team like the Celtics six highly competitive games as we did last April, feeling like there was/will be reason to feel like we're on the cusp of something special, only to find that we're shaving talent from the roster, not expanding talent on the roster...? I don't see it. But the thread, again, is here to invite people to tell me what they see that I don't. Not to argue, but to legitimately listen to understand what they see that's going to keep them around. I mean, all I got from RE is effectively, "it doesn't matter, this is indeed like religion to me, and they can jerk me around how ever they want, I'm not budging." That's fine. As long as one recognizes that about themselves, that's his decision. It could never be mine. I'm here for hope. If you can't give me hope, I'm not going to care for as long as you can't give me hope. That's my decision. But I will be back if/when Ressler either exits or Ressler somehow signals a different mindset... and thus, if/when hope resurrects.

Fair enough. Well-taken for the most part.

No agenda. Honest question, though purposely focused on accentuating the positive. Genuinely, have spent next to zero time on this site for months, so it is interesting to me to ask.

My friend, I'll freely acknowledge that I posted the thread as a set of questions in the interest of challenging my preconceived inclination... so, to be fair to your accusation, yes, I had some preconceived inclination... but to be fair to me and my integrity, no, your comment is out of line... it was an honest invitation for people here to challenge that inclination and shed light on what might be missing in that inclination. Further, I've told no one they're dumb, nor do my words necessarily infer that I think they are. Each person has to assess for themselves their own personal stuff... no business of mine. But what I have said here, yes, is I feel reassured and yes "smart"... for me... after all has been said and done... having reviewed the thread AHF pointed me to. Warcore, you're one of maybe 3 or 4 who consistently over the last year or two (or more?) seem especially triggered by posts I've made. Whatever the cause of this self-evident axe you have to grind with me, that's on you. I've done nothing purposely to offend you. I can't even recall I've directly spoken to you like this, though maybe I have. Look. We all reach conclusions, and the recipe for those conclusions can contain a varied mix of well-substantiated facts, unsubstantiated reports, opinions voiced by others one respects, opinions voiced by others one doesn't respect, good logic, bad logic, good mood, bad mood, and more. I won't apologize for having reached conclusions that evidently bother you. I won't apologize for me being me. And to the point, neither will I suggest that you're a lesser person for disagreeing with whatever conclusions of mine you do... rather, only that your comment is overly presumptuous and, at least from where I sit, suggests more about you than it does about me. You're welcome to a last word on any of that... I've said everything I intend to say (and probably will purposely avoid reading it anyhow).

I absolutely miss interaction with some of the posters here. There's that. But reviewing that thread AHF just sent me to... maybe I should be thankful for Tony's blatant non-verbal statement last June. I don't know this, but I feel like I very probably would be needle-in-the-red frustrated right now with all-things Hawks. I'm seeing that apparently you experienced yet another year of critical pieces sitting out for significant time from injury. I'm seeing that apparently there's approximately equivalent indignation with the new coach as with the previous coach. If I still thought the owner had the integrity and character and passion I'd assigned to him before we learned more clearly how he manages his front office, maybe I would be just like I've ordinarily always been, anxious to begin the off-season and to think about how to retool the roster. But this new paradigm appears to be a huge win for me personally after all. I can allot my time and attention and passion to some smarter things, being removed from what had been something like a religion for me. Appreciate the reassurance. As you were.

(... ie, having invested whatever time and attention and passion you did, versus none over here on my side of the internet). Just genuinely curious. Should I have regrets?

I know who he is, but I never saw him play. In Huntington West-by-gawd Virginia, cable TV wasn't a thing yet, and the CBS affiliate was a few rolling hills away in Charleston. CBS gained the NBA contract in 73-74, so I almost never saw an NBA game unless I happened to be visiting my grandma's house. In fact, until just now, I'd always presumed John to have some more significant melanin than he evidently did. Dunno why. Just did.

*bump*

Here's why NBA and NFL will always have a leg up on MLMB... Major League ManfredBall... (...no, seriously, that's the accurate term, since baseball as most of us have known it is now but a memory... ) Silver's not making the rules up as he goes. Goodell's not making up the rules, either. There is rather, an inclusive process. There is no rules monarch. That is all. As you were.

It's nice to check-in periodically and so succinctly be able to measure where things stand. Kudos to Jay for the homework. Wish things were going better for yousguys. That's all I've got.

In Parcells terms, if you're going to restrict what parts of the grocery store I can visit to fill my cart, well... are you really going to hold me as accountable for how the meal turns out? Landry gets a pass, from where I sit. One cannot prove himself in the ecology Landry occupies conventionally speaking, and apart from Landry being a generational GM talent.

Right. And to my point... that still would seem to be ahead of where the Atlanta Hamsters are located on the road to significance.

Can't help but think Travis is feeling good that he's in a place where his employer is both proven (see Washington Capitals) and sufficiently respectful of his lead dogs (aka, hands-off) that he's gotten the better end of the "mutual" decision to divorce from the Hawks. And and... to the topic of this here thread... plausibly to be a year or two or three ahead of his old franchise in terms of progress toward hanging a real banner, given the satisfaction in ATL to ride the wheel.... ie, the hamster wheel.

Landry's? Or his boss'? Hard to say.