TSN's Sean D. Response To My E-mail

[Traceman]

After reading Deveney's column regarding whether or not the Big Dog trade was a good one for the Hawks, I sent him an e-mail telling him why I disagreed with his column. Here was he sent in response:

Subject: Re: Big Dog is the PERFECT Addition to The Hawks Roster

> First off, Terry is no point guard. He is a shooting guard ina point

guard's

> body. This has been the Hawks' big concern for the past two years, which

is

> why they signed E. Davis and Vaughn. Good shooter, but can't run a team.

>

> Second, Terry and Abdur-rahim are offensive black holes. The ball goes in,

it

> rarely comes out. Robinson gives them a third black hole. This team will

be a

> mess offensively.

>

> Third, no matter how healthy Ratliff is---and the chances that he plays 82

> games are very slim---the team is a defensive mess. Terry is OK, but if he

is

> at the 2, he is overmatched. Newble is a good defender, but he won't get

> minutes if Robinson is on the floor. This was the Hawks' major problem

last

> year, and it will continue.

>

> Fourth, I do think the Hawks have given up on DerMarr. He will get another

> chance, but he has not handled the summer very well, muscle or no muscle.

I

> have a pretty good source on this one, so I am sure of it. It's all a

matter

> of willingness to work, and Johnson does not seem to have it.

>

> Fifth, these are all just opinions, and going back and forth like this

about

> sports is a fun thing, don't you think? I mean, the Hawks could well win

50

> games and go to the Finals. They could win 30 games and wind up watching

> another team use their draft pick again. We'll see.

>

> Thanks for writing,

> Sean D.

So according to Deveney, JT is a SG and the Hawks will be an offensive mess as well as a defensive mess. I guess we had better cancel the season now. In addition, JT, Reef and Big Dog are all "black holes" on offense. Oh what will we do?

With regard to his comments about DJ, I love it when these guys claim to have "reliable sources" who are "in the know." I wonder if this source is more in the know than Eric Musselman? For some reason, I doubt it.

I can't wait until JT, DJ, Big Dog and the rest of the Hawks make all these so called insiders leat their words. I wish the season started today, I'm ready for some hoops!

[Guest]

I say whatever....I'm so tired of hearing about it.Whatever....Lets

send SAR packin with JT since he is undersized for his position and

is about as clutch as John Starks was in a game 7 a few years

ago....

[Guest]

PG in the league.But some old question on which position

he really is.

[jaywalker72]

Eric Musselman RAVED about DJ's work, as has Lon, who continuously says DJ needs to keep up the good work...

Yes, the Hawks tried to bring in other PG's last year to continue the Terry/SG experiment, but what do you know, JT ended up back at the point and did it well as we documented throughout the season and offseason.

But that was looooong after Devaney and his "close sources" stopped watching (by the way, I believe his source is the invisible Curtis Bunn, who writes the laughable Team Report for the same Sporting News), so it's understandble if they are in the dark about Terry's emergence.

And I believe that Bunn is the one infecting Devaney's brain about Johnson...

In short, I am getting the monster gas grill going on high, and I am tossing some meat on the fire so I can personally serve up some extra large playoff burgers for these no-nothing chumps to eat.

I will personally call out every one of these guys when the Hawks, led by Terry, Johnson, Robinson, Reef, and Ratliff get to the playoffs and are impressive along the way.

Of course, they will have dissolved their long term memory of their transgressions and never be really held accountable to their opinions and "fact".

[Playoffs03]

Trace forward this e-mail back to him in april, we will then see what he has to say about it.

[Guest]

You and all of us should be prepaired for a rough start.have you

guys looked at our first month Schedule?

Opponent Time* Local TV Nat TV Oct 8 Tue Orlando Preseason 7:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 10 Thu @ Orlando Preseason 7:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 12 Sat @ Indiana Preseason 8:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 17 Thu Miami Preseason 8:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 19 Sat Indiana Preseason TBD -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 22 Tue @ New Orleans Preseason 8:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 25 Fri New Orleans Preseason 7:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 30 Wed @ New Jersey 7:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 31 Thu Utah 7:30 pm -- -- Nov 2 Sat Chicago 7:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 5 Tue @ Denver 9:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 6 Wed @ Phoenix 9:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 8 Fri @ Utah 9:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 10 Sun @ Sacramento 9:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 12 Tue @ L.A. Lakers 10:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 16 Sat New Orleans 7:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 18 Mon Toronto 7:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 20 Wed Minnesota 7:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 22 Fri @ Boston 7:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 23 Sat Boston 7:00 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 26 Tue Seattle 7:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 27 Wed @ New Orleans 8:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 29 Fri Miami 7:30 pm -- -- <http://www.nba.com/images/blank.gif> 30 Sat @ Orlando

Suns/Utah/Sac/Lakers/NO/Toronto/Wolves/Celtics/Celtics/Sonics/No/Orlando

That doesn't seem fair!I expect us to find a groove around the allstar break

and finish out the second half strong.

[chillzatl]

only a few of those teams should hammer us and even then only on the road. The lakers and Kings are the only teams there that on the road I wouldn't feel we had a good chance. We beat the lakers at home and ALMOST beat the Kings at home. That was without an all-star defensive center and without a career 20ppg SF. Suns, utah, sonics, celtics, wolves and orlando I think we have as good a chance to win as anyone.

[Guest]

We seem to stay toe to toe with the west often...

Remember the one point loss to Seattle???Remember

we almost came back and beat the Spurs one time.

We almost beat the Kings once and battled even with

them until the 4th period in the other...And we did

beat the Lakers and we played fairly well againest

Dallas and we did beat the Clippers and Suns one

game each.

We actually play the west fairly well considering we are

a eastern conference team.

But that's alot of games againest lot of good teams in a

rather short period of time.

I was proud of the way we played the west last year.We

played them pretty tough for a 33 win east team.

[TheRealDray]

would think 11-6, 12-5 is not out of the question.

NJ-?? 1st game of the season, eh go w/ the home team,L

Utah- we played them pretty well last year, we are better now they are even older, W

Chi-should be fun fast paced game, W

Denver-too many rookies to win this early, W

Phoenix-always seem to be weird games in Ariz, L

Utah-tough call in Utah, but go w/ Hawks W

Sac-we usually play them close out there-even last year until a terrible stretch of play in 4th, L

Lakers-we beat them out there, but that was no Shaq, L

NO-we can take them at home W

Tor-W

Minn-we should outscore them, W

Bos-at the Fleet center, L

Bos-back to back, we return the favor, W

Sea-JT goes off, W

NO-this one could go either way, but just say L

Miami-we win big, W

Orlando-potentiall fun game, W

I hope we get off to a start as good as this, I hope we are around .500 after 20-25 games into the season or better because once we gel and everyone learns each others games better, we will take off! One thing that helps us is getting someone from a divison rival, we know his moves and game a little better since we play them much more often than someone than if we picked up someone from a western team.

GO HAWKS!!!

[beav]

the hawks actually usually stick it to the blazers too...

[jaywalker72]

What do you guys think of this response to Devaney?

Sean,

You seem like a nice guy and I enjoy your writings, but I believe you are off base, (as are a lot of experts) and you’re being misled by your “sources” about the Hawks.

1. Jason Terry is the Hawks PG.

Terry played the majority (the last 50 games) at the PG position last season. He improved consistently over that span, understanding and embracing the position with every month.

He averaged 20.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, and 6.6 apg during that span, including 22ppg and 8 apg in the month of April.

The only other point guard on the roster (Emanual Davis was injured) was Jacque Vaughn, who saw his minutes diminish over the same 50 games. Vaughn’s minutes per game went from 23.8 in January to 22.0, 21.8, and 18.2 in the season’s final months. When you factor in that Terry was resting 11 of those Vaughn minutes, it shows that Terry was playing the point for over 30 minutes a game, and playing it well.

The Hawks won 42% of their games with Terry at the point as compared to 37.5% when he started a SG. Also consider that during the last 35 games he played last year, all at the point, the Hawks were 19-16.

That hardly seems like a guy who is struggling or regressing in any way, shape or form. In fact, it looks like he is a budding star at the point, as much as people didn’t notice at all last year.

Lon Kruger has stated on your own radio network after the Robinson trade that “Jason is our PG, and there will be a spirited competition at SG.” It sounds to me that Lon is pretty secure in Terry’s work in over half of last season, as well as his continued progress.

Also, does getting 6.6 apg, including over 8 per game in the April validate your theory that JT is a black hole on offense? Of course not.

2. The Hawks have given up on DerMarr Johnson.

I don’t know where you got this one. If your source is Curtis Bunn, then you are definitely being misled.

Curtis is a terrific writer and a great guy, but he came to about three games last year, and I believe only one of them was after the first of the year, so I wouldn’t take his word as gospel on these matters, unless that criteria doesn’t matter to you.

DerMarr massively improved over the same 50 games that Terry played at PG. His defense got him on the floor, and his offense improved as the season progressed, averaging 10.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg, and a 47 AFG%. His defense has been so good that now Warriors head coach Eric Musselman raved endlessly about DerMarr, especially this summer in Boston.

Lon Kruger wants DerMarr to “continue his great work from this summer” and even though Lon wants to have a “spirited competition”, it is likely because he doesn’t want DerMarr to think he has the job nailed down before camp and wants him to keep working to make sure he earns it.

Pete Babcock is also pleased with DerMarr, and loves the matchup problems that a Terry/Johnson backcourt brings, offensively and defensively.

3. Shareef Abdur-Rahim is a black hole.

Shareef finished the season with 3.1 assists per game, good for fifth among power forwards in the NBA last season. Does being fifth in assists mean that he is a ball hog and a black hole? Again, I think not.

This is a terrific young team, with incredible chemistry. How else would you explain every healthy Hawk (including Theo Ratliff) participating in monthly, three day workouts?

And while it remains to be seen if Glenn Robinson can blend in with these goody-goodys, the fact is that it remains to be seen. He can be a terrific option for the Hawks on offense, and his 1.47 steals per game last year indicates that he did get some defense done in MIL.

Sean, I don’t blame you for turning off the Hawks after November of last season, there was really no reason to continue since you are a national writer and have to keep your fingers on the pulse of the teams that still matter.

However, believe it or not, there are many Hawks fans that do continue to watch and care how our players and team are represented in the mainstream media.

And when we see what we believe to be obvious errors in reporting on our Hawks, we will make sure that the writer knows about it.

For their sake.

[Playoffs03]

This is a very good response. Lets see what Sean has to say about it.

[Guest]

NJ-L

Utah-W

Chi-W

Denver-W

Suns-L

Utah-L

Kings-L

Lakers-L

No-W

Toronto-W

Minnesota-L

Boston-L

Boston-L

Seattle-W

No-L

Miami-W

Orlando-L

7 win 10 losses in our first month is my prediction

[Nique21]

Perfect!!! Send it right away Jay, that is a great respose back.

[MoonKnight]

This part of Sean D's reply really ticks me off. His inside source(?) and knowledge of the Hawks is pathetic. When JT first moved from the 1 to the 2 during his second season, the coaches had to push and coax him into shooting MORE not less. Do these talking heads actually watch games and follow teams or do they rely on second hand, second rate info? JT gets NO love from the national press at all.

[JTFan31]

My conclusion and I'm sure alot of people here feel the same way is not really pay attention to these people, because in reality all they talk about is negativity. These so called "experts" and "insiders" really dont see what we see night in and night out. I understand that they have to follow all 29 NBA teams. All I ask is for them to be accurate in their assumptions and judgements about players and teams, because honestly it pisses us fans, players and managements off. IMO most of these insiders and analyst are going with what just one analyst have said before and they stick together like glue, they keep repeating the same thing and over and over again.

For anyone to say that JT is not a true PG or that Dickau is a better PG than JT is totally ridiculous. The only reason they say JT is really a SG was because he was moved to SG his 2nd season. If Kruger would of never moved JT to SG, I guarantee they wouldnt of been calling JT a SG. He gets no respect whatsoever until this year, this is the year JT has to prove everyone wrong, he has the talent, skills, work ethic and especially heart to be an allstar PG. This kid is just one of the most honorable individuals in this league and he demonstrates it every single day and I wouldnt trade him for anything.