You know what this Yi hysteria means right?

[TexasPete]

I have been there with Billy Knight too many times before. I have already given up on Conley because he is likely not being considered at 3.

All this renewed Yi hype due to us watching him workout means one think with BK...

He is likely not meant to be a Hawk. Assuming we keep the 3rd pick my guess is Wright. Why? Because BK has never taken the player that most Hawks fans wanted. Deron? Nah. Paul? Nah. Deng falls to us? Nah. Brandon Roy? Nah. Foye? No thanks.

I'm just saying that BK has a very DIFFERENT view of what an NBA player should be and that seldom jives with logic...or, what any fans think.

Because I always hate his picks with a passion, I'm already expecting Brandan Wright. With BK you gotta think outside the box, to a pick that makes sense on no level at all. Who does that describe in this draft?

Brandan Wright. Fasten your seat belt.

[BHayley]

LOL I think this year will be different...I think...

If we take Horford over Yi, I won't cry. If we take Wright over Yi or Horford, I will turn emo.

[pimp]

I Agree with u 100%

I believe Bk will take Brandan Wright.

A 200 pound pf who who is not ready to help at all.

If i was on the Hotseat i wouldnt take someone who's not gonna help me win games.By the time Wright becomes a decent

player, BK wont be here to see it.

[Seano]

With BK in control, you really do have to prepare yourself for just about anything. There's no doubt about that. So Brandan Wright wouldn't exactly surprise me, it would just disappoint me and make me really, really sad....and then I'd get pissed, for all the good that does.

I just keep hoping that BK's on the clock too, and is 'playing' for his job just as Woodson now is. It's moved well-past the point of PUSU (PUT UP OR SHUT UP) time, to the point of being "PUT UP SOME FREAKING RESULTS ALREADY, OR GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE AND ALLOW US TO ATTEMPT TO REBUILD THIS FRANCHISE THAT YOU HAVE JUST ABSOLUTELY, MONUMENTALLY RAVAGED AND MIS-MANAGED" time, least as far as I'm concerned.

[TexasPete]

I honestly don't think Knight is under any real heat. I think he has these guys bamboozled. They always have excuses ready for him. They must not realize that he hasn't ever picked the right guy in the lottery.

I think they love BK and Woody and have no plans to fire either anytime soon. I just think the ASG guys are totally out to lunch. If Wright is the pick and doesn't pan out they will all say that it will take time but Wright was the right pick and they love him. Same crap, different player.

BK probably feels like he has a job as long as the ASG own the team. If Belkin wins he is out anyway.

[vdunkndunk]

Yeah...with BK, you've got to consider what player you don't really want....and that's who he's going to draft.

I remember the morning of the "Josh" draft Chad Ford said the Hawks loved Childress and 6, and I laughed it off because it didn't make sense to me.

But then we did pick Childress and I nearly went balistic. Now, I've ended up liking Chill a lot - but I'm still not convinced he was the right pick.

Same sort of thing with Marvin and Shelden...both times I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop....I thought we were going to trade down or SOMETHING else, but it never happened and both times it was just so anti-climactic.

That's also the way I feel about Wright. Personally, my pick would be Horford or Conely at 3, preferably Horford...and Yi would intrigue me at the very least...but Wright would just leave me feeling kind of empty and disappointed. And that's the feeling I've come to expect after draft night...so right now that's my prediction, although I do think more highly of Wright than a lot of people on this board. My main thing with him is just that I'm not sure how quickly he helps us.

[thescout5]

Good point Tex,no matter how much we want a player BK has always gone the other way. BK should be a politcian he always knows what to say to pull the wool over everyones eyes. BK he getting near the ranks of Pete Babcock in that know matter how shitty of a job he does he never gets fired. If its one thing that has kept the Hawks has a laughing stock organization is they have never ever had a GM that knew how to evaluate talent.

It sure is frustrating being a Hawks fan having the upper echelons know nothing will happen to them if they screw up time after time.ACCOUNTABILITY there is non with this organization.Tells me alot about ownership why the commisiner continues to give the franchise to pitiful owners hurts the fans and the NBA. Win and fans will come out lose and fans stay away simple.

Anyway getting back to what your saying I think Wright will be the pick since he is the least guy we want.I want Horford or Conley maybe Yi if he impresses but Wright no way. Wright is much more of a project than a guy like Conley and point is waht we need or rebounding where Holrford is the guy.Neither one of them and BK again screws the franchise up.

[NJHAWK]

I cannot for the life of me recall one Hawks fan who wanted Deron. Most wanted Marv or Paul. After Paul won rookie year most swore they wanted Paul all along. Now all of a sudden alot swear they wanted Deron. I wish they would make up their minds. I agree some what with Brandon Wright being who BK has on his mind. You know he is salavating over that 7'4 wingspan but this time I think he knows he has to add instant contributers. Im getting a feeling that if we keep pick 3 which to me is about a 50/50 chance that the pick is going to either be the favorite Hortford or the dark horse Noah. Noah would prolly have been pick 1 or 2 last year. In alot of peoples minds he dropped off but I can see BK taking him strictly because of defense and rebounding.

[TheDude]

if BK drafted Yi, i'm fine....if he drafted Conley, i'm fine....if he drafted Horford, i'm fine...if he drafts Wright, show me the door to his office so i can leave a flaming bag of crap on it's doorstep.

[KB21]

No.

They realize that he's a much better at evaluating talent than 90% of the GMs in the league. Most of the GMs in this league will select bust picks. Look at Jerry West in Memphis. He has made one good draft pick during his tenure in Memphis.

Billy Knight has not made a bad draft pick yet. All of his draft picks contribute in the NBA, whether it is Stromile Swift and Pau Gasol in Memphis, Shane Battier in Houston, or Josh Childress, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, and Shelden Williams in Atlanta. Billy Knight has yet to draft a bust in the first round. The one that comes the closest to being a true bust pick is Boris Diaw.

[KB21]

There was a small minority that wanted Deron Williams or Chris Paul. Before that draft, the large majority of Hawks fans wanted Marvin Williams. The reason was simple. The Hawks didn't have a star player, and Marvin was the only player in that draft with true superstar potential. It was also a strong consensus that Marvin was either the #1 or #2 player in that draft. There was a significant gap between Marvin and the rest of the players in that draft. Go back and look at all of the pre-draft reports from that time. Even Chad Ford had Marvin Williams as the #2 player in the draft and even stated that the Hawks should take Marvin with the 2nd pick. Now, he's like most of the fans on this board. Even though they wanted Marvin, they say they didn't after Chris Paul made an instant contribution to the Hornets. Last time I checked though, Chris Paul hasn't made anymore playoffs or AS games at this point than Marvin Williams.

I wanted Marvin Williams in that draft, and if that draft were done over again, I'd still take Marvin Williams.

[NJHAWK]

Yup the more I think about it the more I feel the pick is going to be Hortford or Noah. If we keep 3 it will be one of those two. I would not be shocked one bit if it is Noah either.,

[Seano]

Quote:

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I think he has these guys bamboozled.

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Well if that's the case, it kind of leaves us between a rock and a really hard place- as the only way out of this would seem to lie in the hope that Belkin wins the suit and assumes control of the team. None of us have any idea what that might lead this franchise to, but there is no doubt that his first order of business would be to can BK, and probably item 1A on his 'to do' list would be to fire Woody as well.

So who do you root for in that situation- the snake, or the dumbsh*ts? What and who going to be best for the future of this team?

[NJHAWK]

I 2nd that. I wanted Marv and I still do. I would not trade him for Paul. However Deron looked real good in the playoffs. I cant say I wouldnt trade Marv for Deron. I still think Marv will be a star and wonder why he gets killed on this board and marked as a bust.

[KB21]

I just continue to be amazed at how some of you can even begin to make the accusation that Billy doesn't know how to evaluate talent. You would think he's done nothing but take players like Rumeal Robinson, Adam Keefe, and Doug Edwards with lottery picks.

I continue to be amazed at how Billy Knight can be criticized for drafting good players, yet Jerry West can skate through without any criticism when he is spending the #4 pick in the draft on Drew Gooden and using draft picks on the likes of Dahntay Jones and Troy Bell.

I dare anyone to find me another GM that has done a better job of picking talent in the draft than Billy Knight.

2000 - Stromile Swift

2001 - Pau Gasol and Shane Battier

2003 - Boris Diaw

2004 - Josh Childress and Josh Smith

2005 - Marvin Williams

2006 - Shelden Williams

[thescout5]

KB we agree to disagree. When your drafting you maximize your pick(s) not continue to draft the same position. When you draft top 10 you should be drafting starters Chills is on the bench so is SW. As a rookie your probably not going to start but if BK drafts Horford he may be the power forward or perhaps gets in the lineup with Horford and Smoove as the others starting. If BK is so good at drafting why did the team look horrible at the end of the season vs bad competition.JJ was out etc etc but still this starting team couldn't beat a buunch of 2nd stringers on bad teams how did that happen.

Then again look at a successful team Phoenix how do they continue to draft well and be a top echelon team yet the hawks draft bench players?

They had Hawes on ESPN talking about his workouts vs Noah he said Noah has alot of ability unusal coordination for a big man.Hawes says he has 3 tryouts left including atlanta.

They had some other guy on player of the year in the ACC talking about another player who was kicked off the team can't remember his name but he was the best shot blocker and rebounder he had seen.He is a 6'10 dude.He may be a guy could surprise I'll look at the list and get back on him. You can't depend on rookies but we really need 2 that are going to contribute.The successful teams find guys out of the blue the Hawks need to do the same.

[thescout5]

OK KB your on I'll do some research and give you your answer. Let me add once again if the great BK draft so well why do the Hawks continue to be a laughing stock?

[Seano]

Quote:

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I still think Marv will be a star and wonder why he gets killed on this board and marked as a bust.

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Because this is the internet, and because people get impatient and/or suffer from unrealistic expectations. He was drafted on expectations of his future performance- not so much on his performance at that time. In other words he was seen as still a work in progress, but a work with such enormous potential that he was being considered as a #1 pick overall. So ideally his career path would arc like a bell-curve, with a long, ascending climb, the peak period at the top, and then a long, ascending decline.... and as such, Marvin is still well on his way up. But people seem to forget that. And they also blame Marvin for not being Deron Williams or Chris Paul, which is just ridiculous- but what can ya do?

[mdawg]

What have Shelden and Marvin done?

[Seano]

Quote:

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I continue to be amazed at how Billy Knight can be criticized for drafting good players, yet Jerry West can skate through without any criticism when he is spending the #4 pick in the draft on Drew Gooden and using draft picks on the likes of Dahntay Jones and Troy Bell.

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I don't know what Jerry West has to do with it either way. The two are mutually exclusive topics, and Knight sure as hell can be questioned as to his overall tenure in Atlanta. No GM is beyond question or doubt- that's the nature of their job...and if things aren't going well, they're gonna hear it from the media and the fans, like it or not. That's just the way it is. You can say what you will about his picks, but that doesn't change the fact that Knight has done an absolutely terrible job at putting together an actual *team* in Atlanta. Going into our 5th year of 'the plan', and still with gaping holes in the interior and at point. Those are the types of things which can and should be questioned....and neither has anything to do with Jerry West.