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clrumph

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  1. Quote: Pacers Beat Writer was on 680 this morning and believed that the trade was for the mid level exception. Not possible. You can't trade the mid level exception, and you can only use it if you are already over the cap. However, you can trade cash for a player. Hopefully BK is getting at least a 1st round pick and cash for Harrington.
  2. Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2526765 Article: Marvin Williams looks ready to soar with Hawks By Tim Buckley Special to ESPN.com TAYLORSVILLE, Utah -- Been there. Done that. Can do it a whole lot better. That's what Marvin Williams was thinking when he arrived more than a week ago at Salt Lake Community College for his second NBA summer league. It also was the mindset he managed to maintain throughout a Rocky Mountain Revue that culminated Friday with him being named MVP of the six-team tourney that also included entries from Dallas, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Seattle and Utah. Kent Horner/Getty Images After struggling last season, Marvin Williams is showing off his game's development."We spoke to him about not only coming here and playing, but coming here and dominating,'' said Hawks assistant Larry Drew, Atlanta's RMR coach. "He came in here knowing it wouldn't be satisfactory just to play OK. He had to come in here and really make a mark, and that's what he's done.'' Did he ever. The No. 2 overall selection in the 2005 NBA draft averaged a Revue-high 23.2 points per game while shooting 54.9 percent from the field. He scored just 16 in Atlanta's Revue finale Friday, an 82-81 win over Philadelphia -- but ended his strong summer showing by dishing a pass to teammate Shelden Williams for a game-winning dunk that perhaps most importantly ensured potential overtime would be avoided and no one would be late for their flights out of town. Marvin Williams also added newfound dimension to his game, playing more with his back to the basket than during his rookie season out of the University of North Carolina. He's thinking a lot less, allowing his instincts to emerge and taking advantage of a decidedly explosive first step. As a result he played with extreme confidence, something that just wasn't present during his first pro summer league. "I think 'comfortable' is the word,'' the approachable, affable Williams said. "You know, I feel so much more comfortable. "It's a testament to coach [Mike] Woodson [Atlanta's head coach]. Coach Woodson pushed me every day in practice. I definitely have to thank him.'' Williams didn't make much of a mark during his first NBA season, averaging 8.5 points and 4.8 boards in 24.7 minutes per game for the low-flying Hawks. But his scoring and rebounding numbers did improve every month from November through April, prompting Woodson to challenge Williams to take his game to an even-higher plane at the Revue. "He told me coming into the summer league just to play,'' Williams said. "He was not going to put any restrictions on me.'' Critics say the result was someone with too much of a one-on-one mentality and too little discipline to his game. Proponents, however, say Williams displayed just the sort of aggressiveness they wanted to see. "He's really attacking the basket,'' said Drew, whose assertion is backed by the fact he averaged more than 13 free-throw attempts over five summer games. "He's not settling for jump shots. He's running the floor, catching the ball on the wing and he's looking to attack. "Last year he shied away a little bit from contact early. But now he welcomes the contact going to the basket.'' The Hawks are not trying to immediately make Williams 'the man' in Atlanta. At least not yet. "Not at this stage,'' Drew said. "Down the road he may grow into that type player, but Joe has been our guy.'' "Joe,'' of course, is Joe Johnson, Atlanta's notable acquisition in 2005. And Williams more than welcomes his presence. "Right now it's probably going to be Joe's team,'' he readily acknowledged. "You know, us young guys have so much to learn -- and Joe's been through the battles. ... He's been on a great team, playing with Phoenix. So I'm just trying to sit back and learn a little bit from him right now.'' Instead, then, Williams is central to a core of young players around whom the Hawks are trying to build. Another is reserve guard Salim Stoudamire, who got plenty of play at the point and still managed to average 20.3 points in three games before exiting with a mild elbow sprain. Kent Horner/NBAE via Getty Images Top Hawks pick Shelden Williams finished the summer league session on a high note.Then there is this year's first-round rookie, Shelden Williams, the former Duke power forward. The No. 5 overall pick of 2006 averaged 8.0 points, and looked somewhat overwhelmed at times. "He's actually where Marvin was last year,'' Drew said. Where Williams -- Marvin -- will be at this point next year remains to be seen. But suffice it to say the Hawks are happy with where he's headed. "Last year was a big year for him as far as growth was concerned,'' Drew said. "We knew once he settled down and got comfortable with our system and got acclimated to the NBA style that his game would emerge. And last season, especially toward the tail end, he really started to come on.'' Which can only have him thinking about doing even better in the season ahead. HONORS IN REVUE Besides MVP Williams, a five-member Revue team was chosen via voting by selected media, scouts and summer-league staff. The honorees: Philadelphia teammates Louis Williams and Steven Smith; Utah teammates Ronnie Brewer and Paul Millsap; and Seattle's Andre Emmett. Louis Williams averaged 22.0 points per game, capped by Friday's game-high 27. He also averaged a Revue-leading 5.2 assists per game. But the 2005 second-round selection had one stat that really stood out, and it seems somewhat troubling: He committed a whopping 36 turnovers in six games, including eight in 39 minutes Friday. Smith, undrafted out of LaSalle, averaged 15.7 points over six games and made scouts from at least one other NBA besides the 76ers take notice. Brewer, the Jazz's 2006 first-round pick from the University of Arkansas, averaged 16.0 points on 56.3 percent shooting. The ex-Razorbacks star, however, hit just 4-of-12 Friday -- dropping his success rate from the field below 60 percent, and giving Revue-high shooting percentage honors to San Antonio free-agent forward Andre Brown (64.1 percent in five games). Brown, from DePaul, played last season in Korea. Millsap, who led all NCAA Division 1 rebounders each of the past three seasons, lived up to his college billing by averaging 9.0 boards in six games. The rookie from Louisiana Tech also averaged 9.5 points per game, giving him a good shot at making the Jazz roster in the fall. But Millsap was overtaken for the Revue rebounding lead on Friday by Philadelphia free-agent forward Ivan McFarlin, an Oklahoma State product who played last season in France. McFarlin had 13 boards Friday, boosting his average to 9.7. No one besides those two averaged more than 6.3 rebounds per game. Emmett averaged 12.5 points in six games and shot 57.7 percent from the field, second-best behind Brown. The ex-Texas Tech guard played eight games for Memphis during the 2004-05 season. MISC.: San Antonio's Melvin Sanders, who played 16 games for the Spurs last season, had 27 points in a Revue-ending 86-79 win over Utah on Friday night. ... Mouhamed Saer Sene, Seattle's first-round draft choice from Senegal, returned for the Sonics on Friday after missing two games with a sprained ankle. The 7-foot center scored just five points, but blocked three more shots -- bringing his RMR average to a league-leading 3.75 swats per game in four outings. ... Another young Sonics center, roster-regular Robert Swift, had four blocks Friday, bringing his summer average to 3.67 over three games. ... Dallas got a game-high 23 points from roster-regular Rawle Marshall in its 91-87 win over the Sonics on Friday; Seattle got 22 from free agent Desmon Farmer, bringing the former Southern Cal guard's Revue scoring average to 11.0 points in six games. ... The Mavericks reportedly were impressed with a couple of their own free agents in particular: ex-Suns and Hornets forward Jackson Vroman, who averaged 7.2 points in six games; and undrafted George Washington product Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who averaged 8.2 points in five games. ... Vroman, the son of ex-Jazz big man Brett Vroman, had a strong summer despite shattering his wrist while playing last season for New Orleans/Oklahoma City. ... University of Illinois product Roger Powell Jr. earned an invite to the Jazz's fall camp with his Revue performance. There, he'll join ex-Illini teammates Deron Williams and Dee Brown. Williams, drafted No. 3 overall in 2005, looked good in Utah's first two Revue games, then went home as previously planned. Brown, a 2006 second-round selection, will get a shot to make the team in veteran's camp. ... Final Revue records: Philaldelphia 4-2, Atlanta 3-3, Dallas 3-3, San Antonio 3-3, Seattle 2-4. Tim Buckley covers the Utah Jazz for the Deseret Morning News.
  3. I am forced to use Internet Explorer here at work (even though I would prefer to use Firefox instead) and since I mostly browse the internet at work so how do I remove the saved passwords from Internet Explorer?
  4. Quote: Atlanta's Marvin Williams is using the summer league to show signs of why the Hawks selected him No. 2 overall in the 2005 draft. The former University of North Carolina forward was averaging a Revue-leading 26.0 points in his first two Revue games, and scored a game-high 22 as the Hawks posted their first win with an 84-74 victory over San Antonio on Monday. Williams played 33 minutes and hit 12-of-13 from the free-throw line Here's the link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2522439 No mention of Shelden so I guess if you can't say something nice then don't say anything at all
  5. Quote: Opinion: Joe Johnson is a solid player, no doubt. However, outside of an Isiah Thomas trade, I have never seen a team trade two number one picks for a player, much less a restricted free agent. I believe Denver gave 3 first round picks to New Jersey for Kenyon Martin when he was a restricted FA a few years ago.
  6. Quote: Style of play? I can't really think of any stars in the league right now that play the same way as him. He's similar in size to someone like LeBron James, but I don't think he has (or will have) the shooting range or ball handling ability of Lebron. On the other hand, I don't think he plays like KG or Dirk either...they are both more of PF's. Is Scottie Pippen a good comparison? I think its too early to tell right now, but we should know better after he is a starter for a full year. It is encouraging that he is going to the free throw line as much as he has in these two summer league games. If he can continue to get stronger and develop a killer instinct then the sky's the limit for his future potential.
  7. NBA TV will tape four of the Hawks games and then start showing them on Friday, July 24th.
  8. Makes sense but the problem is what does Milwaukee want? They don't need much because their starting lineup is set. Maybe Indiana can send them one of their PG's since Milwaukee needs a backup PG and then we can work out a 3-way between the Hawks, Pacers and Bucks.
  9. Quote: Sign-and-trade Harrington to Golden State for Troy Murphy and Mickael Pietrus. Murphy's expensive ($10 million per season over the next five years) but he rebounds (averaging 10.4 the past two seasons) and drains jumpers from 17 feet. Pietrus is the deal sweetener. Much like his friend and French countryman Boris Diaw, the athletic swingman is poised for a breakout season in the right situation and should be eager to prove himself in a contract year. Doesn't Murphy have five years left on his contract? If so then how can we possible trade for him since the court ruling specifically stated that we can't sign or trade for anyone with a contract longer than four years? If that's correct then Sekou dropped the ball on that proposed trade idea.
  10. Quote: I think it was threefold between character issues, playing little to no D, and being relatively unathletic and showing up to workouts in even worse shape than during the season. He's probably not a workout warrior like Rondo but I believe he'll have a much better career because he's a complete PG.
  11. Looks like Marcus showed out in his summer league debut: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?i...ht&lid=tab2pos1 Quote: The former UConn star made 9-of-15 shots and 4-of-5 3-pointers for a game-high 24 points. He also had 12 assists, many of them drop-off passes to Eric Williams (12 points) and Jamar Smith (11 points) for easy dunks. It looks like the Nets might have finally found the backup to Jason Kidd they've been searching for. If Marcus continues to play this well then BK haters will despise him for passing up on Chris Paul and Marcus Williams in back to back drafts! Maybe we should just enshrine Paul and Williams into the Hall of Fame now and force BK to give their introductions.
  12. clrumph

    Grundy?

    Quote: Are we bringing Anthony Grundy back this season? He is on our summer league roster so I am assuming we are which is good because he did a nice job for us last year. He will give us the size/speed combonation that none of our PGs have. First of all he's got to make the team and if he does I don't think he'll get any playing time behind Claxton, Lue and Salim. I'd rather sign a FA big with potential and work with him in practice than have Grundy hogging up a spot on the roster.
  13. Quote: And honestly i don't mind the contract because we still have plenty of flexibility after his contract. Yes, we have flexibility NOW, but in 2-3 years we won't. Plus with the ownership situation as it is there's no way we can take on Murphy's contract anyway.
  14. Since we can only acquire 1-year deals then how can we possibly acquire Murphy? Even if we could why would we? I'm hoping there's a third team involved that will take Murphy's contract because the Hawks don't need his contract on the books when it's time to sign our young guys.
  15. Quote: Bargnani Looks like the real deal! Aldridge doesn't look like a strong rebounder and looks ordinary otherwise O'Bryant Looks horrible averaging 2 rbg Roy Looks like a Joe Johnson type player. Foye Looks like an undersized shooting guard Simmons Suxs Armstrong Looks like a pretty good rebounder so far I believe Shelden will have a better summer league and he should conisidering how much college experience he has.
  16. We don't need to pay Wilcox when our young guys are up for their new contracts in 2 years and we just drafted Shelden to be our PF/C. I'd rather let Al walk and save the money unless we get a #1 draft pick and take back contracts that expire in 2 years or less.
  17. Quote: I remember a lot of post going into this free agency period concerning Seattle. So far they have been quiet; but I just read were the initial contract offer to Wilcox was not exactly looked on with favor by his camp. In fact, the gist was the contract negotiations are not going well. I went out to their site, and even if you subtract Rashard Lewis, they have 5 players listed at 6'10" or better. Furthermore, they only have two real scoring threats with Lewis and Allen. Al may be able to do some good for them. I just wonder, if these talks continue to stall with Wilcox, what would Seattle to be willing to do if anything? Seattle is having major cash flow problems so they aren't interested in Harrington. Even if they had money they would just re-sign Wilcox instead (and so would I).
  18. Quote: Unlike most of us (i know I'm one of them), I believe BK took into consideration of how easily bigmen can get WAYYYY too overpaid. Nene is not worth 10 mil, Ben is not worth 15 mil. It's been a trend the past few seasons because the lack of quality bigmen in the league. This is why he wanted to draft big and get a point through FAcy. We know what we're getting in Shelden and he's on his small rookie contract. He will probably be better than Nene. I am so happy we didn't overpay for any stiff. I will say myself I am very happy with the speedy signing. I've wanted a quick, pass first, uptempo point guard for this team for so long. He will make us so much fun to watch! Look what he cost us....not set in stone but roughly 4-5 million. We solved both problems for under 10 mil, instead of solvin just one for over 10 mil. BK is doing a helluva job this offseason, I just hope it isn't his swan song because of Belkin.
  19. Quote: He only started 3 games this past season when filling in for Chris Paul, but he averaged 20.7 PPG, 9.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, and shot 51% from the field. Damn, that's a helluva stat line for those 3 games. I remember when he came here when Chris Paul was hurt and he almost singlehandedly beat us by himself. I'm glad he is a member of the Hawks now.
  20. Quote: And anyway, who could deny how sweet it would be to be able to say: WHO? MIKE JAMES. Damn straight!!
  21. Quote: he'd only be a minor upgrade to what we have currently. You have got to be kidding!
  22. Quote: Go read some of the stuff he says and you'll be out of the Fan Club. This guy is drama and we don't need it. He had a breakout year at age 31 in a contract year. Smells fishy... And your alternative choice at this point is who? Speedy Claxton would be decent, but after Speedy are we looking at Ivey/Lue again?
  23. I must admit that I would have preferred Cassell over any other PG but after just examining James numbers from last year I was really surprised at just how good a year he had: Season 20.3 PPG 5.8 AST 46.9 FG% 44.2 3PT% 83.7 FT% Since JJ's numbers were also very similar to James we would have an unstoppable backcourt as long as James production stays somewhere close to last year's numbers. I say BK should offer James the same contract as Cassell and maybe throw in an extra year since his other serious suitors (Dallas and Houston) can only offer their mid-level. If we get James and maybe another servicable big man and a 1st round draft pick for Al then I think we would have had a GREAT offseason and we should in contention for a playoff spot next year.
  24. Any deal with Indiana would have to include a 3rd team willing to give us a PG or big man or a 2007 1st round draft pick. Won't happen IMO.
  25. Quote: Bullshit! The best way to rebuild a team is by taking a long term approach, not some damn quick fix approach that never works. Look at the Chicago Bulls. They were patient and built from within. They didn't go out wrecking their salary cap by making stupid ass trades with the idea that this was the move that would put them over the top. Now, they are one of the top young teams in the league and have a very bright future. Amen! Let's hope that we can add a couple of solid pieces through the draft and FA and then watch the team grow up some more next year and challenge for the 8th playoff spot.
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