True or False in Hawksville!
What's Joe Johnson going to do, take the Hawks' extension offer or leave it? No one knows because the Hawks' quiet All-Star and captain isn't saying.
HAWKSVILLE - While we wait for this week’s transaction(s) to be completed, why don’t we dive into a quick game of True or False-Hawksville style.
True or False, Joe Smith is going to sign with the Hawks?
True. And it could happen any day (if you haven’t leaned by now how critical that phrase is around here, I can’t help you). So what’s the hold up? Well, these contracts don’t work themselves out magically. They have to be negotiated and fine-toothed by agents and attorneys and whoever else has a stake in them. It’s not rocket science on this one, a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum (of $1.3 million). I’d tell you to be patient and that things will work out but you’ve been doing that for weeks now. Again, the deal could be finalized any day now, so stay tuned.
True or False, the Hawks are interested in adding Jason Hart to their point guard mix?
False. It was reported somewhere that the Hawks were one of three teams in the running to add the veteran to their mix. I’ve since found out that someone got it twisted. The Hawks were never in the market for Hart (or any other point guard they were interested in adding). They’ve got Mike Bibby, Jeff Teague and veteran safety net in Jamal Crawford. If the Hawks were going to add another 6-3 point or combo guard to their mix they could have retained Flip Murray rather than hitting the free agent market for someone else. And before you ask, no, they do not have designs on bringing Flip back (that’s right, no more FlipMo Squad references around here).
True or False, the Hawks will add another veteran big man or two in addition to Joe Smith?
True. And we’ve already discussed two guys in particular, Johan Petro and Jason Collins, that could be in that mix. And that doesn’t include rookie behemoth Garret Siler, who will be on the Hawks’ training camp roster. But all of those reasonable fears about this team’s size and depth on the frontline could be wiped away with the addition of any two of these aforementioned larger humans.
True or False, the Hawks’ ownership feud is officially over?
Not exactly true or false. But things took a decisive turn with Monday’s court ruling in favor of the seven-man Atlanta/Washington, D.C., contingent. The options for the other partner, Boston-based Steve Belkin, were mapped out in today’s paper. One more option Belkin has that wasn’t listed: he can just walk away from his initial investment in the teams. He wouldn’t have to pay the $25.8 million in cash calls he’s missed during the litigation but he would also have to forfeit his 30 percent ownership stake. It will be interesting to see where things go from here.
True or False, the Hawks will sign Joe Smith before Joe Johnson agrees to a contract extension?
True. Barring a sudden change in the tone I’m hearing from folks in the know, Mr. Smith will definitely beat JJ to the punch on this one. In fact, no one seems to know which way JJ is leaning since the Hawks extended their offer for an extension. We’ve already talked about the figures (4-years, $62-$64 million range). It’s a huge decision and JJ has time, it’s not like he has to decide this minute. So I didn’t expect his process to be sped up just for our sake. If nothing shakes (one way or the other) by the start of training camp … then it might be time to start wondering what the heck is going on.
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528 comments Add your comment
doc
August 25th, 2009
8:58 am
daniel, it is before 9 am. oh ye of little faith.
Khao$
August 25th, 2009
9:04 am
**Daniel**, I believe Sekou said he’d change his name to Jones as a hint that today is the day it get dones. If I’m not mistaken, the NBA offices are closed on Mondays. If that be the case (if the deal was done over the weekend) it wouldn’t be official in the NBA’s eyes until they received it on their next business day (which would be today).
KevinA
August 25th, 2009
9:06 am
It will be fun to watch Teague run the break. He has a few finishers to pass to. I hope he can relax and play loose under Woody’s pressure which will surely happen.
KevinA
August 25th, 2009
9:14 am
Doc, though flip was playing for his next contract he probably saved the franchise last year after the debacle on j chills’ contract. he frigging saved everyhting with his play last year.withoug him i imagine we would have been struggling for .500 and the playoffs instead of number four seed. he was that valuable in my opinion.
Yep, your right, agreed uh-huh, ZaZa returning to form and Evans need a little of the cred. The bench was much improved.
vava74
August 25th, 2009
9:14 am
Big Ray,
Yes, I meant to say BUT NOT excellent. Right now, in my opinion, there are only a couple of players who I would consider excellent rebounders and one of them is Jeff Foster.
The reason for this is that we should compare physical potential with the resulting rebounds grabbed.
Another consideration should be the type of rebounds grabbed to make up the stats.
Bosh’s rebounds are mostly easy rebounds (not in traffic and with opposition).
An excellent rebounder does not get rebounds solely on physical skills: Howard has the physical potential to grab 20rpg but he does not develop his hability to read where the ball will bounce to.
Kevin Willis did this for a while (in spite of his T-Rex like arms) and the absolute master was Rodman.
Furthermore, Howard’s average is also higher, in my opinion, on account of his poor touch around the rim:
My estimate is that he gets on average 1,5rpg just by catching is own bricks from 2ft away (which as you know, with his body size blocking the opposition is relatively easy).
In relation to my spelling: english is only my second language, I am portuguese, living in Portugal and although while working I use English more frequently than my mother language, there are some words that slip. Although used in a slightly different way “Ability” in Portuguese is spelled “Habilidade”.
The fact that I participate in the blog sometimes well beyond 1AM also does not help.
doc
August 25th, 2009
9:29 am
kevina my emphasis was he ws the 6th man able to throw up big numbers, zaza had come around the year before in playoffs and mo did a suitable job but flip was heroic on many occasions.
Daniel
August 25th, 2009
9:30 am
Guys- I know, I know…. I am just chomping at the bit to get some news. This summer break stuff is just soooo long.
BTW: Its 9:30 now!
Daniel
August 25th, 2009
9:35 am
vav74- Although I disagree with your overall presumption that Howard is not a great rebounder, I do think that the Moses Malone comparison is very fair. The ole “throw it up and go get it” technique. But, when you do that at the level Moses or Howard do it, then you are in the realm of excellence.
Finally, it is ultimately unfair to compare Rodman’s rebounding ability to anyone else’s because he was the greatest of all time. Apologies to Russell and Wilt.
ILL-logical
August 25th, 2009
9:45 am
The future of the Hawks franchise will be determined this season by how well the coaching staff manages the roster.If the status quo -the current starting line up- is maintained, the future will not be as bright because the status quo continues the practice of playing guys out of position for expediency and not to attain long term goals.
From ZaZa, who came into the league as a power forward but was shifted after the death of Jason Collins, to Josh, who was shifted after the draft of Marvin to Horford , who was shifted to replace an injured ZaZa but was never shifted back once the injury healed, the list goes on and on.
Compounding the felony, potential free agents who could fill in the gaps demonstrated by their refusal to come here the clear disdain that the Hawks “system” is held in. The facts are clear: since the trade of Joe Johnson, no high quality free agent has signed here.
The team spins it as growing organically and following the 2004 Detroit model but the truth is that they continue to do the same things and expect different results. with regard to the issue of the improvement of the record over the last 5 years, a team of lottery picks and high first round draft picks SHOULD improve!
The question is how much further can the current staff take this team in the direction it is currently headed in before it becomes obvious that a great opportunity has been lost.?
For example, the current lamentations about the lack of size on the front line could have been easily addressed last year by developing Randolph Morris into an offense that utilized his size and skills while allowing Josh and Al to grow into their “new” positions. Morris played at Kentucky-he has skills-what he appears to lack is motivation and support. The imminent demise of his NBA career appears to be motivating him now but Josh and Al who have played with and against him for years should have been enlisted, for the good of the team, to work with him. Imagine a group of 24 year olds growing together for the next 5 years in an offense that used their skills to create mismatches. But then we wouldn’t have iso Joe , the All-Star.
This perspective is not to assign guilt or blame but to point out practical solutions that can have a long term benefit to the team,staff as well as the fans. The current team is good but with some adjustments, it could be great and great for a long time.
The Truth
August 25th, 2009
9:49 am
Khao$
I hope you are right. I took his twitter message to mean he was getting a bit frustrated for the delay after he had affirmed the signing in his recent article. Clearly your take it sounds better than mind. We shall see.
Ben
August 25th, 2009
10:10 am
I won’t believe we have Joe Smith til he is signed on the dotted line. Just the way you have to think when you have the Spirit running the show.
What kind of locker room guy/mentor is Joe Smith?
Will he help out Horford, JSmith, ZaZa?
Anakin Joe
August 25th, 2009
10:21 am
Surely the Hawks are not the only team to have a bunch of lottery picks in 4-5 years, right? I mean, haven’t the Clippers had more than a few top 10 picks? When did they host a plaoff team after their players organically grew? Let’s see, the Warriors had a very long stretch without a playoff appearance. If memory sevres me, they made a came appearance as an 8 seed and haven’t been heard from since. How about closer to home, Bobcats? Never mind. Knicks? Oh yeah. Bucks? Hmm. Wow, why can’t I find a perennial loser who stumbles into a 4th seed like the Hawks supposedly did last year? Can anyone help me out?
kmjice
August 25th, 2009
10:23 am
I MUS WRITE
August 22nd, 2009
1:03 pm
Myth Buster is going hard LOL…… Melvin that list stinks,horford is definitely better than “honorable mention’ status…. I dont know if he’s top 5 but i would take him over Okafor any day.
Poop- I feel you man this blog has gotten so boring, we know what happens around here in late August every year…CANIBALISM
KMJICE- Go back to the lab homie!!!!
ummmm what did i say for u to say that!!!
doc
August 25th, 2009
10:25 am
daniel i had a five year old ….
only the shadow knows and a few others. hawks and smith camps know.
Daniel
August 25th, 2009
10:25 am
ILL- what free agents have refused to come here? Does resigning Bibby and Za, who were free agents count? If Joe Smith signs does that count?
I am not in total disagreement with your points, but Randolph Morris is a terrible example. He cannot, will not, never could, be a legit NBA player. He has skated on his AAU rep to this point in his career, including his time at Kentucky. The guy is horrible. He wouldn’t even be being talked about right now if didn’t already have a contract. No legit NBA playoff team “develops” talent[sic] like Morris. They are usually too busy winning games for that nonsense.
Ken Strickland
August 25th, 2009
10:34 am
ILLOGICAL-this idea of players playing out of their natural positions has been way overblown. That has nothing to do with our problems or player development. Elvin Hayes, Willis Reed, Rick Mahorn, Dennis Rodman, Jack Sikma, Hakeem Olajuwon, Pau Gasol and Earl Monroe, to name a few, have all won championships and played at least 2 different positions. AStaudamire, LJames, RLewis and their respective teams haven’t suffered as a result of them having played 2 different positions.
Throughout NBA history, players and teams have been successful with players playing multiple positions or, as some like to say, playing out of their natural positions. AIverson had his most successful season when he played SG, and not his so called natural PG position. How is it that some fans can credit Woodson for our success over the last 2 yrs, yet can’t accept that AHorford playing center, which isn’t supposed to be his natural position, has had a lot to do with that success. The same holds true for JSmith. Wasn’t having JJ play PG the reason BK recruited JJ, and caused JJ to remain so committed to signing with the Hawks? Former GM BKnight put this team together with the idea of having interchangeable parts. Enen the switching DEF scheme we currently employ is based on players defending multiple positions.
Khao$
August 25th, 2009
10:36 am
I think it will happen today. I can’t remember if it was during the JJ/Belkin fiasco, but I remember hearing that the NBA offices are closed on Monday. I could be off base, but I really think that is the case. I took Sekou’s take on Twitter as saying, “I’ll change my name if this thing isn’t done tomorrow…you know my name ain’t changing.” That was my interpretation. To my man Sekou’s credit, he doesn’t jump the gun on a story. He wants to know it’s finalized. That said, I believe his intel probably told him today is the day.
Rod from College Park
August 25th, 2009
10:42 am
Ken Strickland,
“For one, I’d like to know if we can expect the amount of drastic improvement on the things Marvin is working on that we saw last yr.”
Please help me understand the drastic improvement you are talking about last year as compared to the year before with Marvin. Besides his three point percentage, where was the drastic improvement. Please help me to understand with my limited baskeball knowledge.
Daniel
August 25th, 2009
10:58 am
oh no, someone made a comment about Marvin while Rod was reading. How long will this one take?
Daniel
August 25th, 2009
10:59 am
I am with you Khao$- It is now 11:00am, do you know where your free agent PF is?
Doug
August 25th, 2009
11:15 am
Rod: Marvin was much better defensively…he showed an excellent runner that he used to great effect at times…and as you mentioned he became a legit 3 pt threat from being non-existant in that area. If he makes the same jump in say, pull up off the dribble, post development…etc…then we would have a budding star. I know though because he is not Chris Paul and is Marvin it is impossible
Rod from College Park
August 25th, 2009
11:44 am
Doug,
Has nothing to do with Chris Paul. I just want to know where the drastic improvement was. Maybe the word “drastic” is what bothered me enough to actually post. He was better the year before. I personally did not see that runner you are talking about, maybe you are confusing him with Joe. I won’t even get into the defensive part again. I disagree.
O'Brien
August 25th, 2009
12:43 pm
To me, there are 2 main reasons why Bibby has good assist:TO ratios.
1) Once he crosses half court, he gives the ball to Joe.
2) Bibby is not a drive and dish PG, so he doesnt drive in the paint looking to pass (with lots of traffic) very often.
As far as Teague’s development goes, I can see Bibby starting this year (and next year), but year 3, Teague will be our starter, and Bibby will be coming off the bench. (By year 3, Crawford might be gone anyway, so Bibby could be our scorer off the bench).
Anakin Joe
August 25th, 2009
1:02 pm
OB, I don’t care how you get to a 3:1 ratio, it is still a very good one and helps the team tremendously. What you just described sounds like someone who knows how to maximize their strengths, I don’t view that as a bad thing. Watching Bibby pretend that he is Derrick Rose would be like watching Childress pretend he is Glenn Rice. Nothing wrong with staying in your lane, especially when it proves to benefit the team.
Doug
August 25th, 2009
1:13 pm
Rod: No…his runner is almost a half hook and he scored with it or got fouled going hard several times early-to mid season…he even had it recognized as a shot he did not have before by the Knicks announcers in late January. I think you will see drastic improvement this year in some other areas as well. Agree to disagree on the defensive end
Ken Strickland
August 25th, 2009
1:59 pm
ROD FROM CP-Marvin went from being a DEF liability to a DEF stallwart in just one off season. The vast majority of players that are considered DEF liabilities don’t make that transition during their entire career. How many starting forwards or guards go from making 1 of 10 3pt shots(.100)one season to making 55 or 255(.355)the next? Now that’s tremendous improvement. His ballhanding skills and ability to effectively drive to the basket improved tremendously. Before last season, there was no shortage of comments referring to him as duck, clumsy and references about him stumbling to the basket. But after one off season, none of that type of talk has been posted since. He increased his rebounding average while the rebounding averages of his frontline companions, Josh and Horford, decreased.
His scoring went down, but that was primarily due to the midseason addition and scoring of Bibby and the off season addition and scoring of Flip. Maybe you can’t see the improvement because you’re blinded by your abvious bias when it comes to Marvin.
After researching these stats and seeing JSmith’s totals, especially from the 07-08 season, it made me wonder if I had stumbled across a SG/PG in a PF’s body(PTS-17.2, REB-8.2, AST-3.4, STL-1.52 & BLK-2.8).
Hms
August 27th, 2009
2:46 am
Hms
August 27th, 2009
2:26 am
Guys, I want to tell you a secret ive lived with for a long time. Im gay. Very gay. I like animals too… I hope you arent offended and will accept me for what I am. A sick and perverted man.
August 27th, 2009
2:37 am
Hms
August 27th, 2009
2:26 am
Guys, I want to tell you a secret ive lived with for a long time. Im gay. Very gay. I like animals too… I hope you arent offended and will accept me for what I am. A sick and perverted man.
Ken and I are a couple and we both wear our pants with the zippers to the rear. Ive also got a crush on Michael Vick. There…Ive said it. Im tired of being under cover. Ken and I are coming out of the closet.
Like it or not!!
Hms
August 27th, 2009
2:40 am
I never said I was very gay. Just gay.
kayo
September 4th, 2009
11:36 am
i dont understand how you true hawks fans can call yourselves true hawks fans. for one how can you ignore that since the addition of joe johnson that this team is not the laughing stock of the nba anymore. when the hawks were at the bottom of the barrel with the rest of the worst teams in the nba( by the way a lot of them are still there at the bottom) most of you so called true hawks fans weren’t so true anymore. now look at the hawks, 12th in the power rankings, 2 playoff appearences in 2 of the 4 years jj has been here and we are still on the rise as a young team. now if that dont sound better then 29th in the power rankings, 12 year playoff drought, no all-star players, no soldout games. bottom line if joe johnson didnt come to the hawks this more than likely would have been the out come. so just through him away you so called true hawks fans because thats what it sounds like you are doing to me. and by the way i became a hawks fan because of joe.