Let's Take A Step Back...

[CHORO44]

Well after reading through all the posts on the potential trade I must say that we should all agree to take a step back and look at the big picture.

1) We are finally rid of Babcock, a nice man but a shaky personnel man

2) We have a decent scouting department in place thanks to Billy Knight

3) We still have a core of JT, once resigned and SAR, two young, mature stars.

4) Our new picks look promising

I'll admit I'm used to all the mid to late lottery busts, the Jon Koncacks and the trading of our star players, see Nique. I'm used to getting eliminated before reaching the Finals or not making the playoffs at all. But I finally feel that since we are no longer owned by a major corporation that our new owner can finally turn this ship around. I think the Big Dog trade is a step in the right direction for many reasons. I think we should start judging the Hawks on what they do going forward instead of their past failures. This is coming from a life-long Patriots fan who didn't see redemption until two years ago against the Rams.

GO HAWKS! Hopefully I won't have to trash my JT jersey and we resign DJ.

[Guest]

Anybody that sees JT and SAR as stars are smoking

crack.

Thank Billy Knight??For what?Drafting a frenchman

that can't speak english or shoot....And basically

leave us with a 21st and 37th pick starting?

That's good?

[Lascar78]

they are stars

they're not superstars, but they're stars

and we get the picture, you don't like that diaw doesnt speak good english, get over it, you've posted that remark 10 times already.

[TheDude]

hotlanta, dude, you need to relax.. i don't think i've ever seen a positive post from you... i agree choro, i've been a hawks fan for 30 years and i too have been disgusted and frustrated with the manuevers of the past..

but i do feel that we now have a new owner who seems to be intent on creating a winner... i'm glad we may lose big dog's turnovers and can maybe get some chemistry.. i like our picks.. i don't know what superstar player hotlanta wanted to get with our late pick but diaw is a solid player.. him not speaking good english would really hinder us if this were A DEBATE TEAM! but since it's actually basketball and foreign players are dominating throughout the league, it doesn't matter...

there's no reason not to be at least feeling a little better about where it seems we are headed.. now true, if you want to still stay disenfranchised and stay that away until we actually win a ring, that's fine. but i'll enjoy the entire trip there...

you cannot tell me that things aren't looking a litte bit better for the future.. and reef and jt ARE good young stars to build a team around..

[Guest]

Ah I'm just bluffing seam.Doesn't really make a difference

if he speak english or not...But I do picture his Brevin Knight

like shot in the starting lineup now.Not good!

And no they aren't stars.You don't even see people on

message boards talking about them being that good.If

they are stars,the rest of the league is unaware of it.

[JaHawk10]

I agree that the franchise needs to rid itself of Babcocks bad decisions. He made some good trades in his tenure, but they were always followed up by [censored]-head moves. Let's take a look. Starting back in '92...

1992-Rumean Robinson for Mookie Blaylock

-Good trade. Rumeal was a wasted pick, but we got 7 good seasons out of Mookie

1994-Dominique Wilkins for Danny Manning AND a 1st Rd. Pick

-Cmon now. Terrible trade. Doesn't need any analyzing

1994-Kevin Willis for Steve Smith

-Great trade. KWill was great here, but it was time for new blood. Smitty became our All-Star and go-to guy for 5 seasons

1994-Signing Kenny Norman

-[censored], Petey boy was hittin some crazy weed back in '94

1996-Spud Webb and Andrew Lang for Christian Laettner

-Some will say this was a terrible trade, but at the time it was great we went from a first round exit to a second round team that year. Adequate frontcourt help

1996-Signing Dikembe Mutombo

-Great move. Allowed CL8 to move to PF and gave us a defensive presence, which saved our @$$ in the Detroit series that year

1999-Trading Mookie for #10 Draft pick

-Good move. Mookie was declining and we essentially got JT, who is arguably our best player today.

1999-Trading Smitty for JR Rider and Jimmy Jackson

-Terrible. Forget Rider's act, both guys were gone within a year. I think we could've traded Smitty for much better talent and quality individuals

2001-Trading Deke for Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoc, and Nazr

-Can't really comment on this one. Deke got Philly to the finals that year, but I believe they could've made it anyway. We really didn't get Theo's services until this season, which was pretty good.

2001-Trading #3 Pick, Lo Wright, Brevin Knight for Shareef

-I'll say this was a good one. I think most people will disagree since that 3rd pick eventually became ROY, but at the time we needed instant help. I'm still a believer in Reef although most/some of you trash him here

2002-Trading Toni Kukoc, 2003 Pick, Leon Smith for GRob

-Well that was probably one of the worst deals. It looked great at the time, but Petey did not take team chemistry into the equation. Neither did he think about GRob's contract.

2003-Petey boy leaves

-Thats probably his greatest move. Now we have a competent GM (hopefully) in Knight who is already making smart decisions.

J

[TheDude]

true, they may not be superstars yet but i would definitely say they are stars... something to build on.. babcock is not here anymore so it's a better foundation than it would have been before..

i don't like diaw's shot either but he will defiinitely help in the turnover department and helping everyone else get their shot off.. at least he can work on his shot.. court vision is hard to work on...

i don't know. i just feel more positive about what we've done here lately with billy at the helm.. i still feel we have a ways to go and getting this da.mn deal approved is the first step...