bernie interview on 790

[atlien110]

did anybody else hear the interview this morning?

i was only catching bit and pieces since i was at work, but i did overhear one part where he mentioned luol deng wouldn't even come work out for the hawks and that they found he had injured a certain part of his body 3 times (in the same spot!) and it wasn't in any medical reports.

is this old news? did you guys already know about this?

[exodus]

News to me. Pretty wierd.

Don't see how that wouldn't be in the medical reports.

[Lascar78]

BK has told the season ticket holders about not always listening to the media because for instance they passed on a highly regarded player due to a "hot spot" in his foot that had given him problems and they thought would flare up again based on X-rays or MRIs and such. We had speculated that it could be Paul, but I guess Bernie just let it out that it was Deng then.

[atlien110]

unless bernie was blowing smoke out of his arse which of course he is prone to do and there's some legitmacy to what he said it's kind of hard to criticize bk for passing on deng..

[Lascar78]

I don't think they're the type to lie. They might BS about what they think certain players will become and stuff like that, but they dont strike me as the type to straight up fabricate stuff like this. Especially in a public interview where it can be recorded and get back to the player.

[AtLaS]

It's just crap that he's making up so they can be ousted for passing on him. I wanted Iggy anyway..

[atlien110]

too bad our great medical experts couldn't predict chills having all kinds of foot problems... yak

[Lascar78]

Well it can be legit that you have a hotspot (i.e. a potential problem) but that it never actually develops into a problem. At some level, injuries are just luck.

All I'm saying ONCE AGAIN, is that it's easy to paint BK as a complete buffoon who has no clue about who the public thinks he should take, or who he should trade, but we have very incomplete info. We don't know about the hidden injuries, the players' opinions of us, the trades that are or not available. All in all he has had a subpar performance here, and there's no arguing the results. But he's not the complete idiot that many make him out to be, and I think there were legit reasons for making just about every decision he's made, except for the Shelden promise if true.

I'd like to see a better GM here but I don't think we could get one until the Belkin problem is solved. Perhaps if we get Yi, some Chinese government thugs can take care of Belkin?

[DJlaysitup]

Remember these are the guys that said they were only counting on Speedy for 55 games due to his injury history. Methinks they thinks we are dumber than we really are.

[TexasPete]

Funny, the guy we picked instead seems to be having problems of his own. I think John Paxson is a thorough as any GM in the league and he took Deng. After watching how Paxson handled the Eddy Curry deal I would say he is prudent when it comes to potential injury/health issues.

I refuse to believe that BK is smarter than Paxson in these areas. I also remember hearing that BK really loved Childress.

I think Bernie is a damn excuse machine. I have talked to him twice and I was not impressed. In fact, some of the things he said were just stupid.

I'm tired of the cover your ass stuff. Just do the right thing this year and stop making excuses.

[Sothron]

This is news to me. I do not believe it. This is a bad attempt to try and recreate history to try and cover up a huge gaffe in blowing a pick.

Next year we'll hear how Deron Williams is HIV positive and we knew it but withheld the information.

[Lascar78]

I'm just saying they said multiple times a while ago that there was a highly regarded guy that they didn't take due to a hotspot. So it's not a new thing they're making up, they're just naming a name now. Clearly Deng has not been injured and Chill has, so I think they would come up with better than this if they were making sh!t up. Not to mention Deng could probably sue if it were a fabrication, as a rumored hot spot could hurt his earnings.

I agree that Bernie is an excuse machine, I'm just saying that I'm sure it's true. It doesn't change the fact that in the real world, Chill missed time and Deng didn't. If you're going to make stuff up and say it publicly, you don't say stuff that can be proven to be a lie.

[TexasPete]

BK's crack medical staff knew about Deron's issues because they are on top of the game. I'll bet over the next couple of years every draft miss will be totally explainable, the truth will rise baby!

Honestly, I do think Billy Knight is very much a baffoon. So are other GM's like McHale, Kupchak, and Thomas. But, we got one of the poor ones. No doubt.

[exodus]

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All I'm saying ONCE AGAIN, is that it's easy to paint BK as a complete buffoon

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It sure is. Very, very easy. i wish he would make it more of a challenge.

[DJlaysitup]

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All I'm saying ONCE AGAIN, is that it's easy to paint BK as a complete buffoon

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It sure is. Very, very easy. i wish he would make it more of a challenge.

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LOL

[Dejay]

So let me get this straight; we allegedly passed on a guy because he had a 'hotspot' on his foot but selected one who actually missed dozens of games because of his own two feet? Who is on the Hawks' medical staff anyway, the doctor from The Cannonball Run? If that's indeed the case, they may need to look at hiring a new medical staff along with a new GM and head coach. Even if it is, what was so wrong with getting Iguodala then?

[Dejay]

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All I'm saying ONCE AGAIN, is that it's easy to paint BK as a complete buffoon

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It sure is. Very, very easy. i wish he would make it more of a challenge.

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Easier than Courtney Love on prom night......

[TexasPete]

Honestly, if I'm Deng and I get wind of this windbag President of another team talking about my "hotspot" I'm pissed. Extremely.

Why can't these jackasses just shut the hell up? They made a bad pick. Live with it. It turns out they weren't nearly finished making bad picks.

This kind of stuff is just weak. The ASG and Co. are always out there covering their ass, glossing over their mistakes. There is an excuse for all of the bad picks and poor finishes...from hotspots to injuries.

I wonder who their crack med team has ruled out for this year.

Their med guys must have been on vacation when they signed Speedy. He has 7 or 8 hotspots.

[atlien110]

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So let me get this straight; we allegedly passed on a guy because he had a 'hotspot' on his foot but selected one who actually missed dozens of games because of his own two feet? Who is on the Hawks' medical staff anyway, the doctor from The Cannonball Run? If that's indeed the case, they may need to look at hiring a new medical staff along with a new GM and head coach. Even if it is, what was so wrong with getting Iguodala then?

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i mean cmon. i was never a chills fan until he came to atlanta and i realized he was better than i thought. he bring a lot of intanbibles to the hawks that dont' necessarily show up in the box score. i think his greatest asset is that he can contribut without having any plays called for him.

i can understand bk taking chills over iggy. with iggy you had a big risk, big reward scenario. with chills you had an all american and pac 10 player of the year. also based on chills versatility and the fact that you were projecting to pick a player very much like iggy in jsmith @ 15 justifies the pick. i only had a problem with taking him over deng, but once again if he had reports of an injury on the same spot 3times i can see why he passed on him.

[AtLaS]

Another thing funny about Bernie's quote is that Childress also had foot injuries at Stanford, and it was widely known as a knock on Childress BEFORE the draft.