Billy Knight will be fired soon (Thank Goodness)

[lush23]

What a joke! We draft a soft (and I mean panzzzzy) player who can't shoot in Diaw. This guy doesn't even start in the French league and you people have him starting in the Hawks back court. Josh Howard is a proven leader and very solid. We worked out 55 players and then draft a player we didn't work out. Has Knight even seen Diaw play in person? Then at 37 we pass on English who can flat out light it up for Hanson who is 25yrs old and can't shoot either. He made only 30 three pointers last year. Good by Billy Knight, what a joke. Good by to the Hawks, I give up.

[dj_me]

good, give up. tootles...

[BullHawk]

Lush23, let me ask you a question. How many times have you seen Diaw play? What specifically did he do in the games that you watched that lead you to call him a "panzzzzy"? I want examples! Are you basing you analysis on what some dude on an internet site said? Some guy that never saw him play. If so, that is a bad choice. Is Boris good or not, I don't know. I've never seen him play. But, I would have a better idea if I have seen him play as many times as our scouts have.

[JTFan31]

Great point with the scouts part Bullhawk. Is not about Billy Knight, Lush, is about the Hawks scouts flying to France so many time and scouting this Diaw kid........what do you think we just gonna draft someone that no one in the Hawks organization seen play, heck no......mind as well just draft me.

[coachx]

If you want to be taken seriously read up and be better informed and change your screen name to something nonalcoholic or at least non-lush.

This 21 year old plays vs. grown men 1st of all. He has faced better copetition then college players. The recent scouting reports I have read state that he is a team leader and earned the respect of his older teamates, he also alwayse guards the opposing teams best perimeter offensive threat whether they are a pg,sg, or sf. So it sounds like he can fill Newbels void of defensive stopper and be a better ball handler and distributor then Glover, Newbel and DJ. He is also more atheletic then all of them ( he won th French slam dunk championship over his teamate Pietreus (11th pick). Cannot predict DJ's future with vertebrate injury, and Glover will not be back b/c he is over the cap and the deadline to make him a restricted FA is fast approaching with no new owner. Diaw-Rifford did not come in for a work out b/c his team is in the French Finals, the final championship game is today. Knigt is flying over their today to see it. He has also gone their twice before to scout him. No telling how long the Hawks European team has scouted him. I am familliar with Howard. He is a good player but not what the team needs. Howard would have increased the burden on JT forcing him to again be the only ball handler on the team (if resigned) b/c Dickua (who has not proven he is NBA caliber). Howard cannot dribble, is not a natural distributor like Diaw. There are enough scorers who have to shoot the ball this team. A defensive minded distributor to blend with Terry is what is neede for chemistry. Howard reminds alot of Dion Glover which is not a bad thing just not what the Hawks need.

Both of the these guys are winners. Wake Forest won the ACC and Diaw-Riffors's team had the best record in France and could win the French championship today. The difference is Diaw is the glue that holds the pieces together while Howard was the main piece for Wake Forest. Howard will not be that in the NBA, he will have to find a niche'. Diaw-Riffors can keep playing the way he alwayse has, defensive stopper and distributor to make his teamates better. An outside shot can be learned and perfected but the 5th sense Diaw-Rifford has to run an offense, distribute the ball, and be a leader is not taught, it is natural to an extent and just what the doctor ordered.

[lush23]

Your statement that "Diaw is the glue that holds the pieces together..." is hilarious. Have you seen his stats for there finals. In game#1 he lit it up for 7 Pts. and in game #2 Diaw came back to earth and scored a big 4 Pts. We can really use his 5.5 pts per game next year. The Hawks continue to take chances with draft picks (D.Johnson) instead of taking players that can help this team win immediately. Howard can flat out play. He does all the little things. Mark Cuban stated that they (Mavericks) were trying to trade up in the teens or low 20's to pick Howard. Of all the teams in the NBA, the Mavs know the foreign talent better than anyone and they still went after Howard. B. Knight said that he has seen Diaw play in person only twice. To me, no way I take that risk on Diaw. When the Hawks drafted Diaw, Jay Bilas of ESPN didn't have Diaw in the top 15 players left on the board. I hope Knight enjoys his trip to Paris because that is the last trip he will take on the Hawks dime.

[Double_Dribble]

Maybe over there PPG is the only measure of success unlike here, where one-on-one basketball has become the norm, heck, even the commercials over here glorify the one-on-one game more than the team game.

Besides, has anyone else mentioned that every international player seems to score less than 10 ppg? Darko, Pietrus, everyone was under 10 ppg. So maybe that doesn't mean so much with Diaw.

Personally, I am holding off judgement until this guy plays a while. Everyone says it takes 3 years to completely judge a draft, but for now, it seems like this is the right guy, and no PPG numbers from France is going mean squat over here, but his skills set will.

[Guest]

How can a man be MVP and not be good"

1)Perhaps his league sucks

2)If averaging 7/5 gets you MVP there is a problem

3)THe guy an unkown.We probably could have traded

up and got a good basketball player.

[KB21]

1. You will have a problem proving that seeing as how 3 guys from that league were drafted (Mickael Pietrus, Boris Diaw, and Paccelis Morlende) while one will most certainly sign a free agent contract (Florent Pietrus - possibly with Atlanta). Also, the French Pro A and Pro B league's have some of the top prospects for the next two draft's coming up. The two names that immediately jump to mind are Tahiru Sani, a 6-9, 220 forward that plays for Gravelines in the Pro A league, and Johan Petro, a 6-11 225 forward who plays for Pau-Orthez's junior league team.

[jeddelong]

You are flat out wrong about Jay Bilas' rankings. He was number 22 at the start of the draft so it is impossible for him not to be among the top players remaining once the Hawks pick came up.

[Guest]

It matters how many of these guys will be any good....

I'm not a believer.I'd expect a MVP to be alittle more

productive.We might have drafted the next Newble or

Raja Bell...The guy probably isn't bad for the 21st pick

in a so called weak draft...but we probably could have

traded up and got better player.

[KB21]

Weak draft?

This was probably the strongest draft since the 1996 draft.

Since you are basing so much on productivity overseason, I guess Detroit really screwed the pooch by taking Darko Milicic, who averaged 6.5 ppg and 2.7 rpg in Euroleague play.

[Guest]

Since you are basing so much on productivity overseason, I guess Detroit really screwed the pooch by taking Darko Milicic, who averaged 6.5 ppg and 2.7 rpg in Euroleague play."

He might be Vatily Patapenko for all I know.He might

end up being a big stiff.

[jjjohns3]

You can't say that hotlanta......Their league may be different from the NBA,they may not score many points over there. And If he comes over here & can avg. 5.5/6 ppg & dish the ball, then I'm happy. I like our draft{although I was mad when I saw we passed on Howard} Both these guys can & will contribute,both are gritty defenders{something we REALLY needed} Hansen in 6"6 210 & can shoot the 3{he's our bench sniper we needed} and the last thing we needed was another guy who would need the ball to be effective.

~Peace

[Guest]

This sniper business has got to stop. Look, I'm not depressed or disappointed with this year's draft. I give us a B. With little to work with and picks outside of the top twenty, we a) took a slight risk on a Euro who, if he doesn't pan out, is in all likelihood going to be a nice presence off the bench and part time starter, esp. in his last two years after we trade/don't resign GRob. We got Hansen to replace Dion. It's that simple...Hansen isn't a "sniper," he got a good shot with decent range and has some nice athleticism...38'' vertical, while not jaw dropping, is way above average, even amonst people of his height (see Chitown Predraft Camp results). He's a smarter player than Dion (as far as being in control) with a touch of spice (see Ginobili, who really surprises you sometimes).

It was a solid draft that yielded two solid players, one with the trademark "upside." The more I read, the more I realize that Hansen isn't Steve Kerr...but he's a solid shooter and choice in general that will most likely make this squad barring any major trade. Our frontcourt now needs an additional player (with Ham gone), and we may resign DJ to round things out. Someone pointed out that we only have two roster spots available assuming we bring in Hansen...we need another frontcourt player, plain and simple. With our cap concerns (regardless of what McDavid says, I don't think he's going to continue to sign players/go far over the hard cap to bolster a losing team...maybe we'd get Ira back for a two year deal, team on the third...but that's an investment that Im' not sure we want to get in to (despite my liking of Ira).