More Iverson talk....(continued)

[drzachary]

Quote:

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The reason why Philly's attendance is low is apathy. AI is still a top draw in other arenas...especially ours, where he seems to drop 50 every time.

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Yep, Philly is #4 in road attendance.

[Yeti]

THe Hawks averaged over 15,000 over the year so that's an increase but not much. I doubt they are strippin' down yet.

[Dejay]

Okay, I'll play the game your way then. Let's pass over AI and go the route of the tried and true 5-year plan the modest Burger King has in mind. After all, these 5-year plans worked out so well in places like Chicago and Golden State. Let's start with drafting a 'defensive minded' guard with the 5th pick, or better yet, a post player this time around; after all, we all know that the Hawks have had such a successful track record of developing guards and post players in the draft. Then after that, we can sign and trade Harrington for someone, hell, ANYONE and if he just walks without compensation, we can use the cap space to sign a guy like....

Ben Wallace. Nope, will probably stay in Detroit.

Chris Wilcox. Didn't Alan Henderson do the same thing he did in the last half of a season when Lenny unglued him from the bench?

Nene. Sure he's been out for an entire season and has been to as many All-Star games as I have but he can be the answer, couldn't he?

Francisco Elson?

Jackie Butler?

Bring Pryzbilla back? That would excite the fanbase around these parts. What if he becomes the next Jim McIlviene?

Who else, KB? What other big-name post player is available THIS OFFSEASON to get for Harrington?

Call me a cynic but I don't trust this front office to do the right thing to build a decent team, let alone a good/great one. Neither BK or anyone from this ownership group has earned enough points in their beacon score to give them credit for anything other than getting rid of players who, in all likelihood, would've left on the first thing smoking once their contracts ran out anyway.

Good teams don't come along solely from drafting and developing draft picks, especially when those picks aren't named Jordan, Bird, Magic, Labron, Shaquille, etc. I think getting AI would be a great move, especially if the cost isn't too great. You may not agree with it but for the love of GOD, give me a better plan that doesn't include waiting another 2-4 years of waiting around for a 35-win season.

You may have the patience to wait on the young guys to develop and build slowly and I applaud you for it but I don't. There, I said it. What the blue HELL is wrong with a quick fix, especially if it can get you to the playoffs two seasons removed from a 13-win campaign and generate interest in a town who's forgotten that the team still exists? Didn't Phoenix take a chance when they brought back Nash after a 22-win season? That only brought them consecutive appearances to the Western finals. What about the Heat and Shaq? Last I recall, he wasn't 27 while earning the league minimum when they sent Odom, Grant, and others packing and they don't seem to be regretting it one single bit. The Nets were in even worse shape than the Hawks when they traded for Jason Kidd and he was no spring chicken, either. I guess the consecutive Finals appearances were just a mirage of mine.

And as for him no longer packing the Wachovia Center in Philly, it is called apathy folks. We all know what it is by now, don't we? Remember how the Omni was when Kasten gave up on a title run after the Bucks debacle in the '89 playoffs when the Keefes, Rasmussens, Augmons, Snoops, Ferrells, and Rumeals were riding shotgun with Nique and Willis? Its no small wonder why attendance dropped like a rock in a swimming pool once the 50+ win seasons stopped and the pain started coming in the form of more losses. Same deal here with the Sixers once the TEAM started LOSING. I almost spit my beer on my laptop when someone stated that Philips only had 17,500 in the house to watch AI in January. If this team averaged 'only' 17,500 a game, you wouldn't have every ESPN anchor trying to do their best stand-up routine when the Hawks are mentioned. That would mean at least another 4-6 more sellouts, wouldn't it?

But nope, lets wait another 3-5 years and hope/wish/pray that the guys they bring in pans out and don't get swayed by some playoff contender once their rookie deals run out. Let's just hope JJ don't get discouraged when he sees the Suns contend for titles with Diaw while he sits at home every April. Let's just keep hope alive, folks.

Not me. After nearly a decade of having my favorite basketball team become the punchline to every NBA joke, I have faith in making a drastic move and the reward of bringing in AI far outweighs the risks here. That's how you spell faith anyway; R-I-S-K.

[Johnnybravo4]

Damn, it was almost as if I wrote it....Bravo Bravo

[joannes3000]

That about sums up my feelings on bringing in someone like Iverson. And while I do agree that bringing in quick fixes won't solve long-term problems, I don't see this having the typical downside of a typical quick fix.

Unless we have to give up a package similar to the JJ trade I don't think we're giving up too much for a short-term problem. I totally agree that gutting our future by giving up a combination of things that include more than two of the following is indeed giving up too much for a short-term fix: Marvin/Smoove/Chillz/this year's lotto pick/future 1st round picks.

However, if we're talking about giving up something like this year's pick plus Al, who in all fairness is all but gone anyway, I don't think we're sacrificing too much of the long-term for a quick fix. That's why I think that this perceived quick fix works out fine for us. We put more people in the stands, sell more jerseys, basically do things to help increase revenue and interest in the team. And while we'd be sacrificing a little bit (this year's pick), I think it's fair to say that we won't be able to draft someone with the same short term impact (length of AI's contract) as we would get from trading for Iverson.

Our long term goals can still be achieved because we'd still have our core guys in place and we could look to keep our future picks to round out the team as well. About the only thing we'd lose out on is the 07 free agency class but that would be a crapshoot at best (read: Orlando failing to get Duncan and Chicago failing to get ANYONE outside of Eddie Robinson).

[Dejay]

Getting AI would take us out of the '07 sweepstakes but let's be really honest with ourselves; just how many of those guys would be heading down here anyway without overpaying again? I mean, didn't we learn ANYTHING from watching the Bulls languish with their cap space years ago? Remember when KG, Duncan, McGrady, and Grant Hill were all free agents and Jerry Krause was telling everyone under the sound of his voice that KG and Duncan were all but done deals with the cap room they cleared out after Jordan, Rodman, and Pippen were gone, only to end up overpaying for an overrated Eddie Robinson?

Cap space don't mean a darn thing in free agency until pen hits paper and the team is having a press conference introducing 'insert newest NBA acquisition here'. Again, the Hawks lost about 40 of its 56 games by >10 points; you're telling me that AI's presence ALONE wouldn't have made the difference in about 10-15 of those games? If the front office thought outside the box for once and brought in AI, this team is a playoff contender NEXT YEAR. That means more winning, which would bring more fans to the stands, more media coverage in the form of games on network/national TV, and most importantly, MOMENTUM FOR THE NEXT SEASON. If they even qualified as a 6-8th seed in the playoffs, how many stories would be run of them coming back to life after a 7-year hiatus, not to mention being two seasons removed from a near-70 loss campaign? How many Iverson and JJ stories would be run in the press? You think ESPN and TNT would pass up on talking to the young guys and their development, not to mention their bright futures HERE as opposed to talking about which uniform they would prefer wearing after leaving Atlanta? This team would be back on the NBA map again. You think any pending free agents who are not looking at the max deal would be paying some attention to that and think, 'hey, that team only needs one more piece and I could be that piece to get them to the next level'.

Again, if the price is right, I get AI, end of story. I can respect the opinions of those who do not agree but please give me a better plan that does not include 2-4 more years of waiting on a playoff appearance. That's all I'm asking for.

GAME, SET, MATCH.