CHORO44

Happy Holidays to my fellow sufferers, I mean Hawk's fans....

I've been a Hawks fan since Nique's first year. As a native Californian my friends would always get on me for liking an East Coast team but I was tired of all the Michael Jordan and Lakers love out here at the time. I looked at the Hawks like I look at Nique a great team, player that just seems to be missing one thing: consistent management for the team, and a supporting cast for Nique. I used to hate the fact that our best Hawks teams were in the era of the great Celtics, Pistons, and Bulls teams. Now all the power is in the West and we can't make the freaking playoffs. This year I almost thought about throwing in the towel and rooting for the Kings or Warriors but then I remembered when my favorite football team, the Patriots, finally won the Super Bowl. I know it's stupid but I had tears of joy that day and that feeling was the best. Sticking with something through the bad times makes the good times so much better. All those bandwagon fans might have a good year every year when their current team does well but when we win the big one we will have a feeling they will never understand. Just keep the faith guys I think we just are a management team away from changing our losing culture.

Been reading through all the trade posts and Theo's comments. I believe a new coach is coming and that Knight will be retained as GM. I too can't help but notice how flawed our team is and how little effort they put into changing things around. Since we are such a poor defensive team I'm all for adding defensive players at the expense of offense. I'm not sure if these guys are available but I think we should go after James Posey and Ron Artest. Posey is a long, excellent perimeter defender who can shoot the long ball when needed. Artest is a beast, enough said. Do you guys think we have enough ammo to land one of them without giving up Reef or Diaw? I was thinking some combination of Theo and JT to Indy for Artest, Bender, and filler but I can't make salaries match and won't take Croshere in the deal. For Posey I'm pretty sure we could send them Nazr. Lineup: Diaw, Posey, Artest, Reef, Bender/Scrub - Short term fix here. In the draft we'd have to address the center position but we'd be an excellent half court/defensive team. Our team length would be excellent and all these guys compete. The bigger lineup would allow us to hide Reef's defensive lapses by providing better help defense. We'll never have the team speed or ballhandling to be a running team but we can grind people down in the East in running half court offense. What do you guys think? What would it take to get these guys and how would we fill the center position?

mrH... Trading players for capspace does little to improve our team since there is no reason for free agents to come here. The good players want to play with guys that are talented so they can have a shot at winning the Championship. If we trade our guys for capspace who will we sign as a free agent? I have to agree with Diesel in that the best way to build is to acquire talent so you can trade that talent for pieces that you need. If I were to trade any of our core assets for capspace I'd have to be sure to get a very high(Top 4) draft pick in return. I think Memphis does a very good job at acquiring talent. Shoot we've been as bad or worse as them yet they have several young talented players on their squad. Shoot they have Swift, a top pick, and he barely plays. I think the Hawks should build around Reef and Diaw and Hanson. If you want to trade Theo and JT then do so for capspace AND high draft picks so you can increase the talent pool. Our problem is that our draft picks have been awful / nonexistent up until Billy K took over. On a side note where is DJ?

Yeah right. Trade guys with value for guys with no value. Terrible.

We would have ZERO perimeter offense and our defense would be horrendous.

Play, never said I like Dion either and I also consider him bench material. I'm just don't want to see us grab guys that have no more room to grow. If we are going to try someone out play the freaking rookies. They are cheap and have upside.

I don't know why you guys like Ira so much for. Sure he played well defensively but he was very inconsistent on jumpers and put backs. I love his hustle and determination but he's bench fodder not starting material. We already are hurting for consistent outside threats and Ira doesn't fill that need. He's also not worth the contract he signed and I'm entirely against bringing him back.

Hotlanta you're reaching. Boozer is a big body but he isn't an excellent defender and doesn't have much lift to block shots. Dont' get me wrong I like Boozer's game but to say he'd shutdown Reef is ridiculous.

Well I won't start ranting about SAR is a PF since that's obvious. The problem with playing him at SF is that he can't gaurd any of the small forwards in league. His defense really deteriorates the further he is away from the rim.

No he doesn't. Stotts has a terrible offensive philosophy because he doesn't have one. I have yet to see him play to his player's strengths and he has horrible substitution patterns. He still doesn't effectively run the halfcourt set through Reef and he refuses to run plays for JT as the shooting guard. A simple offense would be running a pick and roll with Reef and the PG and having JT waiting at the top of the key for a dump off pass. I mean basic basketball. Watch tape of the Warrior's game to see how horrible his offensive playcalling and substitution patterns are.

I really like Hansen. He's a competitor and doesn't back down from people. I really like his athleticism and think his shot will be lights out in a few seasons. I think we should hold on to him as I see him evolving his NBA game much like Michael Redd. He could become our starting shooting guard at some point. And stop with the eminem jokes it's hard to come from BYU and stand out.

You guys are wrong about Reef. I'm not sure what his problem is now but he was an agressive force in Vancouver in the early years...

Got to agree with Play again. Check out an old Timberwolves versus Grizzlies game with Reef vs. Garnett. Shoot Reef tried to dunk on Garnett whenever possible and both players were mouthing off on one another. I'm not sure if it's age or coaching or religion but Reef has that fire in there somewhere and it can come back. I don't know how to research old boxscores but look for a game between the two where both were leading scorers. It was on game in particular that made me wish we could trade for him even though I loved him at Cal.

Well I have to agree with Playmaker. I've seen JT dominate a game and I've seen Reef dominate games. These players have the potential to do great things but the offense is not suited to put them in successful situations. I'd give Reef and JT the green light to just score at will and let the other players adapt around them. I know our talent level is lacking, how can you argue when you have a 7 million dollar backup power forward sitting out, but we still should be more competive. Stotts to me is a poor offensive coach and I don't think he's stamped an identity on this team. Trading for bloated contracts of Jamison and come on Danny Fortson is ridiculous. The only trades I'd consider are these: Reef and Theo for Big Z, Ricky Davis and a first round this year and JT and Dickau to Chicago for Crawford and their first round this year. Make Stotts an assistant to Doc and let's move on.

Maybe their is a reason he's been an assistant for most of his career. His offensive sets and substitutions are idiotic at best.

This post is just awful. I mean wanting Ira back is pointless because he's not worth the contract he signed. We got SJackson because he was cheap and available. Big Dog was not a good fit for this team at all. He slowed down are already awful offense and his defense was well below average. Talk about his rebounding help all you want but he gave up way more than he contributed. For the money he wasn't playing for value. As for giving up on this team, I will not be enthusiastic about anything the Hawks do until Stotts shows me something. I honestly believe we can make the playoffs if we play Diaw and Hanson more and force the other veterans: JT, Reef, and Theo to pick up their games until the rookies grow. I think the rookies compete the hardest and you can see it in the limited minutes they play. Hanson was even talking mess to Dampier when he was in. I think that if Musselman was here we'd be that much better.

I agree with most comments however I still fell Reef doesn't have all his lift back from the offseason back surgery. You can tell that he's not getting off the floor as fast too finish and he's pushing his freethrows.

I don't know. I really have faith in the new ownership group. I think that the McDavid deal kind of forced our hand and that a house cleaning is coming. I can't see Stotts being kept on past this season. I think it's time for some young talent and a promising young coach. With the Lakers and the rest of the west stacked for the next two to three years it makes sense to develop for the changing of the guard.

Are these guys the real deal? Should we try to secure one of the other top picks? Cause with Stotts we will be in the top 3. http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/dwighthoward.asp http://www.nbadraft.net/profiles/joshsmith.asp

I actually wouldn't mind Sloan. He'd put in some discipline and pick and rolls with JT and Reef.

Anderson isn't worth the money. We're better of trading stars for young talent and draft pics since they all will have one year left after this season. I'd like to take both the Georgia High School kids and build off the local talent.

Okay. Reef is our best player. We do not go to his strengths for some reason. He can take anyone in the post one on one. I think that Stotts needs to work solely with Reef initiating the offense and JT the outside shooting threat. I must concur with Playmaker on that Reef sees constant double and triple teams often before receiving the pass. Golden State did a lot of this in their defensive scheming. Also Reef left many points at the freethrow line last night and didn't get many attempts. Is his back right? He didn't use his legs much at the line. Anyways back on track. Reef should be shooting 20 times a game minimum and the other guys should be crashing the boards and putting in garbage, this includes Theo. Guys need to know that Reef is the star player and JT is the outside threat. I'd lineup like this: PG - Hanson SG - JT SF - Diaw PF - Reef C - Theo JT brings the ball up. Hanson on one wing and Reef in the post on Hanson's side. Diaw is on other side one step in from three point line. Theo is at the key. JT do the following: Drive to basket with Theo as late trailer and Diaw as midrange outlet. This collapes the D and opens up uncontested shots. Also allows us to collect fouls on opponents. If that isn't there ball goes to Hanson for three point shot if Reef gets doubled or pass to Reef if he is singled up. Diaw and Theo are crash rebounders. I mean this is simple coaching. Sorry for the long post but last night's game really made me lose all faith in Stotts. I know he has mucho experience in coaching and I'm just a recreational player but the game isn't that difficult to understand and execute.

Thanks Play. I'm glad we are in agreement. Now who do we secure as a coach?

Haven't posted in awhile and haven't actually watched our beloved team until tonight. Being a West Coast Hawks fan, I make it appoint to watch them live versus Golden State and Sacramento. I can always take Sacramento beating us but Golden State murdered us last year by more than 20 points. So this year I figure Stotts has the guys ready and my 9th row seats will be worth the money for a change...WRONG! Another 20+ point blowout. I was so disgusted I left with 6 minutes to go. We were beat by a Warrior's team without Troy Murphy or Adonal Foyle(underated Center) with Brian Cardinal playing major minutes and scoring in double figures. I don't know who to blame at this point but I really don't like Terry Stotts. Basically he ran early plays for Theo and Jackson from the beginning. I always think the game should begin by feeding reef in the post with JT as the feeder and let everyone else spot up and cut. So JT and Reef get in foul trouble and we don't see them again until late in the second quarter. I didn't pay top dollar to see Jacque Vaughn run around. Other coaching highlights: Letting Stephen Jackson get significant minutes when he just hoists them up. He's garbage. Putting JT, Dion, and Vaughn on the court when the Warrior went big with Dunleavy. He basically posted JT up for two straight buckets. Running Isolation plays with Dion when we were down by 20+ and needed to rotate the ball around for three pointers. I just don't know what to think guys. This is the same defeated looking team I watched last year with the same results. Is it coaching or a bad mix of players. I was so disgusted that I wanted them to put Hanson in because he was at least competing. Thoughts?