"Instant Gratification"

[KB21]

You just showed your lack of understanding when it comes to building a team. Turnarounds don't happen that fast in reality.

This team should not be any closer to .500 than what they currently are. This team will win between 25-30 games, which shows progress from the previous season. I never expected the team to do anything more than that, but I'm not looking for instant gratification. I'm looking for what we will be long term, and the future of Atlanta Hawks basketball is very bright.

[Lascar78]

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Considering that the team was gutted

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less than 2 years ago.

[Diesel]

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You just showed your lack of understanding when it comes to building a team. Turnarounds don't happen that fast in reality.

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In 2000-2001 Detroit was a 32-50 team. They had just traded Hill for Wallace/Atkins/1st and they were one of the worst teams playing in the east... They finished 10th ahead of the Cavs, HAWKS, Wizards, and Bulls.

In 2001-2002 Detroit wpon 50 games and was second ranked in the east behind NJ.

In 2002-2003 Detroit won 50 games and was 1st ranked in the East.

Another example...

last year, N.O. was 18-64 and last in the West.

This year, N.O. is 28-23 and currently 7th in the West..

Your thought that turnaround has to take a long time... is BS. It depends on what kind of moves you make.

If we would have picked Paul, there is no doubt in my mind that we would be much better than we are now.

[KB21]

This is coming from a guy that actually think Isiah Thomas is making good moves as a GM. Put this in perspective. You live in another world where only your own agenda is pushed.

I live in reality.

[Watchman]

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I'm looking for what we will be long term, and the future of Atlanta Hawks basketball is very bright.

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On what do you base this conclusion about the Hawks' future. We look like what we are: a bargain basement team full of 6'8" kids, with no balance between veterans and youth. The players we drafted last year have not improved, and if anything, declined. What looks so bright about that to you?

"Teams" are not constructed of 12 small forwards.

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Turnarounds don't happen that fast in reality.

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Uh, see Denver, Phoenix, Memphis, et al. The bottom line is, it does happen, just not for us because our front office continues to be clueless.

[macdaddy]

Going from a 32 win team to a 50 win team is not the same as taking a 13 win team to a 50 win team.

NO has a great turn around but in addition to a great draft pick they have a coach who has taken a team to the finals. So on the one hand I agree that you can turn things around with the right choices but going from 13 wins to the playoffs in a year would be very rare.

If we come in close to 30 wins then I think that shows good improvement for a team this young. If you can't see that we are a much better team this year than last then I wonder why you're even watching.

[Watchman]

maddening inconsistency? I watch games, do you? We squeak out a good win against Detroit, then suck against two of the worst teams in the league. If the losses had even been close, it would have been understandable, but they weren't even close.

[macdaddy]

Oh yeah. I've noticed. and I hate it too. I'm not making the case that we are a good team. Just that we are improving. I think we could be a lot better with a different coach.

But last year we almost never even 'squeaked out' a win against even a bad team and this year we've beaten good teams several times. We've had back to back wins. And we've done this with Chill, Smoove, Marvin, Salim, Ivey playing big minutes. So our team has improved and we are playing our draft picks more. So the plan is working. Just slower than fans would like.

[Diesel]

This from a guy who actually says that Marvin is better than MJ (Micheal Jordan)???

If you want to throw stones KB, your reputation is turnished enough behind your BK love that we can throw them all day Long and my house won't fall.

If you want to look at the facts of the matter, then we can do that too.

[Diesel]

Turnaround rates are based on the quality of moves you make not on how much time you wait.

We have been waiting 8 yrs for our turn around and it didn't happen with JT. It didn't happen with Reef. It didn't happen with Big Dog. It didn't happen with Walker and it hasn't happened with JJ.

It's about the quality of the moves we make. Ask New Orleans..

[Lascar78]

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If you want to throw stones KB, your reputation is turnished enough behind your BK love that we can throw them all day Long and my house won't fall.

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Maybe it's just me but I'm picturing two guys in glass houses each throwing stones at each other

[Final_quest]

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Maybe it's just me but I'm picturing two guys in glass houses each throwing stones at each other

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It's not just you. That's why I call KB the bizarro Diesel, and have actually wondered if they are the same person.

To get back on topic. Don't teams usually turn around dramatically in one season when they draft a stud?

That's why I said previously that the Hawks have not had blue print problems as much as draft day opportunity problems.

I think we have to stick with our blue print, still.

[Dejay]

I have to agree with you there regarding Chris Paul. Imagine if the Hawks had taken him instead of Marvin Williams. He has virtually taken the Hornets to contending for the playoffs single-handedly; what would he have done with this team of 'potential', especially with JJ and Al riding shotgun in the lineup, in the EAST? You could probably shave off 12-15 losses from the register right now. We would be arguing about other things like why he didn't make the All-Star team, which playoff seed we'll end up with, why we will or will not have homecourt advantage, etc. instead of another miserable season.

I also agree that a turnaround doesn't take all that long if, and ONLY if, your front office truly knows what its doing. There is a difference between how teams like the Pistons do business and how the 'usual suspects' (i.e. Warriors, Hawks, Clippers of old) do it.

As far as 'instant gratification', I'm all for it. We all have been long-time Hawk fans, with most of us having watched John Drew's cocaine addiction, Nique getting the Atlas award for carrying the franchise on his back, and Mookie, Smitty, Deke, JT, Alan Henderson deciding which suit to wear to the game, etc. And for our loyalty to this franchise, when will our payoff arrive? Even Falcon fans know what a championship game looks like. There's nothing wrong with simply asking when will the turnaround happen, regardless of which 'regime' was in control. Simply writing off the other five seasons prior to BK's arrival doesn't hold water to anyone that bought a ticket or watched one second of Hawks basketball during that time.

GAME, SET, MATCH.

[Nicholasp27]

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Simply writing off the other five seasons prior to BK's arrival doesn't hold water to anyone that bought a ticket or watched one second of Hawks basketball during that time.

GAME, SET, MATCH.

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obviously it does, as many that 'bought a ticket or watched one second of hawks basketball during that time' do write of the 5 seasons prior to bk's arrival

we aren't happy about them, but they are what they are; babcock is gone and we now have a gm with a blueprint who has done a lot in 24 months of rebuilding

[frosgrim]

One of the other interesting things about NBA history is that outside of Shaq, has any team signed a free agent and that FA be the center piece a championship? I can't think of one other than Shaq, and that was a situation where Orlando could have given him the entire Magic Kingdom and Shaq still would have gone to LA.

The point is that in the NBA you build teams via the draft and then trades. But you have to build up a talent base via the draft first and then progress from there. The last Hawk to make an all star team that was drafted by the Hawks was Kevin Willis, if that isn't an indigment against the prior GM then I don't know what is.

Does BK have a plan, seems like its build through the draft and get a piece via FA when needed. Do I like the wait, not particularly, but I like the team direction better under BK than under Babs.

[Watchman]

Phoenix improved greatly in one season. They signed a free agent point guard. Not Shaq. All I'm saying is "where's the blueprint" that everyone keeps talking about? It certainly isn't very apparent to me. It appears to be win by having 12 6'8" guys. Not much of a blueprint if you ask me.

[tmac13]

Detroit is pretty much completely built through trades and free agent signings..Prince is the only starter that came through the draft...Actually the what has not happened, at least not in recent memory, is a team being ripped apart, purposely putting a bad team on the floor hoping for lottery picks, that has come back to win anything...BK's only plan is to lose and be in the lottery..Thats the old Clippers plan that never worked.