Blunt91

Ernie Johnson brought up the statement about the Hawks Guarantee that their season ticket holderswould get a refund in the amount of $125dollars if they don't make the playoffs. Charles said they can't be all that confident about the idea if they are only giving back 125dollars, what can a 125dollars buy you? He also stated that Atlanta has to realize that teams like the Heat, Wizards, and the Knicks who missed the playoffs will be stronger next season.

At least we know Hawks management are trying to bring in a big time player like Andre Milller, although we don't have what it takes to get him.

I didn't get the same impression as you about Prince. Pete stated(I don't remember his exact words) Prince did okay at the workouts but he didn't seemed to be that impressed. To be honest, I don't see the Hawks really doing anything because I think the 2guys they want are Dan Dickau or Frank Williams. THe Hawks are only going to take a chance on a player in the 1stround if he can come in and play immediately which I think the both of these guys can do. Dickau has 4years of college and Frank has 3years so I think they could be mature enough to do an adequate job as a backup maybe even a starter.On the other hand, Detroit wouldn't let these guys slip by them if they are still available.

Someone had posted in the Insider last week that the 76er's were shopping Snow and the Hawks are one of the teams interested in him. Babs almost came out and said that Jacque was as good as gone. I guess I might as well face reality in that Vaughn will no longer be a Hawk.

Where was his 41% shooting in the NCAA Championship game. You still haven't answered what happened to him in the big game?

I will admit that I don't watch college basketball that much so I didn't follow Jared Jefferies game but he has to show me something besides what he did in the championship game.He looked awful and he can't shoot either just like Danny Manning.

Look at What Duamar's says. He states that the pick has to be someone that they could really develop for the future or can add some depth to the team, if not they move the pick. One question why would another team want the pick if Detroit thinks there isn't anyone of considerable talent to add to their team. There will be some talent still left at the 23rd spot therefroe Detroit will keep the pick.

If Ratliff has his best season ever hawks management won't let him walk away. They would find a way to clear up some cap space to get him back here.

I don't know for sure if the hawks are looking to trade Toni but I will say that alot of basketabll analyst thought that Toni wouldn't stick with the team after the trade last year. Most of them said that the Hawks would probably trade him that summer but the Hawks brought him back for another season. Maybe this time Toni isn't so lucky.

Trace did you go to highschool with Dale? or did you just know him while in highschool? I here Dale Davis grew up in Taccoa, GA(sp), or you from that area?

I emailed Babs in reference to TIto Maddux and I also put in a good line about you guys, in that you all follow the game and have knowledge in draft prospects as well as you will see in my post. Here is the e-mail.

Tito Maddox is due in here for a workout and interview on Saturday. We have studied his background and playing career in great detail as we have all the point guard prospects in this draft. He has some issues, but we are interested enough to bring him in for testing, etc. Prince has already been here and had a respectable workout and interview. He needs to build up his body for the rigors of the NBA, but he did shoot the ball fairly well in all the drill work. Thank you for your continued interest in the team. I appreciate fans views and their perspective on players. Please be assured that our staff does a very thorough job of researching backgrounds, viewing tape of virtually every game the player appeared in his last season of competition as well as previous years; in addition to personal interviews, psychological testing, physical testing for speed, strength, endurance, flexibility, reaction time, etc. We attempt to let the results of our research answer the questions of whom we should select.

Pete Babcock

-----Original Message-----

From: BluntDavisX@aol.com [mailto:BluntDavisX@aol.com]

Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 12:28 AM

To: Askthehawksgm@turner.com

Subject: Re: Ask the Hawks GM

Hi Mr. Babcock I had recently emailed you in reference to a draft prospect.

The guy that I was reffering to was Tito Maddux from Fresno State.I am pretty

sure your scouting staff have been paying close attention to him. Is there

any chance that he will be invited in for a workout? He has both size (6'4)

and speed which is very rare. I think a PG who can provide mismatches for his

opponents and one who can also penetrate defenses will be very valuable to a

team no matter if he is only 20years old.The consensus among Hawks fans is

that if we can't keep Vaughn this is the guy that we would like to get if he

is available.I even think he would be worth trading up for if it was

feasible.BTW I would also like to mention that the fans are very high on

Tayshun Prince being able to help this team out at the SF position. I know

that it is ultimately up to the Hawks Staff to make the decision that is

best for this team but you would be surprised at how much knowledge and

information some of the fans have on the players and on basketball in

general. Thank you for your time

I was over a Hawks.com and they have a review of the workouts today. Tayshuan Prince was there and did well but Dixon did't show up for reasons unknown.

I think there is just a chance Stan, Pete & Billy just might take a chance on a rookie PG in the draft. I think that Pete learned his lesson in not picking Tony Parker last year. He now knows that if a player has confidence in his abilities he can come in and play at the NBA level no matter how young. I think that we do need to trade up and get a low 1st round pick, why wait for next season? The time to make the push is now.

Alot of people on this board have been trying to come up with trades to get Shane Battier. I l also like Battier, and was thinking could we have waited on Reef and kept our 3rd pick last year and drafted Battier.No one had a clue that Shane was going to be as good as he was this past season. Aot of people on this board didn't want the Hawks to pick Shane before we dealt the pick. They said he had already reached his peak and was at best an average ball player. Well he proved everyone wrong this season and I am kind of mad that we had the opportunity to get him and didn't, I am sure Michael Jordan is mad he didn't get Shane as well(lol). Well the Bottom line is could we have gotten Reef this offseason with Brevin Knight, Lo Wright and a future 1st rounder? or if we had of traded Brevin Knight last offseason what about a resigned Jacque Vaughn,Lo Wright and a future 1st? What do you think guys?

Stop with the Theo for Battier trade. We are not going to give up Theo for Shane. Do you know how hard it is to find a good center in the NBA? I think the Hawks will find out whether Theo can remain reasonably heathy this season by him competing in the summer league games and with the team holding the voluntary scrimmages each month during the offseason.

George is athletic and might turn out to be a good player but I would prefer a more experienced veteran. Sure he would be a good addition to our team but as a bench player not a starter.Yeah Shaq and Kobe make most of their teammates look good because Shaq and Kobe draw the defense to them and it leaves the other guys wide open. Tyronn Lue looked good with the Lakers also but can't even beat out Chris Whitney for the starting job in Washington.

Pete is a nice guy but he just makes some knucklehead decisions. SOme would say that we wouldn't have Shareef now if it wasn't for LO but I still think we could have found a way to get Reef without giving up 2 picks.

For our sake Dolfan I hope you are right about Battier. I would love to have him with the Hawks next year. It would be as if we were getting our 3rd overall pick back from Memphis,However wouldn't West want to have Battier and Dunleavy on the same team(if he decides to draft Dunleavy).

I know the workouts are voluntary but Jacque was a key component in our offense last year so you would think if he really thought he would be back next year he would be working out with the team. I guess he feels he will be moving on elsewhere. Someone was pointing out how heavt Hendu appears. He has to be around 245lbs. Maybe this explains why he stays injured.he doesn't stay in decent shape during the offseason.

I had Emailed Babs earlier today before any one had posted the outcome on the deal here is what he said.

Detroit decided to keep the pick for this year, although Joe Dumars' told me today that they would be willing to move the pick in a trade if we wanted it.....we would only make a deal for a later first if a certain player were available. We will have multiple firsts in the next several years if we do not trade them in a package this year. Thanks for your interest.

Pete Babcock

regarding the draft pick they owe us? More than likely they will keep it since this is what Joe Dumars has been saying for the past month or so. I guess they plan to use it to get a PG in the draft. If they had of kept Mateen Cleaves they wouldn't be looking for a PG. Cleaves could have been Chucky Atkins Backup instead of Damone Brown.

I agree HDS I would like to see what Sconnie can do also. He was a steal at the postion we picked him in the 2ndround.We gave Hanno a chance so why not give Scoonie one?

I was watching ESPN lastnight and one of the analyst covering the fight stated that their were terms in the contract that stated if any of the 2 boxers did anything totally absured he would then forfeit 3million dollars over to the other fighter. I guess MIke isn't as crazy as everyone thinks he is.LoL