Seano

Well if that's really how you view the world, then I don't know what else to tell you other than I'm sorry for you. I really mean that. I would imagine it must feel terribly lonely to feel so different from everyone else.

It's just fascinating to me, the interaction on this message board. Diesel is a character, and so you are you. I don't mean that negatively towards either of you, in fact I'm pretty fond of both of you as far as that goes- and I have no doubt that you're both good guys. I hope you never allow your disagreements to become personal.

Ok, so you see yourself as being somehow superior- with much of humanity just being drones unable to think for themselves? But you have the capacity to see beyond that, right?

Is that really how you see the world?

Well you're just as bad, and you're just as ego-ridden as he is.

I have a feeling that if we could lock away the two of you together in a room for all eternity, you'd still be arguing the same old stuff, neither listening to what the other had to say, until the end of days.

Who's "You guys"? I'm me, I'm Sean, I hold my own opinions. I'm not part of some monolithic "them".

Do you always see the world in such black and white terms?

LOL. Dude, you are so ego-ridden. Do you ever step outside yourself and take a look? Do you really believe and take seriously all the nonsense that you spout? Do you ever think to yourself, "Man am I a windbag".

I believe that you have a sense of humor, and thus find it hard to believe that you really take yourself all that seriously- but maybe I'm wrong and maybe you do.

In that case, man....get a grip.

Diesel, your sarcasm and facetiousness are growing wearisome.

I'm not sure about his salary either, but I know he's making a lot. We didn't seem to show any interest whatsoever in going after him when he was a UFA this past summer, so take that lack of interest for whatever it's worth.

I dunno about Simien or Doleac, but I'd almost take whatever we could get for Delk- since we're not playing him anyways and apparently Woodson has no plans to, for whatever reason.

So no point in keeping him if you ain't gonna use him. Might as well get however much we can get, even if just a 2nd round pick.

I'd like to see Seattle take it, but I'm putting my money on the Burgh. To me they're just the more impressive team all the way around, and they are hotter than hell right now. They beat three of the toughest teams in the league on the road in order to make it to Detroit, and I just read where the 6 AFC playoff teams had a 20-4 record against the NFC this season, while the 6 NFC playoff teams went 9-11 against the AFC.

And coupled with Seattle's extremely weak schedule, and their somewhat lame and entirely gassed playoff opponents- it's impossible to tell how good they actually are.

So I am feeling very, very strongly that Pittsburgh's gonna win this.

^^^^^

But if they trade for him now- they're also getting his Bird Rights, which would give that team a huge leg-up over all the competition as far as re-signing him.

Hey Heywood , welcome to the board. Always nice to see more Hawks fans. Sometimes I almost feel like we are a dying breed.

I'm not going to bash Al based on one poor game or even a string of them (he really hasn't been all that great for the past month or so), mainly based on the fact that he was our best player for all of last season, and really the only guy we could rely on to score points for us. So for that I'm grateful to him, but IMO it's pretty clear that at this point he probably needs to go for a whole variety of reasons- not the least of which are his impending UFA status and the fact that he should still be a pretty valuable trading chip, and he's frankly expendable. I mean really, we're not going to the playoffs irregardless of whether we trade him or not- so I don't see much point in keeping him provided we can get a good player in return (the bold emphasis is for Diesel's sake). And some of Al's comments this season, specifically regarding Denver and Chicago, have bothered me, a lot. Those comments almost smacked of disloyalty, or at least of some seriously skewed priorities. IMO you don't talk about sh*t like that while you're under contract and being paid very, very well by your current team. That's wrong, and it really bothers me.

And as far as what we could get in trade, I have no idea- but I know what I don't want. I don't want garbage players, I don't want expiring contracts, I don't want picks- we've got more than enough youngsters on this team as it is. If we can get a good big man or point guard, or at least players in those positions with the real potential of being good, then obviously you've gotta go for that.

I wasn't referring to this post in general, but your posts overall and your general demeanor on this board. I mean here we just won our third game in a row, for the first time in almost two years- and here you are posting an entirely unrealistic trade that will never happen? It just strikes me as very, very strange.

And Okafor's bad back will unfortunately always be a potential problem for him. The thing about having a bad back is that it almost never goes away, and there is usually no cure for it- even with something as drastic as back surgery. Usually the most you can do is try and minimize the discomfort as much as possible, pray not to aggravate it, and hope for the best.

Diesel, you are officially wacky.

Wow, almost two years. Time to get this monkey off our back, and a nice little winning streak would do wonders for the confidence level of this young team IMO.

But being a Hawks fan and thereby being somewhat fatalistic, I'm not gonna hold my breath- but as the politicians would say, I am cautiously optimistic.

I wonder when the last time is we won three in a row? I would wager that it's been awhile. Let's do it!

Yeah, I remember that.

Interestingly enough, Monta Ellis was the guy we were projected to draft with our 2nd round pick this past draft by I believe NBAdraft.net- the pick we ended up using on Salim. I was just looking at that the other night, their mock for the 2005 draft.

He is a skinny little thing, but man he can shoot- and once he fills out he's got a chance to be a player. With Salim and Monta, I believe we'd have two of the best pure shooters in the NBA.

Diesel, glad to see you've stopped bashing and finally decided to come around on Marvin. I figured you eventually would.

Man.....it seems like we just have the misfortune to be historically terrible in years when there's not a consensus #1 player who is clearly head and shoulders above everyone else.

Therefore, it's more of rolling the dice, crossing your fingers, and hoping you picked the right guy.

Congrats to JJ, and may this just be the first of many to come.

Ok, well I believe at this point you're just being foolish and arguing simply for the sake of argument, so I guess you'll have to wait for Diesel to come back online in order to get your need for conflict filled- cause I got neither the time nor the inclination to do so.

No, it's a very simple and straightforward equation. You've been in the league for 5 years, that makes you a vet. 5 years = veteran player.

I'm not sure what his points per game 3 years ago has to do with it?

I don't feel it's a huge deal either way, and Lebron has never struck me as being particularly arrogant- in fact he seems to have his head on his shoulders and feet on the ground pretty well despite all the hype and hoopla surrounding him.

I really doubt he meant it in a derogatory or negative way. If he doesn't want to participate, then fine- don't participate. No biggie to me, but it is indicative to me of the loss of luster that the Slam Dunk competition has suffered over the years. It used to be like this star-studded, huge deal back in the day- and the best and most exciting players in the league wanted to participate. It's fallen a long ways from the days when you'd see players like Dominique, Spud, Kenny Walker, Larry Nance and Shawn Kemp participating in the competition.