Jester

Here is what I posted about the playbook, the coach, the players, the whole darn enchilada. I agree that both players have been to an extent a disappointment. Though, they both manage to play a decent game most of the time, their D sucks and that makes them look bad. Their 20-points production and a few rebounds is not what it is all about. The darn pick and roll with JT is not working too well and the give the ball to GRob and have him shoot without a dribble has not always produced expected results. I wonder what it would take t make them both play at their top level at all times. It seems like they don't always make the right decisions out on the court. Is It a chemistry thing? For SAR to get 2 points and a dunk he should not have to dribble the ball from one end of the court to the other. As for JT, if he improved his D some, stop the darn turnovers, and get more court-wise at distributing the ball, and if he were 2 or more inches taller...That's too much to ask. He's a great shooter, but he's also a point guard who because he's no AI, cannot stay at the 2 permanently. Is Wilks a better point guard than JT? Will Dickau be a better point guard than JT is right now? Neither could shoot as well as JT, ever, I don't think. What to do about JT? Remmebr those days of Deke when he stayed in the lane and passed the ball out and back in. We don't get that with either SAR or Theo. They are always 15 feet removed from the basket. Is is the coaching? Is it the players? Why doesn't the coach have them park themselves under the basket and pass the ball out if needs be until someone has a shot or they can get a dunk or a shot close to the basket? When Dickau has to drive the ball all the way underneath the basket and then has no one to pass the ball to - Is it the coaching or it the players? I am tired of hurting for this team! Enough already!!

Oh, stop being a darn baby! Some of us do welcome you trade post. Please, pretty, please. PEACE. Ok, here it goes, without your trade ideas, we might as well be in a vetetative state... ok, without your trade posts we will have no one but Walter to pick on.

I posted today before I read your post. I am glad I am not the only one thinking along those lines. The coach and his playbook so far suck. The pieces don't fit! (we don't have the right starting line up) and I am not too sure that his substitutions are the best either. PEACE.

If that's what it will take. I agree, Stott is no more an aggressive coach - which may be what this team needs - than Lon or Lenny. We really let Doc and the Wizzard get away. Kenny Smith for coach??? maybe there is the answer. PEACE.

Exactly. He tries not to take any shots because he knows he can't shoot, but when nobody else is shooting well or when he's in with people that cannot shoot any better than he can or the passing lanes are clogged he takes the shot. He's not a good compliment player IMO, sorry. It is bad enough we kept Ira. I was for keeping Ira, but now I only advocate that until the right person comes along. At least, Ira can make most of his open shots and most of his free throws. No one, still, can question his D, thou I think the other teams already have him figured out and his D is not as effective against those players with the hot-hands as it used to be. THE PIECES DON'T FIT....THE PIECES DON'T FIT!!!!!!!

I agree that both players have been to an extent a disappointment. Though, they both manage to play a decent game most of the time, their D sucks and that makes them look bad. Their 20-points production and a few rebounds is not what it is all about. The darn pick and roll with JT is not working too well and the give the ball to GRob and have him shoot without a dribble has not always produced expected results. I wonder what it would take t make them both play at their top level at all times. It seems like they don't always make the right decisions out on the court. Is It a chemistry thing? For SAR to get 2 points and a dunk he should not have to dribble the ball from one end of the court to the other. As for JT, if he improved his D some, stop the darn turnovers, and get more court-wise at distributing the ball, and if he were 2 or more inches taller...That's too much to ask. He's a great shooter, but he's also a point guard who because he's no AI, cannot stay at the 2 permanently. Is Wilks a better point guard than JT? Will Dickau be a better point guard than JT is right now? Neither could shoot as well as JT, ever, I don't think. What to do about JT? Remmebr those days of Deke when he stayed in the lane and passed the ball out and back in. We don't get that with either SAR or Theo. They are always 15 feet removed from the basket. Is is the coaching? Is it the players? Why doesn't the coach have them park themselves under the basket and pass the ball out if needs be until someone has a shot or they can get a dunk or a shot close to the basket? When Dickau has to drive the ball all the way underneath the basket and then has no one to pass the ball to - Is it the coaching or it the players? I am tired of hurting for this team! Enough already!!

Ham is not what I thought he would be. I don't see anything productive from this player. He cannot make his shots or free throws and his D is to the extent of the "bully" type. The coach needs to stop using him and the Hawks must get rid of him as soon as possible.

Exactly. That's the Smitty I see now too.

Remember that I have been the one saying that the team looked good enough on paper to go all the way to play for a championship. I am the one who also said that they have looked good on paper on other years and were a bust then too. Hold on, that is all I want to thrivialize in the past. Let me say about the present: Ham is just that. I thought this dude was better, after all, he played 6 years from one team. He may play a little D, but he comes on too strong and he is about hard fouls. How much of that do we need? We're not the bad boys of Detroit and we're not scaring anyone - anymore. At the beginning of the season and after the first half of last season, we did, but we're back to being the buut of all NBA jokes (the playoff bound ATL Hawks - p-l-e-a-s-e). Ham cannot make his shots or free throws - he must go! Between Jt, SAR, and GRob, the turnovers are aplenty. As for the chemestry or whatever the heck is the reason why this team cannot win games (they make a push to win every game, but how can they when they're almost always behind 10 or 20 points for a time in each quarter?) This crap has got to stop at some point. I pains me to watch them play lately. I thought this would be one of the better ATL team for some time now with Hendu, CC, Glob, Emanual, Nazr, Ira on the bench. Sure other teams were also getting stronger, but we had a BIG D center in Theo, a shooting machine in JT, a decent 2 in DJ, a proven power forward in SAR, and a compliment of other players to fill any voids and play with any team. Then we got Grob and, boy, we were all set! NOT!!!!!! Is it the coaching, still? Is it a chemestry thing – that will never go away? Some games the players play with purpose, other times with apathy. Some times they are matched for a win (Detroit, Phili), sometimes they are matched for a sure loss (Spurs, Heat, Magic, andmany others). I thought this team would be better than most teams in the East and better than some teams in the West…Bust! I think the players on this team want to win, but they just, stil, don’t know how. Is that a coaching or a player problem? If it is chemestry then we must go back to putting the pieces in place and trade, trade, trade! If it is still coaching, if it ever really was, either the coaches get this thing under control or is back to changing coaches. Last, but not least, Pete B. has tried his best in opinion to get us the right pieces, there is only so much talent in theNBA, and no team is about to turn what talent they have lose too easily. We only got Grob because they had someone better, and the great players that have moved to other teams, like SAR, Theo have done so by for reasons that do not happen every day. What have we to offer to pull another SAR or Theo from another team? I think Pete has done all he can for this team. However, it Pete B. is the problem, maybe it is time to try another way. We all know that he’s very close to have played all his cards and it is just a matter of time. I hope when that change happens we fare well. However…. Whatever it takes to stop the laughter. Enough already!!! I am tired of hurting for this team.

I would go for that. Only 'Nique knows if he could jump straight to the coach's chair. If he does, and MGt does, I'll support him. Magi Johnson took the job as coach and that thaught a lot of people to think before jumping into that job. Who thought Doc would make such a good coach? Or LArry Byrd for that matter. Wait a minute, is Larry still around? PEACE 104.

I am not sure which past players would like any further association with the team. If comments about DOC's situation in Orlando carry any weight, who knows. I saw 'Nique shake his head during the last game; he knew something wasn't working; probably wished he could do something about it. I was tired of Lon's clapping his hands and tapping players in the butt, but never getting into anyone's face (mildly or not). I think even Phil (Jackson) would get off his Zen position on th4e coach's chair and into someone's face at anytime he was not pleased with the waything were going (even Shaq! or Sir Kobe!). Who knows, Fratello may still have something left in the tank. Gundi may consider. What about making Tree (Rollins) the head coach if things don't work out with Schott? There are infinite possibilities and I now know that Pete B. is considering them all. BTW, I am still on Pete's corner. He tried to assemble a darn good team. That they don't quite jell is another thing; that the pieces don't quite work together would be another, but from the talent's standpoint, we have a dran good team. Let's remember Dallas and how lousy they were not long ago. That what I thought would become of the Hawks. I am not going to cry for Lon, he had his chance. He should have resigned (for the good of the team) before he got fired. This is a good situation because we now have a coach who started with this team during camp and knows the players. If they respect him and he's as good a coach as he claims he could be, we will be alright. What did Gar Heard did? Probably not enough to get the job. Mahorn may not have done that much either. His only claim is that he could work with the big people, well, that may not be enough. Time will tell. PEACE. 10-4.

Why would we want another college coach. The only reason Schoot might work is because he;'s been around pro players for 15 years. I wonder why not 'Nique. There must be some past Hawks players around who can coach. We need to look for that person if this Schott thing does not work out. IMO, I think that it will - He's got something to prove now that it is known that he wanted a head-coach job and got the chance to be one. PEACE 10-4.

What's with all this trade stuff? Wasn't it Diesel who was glad we finally had acquired a bonifide Small Forward in Glenn Robinson? What is it to be unhappy about now? We are never going to have a team full of superstars; no team has more than 2 or 3 bonifide stars; not the Lakers, not the Nets, not the Magic. No team. We have Theo, we have Sar, we have JT, we have GRob. We have more of our share of good to great players. Ira is not that shabby and we need his D and intensity. BTW, we have a very good bench too, and it would have ben better, had Dermarr (DJ) not gotten injured. NOw with C. Crawford out, and Emanual Davisout, we're hurting some, but still, overall, this is a very good team: POS HT WT DOB FROM YRS 3 Shareef Abdur-Rahim -C F 6-9 240 12/11/76 California '99 6 4 Chris Crawford F 6-9 235 5/13/75 Marquette '97 5 15 Emanual Davis G 6-5 195 8/27/68 Delaware State '91 5 12 Dan Dickau* G 6-0 190 9/16/78 Gonzaga '02 R 5 Dion Glover F-G 6-5 228 10/22/78 Georgia Tech '02 3 8 Darvin Ham F-G 6-7 230 7/23/73 Texas Tech '96 5 44 Alan Henderson F-C 6-9 240 12/02/72 Indiana '95 7 1 DerMarr Johnson* G-F 6-9 201 5/05/80 Cincinnati '03 2 11 Matt Maloney G 6-3 200 12/06/71 Pennsylvania '95 5 2 Nazr Mohammed C 6-10 250 9/05/77 Kentucky '99 4 14 Ira Newble G 6-7 220 1/20/75 Miami (Ohio) '97 2 42 Theo Ratliff C-F 6-10 230 4/17/73 Wyoming '95 7 13 Glenn Robinson F 6-7 230 1/10/73 Purdue '94 8 31 Jason Terry G 6-2 180 9/15/77 Arizona '99 3 29 Mike Wilks What this team needs is to watch a lot of film, have players only meetings, fire a coach or 2. What I don't see this team needing right now is to trade any players. MAybe Pete Boboc$ock sees it differently, but I doubt it. The players should have jelled by now. If management sees the problem for what it really is, and I think Pete Bobc$ock does, changes, and the right changes, are coming soon. PEACE 10-4.

Ok. I'll jump in on this one. I would take her wrapped in anything. As for her legs, Angie Dickenson, that hottie from Entertainment tonight who had her legs insured, Tina Turner to name a few. They have just about the same legs as this, oh man!, hot woman. Her legs are just fine, and it seems that the rest of her is just as fine. Now I stop before I get reated R or higher. Thanks for the view.

I am not too sure about that. I am in the thinking that when a team (As good as our team is on paper) is not functioning well, something must give. If the players are not the problem (and I am not too sure that they aren't), then a wake up call is to fire the coach or something drastic like that. Give the team to Garth Head for the remainder of the season. I am not too sure he would be our permanent coach, but what do we have to lose at this point? I don't see us getting that 8th spot if something doesn't turn around with this team quickly. If we get another coach now, it means losing more games while the players learn the new coach's system - we probably eliminate any chances of making the playoffs then. I too am calling for something - either the players turn it around, or something else must give. Enough is enough, the 20-games jelling period is over! PEACE. 10-4.

I don't know Mule. Big Dog said himself, "I alone had almost as many turnovers as the entire team" and continued "We need to take better care of the ball" We? We? He should have said, I need to stop trying to play point guard (hug the ball) and let the point guard be thepoint guard. If I do this, we will cut down on the turnover. Also, Lon needs to tell the point guard, as soon as G. Rob touches the ball, go get it. And tell Big Dog, look for the point guard, IF you have to dribble too much in traffic, stop, pass the ball and set youself up for a shot. It is not so hard to coach a team. What the heck is going on here? We? Big Dog needs to look at what he's doing and correct it (with the coach's help).

You may have a point there. I was going to call it "heart" but our players play with as much passion as their players. I agree that maybe the difference is in T-MAC and that we don't really have anyone that can do what he does. JT can try and come close, SAR can elevate it a notch and come close. It may not even be just that one player, because we had to double team 2 players T-MAC and Grant H. as they were both playing so well. That is hard to do for a long time. It may have a lot to do with coaching, I hate when Lon K. just claps his hands sometimes when he should be in somebody's face. Our players sometimes go to sleep, and that is when Lon need to "get down and dirty" I don't mean yelling and screaming at grown man who play with heart and leave it all on the court, but let them know they need to stop the turnovers, tell them what to do to get points and avoid turnovers, and all those things that go with coaching. Not everyone on this team has been together that long and the coach may need to be more involved...remember when Lon used to call time out to execute a play, even when his players were hot (killed momentum) just to make sure they did not make any mistakes? PEACE 10-4.

I think you are all missing something. I see no reference here of what SAR and GR, and even Theo are saying. There have been some problems with this team meshing and it may have to do with establishing each player's responsiblity. Whose team is this? JT, SAR, now GR? Ask me and I say JT's team. SAR has shown even more heart (And BTW so has Theo) in the past 2 games, but JT has done it each and every time...This is JT's team. Who gets the shots? This team has a lot of questions to answer if they hope to continue to mesh. Now to the point of what you are missing... All 3 players referenced said in interviews during the past 2 games that they need to play together to win games, that when they play together they win games. See, this team needs to address each of our 4 starters (I do not mention Newbill because I think he knows whathis job is). Despite of the last 2 wins, there is still a lot of work ahead for this team. I told you, the team looks good on paper, but how those personalities become a good team or a bad team is another thing. I live you with 2 thoughts... 1) I like what Gleen (Big Dog) said, "I want to do great things for this Atlanta team." and 2) I went outside a little while ago and saw 2 hawks. I got close enough to make them take flight just to see their wings spread. They can be beautiful thing to watch. I named them Theo and Abdul in honor of the effort put forth by these 2 players in the last 2 (wins) games. GO HAWKS! PEACE . 10-4.

I heard/read something that makes sense... The team is meshing and practices at home before games allow them to do that and prepare for the next game at home, that is why it is easier for the Hawks to win at home right now. It is difficult for the team to have good practices while on the road and strategize game plans as they do for home games. I guess this makes sense. PEACE. 10-4.

Ok. Let's watch him a few more games. I am not a Theo R. hater. I just want to see more of a dominant center in him, which I don't agree (With you) I have seen so far. What you see is a center changing the game, what I see is a center playing small forward. 5 point and 2 blocks is not what I expected to see from Theo. I guess my sights are set too high. What things come to your mind when you think about what Theo did in any game. I mean, besides dropping a couple of 15 footers and blocking a couple of shots, at most, what have you seen that has made you go, wow! this dude dominates? [censored].

I say it again, I am not that impressed with Theo so far this season. He's not doing anything out there to make me remember any part of the game that he played. Al this defender and blocker reputation has really not shown in the way I expected it to so far. He is barale making a couple of 15 footer in some games. 2 blocks and 1 rebound is not what I expected from him in an entire game. What I have ssen is a center that does not weight very much and gets pushed around a lot. He's playing more like a small forward than a center. His frame does not allow him to keep heavier centers from scoring close to the basket and his fram also does not allow him to back anybody close enough to the basket for him to score. If we could work out a trade and get ourselves another center, I may be for it. On another note, the Hawks, JT specifically were scared of driving to the basket against the Suns last night. Only one I remember trying was DG. JT seemed to be very worry about Stephon Marlbury defense because all his shots were from outside. I have never seen Jt play like this. Our players got all their shots blocked when they tried to score underneath. I knew we could have won that game, but Penny was on and this is why we lost. We had no match for what Penny was doing and for the Suns ability to block our shots. Maybe it is because we were playing back-to-back games. Maybe it is because Glenn Robinson (Big Dog) was not making his shots - because of playing back-to-ack? - weLessons learned, I hope. 10-4. PEACE.

I would like to say that the Hawks will win the game tonight against the Suns, but the match ups seem pretty even. The game could go either way. What may help the Suns is what looked like Denver would win the game last night (For a while): THE FANS! The Hawks became rattled when Denver managed to keep them from scoring for a short while in the 3rd quarter and managed to even up the game. Lon found the solution: It came in the form of DG (Dion Glover). He managed to put the right player in the game at the right time. IT is ok to give Lon some credit for this move. Tonight we're on the road again and not with our fans; however, this team is learning quicker than expected how to play together. On that note, this is not last year's team by any means. Theo was out, Hendu was out, DG was out, Emanual (I am not sure about his role, yet) was out. Big Dog was not with the team, and neither were some people we now have ont he bench. What this means is that these players should be given a good 15 oe 20 games before we decide if this thing could work. Winning is contagious and 3 in a row can do nothing but make this team think they can win against anybody. We have 3 weapons now (just what we needed): a playmaker PG, a playmaker SF, and a play maker PF, and a decent 2G who can create possible for the other team with his evergetic D. As fo Theo R. I am not seeing the things that Deke could do in him. I am still waiting for him to blow me away with his athletism and play making ability. Sure he's blocking a couple of shots and making a couple of shot, but, honestly, I am expecting more. IS anyone besides me noticing that Theo has, so far, not panned out to be all that's he's been painted out to be? 10-4. PEACE.

I asked Pete Babcock about Lon and what he thinks of him as a coach. I don't know for sure that anyone in Pete's staff reads our post, but I know he knows we are here because he has granted us interviews in the past. Let's put this thing about how bad a coach Lon is. Here is Pete's response. My question appears below his answer: "Lon was simply the sole reason we played one game above .500 from last February 1 until the end of the season...which is no small feat considering the number of significant players he was lacking due to injury. He managed to keep everyone focused and positive even after we were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race....and that is extremely hard to do...most pro teams have a major letdown when they are eliminated....our guys had the attitude we were a 50+ win team...all due to Lon. Pete Babcock " Sent: Sunday, November 03, 2002 11:30 PM To: askthehawksgm@turner.com Subject: Ask the Hawks GM "My question is on Lon Krueger. I am a participant on the Hawksquawk forum in which we make our feelings about the team known, provide comments on things the team should do, and show our pride in our team and how pleased we finally are in the things you have accomplished as GM of the Atlanta Hawks. I read a lot of negative posts in Hawksquawk on Lon's ability as a pro coach, especially when it comes to substitutions. You are probably in no position to openly discuss Lon as a coach, but could you provide any type of comment? Jester" BTW, I re-watched 4th quarter of the Hawks vs. Bulls game and I do not see where Lon's substitution was so bad (besides, I don't think he's 100% responsible of when substitutions happen - he's getting input from the other coaches, etc.). The bench players (and SAR was in the game most of the time) not only kept the score as it was for most of the quarter, but they even increased it by a point at one time. He put the starters in just in time. The thing is that Emanual and other players failed to score and had a couple of turnovers before Lon? had planned to put the starters back in. Sure, our team sometimes seems to be trying hard to lose a game, but it is too easy for us to play Monday morning [coach]. I wish we could honestly ask Pete and Lon (Garth Heard and others) what they really think.

How long do you think it will take Big Dog to get tired of carrying the team? Remember Manning? Remember Rider? Sure, this team with SAR and Theo (JT and others) is a lot better than in recent memory, but quality players such as SAR and Big Dog want to play for a team that knows how to win (WINS!). I am happy Big Dog is now a Hawk, I just hope we don't [censored] up such a good (trade) move. 48 and 34...wow! what a reachable goal, I hope. Lets make Sir Charles eat his words. PEACE.

Jazz. I started to remember those days of sitting at the edge of my seat with a couple of minutes left in the game and all the disappointments. We were well ahead and no-way would we have lost that game, or could we? The Jazz never stopped trying until there was probably less than a minute left. What happened to our players? Does it make us think that they still don't know how to close out opponents? Surely, this team still needs to mesh and learn each other a little better, but we need to learn how to put team down for the count. Still, I am hopefull, even confident, that we will have a very productive year. I am just tired of saying how good the Hawks look on paper. PEACE 10-4.