A newbie’s post-season plan (please read)

[Charman212002]

Long time lurker, first time poster. Don’t grill me to bad O.K. I’m going to apologize in advance for this post’s length, but honestly there’s a lot to fix right? Perhaps with about only a third of the season done it’s a tad pre-mature to be thinking off-season, but with the way the Hawks are playing lately...maybe the sooner the better.

Anyway, not all of the following ideas originate with me, I enjoy many of the posts made by you fellow squawkers and agree with many of them (a little Diesel, a little Walter, some Mr. Hotline and CBAreject...) and I’ve piggybacked on some of them. I truly think as bad as we’ve played we’re actually pretty close to having something pretty special. So with out further ado a newbie’s plan for the fixing the ATL...

Step 1: TANK! (controversy already I know) Look, I’m all for being as competitive as possible, but as others have pointed out, look what stepping up play ( from terrible-to- merely bad) did for us in the D. Howard sweepstakes. Fate has offered us a second chance. The name of the game is ping-pong balls people, the more the better. A top 3 pick or bust.

Step 2: DRAFTING! I’m going on the assumption we land the 2nd or 3rd pick. We’re the Hawks we don’t score #1's (if fate does smile on us though, the no brainier is snagging Oden) but 2 or 3 is O.K. in this instance. And who do we take? Two words: Joakim Noah (more controversy!). Yes he’s skinny, yes he’s probably pretty weak, and yes his hair looks really bad, but he is EXACTLY what we need (just bare with me, it WILL make sense). What he DOES bring is speed, rebounding, in inside scoring touch, and amazing passing skills (for a big man or otherwise). But most importantly he adds FIRE! A team of quiet nice guys (JJ, Marvin, Chillz) needs someone like Noah to run his mouth and bring the energy, and Joakim is simply the BEST at doing this. If your still not behind this pick give me a couple more steps and maybe it’ll get clearer.

Step 3: DRAFTING! (Part 2) We have Indy’s lotto protected first and we could put it to EXCELLENT use. Besides the 5 our other glaring hole is at the 1, and I don’t think we have to look very far to fill it (Alexander Memorial Coliseum to be exact). JAVARIS CRITTENTON. He’s young, quick, smart, a good shooter and passer, easily able to penetrate and most importantly to B.K. he's 6'5! Crittenton along with Smoove gives the team a bit of an ATL identity and this is most definitely a team that needs some sort of angle to bring back an alienated fan base (plus didn’t they play together in High School? CHEMISTRY!) And if I failed to mention it, the kid can PLAY!

Step 4: FIRE WOODY! If sure he’s a nice guy and I’m sure our injures and youth have severely handicapped him, but the team has lost it’s confidence in Mike. In addition, his style of play (i.e. walk it up slow, isolate for JJ, everyone else stand around) is ALL WRONG for our young guns. They should be fast breaking non-stop and dunking on an ageing and slow East. I’ve heard the name Paul Westhead knocked about (admittedly I don’t know much about him, I’m too young) but honestly anybody who can implement a Mike D’Antoni type offense gets my vote. Which brings me to...

Step 5: RUN! RUN! and RUN SOME MORE! The Hawks as a ground it out half court team are terrible (see the last 7 seasons for further proof) but in an up-tempo style they become something SCAREY! Marvin, Salim, and JJ are deadly jump shooters and Smoove and Chillz are terrific slashers. What they lack is a quick, penetrating point who can distribute AND shoot (what you get if you could make Speedy and T Lue one player) and a big who can outlet, run the floor and pass (do steps 2 and 3 make more sense now?). A starting five of Javaris, JJ, Marvin, Smoove, and Noah, with Salim, Chillz, and even an undersized (but better protected) Sheldon Williams coming of the bench in a run and gun system could easily become the Suns of the East. Fast, versatile, and able to drop 120 points on any given night.

This might (and I stress MIGHT) have been the team Billy Knight envisioned all along.

So there it is. A newbie’s plan for fixing what ails our beloved Hawks. Yes there are risks (we DON’T want to give PHX the #4 pick!), flaws (Noah won’t stop the Odens and Howards of the league, (who can?) ) and improbables (BK firing his best friend?!) but the upside is (again) DOWN RIGHT SCARY!!!

What do you think?