Why did ownership fire Billy Knight?

[macdaddy]

If BK had the power of a real GM then we might be singing a different tune. To me BK's competence should be validated in the fact that he wanted to fire Woody 2 years before ownership wised up to the fact that the way Woody was running the team was ineffective. From the point BK wanted him fired to the point he was 'non-renewed' Woody improved the Hawks by like 20 wins but all of a sudden ownership had seen enough?

If they had let BK do his job which was trade for Bibby and fire Woody and who was the interim coach going to be? Larry Drew. We might be thinking BK was a genius at this point. Sure he made some horrible draft mistakes, but he left because he knew that meddling owners would screw him. And they were meddling at the point Shedon was drafted. I'll never believe that was his first choice.

[Sothron]

I'll never forgive him for passing on Deron Williams/CP3 and Brandon Roy. What he saw in Shellhead still blows me away. The fact he drafted a guy he didn't even bring in for a workout and was so clearly just a short big man in college that had nowhere near the athletic ability to start in the NBA. Imagine this team:

Deron/CP3

Roy

Joe Johnson

Smoove

Horford

It kinda hurts just thinking about it.

[Nicholasp27]

Misinformation in this thread is astounding, esp considering it's already been corrected in thread

bk left on his own, likely due to owners not giving full power but instead overriding decisions like firing woody

he was offered an extension even, so was not forced out

[NineOhTheRino]

Shelly and Acie not panning out (after the flak they received over Marvin)?

~lw3

Remember 'Shelly' was minutes from being a NBA Champion. Honestly, I can't argue that Sheldon was taken too high. BK should have tried to moved out of the 5th spot and taken Sheldon around 15-20.

I've never had an issue with the Acie pick though. At the time he was coming off one of the best NCAA performances in recent history and was thought to be the can't-miss shoot-first PG that BK and Woody wanted so badly. Bad luck/timing derailed him but don't be shocked if he wins most improved player this year.

[Swatguy]

I'll never forgive him for passing on Deron Williams/CP3 and Brandon Roy. What he saw in Shellhead still blows me away. The fact he drafted a guy he didn't even bring in for a workout and was so clearly just a short big man in college that had nowhere near the athletic ability to start in the NBA. Imagine this team:

Deron/CP3

Roy

Joe Johnson

Smoove

Horford

It kinda hurts just thinking about it.

You just gotta call Shelden out of his name. Shame.

[TomSelleck]

If BK had the power of a real GM then we might be singing a different tune. To me BK's competence should be validated in the fact that he wanted to fire Woody 2 years before ownership wised up to the fact that the way Woody was running the team was ineffective. From the point BK wanted him fired to the point he was 'non-renewed' Woody improved the Hawks by like 20 wins but all of a sudden ownership had seen enough?

If they had let BK do his job which was trade for Bibby and fire Woody and who was the interim coach going to be? Larry Drew. We might be thinking BK was a genius at this point. Sure he made some horrible draft mistakes, but he left because he knew that meddling owners would screw him. And they were meddling at the point Shedon was drafted. I'll never believe that was his first choice.

Seeing as how the ASG is giving a new coach virtually the exact same team Woodson coached in the hopes he can presumeably do more with them, it validates what Knight did much more than Woodson.

[Swatguy]

Seeing as how the ASG is giving a new coach virtually the exact same team Woodson coached in the hopes he can presumeably do more with them, it validates what Knight did much more than Woodson.

Excellent point.

[Wretch]

I didn't hate BK as much as others. I guess I was colored by years of watching Pete Babcock THROW AWAY draft picks - so much that it was an absolute relief to see one guy that actually cared. Even if was terrible at using them... Let me correct that, BK wasn't terrible at drafting (And FYI, I was one of the guys taking serious heat for wanting to draft CP). Knight was terribly average at drafting (I'd say that about his entire tenure actually). None of his moves looked especially bad at the time (except for Sheldon, W...T...F....). He just had a screwed up vision for an all 6'8" team.

Management had the right idea in wanting to limit his mad scientist experiment, but they shouldn't have been trying to block him from doing things that needed to be done. Firing Mike Woodson was one of them.

[Sothron]

You just gotta call Shelden out of his name. Shame.

I said it years ago. I'll never call him anything but Shellhead.

[NineOhTheRino]

I didn't hate BK as much as others. I guess I was colored by years of watching Pete Babcock THROW AWAY draft picks - so much that it was an absolute relief to see one guy that actually cared. Even if was terrible at using them... Let me correct that, BK wasn't terrible at drafting (And FYI, I was one of the guys taking serious heat for wanting to draft CP). Knight was terribly average at drafting (I'd say that about his entire tenure actually). None of his moves looked especially bad at the time (except for Sheldon, W...T...F....). He just had a screwed up vision for an all 6'8" team.

Management had the right idea in wanting to limit his mad scientist experiment, but they shouldn't have been trying to block him from doing things that needed to be done. Firing Mike Woodson was one of them.

BK only 1 bad move and even that move was considered 50/50 at the time.

[exodus]

The only thing that would validate this current team is winning in the playoffs. So far they have yet to win a second round playoff game, let alone a second round series. They took 7 games to beat a team that was missing it's best player. I don't see how this validates BK at all.

[NineOhTheRino]

It's the mental shortcomings that's holding this team back. Physically they're doing what BK thought they could do.

[TomSelleck]

The only thing that would validate this current team is winning in the playoffs. So far they have yet to win a second round playoff game, let alone a second round series. They took 7 games to beat a team that was missing it's best player. I don't see how this validates BK at all.

We all understand it was a flawed way to build a team. My only question is why has the ASG and Sund continued the experiment?

[exodus]

It's the mental shortcomings that's holding this team back. Physically they're doing what BK thought they could do.

Physically they are undersized in the front court and slow in the backcourt. That is not a recipe for playoff success. The pg position is still a major problem as it has always been. Bibby is washed up and Teague is obviously a major question mark. The bench sucks.

This team has major holes but is still bumping it's head on the luxury tax.

We all understand it was a flawed way to build a team. My only question is why has the ASG and Sund continued the experiment?

They don't have a lot of options. They have no capspace and no high draft picks.

Should they blow it up and start over? That is tough to do since it has been so long since the Hawks had a winning team.

[Wretch]

Physically they are undersized in the front court and slow in the backcourt. That is not a recipe for playoff success. The pg position is still a major problem as it has always been. Bibby is washed up and Teague is obviously a major question mark. The bench sucks.

This team has major holes but is still bumping it's head on the luxury tax.

They don't have a lot of options. They have no capspace and no high draft picks.

Should they blow it up and start over? That is tough to do since it has been so long since the Hawks had a winning team.

There's always options, you just need a front office willing to explore them. Clearly these guys are not. It makes me wonder though. Am I misinformed on the financial status of the ASG/Hawks? I was under the assumption that they're losing money on this deal. in which case, it would have made more sense to let Joe go, or SnT...and not make all these moves/extensions over the last couple seasons. Seems counterproductive to spend just enough money (nearly at the cap with BIG money on JJ) to build an average team that's not going to affect the bottom line.