Is it me......

[Diesel]

or did it seem like Van Gundy and Fratello were interviewing for the Job during the broadcast?

I would venture to say that if GM/Coach was available, Fratello would want it badly. He was very very vocal about the Hawks. Especially when he accused Van Gundy of not believing in Player development... i.e. JT and Doc Rivers.

I agree with Van Gundy though. Doc had a very high basketball IQ. JT doesn't.

[DJ_Money]

I was thinking the same, but mostly when it came to Van Gundy.

He seemed disgusted by the defensive effort by both teams. He wouldn't allow that kind of passive defense if he was coach here. He also went on and on in his praise of Newble. That's his kind of player. If Van Gundy coaches here next year, things would change. SAR/Robinson/JT just seem to be fine with the way things are. Van Gundy would demand more, demand better. I'm all for hiring him as our next coach.

[Guest]

I don't think you could pay Van Gundy enough to

coach this team.They were horrible tonight.Reef's

fluke Antonie Walker shot fell and he pushed off

to get open and the clock didn't go off correctly.

[KB21]

He's the better teacher of the two, especially defensively. Unlike Van Gundy, Fratello has won with different styles and different types of teams. He won with a young Hawks group, and he won with a group that was a little older in Atlanta when they brought in Moses and Theus during the 89 season. He won with four starters who were in their first two years in Cleveland (Brevin Knight, Derek Anderson, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Cedric Henderson).

What turned me off on Van Gundy the most is when he said give him Charlie Ward and Chris Childs to run the point.

You get Van Gundy, you will have a walk the ball up the court team that has no offensive identity. Sure, they will play hard defensively, but Van Gundy has no clue about offensive basketball, and as Fratello pointed out tonight, he lacks in the player development.

At least Fratello realizes that Terry has some terrific skills, and though he may not be exactly what you want in a point guard, he brings more to the table that a lot of players that play that position bring. An example is tonight. Offensively, I thought Terry was very good tonight. He controlled the pace of the game for the most part. He pushed the ball up the court extremely well, and he made good passes. He also showed that he can open the floor when he drives and kicks.

Mike made his point with Doc, but he could have made it with several other players. Gilbert Arenas and Chauncy Billups immediately come to mind for what they have done this season. Gary Payton is another guy who was more of a two than a one when he came out of college. Sam Cassell. There are a lot of examples. I think this shows how clueless Van Gundy is in this area.

[chillzatl]

Frattelo kinda called him out and said "that's some nice kissing up" or something to that effect. I think Van Gundy wants the job. Denberg mentioned Van Gundy directly in his most recent article.

He also quoted Kasten as saying "we will not hire a GM/Coach".

[Guest]

Being in Nashville, I don't get to watch that many of the Hawks' games other than the ones I catch during breaks at home (usually attended if home).

I thought JT looked very good tonight as a pg - he got his points, but they were in the flow of the offense. Please, please resign him. 6-7 years, right around 40 million. It's what he's earned as a pg, which is where he should stay.

I still shudder when I see Darvin Ham on the floor, esp. when he decides he can shoot it.

Ira is solid role player. Does his job and has learned to hit the open j, taking high percentage shots.

Theo is no longer getting called for fouls that are questionable, they're going in favor of him. Yeah, he's probably overpaid, but I truly do not want to trade him.

SAR is the quietest 20 ppg scorer that I've ever seen. He did have some nice moves tonight, handling the ball better than I've generally seen him. Still a very mediocre defender, but very good on offense.

Once again, we win without GRob. I liked this product a whole lot more than the one we put on the floor with GRob. Plain and simple.

What a WIN!

[chillzatl]

Van Gundy knows what it takes to win. You can talk about "seeing his talent" or whatever. Van Gundy KNOWS that you aren't going to win with Terry starting, whether it's PG or SG. Not that he doesn't have the skills, he does. He just doesn't have teh size and you aren't going to get a PG that can compensate for him. You put those two together and that means Terry doesn't have enough of either side to be a starter in this league.

Van Gundy never had a team with the personel to be an "offensive team". He HAD to focus on defense. THey tried for YEARS to get more talent on that team and couldn't do it. I mean the year they finally get more talent (spreewell), they lose Ewing to an injury and he was never the same after that. You can't criticize a guy for making the most of what he was given.

I'd donate an organ to get someone here that could get 75% of "the most" out of this group. Whether it's Fratello or VG.

[Guest]

Theo sucks.....Kwame Brown scored on him at

will.

[KB21]

Fratello was the one that called Stan the most powerful man in professional sports. [censored], he may be! The guy runs almost every ownership committe there is in baseball and basketball. Van Gundy called Fratello out saying that he was kissing up.

Van Gundy is probably right that Terry would be better off coming off the bench, but Van Gundy is just the type that would put him on the bench for a lesser player in Charlie Ward. I think Mike would at least wait till he upgraded the position to bench Terry.

[chillzatl]

JT isn't a point guard man. I mean c'mon, he's not. The reason we talk about his "good point guard" games like they second coming of christ is because they are THAT DAMNED RARE. He's not a point guard. You can't teach someone how to play the game!

if they sign him, I hope it's because they have a deal on the table for either a real PG and or a properly sized SG. If we had a properly sized SG with Jt's offensive skills, Bimbo coles could lead this team to the playoffs....

[Guest]

This is why he was never given credit around

the league.Everyone wanted him to be the

guy, but it's clear he doesn't have the talent

or anything to be a top player at his position.

Jt was another Pete Babcock bust.

[KB21]

Jason Terry is a better player. He scores more, dishes the ball more, and shoots a better percentage from the field and behind the line.

If Billups is worth $35 million over 6 years, then Terry is worth $40 million over 6 years.

[KB21]

Reef is a player that John Wooden would love. He's not flashy, which is why he can score 20 points a night very quietly, and he's a very unselfish player.

Reef is a very skillful player who I feel would be even better than he is now if the team were winning. I think there are times when he just lets the losing get to him, and he doesn't aggressively go after it.

On a good team though, Reef averages 24-25 ppg and 10 rbp while picking up 5 apg. There aren't many power forwards in the league that are as skillful as Reef is offensively. He's got the post game. He can shoot from 18 feet. He can put the ball on the ground.

[chillzatl]

you are looking at stats. JT doesn't run the team. He cannot consistantly keep the offense running. He makes idiotic mistakes when teams change their strategy on him, he doesn't know how to adjust. You are trying to take a guy who, for his entire basketball life, has played the game with little thought on what is going on around him and put him in a position where he HAS to be aware of everyone around him. It doesn't work that way. It's not about stats.

Look at Tony Parker. He doesn't have nearly the pure stats that JT has. But anyone who says that JT is a better PG than Parker is a fool. Parker knows what is going on around him 99% of the time. He knows the game as a PG. JT DOES NOT know the game as a PG.

The only reason he was the best pick at his position is because the draft SUCKED. The only guys who are worth a [censored] that were picked after him are Artest and Kirilenko.

ANd I'll tell you what. Instead of trading for bigdog we trade for a solid SG. We have todays Ron artest at SF and any decent PG and we'd be on our way to the playoffs this season.

[Guest]

I'm not talking about stats. He had several nice passes on the run tonight, semi-breaks - I'm just saying that he looked solid as a pg tonight. The rest of the time, I don't comment on his pg abilities - I dont' get to watch enough to consistenty evaluate, therefore I use stats there. I'm not saying he's fantastic, but I think if you had a good sg with some range and handles and basketball iq, he'd be fine at the position.

[mrhonline]

an example of an "equivalent" contract??? The guy is way overpaid...And so will JT, if he gets that type of contract. I say no more than $5 million a year or see ya later...

I would love to see JT stick around in a 6th man type role, but nothing more...

[mrhonline]

Reef would be a good addition to a team if he doesn't have to be the #1 option AND if he wasn't going to be paid $26M+ over the next two years...Neither apply in Atlanta.

[KB21]

Yeah. Terry just somehow stumbles upon 8 assists per game.

Terry's approach is the same approach Gary Payton has. It's the same approach Sam Cassell has. It's the same approach Stephon Marbury has. It's the same approach Steve Francis has. It's the same approach Gilbert Arenas has.

I guess none of those guys are point guards.

[Guest]

the same Kwame that had 4 points, 2 to, 2 pf's and one board in 16 minutes of work while Henderson had nine boards, four of them offensive, and four assists during the same 16 minutes?

[Guest]

I watched Kwame twice take Theo to the whole

and push him around and score over him.Theo

is nothing but a weakside shot blocker.