Atlanta Hawks: Getaway day
There will be a blog hiatus for a couple weeks while I get away for some me time. There’s a chance I might drop in with a post if anything interesting happens with the Hawks but don’t count on that (either something interesting happening or me dropping in). Meanwhile the beat will be in the capable hands of Ken S., who will chronicle the Hawks’ attempts to pluck a center from the bargain bin.
I suspect not much will have changed with my blog people when I return. Truth-Serum will still be using his multiple identities to agree with himself that Al is a terrible defensive center. JeJe will continue to rip ASG for not letting J.J. walk and using all that cap space to SIGN FREAKIN’ LEBRON. And all of you will wonder how in the heck this squad is supposed to make a move in the East with basically the same guys suiting up.
Be easy until I get back, blog people. Remember, it’s all love and and it’s just basketball . . .
MC
(Note: Commenting is closed until Michael returns Aug. 2)
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1,155 comments Add your comment
O'Brien
July 16th, 2010
6:24 pm
Northcyde,
Hawks PR department suck, their marketing department sucks, an the front office suck.
Why come out and talking about its hard to find a player at 24, And you will look to free agency instead?
Why come out And say after resigning JJ, You will not stop there.
Why come out and say the money from the #31 pick will go towards free agency?
All they did was get fan expectation up, only to let them down, and give the media more ammo to take shots at them.
doc
July 16th, 2010
6:24 pm
gee northcyde, how do you give the team unconditional support and not the asg?
what does that look like to you? buying tickets, parking, food and beverages to every home game?
how does that send any kind of message to the owners?
i have had an image of this team doing the fade that happened to the warriors and the clips most recently, good nuclei with 50 wins and brought down by poor ownership. does that image ever creep into your mind?
go ahead, buy some tickets and send them my way. heh heh
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
6:26 pm
THANKS FOR THE SHOUTOUT, MC.
I AM GONNA MISS YOUR WEEKLY BLOGS ABOUT HORFORD’S OGLETHORPE BASKETBALL CAMP
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
6:30 pm
this FRANCHISE IS A JOKE.
OWNERS SAY THEY’LL SPEND THE LUXURY TAX ON THE RIGHT GUY (WHO THE !@#$ IS THIS GUY THESE MORONS TALK ABOUT?) ARE THEY GONNA WAIT TIL EVERY FA WORTH A SQUIRT OF PISS IN THIS LEAGUE IS GONE BEFORE THEY SIGN MIKE JAMES?
HOW DO U GET A TRADE EXCEPTION, 3M FROM SELLING A PICK, HAVE A WHOLE MLE, AND SPACE BEFORE THE LT, AND NOT MAKE ONE GOD DAMN MAYBE.
NOT 3, NOT 2, JUST ONE. NOT EVEN ONE ROSTER MOVE THIS ENTIRE !@#$ING SUMMER
drmaryb
July 16th, 2010
6:37 pm
OBRIEN
They Lie!
drmaryb
July 16th, 2010
7:02 pm
doc
I hear you bruh! The ASG is making it real hard to be a fan these past 5 years.
Reminiscent of the Rankins and the Falcons – Then came the Blank checks.
Unfortunately, the old man had to die before a change came about.
Now, I don’t want anyone from the ASG to die – but they sure are some
Bona-Fide Spirit killers. Huh?
doc
July 16th, 2010
7:05 pm
here is something interesting on how a gm has to act. for those that said ti was all about d wade convincing james to come hither think again. riles was the man here to make it happen in so many ways. some doubted it, you cant anymore.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ArZm5ZhTrlPvRa1S3TEtYQE5nYcB?slug=aw-heatfreeagency071610
proactive rather than reactive is what we see here.
doc
July 16th, 2010
7:08 pm
yeah, dear doc mary i like that the atlanta spirit killers group …. ASKG. now that they are out of the courts and sweetly together again i cany use the broken atlanta spirit group (BASG) anymore so we move onto …. ASKG!!!!
i am sure they are working on something big right?
ant banks
July 16th, 2010
7:13 pm
yall keep actin’ brand new. the hawks do this ish every year. the jj signin’ went on into august. smoove didn’t get signed til august. the chills debacle drug on. the hawks will make all of their MOVES in august, when they can pick whoever they want.
ant banks
July 16th, 2010
7:15 pm
they say that teams make their money in the playoffs and not so much on the regular season. with this in mind, you would think that the hawks would do somethin’ to ensure that they can finish a 1st round and drag out a 2nd rd to 7 games.
northcyde
July 16th, 2010
7:21 pm
Doc . . . it’s because I know that when fans are talking about boycotting a team until management upgrades it, what usually happens is management selling off the ENTIRE team, and letting it hit rock bottom, before upgrading it with young players. This gives the fan base “hope for the future”, even if their team is currently garbage.
That whole “fan boycott” thing has never caused an owner to spend more in any sport. What usually causes them to spend more, is winning games, coupled with the urge to compete for a title.
Just because the ownership is unwilling to take chances, doesn’t mean that I’m going to deprive myself of the enjoyment of supporting this team ( a good team ) by not going to the games.
As a fan, I’m not necessarily worried about how much or how little they’re spending. I just want them to make moves that will upgrade the team.
Adding Shaq to this squad is a no-brainer from both a basketball and public relations standpoint. But people are scared of his “personality”. I guess the ASG is too.
And people like to cite his age as reason to not get him. Well I’d rather have a 38 year old center who can still ball . . than a 23 year old center that can’t ball, but has “potential”.
We’re a top 10 team. (( bleep )) potential. We need BALLERS.
All I know, is that all of those people who were aganst bringing in Shaq, I don’t want to see them “flip-flopping”, if Shaq roughs up Horford down on the blocks. Don’t cry then that we should’ve gotten Shaq. Of course we should’ve.
northcyde
July 16th, 2010
7:46 pm
As for as me buying tickets, I’ve thought about that still.
What I might do, is instead of buying a entire season tix package, I might buy a 1/2 season tix package. But instead of one ticket, I’ll purchase 2 tickets, to make them easier to sell.
I know a young woman in her 20s that I used to work with that now lives in ATL with her boyfriend. If push comes to shove, I can always let them use the tixs that I don’t use. Or better yet, have them help me sell the tickets to people they know down there.
If the ASG would’ve secured Shaq, I’d DEFINITELY buy that kind of a package.
atl fan
July 16th, 2010
7:46 pm
I am going to stop wishing for the hawks to sign a free agent becuse we know d well its not going to happend so lets just hope our guys get better and hope for best
atl fan
July 16th, 2010
7:47 pm
Enter your comments here
honest_abe
July 16th, 2010
7:54 pm
Thanks for doing one helluva job. I’ve really enjoyed your blogs!
drmaryb
July 16th, 2010
7:59 pm
doc
Hey baby, WOW! That link was a looong read and a lot to process.
Unbelievable stuff, that sounded like years worth of collusion going on there.
All the way to Bejing and back. That is just – Wronge!
Cleveland, never had a chance nor did any other city on the list that dumped salaries to clear space. I had no idead that LeBron was such a head case.
How will that work in Miami? Isn’t there a weight limit for loading private jets for team travel? Is there an EGO compartment?
I feel differently about Gilbert’s Letter now. He seemed justified in his rantings, I guess he was speaking from a position of inside knowledge.
What a narcissistic personality to treat the staff and employees and his HC with disdain and disrespect! He has a bus load of enablers surrounding him and telling him that he really is a KING? And, sadly, he believed them.
Well, the road to becoming “Lord of the Rings” still must travel through L.A. last I checked. Wonder what Phil & Kobe think of all this!
Well, I for one am glad we re-signed Joe! We NEVER had a snowball’s chance in hell, signing LeBron.
And that, doc? May not be such a bad thing, if the allegations of his:
Team, Posse, Crew, Gang, People and Mama & Nem’ are true.
That is way to many people, personalities and drama for any team to deal with!
I see an implosion the works for Miami’s future.
The NBA is a sport that is Bigger than any one person!
drmaryb
July 16th, 2010
8:13 pm
Doc
IDK the ASKG was done with their court battle. That slipped passed my ears.
But ironically, they have an even bigger court docket coming up -
the basketball court case looms even bigger now.
Heh?
smdh
Blast
July 16th, 2010
8:16 pm
Same ole, same ole crap from the Spirit Group. Set fans up with fake promises, then renege again as usual. Cheap azz owners. Pay Joe a max contract, and call it a day. Fill up the bench with cheap players that should not be in the league. The ASG needs to sell the team to an owner that actually cares about winning.
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
8:18 pm
LOL @ MC calling me out for some JJ bull!@#$ that every other person here said.
Fine, don’t address the 450 good points I’ve made since July 1.
Thank God we don’t have to read your lame Horford Q&As or your Q&A with JJ where you don’t even mention or ask about him taking a paycut
FIRE SUND
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
8:22 pm
THE HAWKS HAVE NOT BEEN LINKED TO ONE PLAYER THIS OFFSEASON BESIDES SHAQ, WHO ASG WILL NOT EVEN SIGN
THEY SAY THEY WILL SPEND MONEY ON THE RIGHT PLAYER
WORST OWNERSHIP/FRONT OFFICE IN SPORTS.
YES, WORSE THAN THE NEW ORLEANS HORNETS
FIRE SUND
FIRE WOODY
FIRE ASG
FIRE STOTTS
FIRE KRUGER
FIRE AL DAVIS
Clyde
July 16th, 2010
8:32 pm
JeJe you forgot FIRE WOODY
Clyde
July 16th, 2010
8:32 pm
I meant FIRE BILLY
drmaryb
July 16th, 2010
8:39 pm
Blog Free
You don’t have to read any of MC’s Q&A’s. Get your Scroll – On over to another blog – hopefully, somewhere overseas.
I promise you, no one will be mourning – if you do!
It will be – Oh Happy Day! And, Hallelujah on MC’s blog.
Believe That!
doc
July 16th, 2010
8:40 pm
northcyde never tell your daughter to marry on “potential”. heh heh
look i know it isnt my money, but shaq, chills and a guy like kurt thomas would have worked well. chills would have made marvin expendable at a lesser price for a sign and trade if it came to that with shaq. he just wasnt coming in at a reasonable price probably or mle is my guess and i cant hold the asg responsible for that.
i can begin to wonder what they are up to and maybe it is a blockbuster trade like last year. this year we dont have a lot of trash to get rid of so there is a risk to that. there is an even greater risk to standing pat. they do that and fans will stand pat and see if we really have a top ten team or a pretender. northcyde you just cant be in the top ten without spending. that is the formula and you are kidding yourself to think this team is any different.
btw, read how riles constructs teams. “organic growth” is not in his vocabulary.
ant banks
July 16th, 2010
8:42 pm
y’all think that hawks fan have it bad…imagine if you are a cavs fan. you had the KING and lost it. i would rather to have never had it, than to have it for 7 years and lose it
drmaryb
July 16th, 2010
8:52 pm
ant banks
“It is better to have had love and lose it, than to have never been loved at all.”
-arthur unknown-
Samuel
July 16th, 2010
9:13 pm
Doc,
While i definitely don’t doubt all that is true. I also know that people in this media and blog business are extremely sensational at times and will do anything to be the first to break a story and write stuff knowing it wasn’t true. And even if it was true, why did Gilbert and all these owners still sell their souls to jump in bed with “The Devil” LBJ? What does that say about them.
Plus, i still don’t see it as collusion. A mill has the right to work and live where ever he wants.
Congrats to Ken Strickland on his new gig.
Ken=BOY
Meidzo in Decatur
July 16th, 2010
9:15 pm
Dr MaryB:
As insightful as you are and as nice of signings as those might be, you have to come to grips with the reality that the ASG is not going to sign ANYBODY, no matter how cheap they might come!
I used to dream about a great Free Agent season, now I dream about someone with money buying the team!
Samuel
July 16th, 2010
9:16 pm
A man has the right to work and live where ever he wants. Dam, i got my finger stuck in the garage door a while ago. No blogger DL for me though. I’m writing an essay and blogging at the same time.
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
9:18 pm
“As for as me buying tickets, I’ve thought about that still.
What I might do, is instead of buying a entire season tix package, I might buy a 1/2 season tix package. But instead of one ticket, I’ll purchase 2 tickets, to make them easier to sell.
I know a young woman in her 20s that I used to work with that now lives in ATL with her boyfriend. If push comes to shove, I can always let them use the tixs that I don’t use. Or better yet, have them help me sell the tickets to people they know down there.”
Go take your lame@$$ story to Oprah. No one cares
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
9:19 pm
this FRANCHISE IS A JOKE.
OWNERS SAY THEY’LL SPEND THE LUXURY TAX ON THE RIGHT GUY (WHO THE !@#$ IS THIS GUY THESE MORONS TALK ABOUT?) ARE THEY GONNA WAIT TIL EVERY FA WORTH A SQUIRT OF PISS IN THIS LEAGUE IS GONE BEFORE THEY SIGN MIKE JAMES?
HOW DO U GET A TRADE EXCEPTION, 3M FROM SELLING A PICK, HAVE A WHOLE MLE, AND SPACE BEFORE THE LT, AND NOT MAKE ONE GOD DAMN MAYBE.
NOT 3, NOT 2, JUST ONE. NOT EVEN ONE ROSTER MOVE THIS ENTIRE !@#$ING SUMMER
Clyde
July 16th, 2010
9:29 pm
Jeje for Blogger Of the Year for 2010-2011
Clyde
July 16th, 2010
9:31 pm
“Wait Till Next Year”
How many times have Hawks fans heard that.
drmaryb
July 16th, 2010
9:34 pm
Fear the Deer!
Yesterday, in Augusta, GA. A deer walks into a Wal-Mart as though it was a valued customer. He ran through the store for about five minutes when two customers corralled him and escorted it to some nearby woods.
Upon leaving the store, the two men asked, “What brings you to Wal-Mart today?”. The deer replied, ” I heard about them Roll-Backs yall got going on up in here, and I wanted to save some Bucks.”.
ROF.
This actually happened yesterday. I provided the reply.
TBS – “Very Funny”
Samuel
July 16th, 2010
10:03 pm
From Basketball Jail to Basketball Heaven. My new favorite team.
http://www.nba.com/jazz/features/jazz_intro_2010.html
Now if my boy Monta Ellis can get moved i’ll be good.
I really don’t what to say to people who would rather have a Duck than a Diesel.
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
10:04 pm
IF THE ASG HAD A CHOICE BETWEEN GIVING LEBRON A $10 MILLION/3 YEAR CONTRACT AND GIVING RANDMO A $9,990,500 MILLION/1 YEAR CONTRACT, THEY’D TAKE RANDMO SO THEY CAN SAVE THE $500 USED TO GET THE PATHETIC TOWEL RAGS FOR THE GAMES THAT I USE TO WIPE MY @$$ WITH IN THE PHILIPS ARENA PUBLIC BATHROOMS AFTER I TAKE A FAT DUMP
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
10:05 pm
$9,999,500
doc
July 16th, 2010
10:06 pm
samuel, if you read me when it happened the question i have for the low f]ying gilbert is if lebron quit why would you offer him 120 mil? doesnt sound like a good businessman to me. not sure why you took it this way only i didnt post this to demean lebron, only to show that riles played it cool and got his man. now it appears he may have to wield his influence to get leborn to grow into a professional which might be exactly what lebron needs to become truly his own man. this may be part of it that works in his favor.
as far as lebron, it is his legacy to choose. if this were truly defaming and untrue then i am sure the lebron camp could sue. nike is behind some of this, if not all. it is about money and lebron has huge enablers as does any king or queen including the queen of england. the story the emperor has no clothes is the classic about sycophants, in modern day terms they are called posse’s.
personally, if i had to make the choice between cleveland and miami and with the money on the line and favorable tax laws for florida i would leave my boys behind and head to miami in a heartbeat. i dont fault lebron a bit. as far as “well MJ stayed in chicago” and all that legacy bs …. well cleveland vs chicago or as josh suggested chicago vs milwaukee for even a night no question, it is chi-town all the way. MJ also got a nice 36 mil a year to stay, the bird rules have changed a bit since then with the cap in the way of a significant windfall if lebron had stayed in cleveland. his going to miami sure made our owners pull back and quit on us and forget anything they said about spending to win this year. they are just as much quitters and betrayers as gilbert suggested of lebron.
i never called it collusion though there are written rules that could be used in this case. neither players or management can or should wield influence, though it happens all the time. if you have noticed, i am not characteristically a management guy, sorry, you know that after many years. i dont have that tag or any other similar tag.
btw, the ken s is not for ken strickland but for the ken s that stood in for sekou until MC arrived.
dude, you better do a better job of protecting your hands to keep your hands on the rod and reel dude. how the fish? aint that a lot more important?
Samuel
July 16th, 2010
10:22 pm
Sorry Doc,
I just don’t do well reading past 4 or five sentences. My Bad.
Everybody that ever asked me what I thought LeBron would do, I never said he would stay in Cleveland. If you had a choice to go anywhere in the country to live, would you?Plus, Gilbert had what 7 years to put some people around him and that’s the best he could do.
You serious, that’s not “THE” KenS. Awh Hell, I was looking forward to some good stuff.
Dude, it was a stupid move with the Garage door. I don’t think it’s broken but it might keep me off the water for a couple of days.
doc
July 16th, 2010
10:41 pm
heh heh heh duck vs a diesel.
id rather have both with chills or a chills and a diesel at least. the diesel would have played a part in holding off the magic and making a few heat pay when it came to push time. felt the guy could have helped. our owners just arent going to cross the tax line are they?
Grandad
July 16th, 2010
10:45 pm
Mary Ellen
Alfred Lord Tennyson, from his poem “In Memoriam”
per your 8:52 post, my dear.
SteveW
July 16th, 2010
10:51 pm
We have 5.3m to sign our last 3 guys.
ASG didn’t say they wouldn’t sign Shaq – the national media did – and they’ve been wrong alot
We keep an extra 800,000 around in case an injury happens, and we have to sign someone for the vet minimum.
4m + to use on 3 guys to not go over the luxury tax – calculated by end of year payroll
Either get Kwame Brown and Anthony Tolliver for about 1.6m each – then Aminu or Dixon
Or get Shaq – go over the luxury tax threshold and sign Aminu and Dixon, wish we had 1 more PG however.
Somebody make ASG use the 3m they got from draft day on a big like they said they would!
SteveW
July 16th, 2010
10:56 pm
Brad Miller – better than Joe Smith last year? Probably about the same
Kurt Thomas – better than Joe Smith or Jason Collins last year? Probably about the same
Only 3 guys left better than Joe Smith and Jason Collins last year – Shaq, Tolliver, and Kwame – end of story.
SteveW
July 16th, 2010
10:59 pm
Sund likes vets – Kurt Thomas – 38, Theo Ratliff – 37, Joe Smith or Brad Miller – 35 – 110 years of vets at the end of the bench – we’ll show the Magic, Heat, and Celts we mean business – we’ll beat them with our canes! People, unless a major miracle happens, we’re in trouble.
JeJe
July 16th, 2010
11:09 pm
WHY DON’T WE JUST SIGN ROBERT SWIFT? SUND WILL TAKE ANYONE FROM SEATTLE.
WHY NOT GET DETLEF SCHREMPF AND SHAWN KEMP WHILE WE’RE AT IT?
drmaryb
July 17th, 2010
12:13 am
Alfred Lloyd Tennyson
I love my Grand-Daddy!
He puts me on his left knee, rubs my head (and a Geanie comes out), he gives me a cherry popsicle and he tells me – “This too shall pass!”
That’s why I LOVE my Grand-Daddy!
Mmmmmwah!
JeJe
July 17th, 2010
12:17 am
THIS FRANCHISE IS A JOKE.
OWNERS SAY THEY’LL SPEND THE LUXURY TAX ON THE RIGHT GUY (WHO THE !@#$ IS THIS GUY THESE MORONS TALK ABOUT?) ARE THEY GONNA WAIT TIL EVERY FA WORTH A SQUIRT OF PISS IN THIS LEAGUE IS GONE BEFORE THEY SIGN MIKE JAMES?
HOW DO U GET A TRADE EXCEPTION, 3M FROM SELLING A PICK, HAVE A WHOLE MLE, AND SPACE BEFORE THE LT, AND NOT MAKE ONE DAMN pick.
NOT 3, NOT 2, JUST ONE. NOT EVEN ONE ROSTER MOVE THIS ENTIRE !@#$ING SUMMER
Emir S.
July 17th, 2010
12:19 am
So am i the only one who noticed that now Brewer is off the tables. The East is gearing up. Reloading ammo into their Uzi’s. We still havent done anything significant. Besides letting Childress go.
Everyones so hyped up about the Heat, that from what I’ve seen the Bulls do, I think they’re the team to beat next season in the East. I dont even know where I’d rank the Hawks. I think back down to the 5-8 spot for us. =(
Time is ticking. To much time. Sund needs to make a move. I’ve been giving him time as a fan of the Hawks. Now I seem to be running low on patience with him. To many teams in the East are making moves. We have yet to make even one.
drmaryb
July 17th, 2010
12:29 am
How many times do YOU have to say the SAME thing before YOU believe it?
Do us all a favor – Roll over and go back to seep!
JerryWest
July 17th, 2010
12:30 am
Post of the decade: The owners (ASG) lied to the fans. Proven clearly:
http://www.hawksquawk.net/community/index.php/topic/350204-want-to-know-why-blank-is-so-desired-as-an-owner/?s=0788be1d5f5fea76f27d52abc39e9814
Can anyone disprove this?