Boris Diaw......

[emeans]

is a prime example of why you don't give up on players too early. Some of you guys want to give up on Marvin and Salim after 1 year.

I am here looking at Diaw and saying damn this guy is good and we had him and gave up on him after 2 years!!

I don't ever want to say that about Marvin on another team!!

[jezmund]

Diaw looks fantastic for Phoenix but that wouldn't have happened here for other reasons. Oh well... can't dwell on it. This tells me that BK kind of knows what he is talking about.

[dalamchops]

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Diaw looks fantastic for Phoenix but that wouldn't have happened here for other reasons. Oh well... can't dwell on it. This tells me that BK kind of knows what he is talking about.

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BK obviously know how to obtain talent, but we don't have that great of a coaching staff to do much.

[deester11]

I keep wondering where Marvin Williams has failed this franchise. I personally knew we were gambling on his greatness later and that growing pains were going to be evident throughout the year. I am not as upset as most that Paul had the year he did.

That being said, another Hawks message board thinks highly of MW and don't include him in every trade scenario available. Why?.

[chillzatl]

as this has been said to death... but we didn't give up on Diaw. He gave up on us.

[drzachary]

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as this has been said to death... but we didn't give up on Diaw. He gave up on us.

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To be fair, it sounds like he would have given up on any team that didn't use him in the fairly unorthodox way that Phoenix uses him.

Today should be nice, as we should get to see lots of "for those few fans who actually watched him in Atlanta" and "yet another Atlanta blunder" jokes by the national sportsblatherers, er, sportswriters.

[Gray Mule]

Seems as if Ex - Atlanta Hawks are going to the finals,

one way or another.

Most NBA players are VERY good, regardless of who they

play for. If they weren't good, they couldn't stay

in the NBA. Someone with more talent would push them

out.

Not all shoes fit everyone's feet. Not all players fit

with all the NBA teams. When you find a real fit,

whether it's shoes or players, it's great !!!

These two ex-Hawks found a fit for themselves.

[drzachary]

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Seems as if Ex - Atlanta Hawks are going to the finals,

one way or another.

Most NBA players are VERY good, regardless of who they

play for. If they weren't good, they couldn't stay

in the NBA. Someone with more talent would push them

out.

Not all shoes fit everyone's feet. Not all players fit

with all the NBA teams. When you find a real fit,

whether it's shoes or players, it's great !!!

These two ex-Hawks found a fit for themselves.

---

Exactly, and in Diaw's case, he needed a very specific system in order to really even give an effort.

I'm sure I'd be far less bitter about it if a) the players themselves were not incredibly rude to the franchises they leave, and b) the media didn't use it as an excuse to bash the poor Atlanta franchises (and fans.)

[Vol4ever]

Well D you are talking about the media here. If it is not negative then they don't want to report it, just look at politics on the 3 major networks.

The hawks have been down for a while and although I'm not a BK fan the Hawks will hopefully start winning some games and then the media will quit beating up on them.

I did think Craig Sager took a cheap shot at the Hawks last night in the Diaw interview, it was uncalled for.

[Packfill]

Quote:

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Quote:

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Seems as if Ex - Atlanta Hawks are going to the finals,

one way or another.

Most NBA players are VERY good, regardless of who they

play for. If they weren't good, they couldn't stay

in the NBA. Someone with more talent would push them

out.

Not all shoes fit everyone's feet. Not all players fit

with all the NBA teams. When you find a real fit,

whether it's shoes or players, it's great !!!

These two ex-Hawks found a fit for themselves.

---

Exactly, and in Diaw's case, he needed a very specific system in order to really even give an effort.

I'm sure I'd be far less bitter about it if a) the players themselves were not incredibly rude to the franchises they leave, and b) the media didn't use it as an excuse to bash the poor Atlanta franchises (and fans.)

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I think the system helps Diaw in Phoenix but more then anything with him was getting comfortable and having a level of confidence in his game. He didn't have that in Atlanta, but he has it in Phoenix. Even still, you could always see the talent was there in his sporadic time with the Hawks.

[Yeti]

Seems like you either a) build a system for the players you have, or b) bring in the players for the system you have. I think in the past we did neither - we tried to force players into roles that didn't fit them and were unwilling to change the system - so it failed. Now BK is trying to do "b". That's fine with me, it makes more sense than what we did in the past.

[DJlaysitup]

Whatever happened with Diaw...I'm happy for him. Had a great season and now he scores 34 points on national TV n the first game of the conference finals. Did anybody see him come out with a little smile on his face when they broke the huddle with 4.8 seconds left? He knew he was one of the options and it was a max-pressure situation. He hit the post up jumper and the Suns won.

Whatever happened in Denver you gotta enjoy a success story like that. If it was a sports movie script - (from the pine on a 13 win laughingstock team to a major player on a championship contender in one year) - nobody would believe it!

[Lascar78]

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That being said, another Hawks message board thinks highly of MW and don't include him in every trade scenario available. Why?.

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99% of this board supports marvin and wants him to stick around. There are about 2 guys who spam the board with ways to get rid of him, and they make it seem like this board doesn't like him, but it is far from the majority view.

[drzachary]

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Whatever happened with Diaw...I'm happy for him. Had a great season and now he scores 34 points on national TV n the first game of the conference finals. Did anybody see him come out with a little smile on his face when they broke the huddle with 4.8 seconds left? He knew he was one of the options and it was a max-pressure situation. He hit the post up jumper and the Suns won.

Whatever happened in Denver you gotta enjoy a success story like that. If it was a sports movie script - (from the pine on a 13 win laughingstock team to a major player on a championship contender in one year) - nobody would believe it!

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I am slowly getting over my Diaw bitterness.

Furthermore, who needs Diaw when we have Cenk Akyol waiting in the wings!!

[Lascar78]

I forget who it was, but remember when someone was FURIOUS that we drafted Cenk instead of getting the almighty Randolph Morris? Now that was funny

[DJlaysitup]

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I forget who it was, but remember when someone was FURIOUS that we drafted Cenk instead of getting the almighty Randolph Morris? Now that was funny

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Yep Lascar...that decision could come back to haunt us

[Johnnybravo4]

That was probably me. And I'd still rather have Randolph Morris developing on our squad than Cenk developing in Turkey...then having to come over here and develop.

[CBAreject]

Marvin wasn't stellar, but he did show some initiative and willingness to actually shoot the ball. I can't imagine why we would "give up on him" after he put up very solid numbers for the last two months of the season as a 19-year-old, especially as a starter in those last 6 games. He easily projects to score 18 ppg in 2-4 years, with potential for more.

I've said before that I would trade Marvin before Smoove, but that's only in the case that we'd get a stud 4 or 5 out of the deal. Truth is, we'd get poor value out of MW because he didn't get to play as much as he should've, so his numbers were a bit lower than they could've been.

[emeans]

At some point all of us Hawks fans are going to have to stop being blinded by Hawksitis (A condition of being a Hawks fanatic) and realize that this organization has made some major mistakes that could affect the rebuilding process negatively.

I am sorry if you don't see throwing Diaw in this trade for JJ as a mistake. You are blind or just don't want to admit it because you have Hawksitis.

I know some people will say "Well what do you want, change coaches to satisfy the players??" Once a GM has decided on his players, it is the coach and coaching staffs duty to put players in positions where they will succeed. It is their duty to talk and motivate players that will ultimately lead to their success on the court. If you have to change your approach to get the best out of a player you do that. The bottom line is the product on the court, not personalities.

Woodson and only Woodson is the reason Diaw failed in Atlanta. It is Woodson's responsibility to communicate to Diaw in a way that he can succeed and not the other way around. Diaw doesn't need a coach screaming in his face every play and every timeout (I saw this 1st hand too many times) and Woodson has to adjust his approach. You find out what buttons to push with players and you use those buttons to get the best out of them. Screaming and scolding doesn't work with every player. He used that same approach with Smoove and luckily it has turned out for the better, but that almost got ugly too.

The fact that Diaw didn't respond well to Woodson's coaching style led to Diaw being a THROW-IN in the JJ deal.

I know all of the replys are going to be "Well he wouldn't play or shoot the ball for us, even when the coach told him too". Before you post that ask yourself "Why??".....there is a reason for everything!!

[Guest Walter]

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Seems like you either a) build a system for the players you have, or b) bring in the players for the system you have. I think in the past we did neither - we tried to force players into roles that didn't fit them and were unwilling to change the system - so it failed. Now BK is trying to do "b". That's fine with me, it makes more sense than what we did in the past.

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...and that philosophy is unproven and to date unworthy, sacrificing valuable skill sets and accomplishing positional redundancy.

W