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There were times when Marquis dominated at UK... wouldn't be surprised at all to see him excel in Summer League.

I, too, would wonder if Coach K would be right for our situation... but it would be hard to turn him away if he were serious about the NBA, and decided against LA. But I continue to categorically deny that you can make a scientifically-viable conclusion about college coaches' success in the NBA... the number of times that has occurred in comparison to the number of times someone has been hired from the NBA ranks is just too miniscule to make that judgment. It doesn't help that the few who have attempted that in the last decade have usually been high-profile coaches: Carlisimo, Calipari, and Pitino (...of course, Kruger wasn't what most would consider "high profile") In terms of making a big marketing splash, of course, there wouldn't be anyone who could splash much bigger than Krzyzewski. When I think about it, LA just doesn't seem to be his style. But Jerry Buss might make him an offer difficult to refuse.

I understand what Jay's saying here, but anyone picked by the Hawks in this draft, and especially in the 2nd round, has to be tickled to death that they landed with a team where they're going to get a real-honest-to-goodness shot at making an NBA roster... where it's their roster slot to lose. Quote: To do that, Smith must join a team with a reputation that is far from envious. Going from a potentially prominent program like the University of Louisville to the Atlanta Hawks might cause some to take pause and possibly regret their decision.

Pros: - At some point, to be competitive for the holy grail, you've got to add that player who was top 3 in his draft class. - I agree w/ Doc... you've got to keep in mind that KMart is going to be on the incline for another 3-5 years. There are plenty of examples of PFs like KMart who didn't really distinguish themselves for the first few years as a pro, but blossomed very suddenly... CWebb leaps to mind, and I know you could think of others. Cons: - I wouldn't sink my biggest wad of dough into the PF position even if it were Karl Malone in his prime... in fact KM is living proof that as good as a PF might be, it's very difficult to compose a championship team with the star at that position. Discussion: There's no good alternative here. This FA market is great for teams that need that one something to get them over the top, but lousy for a team like ours, namely b/c Kobe apparently is unreachable... his is the only talent that fits our situation. We could wait for next year's FA market, and sign just a decent player or two, knowing that we're probably looking at our 6th lottery in 6 years, and mostly saving our cash for next year. And personally, I've always applauded the patient, slow growth approach. But maybe the goal for now is not to truly pursue the championship, but just to get the Hawks back to the days of Mookie, Smitty and Deke, when we could depend on going to the playoffs. I don't like that, frankly, b/c I remember all too well how frustrating it was to watch a team that could never be good enough to reach the pinnacle, but never be bad enough to acquire a superior player in the draft. But it's not my money. And I'd think the new owners are anxious just to ascend out of the NBA basement, sell a few more tickets, and pay the bills. KMart gives them something to market, and at least holds the possibility that he can play an integral part in bringing the Hawks back to a level of respectability.

But you have to wonder if Bob Huggins isn't a little more inclined to think seriously about a pro job now. And I have to wonder about that, b/c, I also have to wonder if KMart would have liked to have played for his old college coach again. Just a stray thought.

Quote: Quote: Who of the coaches mentioned for the Hawks job, do you think can bring in the best coaching staff around himself? When I look at alot of the good teams their staff is good and not necessarily the head coach. If Billy Knight has his way the new Head coach will keep the Assistants that are already here at least most of them any way. Knight made that statement that he would like for the new coach to consider keeping the assistants that's here. I'm really really disappointed to know that. I think if you look at others who've tried to pull that off, it's rarely ever worked... I think of all those years the Cowboys kept Jimmy Johnson's assistants, and just looking from the outside, it seemed to create more obstacles than anything.

What's recently been said in the AJC: Quote: Knight said Monday that he will interview Detroit Pistons assistant coach Mike Woodson Wednesday and will make a decision shortly thereafter. Quote: While the Hawks won't have a coach in place before the free agent recruiting period begins Thursday, the intent is to have someone before rookie and free agent training camp begins July 12. As I've suggested previouisly, I'm kind of hoping that he follows conventional wisdom and calls back his top 2 candidates, maybe via video conferencing. Either way, I'd guess (strictly my opinion) he'll schedule a news conference either Monday or Tuesday, though his decision could leak over the weekend.

Quote: I doubt any of the assistants interviewed are going to help with marketing..Unless its a Fratello type its going to be the same boring no-name Hawks to most people. No, there'll be a honeymoon period. You only have to look at the horrific Cincinnati Bengals franchise to see that... for all of their misery, Cincinnatians have opened their arms to former assistant Marvin Lewis and embraced a new era (... unfortunately for them, they had no choice but to hold on to owner/GM Mike Brown who continues to drag his franchise down). But that said, I'm in your corner all the same, tMac... I was the one who posted here immediately after Stotts firing that this team really needs to make a big splash with this hiring. While Woodson will get a honeymoon period, he will get that among the fans who care... the problem is, the Hawks' conundrum is finding a substantial number of people who care in the first place. This hiring needed to be the kind of thing that causes a true national buzz, and thus, get Atlantans attention. Unfortunately, there weren't any of those kinds of coaches available, apparently -- because if there were, with all due respect for apparent favorite Rudy T, the Lakers would be courting that bigger personality. Quote: Once again, I just don't understand the blind faith being given to BK considering his history of bad hirings and a complete lack of success with Memphis..It needs to be noted that only when Jerry West come in and hired Hubie Brown did Memphis immediately turn it around. Putting aside the fact that we just don't have much chioce in the matter... why be pessimistic from the git-go? If BK had been a college course in GMing an NBA franchise, he would have gotten an "I" for incomplete. He did some good things and some not so good things at Memphis, but really didn't have time to emerge as good or bad overall. I think instead of "blind faith," it's more like we're mostly taking a "wait and see" approach.

Quote: Woodson may just be keeping his name out there on these interviews, to raise his name recognition in case Larry Brown and his ever wandering ways leaves Motown and the team can easily turn to Woodson as his replacement. (Sounds familiar now that I think about it... Stotts situation was the same.) Brown may be hitchhiking across the coaching profession, but he normally stops for 3-4 years... I would question whether Woodson wants to wait that much longer.

Quote: I also question why fire Stotts if we just pick up another assistant. Firing Stotts was about Stotts and marketing. Knight, too, should feel extraordinarily fortunate that he remained with the Hawks, given that premise... Billy obviously must have overwhelmed his new bosses, and was given a shot. But the coach's name is the one that shows up in the papers every day, and seeing Stotts name wasn't going to inspire people to buy tickets -- too associated with the losing ways of the past. And no matter who you bring in, they are going to have a honeymoon period where people give them the benefit of a doubt... which makes it a little easier to sell tickets to this work in progress.

I'm guessing that someone already posted this some time ago when I wasn't paying attention... but just in case, I thought there might be others who missed it. http://www.detnews.com/2003/pistons/0310/20/d04-301883.htm Talking with ... Mike Woodson, Pistons Assistant Coach By Chris McCosky / The Detroit News Q.You had a busy summer, being interviewed for three coaching vacancies (Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington). Not getting hired, did do you feel enriched by the experience, or embittered? A.It left me with a wonderful feeling, it really did. When you've been an assistant in this league for some years and you put in your time, you just want an opportunity. I've worked with some great coaches in Chris Ford, George Karl, Randy Wittman and now Larry Brown. I've learned a lot. I've taken all those different styles and kind of compiled them into my own. I was just waiting for an opportunity and this summer was a big opportunity for me. Q.Do you feel like, the more you interview, the more you increase your chances of getting that first head coaching job? A.It's all about timing and somebody believing in what you do. That's the big thing. Eventually, it will happen. I'm patient. I was a patient player for 11 years. I worked at my craft and I am working at this now. Eventually it will happen. Q.You had your choice of two assistant jobs, too. You could have stayed in Philadelphia with Randy Ayers, but you came with Larry Brown to Detroit. Was that a hard call for you to make? A.My decision to come with Larry was based on the fact that he gave me the opportunity to come to Philly (initially). It was no knock on Randy or (Sixers General Manager) Billy King. I am very close to those guys and I love them to death. But Larry has taught me how to do this the right way and that means a lot to me. He's one of the best in the business and for me, it's great learning from a guy like that. It was not a hard call at all. I made my decision in about 12 hours. Q.You have spent a great deal of time helping Ben Wallace with his offensive game. How's that gone? A.It's been great. You know, from afar, coaching other teams, you look at Ben and you just say he's a rebounder, shot-blocker and defender. Being with the Pistons, though, and actually seeing him practice, he's got a lot of stuff that a lot of people haven't had the chance to see. It's just a matter of bringing it out, and it will come out because the kid is willing to work hard and do the right things. I think Ben's going to be fine offensively, I really do. He might not be a 20-point scorer, but can give us 10 to 15 points a night. Q.You've also spent time with rookie Darko Milicic. How's that going? A.He's a young kid. We know he has a long way to go to get to where we want him to be. And I think this organization knew that when they drafted him. It's hard to pass up on 7-footers. I am banking and hoping that in two or three years, this guy is going to be a dominant center in this league. I think he will be, but he's got a long way to go. Q.How's his patience level? A.It's frustrating at times for him. He believes he is behind the 8-ball. Listen, we know an 18-year-old kid isn't going to come in and tear our league up. I don't care if you give him 30 or 40 minutes a night. It's just not going to happen. He just has to be patient and wait his turn.

But, indeed, Brown's age does scare me off... reminds me of some other young guns in the league who got chewed up and spit out. Sidney Lowe, for some reason, leaps... no, make that, catapults... to mind. I think you'll find me in Woodson's camp from now on... Especially remembering this thread that some of us just participated in, where we agreed that maybe BK has seen the NBA future, and the NBA future is 3-pt defense the way that Larry Brown's team plays it... And of course, who better to bring in to establish that than Brown's top guy? Who just happens to be an old friend of BK's anyway... Is there writing on the wall??? Quote: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h...04/30hawks.html Billy states in this article that he wants a situation where the new coach can "grow" with him and the team. That tells me that he has already decided to go with an assitant that hasn't gotten a chance yet. I don't think you hire a veteran coach thinking that he is going to grow on the job with you. Jay Walker says Mike Brown's name is the name that is being talked about. At 33 years old, he's definitely a guy who will have to grow with the team.

Quote: With the new players already drafted and hopeful of making our team because they are young and good players, without considering who we will sign as free agents, what can we now expect our team to look like? Speed. I expect our team to be fast. The fast break. The fast movement of the ball in half court. No just standing around, waiting for something to happen. Fast on defense. With all the long and lean players, no more waving at the guy as he goes by, on his way to his fifth layup/slam dunk of the quarter. Quick recovery instead. Scoring. Fewer times when the Hawks go for half a quarter, scoring two points and those on free throws. Who will we sign? D.W. will have a big hand in this. His real job starts now. He will make a difference. What do you think of our new team, so far, without the addition of our free agents, which are sure to come?? Do you not worry about beef? Do you not worry that we're too soft? With the exception of K-Mart, the FA's that are available via free agency are not going to be able to help us in that area are they? Just asking.

These things tend to start coming out within a few days of the actual hire... which is according to the basic timeline we'd been told to expect anyway. I personally didn't reply to the question posed in this thread b/c I really don't have any good rationale for annointing anyone as a favorite. It's especially hard to gauge the assistant coaches' possibilities. More than likely, it comes down to who BK feels he has the most "chemistry" with and shares the most philosophically... and w/o the benefit of hearing/seeing the actual interviews, that's impossible to measure. Certainly, Woodson would seeimingly have entered the discussion with a leg up b/c he's a known quantity to BK. But that is a very shaky advantage -- after all, there could just as easily be some things that BK knows about Woodson that he doesn't like, too. So... my only guess is that BK has identified the ex-head coach that he's giving greatest consideration, and that immediately following Woodson's interview, he'll pretty much have identified the assistant that he's most interested in.

Quote: He's going through the process of interviewing these guys, and he will pick the guy that shares the same philosophy as he does. Meaning, he's going with the guy that will be up tempo. Seems almost every coach outside of Bobby Knight and whoever is coaching at Princeton these days claims to be an "up-tempo" coach these days. All three of the former coaches have directed teams that emphasized the outlet pass, so I'm sure they're all capable... I'm less certain that our roster is going to feature the defensive rebounders to enable them to employ it effectively... time will tell.

Quote: I believe the reason that Stotts was fired is because OWNERSHIP wanted a new look in Atlanta. Something that the fans would appreciate to annouce that we have new ownership. That being the case, I think that our new coach is just as much a PR move as the Stotts firing and the pickup of Josh Smith. I can buy that... I think it was ethically very difficult for BK to have depleted the roster then tell Stotts he was being dismissed... I just assume he's a decent person at his core, and don't think he could have made the decision w/o having someone else giving impetus to it. Quote: But I believe the choice is already made. The choice is probably Fratello. Can't buy that one... there's just no purpose served in having waited and went through all this process... I mean if it was this cut-and-dried, why not just interview Fratello and two others, and announce the decision a week to ten days after dismissing Stotts? Doesn't seem to fit. Much more logical to think that BK decided on a hiring plan, and we're at where we're at mainly b/c he decided to interview Woodson as one of the three top assistants.

...and eventually, you'll see JT pop up at the top. That said... I completely agree with your estimation that the future is long arms, and that BK has figured that out and appears to be integrating that into his roster decisions before most of his colleagues.

Seems BK has given himself two sets of three coaches to pick from... (a) those who have coached, and (b) those who are up-and-comer assistants. I have to think that's by design, don't you? And if that's an accurate analysis of his plan, you'd think he's doing this in one of two ways... He could decide that either the A group or the B group offers the best chance for success, and then decide on his favorite from among that group. Or, he could decide upon his favorite from both groups, and then decide which of the two that emerge from the two groups is his favorite. I'm guessing that the latter makes more sense than the former, though. (Why not decide from the git-go that you like group A or B, and hire from that group?) And so, it seems logical to think that it's Fratello vs. Harris vs. McLeod... then Brown vs. Woodson vs. Casey... with the winners from those two groups compared against each other to render the ultimate decision. (I'd offer an opinion on who those "winners" might be, but I know I'm shooting in the dark and it's no better of one than anyone else's... but I'm quite confident that the fact that BK waited this long to interview Woodson doesn't really mean anything pro or con... it's more likely just a result of his overall plan to interview 3 and 3, and Woodson has to be considered in the top 3). Quote: The Timing of the Hire tells me that he's looking at a guy who has coached before!! Let's think about it. Had he had a guy who was an assistant like Woodson in mind, we would have kept Stotts. For the money, Stotts wasn't bad. He was learning on the job and that's what any assistant would have to do. However, I believe we are picking somebody who has coached before. We wait until after the draft and probably after Knight makes a few free agent acquisitions or trades on the 1st... Why? I believe that it's because it's easy to bring a coach in after the team is already there. An experienced coach would want some say in who the GM brings in and who he ships out. Knight wants to bring in a guy and say... "This is the team!". That suggests to me that it's probably a guy who has coached before. Being that we make PR moves like drafting Josh Smith, I think that we might do the same with a coach. Not that we will look at Phil Jackson but I think of the guys we have heard of: Fratello, Harris, and McLeod are our choices. Casey and Woodson are the same as Stotts and they could have been brought along a long time ago. There are some other people that we haven't talked about: George Karl - Not too far removed from coaching. He's a teacher. He likes athletic defensive teams. Don Cheney - Cheney could be a possibility. Coached a talented Houston team for a while. John Lucas - Lucas spent some time working with Josh Smith, he loves to teach young teams. Had less success with the Cavs ( I think he was made to throw games) and was not allowed to get Lebron James. Bill Cartwright - The thing with the Bulls makes me believe that Cartwright won' t be our choice. He was given a young team and told to win. It was a bad spot for him because he didn't have many winners. Doug C - I can't call his name but he coached a young Bulls team, he coached a young Detroit team, He coached MJ and Washington. I don't know where to place him in the coaching world. I think he would not be our choice simply because of his failure with Kwame... However, like Cartwright, he was given young guys and MJ and told to win. Brian Hill - Helped NJ get to the playoffs. I like Hill. He coached a young Magic team into the playoffs. He has been a good assistant with the Nets amoung others. I think he even spent some time with BK in Vancouver.

...I'm not disputing that the normal way that NBA GMs do the process is similar to what Babcock has done. What BK has done is different... he defended his decision to interview all of these guys and taking his time to do so under the premise that he was being thorough. He hasn't gotten any argument from me on that premise... in fact, I rather like it. And I still say that hiring w/o having narrowed the field of six to two goes against both the conventional wisdom of the human resources field and, moreover, is inconsistent with his premise of "being thorough." But, okay... whatever. Quote: Well, the Toronto Raptors just made their coaching hire based on one round of interviews. They hired Sam Mitchell, who up until today, I didn't even know was a candidate for that job. When it comes to sports, decision makers like Billy Knight tend to bring in guys that are connected to them in some way. For instance, the Rob Babcock/Sam Mitchell connection is there from Mitchell's days with the Timberwolves. Babcock had been in the front office in Minnesota for a while, so he was familiar with Mitchell. He felt comfortable bringing him in.

Don't mean to string this out in a futile search for someone who agrees w/ me... but at the least, KB (et al)... have you ever personally known of a hiring search carried out just this way? Certainly not in the business world. Not to my memory in the sports world (...more often, there's two or three candidates to begin with, so there's no need to whittle it down anyway).

It just seems inconsistent to want to interview six or seven different people in the quest to give yourself every opportunity to find the best fit... and then to make a decision w/o the benefit of filtering it down to the two or three most desirables. Makes one wonder if it all was a ruse(?). Has BK already decided who he wants? Have these interviews just been for public show? Maybe the fact he didn't interview Musselman helps to debunk that suggestion... or at least, the theory in that last question. But at minimum, it's very curious to run the hiring schedule in 1st gear, then gas the engine and pop it into 5th.

With his intention to have a hire done by 7/1, doesn't sound like he's going to conduct a second interview, does it? Seems a bit odd, since he's been so intent to be thorough so far.

Steve Smith with maybe slightly less ball-handling skills (...remember Smitty once played PG even).

I've not been a big fan of going after Swift, actually. A #2 pick, it seemed to me, shouldn've been able to beat out Wright at some point in his first contract... and that didn't happen. However, I also remember the talk about Swift when he was drafted was that he might be coming out too early, that his talent was conceivably worth a #1, and that he would need a few seasons' seasoning before he would really be capable of breaking out. So, as long as the price is acceptable, I'd be okay with gambling on Swift. But the price is crucial... can't put too many eggs in his proverbial basket.

The FA market just doesn't have enough to offer for a team as desolate as the Hawks, unless of course you consider Kobe in-play. K-Mart is the closest thing to elite status, and would be a viable catch... but I wouldn't be too disappointed if it doesn't happen. Instead, we need to at least take inventory of the trade market... so much talk is going on at the very top of the market that you would think Atlanta could figure into someone's deal as that third party that could facilitate a trade as few others could do.