andycard69

The Eagles D is full of holes. They have big name players but most are past their primes. If they want to try and stop the run and play 8-9 in the box Vick will torch them throwing. The Eagles are no TB. On O I think the Eagles will have trouble moving the ball. They had trouble with a very bad D in Min.

I think Knight is trying to build a team more in the Suns mold than the traditional mold. Al at PF works in that kind of system. We will be in a good position to fill the C spot this summer since there really arent any teams with cap money who dont have to resign their own players. Cle has money but they have to resign Z and Sea does as well but they have Ray to resign. Lets say that we let Walker go and spend our money to sign Swift and maybe Redd, even if we have to overpay. We then use our draft pick to get a PG and if the one we want isnt there when we pick then trade down a few spots and get another one. I think the key with this plan would be Chill, Smoove and Al working together over the summer to get comfortable with each other. Those 3 players are our future and we should be able to keep them together for a long time.

I personally like Walker and what he can bring to the table. However Im sure everyone can agree he isnt the type of player who can be "The Man". He is at his best when he is the co-star or the side-kick. What does this mean for the Hawks? I think it means that he will not be a part of the future for this team. Look at the direction the team is going, young and athletic players who run. Walker isnt old by anymeans but he is no longer a spring chicken either. I think Al is the future at PF, Smoove is the SF of the future and Chill will be the SG. Add someone like Swift and draft a PG and we are starting to look like the Suns. Walker is a halfcourt player and there is nothing wrong with that its just that already this team is at its best when they run. I say trade Walker for what you can get for him or just let him walk at the end of the year. The best contract I could see offering him is 3 yr and $21 mil.

I think Smoove can be a SF and that would allow him to use his athletic ability to his advantage. If we sign Redd, get a PG who can run the offense and shoot, finally sign a young C even if they are undersized and this team looks good. So the plan should be sign Redd, Lue, and someone like Swift and draft a PG

That is why we should dump Delk and sign Redd in the offseason.

Why keep Delk for one more year if he will get us a first or a young talented player? Sure he is instant O but neither this year or next will we be competing for the champ so why not get another peice of the future?

PG: KA- He is done as an NBA player and I think he is acting more like a coach to the younger players now and will likely not be around at the end of the year. Lou- Great pickup. I would like to see him brought back next year to mentor our rookie PG and he is an effective floor leader. Ivey- A second round pick all the way. He shows flashes but doesnt seem able to put it all together. I wouldnt mind bringing him back next year as a third PG. SG: Chill- Looks like he was a reach at 6 but not a bust. He seems to have an all around game where he will have good stats but not anything great. A keeper and a valuable peice to a team but more of a semi-star player. Diaw- In the dog house until he can learn to pull the trigger. He was a decent pickup for a late first and is a serviceable player who can be a BU for 3 positions. I dont know what his future hold but its very possible he could be trade bait. Delk- He si a good scorer and I would really like to see him moved for a young guy or draft picks. I heard Denver was looking for a SG who could score... SF: J-Smoove- I looks like he and Chill were drafted in reverse order. If he continues to work on his game and stays healthy he will be a super star in the NBA. AH- He is playing out of position and it shows. I think given a chance at PF his game would really take off. As for this year he is playing better as he relaxes and most importantly he is taking the rookies under his wings and showing them how to be men. I think he is a keeper. PF: Walker- He is a nice one year rental. I hope that we can trade him for some young talent and or draft picks. I dont see him being back next year unless its for a huge discount like in the 7 mil range. C: Collier- He is not a starting center, PERIOD! Last year looks like it was flash in the pan. Drob- He is a quality BU C and I hope that he will be back next year unless we can get a first for him. Willis- He is just what we thought an effective BU C in small doses. He is doing exactly what we signed him to do. Coaching: I think that overall they have done a good job. People shouldn't have expected too much from this team considering all the new players and young talent. The team is slowly getting better so they are doing their jobs. Overall we are not winning but I see a lot of progress. Our young players are getting better and we are becoming competive on a much more consistant basis, we just need to lean how to close out games and hold onto leads. We still need more talent esp at the C and PG spots but that can be helped next year via FA and the Draft. Post your remarks on what you think about the Hawks so far.

He is an idiot. Thats all there is to say.

Why not trade Delk to Denver for one of their big men? I would send Delk and Diaw to Den for Nene and a first or second round pick. It would be good for us in that it would give us a big man to work with and Den would get a couple of SGs that they need badly.

He projects to SF. If you think about it Al is more of a PF and Chill will be a good SG but not a great one. If we can find an athletic big man who can run has decent O skills and is a glass monster then that will be a set position and this team will need a pass first PG who can knock down the outside shot.

Um we gave up a 2nd rd pick for Drob and he is worth that much. As for Barry we got a PG who is better than what we have now. If we dont like Lue then we dump him at the end of the season. Barry wasnt giving the team anything and Lue might give us something.

LA pulled out of the trade for good reason they were getting screwed. They would have given up a lot and gotten a couple of prospects and major downgrades in the pen and starting pitching.

They got a good deal Cruz is a releif pitcher who is good for a couple of innings, Thomas might have been flash in the pan for one year esp after he trailed off last year, and we had to give up Meyer.

I think the answer will be to play Diaw more at the point I would love to see a lineup of Diaw/Smoove/Al/Antoine/Peja I think it could cause some real problems in short spurts.

No you dont and they cant go on IR either they will be down to no more than 9 players for the next 25 games plus their IR is already full.

I feel that the fan was out of place in throwing the cup of beer but its really not that uncommon for players to have stuff thrown at them. In Phil its common for fans to throw batteries at baseball and football games. I could understand the reaction of the Pacers more if it had been something more than a cup of beer. What should have happened is that the staff and players went to the locker room ASAP. I think that Artest has got to go for 1-3 months its not the first time he has been in trouble before and Jackson needs to go for about a month and Oneal needs to be gone for the season. You cannot just reach out and sucker punch a fan like that. As far as the fans go any of them that were fighting and that started it need to be brought up on assult charges and spend a little time in jail. Oh yeah Ben needs a couple of games for starting a fight on the court.

I mean why not trade him to a contending team at the deadline for some picks and young talent and then work to sign him again in the offseason if we decide that we want him around.

They will if NYY pick up almost all of his salary for next year. The Braves would then resign JD Drew and look for a new RF.

At least Hawks are working on their work-in-progress By Mark Bradley | Category: Hawks - NBA The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Let's not get carried away with the negativity. It's not as if we haven't seen the Hawks lose before. At least now they're losing in a different way, and there might actually come a night when they don't lose at all. "I'm not discouraged," Billy Knight said Tuesday. "Progress is never a straight line up. If it was, everybody would do it." Even by the Hawks' pedestrian standards, this season opened haltingly. Three consecutive road losses, none even the slightest bit close -- was this the promised Restart or the advent of four more years of misery? "Look," Knight said, "it's three games. What can you tell from three games?" Well, we could infer that these Hawks aren't apt to challenge for the NBA title, but we should have known that all along. At this early stage, results matter somewhat less than signs of actual progress. There weren't many of those on the Western swing, but how many road games should -- using Mike Woodson's description -- "a young team with a new coaching staff" have been expected to win out of the box? One? Any? A more meaningful measure was taken Tuesday. The Hawks staged their ballyhooed home opener against similarly winless Cleveland. Ninety minutes before tipoff, Woodson was as chipper as a coach whose career winning percentage stood at .000 could be. "I'm still looking to make the playoffs," he said. "We're trying to build something here, and if you take care of the home court, anything can happen on the road." Earlier in the day, he'd received a call from his old college coach. And what pearls of wisdom did Robert Montgomery Knight impart? "He told me he'd been watching some of our games," Woodson said. "He told me to hang in there, that it's a long season." And it is. And a franchise having gone as wrong as this one isn't about to right itself in even one long season. This is a process, as Knight -- Billy, not Bobby -- keeps stressing. Last winter he razed a roster. Now he's trying to build one, and building is exponentially harder. Already the Hawks have signaled their willingness to change, having cut Pig Miller and signed Jelani McCoy. No, that isn't the same as trading for Shaquille O'Neal, but it shows that these guys aren't asleep at the switch. "We've got some holes, some spots we've got to get filled," Woodson said. "We're constantly looking at the waiver wire. Nothing is status quo here. We've got to get better." Another Knight-ism: The Hawks must change the culture, not just the personnel. They must expect to win, which is a difficult trick if all you've known lately is losing. "You change [the culture] it by piecing pieces together," Woodson said. "You go along, you add a piece, and it's up to the coach to get them in place." The Hawks don't have nearly enough pieces, not for Mike Woodson or for Bobby Knight. They played 2/12 fairly good quarters before succumbing to reality and LeBron James on Tuesday. They wore down in the second half because their bench is too young, and their skilled forwards stopped scoring because the guards could offer nothing as a complement. You won't win many NBA games when your starting backcourt -- the aging Kenny Anderson and the hesitant Boris Diaw -- manages two baskets. Thus did 0-3 become 0-4, with no end in sight. But that doesn't mean all hope is gone one week into the Restart. With two minutes to play Tuesday, Woodson looked at Diaw and said, quietly but firmly, "You've got to shoot the ball." You can't ever score if you don't take a shot. You can't ever get better if you don't dare to fail. Billy Knight is daring enough and clever enough to make this work. He just needs more time.

Yes we got creamed, but stop freaking out. This team has played in a total of 9 games together and we got killed by a team that has played together for a year plus and that should make the playoffs. If the team is still playing like this at the end of next month then there is something wrong but judging this team and the players after one game against a very good team is just having unrealistic expectations we are taking the Denver approach it took them 3 years to turn it around and it will prob take us about the same amount of time.

He did shoot much more and got to the free throw line some its not much but it is more that he has done.

The officials aren't calling anything for the Hawks I mean we are getting mugged down low and no call but Pho gets every touch foul.

This season will be a good one to see what is there. We know that we will need to adress the PG and C positions at the end of the year. Now the questions are is Walker a long term asset or a one year loaner? Is Al the conerstone for the team or just a peice? Can one of the Josh's or Diaw step up and make a case for the SG position? Personally I think that Walker will be shipped out at the deadline but then be resigned in the offseason. Diaw will prob be traded at some point. Also look for Parker to be signed at the end of the year. If we can sign Parker and Walker and draft a C then this team will be in a good position. Mostly this will be a development and grading year. If the team gels and we get some development from our young players then the team might make the playoff but a lot would have to go right. We are soild at the PF and SF position but are weak elsewhere so who knows were the team will head. If we play hard and the players work to improve and learn then I will be happy.

Come on there are so many new people it is going to take a while to gel. This team has been playing together for what 3 weeks? Look at the olympic team it took them a longer time to start to play decent ball and they had more talent than any team in the NBA. I don't think that things will start to really come together until 20-30 games into the season. At that point if the same problems exist then concern will be justified.

Why would Chi want more backcourt players?