Hawks not dead(yet)

[WraithSentinel]

Hawks not dead (yet)

By Terence Moore | Monday, February 27, 2006, 10:18 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Terence Moore

Hawks not dead (yet)

They should have traded a guy that they still have. The old-school coach often clashes with the knuckleheads in his locker room with hip-hop attitudes. Their starting center was third on the depth chart for somebody else. They haven’t a point guard, but only because they refused to snatch a nice one in the draft. An estranged owner is threatening to spank his slew of colleagues in courts. Plus, folks come to their games with invisible skin.

Not only that, they spent most of the season declining to use a creaky but competent point guard for unspecified reasons. When they finally decided to fire the poor dude, they did so when they needed anybody who could breathe on what was a short-handed roster.

What a mess, or is that redundant when you’re talking about the Hawks?

Anyway, since we’re in the midst of another forgettable NBA season around town, I didn’t come to a mostly empty Philips Arena on Monday to praise a franchise that still spends most of its time looking more lost than found. Even so, before I could bury it, somebody kept snatching the shovel from my hands.

Somebody named Michael Gearon Sr., among the hidden men of wisdom in Atlanta sports history. Once, he was a Hawks president during their building years toward prominence in the 1980s. Now he is among those colleagues of Steve Belkin, the estranged owner who is trying to win a bundle during his divorce from what was a nine-person marriage.

“We’re all impatient. We’re all basketball fans,” said Gearon, before adding with a chuckle, “And we’re all looking at each other at times and saying, ‘How could we possibly lose THAT game?” Then Gearon turned serious, adding, “But I think that we all see that we’ve made great strides by bringing in a substantial number of exceptional young players. We are the youngest team in the NBA. Nobody’s delighted not to be winning more than we are, but Billy Knight (the Hawks’ general manager) only has been on the job (two years), and you have to remember he was starting at ground zero.”

I remember. We all remember the dark days of Pete Babcock (Isaiah Rider, Priest Lauderdale, Ed Gray, Cal Bowdler) that set the foundation for the Hawks’ current stretch of seven consecutive years without a trip to the playoffs. It’s just that blowing up that foundation is the easiest of the two difficult tasks for Knight. The hardest task is constructing a team that is consistently decent beyond just a tease.

So what if the Hawks beat Indiana thrice, along with shocking Detroit, San Antonio and Cleveland? They also spent Monday night with much of that youth giving New Jersey fits, and the Nets lead the Atlantic Division. In the end, the two Joshes (Smith and Childress) nailed enough clutch shots down the stretch to send the Hawks to a 104-102 thriller in overtime.

Shaky teams do such things. That’s because solid teams have a tendency to take shaky teams for granted. That’s also because shaky teams have a tendency to play out of their minds against solid teams.

“Yeah, but if you look at the Braves during the year before they became pennant contenders, I don’t think they were as far advanced as we are, but all of a sudden their young talent began to have an impact,” said Gearon, of the Braves going from losing 97 games in 1990 to their current string of 14 consecutive division titles. “They got one or two pieces to help their youth, and all of a sudden, the transformation was there. We’re very much analogous to that development of the Braves.”

Uh, well, hmmm. The Braves never had their equivalent to Al Harrington, the Hawks’ veteran forward in the last year of his contract. He should have been moved long ago to give talented rookie Marvin Williams more time to grow. Braves manager Bobby Cox is old school, too, but unlike the Hawks’ Mike Woodson, in his second year as a head coach, Cox has the credentials to make the knuckleheads not even start whining. Except for a shaky bullpen, the Braves rarely are without pieces they need in their lineup, and they haven’t a Steve Belkin.

That said, although it is easier to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq than for even the owners to pry Knight’s exact game plan for the Hawks from his lips, Gearon says all is well with Knight acquiring people and Woodson coaching them. Since I trust Gearon, I’ll put the shovel away.

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl...s_not_dead.html

[Diesel]

They gave up on the Hawks 12 weeks ago.

[Lascar78]

I must have missed the part where he talked about us making the playoffs this year. Hmmm, could you point it out?

I saw things about us being winners next year, which is what I've been saying all along.

Only a true fool thought we could make the postseason this year. Especially after the 2-16 start.

[exodus]

I would rather be a fan of Lue than a fan of Isiah. After all Lue plays on the Hawks while Isiah is in New York and is setting a standard for GM stupidity that may never again be reached.

Isiah is completely out of touch with reality,which is probably why you feel such a strong kinship with him.

[Plainview1981]

Yeah, but one thing he has got to remember... The Hawks and Braves playoffs often ended in the same fashion... Underachieving.

Also, he shouldn't compare basketball at all to something that's barely a real sport... The MLB.

[DJlaysitup]

Quote:

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They gave up on the Hawks 12 weeks ago.

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Yeah...I've lost a little respect for the AJC Hawks coverage recently. They are all over the place and very wishy-washy. Whether or not there was any truth to the Vescey article, the AJC came across like "how dare they!"

Methinks they protest too much. That's not to bring that old story up again, only to try and point out what I think is a lazy relationship between the hometown paper and the hometown team. Of course the 2-16 start didn't help.

Sekou seems to be keeping at it - but their columnists bounce all over the place.

[Plainview1981]

btw, Chris Paul is starting to get overrated.

[Diesel]

Quote:

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I would rather be a fan of Lue than a fan of Isiah.

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Too bad you can't be a fan of a real hall of famer who took his team to and won championships. Lue is a Kobe/Shaq buttcrack rider.

You can keep your Luelove my friend.

[exodus]

i thought Isiah was a great player. As a GM he is taking ineptitude to heretofore unseen heights. He is the butt of jokes across the nation.

It is pretty comical that you believe there is some kind of logic to his madness. Maybe you see a bit of yourself in his decision making.

[Diesel]

No sir.

I think that he drafts better than any GM in the league. I think he makes bad trades. However, from a trade perspective, Isiah cannot demolish the Knicks by keeping ending contracts. So he will always get talented throw aways to try to nurse back.

However, look over his draft records.

Camby, Stoudamire (ROY), Tmac, Ariza (#44), Frye, Lee (#30), Robinson, Thompson.

These are the guys that Isiah has drafted. He knows talent. Can you point to a GM that drafts better than Isiah without having the luxury of being #1 or #2 picks?? I doubt it.

Notice the trades Isiah made as GM of the Raptors? Not many. I think he traded BJ Becuase BJ was acting like a Bitch about playing for an expansion team and that's it. I think it was BJ for Blue Edwards.

However, something you have yet to grasp is that NO GM of NY can afford to start over. Those fans pay many times more for good seats than the average Hawks fans. It's like $500 to $5000. Therefore, a Knicks fan will not tolerate a talentless Knicks team.

If you look at where the Knicks are right now.

They have a proven Coach.

They have strong young players.

They have trading material.

What's the problem?

Yes, they have the highest payroll, but NY will NEVER not have the highest Payroll.

[exodus]

Quote:

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but NY will

NEVER not

have the highest Payroll.

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Don't let your old English teacher hear you talking like that.

Having the highest payroll by a mile and having the worst record is the ultimate failure for a GM.

[AHF]

The Spurs GM has drafted as well as Isiah landing players like Parker, Ginobili, Duncan, etc. in a variety of picks.

Isiah has a good eye for talent. He would make an ideal scout. You just can't give him control of your team, though.

[DrReality]

Terrence Moore. Makes a living criticizing everyone.

My grandmother used to have a saying: "They wouldn't be happy if you gave them the world and put a fence around it."

[Diesel]

If you take Duncan off the table because he was a 1st overall.. What exactly have the Spurs done that is comparable?

I give credit for Ginobili.

But nobody of the calibre of Tmac (#9).. Frye (#9)... Lee (#30)..

[Diesel]

Also.

You have to look at each situation differently.

Look over all the GMs that has handled the Knicks since Ewing. Which one of them has lowered the payroll?

It's funny.

When Isiah was in Toronto, he was basically fired because he wouldn't trade for Vets with large Salaries and he believed that the core of Tmac, Camby, Stoudamire would work it out eventually.

They called Tmac a flop, traded Camby for Oakley, and held on to Stoudamire for another year.

However, the team that Isiah built would have been:

Stoudamire, Tmac, Carter, Camby, and some C.

[AHF]

Quote:

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If you take Duncan off the table because he was a 1st overall.. What exactly have the Spurs done that is comparable?

I give credit for Ginobili.

But nobody of the calibre of Tmac (#9).. Frye (#9)... Lee (#30)..

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If you take Duncan off the table because he was too high a selection how can give credit to lottery selections like TMac and Frye when San Antonio only picked at the end of the first round each year? More fundamentally, how can you complain that the Spurs haven't gotten equal talent picking at something like the 27th spot in the first round compared to picking at the 9th spot in the first round?

Tony Parker definitely compares favorably to Lee in terms of late first round talents.

Ginobili is the calibre of Frye as well without the benefit of a lottery pick.

[Duff_Man]

Quote:

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They have a proven Coach.

They have strong young players.

They have trading material.

What's the problem?

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The problem is that they have pretty much set the table with 10 untradeable contracts, a coach that may quit after this year, one young player in his first year, an overweight, lazy young center with a heart problem, and the biggest collection of malcontents in the league.

And the biggest problem is that not only are they the worst team in the NBA BY FAR, but they are now a running joke league-wide. I am not sure how someone cannot look at the moves he has made and laugh out loud. Funny that he tried to take a "scouting trip" overseas to hide from the media.

Unless Rose, Marbury, and Francis come off the books, they are screwed. I think it is sweet that he drafts well, but unless he can draft an entire roster in one season, he's gotta get fired.

[Diesel]

Lee was a 30th pick.

Ariza was a 44th pick.

Thompson was picked 50 something.

All of these guys have stuck...

I see your point about Frye and Tmac and Stoudamire... However, you also have to consider that these were not picks that were widely popular at the time.

People here hissed and booed like Gay Lovers when Frye was picked by NY.

People criticized Zeke for taking Stoudamire over Ed O'Bannon.

There was a lot of pissing and moaning after Tmac... and that basically got Isiah put out of Toronto.. that and the fact that he wasn't allowed to become a part owner.

[drzachary]

Quote:

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People here hissed and booed like Gay Lovers when Frye was picked by NY.

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Is there something intrinsic to homosexuality that causes lots of hissing and booing?

I'm confused.

[er9dverk]

yeah doc. it mostly comes from guys who have doubts about themselves.