3-D's comments

[codyatl]

Did anyone hear what Dennis Scott said in an interview in Orlando the other night? He basically said that the Hawks made a mistake by not drafting Paul or for that matter Deron Williams. I was surprised to hear an employee say something like that. Interesting to see if he is retained next season.

[DrReality]

Glad to hear he's got the balls.

[SmooveTheFuture]

Yes I sure heard them he said the Hawks have 2 many players who are the same type of player that there is no room or minutes for these young players to blossom thats wats hurting the Hawks he says. He says that either 1 or 2 of these 4 guys must go Al Harrington , Marvin Williams, Josh Smith and Josh Childress. He said Al Harrington will most likely be gone next year I hope hes right. I totally agree with him we made a major major mistake in not taking one of the 3 stud PGS. Once AL leaves the spotlight is on Smith and Marvin to step up there games.

[tmac13]

Scott is exactly right..We have 4 or 5 true small forwards and no true power forwards..He is only repeating what many others around the league have already said..Remember the scouts in Sekou Smith's article last week that said the Hawks have the most enept roster in the entire NBA..We have alot of talent, but is is all at 2 positions, the shooting guard and small forward spots..

[Seano]

Sometimes I wonder if BK's just so arrogant that he thinks he can rewrite the way the game is played. I mean the traditional way (that of a floor lineup of point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center) has seemed to work just fine since Dr. James Naismith invented the game almost 150 years ago. But BK seems to favor something different, a floor lineup consisting mainly of swingmen of varying degrees of versatility. I believe that is his 'vision', in fact.

But, this isn't a chemistry set that you can experiment with at home, nor is it some hypothetical exercise you can kick around in your head. It's great to pursue a 'vision' and stuff, but in the meantime this is a professional basketball team that has lost lots and lots of games over the past 5 years or so. So maybe it's time to cut the experimentation and lose the hubris that makes him believe that he can or should change what has always worked before in basketball.

[Guest Walter]

I've tried to but haven't been able to say it as well.

BK is a MAD scientist. I cringe at the thought of him drafting for us. One white undersized center and 4 forwards or 5 forwards seems his ideal lineup. Unfortunately, there is skill duplication upon skill duplication in such a scenario (unless you can find several Diaws...oops we traded him!). In short, we would have only one way to win games (athleticism) and many ways to lose them (lack of a "true" Pg, lack of post defense, lack of back to the basket game, inability to control tempo, inability to play at variable tempos - i.e. in the playoffs).

We need not only positional versatility, we need skill diversity. You can't have both and of the two I would prefer and tradition favors the later.

W

[Traceman]

first began. Those are not "traditional" basketball posations. In the beginning, there were two "guards," two "fowards" and a Center. Generally speaking, both guards handled the ball and shot it well while playing primarily on the perimeter. The forwards were generally rebounders and interior scorers who could shoot it from midrange and the Center was the tall/big guy who played on the inside.

That said, I think the game evolved to have PGs, SGs, SFs and PFs for a reason and I think this team needs a more traditional PF and PG (not to mention a Center) to be successful. Even if we don't get starters at those positions, we need people who can come in and play those traditional roles when necessary. If BK acquires those things via draft and free agency, I think we will be a decent team next year. If he doesn't, we will likely struggle again.

[Gray Mule]

We, the Hawks, draft players. We don't draft robots.

We don't know how they will turn out. Looking back with

our 20/20 vision, we see what an impact player we missed

in the draft. Even dumb Gray Mule can see that.

Our player that we did draft, M.W., hasn't become a

super star, ala, L. James. We desperately wanted him

to grab this Hawks team and immediately carry it to

the glory of the playoffs, maybe even the championship.

We wanted it to happen RIGHT NOW! {Well, we can dream,

can't we!}

All of us complain, we have too much of one thing and

not nearly enough of the other. No all star PG, center

or P.F. We are overrun with the S.F. players.

After flushing the roster, much as you would a commode,

Hawks needed players - - Talent. Building a complete

N.B.A. team, starting from ground zero, which we have,

takes time. Sure, we missed the greatest point guard

ever to set foot on the hardwood. We know that. We

didn't know that he was THAT good when we were drafting.

Hawks now have some young talent. They, along with our

Head Coach, are making a lot of mistakes that veteran

players and coaches wouldn't make.

With all our problems and lack of position players,

we enter this off season expecting to draft, trade

and sign from the free agent pool, players that will

fill the void in our roster.

So, what if we have duplication? There is a lot of

talent there. Now, Hawks are in a position to trade.

Before this year, we had no one that any other team

really wanted. Now, we do.

Give the Hawks another season. This is only year two

of the process. I expect great things from our Hawks

next season. We've been so close in so many games,

just a little extra talent would have made all the

difference. I believe we will have that something

extra by the time next season rolls around.

[Diesel]

I think it is deplorable that BK is trying purposefully to devolve the team. It almost suggests that he doesn't understand how these positions came to be and their significance.

I have stated this theorem before however... I just hate the fact that we are duplicated positions instead of filling needs..

Now they tell me that Delk does play well.

Too many person vendattas.

[Wretch]

I said quite some time ago that we had a logjam and that someone had to go. Some people just didn't get it...

"You can't just hand minutes to rookies and young players..."

Well, what do you do when you are 12 deep with them?

"There are enough minutes for everyone to get quality PT"

Yes, but only if you rotate them around on a PeeWee league system.

More important than the minutes is their role with the team. You want your star(s) on the floor when it counts. Your star(s) need to have the freedom and the mentality to go to/call for the ball. However...we have too many players, with similar games, who are all playing the same position(s), for them all to be able to realize the expectations placed upon them. We should have went with a point gaurd (no news there) and now someone has got to go.

The problem is...this is BK's vision. "A good basketball player is a good basketball player." I was intrigued by his words at first, but I'm just not feeling the vision anymore. We need to give these guys room to grow (and room to fail).

We also need a PG, a reliable low post option, toughness, and a BIG defensive anchor and we would be wise not to expect get that from the swing positions or swing players.

[Yeti]

So who does BK pick this year? Thomas, Gay, or Morrison? We could really use another SF.

[CBAreject]

Easy....the "longest" of the three.

[Weez]

and your personal thoghts on the (rather astute) observation of Belk's love for MWill and the somewhat absolution therein implied over his being 'BK's choice?

[TheDude]

ooooh, so he said the same thing that the entire country would say now..no big whoop..that still isn't a slight against BK...

The whole world picked Marvin over Paul before the draft.

The whole world would pick Paul over Marvin now.

No big whoop, BK isn't any different than any other gm in the leage.

[Diesel]

Yeah.. Let's get Gay... he can replace Al in the rotation.

Our only true option is:

Either Foyle, Williams, or Carney or trade down.

[Diesel]

No... BK is still holding out.

He thinks Paul is just an overhyped scrubb???

[Lascar78]

BK has never said anything of the sort

unless you meant KB?

[Diesel]

I meant KB...