Congratulations to the Hawks

[Fetawhey]

You guys did a lot better job than the Lakers vs. the Celtics.

And as I recall the Hawks whipped the Lakers even after they acquired Gasol.

[Frenzy]

Thanks man

[DJlaysitup]

The key here is that L.A. didn't have 7'1" Bynum in the middle. He will be back next year and will be exactly what they need. They will move Pau to PF and will have a dandy lineup again (better). Kobe is still relatively young. Odom will be coming off the bench.

[Swish]

LOL not trying to start or say anything but what is a guy with the sn GoSpurs doing on here? Spy? Troll? Jealous of our players? Hmmm....

[macdaddy]

He logged on to congratulate. I'll take it. Hey we'll trade you Marvin Williams for Manu.

[coachx]

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LOL not trying to start or say anything but what is a guy with the sn GoSpurs doing on here? Spy? Troll? Jealous of our players? Hmmm....

They want Chillz.

Or

He is a native Texan living in Ga.

[Fetawhey]

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LOL not trying to start or say anything but what is a guy with the sn GoSpurs doing on here? Spy? Troll? Jealous of our players? Hmmm....

My first posts here were to express my admiration for the Hawks during your playoff games with Boston. I have no ulterior motive. I will add, though, that I am an Emory graduate. While I am a Spurs fan, I did live in Atlanta for a couple of years. I did like the dogwoods and azaleas, but not the freeway on ramps.

And I don't like the Lakers and never felt they deserved all the hype.

[Jdawgflow]

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LOL not trying to start or say anything but what is a guy with the sn GoSpurs doing on here? Spy? Troll? Jealous of our players? Hmmm....

My first posts here were to express my admiration for the Hawks during your playoff games with Boston. I have no ulterior motive. I will add, though, that I am an Emory graduate. While I am a Spurs fan, I did live in Atlanta for a couple of years. I did like the dogwoods and azaleas, but not the freeway on ramps.

And I don't like the Lakers and never felt they deserved all the hype.

Your assessment of both Georgia and the Lakers is spot on!

[DrReality]

New GM: Hawks pointed in right direction

By Mark Bradley | Thursday, June 19, 2008, 06:01 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Three weeks on the job, Rick Sund still speaks of the Hawks in the third person (“they”) as often as in the first (“we”). During a 75-minute conversation, he even refers to this as “the city of Seattle.”

Wincing, he catches himself. “City of Atlanta,” he says. “Sorry.”

No apology is required. On the contrary, the new general manager brings precisely what the Hawks have lacked — the ability to cast an outsider’s cold eye on what has been an insulated rebuilding process.

Given the events of spring, we in Seattle — sorry, Atlanta — aren’t sure what to make of the Hawks. They barely made the playoffs, but once there they played the champs-to-be better than either the Pistons or the Lakers. Does that mean the Hawks are (deep breath) further along than those proud organizations?

“No,” Sund says. “We’re not further along.”

This isn’t a criticism of Billy Knight. Indeed, Sund has only praise for his predecessor, saying, “Billy and [Mike Woodson, the coach] have done a good job the last four years. They improved their record every year … and they protected their players.”

Sund likens the Hawks to the expansion Dallas Mavericks, whom he served as director of personnel. The Mavs won 17 games in their inaugural season, then 28, then 38, then 43. The Hawks under Knight and Woodson won 13 games, then 26, then 30, then 37. There are those — this writer, for example — who believed the Hawks should have been better sooner. Sund does not.

“I’m still an outsider,” he says. “When you’re inside, you always want a quicker pace — your frustration level’s a little different. Outside looking in, the Hawks really were where they should have been. People say, ‘They should have won 45 games.’ They weren’t capable of 45 wins, in my opinion. They were in Year 4 of a rebuilding process in which the focus was youth, and with it comes inexperience.”

Then this: “A reasonable goal would have been to sneak into the playoffs in the eighth spot or the seventh, and they did. And then, probably a reasonable goal would have been to see if they could win a game. The fact they competed real well at home [against Boston] was a plus. And the fact they didn’t win on the road — there’s not a basketball person who would say that was surprising.”

Sund delineates the five stages of an NBA player’s development: 1. Peer acceptance; 2. Playing time; 3. Being paid commensurate to one’s peers, 4. Personal achievement, and 5. Wanting to win a championship. “It’s not surprising the Celtics won because they have five or six guys in Phase 5 who’d already achieved Phase 4.”

As for the Hawks, Sund believes, “We’ve got a lot of players in those various early stages, and we’ve got to massage those and manage those. … It looked to me that when the playoffs started, they dropped those phases. It looked to me that for the first time … there was a focus, and that focus is what helped them to get to a second and third win. Because the talent was the same.

“Now the trick is, as you go forward, to maintain that focus to get to your next goal, which is: We want to get back to the playoffs and improve on our record.”

With the Hawks holding no picks in next week’s draft, Sund’s immediate emphasis is on keeping free agents Josh Smith and Josh Childress. “Our intent is to sign both,” he says. “We want to try to keep this eight-man core [he includes Acie Law and Zaza Pachulia] together.”

Three weeks on the job and still living in a hotel, Sund knows his mission isn’t to uproot but to tweak and tuck. “The real ‘tell’ sign on this organization is this upcoming season,” Sund says. “The blood, sweat and tears that Billy Knight and the owners and Woodson [invested] is going to [show] this year.”

That doesn’t mean the new GM expects the Hawks to win the championship next June. “We’re not there yet,” Sund says. “But we’re pointed in the right direction.”

[Admin]

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“When you’re inside, you always want a quicker pace — your frustration level’s a little different. Outside looking in, the Hawks really were where they should have been. People say, ‘They should have won 45 games.’ They weren’t capable of 45 wins, in my opinion. They were in Year 4 of a rebuilding process in which the focus was youth, and with it comes inexperience.”

Man I hope that the haters read that and take it to heart. Thanks for posting this DrR

[High5]

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“When you’re inside, you always want a quicker pace — your frustration level’s a little different. Outside looking in, the Hawks really were where they should have been. People say, ‘They should have won 45 games.’ They weren’t capable of 45 wins, in my opinion. They were in Year 4 of a rebuilding process in which the focus was youth, and with it comes inexperience.”

Man I hope that the haters read that and take it to heart. Thanks for posting this DrR

Just because he says it that makes it true?

[frosgrim]

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“When you’re inside, you always want a quicker pace — your frustration level’s a little different. Outside looking in, the Hawks really were where they should have been. People say, ‘They should have won 45 games.’ They weren’t capable of 45 wins, in my opinion. They were in Year 4 of a rebuilding process in which the focus was youth, and with it comes inexperience.”

Man I hope that the haters read that and take it to heart. Thanks for posting this DrR

Which "haters" are you refering to? There are a lot of who are being classified in such a way these day on the board.

[TheTrueSiete]

"Haters" are people that HATE OUR TEAM... They dispise when they play against us... As a reference, think of Yankee fans towards Red Sox fans (and vice versa), UGA fans towards UF fans (and vice versa), and OSU fans towards the SEC (haha)...

Anyway, a majority of "true fans" on here are pointing to all the fans who don't want to look at a 37 win season as a good thing and calling us "haters"... "Haters" as they call us, me being one of them, are not wanting to celebrate this miraculous season... I'm not positive, but I don't think the players look at this season as a good thing... Key word being SEASON... Had we had a better season, we might have made it further than the 1st round in the playoffs... But, go ahead "true fans", bask in the glory of our 37 win season... All us "haters" want is for OUR TEAM TO BE BETTER AND MORE COMPETITIVE... And isn't it crazy that OUR TEAM is the same team as yours? Yet, we're called "haters"? Hmmmm.....

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[Admin]

I'm referring to the "haters" who seem to think that we should have been so much better this year than we were and constantly complain about it. Most people are reasonable and understand that we should have been in this area this year, but many seem to think that we should have been so much better and it's nice to hear a non "insider" like Sund talk about that.

[exodus]

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I'm referring to the "haters" who seem to think that we should have been so much better this year than we were and constantly complain about it. Most people are reasonable and understand that we should have been in this area this year, but many seem to think that we should have been so much better and it's nice to hear a non "insider" like Sund talk about that.

A non-insider who just so happens to be on the Hawks payroll.

[TheTrueSiete]

I guarantee that if you asked any of the players and coaches "Should we have won more games this year?" They will overwhelmingly say YES! Guess that makes them "haters" too huh?

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[khaos7]

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“When you’re inside, you always want a quicker pace — your frustration level’s a little different. Outside looking in, the Hawks really were where they should have been. People say, ‘They should have won 45 games.’ They weren’t capable of 45 wins, in my opinion. They were in Year 4 of a rebuilding process in which the focus was youth, and with it comes inexperience.”

Man I hope that the haters read that and take it to heart. Thanks for posting this DrR

I don't think having a low tolerance for mediocrity makes you a hater. What people fail to realize is the four years of rebuilding is coupled with the other 5+ years of bad management from the Babcock regime. This city has dealt with 9 years of losing. So to call people haters for wanting a winning NBA team is uncalled for. We've dealt with years inept management, arrogance (Billy Knight), faulty coaching (Kruger, Stotts, Woodson) and crappy on court play (although last year was a step in the right direction).

Having said all of that, just because Sund comes in on his white horse and gives good spin doesn't mean we have to jump on board with bells on. After the other regimes gave us similar spin at certain points and a decade later, a 37 win season is our pinnacle? The average fan doesn't give a flip about what management has to say. They just want wins. So as an organization, they haven't produced. Being on the outside looking in has its advantages. You gain a different perspective. However, you don't see this team night in and night out. We've seen what the Hawks' players can do. However, any strides they've made has been negated by awful coaching and bad management.

[TheTrueSiete]

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[exodus]

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I'm referring to the "haters"

who seem to think that we should have been so much better this year

than we were and constantly complain about it. Most people are reasonable and understand that we should have been in this area this year, but many seem to think that we should have been so much better and it's nice to hear a non "insider" like Sund talk about that.

If the Hawks can take the Celtics to 7 games with Bibby playing like ass you would think they could muster more than 37 wins in a weak conference.

[Admin]

I'm not saying that anyone is a hater for wanting the team to succeed or because of being tired of the losing but to not be able to separate our decade of failure that includes the Babcock era and the current era which is only 4 years and has seen modest improvement each year and still whine and complain like we are so awful is what gets on my nerves.

I wasn't an advocate of Sund getting the job but I love what he has had to say and I still believe that he talks about this team from the viewpoint of being an outsider. I don't believe he is giving "company man" speeches and what not just to satiate the fans. I think that he (and others around the league as he alluded to) honestly believe that we should be right about where we are at with the roster we have. Sure we'd probably be a lot better if we had made better draft decisions, but ignoring that and simply looking at the roster and the coaching I honestly believe we are close to where we should be at this point. I believe that this is the breakout year where we get above .500 by 3-5 games and if we hit that I will be happy and most here say they will be happy but the truth is that the "haters" will not be happy with it when the time comes, even though they say they will at this point in time. That is what drives me nuts.