Sekou: Hawks Hit Home Run With Ferry

[Admin]

http-~~-//nba.cdn.turner.com/nba/big/channels/nba_tv/2012/01/17/20120117_thejump_ferry.nba_nba_576x324.flv

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/06/25/hawks-could-hit-home-run-with-ferry/

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – So Danny Ferry is the man charged with trying to refocus and revitalize the Atlanta Hawks?

He’s the perfect man for the job.

Why that would be needed for a team that’s made five straight playoff appearances is not the point. With five core players (Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Jeff Teague and Zaza Pachulia) on the roster for the 2012-13 season chewing up the bulk of the salary cap space, the Hawks are in need of a mini-makeover.

Ferry, the vice president of basketball operations for the San Antonio Spurs (and the former general manager in Cleveland) – until he was announced as the Hawks new GM this morning – has proved capable of mastering the mini-makeover. He did it several times in Cleveland when he had to put together the right supporting cast for LeBron James.

His arrival in Atlanta is the franchise’s most significant summer acquisition since Horford fell into their lap with the third pick in the 2007 Draft.

Ferry replaces the retiring Rick Sund, who replaced Billy Knight. And Ferry offers the Hawks a far different and much more aggressive approach to building a team than what Hawks fans are used to. While Sund was a sound caretaker of a franchise that had already crossed the threshold from lottery outfit to regular playoff contender, he never made the bold moves that might have pushed the Hawks to the next level.

The heavy lifting had already been done when Sund arrived. The culture was established under Knight and former coach Mike Woodson. They rolled to a 53-win season in 2010, the franchise’s fifth-best record in their Atlanta history, on Sund’s watch. But they have regressed in each season since then.

Ferry, on the other hand, was the architect of teams in Cleveland that went to The Finals in 2007 and twice finished with the best regular-season record in the league. When he left Cleveland in June of 2010, he went back to the Spurs. He had won a championship there as a player and later worked under Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford, widely regarded as two of the very best in the business of building championship structure and culture.

Even with their core in place for all of these years, and internal bluster that three straight trips to the conference semifinals from 2009-2011 suggested they were among the league’s elite, the Hawks have never been considered championship material.

Hiring Ferry, a home run for the franchise in every way, gives them someone at the controls who knows what an “elite” organization looks like from the inside.

[Sothron]

As I said in other threads the real question is how much power and how much cap room/luxury tax freedom is Ferry really being given.

[KB21]

As I said in other threads the real question is how much power and how much cap room/luxury tax freedom is Ferry really being given.

With the penalities for going into the luxury tax threshold, there will not be many teams in the future going into that area. Even if they did, there is very little correlation between how much you spend and winning.

[Sothron]

With the penalities for going into the luxury tax threshold, there will not be many teams in the future going into that area. Even if they did, there is very little correlation between how much you spend and winning.

That last part is simply not true. I can't remember the last time a NBA team won a title without being heavy spenders.

[WraithSentinel]

Sekou said the Hawks hit a homerun with this hiring. Our dear old friend Terence Moore said this:

https://twitter.com/TMooreSports/status/217417541117677568

There is total disdain for the Hawks making Danny Ferry their GM. Haven't heard this much disgust with the Hawks in, um, weeks.

[Buzzard]

With the penalities for going into the luxury tax threshold, there will not be many teams in the future going into that area. Even if they did, there is very little correlation between how much you spend and winning.

I agree with you here and don't think he has been handed the keys to the vault. But I do think he can make any moves he sees fit within our current salary structure. Ferry is mover and a shaker; just don't see him waiting around he hawing when he sees a deal he likes and the salaries work. Edited June 26, 2012 by Buzzard

[KB21]

Consider the source. As far as the correlation between payroll and wins, several economists have studied this, and the correlation is very weak. What you think you are seeing is outliers to the trend. The majority of your winning teams are going to be in the $60-70 million payroll range, which is above the salary cap but below the luxury tax threshold.

[KB21]

I agree with you here and don't think he has been handed the keys to the vault. But I do think he can make any moves he sees fit within our current salary structure. Ferry is mover and a shaker; just don't see him waiting around he hawing when he sees a deal he likes and the salaries work.

I think what Danny Ferry is going to do is utilized advanced analytics to maximize the money that ASG spends. Hence their comment that they want to get better value.

[Buzzard]

I think what Danny Ferry is going to do is utilized advanced analytics to maximize the money that ASG spends. Hence their comment that they want to get better value.

I am all for that to. And the best deals on salary vs return is to make draft picks and not sell the damn things. I cannnot ever remember the Spurs selling a pick much less a 1st round pick.

[KB21]

I am all for that to. And the best deals on salary vs return is to make draft picks and not sell the damn things. I cannnot ever remember the Spurs selling a pick much less a 1st round pick.

I posted an article somewhere, maybe it was at Peachtree Hoops, that talked about San Antonio and their moneyball approach. San Antonio is the best organization in the league when it comes to identifying cheap talent and developing it into contributing players. Guys like Gary Neal, George Hill, and Danny Green are great examples of this.

[Joker]

I posted an article somewhere, maybe it was at Peachtree Hoops, that talked about San Antonio and their moneyball approach. San Antonio is the best organization in the league when it comes to identifying cheap talent and developing it into contributing players. Guys like Gary Neal, George Hill, and Danny Green are great examples of this.

San Antonio has a system. Atlanta, well, doesn't.

[thecampster]

San Antonio has a system. Atlanta, well, doesn't.

San Antonio also had a guy named Duncan. Atlanta doesn't.

[Devon]

San Antonio also had a guy named Duncan. Atlanta doesn't.

No... We have a guy named Johnson that we pay more to not have 4 titles... and a Marvin too.

[bird_dirt]

"With five core players (Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Jeff Teague and Zaza Pachulia) on the roster for the 2012-13 season chewing up the bulk of the salary cap space, the Hawks are in need of a mini-makeover."

am i missing something here, but isn't marvin on the 12-13 roster, and one that eats a good chunk of the salary cap space? or has he already been downgraded to no longer being one of the "core" players?

[niremetal]

HAWKS HIT HOME RUN WITH FERRY

I'll take mixed metaphors for $500, Alex.

[AHF]

I am all for that to. And the best deals on salary vs return is to make draft picks and not sell the damn things. I cannnot ever remember the Spurs selling a pick much less a 1st round pick.

That and true superstars on max contracts. Lebron, Dwight, Durant are all tremendous salary vs return.

[frankthetank966]

Sekou said the Hawks hit a homerun with this hiring. Our dear old friend Terence Moore said this:

https://twitter.com/...417541117677568

There is total disdain for the Hawks making Danny Ferry their GM. Haven't heard this much disgust with the Hawks in, um, weeks.

Terrance Moore is a bum. His columns towards the end of his career where horrible.

[AHF]

I'll take mixed metaphors for $500, Alex.

Which two are mixed?

[niremetal]

Which two are mixed?

Using a baseball term to praise a basketball decision. I suppose it's not a mixed metaphor per se...more a funny choice of metaphor. But "funny choice of metaphor for $500" doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Edited June 26, 2012 by niremetal

[AHF]

Using a baseball term to praise a basketball decision. I suppose it's not a mixed metaphor per se...more a funny choice of metaphor. But "funny choice of metaphor for $500" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Fair enough!