vdunkndunk

About Schröder, though - don't forget that it wasn't just Hawks fans hyping him up during summer league; he was getting major love from national writers and scouts. So I think Teague is clearly better right now than Schröder, but Schröder has a legit chance to be a really good player down the road.

This new information is somewhat encouraging: “Last night, Atlanta Hawks head basketball coach Michael Budenholzer was stopped by a Georgia State Patrol DUI Task Force officer for a broken taillight. He was stopped solely for an equipment violation and committed no traffic offenses. The trooper demanded that he submit to a breathalyzer, and when Coach Budenholzer asked to consult with an attorney first, he was immediately arrested and charged with DUI. While at the jail, after consulting with an attorney by telephone, he immediately volunteered to take both a breathalyzer and also requested that a blood alcohol test be performed. His request for testing was refused. Immediately upon his release on bond, Coach Budenholzer went directly to Piedmont Hospital where his blood was tested at the earliest opportunity, albeit several hours after his arrest. The official report from the hospital blood test revealed that his blood alcohol concentration was less than .01, well below the legal limit of .08. Coach Budenholzer has no prior criminal record and entered a plea of Not Guilty to all charges this morning in the Atlanta Municipal Court. “I take my role as a leader very seriously and hold myself to a high standard. I apologize to the fans and to the Hawks organization for any negative attention this incident has brought upon my family and the organization while the legal process evolves and I contest these misdemeanor charges,” said Coach Budenholzer.” http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/basketball/budenholzer-issues-statement-following-dui-arrest/nZgKs/

I was shocked to see Beasley's career PER numbers the other day -- If I remember right, he started off at 17 and then went consistently down every single year until last season he was at 10 or so. Sort of the opposite of what you'd like to see in terms of player development.

I totally agree about starting Carroll. I don't really care if Korver or Jenkins start with him, but I think we need a floor spacer and a defender on the wing in our starting lineup. Starting Korver and Jenkins together just doesn't seem like the answer to me.

I could have sworn I heard a commercial for the Hawks on 92.9 The Game that called Phillips Arena "The Skill Factory." Anyone else hear that recently?

I think our Hawk with the outstretched wings looks stupid and dated. I'd like to see it replaced with the pacman Hawk too, and then we could keep that other side-profile Hawk they use.

My thought is that Jennings and Smoove in the same lineup spells disaster. So basically, I think you've said it all.

I'd love to see him come over and run with Schröder. They already seemed to have good chemistry, so that'd be great to have those guys come off the bench and get some of those lobs going.

If we could get a reasonably healthy Oden who could produce like he did before he got hurt, we'd actually be a pretty dangerous team - we'd just need to find one more wing out there somewhere. I'm always intrigued by this kind of stuff, even though it seems pretty unlikely that he'll ever stay healthy.

Does anyone know if bringing Bebe over this year is a possibility from a contractual standpoint? I thought he was having trouble getting FIBA clearance or that he had a huge buyout or something like that, but I might be wrong.

That's the way I hope it goes down - I'd like to watch that team this year.

In that Horford picture, I love how that kid is actually going up with Al trying to block his shot. No fear in that kid - too bad he's 4'11 instead of 6'11; we could use a guy with that kind of attitude.

A front court of Horford, Millsap, Brand, Ivan, Scott, and Muscala would be fairly interesting. We'd be short, but we'd also have a lot of skill, hustle, and toughness.

48 games

Does "treadmill" refer to the process of taking a capped-out playoff team and, in one year, turning it into a flexible playoff team that will have $15 million in cap space next year?

That's pretty much the way I see it. Are we championship contenders this year? No, but I think we'll make the playoffs, we'll be at least as good or better than last season, and we'll be a lot of fun to watch. And we now how flexibility to keep getting better - no odious longterm contracts, we've got cap space, etc. If we draft well, make smart trades, and make smart signings we'll put ourselves in a good position to take advantage of any opportunities that may arise. And blowing things up and starting over in hopes of getting a top 3 pick just isn't an appetizing option for me, especially because our chances of winning a championship that way aren't any better than doing it the way we seem to be going, at least in my opinion.

I think Schröder will be throwing some lobs to Al on a regular basis - I'm actually getting more and more excited about watching this team this year - for the last 2 or 3 years I was barely watching the Hawks because everything was always the same. I know GMs can't think like this, but I'm in the mood for some change for change's sake.

Dennis looked worlds better on D tonight than he did in the first game - crazy that he improved that much. Also I love the way he runs the offense; very excited about him. Bebe needs to get in better position and give more consistent effort on D. Muscala showed some good stuff tonight, too - nice jumpshot and he blocked some shots. Overall I'm most excited about Scroeder.

To me, this was a solid offseason - I'd give it a B. First of all, I think we've got a playoff team that will be fun to watch this year and will, I think, be at least as competitive as any of our last six playoff teams - except we also have cap space and future flexibility, something we haven't had in a long time. And the Millsap signing is very underrated, in my opinion. Also, we have a new coach who wants to play the kind of basketball I like to watch, and we're building a roster that suits him and gives him a chance to have success and build a culture. It seems like some people would only be happy if (a) we'd gotten Paul and Howard; or (b) we'd torn the roster up and started from scratch. But Paul and Howard were always a longshot, and tanking is fraught with peril - you have to dump everyone decent, have the pingpong balls bounce your way, have your pick work out, and then you have to rebuild a new roster around that pick. The Blazers, for instance, landed the most coveted pick since Lebron - viz., Greg Oden - and how'd that work out for them? And we got the 3rd pick in that draft, which was supposed to have two surefire superstars at the top, but it wasn't really a franchise changer. And what about Marvin's draft? We tanked, got the second pick, took a guy with supposed superstar potential, and we know how that worked out. But what if we'd picked Deron Williams or Chris Paul? Those guys both left the teams that drafted them, and their teams didn't have much more playoff success than we did over those same years. Yeah, Duncan worked out for San Antonio and Durant worked out for the Thunder, but there are plenty of teams that have been stuck in the lottery for years now. So personally, I'd rather watch a good team compete and play the right way and preserve cap space and flexibility and see if we can't build through smart trades, smart signings, and smart draft picks.

I loved Bebe's offensive game in terms of running the floor, rolling to the basket, finishing lobs, and throwing nice passes from the high post. He doesn't seem to really have any post moves, but overall he was fun to watch on offense. His board work was just okay - he's so long that he got some rebounds most people couldn't have gotten just by tipping it to himself a few times, and he was able to bring down some boards in traffic - but he got steamrolled a few times when dudes boxed him out. On defense he also got steamrolled a few times when he was trying to hold his defensive position in the post; and while he bothered some shots, there were a few times where I felt like he could have given more effort. Overall, if he can gain some size and strength and maybe a jumpshot I could see him being a very good role player.

Other options: Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Speedy Claxton, Kenny Anderson, Acie Law, or maybe Royal Ivy.

If Teague goes to the Bucks I'd guess there's still a chance we could sign either Ellis or Jennings, just not in a sing-and-trade. Otherwise I'm guessing we go with Schröder and Shelvin Mack and maybe Mo Williams or some other veteran, or maybe make some kind of trade.

DJ did say it was a rumor from the beginning - I just hope (a) we ultimately get Bynum; and (b) he's actually able to play on those knees.

I wonder if we might try to get that Greek SF thrown into the mix, the one who was supposed to be a poor-man's Kevin Durant. I remember there were a lot of rumors that the Hawks had him as their top prospect for this year's draft, but the Bucks drafted him at 15 or somewhere around there.

First, I hope the Ellis rumor isn't true. Second, if it is true, I wonder if they're looking at a Teague-for-Ellis trade, since Larry Drew reportedly wants Teague. Personally, if we did get Ellis I'd prefer to see him at SG.