Schlenk > "Competitive" = winning 30-something games

[sturt]

So, I think we finally have in front of us some quotes that definitively set aside "tanking," but that acknowledge expectations for the next few years are not going to be what we've been used to.

 

http://atlantahawks.blog.myajc.com/2017/06/29/schlenk-doesnt-like-the-word-rebuild/
 

Quote

 

...“We want to be exciting,” Schlenk told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We are going to play an exciting brand of basketball. We want to be competitive. We want fans to show up every night thinking we have a chance to win. Fans in Philly, I don’t think they felt that way. That’s not our goal. If we make the playoffs, great. If we miss out one year, it’s not the end of the world. We just have a chance to get a better player. Our goal is to be competitive.”

There is no doubt Schlenk is changing the Hawks roster upon his arrival from the Warriors following a front office shakeup in Atlanta. Dwight Howard was traded. The Hawks selected three players in last week’s NBA Draft. Free agency is about to start and there are decisions to make on Paul Millsap and Tim Hardaway Jr.

Schlenk reiterated his philosophy that the Hawks will build through the draft.

“What we did in Golden State is what we are trying to do here,” Schlenk said. “We never really were terrible. We were winning 30-some games, staying competitive, so when you get the last month of the season you are in the playoff hunt. But when you get your draft picks, you’ve got to be right. We did an unbelievable job in Golden State when you talk about Steph Curry. Ekpe Udoh, we didn’t do great on that one. But then Klay Thompson followed up with Harrison Barnes. Three out of four years, we got an NBA player. We feel good about getting John (Collins) at 19 this year. Taurean (Prince) last year for these guys. We’ve got a base.

“Again, we are trying to be competitive. The Philly model is not our model. We are going to continue to add guys who help us be competitive but are also on deals that allow us to have flexibility.”...

 

 

 

 

[Flight]

This is pretty sad right here.

[LastDon]

Super Sad..I'm so pissed at the direction this team is headed in..

[HawkItus]

Here is your treadmill folks.  I do like the "We want to be exciting" quote.  As I said in another thread be fun again.  Give us the highlight factory.

[Thomas]

8 minutes ago, sturt said:

“Again, we are trying to be competitive. The Philly model is not our model. We are going to continue to add guys who help us be competitive but are also on deals that allow us to have flexibility.”...

Believe someone alluded to it already but that sounds like the way Ferry operated right there and it wasn't the end of the world but almost everything on the floor panned out better than projected back then. This will be different am feeling. Once again though we need to see whats on the floor in front of us game one.

[sturt]

=============================================================

 

(Yes... you may have seen this one before... but it seems to be confirmed now.)

[KB21]

I will say that this is clearly a better strategy than tanking, but it is still very risky.  For this to work and have the Hawks back in the playoffs within the next year or two, a few things have to happen.

1.  What we saw from Dennis Schröder in the playoffs needs to be what we get consistently from him.

2.  Taurean Prince needs to become Kawhi-lite or a souped up DMC.

3.  John Collins needs to progress fast.

4.  You have to hit on the pick you get if you end up jumping into the abyss known as the lottery.

[sturt]

Or in other words, @KB21, we need Hawks U itself to become better than it ever has been before. Yes?

[KB21]

2 minutes ago, sturt said:

Or in other words, @KB21, we need Hawks U itself to become better than it ever has been before. Yes?

To add, with that lottery pick, you can't use that pick on some player who is a long term project.  You have to get someone that can step in relatively quickly and make a contribution to winning.  

[JTB]

If this is the case then there should be no problem with bud playing our rookies and other 2 year players this upcoming season. 

Allow those guys to get better vs actual starting units. I expect to see Collins as a starter as well as 2nd year prince and bembry as main rotational player off the bench with Dorsey 

 

mind as well play play our young guys ...no need to play old ass vets

[KB21]

1 minute ago, JTB said:

If this is the case then there should be no problem with bud playing our rookies and other 2 year players this upcoming season. 

Allow those guys to get better vs actual starting units. I expect to see Collins as a starter as well as 2nd year prince and bembry as main rotational player off the bench with Dorsey 

 

mind as well play play our young guys ...no need to play old ass vets

No.

If you stick Collins out there too early and he gets completely abused on the floor, then you do more harm to his long term game than development.  If he's ready to play over the last 30 games or so, then you put him in.

[AHF]

Sounds a lot like he is planning for lottery territory this season and no Sap.

[Thomas]

12 minutes ago, JTB said:

I expect to see Collins as a starter as well as 2nd year prince and bembry as main rotational player off the bench with Dorsey 

Thinking SF as Prince and Bembry now and PG as Dennis with competition between Delaney and Dorsey. Really pulling for Dorsey because of his gun, wow. As everyone else am hoping for a miracle and Delaney is moved and then maybe Jose helps us out, like last year. 

[DBac]

Lol Philly has wholly embraced that process.. just set a record for season ticket sales.

 

Sounds like some PR speak to me, the NBA will never let another team admit to tanking like Philly did. That's why they forced Hinkie out.

Edited June 29, 2017 by DBac

[Sothron]

So it is rebuilding just like myself and others said. Note I said rebuilding and not straight tanking as some posters here are continually stating they are the same thing when they are not.

If we don't screw up our lottery picks then this should be a three to four year rebuild then hope Atlanta which draws players in other sports should actually be able to draw real talent here.

[Sothron]

26 minutes ago, JTB said:

If this is the case then there should be no problem with bud playing our rookies and other 2 year players this upcoming season. 

Allow those guys to get better vs actual starting units. I expect to see Collins as a starter as well as 2nd year prince and bembry as main rotational player off the bench with Dorsey 

 

mind as well play play our young guys ...no need to play old ass vets

I agree with this. It pays to lose young versus losing old. The key difference we need to have on our roster that Philly neglected was to have some key veteran starters. Not just a veteran bench player...starter. We need at least one or two veteran starters to give the young guys someone that can actually respect for what they do on the court now and not the bar stories about what they did ten years ago.

Leadership is necessary in a rebuild. Kids aren't going to respect the guy who can't even get off the bench.

[Watchman]

In other words, there will be a lot more empty seats and an even more apathetic fan base, if that's possible.  Well Bud, maybe your next gig will work out better for you.

Edited June 29, 2017 by Watchman

[CP61]

14 minutes ago, Watchman said:

In other words, there will be a lot more empty seats and an even more apathetic fan base, if that's possible.  Well Bud, maybe your next gig will work out better for you.

Or we can have good fans like Philly and form a cult around the tank. They have so much fun there worshipping at the alter of Hinkie. There's hype there for that more than there was ever hype for anything here. I know i will be more interested in the losing team than a winning team because at least I get to watch young guys play instead of old guys. Plus I get to focus on the draft year round instead of after playoff elimination which is much better than what was previously happening. Just the way I think about sports. It's either watch a championship team now or think about how the team can be a championship 5 years from now.

[Sothron]

2 minutes ago, CP61 said:

Or we can have good fans like Philly and form a cult around the tank. They have so much fun there worshipping at the alter of Hinkie. There's hype there for that more than there was ever hype for anything here. I know i will be more interested in the losing team than a winning team because at least I get to watch young guys play instead of old guys. Plus I get to focus on the draft year round instead of after playoff elimination which is much better than what was previously happening. Just the way I think about sports. It's either watch a championship team now or think about how the team can be a championship 5 years from now.

That is the only mentality a NBA fan should have. Other sports work differently because you can win titles without superstars or building a decent team to a great one. But not in the NBA. You either have a championship contender or nothing. At least rebuilding  you might find the superstar to take you into contention status.

[DBac]

4 minutes ago, CP61 said:

Or we can have good fans like Philly and form a cult around the tank. They have so much fun there worshipping at the alter of Hinkie. There's hype there for that more than there was ever hype for anything here. I know i will be more interested in the losing team than a winning team because at least I get to watch young guys play instead of old guys. Plus I get to focus on the draft year round instead of after playoff elimination which is much better than what was previously happening. Just the way I think about sports. It's either watch a championship team now or think about how the team can be a championship 5 years from now.

NBA roster theory is so fun