Jester

At least Jet had the spirit, the heart, and drive. The closest thing to a leader this team, from these past few seasons, ever knew: because Hendu was not and neither was SAR. Man, if only he was a few inches taller, bigger-bodied. He would be, in my book, perfect for our team at the 2 because we all know that this is what he was in a PG body. Still, We have players who can rise above the mediacre and we need them to walk the talk. I've seen them on Tv talking about this and that and then play 2 solid quarters and lose a darn game. I say, if the coach(es) cannot put a fire in the old player's arses and get the new kids going, then, yet, another coach(es) change is needed. What is there to defend about this coach if he's just another Lenny a few years later? I like the roster and the upcoming players, but how much longer do we have to wait? 10-4.

Alas! The answer, I think. If you consider your comments, you're blaming the coach(es) for how the team is playing and why the team may not be winning more games. Like I said, I had a conversation with a friend a day or so ago and I told him that I blamed the coach(es) for our failures and he said how can you blame the coach(es) when the players do not play (up to their potential) and I said because the best coach(es) in NBA history has found ways to make players in their team play up to their potential. This has been lacking for too many darn years with our Hawks. I read about this fan from Las Vegas (a fan since 1985 or so) who says the team is rebuilding, it will take a few years - enough! That's almost 20 years of waiting. I am extremely disappointed and I do not want to wait another 3 or 5 years for "the team" to finally be put together. We can and should do better than that. This city has waited long enough for "the team" and I say let's get the right coach(es) if that's what it takes. I've been in this board off and on since 1996 and I say enough is enough. Something has to give. With new ownership, we thought that was the answer. What gives????????? peace 10-4.

I can only comment on your comment, but comment I will. How can you say Walker's poor FT shooting affects the team when you have Shaq's history to prove that comment as being false. Ask yourself when did the Lakers start poor FT shooting because of Shaq? thankyou.

I've been through some changes (I was not in prison or anything like that). I saw Walter posts on RealGM. One thing I've noticed is that Hawks Mgt. has taken up on a lot of Diesel's recommendations and have gotten us some player he has suggested we should have and could get. On the other hand, what is wrong? Is it the coaching? Why can't any of our teams jell and win games on a consistent basis? We have players on our team that on paper should be winning a lot of games, yet, we continue to win 2 darn quarters and lose the rest of the game a lot, still.

Missed me?

Sage, old timer, is that you?

I cannot believe that Walter and Diesel and many others still don't have a life. Actually that's what die-hards fans are made of. 10-4. peace.

RE: JT, Dion and Jackson are so busy running the floor that they completely forget to rebound ... which leaves their men on the glass. I too have been wondering what the f#*k? with Hawks running across court while the other team is under the basket rebounding. I am glad you brought this up.

I am happy Jt is coming back. He's IMHO the heart & soul of the Hawks. SAR may be the leader, but JT leads also. Not sure how outspoken he is, but I see himdisplay leadership and lead by example enough to consider him what I do. Always, DG reminds me of 'Nique. His moves to the basket, etc. I am glad he's still a Hawk and that his game continues to improve. Theo, well let's see if he stays healthy and what he willl do. Sad at losing Ira, but if Jackson can fill Grob's role (maybe even better his role) we may not miss Ira's D as much. Ham was like CC flyer with not much else. Ham defended and jumped well, but he was erradic. J. Vauhn compliments JT really well. I am glad he's back for a second stint. Hendu and Nazr can bang a little, sure, we could have a bigger man or 2 instead, but they'll do alright for now. I don't know if we got "no better" but I hope that chemistry and other facts will make this a better team. Sure, we may make more moves later because we may seek better pieces to our puzzle. Let's see how we play.

Is when I started posting here. Once again, here we have a team being put together that is going to look good on paper, but I take a wait and see approach. I will enjoy the plays, I will enjoy the effort, but when will the rebuilding stop? A team in rebuilding mode cannot do too well, or can it? I wish the Hawks well. We finally scared some teams last year and almost stopped being the laughing stock of the NBA. I told you, all the talk about NY and Miami and nothing ever good said about the Hawks. Now NY and Miami amount to not much. It is the NJs and the Bostons that are talked about. Hopefully ATL will claim a proper place in the not so distant future. I told you, sooner rather than later, the Hawks and the Clippers will not be laughed at anymore - still waiting. PEACE 10-4.

B. Knight just said Theo is not to be trade (for Odom or anyone else).

It's been a while, but I have stopped by a few times to see what discussions are taking place - uhm? Oh, well, let's hope for a good year for the Hawks although I think we still have work to do with coaches, GM, and players. BTW, I saw TheHumanHighlight, aka 'Nique on "The best D$mn Sport Show Period and he talked about how much he would like to coach and that even if the team is sold, he will play a major part. Is he letting some bad thoughts go to his head or does he know something the rest of us don't know. He may not be our head coach at first, but if he's willing to let's say be an assistant coach, should we?

ATLANTA, Jul. 09 - When Boris Diaw was growing up in France, his mother tried to steer him away from the idea of playing in the NBA. "She didn't want me to lose my dream," he recalled. "She would say, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' but she didn't think it was possible for a Frenchman to play in the NBA." Diaw couldn't help but smile Tuesday, his mother at his side as he tried on an Atlanta Hawks uniform. Diaw, the No. 21 overall pick, was among three French players taken in last month's draft. His mother, Elizabeth Riffiod, was one of the best female players in French history, playing 13 years for the national team. She's even got a jersey in the Basketball Hall of Fame at Springfield, Mass. But Riffiod wouldn't let her youngest son take up the sport until he was 10. She tried to interest him in other pursuits, including judo, rugby and soccer. "When I was young, it was impossible for anyone from our country to play in the NBA," Riffiod said. That began to change after the first U.S. "Dream Team" won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Suddenly, kids throughout Europe dreamed of being the next Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. Despite his genetic advantages, Diaw didn't stand out when he first took the court. But a growth spurt beginning at 15 -- he grew 8 inches in two years, according to his mother -- suddenly propelled him to the forefront of French basketball. By age 19, Diaw felt confident enough in his abilities to enter his name in the NBA draft. He pulled out, however, because it seemed unlikely he would be picked. After going through the same scenario in 2002 -- Diaw entered the draft as an early entry player, then withdrew -- he finally made the plunge this year at 21. Even though he averaged only 7.3 points a game for his French team, the Hawks felt his overall abilities were worthy of a first-round pick. "It's not any one thing about him," general manager Billy Knight said. "I like everything about him. And he's young enough that there's still a big upside." The 6-foot-8 Diaw wasn't even the first Frenchman taken in the draft -- that honor went to his Pau Orthez teammate, guard Michael Pietrus, picked at No. 11 by the Golden State Warriors. In the second round, French guard Paccelis Morlende went to the Philadelphia 76ers with the 50th selection. "We have a very good generation of players," Diaw said, noting that everyone changed their outlook after Barcelona. "We just knew the players in the NBA. We did not even know who was playing in France." Diaw modeled his game after Johnson's, becoming enamored with the idea of making dazzling passes to his teammates rather than handling the scoring himself. He said that accounts for his rather ordinary scoring numbers for Pau Orthez, where he never averaged more than 7.7 points a game in three seasons. "Magic Johnson was my favorite," Diaw said. "I wanted to be like him because he was not selfish. He just wanted his team to win. He created 'Showtime' with the pass. "I try to do the same thing. I want to make my teammates happy. I think that's important." Diaw, who helped Pau Orthez win two straight French championships, dismissed skeptics who say he'll get knocked around in the NBA and won't score enough to be effective. "They say that just because I look to my teammates," said Diaw, who is definitely on the slender side at 203 pounds. "I am not soft when I play defense. ... Sometimes I am a shooter, but when I see a teammate open under the basket I pass it him. Why take a jumpshot at the start of a play when you can go around and find a better setup?" Diaw wanted to honor his mother by wearing 13, the number she had during her playing days, but it already was taken by Glenn Robinson. The rookie took No. 32 instead. At a news conference on the Philips Arena practice court, Diaw was joined by Travis Hansen, a second-round pick from Brigham Young. "We're not expecting them to be miracle workers," Knight said. "We do expect them to come in and contribute."

Some people dismiss Nazr, but he was our C for the 2 seasons Theo was out and we liked him a lot. His Dis questionable, but he's good enough to be C on just baout any team, that is , unless you want your C to be as effective as Duncan, Shaq and Co. where just about any other player is secondary on the scoring end. Nazr was hurt and he finally is gaining some of the mobility he had and his shots are going in, sometimes with authority. He's no scrub. Glover, well, besides JT, he's my man! He used to throw some good 3 pt. in college and he was supposed to be the Hawks' 3 pt. threat. If he stays healthy and ocntinues to improve, he may start for this or another team some day. I personally like someone like a Jalen Rose as a starter with someone like DG (glob) or Ira coming off the bench. DJ wa supposed t be our man at the 2, if not him, we need ourselves a Rose type of player who can bring it! JT could be that player. He has the talent (And the darn bad passes and turnovers - he may want to talk the wife into leting him bring the baskeball into the bed with them; that is the only thing he hasn't tried). PEACE.

I think the effort is there most of the time, they just don't rotate well and sometimes they do go lazily to someone making a shot - I see them standing around sometimes until the player they (Were) guarding is going for a shot and they are too far removed to do anything about it. I see the problem with our D to be in the rotation; we have improved sojme in the past 3 games, but too little too late? They need to continue doing the D rotation and get better at it. D assignments are foggy, I think, on this team, and I have to blame that on coaching. Maybe the improvement on D is because of coach Stotts' style, but the players need to learn how to rotate. We had the same problem with Deke, he would go after a players that had just gone by a Hawk player and no one would have his back, and I see the same thing with Theo. The only player I see playing good D is Hendu. I am not sold on anything Ham does. Sorry. PEACE.

Slow down. I share in your disgut with the team tghe way they are playing right now, but you're taking it a bit far. First, yes, they have not yet learned how to close on teams. You all heard NY players talking about how they got together and pulled it off in the last minutes of the game, BULL! They got lucky that the Hawks do not know how to close wins. As for the trades, maybe not everyone needs to be traded. I think SAR likes Ira a lot. I think Ham likes everybody (I still want his cheerleadingass gone). I think JT (and others) like GRob at lot. I think GRob wants to win with this team. The problem is that we simply choke. Every game I have seen the Hawks lose by 10 or less points is because we choke and let the other team dilute our lead (which we have many a times). I thought this game against the Bulls was a win - when was the last time the Hawks led by 10 or so points so close to the end of a game?- Darn, like you, it pains me to watch this bunch play. I see their effort, but they choke and mishandle everything when it counts. SAR taking and missing a shot we needed badly with no one in his face hurts. Say what the heck you'll say, but JT is the man! and should be the Captain of this team. He bails their arses out time after time (clutch player, yeah!). Who do we trade and why? Who do we get, and is this doable; you know, realistic? PEACE.

What kind of D is smitty going to play at this stage of his career? He could replace JT's shooting, but he cannot provide the D that Ira provides. Ham is just a ham. I could care less what happens to him. I am amazed that coach Stott keeps putting him in the game so much. Dickau is not quite ready, Wilks is almost the same type Pg JT is, minus the shooting. I think we will have to go farther than what you propose. Maybe, there just aren't any easy answers. PEACE.

Yes, but who would you keep if a trade for a bonifide 2 (not JT) is not there?

I think that he researches/considers possible options and that this creates an opportunity for discussion if not just for

A clutch player is IMO one that can make the points needed to win or tie a game. I call JT that. He can shoot 3s like no other most of the time - I consider him a threat as a 3 pt shooter -He's not afraid to go in the lane and either make a shot or get fouled - results, 2 pts. Except for Glover, and maybe Grob, give me another Hawk player on this team that you can count on to give you the points to win or tie a game. JT should be the captain of this team. He's themost vocal on the floor, and he plays with passion. He's the only player on this team saying I want to finish my career as a Hawk. He loves this team - regardless. IF not Emanual, then we need a point guard with some height to keep JT at the 2 and Ira comes off the bench for D and for JT to rest. I would also let JT play a little point, like smitty used to do, but would consider him a 2, always. He plays much better when he's not concerned with distributing the ball - something we can see, he's not that good at. JT is the closest thing we have to AI or MJ - did I say that? Yes, I don't mean in ability, but I mean in heart and as somewhat of a playmaker when we need one. You have your opinion and I have mine. JT is the man!! PEACE.

I am not sold on Ham. There isn't much more that he has done that Ira has not done, and Ira can make most of his shots and free throws, which we plainly seen, Ham cannot. You have your opinion, and I have mine. Let's leave it at that.

Once again....Amen! This team does not know how to win at this time. It pains me to watch this team play lately.

Amen! Diesel, you big baby. Stop your childish behavior and starting posting trade ideas again, or else. WE LOVE YOU MAN!

Ira makes his shots, Ham does not. Ira defends as well as HAm, if not better. Ham is a bully on defense and that is all. Ham does not have half the game Ira has. If anyone has to go and I think they both at some point should go for a legimate 2, it should be Ham. I really don't see what the coach sees in Ham, except for old times sake. What have you seen Ham do, except a couple of lucky take aways, etc.?

My D sucked. I couldn'd even stop a guard from shooting over me. I know that the fans are watching and they wonder how can they pay me 12 mil a year to play like this. I may have been fouled, but the ball went over the rim, It is a shot I should have made. It should have been our clutch man JT taking that shot that time. He would have made it or goten fouled. See what happened when he tried the next shot, by then, they had his number. Overall team defense is getting better, more rotations, etc. If they could keep that up, I see the Hawks improving shortly and winning more games. However.... It pains me to watch this team play lately. Just when they have the oposing team for a lost, they managed to throw the game away.