12-19-2002 is Coming. We need a new coach.

[Diesel]

I read all the headlines of these sorry post. And I must say... If we had Kobe, Tmac, SAR, Davis, and Shaq with Lon as the coach... Somebody would be saying... We need to trade Shareef or we need tto find a trade for Tmac.

Point is that Lon is not a good coach. Look at the things I have told you from the beginning and let's see who's right?

1. I said that Theo won't be much of a difference.

Looks to me like I'm right. At the end of last season, we posted a better record than Now. Sad part is that Now we have Big Dog, Theo, Hendu, and CC all available for play. Theo is good, but he's not the savior many of you thought he would be.

2. This team was BUILT for Offense.

We have good defensive pieces but they shouldn't superseed our offense. We have failed to take advantage of our offensive powers and instead on offense, we look like we're just guessing.

3. Glover should start over Ira.

Ira is good, but he kills our chemistry. He's not offensive. He's not a good ball handler. In fact, I would trade to get a guy like Barry here in a heartbeat.

4. Lon needs to define roles....Better.

One of the primary jobs of a coach is to define the roles of his team. However, what we see is Big Dog playing Point foward. SAR outside of the post. JT deferring to big dog and setting up. I hate to believe that this is Lon's blueprint, but none of this is NEW. That's why Kukoc seemed like such a good fit. He was able to play Point Forward. BUT.... With new players, LON should have changed his offense to suit his players. Instead, LON kept the same scheme and is trying to mold Big dog into something he could never be.

Bottom Line.

As Long as Lon is coaching, there will always be a problem. We will always look bad against good competition. We will always struggle because the blueprint is wrong. Instead of going out and finding those impossible Players that Lon needs to make his Scheme work.... (A point forward, A Perimeter PF, and a Rebounding C) we need to go and get a coach who can coach what we have.... ( a standstill Small Forward with a great midrange game, an Undersized Power Forward with a great Low Post game, and A defensive C).

My Short List.

1. Danny Ainge.

2. Brian Hill

3. Chuck Daly

4. Paul Westphaul

5. Van Gundy

Don't forget... The allstar game is in Atlanta. This isn't a good yr for the franchise to look bad.

[Guest]

We also need a bully like Dale Davis.I watched

him post up and push around NJ defenders the

other night and I was thinking...Gee wouldn't it

be nice to have Dale in a Hawk uniform!theo would

be MUCh more effective with a player like Dale Davis....

My christmas wish list is Brent Barry and Dale Davis.

But how do we get them???

[PoppaFritz]

Diesel, my man. You are probably right about Kruger. A change will eventually be made. But until that happens lets talk about the players we have.

I like the idea of adding Barry, he adds ballhandling and perimeter shooting but I don't see Seattle trading him unless something incredible is thrown their way. So, how about this? Orlando has to move Mike Miller, he is too good to sit behind T-Mac and G.Hill. I would like to see teams double off of him like they do against Newble. So, get those wheels turning and figure out a trade for Miller.

[Diesel]

If you're suggesting trading Shareef for Davis or have Davis replace Shareef... You've finally lost it.

Shareef would be so much better with a new coach who understands personell and can model and offense around who we have rather than trying to model who we have around some offensive scheme.

The day of the big C is over. Shareef is undersized as a Pf, but his game is unstoppable in the low post. Lon however, doesn't coach SAR to play that game. Our offense should key off of Shareef in the low post and once the double comes, find Big dog or JT.... However, Lon hasn't watched enough San Antonio Spurs footage to get it. He would rather waste Shareef as a perimeter PF like Bill Lambeer or Austin Croshere or something.

Even though you have a dream of getting Davis, if Davis were here, Lon would probably still have him on the perimeter too.

All that said, there is a trade that would make all of Portland happy and make Trader Bob GM of the yr.

SAR/CC to Portland for Davis/Anderson.

I think that the salaries or Close... They might owe us another player. However, I don't think getting rid of an allstar PF is the answer.

[Guest]

I'd rather have Barry [censored] Mike Miller.His game

is limited and he isn't as good as Brent Barry

is.Miller is nothing but a shooter and doesn;t

help us in the ball handling department and he

isn't as athletic as Barry is.

[PoppaFritz]

I agree but let's be honest Miller would be easier to get.

[Guest]

I never said that did I?I'm saying use Davis to back

up PF and C which means bye bye Nazr.Even sliding

Shareef over to SF sometimes.

Shareef IS being under used on offense and has never

been coached properly in his career....

Would Portland take Nazr in a deal for Davis?

[Guest]

Miller doesn't address the Hawks weakness so it

doesn't help very much.You need two ball handlers

and that is one reason Van Exel is still a Maverick

instead of being traded to NY.

[cyman3]

I know hes had a coach every year in the NBA, but i mean a REAL COACH- that helps him with his game... or did he get it all by himself (which would be VERY IMPRESSIVE)?

i can imagine Shareef to be as one of the top 10 INSIDE OFFENSIVE PLAYERS in this game. [censored], he posted 50 on BEN WALLACE last year! out of all players, BEN WALLACE!

he has potential to play so much better (i have high standards for him since hes our best PLAYER).

will someone coach this guy?

[Diesel]

Would have worked better last yr when we have Vaughn..

However,

Nazr/glover for Miller/Declerq.

This would make Lon feel right at home. A three point threat at the 2. and Familiar Declerq. Glover would be a good backup to tmac and could obviously learn a thing or two. Also, Glover is a good contract loss if they do go after Duncan.

Nazr would give them frontcourt help.

There's also Nazr for Derrick Anderson.

I don't know about the availability of Barry anymore...

however, if it looks like GP is headed to Milwaukee anyway.

And Milwaukee needs someone to facilitate or help facilitate that trade....

Nazr/Cassell/Mason/Glover to Seattle.

GP/Radmonivich to Milwaukee.

Barry/Gadzurich to Atlanta

[cyman3]

why/how did u select 12-19-2002? what makes that the deadline? just out of curiosity...

and suppose hes not fired by then, wat u gonna do? email babcock and give him a peice of ur mind or just stay pat and watch these hawks go into the lottery JUST TO GIVE the pick away!

[Guest]

I wouldn't trade Dion/Nazr for Mike Miller.If Dion

plays as much as Miller I am not sure Miller is

much better than Dion.

We need some toughness and athletic ability and

that doesn't come from Mike Miller.He;s a soft jump

shooter.

[cyman3]

Orlando probably think "we are a good team, why trade unless NECESSARY?"

they prob think...

1)Declerq is just as good as Mohammed... and if one player is better, its Mohammed by very little

2)Miller is heckuva better player than Glover, why trade unless they give us a center we cant resist (Mohammed will not be it).

so i dont think they will... we need to look around and listen to offers..

[Diesel]

At Cal, Shareef was a BEAST.

However, as a pro, I can remember only one coach of record (at Vancouver) that ever took time with Shareef...

That was Stu Jackson.

Stu is not a great coach. Not even a good coach. But he was a coach who took the time to make his team play Reef's game. Unfortunately.... During Stu's time, the team put a lot of money into Big Country and had other failings....

Grant Long was also responsible for helping Reef with the power game a bit. I think Grant would make a great assistant. He can really teach these guys about HARD Work and leaving it all out on the court.

[PoppaFritz]

If you scroll up a couple of posts you will see when I mentioned that Ira is hurting us? F**k, Millers softness, I'll take a soft player for 25 minutes a game if it will help our scorers avoid double teams.

[Diesel]

Declerq is nowhere as good as Nazr. Nazr would provide something that the magic really needs... Rebounding.

If Hill was close to 100%, Orlando would do this trade in a heartbeat. Nazr in Doc Rivers hands would be one of the best Cs in the league. Not because Doc is a great coach... But Doc knows how to motivate mediocre. Ask Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins. They were nothing before Doc got into their minds. Nazr has shown that he's capable of being a great rebounding C. He's also capable of being a good scoring C. That's already too much for Doc to work with.

The second assumption is close. Miller is better than Glover. BUT he's not that important in the grand scheme of things. Miller's purpose right now is to build up his value and to be used as part of a SNT for Duncan. He really hasn't shown too much since his rookie yr. In fact, he's probably in decline. If Glover was a starter and played 30 mpg, Glover would probably be better.

[Guest]

A SG without ball handling isn't going to help

us.You need more than one ball handler esp

with JT at PG...Miller doesn't address enough

of the Hawks weakness...Go for a SG with some

ball handling ability.I'd rather have Derek Anderson

than Mike Miller.There is more to the story than

being able to shoot.There is more to the game...

We need the Christie/Barry/Mckie type of SG.

Miller doesn't address the lack of ball handling.

Don't you see the turnover problems?

[Guest]

Addition to that a guy like that makes JT more

dangerous because we can free him up for a

Shoot anytime we choose.You can run the offense

through one of those guys and free up JT whenever

it is needed.It makes us a even more dangerous

team.

I'd like to have McKie first but I don;t think we can

get him...I think Christie could be available because

of Hedo....If JJ wasn't a [censored] and hadn't signed

with Sactown he could have worked..

[Guest]

Miller's role is to be there when Grant is down and that's why they won't trade him. Thier organization isn't sold on Hill being healthy long term, and if that's the case, they can't afford to trade Miller.

It's that simple. Miller's range gives him a distinct advantage in their offensive scheme as well (over Dion) in that it helps spread the floor and open lanes for TMac.

[Diesel]

However, when they thought that Hill was coming back ready (last yr), Miller's job was to build his value... Now that Hill has been out 2 yrs, Miller has become somewhat untradable. BUT, I wouldn't doubt that they would use him to get Duncan... Even if Hill comes up Gimpy again.

As far as his value in their scheme. As long as Armstrong is not a threat from three, they will need a good shooting Sf. However, Miller is not the only one. I really believe that Garrity might be better than Miller at shooting from outside and toughness in general.