Hawks

By cp

July 2, 2007 3:24 PM | Link to this

Well at least Horford is taller than BK. I remember seeing Sheldon stand next to BK last year at the press confrence and saying to myself that he was shorter than I had imagined.. Only time will tell if the picks were the right ones but Woody has to get it this year for it to work. Im sick of the cliches he uses .Just get it done Woody. Like someone else said, If Law shows from jump that he is better than the pgs we have now start him. I dont want to hear that he has to earn his minutes crap. I dont even doubt that he is better than what we have. Im wondering what free agents and trades BK is targeting. I hope its better than some of the previous ones.

By Anakin Joe

July 2, 2007 2:59 PM | Link to this

Jim, the very, very, very short article about our new players from the draft is available on ajc.com. That was the press conference, to introduce Horford and Law.

By mountain jim

July 2, 2007 2:26 PM | Link to this

Or if there was a ‘Press Conference’ at one, did any Press show up? Any Press planning to report on what was said?

By mountain jim

July 2, 2007 2:23 PM | Link to this

Anyone know what happened to the Hawk’s 1pm press conference supposedly scheduled for today?

No announcement (I could find) as to why there was no press conference, either.

Anyone in charge over at Hawk’s PR Land? Eh?

By MiDdle FaNga ZuP

July 2, 2007 1:55 PM | Link to this

I’M WITH YOU, SEKOU. I’M READY FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON.

By doc

July 2, 2007 1:48 PM | Link to this

aj, i see i am more the optimist than you as i suggested 38 if the team starts out as it is now. some might think that is an improvement, i dont. as far as i am concerned they got their bogey last year falling short because of their need to claim injuries as waht held them back. you cant have it both ways so there had better be significant improvemnet beyond the 36 that folks said we should reach last year if progress is truly shown.

By curtrob

July 2, 2007 12:40 PM | Link to this

me personally i liked the picks, for those that believe that Conley was the right choice at 3. look at it like this; we had two picks the 3 and 11 if we had one pick at 3 and no 11 it would have made more sense to take Conley at 3 if we truly felt he was our point guard of the future. i still wouldn’t have been 100% happy with that, but there was no way we could have passed up on this guy if we feel he could have been a chris paul type of player. but considering the fact that we had two very high draft picks i think BK had to try to maximize those pick as much as possible. getting Yi would have been a complete disaster even if he turns out to be a great player, but picking him means you would have initially given up one Marvin,Josh Smith, Childress. more so Marvin because we would have been bringing Yi to play SF which Marvins natural position. at least with Horford you have admitted that the Sheldon pick could turn out to be a bust unless you plan on playing Horford at the 5/C position. with law you have someone who can shoot create his own shot as well as get other players involved. and BTW i dont think the Amare deal had legs. it would have been too good to be true and unfortunatley things like that just dont happen to this franchise.

By The Flash

July 2, 2007 12:20 PM | Link to this

Is anyone else having difficulty getting their stuff posted?

By Anakin Joe

July 2, 2007 12:14 PM | Link to this

Doc, drafting Yi required a level of imagination and innovation that Woody simply doesn’t have. Woody comes from the saem regime that required Darko to sit in the dog house until he played down low. My guess is that he had no interest in a perimeter-oriented big man, so he took one that is comfortable in the block. I’d bet that he pleaded with his old buddy to give him a low-post scorer in the last year of his deal. It is what it is at this point. I agree, pure vanilla. And unless the younger players come back with several new wrinkles in their games, I don’t see this team winning more than 35 games this season.

By terrell

July 2, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this

P, Law played point in college ,not the 2. His coach said he wanred him to be more of a scorer because the team needed his offense. I was a Conley supporter myself but I’ve gotten over it. Acie has to motivated by all this negativity. I really hope he proves his doubters wrong. After all he was ranked as the best point guard all year long until he missed a layup in the sweet sixteen and then all of a sudden Conley moved to #1. Like I said before, no bigs fell to 11 so taking Conley would have backfired. Lets stop dogging Acie and support him.

By doc

July 2, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this

my saying vanilla is another way if saying it is half full flash.

you know flash the horfod deal still leaves me a bit confused. he might turn out fine but with them now saying that they see sheldon as a five it seems that there would be plenty of looks that could have been used with yi at work in rotations with josh smith and marvin between the 3 and 4 spots. a rotaion of the three as interchangable parts would have been a very dynamic one and his size at four would have helped sheldan compensate for his own height disadvantage as a balance between the two. he also could have gone five with josh and marvin in the game for a real up tempo type of look. i think he gets the new game.

this may mean my geting a bucks hat if they come on strong. dont be surprised if they dont have a similar turnaround to the spurs when they got duncan the year afte their fall from grace with robinson’s injury. they got themselves some extra talls now and a very quick big guard so they could be fun to watch.

do you think yi did some soccer in his career flash?

By P

July 2, 2007 11:16 AM | Link to this

We needed a pg and got a combo guard.

Anyone who thinks Law can be a pg in the league will be proven wrong shortly. Why is Knight obsessed with turning scoring guards into point guards?

By The Flash

July 2, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this

Doc That was my the-glass-is half-full side talking.

I was not a fan of Conley at the 3, which really made Law the take. And, I do think the toughness and swagger part, along with the ability to create his own score are real assets.

Horford is less clear, certainly as compard to your guy Yi. I only got to see snippets of Yi on draft night, and slightly before, and can see your excitement with him. Seems to me if you took him, you have to move either Smooth or MW. To me it would have been Smooth, the more proven player but not the two pick in the draft, who still is just a kid.

Now, I would have moved Smooth in a hair’s breath, but for whom, is the question.

They probably could have gotten Etan for a song. I’ve been saying for several years that they should have. If they had him, Yi would have been a viable pick. They didn’t have him and I don’t think that BK was prepared to move Smooth and would not give up on MW after having used a 2 to get him.

So, its half-full time, doc; I think that we’re going to really like Law, as in really, really. Horford, well, here’s hopin.

By evg

July 2, 2007 8:52 AM | Link to this

Hey “By a thinking fan”

Detroit won only because the LA Lakers had injuries to Karl Malone and another major player, but I can’t remember his name. I knew before the 7 game series started that Detroit was going to beat the Lakers because of the injuries. I also knew that Dallas wasn’t going to do anything in the playoffs against the Golden State Warriors because the previous year they beat a San Antonio team that had 3 major players with injuries (i.e., Duncan, ankle injury; Parker, thigh injury; and Ginobli, thigh injury). I knew that Dallas had to take advantage of the situation last year and beat Miami because that would be their only chance. However Dallas failed because Dirk is soft, Jason Terry makes unforced turnovers all the time because he isn’t a pg like Nash, and because Stackhouse and/or Jason Terry was stupid enough to get suspended. I said all this to say that Detroit didn’t do anything so great; they had their chance, but now younger teams with more speed and balance have caught up to them.

By A Thinking Fan

July 2, 2007 6:05 AM | Link to this

Taurus Detroit won with 2 Chevys and a Pontiac… LOL!

By Davey

July 2, 2007 2:16 AM | Link to this

Amare trade never was real

My bro works for 790 the zone and he told me that it was Chad Ford making crap up to cause some tension before the draft. None of this actually happened people! It was all fake. Belkin didn’t turn it down. It never was close to happening because the hawks never talked to either team.

You guys can believe what you want but the fact of the matter is trade was a fake.

By Taurus

July 2, 2007 1:26 AM | Link to this

For the record, the Amare deal was on the table. There are way too many credible sources that are justifying the claim. I don’t think giving up ZaZa, M. Williams, Lue, #3 and #11 pick were too much for Amare. Zaza is a career backup center, Lue is a backup PG with his best years behind him, and M. Williams has a chance to be good, but I don’t see him any better than Al Harrington when he was with Atlanta. We can only speculate how good Law and Horford, but Amare is a 1st team All-NBA player, which means you are getting the best of the best. You don ‘t pass that up. I can honestly say neither of those players we pick will ever be 1st team All-NBA. J.J. and Amare pick and roll would be impossible to defend. There would be no trio better than J.J, Amare, and J. Smith in the east. You would have a core group established for years to come and created a buzz of excited back into the Hawks since Dominique. There’s nothing wrong with Horford and Law, and they will be decent to good players, but you don’t buy 2 Cadillacs when you can have a Rolls Royce.

By mykhalc

July 2, 2007 12:27 AM | Link to this

ROAN, ahh bro you takin’ me to that anti-belkin place again!! this was another reason why i knew/know he was/is MR. ANTI-ATLANTA!!! he was against the high court hearing it when the non-belkin owners requested that the COURT OF APPEALS hear it instead of the SPECIAL COURT OF APPEALS. to me this said a couple of things. one, that he really was not tryin’ to end it in one ‘final’ judgement. two, he DOES NOT think he’ll win ‘cause he woulda have had the confidence that the HIGHEST COURT woulda ruled in his behalf. three, again it just shows his total lack of compassion and empathy for the sufferin’ fans of this city. regardless of how long it takes for the ‘final’ decision, he WILL RECOUP his investment. it’s the fans and franchise that continue to suffer ‘cause of the constraints that will remain in place until a decision is rendered!!! there is no way he woulda acted like this if it involved one of his beloved BOSTON franchises!! you can bet that!!!

By Lifelong Hawks Fan

July 1, 2007 11:53 PM | Link to this

Sekou, I know it’s hard to look into that crystal ball and predict the future. But would you mind using your expert basketball knowledge to try and predict what part of our summer league team might look like?

By Lifelong Hawks Fan

July 1, 2007 11:50 PM | Link to this

I hate to say it roan, but I think this is already the most pathetic episode in sports history. I guess I can say that being a Hawks fan. There are obviously some other big flubs. But this to me is so damn hurtful!

By terrell

July 1, 2007 11:28 PM | Link to this

The Nets are offering Jefferson, Kristis and J.Collins for J.Oneal. Dont you guys think that we can make a better offer with some of our young talent? Bird is supposedly really considering making the deal.

By evg

July 1, 2007 10:19 PM | Link to this

Hey Talent Scout

I still think we should have picked Yi Jianlian rather than Al Horford, but I could be wrong. Yi was not afraid to bang down low; he was just too light (230lbs) at the time. Now he weighs about 250 lbs. People don’t believe he is a proven player, and that is where I think we are wrong. Don Nelson of the Golden State Warriors told the Milwaukee coach that Yi would be a good pick. I believe that Yi will have a great impact “this year” if he plays for the Milwaukee Bucks. Again, if Yi played well again our NBA players during the Olympics, and Joe Johnson and Dwight Howard had high praises for him, why wouldn’t he do well his first year in the NBA. I will watch closely to see who does better in their first year between Yi and Al Horford.

By talent scout

July 1, 2007 9:35 PM | Link to this

People PLEASE GET OVER IT!!!!!!! BK made a great draft under the circumstances. I’ve had the pleasure of watching Conley the last 3 years in AAU. He always had Greg Ogden to back him up which the Hawks don’t have. He won’t be a star in this league for at least 3 years in my opinion-though he is the kind of athlete who I believe is durable. But Horford and Law were SOLID PICKS and have a chance in this league. All the bigs were gone at 11. Something else that is food for thought;next year if they come out is the best group of pure PG’s to come out since Paul, Williams. You have Lawson on UNC, Chambers of Kansas, Augustin of Texas etc. So please get off BK’s back and stop second guessing. We have a great opportunity to move forward.

By Chris

July 1, 2007 9:09 PM | Link to this

Yeah, Ol’ Doc Stern is gonna have to step in an settle this stalemate. The Hawks are an embarrassment to the league in so many ways. If we were a winning basketball team, the situation wouldn’t be as horrible. But we’re a freaking laughingstock right now.

By roan st

July 1, 2007 8:33 PM | Link to this

I just read some disheartning news for us hawks fans. Apparentley whenever this next court ruling happens it will be appealed immediately by which ever side losses. This damn thing could last well into 2008 or even 2009. Whenever the special court of appeals makes their ruling bygod david stern better show some balls and step in and say enough. If not this will be one of the ugliest and most pathetic episodes in sports history.

“Maryland’s highest court won’t referee the Hawks-Thrashers ownership dispute. The Maryland Court of Appeals — the equivalent of Georgia’s Supreme Court — on Tuesday denied a request by the majority of the teams’ owners for the court to hear their appeal of a ruling that estranged partner Steve Belkin is entitled to buy them out at cost. The court said, in a brief order, that it denied the request because “there has been no showing that review by [the state’s highest court] is desirable and in the public interest.” The order means that the appeal instead will be heard by Maryland’s lower appellate court, the Court of Special Appeals. The non-Belkin owners had argued that bypassing the lower appellate court would lead to a final resolution faster. That’s because a Court of Special Appeals decision can subsequently be taken to the Court of Appeals. “We’re disappointed for the city of Atlanta and the fans that the matter won’t be resolved sooner,” owner Michael Gearon Jr. said after learning of Tuesday’s ruling. “However, our confidence level is the same at the Court of Special Appeals as at the higher Court of Appeals.”

By NumbaOneFan

July 1, 2007 8:27 PM | Link to this

After the draft I promised to keep my mouth shut and opinions to myself with the explicit purpose of waiting until all the expert draft prognosticators and naysayers had a chance to form their opinions and let a few of the loyal fans from Sekous blog rant, rave and foam at the mouth. I have read ludicrous rants from Conley lovers, and Noah groupies and can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt the Hawks draft was exactly what this team needed. With Horford and Law the Hawks have achieved the best possible solution to the glaring weak spots on this roster. From reading what all the such experts say after all the dust cleared, is refreshing to see that the Hawks actually got the 2 best players in the draft based on them being the most ready to contribute immediately and make a substantial impact. Personally I believe that Oden is not going to have a very long career due to his abnormality of one leg being longer than the other, this will translate into back and cervical problems within a short span of years, thus making Durant the obvious #1 with Horford #2 and Oden a close #3 only due to his extra height. As far as Acie Law, this is one cool cat who loves to take the dagger shot. Keep in mind what his coach stated that should be obious to anyone who (1 watched A&M play, and 2 has any basketball knowledge and brains. What his coach said was that” for the first two years he had to stay after him to take the shot, he was the PG and leader during his first 2 years and only started taking the shots at the caoch’s constant urging”. This guys has size, deceitful quickness and knows the fundamentals. He can beat you with the money shot or with penetration and dishing off as well as with having the ability to finish and score at the line. As someone mentioned earlier in this blog that last years Hawks team was snake bitten since training camp with freak injuries to Speedy, Solomon and a few others. With those kind of injuries that continued thru the season and with the limited depth on that roster it was an accomplishment in and in itself that they won the ammount of games they did inspite of Woody’s lame @$$ coaching. This years roster is already more mature and stronger than last years roster and with the acquisitions of Horford and Law will make this team really interesting in the East. If we can stay healthy and tweak the roster with a couple of trades that include some expiring contacts and none of the core of players, the sky is the limit. My only concern is that Woody will be outclassed and outcoached this year. He has a team full of young horses and still insists on pulling in the reins on the thoroughbreds. With any kind of a decent coach this team could compete for a top 5 or 6 seed in the east as long as they stay healthy and the ownership situation doens’t cause a distraction. Now let us all collectively hold our breaths that Woody has an epiphany or he gets canned early in the season.

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 8:18 PM | Link to this

not only does WOODSON have an expirin’ contract, i also think we can safely assume BK is on the clock this year too. sooo if this is true then maybe, just maybe, if WOODSON does not get this team off to a good start, then BK will have the balls to look elsewhere!!??!! he might be loyal to a fault, but hopefully he feels the short leash that he’s on this year and this leads him to be more demandin’ of his pal WOODSON and the results that he needs to show right outta the blocks!!??!!

By NumbaOneFan

July 1, 2007 7:59 PM | Link to this

After the draft I promised to keep my mouth shut and opinions to myself with the explicit purpose of waiting until all the expert draft prognosticators and naysayers had a chance to form their opinions and let a few of the loyal fans from Sekous blog rant, rave and foam at the mouth. I have read ludicrous rants from Conley lovers, and Noah groupies and can honestly say without a shadow of a doubt the Hawks draft was exactly what this team needed. With Horford and Law the Hawks have achieved the best possible solution to the glaring weak spots on this roster. From reading what all the such experts say after all the dust cleared, is refreshing to see that the Hawks actually got the 2 best players in the draft based on them being the most ready to contribute immediately and make a substantial impact. Personally I believe that Oden is not going to have a very long career due to his abnormality of one leg being longer than the other, this will translate into back and cervical problems within a short span of years, thus making Durant the obvious #1 with Horford #2 and Oden a close #3 only due to his extra height. As far as Acie Law, this is one cool cat who loves to take the dagger shot. Keep in mind what his coach stated that should be obious to anyone who (1 watched A&M play, and 2 has any basketball knowledge and brains. What his coach said was that” for the first two years he had to stay after him to take the shot, he was the PG and leader during his first 2 years and only started taking the shots at the caoch’s constant urging”. This guys has size, deceitful quickness and knows the fundamentals. He can beat you with the money shot or with penetration and dishing off as well as with having the ability to finish and score at the line. As someone mentioned earlier in this blog that last years Hawks team was snake bitten since training camp with freak injuries to Speedy, Solomon and a few others. With those kind of injuries that continued thru the season and with the limited depth on that roster it was an accomplishment in and in itself that they won the ammount of games they did inspite of Woody’s lame @$$ coaching. This years roster is already more mature and stronger than last years roster and with the acquisitions of Horford and Law will make this team really interesting in the East. If we can stay healthy and tweak the roster with a couple of trades that include some expiring contacts and none of the core of players, the sky is the limit. My only concern is that Woody will be outclassed and outcoached this year. He has a team full of young horses and still insists on pulling in the reins on the thoroughbreds. With any kind of a decent coach this team could compete for a top 5 or 6 seed in the east as long as they stay healthy and the ownership situation doens’t cause a distraction. Now let us all collectively hold our breaths that Woody has an epiphany or he gets canned early in the season.

By Chris

July 1, 2007 7:19 PM | Link to this

Isn’t Ivey off the books? I didn’t see him on the Hawks salary report for next season.

Personally, I like Lue coming off the bench. He’s a great scorer when the starters are taking a break.

If you can package Lorenzen and AJ for a veteran post presence, even if you throw in another guy to get a bigger name, we need some leadership down low.

We need someone to tutor Horford, Zaza, Solomon, Shelden, etc. Someone who can come off the bench and direct traffic in the lane. Lorenzen’s and AJ’s combined contracts equal almost $6 mil, so we could keep a decent vet in exchange for their expiring deals.

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 7:18 PM | Link to this

and the BIGGEST expirin’ contract of the year…..WOODSON!!!!my prayer beads are still out!!LOL

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 7:13 PM | Link to this

ROAN, IVEY’s contract is expired. he’s outta here…

By terrell

July 1, 2007 7:11 PM | Link to this

Great to hear that about Solomon Jones. I think he should be able to do as much or more than Noah could have done for the Hawks; For you guys who wanted to draft that clown.

By roan st

July 1, 2007 7:06 PM | Link to this

Johnson and wright are two of the hawks most tradeable assets because they have expiring contracts. Otherwise I would rather keep johnson over claxton or ivey. But if we make a deal theres a good chance it will be with a team lokking for cap relief. The only other player that I see in a trade would probably be childress if it could net us a decent big man or a point guard like calderon.

By OddJob

July 1, 2007 6:37 PM | Link to this

Keith —— A Johnson and L Wright draw the short straws,I’m guessing they’re not buying any green fruit.

By terrell

July 1, 2007 6:32 PM | Link to this

Just read that Darko’s agent was not contacted by Magic when free-agency began today. We might want to look into that. Also, behind the scenes Yi’s agent is seeking a trade from Milwaukee. I saw that on HOOPSHYPE. One more thing, for whoever said that we should sign Brevin Knight: We just had a pretty good draft, why ruin it by bringing in another aging bum to join Speedy on the bench. REDICULOUS

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 6:26 PM | Link to this

there goes my dream of SPEEDY bein’ waived!!!!

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 6:20 PM | Link to this

Chris, thanks much.

By Chris

July 1, 2007 5:58 PM | Link to this

mykhalc, here ya go:

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#55

“If another team signs a released player who had a guaranteed contract (as long as the player has cleared waivers — see question number 54), the player’s original team is allowed to reduce the amount of money they still owe the player (and lower their team salary) by a commensurate amount (this is called the right of set-off). This is true if the player signs with any professional team — it doesn’t even have to be an NBA team. The amount the original team gets to set off is limited to one-half the difference between the player’s new salary and the minimum salary for a one-year veteran (if the player is a rookie, then the rookie minimum is used instead).

“For example, suppose a fifth-year player is waived during the 2005 offseason, with one guaranteed season remaining on his contract. If this player signs a $1 million contract with another NBA team for the 2005-06 season, his original team gets to set off $1 million minus $641,748 (the minimum for a one-year veteran in 2005-06), divided by two, or $179,126. If this player had a $5 million salary with his prior team, then his prior team would be responsible for the remaining $4,820,874. Note that between his prior team and new team the player will earn a combined $5,820,874, which was more than he made prior to being waived.”

By Floze

July 1, 2007 5:47 PM | Link to this

Are we trading Horford?

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 5:44 PM | Link to this

what happens in the instance of an outright release of a player and then another team signs him??? who is responsible for the salary for the year?? is it shared?? both teams take a hit on their cap space???

By Chris

July 1, 2007 5:28 PM | Link to this

My bad. Here’s the site:

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/atlanta.htm

By Chris

July 1, 2007 5:15 PM | Link to this

BTW, here’s the site with the Hawks salary situation, all the way through 2001. I think, as Sekou stated in his blog, that the Hawks have a lot more depth than most teams and could find a way to package some young talent and/or expiring contracts to get the veteran presence this team has sorely lacked.

By Chris

July 1, 2007 5:11 PM | Link to this

So here is the current roster of Hawks for next season:

• Point guard: Speedy Claxton, Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Acie Law

• Shooting guard: Joe Johnson, Josh Childress, Salim Stoudamire

• Small forward: Marvin Williams

• Power forward: Josh Smith, Al Horford, Shelden Williams

• Center: Zaza Pachulia, Lorenzen Wright, Solomon Jones

So, which 2 do the Hawks lose to get down to the 12-man limit, and do we release them or trade them?

My suggestions: Trade Speedy (I know it is impossible with his contract, but it would be the best move) and try to get something for Lorenzen Wright. Wright is schedule to make $3.25 million in the last year of his contract, so some team may want the cap relief. I know he’s the only veteran down low, but maybe you can package him and AJ for a proven vet. AJ’s making $2.68 mil in his final year.

Think we can find a way to trade 2 expiring contracts for a good veteran post presence, and maybe trade someone else for a low future draft pick?

By Ken Strickland

July 1, 2007 4:44 PM | Link to this

ALaw will be expected to contribute to the progress of the team, not be a difference maker. Speedy is the starter, and along with Lue, and possibly AJ, will carry the load at PG. At this point, I see Law used more as JJ’s replacement than at PG. He’s a bigger, more versatile version of Salim, with better PG skills. That will allow JChills to play more SF, which is his strength, and less PG/SG. Salim might eventually end up being the odd man out, especially if he doesn’t sharpen his ballhandling and overall PG skills.

Law’s low assist totals in college could have been due to team needs. The Hawks will ultimately require him to do less scoring overall, and more distributing. There is nothing in his game that indicates he can’t become a facilitator and/or distributor. His overall success as a PG will be based on his attitude and confidence, more than his ability, or lack there of.

Horford’s addition doesn’t solve all of our interior OFF/DEF problems, but he will make them much less of an issue. If we release or trade LWright, and/or one of our vet PG’s, we might end up being the youngest team in NBA history to make the playoffs this yr. With Law and Horford, we’ll have a much better chance of hitting the key shot and getting the key rebound, or blocked shot, in close gms. I LOVE THIS TEAMS CHANCES THIS SEASON, ESPECIALLY IF WE REMAIN RELATIVELY HEALTHY. GO HAWKS!!!!!!!

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 4:09 PM | Link to this

A-RANGER, definitely NOT questionin’ your ability to interpret the stats. all i’m sayin’ is, you point out his 1 assist per game in the last 2 games of the tourney, well they won one, right?? personally i did not get to see the game. so if i could not review tape and had to draw a conclusion, again i would say he did what it took for his team to win. now this might or might not be accurate. again, i’m just sayin’, what was he asked to do FOR his team??? if the answer is, he did EXACTLY what the coach directed AND what was needed, then that is where MY emphasis goes!!! and IF that is true, then an evaluator for the HAWKS or any team would LIKELY assume he would be able to do this at the next level IF he has shown the primary skillset that needs to be present as other intangibles are evaluated.

off the top of my head, if i recall correctly, SPEEDY’s assist stats weren’t not that bad when he played and was sorta semi- healthy, right?? but NOTHIN’ he did resulted in wins for the team!!! NOTHIN’!!! so as an evaluator his stats are secondary to me. they would be nothin’ but a place to start not base nor end my evaluation. and that’s kinda all i’m sayin’ about LAW!!!!

By Davey

July 1, 2007 3:42 PM | Link to this

Darko Milicic will be a great pick up. To go along with Jamaal McGloire.

By A-ville Ranger

July 1, 2007 3:34 PM | Link to this

Mykhalc——Stats are only as good as the person interpreting them.I think I’m fairly solid in that regard.These are the most troubling signs.—-1-no improvement in assist over his four seasons—-2-lower assist totals against the better teams——3-in the two biggest games he played in (the last two in the tourny)he had 1 assist in each one——4-matching his own words to these stats paints a picture of a shoot first guard with no measurable growth in his pg play in four seasons.

By roan st

July 1, 2007 3:07 PM | Link to this

I just read this little tidbit from CBS sportsline and hope it means good things are to come from jones.

F/C Solomon Jones was spotted at the Hawks’ training facility in the days before the draft, working out and showing off his pumped up physique. Jones has added some beef to his slender frame — he said he’s up to 231 pounds and his arms are noticeably bigger. Whether that’ll be enough to earn him playing time in a crowded Hawks frontcourt rotation remains to be seen.

Lets just hope that woody finally gives this kid some serious playing time because he showed some glimpses of potential last year.

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 3:02 PM | Link to this

A-RANGER, what i think you are missin’ in ALL of this is that LAW did what it took for his team to win!!! you are measurin’ him solely on some yearly stats!! how ‘bout lookin’ at what he did for his team and draw some insightful conclusions also!!???!!! ZERO wins in his first year to SWEET 16…let’s give the guy his props and high marks for VERY HIGH b’ball IQ!! already his attitude SEEMS TO BE different than any of the PGs on the roster. let’s see if his LEAD GUARD play will/can make the difference in some wins and losses!!!!

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 2:48 PM | Link to this

KEN, on point and well said!!!!

there comes a point where UNLESS you are the biggest, strongest, tallest, fastest, quickest, smartest, etc ALL ROLLED UP INTO ONE then there will ALWAYS be things to overcome when facin’ (equally or unequally) talented cats on the court. so again, for those that think YI can come in and play the 5 better than HORFORD simply because he brings 2 more inches to the court are bein’ EXTREMELY short-sighted!! but bein’ short-sighted ALWAYS ALLOWS for an excuse and reason!!!!!

By A-ville Ranger

July 1, 2007 2:45 PM | Link to this

Meanie Let me guess you’re 15 years old,wear braces,have acne, and the girls make fun of you.

By A-ville Ranger

July 1, 2007 2:36 PM | Link to this

Ken Strickland You make some good points.I’m left with this regarding Law.I’d have more confidence in him if he had made statistical improvement in his four years in college in areas other than scoring………Ray—When you have guys like Josh.Marvin,Shelden.etc a facilitator is what this team needs.Again if Law had shown measurable improvement in his passing in college I’d have a different view.Add the story presented by the numbers to his ‘ball hog’ mentality and it concerns me.Our low post guys shot 45% or so, that number has to come up.A pg who thinks like one is the way to improve that awful number.

By Ken Strickland

July 1, 2007 1:32 PM | Link to this

ROAN ST, I agree, in hindsight we may have picked him too high, but we picked him and that’s that. However, his stats, and overall dominance on the college level, would certainly rate as a #5 pick, maybe #1. After all, he didn’t pick himself. I was on this blog long before Shelden was drafted, so I think I have enough longevity to qualify for a judgement call. And yes, I do support my teams no matter what, that’s what positive thinking fans do, or they quickly become cynics and/or critics. I approach it like I would if I was the coach of whatever team I’m supporting. I first recognize the negatives and try to correct them without dwelling, or making them an issue. I recognize the positives and try to promote and use them as building blocks to solidify the structure and attitude of the team. Why should my approach be any different on these blogs?

A-VILL RANGER, my comments were directed at those who promote the idea that certain players(Shelden, Horford)can’t succeed playing the 5 just because they didn’t like their selection, or where they were selected. Just because someone can’t envision a player in a certain role doesn’t mean that player can’t succeed in that role. After all, how many of us saw MJordan becoming possibly the greatest, and most dominate, player in NBA history when he was a NC? How many of us imagined BDiaw leading the Suns to the playoffs as their 5? When he was drafted, how many of us envisioned a lanky, skinny, weak MCamby as a shotblocking rebounding force, and DEF player of the yr? Isiah Thomas was booed, and eventually fired, for drafting him. Yet, some of the same individuals who are saying Horford can’t play the 5, are advocating a trade for Camby. The same thing was once said about him. History, and the success of players that have been doubted, proves these nay sayers wrong yr in and yr out.

When Josh Smith’s name was announced on draft night, there was an immediate comment about him being the biggest bust in of the draft, remember. How many saw the determination inside this young teenager? His motivation to work tirelessly in the off season, to improve his strength and overall ability, has allowed him to achieve allstar quality play in just 3yrs? How many of you thought he would be such a force, filling up the stat sheet after his 1st yr? Horford is already physically, mentally, technically, and experience wise, more advanced than JSmith was when he was drafted. Using the same motivation and determination, used by Josh to work and improve his gm, why can’t he man the 5?

LET’S STOP FOCUSING AND/OR COMMENTING ON THE PERCEPTIONS OF WHAT AN INDIVIDUAL OR TEAM CAN’T DO, AND FOCUS ON WHAT CAN, AND WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED. THE HAWKS WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS. GO HAWKS!!!!!

By MBATL

July 1, 2007 11:44 AM | Link to this

travis HERE is a little light reading. Enjoy!

By travis

July 1, 2007 10:22 AM | Link to this

Blogmates, help me out. I have always been a bball fan, but never learned the business side of it. What does a “sign and trade” mean and how does it affect both teams?

What is the diff between Restricted Free Agent and Unrestricted Free Agent and how would this benefit/hurt a team?

What does the Luxury Tax mean? Why do some teams operate in the tax like the Knicks and why do some teams want to avoid it like the plague like Phoenix?

Thanx for the help. Trying to learn the business side of sports.

By evg

July 1, 2007 10:17 AM | Link to this

Hey Hawks fans! Read the article below from the Milwaukee Bucks Newspaper. I think the Hawks made a grave mistake by not picking Yi Jianlian:

Yi’s the man to bring the Bucks back around Posted: June 28, 2007 So how do you say “holdout” in Chinese? Forget that. This wasn’t a good pick. It was a great pick. Good for the Milwaukee Bucks for calling whatever bluff Yi Jianlian’s people may or may not have issued. That’s taking it strong to the hole, taking the absolute best player available, not looking back and making the bold move that this franchise needed in the 2007 NBA draft. Trust me, Yi. You’ll like it here. Most players do when they realize that the propaganda spread around the league about this place doesn’t correspond with reality. You’ll like it even better when you get out of Los Angeles, of which you said you enjoyed the people, the food and the weather. Two out of three is a 66.7 shooting percentage, not bad. More important, Bucks fans, you’re going to love this kid’s game. I saw him in the 2004 Athens Olympics, where Del Harris, who was coaching Team China, glowingly testified to his NBA future. Yi was a gangly small forward then. He has since grown into a 7-foot power forward who can shoot. Don Nelson says he is more advanced at a similar stage than Dirk Nowitzki, though Nellie once swindled the Bucks on that account, so draw your own conclusions. Actually, Yi plays more like a young Toni Kukoc, which projects an encouraging frontcourt alongside Andrew Bogut. Maybe now the Bucks can put Charlie Villanueva at small forward, which is what he is. Re-sign Mo Williams, and that’s a righteous start on rebuilding. “I guarantee we’ll be a good defensive team next year,” general manager Larry Harris said. Whoa, hold on there, Larry. Only one marvel is allowed per evening. You did your job with Yi, no matter the misinformation that was being slung about Thursday night by ESPN. The Bucks did their due diligence on Yi, starting with the fact that Del just happens to be the GM’s dad. In the final year of his contract, Harris is under pressure to remake this team now. This was the move, no matter what anybody thought about Milwaukee or the Bucks. Beyond Yi’s basketball skills, the side benefits will be immense for this city and this franchise. The draft was televised live to 1.3 billion people in China, where basketball is exploding. Think about that kind of momentum - the marketing potential, Yi and Yao Ming at the fore of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the international attention and the jersey sales - behind the Bucks. “I don’t know if I comprehend the magnitude of that,” Harris said. A man from Shanghai, Bob Tai, has been a photographer with the Bucks since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s rookie season. Tai estimates Milwaukee’s Chinese population to be about 2,000, with about 100 of those really into basketball. The latter number is sure to grow, and maybe the talk of creating a Chinatown here will resurface. The Bucks are not going to trade Yi, who wants to play in the NBA. That means he will want to be here, something Yi said himself from New York, so forget the reps. And if there is any wavering at all, Herb Kohl can flex some of his senatorial influence and take a walk over to the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

By ray

July 1, 2007 9:41 AM | Link to this

I liked the article on Law solely for the fact that it gives a bit of insight into what kind of competitor he is. He is a lead guard rather than a pg or sg only. He can shoot the ball, probably from any distance, so no early worries there. I realize he wasn’t a big assist man, but in college you do what the coach says….bar none. Obviously he was there to shoot the ball more than pass it. I see that as more a statement of fact than making an excuse for his selection or him not being a pure pg.

Which of course begs the question: is a pure pg what we needed the most? And why are we comparing Law to Billups in regard to development when Billups changed teams and coaches enough to be totally confused? That’s a weak argument. Billups was with five different teams. That means five different coaches and team styles, I don’t care how you slice it. Meanwhile, he had enough talent to average double figures in points and just below 4 assists. It wasn’t until about his second year in Detroit that his stats took a decent jump and evened out. Since Law will be with this team, that shouldn’t be nearly as much a problem.

As for criticizing the man for saying he wants the ball in the last second, at least that’s one more confident shooter! Who would you rather have, a guy who knows he can shoot it and doesn’t have a problem doing it, or a “great facilitator” who sees JJ doubled up, and decides rather than take it let’s fling it to Josh Smith-who just happens to be outside the 3 point line? It’s not that Law should take over the team. It’s still very much JJ’s team. But I look at it like Kevin Garnett did (while lamenting the loss of Stephon Marbury from his squad): every team needs another predator to go with the lead one. And while it is yet to be determined whether Law is that guy or not, at the very least I want him to cause enough havoc in the backcourt that teams have to respect him and quit beating on JJ.

Of course, JJ deserves a lot more foul calls as well. But it would be nice to have a guy who simply punishes the teams that load up on our star sg. As for Law being a facilitator, he’s been there before. If he truly means what he says and is coachable, then he’ll learn to do both as the team needs it from him.

Of course, development will also depend on the coaching of Woodson. In my opinion, he has some things to prove. There are times where I feel he is partially responsible for the underwhelming and near impact-less play of Shelden Williams. Certainly for his unlevel and sporadic playing time. Law’s development is going to be key for this team, particularly if we don’t add another pg. If we added one, I’d like to see a vet pg or two go.

Can’t wait for the summer leagues to see what these guys do. It doesn’t mean what some of us think it means, but I still want to see them play outside the college game.

By roan st

July 1, 2007 9:36 AM | Link to this

Ken, are you some kind of PR director for atlanta sports teams? No matter how inept any of our sports teams are you defend them with so much passion. The only problem is you haven’t followed the hawks blog enough to understand the real reasons why the regulars here hated the shelden pick. No one is saying that shelden williams won’t improve as time goes on. The problem is that we picked him way to high for his talent level. And this is not hindsight because every regular on this blog last year was pleading with knight to select roy( me ,doc,ando etc) or foye. National publications leading up to the draft and bloggers right here were predicting that roy would be the rookie of the year. Now this year we pick horford who is a power forward and looks an awful lot like sheldens replacement. We then select law hoping and praying that he will become who? Another brandon roy. A big lead guard who can play next to jj and score the basketball. Everbody in the world knew roy was going to be a good basketball player and we passed on him for a mediocre undersized bigman. That my friend is why so many on this board have ill feeling toward the shelden pick.

By Boogerpicker

July 1, 2007 9:17 AM | Link to this

Sekou, I just read your profile of Acie Law. The Hawks picked the right guy, period. He’ll be a real leader. Teri Moore is stupid.

By Meanie

July 1, 2007 7:37 AM | Link to this

Looks like the Assranger is still just as stupid as ever… he just sticks out worse on DOB’s blog vs. an NBA blog. Stay over here wit yo peeps Assranger!!!

By j-rock

July 1, 2007 6:38 AM | Link to this

It’s officially the first so I anticipate a new blog from Sekou.The draft is was what it was and no one can change it.Its free agency time for the Hawks now People.I heard Mike Woodson sayin that we need more scoring.I beg to differ,I believe this team is one defensive center away from the playoffs.Some names that may be available are Magloire,Milicic,Miki Moore in free agency.Trade possibilities are Camby,Diop,Jeff Foster,J.Pryzbilla and one of Seattles many young centers.Heres one my proposals:

Hawks get:Camby,J.Jack,Diawara

Trailblazers get:Josh childress,Sheldon williams

Nuggets get:Pryzbilla,AJ,and Martell Webster,Hawks 2008 2nd and 2010 second

This trade seems to work for all teams involved.The Nuggets get an expiring contract,a defensive presence and a two guard for insurance for J.R Smith(car accident).The blazers get there Small 4ward and a player who they could play with Oden for defensive purposes.Once steve francis is bought out lue may be sent to portland as well.The Hawks recieve a young defensive minded point guard,DPOY and a role player at 2 or 3.

J.Jack/Speedy/Lue/A.Law(Lue or speedy traded or cut) JJ/salim/diawara M.Williams/J-smoove/diawara J-Smoove/Horford/Solo Camby/Pachulia/Solo/Horford

Of course there will be many possibilities of starting line-ups or players on the court at the same time.Go Hawks!!!!

By cesmith

July 1, 2007 4:15 AM | Link to this

SO THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO REACH YOU. WERE YOU PICKING AS A GM? COACH? PLAYER? SPORTS WRITER? FAN? EACH HAS AN OBJECT IN MIND WHEN LOOKING FOR A PLAYER. BUT AS USUAl, THE OL’ORGANIZER COMES THRU. DO YOUR THANG, NEPH. WORRKING HARD @4am. Unc

By A-ville Ranger

July 1, 2007 3:50 AM | Link to this

Ken Strickland I agree with much of what you write.As a fellow Dawg most of what I’ve seen of yours was on UGA post.So there’s the good(and true)stuff.You lost me a bit when you stated that we shouldn’t try to judge what players can do.It’s almost as if you think if you or I said we could be a center in the NBA people should except it.Your point about player’s developing at different rates is a good one though.Billups is an important comparison to Law.He took 7 seasons to become a top player.I don’t agree that it was all Dumar’s giving him the situation to flourish though that was part of it.The type game he had was kind of unformed as I think Law’s is.I really hope he steps in and is successful.I’ll say again however that he wouldn’t be my choice.If he makes me eat my words,I’ll gladly do so.

By Ken Strickland

July 1, 2007 2:57 AM | Link to this

It’s truly amazing how some minds work, or try to work. Just because Shelden Williams wasn’t the overall favorite pick at #5, he’s considered a failure after only 1yr. I guess trashing him puts you in a better position to say, I told you so. All 1st yr players don’t come out of the box already assembled and ready to compete on a high level. Common sense and experience following players in the NBA should tell you that. I’m certain a lot of impatient, selfish and/or narrow minded fans felt the same way about BWallace, RHamilton and CBillups after their 1st yr. How many benches did they warm, with how many teams, before JDumars worked his magic?

Stop all of this dumb A prognosticating about what another person can and cannot do. Until you know the quality, strength and motivation of an individual, you aren’t qualified to INTELLIGENTLY, and I mean INTELLIGENTLY make such IGNORANT, and I mean IGNORANT, statements about another person/players abilities. If Horford wants to play the 5, he can play the 5, regardless of what a bunch of brused egos have to say.

One poster showed his disgust over Horford being taken over Conley by making a truely stupid comment. He said Horford was only the 3rd best player on his team. That was obviously an emotional comment that was made to justify his preference for Conley. Horford was tied for 3rd in scoring (13.2ppg), with the 2 leaders outscoring him by .1 and .2 ppg, WOW. He led the team in RPG(9.5), was 4th among starters in assists(2.2), was #1 among starters in fewest turnovers, tied for 2nd in STL’s(1.1), tied for the lead in BLk’s(1.8), led all starters in FG%(.608), and Noah was the only starter that played fewer mins than Horford. HOW CAN ANY RATIONAL INDIVIDUAL TRANSLATE THESE STATS INTO A 3RD TIER STARTER?

Conley is gone, we didn’t draft him, so let’s move on with what we have, not what we shoulda coulda had, OK. LOL AND GO HAWKS!!!!!!

By MALONE

July 1, 2007 1:55 AM | Link to this

How many games of sub-.400 ball (i.e. 6-9 after 15 games) would it take for the powers that be to fire Woody?

If we started out 6-9 (with no big injuries), would that do it?

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 12:59 AM | Link to this

correction…could NOT find his groove off the bench

By mykhalc

July 1, 2007 12:46 AM | Link to this

nice article on LAW!! i’m not knockin’ CONLEY ‘cause obviously he’s a talent!! but i got nothin’ but respect for someone that takes a program from the gutter to a top program in his 4 yr stay. and IF he ends up bein’ in the mold of a BARON DAVIS as ORLANDO said then that is ABSOLUTELY the kinda PG/LEAD guard this team can use. it’s OBVIOUS to me WOODSON learned a lesson from the imfamous SPEEDY CLAXTON. he learned he CANNOT put the ball in the hole even remotely consistent and he CANNOT run the offense effectively. then had the nerve to say he could find his groove off the bench!! PLEASE!!! again the best PGs on the team last year were AJ and CHILLS!! PERIOD!!!! they produced TEAM RESULTS!!! i’m also hopin’ that IF LAW shows up from day one and PROVES that he is the man for the job, that WOODSON DOES NOT have the on-goin’ brain freezes he had ALL last season when it comes to recognizin’ what is best for this team!!! and we all can be glad that WOODSON has an expirin’ contract this year also!!! thank the gods!!!!

By Bill

June 30, 2007 10:56 PM | Link to this

Been looking through the comments and it seems people are going a little overboard on trashing Marvin and Shelden.

Marvin averaged 13.1 pts, 5.5 rbs, and 1.9 assists this year. These figures don’t compare too badly to what Luol Deng did last year (14.3, 6.6, 1.9). Deng progressed nicely in his third year, why not give Marvin the opportunity to do the same?

Shelden obviously has some ball-handling issues and plays too tentatively for what the Hawks need at that position (possibly because he gets no respect at all from the refs). That being said, if you look at his averages in games where he got real minutes, they look pretty good for a rookie.

I broke his averages down by games where he got 30+ minutes, 20-29 minutes, 10-19 minutes, and < 10 minutes (not sure if this will format correctly):

MIN REB AST STL BLK TO PF PTS 5.6 1.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 1.2 1.3 15.2 3.7 0.5 0.6 0.5 1.0 2.6 4.0 24.4 7.4 0.5 0.9 0.6 1.7 2.7 6.7 35.5 11.5 1.2 1.2 0.8 1.9 3.5 13.2

13.2 points and 11.5 rebounds in the games where he got at least 30 minutes doesn’t say “bust” to me. Josh averaged 16.4 and 8.6 in 37 minutes a game and he’s regarded as the future of the franchise. I realize numbers don’t tell the whole story, but if Shelden can get more assertive next season (and get playing time) then he may develop into a reliable starter.

By JB

June 30, 2007 10:18 PM | Link to this

After reading Sekou’s column about Law, I’m starting to like the pick a lot more. OK, I admit: I’ve never seen Law play. I let the media make my decision for me. Sounds like his rep has been boiled down to whatever will fit in a 5-second sound bite, and in this case totally misrepresents him. I also like Billy’s reason [per his quote in the AJC] for not taking Conley. He’s got a higher priority on being able to nail a shot than maybe I would like, but: a) he makes no apologies, and; b) he gives us some specifics instead of the platitudes and generalities he usually deals in. Slap me, boys—I’m starting to hope again.

By Orlando Rivera

June 30, 2007 9:58 PM | Link to this

Law will develop quickly into one of those Baron Davis type point guards who can energize a dead offense. Much of Atlanta’s offense last year consisted of four guys standing around waiting to see what JJ was going to do with the ball. Even if Conley was able to spread the ball around fans would still have to be concerned about him developing a jumper.

As least with Law we know that he can develop his own shot in crunch time, and I’d rather have that than have to play 4 on 5 or even have Conley removed because he couldn’t shoot down the stretch. Besides, too many people would’ve put pressure on him to be a savior and that he is not! Law isn’t either but at least we know that Atlanta has a very powerful offensive backcourt. I’m sure if Law played with Greg Oden he’d be more of a facilitator as well.

By A-ville Ranger

June 30, 2007 9:57 PM | Link to this

I just finished the article on Law.Now I’m absolutely sure of two things.I really don’t like Law as a pg and Woodson and BK have p** poor judgement on this.First Woodson listen up.He didn’t get better every year.In fact the only improvement he made in FOUR years was scoring.This cocky bs about wanting the shot.You’re a pg dumba$$.Your job is to make the very good talent around you better,not show your a$$.I’ll close with this,in the last two games of his college career(both tourny games)he had two assist,that’s one a game.

By BLK

June 30, 2007 9:06 PM | Link to this

i agree with Matt i like it but i dnt love it, but i would of perfer Yi and Acie tho. Yi could play center then we could of have Acie as start point guard then that old a* always hurt Speedy Claxton. Billy Knight and Mike Woodson better love it tho cause i really do think this is there last chances if they dnt have a winning season.

By Professor K75

June 30, 2007 8:45 PM | Link to this

I think the Hawks should have either drafted Yi at 3 or Conley. I don’t really like either picks by the Hawks. If your going to go with potential, why not go with someone like Yi who can do a little bit of everything solidly? I guess Horford and Law are solid, but I don’t know if either one are going to be stars in this league. If I’m wrong I’m wrong. I think they should have drafted the best PG in the draft unless you draft someone like Yi who comes along every once in a while. There are a bunch of Horfords that come out every year. I think both the Hawks picks are maybes. But like I said, I hope I’m wrong.

By doc

June 30, 2007 8:40 PM | Link to this

myk, cool dude let me know what is hot. you gots my no.

nice article on one of the baby hawks. he sounds good to me sekou.

we also now know we dont have a point guard or a combo guard, we gots ourselves a LEAD guard. cant wait to see how things shape up in rook league.

its gettin closer to opening day.

By BadgerDawg

June 30, 2007 7:25 PM | Link to this

Nice, enjoy it!

By mykhalc

June 30, 2007 6:59 PM | Link to this

well, when your BUCKS can tell the world how old your draft pick YI really is, and if he’ll show up, and how he’ll produce nite-in, nite-out against NBA talent then you’ll have to go thru the same kinda growin’ pains that we are with MARVIN!! and again, personally, i’m not surprised at all where he is in his development. but then again, i’m old school!! i don’t believe there is an ‘instant fix’ to anythin’. it’s all about puttin’ in the work!!!

ok…headed to te FILLMORE JAZZ FEST!!! have a great holiday bro!!

By BadgerDawg

June 30, 2007 6:35 PM | Link to this

The Bogut draft was a weak one overall even at the time, and I believe I mentioned in a previous post that it’s not totally fair to comapre the two drafts with the Durant analogy. However, in any draft you have to beileve you’re getting a great player. If you don’t, why on earth are you paying all that money for him? Also, by your posts you’re acknowledging that Williams is nowhere near great even though he’s getting paid like he is. To come around to the original point, why would the Bucks give up someone who could be great for someone who isn’t and is getting paid like he is? If I were the Bucks, looking at the Hawks roster I would deal for Josh Smith and not Childress or Marvin, no matter how desperate I was. I would also deal for draft picks, maybe a first and a second, before I took Marvin straight up or with a throwaway like Lue.

By mykhalc

June 30, 2007 6:10 PM | Link to this

BDAWG, that where i differ with a lotta cats. personally, i DO NOT expect every cat drafted at the top of EVERY draft to be an allstar!! NO WAY!! how can you?? yeah, you gotta pay ‘em top dollar just because that’s the way it’s set up. but to expect that, i’m definitely NOT with that school of thought.

MARVIN was drafted on potential…19yrs old with 1 yr of college, on a team in which he DID NOT start. to compare him to DURANT would be foolish, tho they were drafted at the same #2 spot in the their drafts. but yet, EVERYTHING about DURANT says he’s a much more accomplished player than MARVIN was comin’ outta school. EVERYTHING!!! so let’s see how DURANT fairs in his first year??!!! i’m willingly to step out and say it WILL NOT be as most people expect. i predict a loota struggle with glimples of stardom!! just my 2cents!!!

By BadgerDawg

June 30, 2007 5:49 PM | Link to this

Roan, I agree 100%. Actually, one point about Marvin I was going to make was that even though Bogut’s been a disappointment, the Bucks got a lot more from him over the last two years than the Hawks got out of Marvin so they made the correct pick between the two. Nevertheless, he has not been nearly as good as expected.

By roan st

June 30, 2007 5:42 PM | Link to this

Badgerdawg, if you want to talk about players not living up to the hype from the 2005 draft you need to look at your own roster. Bogut is probably one of the worst #1 picks in recent memory. He was supposed to be a dominant center but really is just a glorified power forward. I bet the bucks brass would rather have deron williams or chris paul just like hawks fans!

By BadgerDawg

June 30, 2007 5:41 PM | Link to this

myk, I appreciate your points. However, a 3rd or 4th option on a bad team is not living up to the hype. 2 years from now, will Seattle be happy with Durant if those are his #s? Marvin was not just any first round pick, he was the #2 pick and he’s being paid to produce like one. The #2 pick in the draft is expected to be an all-star level pick. Again, maybe it’s because of Woody, and I hope it is and he becomes a great player, but I can do better if I’m the Bucks, either by keeping Yi or getting something better in a trade.

By mykhalc

June 30, 2007 5:31 PM | Link to this

and to add, havin’ WOODSON as the coach DOES NOT help!!!

By mykhalc

June 30, 2007 5:10 PM | Link to this

personally, i DO NOT know that i would do the deal if it was an option. i was just respondin’ to your first post where you responded to the LUE/MARVIN for YI hypo-thetical(sp?) trade. and since when has a 20yr old with a stat line of 13pts/5rbpg, especially since he went down with an injury the first part of last year and he is the 3rd or 4th option on this team not livin’ up to the hype??!!! i think he is where most b’ball minds think he is supposed to be in his NBA transition. now where i think MARVIN could/should be showin’ better is on the glass!! gotta up those numbers!!

people look a CPAUL and DERON and somehow think MARVIN should be showin’ the same. these cats are PGs people. they have the ball in their hands the ENTIRE game!!! it’s apples and oranges!!!

By Dr.Doom

June 30, 2007 5:04 PM | Link to this

The Hawks suck! I was in church with Billy Knight the other day and had to pray to keep from punching him!

By Harry Hawk

June 30, 2007 4:56 PM | Link to this

I don’t know what the new salary cap number is this year, but the luxury tax threshhold is the number that really matters. I believe that number was about 12 million over the ‘06-‘07 cap. The Hawks aren’t going to spend that much money, of course. It just means that, if this were a normal ownership, the numbers would not be that limiting.

By wonderboy

June 30, 2007 4:48 PM | Link to this

Like these moves or not, the bottom line is that these moves made in the draft have improved this Hawks team and brought them closer to the playoffs. And after suffering through less than 75 wins over the last 3 seasons, what more could you ask for?

By BadgerDawg

June 30, 2007 4:33 PM | Link to this

I ackowledged he may turn out eventually, but why would the Bucks trade the current #6 pick(who may or may not live up to the hype) for a player who has clearly not lived up to the hype and even worse is being paid as the #2 pick?

As a follow up, if he’s that good why are you so willing to part with him for Yi?

By A-ville Ranger

June 30, 2007 4:27 PM | Link to this

Woodson said this league is not a postup league anymore.I was told to be careful who and what I emulate.You don’t win championships without a player who can’t be defended in the low post (unless you have M Jordan). Another lesson he should learn by watching superior athletes lose to international teams is that structure wins.Lastly I live in nc and can’t watch most Hawks games.I follow real time on my computer and it’s revealing watching down the stretch as time after time Smith missed shot,Childress missed shot,etc flashes on the screen.So we we need a faciltator as BK said just a week ago.He then chooses a pg that is a low grade facilitator and is likly a low 40% shooter in this league.This team is building in limitations that will make them one of 16 playoff teams,but with no real chance to win it all.

By Aaron

June 30, 2007 4:24 PM | Link to this

The Hawks don’t have $5M in cap space. They’re currently right at the salary cap, which means that they’ll have whatever amount the cap rises to work with. (Sort of. It’s complicated in the NBA).

By mavid

June 30, 2007 4:24 PM | Link to this

this blog posts in reverse now

I was really confused there…

By mykhalc

June 30, 2007 3:57 PM | Link to this

there is NOTHIN’ ‘panned out’ about a cat 20 yrs old. this bein’ very short-sighted on your part IMHO. and believe me, as b’ball fan, there is NO WAY your BUCKS would be THAT short-sighted nor that ‘concluded’ on a player with MARVIN’s talent at 20 yrs!!!

By BadgerDawg

June 30, 2007 3:43 PM | Link to this

As a Bucks fan first, I can tell you there is no way that the Bucks would be that desperate to take on someone who was the #2 pick and hasn’t performed as well as many 2nd rounders would have. They’d take draft picks(maybe a 1 and 2?) before committing the $ and Yi for a disappointment. At least the picks might pan out. By the way, the Marvin pick is one I was definitely not faulting Billy for. He was a no-brainer pick based on potential, but he has simply not panned out. Whether that’s because he’s overrated or because Woody can’t coach(or a combination of both), that’s up for debate.

By mykhalc

June 30, 2007 3:24 PM | Link to this

and don’t forget that this is the time of year that the salary cap is adjusted (after the draft and before camp). so if things follow form, look for an increase of about $3mil to the cap.

By mykhalc

June 30, 2007 3:14 PM | Link to this

you don’t even have to include LUE. a MARVIN for YI would get MIL listenin’…easy!!

By HHoops

June 30, 2007 3:12 PM | Link to this

The off season moves for the Hawks have just started with the draft. I like what we did on draft night. We would not have drafted a quality BIG if we had picked Conley @ #3. Horford was the right pick. Now we will finish the rest of the roster with a couple of trades. We have about 5 million in cap space and some 6 million in contracts that are expiring after this next season. There are several teams that need to make some moves to help their salary cap problems. Billy and the brass have us in a position to make it happen from now until trade deadline. I’m looking forward to see what moves that are going to come our way starting July 1st! I am finally starting to see light @ the end of the tunnel! The Hawks will make the playoffs in 2007-08!

By Billy

June 30, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this

A lot of teams are interested in Marvin and Childress. And if we could get a young center or PG - like Frye or Jack or Ellis or Barbosa - then I think we should make the move. We still have expiring contracts, too.

By BadgerDawg

June 30, 2007 2:35 PM | Link to this

Yi for Lue and Marvin? Maybe Lue and Josh Smith would make the Bucks move, when do all of you trade proposers realize that the other team has to accept it?

The fact is that to give up what would need to be given up, all of a sudden no one wants to do the trades anymore.

I’ve got a few more: Shelden and Childress for Oden Shelden and Marvin for Duncan Marvin and Childress for LeBron

(Hint: any trade proposal from a Hawks fan that proposes Shelden and/or Childress and/or Marvin for someone who’s actually good has NO CHANCE of happening. Other teams don’t want the Hawks garbage.)

By nique21

June 30, 2007 2:30 PM | Link to this

I really hope that this team plays a more up-tempo type of offensive game. They have the talent to be the Golden State or the Phoenix Suns of the east. The Eastern Conference is shifting to more scoring.

By Mike

June 30, 2007 2:25 PM | Link to this

Man after reading some of these blogs you would think some of these guys actually played professional sports, or was a GM. Get real guys, this is just a blog. Don’t get to full of yourself judging BK draft picks. Don’t take yourself too serious. Don’t forget we’re all just bloggers. We’re here to have fun and make comments.

Don’t forget the hype ESPN had build up for the NBA Finals surrounding Labron James. All he did was got sweep out of the finals. Just because ESPN doesn’t hype our guys up doesn’t mean they’re worthless. They need hype to sell their show, but hype doesn’t win championship. It takes time to build championship team look at what Phoenix had to go through to get to the point there at now.

That just goes to show you can make it to the playoff but it takes time to win a championship. DWade got lucky because he had Shaq the most dominate big man in the game at the time. Why it that guys are always living in past looking for ways to criticize the young players on the Hawks team?

This team is poised to finally make some noise in the Eastern Conference and guys are still whining about trades from two years ago. Some of the guys let there personal hate for BK and the spirit prevent from giving these kids a chance to develop. On one said these guys would take over the league the first year we draft them, or the second. All teams have good picks and bad. All you hear about is that the Hawks haven’t been to the playoff in eight years. Well none of these players have been with the Hawks more than three years. So why is everyone blaming them? Give these guys a chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Dude

June 30, 2007 2:14 PM | Link to this

Do I like the choices, yes. Anyone, including me with no experience, could have selected as well as our GM. I would say that most people with no experience would have selected better over the last four years. I could have read the newspapers and picked better than our GM.

No one at the time thought Sheldon Williams was either the best man available or a good fit for the Hawks. Go back and read posts on the web if you keep them. So we are not arguing with only hindsight here.

I only agree with Marvin Williams’ pick at that spot. This year, we picked horford and law too high in the draft. This trend has been happening almost every year. Horford was neither the best athlete available, nor the best fit. Acie Law today is not the best shooter. I will go out on a limb and say he is going to struggle next year with that ugly looking shot. I truly hope he changes it.

Yes, we have some good talent, but we should have drafted better. And I also say we should have done a better job signing free agents, but that is another post.

We signed a back up as a starter but all we will have with that signing is a backup point guard with Law coming here. Oh yeah, I said that was another post.

By mykhalc

June 30, 2007 1:47 PM | Link to this

totally agree with you ATF. and man, these cats are YOUNG!!! BABIES!!! i remember the first time i checked out the team after movin’ to the BAY AREA and i saw MARVIN , CHILLS, and JS. i went HUH??? i could not believe how young they were. it really does reflect how it’s become the norm in the league now. and it is good to see that the cats comin’ in soooo young seem to be pretty grounded and have a good support system around them!!!

and as DOC alluded to, with all the constraints that does exist with and within this franchise, BK HAS TO pick guys with NO KNOWN issues. i think he would go in the direction regardless just because i think that’s part of his makeup. but i’m sure there is the other part that says, ‘minimal risk from all angles’ from the direction of the owners!! thus players like CONLEY with his ‘can’t shoot risk’ (and SPEEDY already brings that to the PG position), YI with his ‘what kinda player is he really risk’, SEAN WILLIAMS with his ‘off-court issues risk’ (remembering RYDER), just make it harder for this franchise to make ‘THE’ move on these obviously talented cats!!! well, here’s to hopin’ that the MD judge renders the ruling soon. i truly hope that this franchise DOES NOT have to go into the season with this still hangin’ on over their head. and DOC, you KNOW if MR. ANTI-ATLANTA gets the team, i am OFFICIALLY outta here, an ex-fan and ex-season tix holder from afar!!! so i got my prayer beads out!!!!LOL

there is one other thing that caught my attention while on the HAWKS website the other nite. it was/is the tribute to JASON COLLIER. and it dawned on me how hard it has been to replace this BIG!!! 2 yrs and they still really have not been able to do it, whatever all the reasons are???!!!

and, can someone answer my earlier trade question?? still lookin’ for that answer!!!

By roan st

June 30, 2007 1:45 PM | Link to this

Although I would have picked conley or yi I must admit there are two things I like about both these guys. Number one, they both have a lot of college experience and seem to be the two most ready to step in players in this draft. Number two, they both come from solid family backgrounds. Al’s dad played in the NBA and law is the nephew of hall fame baseball player ernie banks. Pretty good bloodlines indeed.

By minschie

June 30, 2007 1:38 PM | Link to this

The Hawks have done a good job with this draft. They now can and will compete for the 7th or 8th spot in the east barring any major injuries. JJ will continue to be the solid scorer he always has been, but this year his supporting cast will be improved. That means less double teams and more opportunities for JJ to knock down shots. Law, while perhaps not being the next Steve Nash, can handle the ball fairly well and is a great shooter. If teams double JJ, Law will make them pay. Josh Smith and Marvin Williams are getting better every year and their improved inside game will go along nicely with JJ, Law, and Salim outside. Hopefully at 6’10” Horford can play the 5 with Zaza and provide some much-needed defense down low. Childress also continues to improve and is a solid sixth man at this point in his career. A trade of one of the Hawks’ array of forwards may help but isn’t needed at this point. And I think with some talent and more experience this year (Salim, Childress, Marvin, JSmoove are all improving)Woody will have something to work with. The Cavs, Pistons, Bulls, Nets, Wizards, Raptors, Hawks, and Knicks will make the playoffs in the East (at least I hope so).

By MIKE THE MECHANIC

June 30, 2007 12:32 PM | Link to this

Acie Law i think will do fine here in Atlanta, but if you are excited about having a combo gaurd, instead of a true point gaurd, then we should have drafted Brandon Roy last year.

By A Thinking Fan

June 30, 2007 10:26 AM | Link to this

This is a good group of players coming in to the NBA! I see a lot of good family support and ties. The NBA can build a better image with this draft going forward…

By doc

June 30, 2007 8:13 AM | Link to this

ra’mon, i have been a bk apologist for a long time even as many swiped him for not shaking the hand of the man who shirked him. he is not a bad guy nor as bad a gm as there is in the league. look at how diffficult it was for west to do anything under similar circumstances and without the trampoline of buss and forum money. history has not shown him to live up to his mantle.

the problem is this. he is said to be a great evaluator of talent. he has shown himself only to be a myopic judge of talent with an eye for only one thing. his mandate was to build thru the draft and by the actions of the club it is inferred that he was told to keep the franchise within the boundaries of the collective bargaining agreement cap.

it is a simple as that. he cant miss in the draft and go out and buy talent nor take on hefty contracts to pull together a team. it was straight draft without any bogey to make up the difference. unfortunately he has let his prejudice for forwards get in the way of his ability to evaluate talent and responsibly bring in talent as it was out there and needed. that is his preference unless the point guard reminds him of something he remembered about a player for his good ole days. we arent there, it is the future and it as a game he is supposed to be helping to change as a visionary we are told by staying in the past. he has brought in zaza and jj in very good moves but has failed to bring in anyone yet to compliment them or displant zaza, a probable backup role player. for him to say we needed a shooter to protect jj was a point in fact that last year he had the real thing, a polished, big guard and with good stats for accuracy and he went over him. two years earlier he had the real mark jackson look alike in deron right there for the taking. do you think that law is or will be a better player than roy or deron?

these have happened so many times that it is his legacy. maybe these guys will change it but the mandate from bernie mullin is we are good enough to win now and be in the playoffs. yes we will see and i hope we do it and will be pulling for them to do just that. if not i pray they dont make up excuses this year if there are injuries because all the guys in charge feel like the bench is full of quality players with depth. didnt we hear that last year? we as fans should hold them to that and let that be how they are held accountable for putting a product on the floor that can be supported by ticket sales rather than in out hearts. bk may have not made bad moves but ill timed moves that have held back this franchise, maybe it will not be in the stars for the players just drafted, i hope so.

it says something that our friend flash likes what bk chose and has put his seal of approval on it. so maybe he can convince his buddy belkin to keep bk when he wins his legal battle now that he has convinced me of just that. heh heh

By Billy

June 30, 2007 6:45 AM | Link to this

Brevin Knight waived by Bobcats. Let’s get rid of Speedy and add Knight. He averaged 6.6 assists and 1.5 steals in 28 minutes/game last year.

By Clyde

June 30, 2007 4:17 AM | Link to this

FIRE BILLY AND WOODY

By R. Stroz

June 30, 2007 1:42 AM | Link to this

Here’s the real question, will Woody let the young players use their energy and run the floor or will Woody keep using a half court offense designed for older teams with the youngest team in the league?

By A-ville Ranger

June 30, 2007 1:29 AM | Link to this

I’m really trying to evaluate these picks fairly.Somebody posted that they’re the next Duncan and Nash.Let me end the suspence on that one…no way Jose.Horford is a tough one.I still don’t know if I would have taken him.Law’s easy,I don’t like his game.It’s been suggested that his game is similar to Billups’.I agree that the potential is there for a Billups type game.The problem is, while I would love to have Billups now.He took 7 years to mature before he became an elite pg.Law’s game is messy,raw amd really not very smart.Horford I agree could be exceptional.My concern is he wasn’t productive enough in college for me to be confident in his being a top player.I know all the possible reason’s,deep team,shared time,etc.Still he got as many minutes as Brandon Wright and the only area he had better numbers was in rebounds.Wright is a fr Horford a jr.In more of an apples to apples comparison.Spencer Hawes played just 2 more minutes a game and scored more than Al, again Hawes was a fr.So I’m left more hopeful than convinced.Lastly, what about Shelden ? He really came on in april and it would be a shame if he’s not given a fair chance to develop.

By idecris

June 30, 2007 1:20 AM | Link to this

turns out our 2nd round pick given to Dallas for Anthony Johnson could’ve been either Nick Fazekas, Glen Davis or Josh McRoberts. not bad for 2nd round picks.

By jecorey901

June 30, 2007 12:02 AM | Link to this

for all you transplants and haters, you don’t know basketball and you never will. the offseason is just not about the draft. it is about what the organization does as a whole. i am so sick of you freaking people. if you don’t like the HAWKS don’t come to this blog, don’t go to Phillips Arena, and don’t jump on the bandwagon when they start winning because i will be there to kick yall’s asses off.

peace to everybody else TRUE HAWKS FAN

By Mike

June 29, 2007 11:54 PM | Link to this

Ro these blogs are posting in reverse order so I’m having to search around for my post and the responses. The reason everyone is demanding Marvin is because absent a trade for KG or Stoudamire JSmith is untouchable. They know we’re not trading Josh. GMs are asking so much in returns for Bigs because there such a premium on them in the league. Despite all the criticism Marvin has received from everyone he put good numbers for a second player. Most of the people are basing there opinion on two years of playing in the NBA which is ridiculous.

Now if your point is should BK have drafted a PG the year he drafted Marvin than that’s a no brainier? But to say Marvin want continue improve as players is absurd. To say Marvin is a bust with just two years in the NBA is absurd. Marvin skills for a 6’9’’ player are limitless. This will be Marvin best year as pro. He’s improved each year he’s been in the league. He’ll never be a PG, so I don’t why everyone keep comparing him to one. You know as well I do it really depends on what teams these kids are drafted by. Not only is Josh working hard in the off season for all we know all of the young Hawks are working hard to improve. I hope we keep Marvin because I think this his breakout year, but if he needs to be apart of package to bring in a legit Big, we gotta make that trade.

I think one or two of these young guys will be move before the season start. This draft dictates that. Who they will be I don’t know? I’m just stating that every GM that has made serious discussion about a trade with the Hawks wants either Josh or Marvin to be apart of the package. Since they know Josh is virtually untouchable that why Marvin names keeps coming up. I truly believed that the Hawks are not finish making moves. I think the goal of team is to bring another guy in at the post. I’ll take Jamal Maglore he’s still out there. Another legit Big makes this team very competitive.

That’s why I like the draft picks, and looking forward to next season. GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Ra'mon

June 29, 2007 11:40 PM | Link to this

If the Hawks would’ve picked Conley at #3, like many wanted, who would they have had to take at #11 slot? The drop off between Conley and Law is alot smaller than the dropoff between Horford and any available low post player at the #11 position. I just ask that everyone take time and answer that question though, who else would the Hawks had picked with Conley? Conley may be better than Law, but hes not better than Horford. And to go along with that, Conley (teamed with any other player available at #11 in the low post) wouldnt be able to come close to Horford and Law together. So for a team, the Hawks did the right thing.

Personally, I think Williams from BC had the talent for it, but the off court issues may be too much to gamble on. One thing for sure, BK may have made a bad pick last year in the draft, but he hasnt drafted, signed, or traded for any player with off the court issues. In this day and time that is a PLUS!!!

This past week, finally, brought out the point I’ve been trying to make for over a season now. No one on this blog knows what BK has to deal with, with the current ownership situation. The push for Yi and the void of any trade talk for Amare proves that. In his tenure BK has improved in the win column, without sacrificing the future and without using up all of the salary cap. In my mind, Speedy and Sheldon were the only bad moves. And to be honest, if Speedy stayed healthy for an entire season, his price would be a BARGAIN! The Hawks truly only have ONE bad contract at the moment and thats Speedy (because of health). During last season, what other team who won more than 30 games could say the same thing?

By ray

June 29, 2007 11:37 PM | Link to this

I don’t love it…yet. Might love it when Horford absolutely bulls his way into the starting lineup and makes us all say “Shelden…who’s Shelden?”. Might love it when Law is going lights out game after game and freeing JJ up for his deadly midrange game.

Until the, I like it. Vanilla and all. And I look forward to better, more electrifying performances in the summer league and what not.

By the other Sean Williams

June 29, 2007 11:26 PM | Link to this

one other thought:

It all comes down to Woodson now: Do we run now or what?

If Woodson can’t get us off to a good start now, I say he’s gone by mid-season.

Thoughts?

By greg

June 29, 2007 11:00 PM | Link to this

What are there #’s Acie and Horford? Acie shoulg be (4) and Horford (42).

By falcon80

June 29, 2007 10:55 PM | Link to this

wow, if i’m a “bushie” does that make you a “Knightie”, panty, or bra? Or just another idiot sports reporter trying to inject their political opinions without regard to context?

By the other Sean Williams

June 29, 2007 10:50 PM | Link to this

yo all,

I have not posted in quote awhuile, but…I gotta say my pice real quickly.

I have complained about BK in the past, but he totally maximized the 2 picks. There was no other combination that would have brought this much talent. I was scared that it would be Yi @ 3. I like Conley, but it’s gonna be at least another year before anybody respects his shot. I don’t wanna waste JJ’s contract.

Also, We all got excited about Amare coming to the ATL, but I really think Al might be tougher and play better D…and we also knows his knees are good.

Gator fans to Phillips is not at all a bad thing either.

Also, I would love it if the AJC could cut some of the dumb-a* racist posts to the blogs. Sekou’s blog is usually pretty free of that kind of stuff, but any Falcons related blog is full of it. I am tri-racial and all that kind of stuff offends me here, there and everywhere. Hell, my middle name is LeBron. If my ancestors saw past all this stupidity enough for me to even be here, then why are people still so damn stupid in 2007? I have problems with some of Vick’s decisions, but why does that mean we have to de-volve into some weird kind of Nascar-Ebonics as some stupid way of indicting all black people as being culpable for one dude’s misdirections? If one dude makes bad decisions, that’s just him. Let’s wait and see if there are any charges. Due process and all that. Put away the hoods. Are you afraid of the truth @ the woodpile? I’m not: I am a PROUD combination of black, white and red! Rock on y’all!

Sorry, this was supposed to be about the draft and not the idiocy of some bloggers.

BTW, Blog-Z rules and the AJC is lucky to have him. Give the dude a raise before he goes on to a Natl Pub!

Love to All!

-the other Sean Williams

By The Flash

June 29, 2007 10:49 PM | Link to this

Amare’s foot. Too risky, one step, not even a miss one, and it could be over.

Law has nasty and swagger, and can get his shot. This team can use all three.

Horford has an inside game superior to Shelden’s and has a live personna.

The team has depth at a lot of positions, which you need in this league, which grinds people up in every way imaginable.

More than vanilla, doc.

By VerbalKent

June 29, 2007 10:42 PM | Link to this

I wish the Hawks would have gotten Yi… the team and city needs excitement and while the picks made were solid… they were safe. Billy Knight needs to go NOW! The ownership should have stepped up and made the Yi pick happen… it would have generated so much revenue. Hell we just need a whole new ownership staff!!!

By adrian sosebee

June 29, 2007 10:30 PM | Link to this

this draft was another sad day for a fan in atl. WHY do the hawks need another too tall p*** forward? how many do we need? i am praying this draft was a set up for a trade for a superstar.

its been since 1989 the time must come for the hawks to make the playoffs and a run

please get new owners and management !!!!!!!!

YI OR MIKE CONLY WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER at least with YI we would have had an allstar voted in every year auto.

By doc

June 29, 2007 10:18 PM | Link to this

roan, good heads up. my bad, thanks. thought the transisition was after the draft. drew has the numbers i expect from sheldon and probably from horford, somewhere about 12 and 8. they all are three through five picks with gooden a four in the first round, all you need is a small blanket.

By Steve T

June 29, 2007 9:28 PM | Link to this

I must say that I wanted Yi. I knew we were going to get him and Noah. But it did not happen. My question now is can horford play center.

Earlier in the day, I had some questions about his game. Then I thought about how he had to split time with two other guys. With that in mind, he put up some great numbers. I hope history is on our side because the #3 players have been great. I think Mike Jordan and Wade were #3 picks.

Acie Law is a big PG. He can do one thing Conley can not do right now is nail the open shot. Plus I heard that he can play defense.

I think Billy need to address the center position more. Has Darryl Watkin been drafted yet. He may be worth looking at. Right now, if Horford can play center, the position doe not look bad. Horford, ZaZa, Wright, and SJones. I just hope that Jones had the weights and followed JSmith around.

By mykhalc

June 29, 2007 9:16 PM | Link to this

SEKOU, fellas…gotta question…i know salaries have to match for trades to work, right??!! but what happens in the case of tradin’ for an unsigned rook/draft pick with a signed vet??? how does that work?? does the team tradin’ the signed vet immediately have his salary removed from hittin’ the cap space?? like in the case of the GS and CHA trade last nite??

By roan st

June 29, 2007 9:15 PM | Link to this

Doc, it was the LOGO who drafted gooden and not bk. I’m not defending bk because I’m one of his biggest detractors but your point is still well taken. West was hired in april of 2002 and gooden was actually his first pick with the grizz.

By Josh C

June 29, 2007 9:04 PM | Link to this

Aight I got one for y’all…

Marvin & Lue for Yi.

Think about it for a minute…

By roan st

June 29, 2007 9:00 PM | Link to this

Mike, please give us some examples of teams dying to get marvin in a trade. Did you just make that up to make yourself feel better about him? I would tend to think that jsmoove would be the player that other teams are hot for in trade talks. What the hell has marvin williams done other than be a punch line for not taking deron or paul?

By doc

June 29, 2007 8:32 PM | Link to this

oj, it is the definition of insanity to continue with thsame action with the same negative result, i choose to remain sane than get caught up in it. you could also call it loss of confidence as the same mistakes are made repeatedly so expectations follow. finally i am one of the longest sufffering hawks fan of fifty years, only one organization has gone longer without a championship pennant the kings.

the best post in the last week was the one that showed the “start of it all”. it was the press release for the old vancouver team and bk’s first draft when he picked stromile. he hasnt thrown a change up since except his draft of gasol. seems like he has lost his nerve to take the heat and go for the best guy available. bk drafted gooden who now plays with cleveland, how is he that different from horford or sheldon? throw a blanket over them.

one more thing he has never hired a coach to give him a winning record. that is what west brought to the griz when he fired the guy bk hired and got hubie out of retirement and the team went on to win 50. that maybe the next rquired step though i am not yet in clyde’s camp.

btw. met clyde last night at the phillips and a cool customer, likable. i kept my word and bought him a beer while he minded the store and he gifted me one of the original t-shirts. my thanks.

By Mike

June 29, 2007 7:54 PM | Link to this

It’s amazing now KG is coming out and saying that the three way deal never had a chance. The biggest problems was KG salary, they needed a fourth team to make the trade work. While Phoenix may have been seriously listening to the deal, they were not about to trade Amare. They are more interested in trading Shawn Marion. Plus that three way trade involves more than just our #3 and #11 picks to pull that trade off. Minnesota would to receive players from both Phoenix and Atlanta to make to make the salary cap numbers work.

Some of you so guys seem to be clueless about how the salary cap affects team’s ability to make trades. Phoenix is already facing a luxury tax for the up coming seasons. Like KG said why would they trade a 24 year old player for a 31 year old player that pushes even further over the salary cap? So you see there were not trade to be had just talk.

But you guys are going to ride this Stoudamire trade until the seasons start just to have something to whine about. They rest of guys will find something else to complain about till the season starts then Hartford and Law will shove a bunch crow down your throat because both of these guys bring a different style of play to the team. Yea we have a lot of forwards and they all have a different style of play. The best think is that they are great young trade assets. This is Marvin breakout year whether it is with us are some other team Marvin. Every team that wants to make a trade with the Hawks wants Marvin or JSmith. So if Marvin is such a bust why do so many teams demand he be part of trade?

For all of those that think we’re doom because we didn’t take Conley. Get real. I would love to see Conley running the point for Atlanta, but there were some other quality PG’s in this Draft Law was the #2 PG on everybody charts. Hartford spent the whole draft working on his game in Florida. His game is playing offense and defending in the post. That’s what this team needed. If we take Conley at #3, Memphis would have gladly taken Hartford. They needed him just as bad as we did. BK did the right thing, look at the top ten draft pick and see who was drafted. We got the third rated Big and second rated PG with the #3 and #11 picks that’s a pretty dam good draft, and both these guys will be able contribute immediately to the teams. They are a better fit for Woody’s systems, what ever so call systems Woody has. That’s another story I don’t want to get into. Neither Yi nor Conley would have flourished playing for Woody. They both went to systems where they can be effective.

When all the whining and crying stops guys are going to see that BK had his best draft since drafting JSmoove. This draft will allow the Hawks to be very aggressive with teams looking to make a trade because we have cap space to go alone with our assets. With all the trade talks the Hawks had leading up to the draft? I think the Hawks already know what teams they can do a trade with. One is Denver they have serious salary cap problems. Everybody keeps talking about all of the guards they have. One of their best shooting JR Smith got injured in a serious car accident with his best friend getting killed. So a package with Tlue a SF and PF may be all that’s needed to get Camby, they can’t keep him, so why would we give them Marvin.? They’re probably in up settle for Sheldon they’ll need some rebounding after trading Camby and Sheldon can definitely provide that. There are other teams looking to make a trade for some these forwards everyone keep complain about. I’m excited about the trade possibility that could really solidify this team and make us a serious contender in the East. There are several big name teams that will have to make a trade before the up coming season so I don’t why I keep reading all of this gloom and doom.

By Daniel

June 29, 2007 7:35 PM | Link to this

We still have $10 million in expireing contracts and $6 million in cap room. That and any of our young talent are pretty good assets to have between now and the trade deadline. We could still see some moves to tweek the line-up.

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 7:16 PM | Link to this

Most of you guys think like losers.Have you been beat down watching this team so much that the playoffs,fun to watch,etc is your goal ? How can this team ever be a real winner when management and fans can’t even think what winning means.

By doc

June 29, 2007 7:05 PM | Link to this

just a little flat but posting mykhalc, bro.

we will see if this is the real thing or more rhetoric.

said it earlier, not bad but not great. kinda what our fearless leader blog z said as well, not championship quality but may get them into the playoffs. unfortunately, all our talls are just shy 6’10” except zaza. that wont get it in the nba and certainly not in the east. paxson with his own smurfs to deal with at guard said it loudly we have to get bigger and he did by adding not one but two 7plus foot players. unfortunately his bigs have whipped ours consistantly the last few years, what do you expect of them now that they have added size and strength.

maybe we will get a trade but be honest the only thing in three years that has approached a trade was the move to get the elder point who had already stamped his travel ticket out of atlanta twice. a j dont get your hopes up.

we said it would be hard to mess this one up but they didnt parlay it into something big like portland has the last two years. now what has that guy got that bk doesnt? er ownership… maybe.

now it is time to coach em up …. right guys or make lemonaide.

march madness continued into june. 5 of 9 top draft picks from the top two college programs is madness in itself. it wont hold up over time, how many will be busts and how quickly. is it irrational or is it the idea of what is seen last is remembered best? how many of the fab five are going to the hall?

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 6:58 PM | Link to this

Kacey Duncan and Nash clones !! crazy is right.

By Rellis

June 29, 2007 6:35 PM | Link to this

In 2005, the hawks drafted a player from Turkey named Cenk Akyol. What’s his status. He is a pg/sg, bout 6’5” & a great player.

By Saystar

June 29, 2007 5:56 PM | Link to this

Horford may be a solid pick but he was not what the Hawks needed. The Hawks and the City of Atlanta needed the excitement Yi would have bestoyed on the city. Most of you would kill to get Pau Gaso1 no defense playing arse in the ATL. Hello! Yi is a younger Gasol. Horford was the safe pick—trying to save a job pick for Woody and BK. We heard this same drivel from BK and Woody last year “He’s the most NBA ready at this time.” You said the same thing about Sheldon. BK and Woody drafts themselves all over again every year. Is Horford really any better than Solomon? He wasn’t even considered top 15 before the start of the college tournament.

Woody will not coach this team to the playoffs because his philosophy is so far up Larry Brown’s behind that he can’t recognize how to use young talent. He is in direct conflict with the GM. Knight drafts players to run with and Woody slows them down.

The youngest team in the league excuse is over. They keep holloring about needing veteran presence on team. Well believe it or not this is both Josh’s 4th year, Marvin’s 3rd year—hello—they are veterans!

Wee needed “YI” exposure, national TV games, excitement a buzz about the franchise…What we got was “Horford” boring and more empty seats!

By The Flash

June 29, 2007 5:56 PM | Link to this

Amare’s foot is trouble; otherwise, how could the Suns possibly let him go.

Law brings nasty and swagger and an ability to score to this team, all of which are sorely needed. Nasty and swagger, if you can back them up, are good. Word is Law can.

Horford is a two-time Champ with a body, skills, competitiveness and, hello, a personality.

The two of them combined could add an awful lot to this team.

The depth at a lot of positions is a real, real plus.

By Kacey

June 29, 2007 5:43 PM | Link to this

This is ridiculous. the Hawks just drafted Tim Duncan and Steve Nash clones and some of you people are unhappy about it????

I’ll say it first. Conley WILL NOT be a good pro for the next 3 years. Law, if healthy, will lead Atlanta to the play-offs.

By mykhalc

June 29, 2007 5:41 PM | Link to this

nice post belkin i mean FLASH!!!wink wink LOL

DOC, ANDO too sick to post i bet??!!!LOL

so whose the first one in a new uni?? SHELDEN or CHILLS??? i really hope other complimentary pieces can be traded for without givin’ up CHILLS tho!! i really dig what he brings to the team and how he brings it!! SHELDEN and SALIM sound like a nice package to me!!??!!

By Jay

June 29, 2007 5:13 PM | Link to this

The last two games of Law’s college career he had one assist in each of them. WHY DID WE DRAFT ANOTHER JASON TERRY EXCEPT NOT AS GOOD AS JASON TERRY!?!?!?

By doc

June 29, 2007 5:08 PM | Link to this

flash glad you like this draft. it was me that mentioned the probs that conley might have working with jj. i think that speedy has that problem too and it affects his game when they are on the court together not knowing what is needed or wanted. you might say a communication issue.

as far as acie he aint as good as the guy we liked last year in roy. he is the guy we overlooked only one year later to admit we might have needed him in what he can do for a team and jj. took him how long to figure it ut/ about as long as it took them to realize sheldon is not a four but a five. now salim had some swagger that woody took out of him, only time will tell if woody does the same thing to acie.

kind of surprised you didnt seem to like yi as he fits the game that you like.

kinda think bk thinks that acie can bring some attitude that will be positive, if he comes around ill send you some hot sauce made special for your vanilla ice cream. good combo i hear.

By Lifelong Hawks Fan

June 29, 2007 5:07 PM | Link to this

Sekou, How about a guess as to what the Summer League team might look like now that the draft is over. Obviously there will be a few free agent invitees. But what about the rest of the cast?

By What trade?

June 29, 2007 5:06 PM | Link to this

Conley is not the answer!

We can run with any team and usually do well against the fast teams. The games we struggled in were the half court games. How many nights did we watch teams give our players the jump shot and how many nights did we miss everything we shot???

We need scorers!! How is conley going to get all these assist when Chill/Smoove both get 4 and 5 a game when we run.

We need a shooter who can knock down the open shot when JJ and our forwards take the ball to the lane and get double teamed. Sorry but all our “swing” men failed at that open shot last year. We already have a true point guard if not scoring is a true point guard. SPEEDY. So you are telling me you want another PG to go with the others(AJ,LUE) we have that can’t score???

That is why we have Law. Woodson(NOT KNIGHT) said it himself, Conley could not shoot. That is why we did not take him and I agree!

By Lifelong Hawks Fan

June 29, 2007 4:59 PM | Link to this

The grades were pretty damn positive for the Hawks on all fronts(besides ESPN). I was checking around and found that Yahoo claims the Hawks a winner as does Sportingnews.com(specifically Billy Knight). Then CNNSI.com gives the Hawks a grade of B+ and Cbssportsline.com gives the Hawks a grade of A-. I’m putting my money on these sites this time around.

I don’t think the draft blew me away. But it was solid and it was better than last year’s draft. Obviously the Hawks would have loved to be drafting in the top 2. But they took the players that were rated at the very top of their respective postions. Plus they are both college veterans(if there is such a thing).

I think they still need veteran help to move these guys along. They also need a new coaching staff. But I think we all know that one.

On the other blog earlier, someone made the comment that the Spurs are old and don’t have individual great players and they play as a team. This is blindly true. There is one if not many glaring differences between the Hawks and Spurs. The Spurs have a great coach and great organizational structure. The Hawks lack both of these. Until they fix one or both, they will continue to only marginally improve each year.

But overall, I’m happy today about the draft. Now let’s get Speedy and Lo out of town. Once they find the bus, tell them to take Shelden with them.

By terrell

June 29, 2007 4:58 PM | Link to this

Everyone always dogs out Billy, I’ve dogged him myself, but after really looking at his past draft selections, he has not as bad as we make it out to be. Chill and Josh.S was a pretty good draft. He did pass on Deng for Chill but look at the players that were selected before Josh Smith at 18. Marvin Williams was the Concensus #1 player on a lot of the boards in 2005. Yes, I wanted Chris Paul, but if Marvin can finally live up to the hype this year, I might forget about that. Now I have been very critical of the Sheldon pick, but that draft just flat out stunk. Bargani was the #1 pick for crying out loud. There were just no flat out studs available. Yes, I would have loved to have Roy, but I didn’t know that he would turn out to be as good as he is. The Hawks did need a rebounder and shot blocker, and Sheldon was supposed to fit the bill. It’s not Billy’s fault that our idiotic coach did not know that he was much more productive at the 5 spot. Finally, I was one of the biggest Conley supporters, but no bigs fell to 11, so we were probably smart for going with Horford/Law. Remember I’m not saying Billy is the NBA’s best GM, but overall he’s clearly not the worse. ACIE/JOE/JOSH S/HORFORD/ZAZA is not too shabby, not to mention we have talent on the bench. Hopefully we can move Lorenzen, AJ, and a forward for some veteran help inside the paint. One last thought, when you draft you’ve got to keep trades in mind. We have a lot of young trade bait on this team, to add vet. pieces that just might get us where we want to go. GO HAWKS This is it Woody. Get it done

By Chops

June 29, 2007 4:51 PM | Link to this

The Hawks blew it again. Conley was the best pure PG and facilitator in the draft. A great floor general who will get the ball in the right spot and lead an up-tempo attack. Law is not a facilitator. He’d be great on a team with more of a point-forward, but not this squad. Horford is a great talent and will be a solid NBA player, but Conley was the difference maker for this team. BK blows it again.

By What trade?

June 29, 2007 4:49 PM | Link to this

WHAT TRADE ARE YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT??? Even Steve Kerr(you know…GM for the suns) said he never talk to the Hawks, so don’t blame Billy or anyone else. Ownership did not shut the trade down…there NEVER was a trade. just rumors in the media from their “sources”. Well who do you believe the unnamed source or the GM of the team. What would Kerr have to lose to saying they were in talks, why would he hide it?

BK has been at this for 4 years. It takes time, sorry but 5 years has always been the plan for him. I don’t mind stock piling the best player available(exclude Sheldon). We have pieces that we can trade now. I don’t remember my old post name but I have posted before about how I thought we would not make any drastic changes this year. I think we get one more year to evaluate Chill,Smoove, Marv, and the rest. Then next off season we have to decide who to sign extends with and who goes. I know we want to win now but the truth is we are still one ear away because that is when we have to decide if we resign Chill/Smoove.

By Orlando Rivera

June 29, 2007 4:43 PM | Link to this

Once and for all, get over yourselves with the Amare deal! No way Atlanta was going to take on extra payroll with Josh Smith coming up in free agency next year. All of you have become so star struck that you don’t even see what’s really going on. For the first time since the Mookie and Smitty days Atlanta has a balanced squad (I remember what the funny part back then was that their greatest weakness was SF).

Atlanta needed defense and rebounding more than they needed a Steve Nash clone. The only reason Phoenix is as good as they are is because they already have that. Would Conley provide that in the paint? Nope. Horford at least provides the inside game that Marvin nor Josh Smith seem to have at this point.

As for AC Law, I see him becoming a 15ppg 6.5 apg player in about two years. He can create his own shot (which Conley can’t do) and in the NBA that is paramount! No one can say this team passed on another pg.

For the idiot that said Conley will be a 10 time all star, IN MEMPHIS! Get the jheri curl out your eyes, that team will suck for years to come.

I don’t think Horford can play center nor should he. BK will have to eventually trade either Josh Smith or Marvin Williams. Shelden is best served as a backup as is Childress (who will be next year’s sixth man of the year). A package of one of those SF plus Zaza plus either Lue or Anthony Johnson (expiring contract)should net a low post presence like Camby. Methinks this is only the beginning of the offseason for the Hawks.

By BREW

June 29, 2007 4:27 PM | Link to this

The draft was more than just good, although not great, I think it was correct for what was availabe vs what we needed. When we drafted Marvin we knew at that time he was 2 to 3 years away from stardom. It didn’t happen in 1 to years so we are ready to doubt his talent. I think this is his break out year, and the additional scoring punch of H-Law will only help his growth into stardom. I would have loved to see us move maybe Sheldon, and Childress for the Aldridge kid out of Portland. A decent Center along with this group would go a long way.

By BREW

June 29, 2007 4:26 PM | Link to this

The draft was more than just good, although not great, I think it was correct for what was availabe vs what we needed. When we drafted Marvin we knew at that time he was 2 to 3 years away from stardom. It didn’t happen in 1 to years so we are ready to doubt his talent. I think this is his break out year, and the additional scoring punch of H-Law will only help his growth into stardom. I would have loved to see us move maybe Sheldon, and Childress for the Aldridge kid out of Portland. A decent Center along with this group would go a long way.

By Vol4ever

June 29, 2007 4:23 PM | Link to this

I am not a BK supporter but I am happy with the players picked. Horford will provide some low post play and Law is a player who the Hawk fans will enjoy watching. Good Draft

By The Flash

June 29, 2007 4:15 PM | Link to this

I think Amare is a bad step away from the end of his career; hey, it might not even take that. Too risky; I’m glad it didn’t happen.

Law has several things going for him. One, he plays with a bit of nasty and swagger. That’s big. Two, he can create his shot and score it. That’s big. Three, as someone here mentioned, Conley would have occupied the ball maybe more than the Hawks, as in JJ, would prefer. Law won’t. The guy is much bigger than SS.

With Chill, they have a core backcourt rotation; add AJ, my preference, and a solid four guard set up that can compete with most anyone, and outplay most.

I hate to say this because it was true in MW’s case as well, if you put every GM in the 3 slot, most all take Horford. Horford is much more ready to compete than MW was, and has the inside game that you would like. He did win two Championships, is much quicker and has more bounce and diversity to his offensive game than Shelden, and, dare I say it, gives the team a person with some er, public personna. If he is halfway good, he will be a great interview, and will put some style where it is much needed.

If this league has any constant now, it is that it is a grind, a ridiculously long and grueling grind that takes it out of guys mentally, physically and every other way.

The Hawks now have two young strong 4/5s, two young lithe and athletic 3/4s, Z and the kid with the long arms at 5, JJ and Chill who frankly can play 3 if not 4 positions, and a guy who could well be “da law” in these here parts.

If Law is anywhere a* tough as he seems and can back up that swagger of his, and you throw in a dash of Horford’s charm, this team might well present with a bit of hot sauce, instead of vanilla, doc.

If those qualities rub off on some of their teammates, and somebody with some exciting offensive concepts gets a hold of the reigns, we just might have a team that can compete throughout the season, come what may.

If Horford and Shelden can provide 15 and 12 between them, Smooth stops slowing the half court offense down and puts a little more purposeful off the ball movement into that part of his game, who knows.

Do not underestimate the value of Law’s nasty, and the toughness swagger and skill to back it up!

By Anakin Joe

June 29, 2007 4:06 PM | Link to this

Don’t you just hate it when someone corrects their mistakes? It’s so much better to be stubborn and refuse to wipe up the spilled milk.

By Harry Hawk

June 29, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this

I’ll say this about Marvin Williams. The guy just turned 21. He averaged 13.1 points and 5.3 rebounds in the NBA last year. I wouldn’t be shocked at all if this is Marvin’s breakthrough year in the league. I don’t necessarily care for his game all that much right now, but I know he has the ability to be an 18-20 point scorer in this league. He’s not a bust. He’s just not a #2 pick in a draft with Oden and Durant and he was the wrong pick for the Hawks when he was drafted. If the Hawks hadn’t had two lottery picks this year, I’d be a lot angrier about the Marvin selection.

After the draft last night, I started thinking about this Hawks roster. Is it just me or is it starting to look a lot like a combo of Larry Brown’s Pistons (not surprising because Woody was an assistant there) and BK’s Pacers? We’ll see if this crew has similar success, but I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing some playoff basketball in this town. Sure, winning it all is what I want, but the odds of the Hawks winning a title anytime soon aren’t that good. If they’d landed in the top two of this year’s draft, I might be more optimistic about it happening.

By Running Circles

June 29, 2007 3:47 PM | Link to this

You guys who THINK that we COULDN’T bring in Amare Stoudemire are INSANE. From BK’s comments, along with Chad Ford’s on Mike and Mike this morning, PLUS past actions (the fiasco surrounding the Joe Johnson acquisition), I’m going to assume our ownership botched it again. Of course the Suna are going to SAY they had no plans on trading Amare, if a trade doesn’t get done, you can’t have your ALL NBA Center thinking his team would RATHER have another player than him! But the Suns are doing EVERYTHING they can to win an NBA Championship RIGHT NOW. Hell, they don’t even DRAFT players anymore. I saw earlier that they have now SOLD their last FOUR 1st round draft picks for CASH CONSIDERATIONS. If they could have gotten KG they would have gotten KG. No doubt in my mind. The Hawks didn’t want to PAY Amare, so they didn’t get him. Between AOL-Time Warner trying to DEMOLISH the Braves, and this Spirit Group making the Hawks the LAUGHING STOCK of the NBA, fans in Atlanta have to have had enough of corporate ownership. Why can’t MLB and the NBA (seems like the NFL doesn’t have this problem as much) have some sort of APPROVAL process when it comes to ownership? I’m just PRAYING this Colorado group actually CARES about winning baseball games. Not sure why they WOULD though.

By HB

June 29, 2007 3:45 PM | Link to this

I’m sorry but this isn’t Duke, Sheldon Williams CANNOT play center in the NBA!!!

By Harry Hawk

June 29, 2007 3:41 PM | Link to this

The fact is that this was a good draft. The problem is that BK is going to have to trade some guys to improve this team’s chances of making the playoffs. With the ownership situation being the way it is, it’s going to be tough for the Hawks to make a big trade for a center, but if they do, maybe a sign-and-trade with Magloire or a trade for Camby would make sense. Camby would bring some defensive leadership. Imagine Camby, Horford and Josh Smith on the same floor at the same time…yikes. Anyway, the Hawks have options here (Shelden, Childress, Marvin…any of these guys could be moved, but the the first two are more likely). I just hope to Almighty God that BK and the ownership can acquire a big man that can hold down the middle for a couple of years.

By baghdad hawk

June 29, 2007 3:39 PM | Link to this

THE HAWKS WILL BE BETTER!! We just have to be patient and let them jell. Now we have depth and interchangeable plans. Starting 5

PG Claxton SG Johnson SF JSmith PF MWilliams C SWilliams

The bench is solid at every position with guys that can play any position.

Lue/Law/Childress/Stoudemire/Horford/Pachulia/SJones

The starting five could change based on who steps out in practice. If they want minutes on the court then they will hustle and produce. We are young and athletic, and outside of Cleveland with Lebron and Miami with Wade we are just as good as anybody in the East. I like our team now. We have a real shot this year. If we can avoid the injury bug you will see the Hawks soar. GO Hawks!!!

By HB

June 29, 2007 3:28 PM | Link to this

I’m still crying about Paul too because I’ve yet to see how Marvin Williams or even the “Landlord” are worthy of those lofty picks or even fit in and contribute to this team. YOU DON’T DRAFT ROLE PLAYERS AT THE #2 AND THE #5 POSITION IN THE DRAFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 3:24 PM | Link to this

Ken Strickland I wanted the team to go after Calderon.He is everything you need at pg.As far as comparing Parker and Billups to Law though. There’s too much to get started on how wrong that line of thinking is.

By Joe Hawk

June 29, 2007 3:18 PM | Link to this

Ok, I’ll wait and see what happens. Obviously, the Hawks biggest weakness was at point guard and some of you love Law. Picking Horford to me means we recognize that Marvin and Sheldon are busts and we could have had Chis Paul instead of Marvin. In my mind Knight has not proven himself yet. It’s easy (or should be easy) to pick good when you have #3 & #11. Yes, I’m still crying about Paul.

By HB

June 29, 2007 3:17 PM | Link to this

The thing i dont see any of the draft analysts talking about is that by selecting Al Horford at #3 it means that you are already giving up on the “Bum Landlord” and admitting that you made a mistake by drafting last year at #5. Didn’t Billy Knight say that by drafting Sheldon W. last year it would bring the Hawks toughness and solid defense in the paint?

By James

June 29, 2007 3:07 PM | Link to this

I just don’t understand the Horford pick at all. I watched plenty of UF games the past few years and Horford was the third-best player on the team. Now he’s the third-best guy in the draft? Plus, the LAST thing the Hawks needed was another forward. I don’t know what Billy KNight has against taking the best PG available, but it’s gotten the franchise into a deep hole and Knight sure as heck isn’t the guy to get us out of it.

By Ken Strickland

June 29, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this

I did a little research just to try and see why some of you are so disappointed with the selection of ALaw/Horford over Conley. You say we don’t need a shooting PG like ALaw, but rather one that’s super quick and can penetrate and dish out assists, like Conley. Yet, some of you want us to sign CBillups, who is anything but super quick, fast, or considered a penetrator. SClaxton, who played in only 42 gms, due to injuries, is quick, fast, and averaged 4.4 APG. The Spurs TParker played in 77gms and won a championship while averaging only 5.5 APG. Some of you want to sign FA MBibby, who averaged only 4.7 APG. Speedy also managed to rack up 72 steals, which ranked 3rd behind Zaza’s 77.

Conley fans say we don’t need a shooting PG, and with Conley, you certainly won’t get one. The truth is, we already have a quick, fast, penetrating PG that can dish out assists and play DEF in SClaxton. And with ALaw, we have a PG that can shoot and help take double team pressure off JJ. He also gives us another clutch shooter, besides JJ, which will help tremendously in close games.

Contrary to what a lot of you choose to believe, we have a very deep and talent roster, albeit young and inexperienced overall. If our coaching holds up, and we consistently play an uptempo game, we will make the playoffs for certain. GO HAWKS!!!!!

By Tyger

June 29, 2007 3:01 PM | Link to this

Kudos, to BK and the ATL Spirit, despite themselves, they were able to come outta this draft unscathed.

They didnt hit a grandslam, but there are extenuating circumstances here, and the fact remains, another summer, another p** contest with Belkin.

Despite repeated public denials to the contrary, BK and le’ Spirit simply cannot pull the trigger beyond the mandated draft and chump change free agents and trades.

If it were up to Belkin they probably wouldnt even be allowed to sign the draft picks. Thats why I respect BK and Woody even more, they suck it up and still get it done with handcuffs on.

Whereas, the Larry Brown’s,Pat Rileys and Don Nelson’s of the NBA basically, just whine, undermine and quit, yet, continue to get opportunity after opportunity.

I always wanted Acie Law, he’s the best PG in the draft hands down. Conley is a Speedy Claxton/Mateen Cleeves clone, fast and heady but no NBA respect.

Horford will show whether he is a young Amare in wait, or another Shelden, lets hope for the former. I doubt that he’ll be an impact center in the East however.

Which leads to this next week’s free agency. I hope we have Magloire on speed dial. We need a true NBA Center on this roster.

We have NOT addressed the center position in a conference with Z, Shaq, Curry, Okafor, Howard, Rasheed, Big Ben, Dalembart etc.

By Billy

June 29, 2007 2:57 PM | Link to this

OddJob:

Here’s why I want Ellis-and wanted him with the #11 pick instead of Law-: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?playerId=2751 He’s 21 and averaged the same numbers Law did (you are right about that), but Monta’s done it in the NBA. Law hasn’t yet.

Also, TrueHoop is reporting that the Blazers have a deal in place to get a SF, but can’t announce it until the NY deal is complete…likely meaning the trade involved Frye.

I’m hoping we are sending the Blazers Childress or Marvin for Channing Frye and Jack. I don’t care that Frye had a down year, he’s a center and we could definitely use him.

By P

June 29, 2007 2:54 PM | Link to this

hey Joe you are a moron this town does care about the hawks. If u dont, speak for yourself. As for your comments on the NBA players being inner city thugs i suppose Yao,Dirk,Steve Nash, Tony Parker,Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, and all the European and world players in the league fall under the same classification? You are a disgrace and a shame to Humanity!!!

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 2:38 PM | Link to this

no fan I’ve read most of the post.I’ve seen one that mentions race at all.It goes to show if you look for something you’ll probably see it.

By Anakin Joe

June 29, 2007 2:35 PM | Link to this

I have NO IDEA how anyone can evaluate any Hawk based on Woody’s coaching skills! Woody admitted that it took him all but one month of the season to realize that Shelden is more effective as a 5. Steve Smith suggested that after about 6 weeks of the season.

8 rookie contracts. That’s all you need to know about the funding available from the owners. 8 rookie contracts on 1 team. 8.

By joe

June 29, 2007 2:21 PM | Link to this

The Hawks always have and always will suck.99.9% of this town doesn’t give a rats a#!ss what happens to that team. Now college ball is fun to watch but the NBA is nothing but over paid over tattooed inner city street thugs who’d all be in jail or going there soon if they couldn’t throw a ball in a hole.

By WHat Man

June 29, 2007 2:10 PM | Link to this

So what do we do with UGMO Shelden Williams? Trade one of these cazillion forwards for another scoring threat…..Ellis out of Golden State, go get him?

By NO NBA FAN

June 29, 2007 2:02 PM | Link to this

I haven’t read any of this blog because I really don’t care about the NBA at all. But every blog I do read it always turns to racism and I want to know why there isn’t one on the Isiah Washington story. That one really IS about race and there isn’t a blog!! Amazing. For what it’s worth, it is ABSURD that he thinks race had anything to do with race—-the boss is black!! Shonda is BLACK!!!! But don’t consider it a black show or a white show, just a great show. But if anyone wants to call it a black show, that is ok with me. Just wanted to speak my mind!! ;)

By Roger

June 29, 2007 1:47 PM | Link to this

Do I agree with both picks? I thought with the 3 pick, the Hawks might step out of the box and take the 7’0 Chinese player, who has a lot of skills. I’m sure Phillips would experience quite a few sell-outs during the season. Horford will be a good player as will Law IV and will in the long run help. The only problem is which forward has to go…

By diehardhawkfan

June 29, 2007 1:46 PM | Link to this

Coach J, we weren’t last in rebounding last year…no need to make up stats to prove a point, we were last in points scored, and no i dont think conley would have stepped in here and started (by the way, horford won’t start from day one next year, he’ll earn the spot by around midseason)…I was upset about the pick at first but now Horford’s is growing on me. From what I’ve seen out of Florida, I dont think he’s worth a 3 pick because his low post game is so raw…but I can live with him. He’ll be a good rebounder and he’ll add six more fouls to rotate between Sheldon and Solomon. I would have liked to have seen Conley in a Hawks jersey, but Woodson is not the type of coach to develop a young pg…Iavaroni, former Suns assistant coach and current Grizzlies coach is.

It’s obvious what BK is trying to do…he wants to recreate the Pacers team of the late 90’s…they had the Davis boys…we have Horford and Sheldon Williams…they had Mark jackson, we have acie law, they had Reggie Miller, we have Joe Johnson…I dont have a problem with the philosphy…it’s just very unentertaining basketball to me.

By Don!

June 29, 2007 1:39 PM | Link to this

I still want to know what the truth of the matter was regarding the deal for Amare.

Until I have that issue resolved, I’m not holding much faith in the management of this draft — or the future of the Hawks franchise as a whole.

Later,

Don!

By fayncbird

June 29, 2007 1:26 PM | Link to this

K-Doggy; Shelden accomplished this feat against a lousy team on the last day of the season! HE IS NOT THE SOLUTION FOR OUR PF ISSUES! NEVER WILL BE! Power Forward prospects who played at least 3 years of college balls usually have far better stats in their rookie year than Shelden’s (those straight out of HS even do better). I expect Horford to start and have at least a 12pt/10rb season!

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 1:22 PM | Link to this

Billy Why in hell would you want Monta Ellis,we just picked his twin (Law).Most of you don’t have the first clue of what a pg looks like.Calderon is the one guy that would have moved this team from a bunch of players to a team.

By BC

June 29, 2007 1:22 PM | Link to this

Again, we have taken players that will not have a dramatic impact on this team. Conley vs Horford comparison is really no comparison. In Conley you get immediate dividends at pg. He would have came in and ran the team with Josh Smith and JJ along side. Horford will not have the same type of impact on the team. He is not just another PF but his impact will not be as dramatic as Conley’s would have been. We should have taken Conley and possibly Al Thorton vs waht we got. Mike Conley Jr was just head and shoulders above the rest of the draft. How could we pass again?

By dd

June 29, 2007 1:18 PM | Link to this

I hope everyone enjoys watching our point guard become a 10 year all-star in Memphis.

By Billy

June 29, 2007 1:09 PM | Link to this

The problem with taking Conley at #3 is that it would have left us with no BIG players at #11 to choose from…look at the players left on the board at #11. We would have come out of this draft with Conley and Nick Young or Stuckey or maybe even Acie Law.

We took Horford because at his position (PF) he’s a complete player. Rebouds the ball, back-to-the-basket offense, nice J, great passer, good D, he has size. We didn’t take Conley that high because he’s not a complete player yet (no shot).

I’d love for the Hawks to find a way to trade for Barbosa or Monta Ellis. Those guys aren’t untouchable for the right price. I think Camby is a longshot.

By Coach J

June 29, 2007 12:59 PM | Link to this

To all of you people bashing the Horford pick and thought we should take Mike Conley Jr.

We were LAST in rebounding in the NBA and have zero post players. Josh Childress, Josh Smith, and Marvin Williams are all Small Forwards. NOT POWER FORWARDS even though they were forced to play that position.

Shelden Williams will never be a star and was a big disappointment last year. He has great character but is going to be a career back up.

Point Guards are a dime a dozen. There are a lot more really good Point Guards in the NBA than Power Fowards.

Also we are already they youngest team in the NBA. Do you honestly think Atlanta can wait for a 19 year old to develop or run this team today?

Or would you rather have the consensus 3rd best player who is Captain of a back to back National Championship team?

Al Horford is going to be an All Star for sure. The Hawks make the playoffs this year.

Billy Knight gets a A+ for this draft. He addressed two huge needs.

Great Job!

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 12:58 PM | Link to this

Faynchild Shelden is already a 14 to 16 pt 10 reb player,given starters minutes.

By sns

June 29, 2007 12:50 PM | Link to this

I like the selections. Forwards and shooting guards are the best positions to be overloaded in, not point gaurd. you just need one of those. Everyone needs to stop walking around with a victim mentality. Ever since Dominique was traded, I’ve been raging about the hawks, but now he’s back, and it’s a new era. Also, you don’t really need a center in the East to make the playoffs.

By fayncbird

June 29, 2007 12:48 PM | Link to this

Those who say that Horford is just “another PF” have serious issues! Before Horford, who on the Hawk roster was even close to evolving into Mailman? NOBODY!! All the other 4s are either too light or have no 10-12 rebound a game ability ( and maybe 17 point per game, maybe). Horford will be a 17 point/10 rebound PF very soon! That being said, I stiil think the Hawks did not do enough. Getting Amare on the team would have done wonders. Amare is not only very talented; he also would have attracted a winning PG to the team (ie C.Billups or M.Bibby). A team of Amare, JJ, and Billups would have made the Hawks a #3 seed AT WORSE! Of course that may have cost the Hawks more money than they want to spend(CHEAPSKATES)! Nothing but CHEAPSKATES! They had the oppurtunity to assemble a team that could be in the 2008 Finals and they blew it!! ATLANTA=LOSERVILLE!

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 12:42 PM | Link to this

Dallas Comegys —— we’re on the same page.Hawks fans remind me of the old saying (joke)’aim low, you won’t be disappointed’.This is a team constructed for mediocrity.

By K-Dogg

June 29, 2007 12:31 PM | Link to this

For those who care, here’s Shelden’s stat line from the last game of the season, when he started to really come on:

41 minutes, 9-13 FG, 21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks

He certainly has it in him…again, I don’t know why everyone is writing him off after one year.

By tom

June 29, 2007 12:28 PM | Link to this

It’s obvious you don’t care too much for our Commander and Chief but please stick to sports.

I think we should have been able to get a second round pick for either t lou or AJ.

Horford will be a star. He will be playing more like a Center by the end of the year.

I have no idea what’s in store for Shelden.

Bushie#1

By HawkGuy

June 29, 2007 12:26 PM | Link to this

I’ll tell you one thing. No matter if he is the next Michael Jordan (which he’s not), he better knock off that Gator Chomp stuff or he’ll get run out of town on a rail. There was a kid from my HS in ATlanta in the early 70s who was a Florida transplant. When he made All-state in football in Ga and signed with UF, we ripped his all-state plaque off he HS wall.

By dallas comegys

June 29, 2007 12:17 PM | Link to this

Another forward when you already have josh smith!! and a guy who’s basically a shooting guard!! (yeah, the hawks problem was that they didn’t have outside shooters not the fact that they didnt have any one who can run an offense or put others in good situations to score) Incredible!! you conley-cant-shoot types are freakin morons!! do you even know what a real point guard is!! do you even know anything about basketball!! well, i guess you all know as much as billy knight. Why are all you idiots so eager to get to the playoffs and lose in the first or second round? ITS ABOUT WINNING CHAMPIONSHIPS PEOPLE!! Was everyone thrilled when we had mookie, steve smith, and the lose-early-in-the-playoffs hawks from the 90’s? get a friggin clue! billy made moves to keep his job NOT to win championships. - i give up, why bother, i guess i should jump on the bandwagon. HOORAY! the hawks will make the playoffs!! and get their butts handed to them by a real team!! cause thats all us stupid fans care about!! billy knight for governor!! billy knight for king!!

By KJ

June 29, 2007 12:12 PM | Link to this

Now the question is:

Do we move some mix of one of the PGs, Shelden, Salim, Zaza or even Marvin for a capable veteran center and/or true PG. We have a glut of combo 3/4s and I see a duplication (but big upgrade) in Salim and Acie Law. What kind of trades are out there now?

By Omnihawk

June 29, 2007 12:02 PM | Link to this

It was so much better when this blog ran from top to bottom. I guess everything associated with the Hawks has to be backwards.

By diehardhawkfan

June 29, 2007 11:59 AM | Link to this

I was a little upset at first that we selected Horford over Conley…but I got over it…I think this is the best thing for Conley’s career…his family is from Memphis, their new coach is the former assistant coach at Phoenix so he’s looking to run a more up-tempo offense, so this is the perfect situation for Conley…if we would have chosen Conley, Conley defintely wouldn’t have developed properly under Woodsen…

so now in Atlanta we have a collection of sf’s and pf’s that include Marvin Williams, JChildress, Horford, JSmith, Sheldon Williams, Solomon Jones, Lorenzen Wright, and Zaza.

By mike

June 29, 2007 11:56 AM | Link to this

There was a report on Yahoo Sports where Steve Kerr the GM for Phoenix stated that the Stoudemire deal was more rumor than fact. Obviously that would have been a great trade for the city of Atlanta. It was also stated on ESPN pre-draft review Wednesday night that BK was working hard to try to complete the Stoudemire deal. Maybe there were some sticking points that could not be over come, or maybe the owners couldn’t get Belkin to sign off on the deal. It didn’t happen get over it. We added two top talented players to the team; we still have our young assets, and we still have cap space. So this wasn’t a total disaster. We still have the ability to make a move in FA. I disagree with anyone that thinks we didn’t improve our chances of making it to the post season next year. Especially in the weak EAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Russ

June 29, 2007 11:41 AM | Link to this

The “Hawks” did not address anything at last nite’s draft. I see they did the same thing they did 4yrs ago. We could have drafted Conley, Jr. and we end up with “Law”..come on man! That guy is not a true point guard..The Atlanta Spirit needs to sell the team to someone who got “guts” to pull the trigger! Billy Knight is not a good “GM”, I would not even put him as an assistant coach either! The owners is not looking out for the team nor the city of Atlanta!! Another year of empty seats….

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 11:41 AM | Link to this

I’ve heard Law’s A&M coach and others rave about his growth as a pg in his four seasons in school.In the interest of clarity (and out of aggravation)here is a reality check.These are fr year stats adjusted for minutes played to his sr year. sr asst - 5.0 fr asst - 5.7 sr stl - 1.1 fr - stl 1.9 sr - reb 3.3 fr - reb 3.1 sr -pts - 18.1 fr - pts 11 . So in four years his assist went DOWN as did stl, pts are the one area he improved in all that growing he supposdedly did.Worse he got worse in key areas from a 18 year old fr to a 21 year old sr.

By Ken Strickland

June 29, 2007 11:35 AM | Link to this

Not a bad draft at all. Keep this in mind.

ZAZA PACHULIA IS OUR STARTING 5. HORFORD WILL COME OFF THE BENCH AND PLAY BOTH 4&5. HE WON’T BE ASKED, NOR EXPECTED, TO CARRY THE LOAD AT EITHER SPOT. SCLAXTON, BARRING INJURY, WILL BE OUR STARTING PG. ALAW WILL ALSO COME OF THE BENCH, AND WILL BE VERY EFFECTIVE WHEN USED IN TANDUM WITH SALIM OR LUE, IF LUE’S STILL ON THE TEAM.

Laws outside shooting ability allows TLue or Salim to be included in a trade package. Since Lue’s in the last yr of his contract, he seems the most likely candidate. Why do so many of you continuously complain about the number of forwards on our roster?

(SF)MWilliams/JChildress(can play 3 positions)

(PF)JSmith/SWilliams(Horford)(each can play 2 positions)

(C)ZPachulia/SJones(Horford)(each can play 2positions) Some of you call this an unbalanced roster, but I don’t understand why. The acquisition of Horford increases our size, speed, quickness, rebounding ability, inside OFF/DEF and overall versatility. Is there anyone unable to see that Horford is a vast improvement over LWright? If Wright can be a backup to Zaza, so can Horford, but with much better results. LWright is only going to get worse, while Horford is going to get better. Stop whining, LOL.

By ScoobySnacks

June 29, 2007 11:24 AM | Link to this

You idiots who wanted Yi don’t seem to realize Yi is not and never will be a center!!!

So if the Hawks would have drafted him we would be in worse position. He still would be a back up forward, and worse yet his interior defense is not near Horford’s. I wish some of you dummies would learn what the game of basketball is about before you start spouting off.

By mike

June 29, 2007 11:22 AM | Link to this

Guys Before you stick a bunch of crow in your mouth wait to see what off-season trade moves the Hawks makes. This is only the beginning. Like I stated in my previous post, if we end up with a player like Camby or a legit big that can help out in the post than this is a great draft. We will move a PG, SF, and PF in the process. I love Jchill and Marvin but one of them will have to be part of a package to net any legit big alone with Sheldon and a PG. Is BK admitting he made a mistake maybe in previous draft, you betcha, but at lease he got right this time. I wish we could trade Tlue, Speedy and Lwright in a package, but no GM is that dumb not even BK.

Yes Billy drafted another PF, but he took the best legit Big left in the draft. Look at the top ten picks they were all Bigs except Conley. Now Conley was my guy, but there wouldn’t have been any legit Bigs left at #11. Everybody wanted Hartford not just us. BK said he would have taken the bigger physical Dwilliams over Cpaul, he did the same thing last night he took the bigger physical Alaw over Conley. They both are great players. I’m like Sekou I would have loved to have Conley, but he knows as well as I do taking Hartford with the #3 was the right move. Hartfort will go head to head with Sheldon practice we’ll see if everyone is right about their comparisons. This is provided Sheldon is not part of the deal to bring in Camby or a legit Big.

What these blogs reveal is that some of you guys are very young. Marc Jackson was one of top rated point guards coming out of college. His skills go beyond his time at Indy. So before you start tossing sand on Alaw. Remember everyone we all calling for Alaw during the regular college seasons. He played against Durant and they beat Durant. Plus he didn’t do anything to devalue his stock in the NCAA tournament. So this they becomes a scrub just because BK compared him to Marc Jackson. This is a player, and like Conley he played big in big games. So these were not only safe picks they were good picks that have the potential to be great picks.

By ScoobySnacks

June 29, 2007 11:22 AM | Link to this

You idiots who wanted Yi don’t seem to realize Yi is not and never will be a center!!!

So if the Hawks would have drafted him we would be in worse position. He still would be a back up forward, and worse yet his interior defense is not near Horford’s. I wish some of you dummies would learn what the game of basketball is about before you start spouting off.

By Aggressively witty

June 29, 2007 11:22 AM | Link to this

Why would denver trade Camby for an old guard and young pf/c? They have steve blake, jr smith, and iverson. They do not need an old guard who cant be relied upon anymore and camby for shelden is a downgrade.

Now if you would offer Marvin Williams or Josh smith to them then maybe camby but WHY? Camby is 145 years old by nba standards and he is FRAGILE.

The hawks are in a good position to make the playoffs next year. They could even contend for the Southeast with this roster. Think about the teams in the southeast and no one really separated themselves with this draft. The hawks now match up well with all the teams in the division. Which point guard would you rather have?

Jeff Mcinnis, gary payton/williams, jameer nelson, acie law, or Gilbert arenas

Arenas of course but after that who? Then the other match ups on the court, besides Wade and Arenas there is really no one in the southeast who is dominating an entire game. Horford sets up well to battle dwight howard in the years to come and Law will be a good point guard in this league cause he has skills AND heart.

By JMar

June 29, 2007 11:11 AM | Link to this

“To me, it was get Stoudamire or go home… The Hawks didn’t get the deal done last night. That’s the story to me. Al Horford should have been packaged with Zaza and an 08 pick, and we should be running out of season tickets at the arena. But Billy Knight couldn’t pull the trigger. With a team (Suns) that needs some youth. And being a team (Hawks) that has youth growing out of our ears.

I could have sold it. Could you?”

Get a clue, Mo; you couldn’t have sold it. Phoenix is a team that needs youth, so they trade their 24 year old star? And Phoenix already has our ‘08 pick, so good luck trading “an ‘08 pick”.

By Sri

June 29, 2007 11:10 AM | Link to this

Sekou,

I have been in Atlanta for approx 6 years. Ever since I’ve been here, the Hawks have been regurgitating this ‘rebuilding’ mantra — we seem to be stuck in that mode. Why didn’t we acquire an Amare Stoudemire or some other All Star? I admit that I am not very knowledgable when it comes to basketball operations/deals and such. But, common sense would indicate that we need a superstar like Amare to build this young team around. Now, do we have to wait for another 4/5 years for these guys to mature and develop, by which time they will be traded to some other franchise that’ll cause damage in the playoffs. I would appreciate anyone’s inputs on my query. I hope they bring in a superstar to Atlanta. We need one badly.

By Fred

June 29, 2007 11:08 AM | Link to this

A couple things to remember people. First, the Stoudamire deal WAS NEVER IN PLACE. Phoenix said they had never talked with Atlanta about it. Please use some common sense when reading rumors. Sit back, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and imagine that the Stoudamire rumor had never been mentioned. Now, open your eyes and the draft we just had, especially in comparison to those in the past, was actually pretty damn good. People need to grow up and realize that not every rumor they hear is for real. No doubt that getting Stoudamire in here for the 3/11 would have been the preferred situtaion, but if it was never a possibility, then you can’t be disappointed it didn’t happen (unless you do live in that fantasy land world - and if that’s the case, you need to grow up and get a life). Bottom line is that the Hawks are a definate better team than before the draft. Case closed, quit your b*** about something that was never a possibility of happening and support the team if you want and ignore it if you want, that’s your right as a fan. But for God’s sake, at least come to the table with realism and not cyber space chit chat as your basis for forming opinions.

All that said, I think we should have drafted another tight end - oops, sorry, that’s the Falcons.

By JMar

June 29, 2007 11:06 AM | Link to this

“Here is my package to get KG in a Hawks uniform:

MWilliams SWilliams AJohnson LWright”

This made me laugh. Talk about the most lopsided trade in NBA history.

By Bertie

June 29, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this

The new team name should be the Atlanta “Forwards”. I does not feel good passing on Conley, I thought all the talk about Horford was to get Memphis to give up something (say next year’s 2nd round pick) for swapping picks. That 2nd rd pick could have been used to move down from 11th to 8th and pick Noah or Hawes. Just a little creativity could have netted the “FORWARDS” (remember new team name) the PG and Center the team needed. Law is a Senior combo guard that can play the point, if you wanted that you could have picked Roy last year. Passing on Conley feels like 2005 all over again.

By Amaysn

June 29, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this

I hear he measured at 6’8” 1/4 without shoes!!!

By Amaysn'

June 29, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this

Another 6’ 8 1/4” guy that is listed at 6’10” tryin’ to play center.

Same Hawks.

By Amaysn'

June 29, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this

Another 6’ 8 1/4” guy that they is listed at 6’10” tryin’ to play center.

Same Hawks.

By For Real

June 29, 2007 10:58 AM | Link to this

I like the draft. I believe the Hawks have enough young talent to use as trade bait to vetern 5. Me personally I would keep at Minn. to trade KG. Here is my package to get KG in a Hawks uniform:

MWilliams SWilliams AJohnson LWright

New Lineup: PG - Law 6’3” SG - Johnson 6’7” SF - Smith 6’8” PF - Horford 6’10” C - Garnett 7’0

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 10:53 AM | Link to this

Can you people read stats ? Law went his whole four year college career without improving his assist per minutes or assist turnover ratio significantly.He almost never gets separation from defenders and he had one year out of four where he shot 50%(exactly 50%).If Calderon was available this was a monumentally stupid choice.

By Billly replacement

June 29, 2007 10:52 AM | Link to this

How can Billy still have a JOB?? Are the owners just that DUMB! Man, I wish they would hiring me for one season and let me show they a. how to put talent together b. sellout every home game c. get to the playoff. Billy is not a risk taker and has no passion for the game. So for the greatest city in the south, we have to live with a team with no character and leadship. I’ll work for FREE (with bonus)

By Billy replacement

June 29, 2007 10:52 AM | Link to this

How can Billy still have a JOB?? Are the owners just that DUMB! Man, I wish they would hiring me for one season and let me show they a. how to put talent together b. sellout every home game c. get to the playoff. Billy is not a risk taker and has no passion for the game. So for the greatest city in the south, we have to live with a team with no character and leadship. I’ll work for FREE (with bonus)

By mavid

June 29, 2007 10:49 AM | Link to this

It takes all sides agreeing on a trade for it go through

I’m guessing us and Minny were cool with the trade and PHX was the team not willing to do it.

Stoudemire wouldve been the best possible scenario. But it takes two (or in this case, three) to tango.

Just b/c we wanted the trade doesnt mean PHX did.

By WONK WONK

June 29, 2007 10:48 AM | Link to this

hate that stupid draft.a PF and SG didn’t get one need

By bob61

June 29, 2007 10:48 AM | Link to this

The Hawks did draft a ‘big’ and a PG who should be able to improve the team. But for me the choices were blah & boring. Both Horford and Law lack eye-popping special abilities. They probably will not become all-stars. Yi & Conley have more chance of becoming all-stars. I do not think that there is a big downside risk with Yi’s ability to play. I preferred Yi & Law or Crittendon or Thornton.

Supposedly Horford and Law were the ‘safe’ ready to play picks. Last year Shelden was the ‘safe’ ready to play pick and he did not make the rookie all-star team. If Horford & Law do not make the rookie all-star team then I will consider this draft a terrible mistake.

By SomeYahoo

June 29, 2007 10:39 AM | Link to this

I have something to say about Stoudamire. He’s a great player, but do you really want to give up so much to have a guy who just recovered from a potentially career shortening injury? I hope, for Stoudamire’s sake, that it doesn’t ever bother him again, but I’m just saying it was a unique basketball injury and who’s to say it doesn’t affect him down the road. Plus, we still wouldn’t have a PG if we did the Amare deal. It’s short sighted in my opinion.

Amare isn’t going anywhere anyways. I don’t know why everyone was getting so crazy about it. The Suns will part with Marion, not Amare.

By JoJo White

June 29, 2007 10:32 AM | Link to this

Folks, Folks…this might not be bad after all. Remember Basketball is like Baseball…sometimes it takes a little time to develop. BUT I will say this, Law can shoot off the dribble..WHICH IS HUGE by NBA standards. IF you can’t YOU don’t make it. Just look at some many greats in college (sure fires) that where busts because they could’t shoot off the dribble. IF Law turns out he can play the point then we have the best deal. Conley is not a good shooter and never will be. He will be the Jason Williams type of point guard. PLUS he played his whole HS career and one year in college with a 7 footer. Not many people get that opportunity.

Now for Holford, he is a bruiser but he has touch too. He can make the 15ft Jump shot which again is HUGE. For the eastern conference a 6’10” Center can work. BUT don’t forget Tim Duncan is only 6’ 10”. Also, Holford held is own very well against Oden who is only 2 inches taller.

Let’s see what we get in some trades that will happen but we have to give time to see what happens. I for one think it will turn out for us finally!

Go Hawks!

By harvey

June 29, 2007 10:25 AM | Link to this

Did anyone else see the pre draft report that we could of had Marcus Camby for the 11? Sekou, was there any truth to this? Camby would have let us get conley at 3. Solid. Anyone?

By mavid

June 29, 2007 10:20 AM | Link to this

Wow, that last blog BLEW up

I liked the draft. Obviously there wasnt that much to LOVE about it, as it was the most predictable drafting we could do.

But, a lot of the time in the NBA, COMMON SENSE IS THE WAY TO GO.

These were common sense picks. We didn’t get too fancy and try Yi at 3 and Critt at 11.

Instead, we got guys who have more than just high potential (they have that too). We got guys who HAVE PRODUCED. Ask Josh Howard, Chris Paul, etc. about how past production can indicate future success if you have NBA tools. (Shelden DID NOT have the NBA tools needed last year… hopefully he has learned what he has to do, or Horford will take ALL his minutes).

I think we may look back nicely on this draft. ONE of these players is gonna be really nice for us. Not sure which one yet but I have a good feeling about both these guys (They got a pg who can shoot, something Ive been saying all along… we needed outside shooting and thats why they wouldnt go Conley so high… Conley is gonna be nice running that up-tempo Memphis offense tho).

TRADES

Well, now we are stocked at each and every position. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING. Quality depth is KEY, and now we have it.

Assets we have to trade: Shelly, Zaza, AJ and Lue come to mind.

We need to package 2-3 of them together for a legit defensive and rebounding 5. Marcus Camby would be perfect. A big rotation of Horford/Camby/Shelly or Zaza would be one of the better ones in the league actually.

I actually like that we still have Chill. He gives us a great 6th man who is an important back-up at the 2/3.

We have too many back-ups at the 1 and 4/5. But, they are quality back-ups that other teams could use (Shelly and Zaza are both good deals for their contracts and Lue and AJ are both expiring contracts). We’re in a great situation to make a trade to balance this roster out for good. Hopefully we can get it done.

I rate this draft an 8/10 and I’m just glad that common sense prevailed.

By clint

June 29, 2007 10:18 AM | Link to this

We had to get another big since we have no pick next year and Horford was the best available, so I have no problem with picking him. We also needed a point that can push the ball, not so sure that we got that. However, how man point guards can you name that have been successful coming out of high school or having a year or 2 of college can anybody name. There have been many drafted like Conley, only to see most of them fail. Only Magic Johnson really comes to mind. Marbury may be stat successful, but he hasn’t won anything. So I think out of all the pg, I think Law was the right choice for this team.

I just hope we can figure out a way to push the ball. Now Sekou, what free agents and trade possibilities are out there. Who will come to ATL to help this team now?

Please get rid of Lorenzen Wright, I’d rather see SoJo get all his minutes.

By jp

June 29, 2007 10:17 AM | Link to this

The hawks had a good draft, but I would have taken a chance on Jarvis Crid rather than pick ALaw. By picking Hortford, the Hawks are admitting that they made a big mistake when they took robot moving mechanical Shelden brick Williams which has to be one of the worst #5 pick in a long time.

By bobbyT

June 29, 2007 10:15 AM | Link to this

**Don’t the Hawks already have like 4 forwards that were 1st rounders?

Don’t the Hawks already have a combo-guard in Salim Stoudamire? Same style of game as Law.**

Billy Knight is a moron! And same goes to the owners who don’t realize that no one in this town will ever attend a game w/ this type of team on the floor. I certainly wouldn’t waste my money.

By doc

June 29, 2007 10:12 AM | Link to this

ho hum vanilla. yes this was not championship move. one to solidify but not expand the roster. crit has the stuff of law only better in time. roy has the same credentials as law but better on defense and has more size, why wasnt he considered last year? shels is a 5 now according to bernie, soo we go out and get the guy that will compete for time instead of gettting a guy that went at 6 to a club he didnt want to go to because he was an asset and at least gives you some variation to what you can do as he grows. now we have a log jam that shows teams we are in trouble to try and trade so it is their advantage not ours.

bernie did say that this years expectation has to be the playoffs or else they havent acheived to THEIR expectations. if it is as it stands now without roster changes 38 wins wont get them into that spot.

samuel, does isiah have a clue except to spend money?

for what it is worth jj didnt want or need a pure point is my guess because he wants the ball in his hands for longer periods like a kobe or wade therefore some of conley’s assets wouldnt have been realized here. crit’s in time would have because the guy can probably play d better than law with time, just a better athlete.

the law comparison to jackson may heve been more a sense that law was as tough mentally as jackson under pressure. i would prefer a gm that is seeing how the game is changing and looking for the next ginobli than a player of the style that wouldnt maybe match up as well.

By james jones

June 29, 2007 10:11 AM | Link to this

i don’t like it, i hate it!!! why are wethe only team that drafts safe? can we draft a star for a change? it just tires me sometimes the decisions made by the hawks. where is horford gonn’ play? if we draftedyi we wouldn’t have to be talking about trading anyone now. we drafted te most regular big in the draft who’s he gonn back up in this league? maybe kevin (the broom)durant. i need to let out this frustration. milwaukee if they keep yi would be at least 4th in the eas this year…. wait and see.

By Jones

June 29, 2007 10:06 AM | Link to this

They are still the Atlanta Hawks.

By vinney

June 29, 2007 10:03 AM | Link to this

Well It’s about time the Hawks got some good player’s. The only question I have is, Can the coach and General manager win games???? My Answer is no, change the coach and General manager. I see where the general manger said they could win 40 games and get to the play offs. Well Norcross high could play in the eastern division and win 40 games??? Good luck Hawks, you will need it with these coaches and general manager.

By mykhalc

June 29, 2007 10:00 AM | Link to this

i could be way off but what i see now are the possible moves that will be made. i see LUE, AJ, WRIGHT, SHELDEN, SALIM, and CHILLS ALL bein’ on the tradin’ block!! SPEEDY should be on it but we know why he’s not. and then there is the lesser chance of movin’ MARVIN and maybe the even lesser chance of movin’ ZAZA. of course it all depends who or what they are goin’ after. there was nothin’ glamorous about the picks last nite. but it did allow the team to put itself in position to further upgrade from some of the cats that were here last year!!

By mo

June 29, 2007 9:51 AM | Link to this

To me, it was get Stoudamire or go home. We have yet another young forward to add to our growing collection. And we have an Acie Law IV, who looks like he needs a couple of years on an NBA bench- but we need a point guard right now. Oh, and we have no big name draw that would have filled a few seats.

The Hawks didn’t get the deal done last night. That’s the story to me. Al Horford should have been packaged with Zaza and an 08 pick, and we should be running out of season tickets at the arena. But Billy Knight couldn’t pull the trigger. With a team (Suns) that needs some youth. And being a team (Hawks) that has youth growing out of our ears.

I could have sold it. Could you?

By Bernard

June 29, 2007 9:50 AM | Link to this

How can we not make the trade for Stoudemire. I mean this is typical HAWKS fashion. We take the wrong risks, (JR Rider) then we have the opportunity to get a legitimate Superstar in Stoudemire and we come away with 2 rookies who will struggle. This team isn’t any closer to being a playoff team than they were a year ago. I see another 30 to 35 wins. It is time to BOYCOTT the HAWKS and these OWNERS!!

By OddJob

June 29, 2007 9:44 AM | Link to this

Safe choice…it sounds like one thing but it means another in this case.The picks were the safest picks for management’s short term job security.As far as safe to meet or excede expectations over the long run,please tell me how that works.Horford’s performance mearsurables in college were inferior to Shelden’s (last year’s safe choice).Even in athletic test he’s not clearly better than Shelden.While he is longer,surprisingly he scored LOWER on some test of pure athleticism such as agility.What these picks prove to me is how group think can over-ride empirical evidence.Horford was a moderately productive player on a very good team.Law showed very little statistical improvement in four seasons at A&M except in scoring.So please oh wise ones..how is this safe again ?

By doc

June 29, 2007 9:40 AM | Link to this

ho hum vanilla. yes this was not championship move. one to solidify but not expand the roster. crit has the stuff of law only better in time. roy has the same credentials as law but better on defense and has more size, why wasnt he considered last year? shels is a 5 now according to bernie, soo we go out and get the guy that will compete for time instead of gettting a guy that went at 6 to a club he didnt want to go to because he was an asset and at least gives you some variation to what you can do as he grows. now we have a log jam that shows teams we are in trouble to try and trade so it is their advantage not ours.

bernie did say that this years expectation has to be the playoffs or else they havent acheived to THEIR expectations. if it is as it stands now without roster changes 38 wins wont get them into that spot.

samuel, does isiah have a clue except to spend money?

for what it is worth jj didnt want or need a pure point is my guess because he wants the ball in his hands for longer periods like a kobe or wade therefore some of conley’s assets wouldnt have been realized here. crit’s in time would have because the guy can probably play d better than law with time, just a better athlete.

the law comparison to jackson may heve been more a sense that law was as tough mentally as jackson under pressure. i would prefer a gm that is seeing how the game is changing and looking for the next ginobli than a player of the style that wouldnt maybe match up as well.

By Clemson Mania

June 29, 2007 9:36 AM | Link to this

PLEASE TRADE SHELDEN

By SomeYahoo

June 29, 2007 9:27 AM | Link to this

I think Horford will do well playing the center position. The NBA has changed in that you don’t have to have 7 footer to defend a Shaq (he’s still around, but he isn’t the same) or a Robinson. This is the era of the PF, Durant, Garnett, Duncan, Stoudamire, Jefferson, and Horford is a nice addition in the mold of these players.

And as far as Law goes, you’re right. I can’t understand why everyone is knocking his shooting because he’s got a nice J. Maybe his %s weren’t insane, but the guy can take the step back three as good as anyone, and he’s a good floor general. Smart, active. That’s what we need. Conley just can’t make anything more than layups so I think Memphis is in for a disappointment there. He’s quick and he has some passing skills, but he will be marginalized because he just can’t shoot. I’m so glad we didn’t use the #3 on him.

By 3rd

June 29, 2007 9:25 AM | Link to this

I like what Woody said about the pick we love conely but we needed someone who could shoot the ball better. We have Joe and Marvin a little else in the shooting dept. The trade was bad because we would have gotten a scorer who don’t play D. I have seen enough of them in Hawks uniforms………

By Dan

June 29, 2007 9:22 AM | Link to this

I’m happy with the draft. I really wanted Conley, though. Horford is a stud. I’m not as sure about Law. Time will tell on him.

I think Sheldon Williams has to go. The guy is a stiff and was the worst pick in the Billy Knight era. Try and trade him now while there are still people out there who think he is worth something. Good GM’s get out of their mistakes. Billy Knight needs to get out of the Sheldon Williams mistake as soon as possible. Just another overrated Duke candya##.

I would say get rid of Speedy, but the only team stupid enough to add that piece of trash to their roster is the one we all cheer for.

Don’t trade Lue! That would be a bad move. He is a good player. I do not think many on this blog give him the credit he deserves. He would be missed.

By Andy

June 29, 2007 9:16 AM | Link to this

Well I don’t hate it. It was exactly what I expected and it’s the safe choice. I do prefer Horford and Law to any of the proposed trades. Personally, I would have liked to do the reverse; pick Conley at 3 and then maybe Al Thornton at 11. But this is our team now and we don’t have a number one pick next year. Let’s hope that pick is not a lottery pick. At the very least, the Hawks have a bunch of very likeable young guys. They won’t embarrass the city like a certain QB. Let’s hope they play great together. My biggest question now is Woody the right coach?? In my opinion the answer will be no, but he is our leader now so I do hope he succeeds. I hope he takes the Diaw lesson to heart. How could he not? That had to be a huge wake-up-call for Woody! All that said, I do hold out hope that the Hawks can win 45-50 games and make the playoffs this season. GO HAWKS!

By Dan

June 29, 2007 9:15 AM | Link to this

The draft decisions were good, but this offseason will be a major disappointment if we don’t make a trade for a quality center and/or another good guard. I’m sure there are a few teams out there interested in one of our nine forwards. BK still has work to do to get this franchise going in the right direction again.

By DHD

June 29, 2007 9:12 AM | Link to this

Let’s get Billups in here and we’ll get to the playoffs. we have a shot even if we don’t get him.

I wonder if Camby is still a possibility. We can trade Sheldon and one of the guards (Lue or Johnson) for him.

J Johnson

Billups

J Smith

Horford

Camby

By Love It

June 29, 2007 9:09 AM | Link to this

I love our draft. Why? Because we didn’t do the stupid thing and trade the picks for people like Randolph and Ridnour. Stoudemire is one thing, but why panic for a veteran when the two you drafted have better potential?

Like you Sekou, I see a Law/JJ backcourt as something potentially pretty special. Horford gives us a great inside presence - I see shades of Okafor/Brand - and let’s hope he continues to develop under our coaching staff.

With the addition of Law (and his combo skills), I think Chills is expendable. Though I’d miss him, I’d like to see him packaged with AJ (my preference is to keep Lue) for a serviceable big to log minutes behind Za Za and Horford as Solomon continues to develop into that eventual role.

Nice work Billy and crew!

By Bob

June 29, 2007 9:07 AM | Link to this

Package Speedy, Marvin and Sheldon.

They are over-rated nancy-boys.

By x-player

June 29, 2007 9:07 AM | Link to this

I think the hawks need some excitement and Conley would have certainly brought that to the table. How many times have we gone to the Hawks game and it was just very boring. AC law is not a penitrator nor does he like to push the ball. Once again we missed out on a true point guard. AC is not a true point.

By Alp Can

June 29, 2007 9:06 AM | Link to this

I think we got the best we could, Al Horford was the right choice, i would have loved seeing Stoudemire in ATL but the young blood will be very explosive this year, i truly trust Joe Johnson’s talent and leadership, this year will be different, we have experienced and inexperienced YOUNG players that can make a difference…

By Billy Goodnight

June 29, 2007 9:03 AM | Link to this

Goodmorning my beloved fans. I know you just love me right now, but I gotta tell ya that it’s not my fault. The ownership has been taken over by the democratic party. I had no choice in those 2 picks. When you got people fighting and bickering over the smallest decision, it’s hard to make creative decision. I hope you all enjoy the next few weeks, we’ll screw up the Chauncey Billups deal to get Bibby in here. Oh yeah, you fans say we need a center. Jammal Magloire is on his way baby. Well gotta walk Poopoo, yall enjoy the season.

By ajazzy1

June 29, 2007 9:02 AM | Link to this

Playoffs? Playoffs? You gotta be kiddin’ me! Playoffs? I’ll say this — if it’s too soon to give a draft card, it’s DEFINITELY too soon to talk about playoffs, especially with a roster that is still too inbalanced. That puts too much weight on guys you bring in to fill needs. And remember, Horford and Law will still be rookies. I like Horford and Law, but I’m worried Horford is really a 4, which we definitely don’t need. But he is a banger which none of our needing-to-be-traded scrubs are. Law is a clutch player, but I liked Nick Young because of his size….But I’m hopeful about these guys. But let’s not put the card ahead of the horse (again) and talk playoffs. We’ve had too much of that talk every year since we partied in 1999.

By SS

June 29, 2007 9:02 AM | Link to this

For the most part,I agree with the assessment that this was a good draft. I see Horford as more of an NBA power forward. Sekou, where are the Hawks projecting his position to be? It would have been great to aquire a proven superstar at center, but giving up 2 draft picks would have still left us short at PG. Now, with an abundance of depth at forward and backup point guard, we should be able to put together a package to aquire a pure center or another SG to help backup Joe Johnson. It seems they have a decision to make now on which point guard they want to keep to mentor Law.

By Al

June 29, 2007 8:58 AM | Link to this

acie law might be the next gilbert arenas who knows

By Roman

June 29, 2007 8:55 AM | Link to this

We added two good pieces last night but I am in agreement that I am happy, but not overly excited about the picks. With an expiring PG contract and a forward that needs to go (Childress or Sheldon perhaps) we should be able to fill another need.

By A Thinking Fan

June 29, 2007 8:53 AM | Link to this

Some sense of sanity for a change!

By Matt from Hotlanta Hawks

June 29, 2007 8:44 AM | Link to this

I agree with you Sekou, I like it but I don’t love it. I would have loved Stoudemire. I would have loved Conley but I would have hated whoever else we picked at 11. I am enjoying the fact that the NBA Draft was last night and I am not angry right now, but I am thinking about next season and dreaming up scenarios in which the Hawks return to the playoffs and join the elite of the East.