Atlanta Hawks: Camp wrap

OBRIEN-There’s no way we can or will sign Dalembert outright. We’d have to do a sign and trade for him. If their priority is to wipe his entire salary off the books, there can be no sign and trade. If they are willing to settle for a player and wipe part of his salary off the books, we could be in business.

I’d settle for BHeywood, but he’d have to be a backup. I’d see if they would take Marvin, although his annual salary is higher than Heywoods. However, it works on the trade machine. We need a DEF minded backup center, and there are just too few of them available.

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Joe Alexander encajaria con nuestro juego y su rendimiento seria mejor que el de ese pato llamado Marvin Williams.David Lighty tambien tiene buena pinta,estamos necesitados de escoltas y podria ayudarnos para dar descanso a ese lastre estrella de medio pelo en que se ha convertido Joe Johnson.Pedir su traspaso a cambio de Monta Ellis seria la mejor operacion del verano,pero creo que los inconscientes directivos ni siquiera contemplan esa posibilidad.Por ultimo pido un ultimo esfuerzo para retener a Jamal Crawford,minutos para Benson y revisar los impresionantes partido que Omar Samham jugo en la universidad.

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On a lighter note, Mike Woodson is one step closer to the Detroit Pistons? How many Hawks fans will be eager to watch him handle rookie Brandon Knight at the point?
I can’t imagine what Woody is telling Dumars about his strategy as a coach? Bend, but don’t do anything different.

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“Can we improve?”

@vava74,

because of All NBA Al’s weak performances with hardly any significant impact on games positively for 2 consecutive playoffs run..

My questions:

1-Can the Hawks improve on a 13-26 record against >.500 teams w/o Al?

2-Can they advance to the ECF w/o AL?

3-Can they finally stop getting swept by the Thunder w/o AL?

4-Could AL be replaced easier than say Josh?

5-Would the record setting Blowouts continue in regular season play w/o AL?

6- Should Sund have considered subtracting AL and adding the #2 pick(Derrick Williams) to the roster mightily bolstering the scoring output for the team..Easily improving on being 21st in scoring this past season?
Hmmmmm…….

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KenS…I suggest signing a starting center, who just may not be who “most” would consider a starting-calibre center. We’re talking the same pool of players here, I think. This may be Jeff Foster, Joel Pryzbilla, Kwame Brown, Alexis Ajinca, Sam Dalembert, Jason Collins, Kurt Thomas, Aaron Gray, Kyrilo Fasenko (spelling???, Utah), etc…

Our differences come from the fact that you would start Al at center & Josh at PF, where I would start Josh at SF & Al at PF (against every team). Al would still get some minutes at the 5 (especially against the slower, smaller backups in the league), but I would START every game with the bigger lineup.

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KevinM, maybe so but Woody is still a good coach though. And he does make results happen. I’d rather have Woody than Flip Saunders. And for a team like Detroit, I think he will do good with defense.

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KevinM

July 1st, 2011
11:11 am

“Slim, only one hiccup in your questions. Who knows who Rick Sund would have selected with that 2nd pick? And as you know, #2 pick decisions are not very popular in this city and I’m not convinced this ownership group can make a huge decision like that. Not many of their decisions have worked out well….they are bleeding money as they say, aren’t they?”

@KevinM

That’s why is it safe to say the “STREAK WILL CONTINUE?”

43years w/o an ECF visit..Wont even mention an NBA Finals visit! 43 years???? Wow…….

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“Rick/Gearon have taken 2 of 3 options out of the equation to improve this roster. And those who think this roster doesn’t need improvement is apparently satisfied with the past. No one will take the Hawks seriously unless a significant move is made. Inserting Teague in the starting 5 will not be near enough.”

I concur KevinM,
new starting pg will make a dent but it wont make a bang…..

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Dalembert looks like a good candidate for no cap issue Denver. They have 28M committed and the following roster:

Miller/Lawson
Harrington/Galinari
Andersen/Chandler
Mosgov/Koustos
Afflalo/Forbes

10 guys at 28M…not a horrid roster, amazing in today’s league. Harrington is their only bad contract.
Looks like they can pay JC1 easily and insert him immediately with Karl. Us signing JC1 does not help us with anyone. He is gone outright because of our 65M commitment.

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KevinM… I don’t think those #’s include salaries for Wilson Chandler or Aaron Afflalo, or any draft picks from this year. But yes, they should still be in pretty good shape.

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Josh Smith started at SF every game in the Orlando series, and he averaged over 8 boards a game.

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@KevinM, do you believe we need to find more scoring especially @ the #3 spot say in free agency for next season? Or could it be provided elsewhere?

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@Trading Al + Sy for Motiejunas SF Malcolm Thomas Jordan Hill and Thabeet {Sign Malcolm THomas and move him and Marvin to the bench}

Sir, you appear to be a nimbers guy? Would you happen to know the Hawks record against Western Conference teams in 2010-2011?

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KevinM…Miller $8, Harrington $6, Anderson $4, Gallinari $4, Mozgov $3, Koufos $2, Lawson $2…These are estimates, but they do not include salaries for the other players that I mentioned.

But yes, I like their core and their cap flexibility. I think their bird rights on free agents can complicate their cap space situation though.

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slimjr,

as of today give me your top 8 teams of the eastern conference?

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a- been

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If Denver uses their assets and cap space wisely (especially with a new CBA), they will be a fun team to watch.

the Knicks will send Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and a 2014 first-round draft pick to the Nuggets, who would get additional picks and cash .

Ginve the fact that Knicks were interested in JJ last offseason, couldn’t the Hawks have done a SNT of JJ to the Knicks for some of the pieces that eventually went to Denver?

IMO, Hawks could have gotten the Knicks 2014 first round pick, an expiring Eddy Curry’s $11.3 mil contract, and 2 of the players (Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov).

That being said, I was ok with resigning JJ, because I dont thin Rick would have gotten a good deal for him.

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Yea because JJ dribbles for 18 seconds, lol.

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this from stern:

The question of how that happened was put to commissioner David Stern, and his answer was telling. “I don’t know that it went from there to here,” he said. “We had a great year in terms of the appreciation of our fans for our game. But it just wasn’t a profitable one for the owners. And it wasn’t one that may of the small market teams particularly enjoyed or felt included. So the goal here has been to make the league profitable and to have a league where all 30 teams can compete. Since neither of those goals has been achieved, the owners really don’t have any choice but to do what we’re going to be recommending to the labor relations committee later today.”

Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nba/feed/2010-10/nba-labor/story/summer-of-2010-led-to-thrilling-season-but-also-spurred-crippling-lockout?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl10%7Csec1_lnk3%7C74747#ixzz1QsCiVLl2

the hawks letter received today by e-mail:

Dear doc,

I wanted to personally thank you for being such a vital part of the Hawks organization and to reach out to you regarding the recent expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBA and the NBA Players Association (NBAPA). As you have heard by now, the parties were unable to negotiate a new contract by the June 30 deadline and are now in a work stoppage situation. I want to assure you that Commissioner Stern, his committee and the owners are committed to reaching a resolution with the NBAPA and coming to terms on a deal that is in the best interests of the teams, the players, the fans and the game.

The ultimate goal is to find a sustainable business model that enables all 30 teams to compete for a championship, fairly compensates players, and ensures a world-class experience for our fans and the NBA will continue to work to reach that goal so that the 2011-2012 season can resume without missing games.

We are all fans of this sport and of this Atlanta Hawks team, who is among only two other NBA teams that have advanced to the Conference Semifinals every year for the past three years, and we want nothing more than to bring the Playoffs back to the Highlight Factory in April during our pursuit of a championship. We are committed to continuing our efforts to build a lasting championship caliber team of exciting players who also make vital contributions to our Atlanta community.

You will receive more information next week regarding your season ticket holder account. We greatly appreciate your continued support of the Atlanta Hawks.

Sincerely,

Bob Williams

my response:

i doubt the goal is that of which is written in the second paragraph. it is how owners can make more money and protect theor interests first. i dont buy it, as it is not a true business model. your goal is to make money and try to make it entertainment not competition as gueron stated earlier this year. if this goes on very long i will ask for reimbursement for a product not delivered in a timely manner as promised.

thank you,

first of all it shows plagiarism and a line of falsely stated goals in both the remark by stern and the letter from the hawks. the second thing is that any person of intellect who follows the game it has never been about making small markets competitive as there have been now nine teams in 30 yrs to win a championship and two or three of those were single winners though clubs with deep pockets.

owners want to keep what they can get on their own, keep from the players what they can, legislate how to limit the damage they do to themselves while getting fans and communities to pay for their play at the highest dollar they can in the form of arenas along with tax breaks and overall expenses paid at games all while bringing in tons of cash on shared revenues. sounds pretty good for a mens club that is a monopoly at making money not a business. from an article online it was also an interesting insight and look into how clubs “lose” money while “deducting” players salaries as a line item of depreciation like any business owner might use on its own equipment to the tune of half the years salaries. again, all that on increased shared revenues from soon to be expanding television contracts and other shared revenue interests. sorry, i dont buy it in short though i could continue on. what folly. let them sabotage themselves. i can remove interest from them how i did baseball and football before them.

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O’Brien…If LD is calling plays for Josh to be in the post, but somehow Josh ends up on the perimeter, then he should be benched.

Slimjr…If Josh is setting up on the perimeter (on the same side as Horford posting up), then Hinrich or Teague needs to come over and move him. And yes, I’ve seen Josh waive Hinrich off when trying to do just this, but again, this can’t be tolerated by LD. Also, I would limit Al’s touches in the post until he proves to be more consistent. Al’s strengths are his jumper and his ability to take guys off the dribble.

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I agree that we could have won the Chicago series with better rotations and game-planning by LD.

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Can the Hawks get this kind of production from an 8-man rotation:

Pts per Game – Teague 13, Johnson 18, Smith 15, Horford 12, Free Agent Center 5, Hinrich 10, Williams 12, Pachulia 5. That’s 90 points.

Rebs per Game – Teague 2, Johnson 4, Smith 8, Horford 10, Free Agent Center 5, Hinrich 2, Williams 5, Pachulia 5. That’s 41 rebounds.

In this situation we would need a free agent center to give us 5 pts, 5 rebs, and play some D. The same #’s we would be looking for from Pachulia off the bench in similar playing time.

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Slimjr…I think every current player on our roster has room for some “coaching up”.

Collins from last year is the only player that “is what he is”, and performed well in comparison with his expectations and abilities.

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you need a bonifide superstar too win the whole enchilada.. only 9 teams have won the last 30 championship..And the Hawks haven’t been even close? A darn shame it is………….

Some young d-leaugers and 2nd rd picks to replace some aging veterans aint gonna cut it…..

U have to aim high Sund.. 31+ years, that’s not going to happen..That’s why he was hired in the 1st place just to appease and tote the company line..Which is; we’ve been to 3 consecutive semi’s, we are just like the SA and Dallas with 3 in a row..Why are yall complaining? Huh????????????? Be grateful and come on down, spend your money and watch us get blown out at home by 42 to New Orleans
The streak will continue……Blah,blah,blah…….

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Sports Illustrated: Players face significant lifestyle changes during lockout

Insightful read

When the last NBA lockout was finally lifted in 1999, Larry Brown was among the lucky ones.
The then-Philadelphia coach had veterans like Matt Geiger and Eric Snow to help in the most unusual of offseasons, imploring young players to stay in shape while they were unable to communicate with the coaches and trainers who would typically keep them on task. Not every coach was so lucky.

Then-Cleveland coach Mike Fratello said goodbye to one version of Shawn Kemp in the summertime and said hello to a much-bigger version six months later, when the then-29-year-old who had signed a seven-year, $98 million deal in 1997 reportedly arrived at training camp weighing more than 300 pounds and was never the same in the years to come. With Thursday’s news that a lockout is about to begin, Kemp is officially the cautionary tale that is now a concern for executives and coaches around the league in this restrictive and unforgiving labor landscape.

“If you don’t have veteran guys, the rookies are going to struggle [in a lockout],” said Brown, whose team improved in the lockout-shortened season and survived until the second round of the playoffs. “You have to have leadership that has everyone ready to go when the time comes because you can’t afford to have guys playing into shape in training camp.”

It’s one of the many challenges of life in a lockout, with the players forced to forgo the luxuries they’ve grown so accustomed to while team officials wait and wonder what kind of shape their investments will be in when they return. The rules of this game are strict on the part of the NBA. Significant fines are assessed to any team employees who dare disobey.

Team employees are not permitted to have even remote contact with players, their agents or even their friends or family members, meaning the lines of communication between the two sides are completely cut off. Players, meanwhile, can’t use team facilities or enjoy the many perks that come with the NBA lifestyle.
“It’s kind of like sending your kids off to summer camp,” one general manager said this week. “You want to make sure they have all the stuff they need, all the clothes they need, and all the tools they need, all the money they need and everything they need. But then it’s out of your control. Some kids come home crying and some kids have the best experience of their lives. That’s really what this is.

“You can’t talk to their agent, to their uncle, their brother, some buddy of theirs. Nothing. I think the commissioner [David Stern] is going to threaten people with such an incredible amount of money or draft picks that people will obey.”
The awkward exchanges will ensue in the coming weeks, as players are sure to bend the rules if only because of habit. As a result, executives and coaches will find themselves hitting “ignore” on any and all cellphone calls that aren’t identifiable while others will have to hang up quickly for fear that their phone records might become evidence.

The list of off-court deeds that are done for players is often long, with team officials collaborating with agents to provide a support system that will no longer be in place. No more free carwashes or help with that speeding ticket you forgot to handle. No more free lunch — both literally and figuratively. And as noted by veteran center Brad Miller recently when he revealed that he recently had microfracture surgery on his left knee, even rehabilitation must be handled elsewhere.
“At the end of the day, the league wants it to be difficult [for the players],” one executive said. “It’s like getting kicked out of a club.”

Exceptions on contact will be made only with the approval of the league office. Players with upcoming weddings, for example, must submit a list of names of attendees who work for the NBA in order to help their guests avoid reprimand. But there will be no forgiveness for seemingly innocent mistakes. The onus is on team employees to avoid putting themselves in the same locale as players or communicate with them in any way. One GM estimated a $1 million fine for contact with players.
“What it amounts to,” another GM said, “is that before you go do anything [involving a player], you’d better check with the league office.”

Friendships can and will be tested during these times, too. One executive expressed concern that a player who isn’t educated on these rules might take it personally when a team employee essentially pretends he doesn’t exist.
“Eighty percent of the league doesn’t know what they’re facing right now,” one of the GMs said regarding the players.

Teams have been preparing for this day for months, many of them issuing a script of sorts that details the preferred offseason training program and desired goals to achieve for that particular player and some making last-minute trips to check in with players around the country. In truth, the training and how it is handled is less of a concern for teams now than it will be later.
“[Players] aren’t going to adjust what they would normally do in July and August,” one of the GMs said. “Where it really gets tricky is when October has come and gone, and then it’s a matter of ‘How hard do I push it? Am I going to do two-a-days in October when we might not start until January? Do I take my foot off the gas, then I get a phone call and camp starts in a week and I’m not where I needed to be?’”

The players’ inability to use team facilities is likely to be a boon for business at places like Impact Academy in Las Vegas, where trainer Joe Abunassar has already seen an increase in NBA clientele in recent months as the looming lockout neared. It’s on the shortlist of hoops hubs that will now be called home for so many players, joining Tim Grover’s facility in Chicago and the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
Some agents with a longer list of clients have partnerships that will come in handy now, such as Mark Bartelstein with trainer Don Maclean at the 360 Health Club outside Los Angeles and Arn Tellem with trainer Rob McClanahan in Santa Monica. But numerous front-office sources who spoke to SI.com for this story were skeptical that players would be disciplined enough to stay in shape throughout a prolonged lockout.

“We’re making sure our guys are set up in their workout programs, that they’re prepared to be working on their games and improving their bodies,” Bartelstein said. “And then we’ll look at other opportunities that we think could come up for players, whether it’s playing in exhibition games, traveling abroad. There are all kinds of things that could be coming down the road.”
There will be plenty of time to pursue such ideas — especially considering the monumental gap that must be bridged between the two sides. Most players don’t start missing checks until November because of the pay schedule, leading to an assumption that the pressure to get a deal done won’t truly increase until then.

“If the league is going to take the position that they’re currently taking, it’s going to be a long [lockout],” Bartelstein said. “It’s very Draconian. That’s the only way to describe it. When you’re doing a deal, you know when someone wants to make a deal or doesn’t want to make a deal. And it’s hard to feel any comfort that the league is really interested in making a deal at this point.

“The players’ association made a heck of a move to go from 57 to 54 percent [on basketball-related income being paid to players in a recent proposal]. That was an unbelievable gesture that actually surprised me. And for the league to say that they made a modest proposal tells you everything you need to know right there.”

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/w … z1QojdAIJG

Thankfully i dont think we’ll have to worry about our players staying in shape

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