ESPN - Hawks Upbeat As Rebuilding Begins

[AHF]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20819735/atlanta-hawks-upbeat-reality-rebuilding-era

Couple of excerpts:

Quote

Indeed, the Hawks have a few building blocks for the future starting with the 24-year-old Schröder, who averaged 17.9 points and 6.3 assists in his first season as a starter. Forward Taurean Prince, a first-round pick in 2016, showed plenty of potential after moving into the lineup late in the season. This year's top pick, power forward John Collins, is an intriguing talent who figures to get substantial playing time right away. Kent Bazemore hopes to bounce back from an injury plagued season that made him look terribly overpaid after receiving a four-year, $70 million contract the previous summer.  Beyond that, the roster is filled with fringe players and marginal prospects. 

***

Owner Tony Ressler decided a major overhaul was needed. Budenholzer lost his title as president of basketball operations , though he stayed on as coach. Schlenk was hired as GM after serving in the front office of NBA champion Golden State Warriors, making it clear right from the start that this was a long-term project. His immediate goals were to get more youth on the roster and gain the financial flexibility to go after big-name players down the road.

Not too much depth to the article and an error or two (like claiming that they chose to sign Howard last offseason instead of resigning Horford) but at least it is coverage other than the pure negative flack we get a lot of the time.

[sturt]

Okay, but Bembry doesn't even merit a mention? Guess the writer had a certain quota word count.

[AHF]

1 hour ago, sturt said:

Okay, but Bembry doesn't even merit a mention? Guess the writer had a certain quota word count.

I didn't get the impression that the writer followed us at all closely.  For someone who doesn't, Bembry played in less than half the game, played the 14th most minutes on the team and averaged 2.7 ppg and then in the playoffs didn't get a single minute of playing time.  I get why someone looking in briefly from afar wouldn't consider him a piece worth highlighting.  Personally, I would have included him in the team's young assets.

[Diesel]

1 hour ago, sturt said:

Okay, but Bembry doesn't even merit a mention? Guess the writer had a certain quota word count.

No... He doesn't.  Bembry is a Hawksquawk bandwagon kinda guy.  He hasn't shown Nothing worthy of talking about.  He's just another guy that Hawksquawk is high on because we picked him.  He goes into the container with Edy, Bebe, and Payne. 

 

[AHF]

2 minutes ago, Diesel said:

No... He doesn't.  Bembry is a Hawksquawk bandwagon kinda guy.  He hasn't shown Nothing worthy of talking about.  He's just another guy that Hawksquawk is high on because we picked him.  He goes into the container with Edy, Bebe, and Payne. 

 

I'm hoping he will be in the slow starting but eventually useful basket with Dennis (3.7 ppg as a rookie), THJr (6.4 ppg his first year with ATL), Moose (3.8 ppg) and Jeff Teague (3.2 ppg).

[Diesel]

1 minute ago, AHF said:

I'm hoping he will be in the slow starting but eventually useful basket with Dennis (3.7 ppg as a rookie), THJr (6.4 ppg his first year with ATL), Moose (3.8 ppg) and Jeff Teague (3.2 ppg).

With all those guys (even Moose) they showed something to get excited about.   I don't see anything in Bembry.   I hope that he makes me eat Humble pie... but right now the pie is on the table and I'm not reaching for a fork. 

 

[Flight]

1 hour ago, Diesel said:

With all those guys (even Moose) they showed something to get excited about.   I don't see anything in Bembry.   I hope that he makes me eat Humble pie... but right now the pie is on the table and I'm not reaching for a fork. 

 

Yeah I agree on Bembry, like the general NBA fans I know that aren't Hawks followers don't know him. Schröder is probably the most relevant player on our team and that's barely.

[benhillboy]

4 hours ago, Flight said:

Yeah I agree on Bembry, like the general NBA fans I know that aren't Hawks followers don't know him. Schröder is probably the most relevant player on our team and that's barely.

Dennis' stock was higher with serious NBA fans as a reserve.  Other teams' message boards and blogs lamented how no one on their bench could stay in front of him and how they wanted to get him for cheap via trade for some bum C because they were aware of the ups-and-downs of the Bud/Teague/Dennis dynamic.  Now not so much.

Edited September 27, 2017 by benhillboy

[bleachkit]

6 hours ago, Diesel said:

No... He doesn't.  Bembry is a Hawksquawk bandwagon kinda guy.  He hasn't shown Nothing worthy of talking about.  He's just another guy that Hawksquawk is high on because we picked him.  He goes into the container with Edy, Bebe, and Payne. 

 

Seriously, I think every hardcore fan vastly overrates their young prospects, and usually poo poos their established veterans. It's kinda irrational if you think about it.

[Final_quest]

On 9/26/2017 at 10:56 PM, bleachkit said:

Seriously, I think every hardcore fan vastly overrates their young prospects, and usually poo poos their established veterans. It's kinda irrational if you think about it.

That's exactly what happens. So many fantasies about 2nd round picks, training camp invites, and Euro stash players.  People project their hopes and dreams on players who rarely make it on the court.

We saw it this offseason with Diamond Stone.  This guy was benched in D league because he couldn't play, yet some on this board dubbed him as our future center.

[AHF]

1 hour ago, Final_quest said:

That's exactly what happens. So many fantasies about 2nd round picks, training camp invites, and Euro stash players.  People project their hopes and dreams on players who rarely make it on the court.

We saw it this offseason with Diamond Stone.  This guy was benched in D league because he couldn't play, yet some on this board dubbed him as our future center.

We all see the handful of those guys who do turn into diamonds and hope our guy will be the next Manu or Ben Wallace, etc.  Doesn't work out most of the time with those longshots.

[KB21]

4 hours ago, Final_quest said:

That's exactly what happens. So many fantasies about 2nd round picks, training camp invites, and Euro stash players.  People project their hopes and dreams on players who rarely make it on the court.

We saw it this offseason with Diamond Stone.  This guy was benched in D league because he couldn't play, yet some on this board dubbed him as our future center.

Fans get more excited about the unknown quantity rather than the known quantity.  It's why tanking is such a popular subject to "fans" because they get excited about the "prospects" of getting a top pick and a "high level prospect".   It's why established college players get pooped on by the fans come draft time, because too much is known about them and not enough is known about the 19 year old hot shot that can jump out of the gym but can't defend for shit.

[lburner30342]

So the hawks had to gut the roaster and have no chance at winning to get someone to say something positive about the team.....wow

[Sothron]

Bembry needs to learn how to shoot before we can call him an asset 

[bleachkit]

On 10/2/2017 at 10:52 AM, Sothron said:

Bembry needs to learn how to shoot before we can call him an asset 

He's not. Shooting a gift, either you have or you don't.

[AHF]

8 hours ago, bleachkit said:

He's not. Shooting a gift, either you have or you don't.

Not entirely true.  Jason Kidd couldn't shoot for #$*& but learned how to hit a 3 and ended up #8 on the career list for most 3's ahead of guys like Kobe, Dirk, Chauncey, Peja, Steve Nash, etc.  He will never be an elite gunner but he could become a viable threat.

[gurpilo]

I usually don't make predicitions but I am going to make one, Bembry is going to surprise everyone out there, and he is going to finish the season as a starter and all people here and out there will see him as an important piece for the team's future. He finish the season averaging on March and April, 11ppg, 5rpg, 4.5 apg and 1,5 spg, shhoting ,45FG%, that is my prediction...

[Diesel]

15 hours ago, gurpilo said:

I usually don't make predicitions but I am going to make one, Bembry is going to surprise everyone out there, and he is going to finish the season as a starter and all people here and out there will see him as an important piece for the team's future. He finish the season averaging on March and April, 11ppg, 5rpg, 4.5 apg and 1,5 spg, shhoting ,45FG%, that is my prediction...

That's not much better than what Baze gave?

If he's going to be a surprise, at least say that he will give us 17 ppg?    But you can't.   Because you know that he doesn't have it in him.  However, this 4.5 apg.,.. that's would put him with George Hill, Tony Parker, and Matthew Dellabadova. If he gets that kind of assisting, we're going deep into the playoffs. 

[gurpilo]

hace 6 horas, Diesel dijo:

That's not much better than what Baze gave?

If he's going to be a surprise, at least say that he will give us 17 ppg?    But you can't.   Because you know that he doesn't have it in him.  However, this 4.5 apg.,.. that's would put him with George Hill, Tony Parker, and Matthew Dellabadova. If he gets that kind of assisting, we're going deep into the playoffs. 

that is much better than Baze, Bembry can provide a lot of help as a ballhandler and defender, he can penetrate and dish and his shot will improve, he is already better player. At summer league he did 17ppg, 5 rpg, 3,5apg and 2,8spg shooting 56%, not bad for such a bad player that don't shot well...