Hawks News (8-2-03)

[HawkTodd]

Oh, to be a coveted big man in NBA (8-2-03).

http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/basketball/article/0,1426,MCA_466_2153528,00.html

Interest in Hawks' center Theo Ratliff has increased with a belief that David McDavid's impending purchase of the Atlanta Hawks has created a fire sale.

"We are not trading Theo Ratliff," Hawks general manager Billy Knight said.

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Memo shows Baylor's Bliss left SMU after inquiry on infractions (8-2-03).

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/6445417.htm

According to the NCAA memo, a major portion of the private investigators' report on Bliss' program at SMU involved statements from Koncak, a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team and a second-team all-America pick as a senior in 1984-85.

Koncak was quoted as telling the investigators he received at least $2,000 to $5,000 from two boosters during his junior and senior years. The boosters he cited were among the nine whose association with the university's athletic program was ended because of their role in the football scandal.

Koncak was also quoted as saying that he knew of other players who received money in a similar fashion and that he believed "very strongly" that Bliss was aware of the payments.

The NCAA memo indicates that the SMU investigators interviewed Koncak twice after he joined the NBA Atlanta Hawks, who selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 1985 draft.

In the first interview, Koncak said he began receiving cash from two boosters, George Owen and John Appleton, after he was married during his junior year. He said he also saw two other players receive money from those boosters.

But in the second interview, he said he could not recall how much money he received and identified Owen as his sole source of funds. During that session, he also declined to sign an affidavit because he believed that it could be used against him if he returned to Dallas.

Koncak described for the investigators an incident in which a player, Carl Wright, took a six-pack of beer onto the team bus after a game at Texas A&M University.

According to Koncak, Bliss tried to take the beer from Wright, who told the coach: "You may have bought my car, but you didn't buy this beer. I did."

Koncak said an assistant coach ultimately took the beer from Wright.

Koncak, who retired from the NBA in 1996, did not respond to phone messages seeking comment for this article.

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Bucks narrow their options (8-1-03).

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/buck/aug03/159394.asp

The Milwaukee Bucks' search to replace coach George Karl is apparently coming to a head, with Atlanta Hawks interim coach Terry Stotts and Sacramento Kings assistant and Milwaukee native Terry Porter emerging as the two front-runners.

The field of candidates was winnowed down to five on Friday when Seattle SuperSonics associate head coach Dwane Casey, also thought to be a strong candidate for the Bucks' vacancy, removed his name from consideration.

As of Friday, five candidates were known to be interested in the job: Stotts, Porter, former Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Sidney Moncrief, Detroit Pistons assistant coach Mike Woodson and Phoenix Suns assistant Marc Iavaroni.

The process will likely speed up now with Sen. Herb Kohl, the Bucks' owner, expected to enter the process this weekend to interview the finalists.

"The senator really likes Terry (Stotts) from his first stint with the Bucks," a source close to the process said. "But he also likes the other Terry (Porter), too. (Porter) is a Milwaukee guy and (Kohl) really feels the city would get behind him and generate a lot of interest in the team."

Stotts came to Milwaukee with Karl in 1998, but the two had a falling out and Stotts was dismissed from the Bucks staff in July 2002. He landed on his feet in a big way, however, taking a job on Lon Kruger's staff in Atlanta.

When Kruger was fired in the middle of last season, Stotts was promoted to interim head coach. His status in Atlanta is murky, though, because of the team's impending sale to Dallas car dealer David McDavid.

Insiders think Stotts would take the Bucks job if offered, however, rather than rely on being able to reclaim the job under the new owner in Atlanta.

Porter, with just one year's coaching experience, has the shortest resume of the remaining candidates. But the fact that he grew up in Milwaukee, prepped at Milwaukee South and played college ball at UW-Stevens Point under [censored] Bennett are all thought to be huge factors in his favor.

Casey's withdrawal was somewhat surprising, as he was expected to advance to the interviewing finals.

"I appreciate the opportunity to interview with the Bucks, but it is in my best interest to remain as the associate head coach of the Sonics," Casey said. "I'm sure Larry (Bucks general manager Larry Harris) will do a great job and he has the Bucks headed in the right direction with their youth movement."

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Remaining Free Agents - RANKINGS – (8-1-03).

http://www.insidehoops.com/free-agents.shtml

3) Jason Terry - 6-2 PG - Atlanta Hawks (restricted FA)

Terry is a shooting guard who can also pretend to be a point guard. He hasn't fit in with the Hawks, but no one else has either, so we're not sure that should entirely be held against JT. He's quick, can score and pass, and puts his heart out on the floor. If someone offers him a big contract, InsideHops.com feels the Atlanta Hawks will not match the offer.

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Big Dog Gone...Looking at the Glenn Robinson Deal (7-31-03).

http://www.realgm.com/src_atlanta_column.php

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Sean Deveney Mailbag (7-30-03).

http://www.sportingnews.com/voices/sean_de...g/20030730.html

Is there any chance that Hanno Mottola will play somewhere next season? He has played pretty well with San Antonio this summer.

Kari Lehto

Finland

*** Kari: Mottola has an outside chance of catching on with San Antonio. He is the kind of player teams keep saying they need, but very few give that kind of player -- a big guy who can shoot -- a shot. He's not much of a defender, for sure, but he is 6-11 and has range. A guy like that, especially as more teams look for ways to bust zone defenses, can be valuable, but no one seems eager to put players such as Mottola on the floor.

[DJ_Money]

[censored] it, let's bring back Hanno.

He can shoot, he can rebound, and he knew his role on this team very well. But, he can't play a lick of defense. I had resorted to calling him "And 1" Mottola. [censored], no one on this team can play D, so he'll fit right back in.

Best of all, he's cheap!

[KB21]

If no one on this team could play defense, they wouldn't have had the 8th best defensive field goal percentage in the NBA last season.

[DJ_Money]

Alright, fine, you win. Somebody on this team can play defense.

Still, let's bring back "And 1" Mottola.

[Diesel]

In reply to:

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Terry is a shooting guard who can also pretend to be a point guard. He hasn't fit in with the Hawks, but no one else has either, so we're not sure that should entirely be held against JT. He's quick, can score and pass, and puts his heart out on the floor. If someone offers him a big contract, InsideHops.com feels the Atlanta Hawks will not match the offer.

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I have my doubts too. I don't think Knight is being honest about much but then again, I don't think he knows the truth about much. If we really wanted JT, we could have made a deal with him a long time ago.

[Guest]

It says in that other article that the Jazz will not

"overpay"

Billy Knight might be the smart thing after all.He might

actually get JT back at a cheap price.