Schlenk's Press Conference This Morning

[Guest]

Travis Schlenk "Not a proponent of BLOWING IT UP!!"

[Bankingitbig]

25 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Schlenk wll be on 92.9 The Game radio in a few minutes.

 

http://player.radio.com/listen/station/929-the-game

My notes:

First order of business - get with the front office mentioned Sund, Treloar and Peterson (not Wilcox poor guy) and hash out a plan.

Are you a Best Player Available guy - A little bit of both. Early on he tends to be a BPA drafter and then later on with late picks he goes more for need.

Taurean Prince - He thinks the Hawks did a great job with him. Said they were scouting him for #30 last year and the Hawks surprised people by taking him so early, but now all GMs around the league acknowledge that Taurean at the pick was a great choice.

Ceiling for Taurean - Radio host mentioned that he asked Taurean if he thinks he will be an allstar and Prince said "Most definitely". He also asked THJ if he thinks Prince will be an allstar and he said "Definitely". Schlenk said character is going to be real important for us and Taurean is top notch character wise.

Being player friendly - Treat the families with first class. Make the families feel apart of the Hawks family.

Taking a step back to take two steps forward - Certainly an option you can go. You can remain competitive and continue to develop your younger assets while accumulating more assets. Have the flexibility to then acquire an allstar when a team like OKC can't afford someone like Harden. He said he IS NOT A PROPONENT OF BLOWING IT UP.

Hawks fans - Fans want a clear message and they want to know what the plan is going forward. He said the plan is to remain competitive, develop young assets, remain flexible and accumulate assets. Will be better at communicating to fans what the plan is.

More important this free agency: THJ or Millsap? - Didn't answer, but said that both are important.

Thoughts on Schröder - He improved his shooting and his midrange greatly this year. Thinks he is very underrated defensively because he doesn't get steals, but thinks he is a ball hawk. Thinks his deal is very economical.

Players that are "untouchable" in trades - That word is really hard. If CLE calls and says they are tired of LeBron, then he isn't going to reply saying someone is untouchable. He doesn't like that word.

Day one priority - Let Bud know that we are in this together and are partners. They won't do well unless they both work together. He isn't successful unless Bud is. He has no doubt that they will have a strong working relationship going forward.

Final say on roster - It is going to be a collaboration. Doesn't help to bring a guy in that Bud doesn't want. Ultimately the "buck" stops with him, but he will definitely be partners with Bud.

What he learned from Jerry West - Learned to be direct and honest with people.

What he learned from Bob Myers - His ability to develop relationships. Myers came in as an agent and understood the importance of relationships. Relationships matter.

Dwight Howard's season - He has texted with Dwight, but hasn't had the opportunity to talk with him. Thinks Dwight was a huge part of the Hawks' defense last year. Still a very big physical presence. Those guys are hard to find and "we have him here to be that rock of our defense."

Edited June 2, 2017 by Bankingitbig

[Lurker]

This sounds like more of what Danny Ferry did, trying to avoid bad contracts, signing shrewd deals, I bet they'll have friendly talks with Millsap but he may be allowed to walk if he wants more than they wish to give.

[Guest]

Thanks for the synopsis @Bankingitbig.

I missed all except the snippet I posted.

[sturt]

23 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I don't know.  Just month ago he made a big point of saying that he made the final decision on all the deals.   To me that's making basketball decisions.   

But the owner also dismissed any suggestion that Budenholzer is the final decision-maker.

“I make the final decision,” he said.

“If you think Bud makes a final decision on everything that we do, you don’t understand the way the Atlanta Hawks are run. … The president of basketball operations is what I say it is, not what you say it is. (Budenholzer) has the loudest voice, not the final word. There’s a dramatic difference.”

 

Really good point.

[TheFuzz]

First off, love everything Schlenk is saying. I like the idea of staying flexible but competitive while accumulating assets, like Ferry did. Best of both worlds!

But, I gotta be honest ... I'm definitely getting some weird Bud vibes from Schlong (is that his name?) and Ressler. I thought y'all were reaching at first, but now I might join you in the good ol' reach around after all. Those quotes make it seem like Bud might not be on the same page with the rest of them right now.

P.S. I didn't get enough sleep last night.

[Bankingitbig]

1 minute ago, TheFuzz said:

First off, love everything Schlenk is saying. I like the idea of staying flexible but competitive while accumulating assets, like Ferry did. Best of both worlds!

But, I gotta be honest ... I'm definitely getting some weird Bud vibes from Schlong (is that his name?) and Ressler. I thought y'all were reaching at first, but now I might join you in the good ol' reach around after all. Those quotes make it seem like Bud might not be on the same page with the rest of them right now.

P.S. I didn't get enough sleep last night.

Yea that's exactly how I felt after listening to the radio interview. Thought there was nothing there, but the more Schlenk keeps saying how he and Bud are partners - the more I get the feeling that Bud wasn't too happy with losing his Pres. of Basketball Operations title and that they don't see eye-to-eye on things (ie. Millsap possibly).

[macdaddy]

4 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

Yea that's exactly how I felt after listening to the radio interview. Thought there was nothing there, but the more Schlenk keeps saying how he and Bud are partners - the more I get the feeling that Bud wasn't too happy with losing his Pres. of Basketball Operations title and that they don't see eye-to-eye on things (ie. Millsap possibly).

Yeah I'm not saying there is definitely a problem there bit Resseler isn't as good at this as i had hoped.  Here's basically what he said and i don't feel this is an exagerration

May 1 with Bud still in charge Resseller says "I make the final decision on Sap"

June 1 with Bud removed and Schelnk in charge Resseller says "Schlenk makes the final decision"

Intentional or not it's hard to not read into that.   But maybe Bud's cool with being just coach and didn't think he was good at the president part anyway.   

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, TheFuzz said:

P.S. I didn't get enough sleep last night.

Dem bars will get ya!

[sturt]

18 minutes ago, Bankingitbig said:

First order of business - get with the front office mentioned Sund, Treloar and Peterson (not Wilcox poor guy) and hash out a plan. ...

Day one priority - Let Bud know that we are in this together and are partners. They won't do well unless they both work together. He isn't successful unless Bud is. He has no doubt that they will have a strong working relationship going forward.

Final say on roster - It is going to be a collaboration. Doesn't help to bring a guy in that Bud doesn't want. Ultimately the "buck" stops with him, but he will definitely be partners with Bud.

So, I'm just more confused, and especially so in light of the discrepancy @macdaddy cited...

 

Is Ressler still the final decision maker? (Yes, we know he is where it concerns acquiring taxes and salaries, but before, he'd indicated he was the final decision maker on whether or not to keep Sap, right?)

 

Assuming that's changed and Schlenk is charged with anything that doesn't require a conversation about taxes ("buck stops with him")... does Bud retain the title of "biggest voice in the room," or is he "one of the biggest voices in the room?"

 

What I think I'm hearing is... welcome back to the traditional way of doing things. No more San Antonio-like weight put on the coach's opinion. Is that what everyone else thinks they're hearing, too?

 

[Guest]

You little girls in here gossiping are worse than @kg01 or some giggly ass teen girls at the mawl n all...

 

Little yentas!!!!! YENTA YENTA YENTA!!!

 

Led by your gossiping queen @macdaddy!

[macdaddy]

1 minute ago, sturt said:

So, I'm just more confused, and especially so in light of the discrepancy @macdaddy cited...

 

Is Ressler still the final decision maker? (Yes, we know he is where it concerns acquiring taxes and salaries, but before, he'd indicated he was the final decision maker on whether or not to keep Sap, right?)

 

Assuming that's changed and Schlenk is charged with anything that doesn't require a conversation about taxes ("buck stops with him")... does Bud retain the title of "biggest voice in the room," or is he "one of the biggest voices in the room?"

 

What I think I'm hearing is... welcome back to the traditional way of doing things. No more San Antonio-like weight put on the coach's opinion. Is that what everyone else thinks they're hearing, too?

 

The way i look at it.  Resseler didn't like the results last season, didn't like Bud/Wilcox duo.   Bud/Wilcox didn't like working together.   Resseler took their jobs away in a way that he thought they could save face and not look like they were fired.   Now he's building the organization with his guys not Bud's.   

[macdaddy]

Just now, Spud2Nique said:

You little girls in here gossiping are worse than @kg01 or some giggly ass teen girls at the mawl n all...

 

Little yentas!!!!! YENTA YENTA YENTA!!!

 

Led by your gossiping queen @macdaddy!

[CP61]

Here's a nice summary of this thread. Bud had to fork his son's graduation. That's a perfectly acceptable reason not to be there today. Schlenk and Bud have been spending 4 or 5 hours a day together since he was hired. Stop reaching to make drama.

[lethalweapon3]

I suspect as it pertains to Sap that Ressler still intends to be The Deal-Maker when July hits.

Tony's the main voice that Sap and his agents will hear from (Bud chiming in with the "you know how important you are to what we do" boilerplate whenever needed, plus Grant doing whatever it is he does).

But the Sausage-making dollars-and-cents work that will be the foundation of Ressler's shpiel to Sap and his agents will come directly from Sausage, not Bud, not Wes, and not from Tony's own ego.

Where it becomes different is when Sap's agents say to the team, "5 Year Max or GTFO", Ressler probably planned on negotiating a happy medium. Now, Sausage will be the one to encourage his boss to take that GTFO option.

~lw3

[sturt]

10 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

The way i look at it.  Resseler didn't like the results last season, didn't like Bud/Wilcox duo.   Bud/Wilcox didn't like working together.   Resseler took their jobs away in a way that he thought they could save face and not look like they were fired.   Now he's building the organization with his guys not Bud's.   

I never had the impression they didn't like working together, but who knows.

I think the final verdict, though, when the season ended was just too clear that what they were doing wasn't working, and something had to be done very differently.

I think, too, that it was more amiable than our cynical sides are ordinarily prepared to assume, largely because there was no reason not to outright fire Wilcox if it wasn't amiable.

But I'll acknowledge this much... the gamesmanship that appears to have been played with Bud's absence from today's presser leads me to be much more inclined to question what we're being told.

[sturt]

10 minutes ago, CP61 said:

Here's a nice summary of this thread. Bud had to fork his son's graduation. That's a perfectly acceptable reason not to be there today. Schlenk and Bud have been spending 4 or 5 hours a day together since he was hired. Stop reaching to make drama.

Now c'mon. I know it took a blockhead like myself forever to figure out, but a smart guy like you shouldn't have any trouble.

This easy and simple...

When was the graduation ceremony scheduled? Common sense says "months ago," right?

When was the press conference scheduled? No more than a week ago, right?

When could the press conference have been scheduled if it was desired that the owner, the GM and the head coach be present? Yesterday? Later today?

Conclusion?

And again, just to be clear... Ressler's the one scheduling the press conference, not Schlenk. There's nothing implicitly suggesting that Schlenk had something to do with the presser plans.

[Bankingitbig]

My amateur opinion that can't be proven at all.

Last offseason was a cluster****. No one really knew who was truly in charge at the front office, which probably had a part in the mishandling of Horford's negotiations. Ressler and Koonin pushed to get Howard as a way to bring a "superstar" to Atlanta that they can market around. The cluster**** continues during the season with Wilcox and Bud not seeing eye-to-eye on what to do with Millsap and Ressler is forced to make the final decision.

Ressler realizes this isn't working and also realizes that Howard was likely a mistake. Starts over with the hiring of Schlenk. I think he is now giving the keys to Schlenk with the exception of the luxury tax. Schlenk will have the final say, but wants to work with the coaches and all of the front office to make decisions and make sure they are on the same page. I think Ressler's comment about having the final decision on Millsap was him just going with what Bud wanted (not Wilcox) and having to be the ultimate decision maker because those two didn't agree, but now it's up to Schlenk.

I don't think Ressler really wants to be making any basketball personnel decisions. Honestly, the man is a billionaire that is still a Chairman and CEO of a very large private equity company. He is still a minority owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. He lives in Los Angeles. He doesn't have time to be making any roster decisions and likely doesn't want to going forward.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Bankingitbig

[Guest]

32 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

@macdaddy face after he started the gossipy Bud not on the same page bs...

 

ps You saw my pic already bro and you know I ain't fat....just look up at ur wall...u got the poster of me right thurrr..damn YENTA! Lol.

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, Spud2Nique said:

You little girls in here gossiping are worse than @kg01 or some giggly ass teen girls at the mawl n all...

 

Little yentas!!!!! YENTA YENTA YENTA!!!

 

Led by your gossiping queen @macdaddy!

Sorry I caught you off guard there daddy but your ass had it comin for a while now...runnin your mouth like a big shot... well lemme tell you something...

 

oh gawd I'm starting to sound like the rock...Dwayne Johnson ..