jaywalker72

Don't, don't believe, don't don't believe it, don't don't Believe the Gripe!

Seriously, as I said on my blog today (ahem, see the sig for the link), you really can't believe anyone during this process.

The RFA needs suitors to drive up the price, and the team wants the opposite.

So, depending on the side you are sitting on, you are going to say/do whatever you need to meet your objectives.

DF,

I'd be honored.

Thank you very much!

I failed to mention that I will start a Hawks blog also---I am going to populate it with---ready for it---Hawks opinions.

It will be at The Human Highlight Blog

Feedback is welcome here as well.

I am making a go of a general sports blog at:

My Penny On...

There will be some Hawks opinions in there, but I am trying to be more general---still trying to see what it is and will be---would love to have some long time readers feed their opinions on it (keep it clean, please--snicker)

I just want to have some fun writing again and provoke thought on sports items of the day----I have my opinion on Childress free agency, which was posted on the HomeCourt, and a breakdown of the free agency week in the NBA, including a section on Smoove's candidacy.

I'd be interested in hearing good contructive opinion and feedback.

Thanks, Squawk!

jw

H,

If Iggy leaves Philly, then there is no doubt the Sixers would see Chill as a prime candidate to fill that vacated "2" spot.

Personally, without other offensive options in PHL, Chill would not be a good fit there, but the playing time would be there as would the money.

With the Warriors currently point guard-less (yes, I am looking at you, Monta Ellis), there has been discussion of having Stephen Jackson (one of my all time favorite Hawks, btw) running the point.

Well, why wouldn't the Warriors look at Childress then? He fits their profile and certainly had some XP at the point last year with us.

Personally, I believe they are nowhere without a legit PG, but if they are going to go in that direction, why not Chillz?

Kruger was a terrible fit, except for his enjoyment of the country club lifestyle the pro life offered, and his legitimate good guy attitude. His schemes and approach were collegiate, and it did not play with the players and the former pros who had been players in the league.

Terry Stotts had a misguided approach to offense, and it derailed him over time, but he was a pro coach at least.

And yet I would take the above easily over the guy I voted for:

Bob Weiss

Clueless and a hinderance, he took a talented team and did less with it. And he did it with such conviction, and had an arrogance about it that was appalling. Later, after getting a job with the Clips, Weiss was asked about the Hawks and he responded with vulgarity, blaming the franchise instead of himself for his departure.

Hey Bob, how did that Clippers gig turn out?

Expectations were high for a young Hawks team until September 13, 2002.

That's the morning that DerMarr Johnson drove his Mercedes into a tree in the early morning hours, and if not for the courage of witnesses who pulled Johnson out just seconds before his car exploded, he would have died that night.

We can look back and say, at this point, that those players never would have amounted to anything, but at the time there were clearly defined roles and Slim was improving every season.

I know I was very excited to see what that team could have done and, in a literal flash, that excitement was snuffed.

Josh Childress

People that have read my stuff over the years know that I feel two things about Josh Childress:

1. That he is a Shane Battier type glue guy who does many things very efficiently and is present/needed on any kind of winning team.

2. That he probably does not warrant a starting SG spot on a team.

I think that, over the last 3 seasons, Chilldress has proven that a starting spot on a team isn't above him, but it has to be a team that regards Childress as a supplementary player on that end, loose balls and spot up 3's type roles.

It is in that role that Josh excels and that's why teams have been interested in him for the past couple of seasons (especially that he has established himself as a high percentage/efficiency player).

I have felt that his pending free agency has always been the more interesting one of the two Joshes this postseason for another couple of reasons.

1. Because of his price point (considerably less than Smith's), more teams would be interested, thereby increasing the intrigue.

2. I never felt that the Hawks really understood his value throughout the league and would let him go, even at the exception level (which most team would offer).

This is why I wanted to talk to him during my only trip into Philips this year. The conversation did not surprise me, as he is such a solid guy and very honest about what he wants.

He wants to play. Not just play 37 minutes one night, and then 17 the next. He wants a solid role on a team that includes consistent starters minutes.

While it would be a risk, unless Childress finds a place where he can feel like he is getting his number one priority, consistent starter's minutes, I don't know if he'll sign any tender or sign and trade. If he plays out his option, he finds himself free to choose wherever he wants to play, but it means that he risks injury AND maybe not finding any place that will offer what he wants (apart from money).

The Hawks seem intent now on signing him (amazing how that coin in your pocket gets a little shinier when others are interested in taking it off your hands), which is good, because I believe the Hawks are better with Childress on the floor, but would the Hawks hold the line if, say, a legitimate center were offered as part of a S-N-T?

All of which makes the Childress RFA very interesting and considerably more unpredictable than the market setting FA tour that the "other" Josh has embarked on.

And that's my penny on the matter---if it's even worth that.

I have to emphatically agree with #1---That's always been a basketball myth, but it was watching first hand as season after season we ambled along with no floor leadership from the quarterback position and suffered many, many inefficient offensive seasons because of it that set this in stone and made 2005's draft the stake through Billy's Knight's "guards are guards" theory.

In the spirit of the post, I will add another to D's list.

I submit:

You MUST play inside-out offensively to be consistent offensively.

Terry Stotts and I were on complete sides of this discussion, as Stotts believed that you established the outside and it opened up the inside. This is why you saw a whole lot of jump shot possessions here and in Milwaukee and the ball would never see the post. (Ed note: And we didn't win)

An addendum to this is that, along with a point guard (see #1), you must have an effective low post player to make the inside-out game work.

We saw in the Boston series that when the ball went into Horford (you may have to check your TiVo, but yes it did happen), it opened up a previously suffocating Joe Johnson outside. This is not uncommon among teams that have a clue offensively.

Has San Antonio really had great 3-point shooters over it's run at the top, or has it been Duncan inside (Or Shaq in LA, etc.) that has made guys like Matt Bonner shine? No answer required.

I wouldn't say that---Remember, a lot of these national columnists get a part of their info from agents, agents that have clients in need of publicity---such a need can lead to a mention in the aforementioned national columnists "article" on a certain GM search---

I thought it was funny that Zaza waited until he was sure that Garnett got pinched by the stripes and then happily got back in Garnett's face.

He has earned it---Will he keep the fire burning as a max-ish player? That's the issue with taking kids that young---you have to make a call on their makeup before they really fully grow up in the NBA.

But, no doubt, he has earned it.

It has been replaced with legitimate concern---serious doubt has to have set in that they are destined for the Finals.

We're the story---or should I say---The Celtics fading invincibility is the story---depends on your angle---

You've been here through all of it---Eat the cake with everyone else---You deserve a seat at the smile buffet with the other hard core Hawks fans.

Well done. Feels good to be proud of the team, eh?

Amen.

Man, I can't believe it has been so long.

Playoffs, baby, playoffs!

(sniff) I loved Slim---He was the first one on one I had covering the team soon after he was drafted---and then to track him down at the hospital soon after the accident and getting the whle story there---so many guys there to wish him well---good to know he is keeping the dream alive in the D----

The Next (Good) Ex-Hawk

Turn on the TV, and you see them----everywhere---

They are in Oakland, Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix---anywhere the TNT/ESPN/ABC cameras seeme to be---there they are---

The Ex-Hawks.

No, they never tasted the sweet necter of playoff basketball while under the gleaming lights of Philips Arena, but they have found brighter lights and bigger paychecks in uniforms other than those of the Atlanta Hawks.

Now, focus in on the Hawks locker room tonight---take a look around---pay attention and you might catch a glimpse of one of these creatures, emerging from their youth and ready to contribute---to someone else.

Could it be Salim Stoudamire, he being the potentially potent 3-point bombardier, limited to be the below-the-radar funnyman in the locker room?

How about Josh Smith and his healthy box score lines every night?

No, as one peers into the depths of the Hawks, one bird appears more ready than the others to take flight, ready to take his steady-if-not spectacular game to another team’s playoff arena near your TV.

Josh Childress.

He has come in as the lottery pick and has hit his potential well---a glue guy with effective shooting, long wingspan defense, and excellent athleticism.

He has exhibited nothing but the best when it comes to submitting himself to the great guessing game that is his position and responsibility and also to whether or not he will be in the starting lineup from night to night. He’s never in the headlines for anything negative, and you never know when or where he might appear during a Hawks game.

“Patience,” explains the now-fourth year swingman, speaking about yet another off-the-bench effort—even with Marvin Williams out of the lineup. “Being here with all of these talented guys has taught me patience.”

Childress talks as you would expect out of a man who has, by all definitions, bided his time on the Hawks, never experiencing the thrill of victory, but long feeling the agony of defeat. He has waited, learned, and improved to the point where every team in the league has taken notice of his skills.

When teams call the Hawks, Childress is the name that is mentioned the most.

Why, one might ask?

Because every team recognizes the talent, effort, and energy that Childress brings to the floor, along with the obvious matchup problems he provides. After all, it was for those very reasons that Hawks GM Billy Knight selected the Stanford Cardinal over the likes of Andre Iguodala and Smith.

Also obvious is his stand-up guy reputation--- in total the same skills set that got Rockets forward Shane Battier a 6 yr, 36 million dollar contact in 2004.

All of which makes it interesting that the young forward this offseason will face the first taste of free agency. He was not afforded the extension he could have signed this offseason, and considering he doesn’t get starter’s minutes, or a consistent role, on a team that has struggled in winning---is is a stretch to envision the big haired swingman taking his game elsewhere?

Fortunately for Hawks fans that wouldn’t want to see Childress depart, teams are not in great position to make an offer any greater than the mid-level exception and the Hawks have the right of first refusal on any contract signed by Childress. The bad news for those fans is that not even that level an offer would be guaranteed to be matched by the Hawks, even though it’s widely believed to be a bargain price for Josh.

“To be honest, the opportunity to play will be important,” says Childress about what he would be looking for as a free agent. “That’s something that will be my main factor—where I can play the most.”

“Hopefully that will be Atlanta,” continued Josh. “but this is a business, and you gotta play it by ear. For this year, I am going to do whatever I have to do to help my team win in Atlanta.”

Picture it, a playoff seasoned franchise woos Childress, waving a plethora of minutes and an upbeat tempo to play in----thing he would be sold for an offer similar to Battier’s? Can you see him in San Antonio? Phoenix?

It’s something that’s been seen many times by Hawks watchers and something that, as one pulls back from the locker room today, can be seen again.

Can you see him bouncing around, having the broadcasters lauding the effort, the talent, and the man? After watching and listening to him talk, it certainly seems like the young man is resigned to the fact that, if he wants to get what he wants, it won’t be in Atlanta.

The next Ex-Hawk.

Hawksquawkers, I talked with Free agent to be Josh Childress about his role with the Hawks throughout his career and what he might be looking for as he enters restricted free agency.

Childress' situation is a compelling one to me, and I will be putting keyboard to screen to share my thoughts as well as Josh's on Friday's Hawksquawk.

Also---There will be a state of the Hawks Health write-up, which will cover the entire state of the Hawks Franchise.

My hope is that I can provide the rest of the Hawks Nation a look into the Hawks as provided to me tonight and give you my humble opinion on all things Hawks.