Atlanta Hawks: Camp Report Day 6

1st!

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“Ajinca will never play 36 minutes probably because he hurts you in too many ways to leave on the floor that long. Keep your stupid fantasy stats. The guy is a 7″2 clown that averages 1.6 rebounds a game for his career and only 2.3 last year.”

Sounds like a lighter skinned version of the GIANT, PRIEST LAUDERDALE! Wow…

What a stiff he turned into? lol

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FIRST~!

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Hey Stack get in those Bigs ear and tell em to rebound the darn ball!!!!!!!!!!!

Own the back boards!!!!! Own a Championship……

Sund sounds like he sweating? All that pressure he must be under from Gearon and his boys!

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Stack still a camp invite only?

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MC, could you ask the team if there are any thoughts of making a move on Okafor or Kaman?

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And if Sund is trying to dump salary so bad, maybe he shouldn’t have done the GM work he has done the past few years.

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is joe smith still available, he is a leader. i am afraid stack is the equivalent of joe smith or etan in the ability to help on the court. i am sorry that is where we need help not behind the scene stuff. say yes to stack two years ago, no now if it means we dont get a real body that can play some minutes.

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Damn, great work again MC. I truly hope Sund keeps Stackhouse on the roster. The value he will bring to the Hawks locker room far outweighs the value some young, 13th-man guard will bring by simply riding the pine night-in and night-out.

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Najeh, either way, its the same thing. If the Hawks cut Kirk, they owe him $ 9 million plus whoever they signed. If they added someone with Kirk on the roster, and go into luxury tax, they would have to pay the new salary, and equal that in luxury tax. So it still would equal out in REAL dollars about the same thing. And it equals ASG not doing anything.

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MC, ASG is concerned about fines and anything else that cost more than a dollar. They probably make the media BYOC (Bring your own coffee). ASG is the equivalent of Morris Brown College, (and I actually attended there for 2 years lol).

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Yea, Sund added more stress by trading two 1st rd. picks and taking on more salary with the addition of the”Heimlich”. Who is starting to remind me of Tyrone Lue.. Hurt much of the time…..

But he did get rid of the Bibster and Mo Evans though……

C’mon Sund, you can do it. Make a trade….

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Michael Cunningham

December 15th, 2011
12:07 am

@superiorblogman: “MC, could you ask the team if there are any thoughts of making a move on Okafor or Kaman?”

i ask this kind of stuff all the time but usually don’t get far. Sund doesn’t talk much to begin with and the organization as a whole is always very concerned about fines for talking about other players.

Good to know you ask that type of stuff. I don’t care what anyone says Kaman and Okafor are available they are both about to be 30 years old and there value will only decrease from now on out. $25 million will be payed at Center for the Hornets and they aren’t even making it to the playoffs.

Kirk, Zaza, and a 2nd for Kaman

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“True this. Marvin never lived up to his 1st contract then you go re-sign him for 5 years. You knew Bibby was getting older. You knew the only time Zaza looked worth anything is when he started and that he was not a starter on a playoff team. You knew Joe was not a superstar. Al Sunds fault now he just sits there and does nothing”

Sund you are your own worst enemy!!! lol

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Here’s something positive:

“isn’t anybody going to comment on the positive about Wanamaker”?

Crickets……………………………………………..

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” If the Hawks cut Kirk, they owe him $ 9 million plus whoever they signed.”

I don’t think my previous post was clear enough. When I said “salary dump” I meant to trade him to a team with a trade exception, not to amnesty him. Kirk has an expiring contract and is a decent player when healthy, so it would be foolish to just outright cut him. I am not even necessarily saying the Hawks should trade him to a team with cap space or an exception, just that if they needed breathing room under the tax line, he’d be the obvious candidate.

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My understanding is we are around $69,750,000.00 on salaries right now. There is no way we could sign Stack unless we cut Benson or Rolle. If we cut Benson, we could sign Stack, and no one else. If we cut Rolle, we could sign Stack and Wanamaker or Sloan.

I had heard Wanamaker could be a Earl Watson type, just a little bigger.

I look for the Hawks to sign Wanamaker just because we’re scarce at the 1, and he can play some 1.

Stack I’d love to have, but not sure if’ we’ll cut Rolle to do it. Can’t see us cutting Sy with the dearth of G’s.

Unless we cut Vlad Rad.

MC – Is Vlad Rad’s contract guaranteed? And has Rolle looked ok? I know he had some potential, more than Hilton, but is he playing hard and did he have a productive off season?

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“isn’t anybody going to comment on the positive about Wanamaker looking good? it’s the preseason, the time for optimism, but i try to give you some feel good stuff and you stay mad, haha. . . .”

Hard to feel optimistic about an undrafted free agent found by Sund, and harder to feel optimistic when NBADraft.net compares him to Royal Ivey. NBADraft.net likes his basketball IQ though so who knows.

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Yeah, sadly my friday is booked. I really wanted to attend. Regardless of how the season goes, Teague and an inside the arc Smoove are just exciting to watch. If Marvin can go back to is 07-08 numbers, it could be a pretty good year.

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Hey Stack why not pursue a assistant coaching job.. I’m sure Gearon can make it happen for a couple hundred..

I know it aint much, but welcome to the real world after…………

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I think most people here with the exception or 2 or 3 are very realistic. We don’t have much to start with and we aren’t getting anything for Christmas. Most people are just a little sour about this situation MC. Being positive just to be positive is good for you, but on the flip side isn’t it managements job to paint a positive picture that the fans can believe in? The fans don’t believe in the positive spin that is being presented.

Heck, the whole no excuses thing is cool in principle but the fact is if the asset were managed better there would be a better team on the floor. What about putting a no excuses on Sund the ASG and even Larry Drew’s door for them to think about. Drew did play a part in us giving away 2 1st round picks for Kirk Hinrich by not giving Teague a chance to develop. I find it laughable that you mentioned yesterday how Drew says God forbid if Teague may go down, we have to look seriously at all options. So, why didn’t he do that last year? Why didn’t he give Teague a serious look in case Bibby could not get it done before they made that horrible move for Hinrich? Drew, Sund, and the ASG talking out of there backends.

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Or it means that with a healthy back he was able to hit the gym more?……

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Marvin is going to be a beast @245! stay tuned!!!

He’s gonna eat up those little 3’s in the post! Go get’em!

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We could cut Kito and Rolle, sign Stack, Wanamaker and another 2nd round/undrafted FA type…Interesting possibilities. Ivan Johnson perhaps?

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I don’t get why they signed Magnum Rolle in the first place, other than he has a cool name. I am pretty sure Benson fills the rail-thin shot blocking scrub big man role for this team. Cut Rolle and use that roster spot on a big man who can hold his position in the post on defense.

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“you can be as heavy as you want but 245 is nothing special Post play is about coordination and quickness. He let BRandon Bass cover him from the perimeter last year. thus MArvin sucks.”

Point taken…

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All the folks on here lampooning AA;
I challenge the fact that you’ve watched the tape
on the guy that I have.
[..lighter skinned ?..]

perhaps some of you have watched some game video
or you tube clips … I know not ?

But he is surely not a a stiff,
as he shows guard and perimeter skills
which would make him actually skilled enough
to play the [3].

He needs confidence and some meanness plus exp.

But the talent is there.

So, if you have not viewed hours of Euro tape, workout video, etc
then don’t come on here giving contradictory appraisal.

Yes, I have a trained eye; and I’m high on this kid.

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Michael

I know one thing abot Wanamaker.

He’s a tough kid, like all the guys that come from Pitt.

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Grandad, believe it or not though, Zaza may be the one we can LEAST afford to trade. In this season, if Josh or Al goes down for a week or two, then Zaza value comes up even greater!

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Great interview with Stackhouse. When I heard he’d been signed, I kind of rolled my eyes at it, and worried he might end up with a role on this team befitting his name rather than his ability to contribute. But if he’s willing to jump in and be a leader, I’m all for it-this team can use all the leaders they can get. If they respect him, by all means, keep him around.

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OK Sund, its time to be creative to bring in a center. How about trading for Jason Thompson from Sacramento. Dalembert and Ajinca are still out there. Move Kirk, Marvin and/or zaza to clear up salaries.

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Yeah, we could trade Zaza. But you’re going to be hating life on the days that Josh is in a funky mood and Al is feeling dainty. Those are the days Zaza goes out and gets you 18 boards. You think anybody else is gonna do it?

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Big Ray

We could amnesty Joe right now.

Of course doing it 10 days ago would have been more shrewd.

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PHX has a $5+ mil TPE

They really like Hinrich. (or so I hear)

That might work ?

Be that as it may – I like kirk & how would we replace him ?

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dont know what was done but shoulders are the toughest joint to heal after surgery. kirk might be out a bit longer than three months. one month after surgery he still cant lift his arm which is not unheard of. he will have limited motion if he does come back is my guess. i think it is being very optimistic to see him back for any significant role this season unless he heals real fast. because of that i hope these guys get a real guard that has experience to be in the mix rather than a skinny jacket for the second row of the bench to join sy.

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“Where are those guys wanting to see more of Armstrong” – AJ

Right here. He’s playing overseas without an NBA opt-out clause so he won’t be available late in the season. He’s comparable to Kwame in that he’s athletic but has a horrible basketball IQ and horrible hands. But he won me over in the ORL series by being an extra body on Dwight, which we will definitely need again.

“Were set on keeping Horford around when he does nothing elite.” – superiorblogtroll

Al Horford lead the league in field goal percentage from 16 to 23 feet last year. Keep trying. Study up. Eventually you will be able to come into a basketball conversation with some knowledge instead of proving your ignorance over and over again.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/5-on-5-111206/atlanta-hawks-roster-questions

“Is billups pleased about going to the 2 spot?” – doc

Doubt it. I’m really surprised that NO got Gordon AND Minnesota’s unprotected first round draft pick. But the Clippers kept Eric Bledsoe which means they’ve got 4 point guards. Billups can’t be happy about that.

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The hawks can amnesty kirk hinrich and other team can claim him off waivers and the hawks don’t have to pay his salary

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Amnestying Kirk would mean you traded two first round picks and Bibby for a player who you cut, who was going to be a free agent at the end of the year anyway. Amnesty is for a player who has 3-4 years left on their contract, and you don’t want their contract to handicap you for seasons to come.

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About the roster moves:

Hinrich and Zaza are essential if you want to talk about contending.

The only acceptable arrangement would be to get a “legit C”. On that category, only Okafor and Kaman seem viable trade wise due to NO’s situation, however, NO would not trade an expiring deal like Kaman’s if we do not bundle up picks since there are plenty of other suitors with better combos of players and picks.

Rolle seems perfectly dispensable since we got Benson, who I gather, is cheaper as the string bean shotblocker of the group.

Rolle’s experience is only marginally bigger than Benson and Benson seems to have more upside since he made a sub-par bball program competitive carrying his team on his back whilst putting better numbers than Rolle.

Rolle should be kept on our radar but should be sent back to some international league to develop, thus clearing cap space.

Stack seems to be saying the right stuff and probably he can still contribute every other day in such a crammed up schedule.

We will need fresh – albeit old – legs to come in and give us some instant offense on those tough back-to back-to back nights.

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So, let me get this straight again. Sactown is reportedly offering Jamal $6.5 mill for this year and reportedly has not offered Dalembert a penny. Dalembert was a name I threw around last year wanting the Hawks to trade Jamal for so we could have his bird rights this offseason and re-sign him. It’s funny how people like to shoot others ideas down on boards like this. Then you turn around and see that the idea made even more sense than you initially thought and was even more feasible than you initially thought. Maybe just maybe Sactown has a thing for Jamal more than Dalembert, but whatever too late now unless they have a thing for Marvin or Zaza it will not happen, but it just shows you Sund and crew are just incompetent and really don’t use assets well.

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My friend Aj Moye who played for Indiana in college and is a legend overseas says that Pape Sy will be a beast if he get playing time……he played with him a couple of times and says the kid is raww! Let him play LD don’t do the Teague on him!

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For the ones too lazy to click on the link, amongst other bad fortune events that the Clippers have been famous for we have:

“Our final tally of post-1976 injuries to marquee Clippers players: five career-altering knee injuries (Scott Livingston, Danny Manning, Ron Harper, Charles Smith, Norm Nixon), one career-ending ruptured disc (Marques Johnson), one career-altering back surgery (Loy Vaught), three season-ending torn Achilles (Elton Brand, Nate Archibald, Norm Nixon), one heart arrithymia (Terry Cummings) and multiple foot stress fractures (Bill Walton). Every one of those guys was a top-three player on the team or headed that way.”

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For the guys who don’t read the piece, Simmons says that the Clippers are cursed because its owner, whilst still in Buffalo, messed up with the Indians (Poltergeist-style).

Now, we need to think about, which Native American tribe was also messed up by the Blazers???

Walton, Bowie, Oden and Roy is already a pretty decent tally…

And who said around here that the problem in Portland could be lack of sunlight? What about the Clippers resume as knee/career busters? Excessive sunlight?

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And I have a feeling that Ishmael Smith could be a decent pick up.

I checked his game log and every single game in which he had some minutes he racked up assists.

Also, having played along side Teague, it’s highly probably that they would be comfortable together in the roster.

Teague has more upside, but a 6′0” speedster with play making ability is a good commodity (see Barea).

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgUqtcpREY4

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Well superiorblogman your ideas about using Jamal to get a center has always been my thoughts. Dont feel bad I said we should have used Marvin’s expiring contract to get Tyson Chandler from New Orleans when they gave him to Charlotte for a couple of basketballs a couple of years ago. But we resigned Marvin to the tune of 35 million Charlotte sent Chandler to Dallas for talcum powder. His rebounding and tough interior defense won Dallas a title.
I will say this again folks look at the sports that has a goal and a net. Hockey, Soccer THEY ALL HAVE A PLAYER WHO’S SOLE RESPONISIBILTY IS TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THE GOAL!!!! Basketball is the same!! Only one team have ever won the NBA title without a dominate center. The Pistons. Now either we are not serious about winning or we are to stupid to understand that fact. Yes its hard to find centers thats why when opportunities come like this off season you have to go out and spend they are not falling out of the sky! Go out sign one of those centers then work hard to shave salary. Its easy to sign journeymen and the Pape Sys of the world fill a roster. But we go out and sign them first. Why are we having conversations about Wanamaker’s, Collins its sickening. Im 6′5″ in high school I remember my coach telling me that if I would be consistent in the paint rebounding and blocking shots I would get a scholarship. He didnt say which college because little did I know that North Carolina didnt give scholarships to guys who was 6′5″ with a centers mentality. LOL But anyway my point is tough rebounding and paint defense is the most important part of a team. Have a good day. Go hawks!!!

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superiorblogman,

Its been what…4 years in a row and they still havent got it. I give up too. ASG and Sund are like that relative that shows up every year with the same awful potato salad that nobody eats. But every year, they bring it anyway and you hope they would get the picture.

I just cant understand, why they go into the season with the same problems. And they continue ton bargian shop for bigs. Its like shopping at a thrift store, you find something for a couple of bucks, you buy it, take it home and it sits in the garage for a year or more. NEWS FLASH TO ASG/SUND…IF YOU BOUGHT IT IN A THRIFT STORE, IT WAS THEIR FOR A REASON!

Like i said before, i like that bench better than Hilton, Damien, Etan and Josh Powell, but the main issue for the Hawks is another big man. Al will once again be worn out by playoff time, that is if they make it.

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NO would have four SF’s then though: Marvin, Ariza, Poindexter, and Aminu.

I guess it all depends on what the Hawks do with the three million, and what they are prepared to do with the cap situation next year.

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Some interesting perspectives on our problems from Bleacher Report:

“Sund was rumored to have told Hinrich on his draft day in 2003 that he shouldn’t be surprised if he one day played for him. Sund made it happen, but gave up too much youth in the process.

He sent over Jordan Crawford (not to be confused with Jamal), Mo Evans, Mike Bibby and a first-round pick all for Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong. Evans and Bibby weren’t young but at least Evans could give solid minutes off the bench. Crawford exploded upon arrival in Washington, going off for 39 points one game and tallying up a triple-double the next. Armstrong was another unusable big body on the Hawks roster, teaming up with Etan Thomas and Magnum Rolle as players who would wilt away on the bench because they weren’t good enough.

What doesn’t make sense was Crawford’s place on the bench and Jeff Teague’s seat next to him, but we’ll get to that in the next slide.”

It mentioned before this Sund’s loyalty to guys, like Vlad Rad.

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Now if we released Rolle and Kito, we could offer Kris Humphries somewhere around 1.8 mill and still be under the LT. I don’t know if he would take that.

Or Reggie Evans.

Or somebody…

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On that Al trade – I know the salaries wouldn’t work on the Okafor and Kaman for Al – just jawing a little bit there.

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Both Reggie Evans and Kris Humphries will sign for the full MLE at MINIMUM… maybe more.

“Simmons says that the Clippers are cursed…”

Here’s my prediction. The T-Wolves unprotected 1st will end up being the #1 overall pick, making it two years in a row that the Clippers have traded away the #1 overall pick. Paul will tease for a season and get Clippers fans hopes up then his knee will be done. Seing that the Clippers don’t have the pieces to contend without a healthy Paul, Blake will decline to extend. Karma’s a bitch Donald Sterling. Enjoy those beautiful black bodies while you can.

PS LOL at superiorblogtroll for making up ID’s to agree with himself.

Wait… this post was one of the most intelligent things I’VE EVER SEEN on this blog!

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BTW MC, can you please unblock my home IP…u killing me…is there such thing as foregiveness.lol

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I still say some of you are taking the negative spin on this team a little too far. Reading some of the posts, you would think the Hawks would be lucky to win 10 games this year. This team is not that bad. They have a realistic shot at a #3 – #4 seed by the time the playoffs roll around. And, once the playoffs come…who knows?

The ASG suck. But the Hawks do not.

Question….how many other teams are in the luxary tax this season? I don’t know the answer to that, but I bet there are not many. A lot of GM’s and fans want to add new players, but can’t due to ownership restraints. So, stop acting like the Hawks are the only team out there with limited spending.

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Mike is Back,

having Tmack and Stack in the locker…will bring strong leadership to this team.

“TMack n Stack”…sounds like something on the menu at truck stop. LOL!

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TMack n Stack
Like the sound of that. Should hold us over until Kirk returns. We could see Kirk’s expiring contract traded come mid season if TMack delivers the goods.
Liking that Josh has lost weight, looks ready to run with Jeff.
This team looks ready. Remember, JJ played hurt most of the year. Ditto Marvin. Point guard was a snail position and 2 guards pounded the rock while everybody else watched. They won’t be watching this year with Teague in the game….if they do, they’ll be left out.
TMack and Stack offer the leadership to keep the young guys on point.
I see a Chicago Bulls kind of year for the ATL.
Easy 4th seed.

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“We like our bigs” LOL!!!

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AT least @ 245 Marvin can root himself in the block sometimes against these smaller #3’s and rip em a new hole…….lol

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I Like this Team

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No rumors for the Hawks needed unless you are getting a salary advantage. We simply have too many long-term commitments to do anything significant because Sund can’t use his ‘experience’ to get us the proper blend of offensive/defensive talent.

I always thought Marvin would be our LeBron matchup, but that hasn’t worked out. Marvin doesn’t even rank in the top 25 in small forwards in the league….he has John Salmons, Grant Hill, Buddinger, and Turk ranked ahead of him…totally a disappointment. He is our Darko.
You can blame JC1 all you want, but Marvin’s contract is killing any flex in this roster. Marvin’s hoopshype bio:

‘Great athlete/runs the floor well/Pretty good shooter/Looking good from the 3 pt line now/has not lived up to lofty expectations’….no thought on post play, defense, consistency of play….

Marvin is a minimum salary level player…..pure gaff by Sund.

Moving Marv is the only way to help this roster. Its been like that the last 2-3 years. I think Marvin has one big moment in his career, last year with a 3 against the Magic in Philips. That was the only dagger I recall from Marv.

Chicago and Miami are making changes, and are they under the cap? Its being done, and they are much closer than we are to competing for the title. Sund just doesn’t have any creativity or ability to remold a team. He inherited these guys, and he played it safe. How does MIA and CHI get new guys in? Is it because Rip and Battier see the potential there?

We get to watch this unit one more year to see what is going to be different from previous years. We are a Teague-ankle away from a mess here. We can’t get a PG on this roster with experience before the season starts? Ish Smith and Teague in practice would be worth watching also.

Seeing LD play young guys would be a total shock. The only guy he gave 1/2 a look at was JC2 last year, and he slotted him ahead of Teague….all I thought was WTH?

And I would rather see Armstrong than Benson and Rolle. Those guys aren’t helping us this year, and we should be looking at this year-2-year instead of long range. How much longer is it going to take to see the ECF? FWIW, Zaza should be starting ahead of Collins, who is here for one reason only.

Like when this season was saved, I didn’t see us getting a significant piece in here based on Sund’s track record and our guaranteed contracts.

Sund’s most recent comments courtesy of Yahoo!:
“General manager Rick Sund said he had an eye on additional leadership, especially in the playoffs, when he added the three veterans. (talking about T-Mac, Vlad & Stack)

“That had a lot to do with it,” Sund said.

“This is a veteran club now. These guys are now veterans and I think they feel that hey, we were two wins away from the conference finals, which puts you in the elite, championship status of the final four teams. I think that hit them a little bit, and that’s good.”

Sund said he is continuing to look for help, including a point guard to play behind Teague while Kirk Hinrich recovers from surgery on his left shoulder. Hinrich had the surgery in November and could be out until February.

Don’t expect the Hawks to add a big salary.

“We’ve never been a tax-paying team, and our goal is to hopefully not pay the tax,” Sund said. “But you never say never.”

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I remember when Juwan Howard was on the Bobcats, there were a few reports that indicated he was having a tremendous impact on some of their young players, kind of a “player-coach” at the end of the bench. When guys came out of games, he was providing good feedback on how they played during their stint on the floor. I agree that in a perfect world, the guys playing 32+ minutes are the leaders. But there is also something to be said for the guy who can provide some in-game counsel, especially to younger players. From just a pure cultural perspective, the Hawks need players who have interest in coaching as their next career. Those guys are willing to use the last year or two of their playing career as a coaching apprenticeship… giving free advice to other players. That could be invaluable, especially on a team with serious leadership voids. Heaven knows, this team doesn’t always respond to authority figures so maybe trying something new is warranted.

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MC you are the man with these daily accounts. Even grandad might get spoiled and see the diligent work you do, if not “passionate”.

for all the hinrich haters, the hinrich injury is huge and puts it all on teague. we traded for him because bibby was done and were sinking fast because of it. if bibby hadnt gone into the slide that continued with the three amigos, who couldnt protect him either, order would have prevailed. jc2 was never the answer to our needs of quality depth at the point position, just as relevant to the lack of depth at big and both continue to be our achilles heel.

we cant put the ball back in jj’s hands and expect him to play hard defense, rebound and get to the line and survive this rigorous schedule. nor will we use the asset of speed if that occurs or ld starts putting doubt in teague, where he starts to think to much. that is critical to this offense not going into paralysis mode. our team is dependent on teague as fragile as that sounds because i see him as still mercurial and a year or two, if ever, from running a consistent offense against all comers on both sides of the ball.

what is this team? the one that floundered towards the end or found playoff lightening in a bottle again from the boston series to make a run at the ecf by beating orlando then stubbing its toes against the bulls with it in their grasp? stay tuned. i hope they play well in the two preseason games as a starter.

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Roflol astro … you got me square again my friend!

yes we are reassured by someone in the know that he is good but raw and let him play … right.

actually, i did put him in a suit on the second row bench seat during games in an earlier discussion astro. guess you missed it.

i guess i was again reinforcing the idea we still need depth and forgot myself there. why worry, right bro?

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doc, you know that I agree. We need an adequate replacement for Hinrich. We’re a twisted ankle or hard fall away from having Nick Van Excel suit up again. While it would be nice to think that Sy or Wanamaker can emerge from left field, I’d be more comfortable with someone who has “been there, done that”.

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Horford for Okafor? Are you guys kidding me?

Joe.Jeff.Smith.??shooter??.Okafor

You end up signing some vet min SF instead or a washed up perimeter PF, with no winning window, ie Troy Murphy.

Leuer and Bogut, Horford and maybe a pick. Thats it. You cant trade Horford one for one for another center. You need a PF shooter or an elite SF as well.

If Marvin were Paul Pierce sure, 1 for 1 . but that’s the biggest problem.

defensive power-inside SF (Smith)
+ perimeter PF (Leuer)
+ defensive inside center (Bogut)

+ supreme skilled perimeter SF (Lebron, Pierce, Granger)
+ undersized defensive power-inside PF (Smith)
+ defensive inside center (???)

Thats the blueprint. You can afford Smith at the PF if you have an elite two way player at SF. But you cant play small ball with Marvin Williams or 10ppg, injured every other year, Hinrich.

You’re just diluting the defense and offense. Hell Smith could become Dominique Wilkins scoring the ball and wed still lose based on the lack of complementary defense and offense.

Again why is Horford still here? What purpose does he serve? Elite rebounder @ PF/C? no? Scorer? Rim protector? no?

Hes the shy guy with the hard hat that no one wants to kick off the team because they dont want to be cutthroat.

Well thats why you play like the pansy-azz Lakers with half the talent.

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For a Pg I should clarify on the last post.

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Joe, Jeff etc. – Why Leuer? He was the 40th pick in a weak draft. Why not Trey Thompkins – about the same skill set with a ton of upside.

So we get a C in Bogut who has migraines that can’t be controlled, an elbow that has to get electric shock treatments to be felt and used, who pros tell you to stay away from long term, and the 40th pick in a weak draft for Al Horford and pieces? Hmm, I’m not too sure I do that trade.

If Bogut was healthy, all day long, but not now…

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who is left that is better than what bibby would have been is my bar right now? anyone?

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im glad wannamaker is looking good. i liked his game in college

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Big Ray: Your first sentence is true and that is what frustrates me the most with the number of years that we were rebuilding.

We rebuilt with forwards and shooting guards. That was simply stupid. And that is why we are so imbalanced today.

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bigdave ,

While it would be nice, I don’t see Sund/ASG seeing anything that way. They have no clue about what’s needed in the locker room, at the end of the bench. Worse yet, they don’t freakin’ care. All they want to do is shed salary….so while Stack could provide all sorts of benefit, we may never get to see it. One can hope, though….

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Can we get an update on any possible free agent talk with the Hawks. Who is still on the market worth taking a look at? Any possibilities on Samuel Dalembart or Ryan Hollins

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Big Ray I put this thing together so what ?

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I want to know more about our “YouTube” sensations,both Keith Benson and Magnum Rolle!!
From what you are seeing,how do they look and is there anything positve about them so far in camp??

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Hypocrite!

“I still say some of you are taking the negative spin on this team a little too far. ” -section 303-
_____________

Sort of like when you put words in Mr. Johnson’s mouth and, bashed him for two years straight? I swear you can not make this stuff up.

Here’s my point: we are upset because this ownership likes their “core” for 7 years straight and today, they like their “bigs”?

Tell me this: Where is the LOVE in LIKE?

If your goal as an owner is to acheive 2nd round exits year in and year out & NEVER pay luxury taxes – then, I guess there is a lot to like here. But, at the end of the day, none of the blog dissenters put any words in the ASKG mouths!

They said that!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, you, section 303 can just renew your cheap seats and shut up.

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Wow Bonzi Wells + Young players = how can this end in a good way? Good luck Minnesota…

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YouTube sensation. Funny. I bet you could make Whoopi look FLY on YouTube. You could probably make Melvin Ely look like Shawn Kemp (pre-strike). Make Soulja Boy sound like Rakim. Make Josh Powell look like… okay, so maybe YouTube has its limits. But you get the point.

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LOL O’Brien. . . Good dang question.

I guess JJ is the offensive captain
Smith the defensive captain
And Horford the special teams captain

It’s not even that many captains going out to midfield to do the coin flip before NFL games.

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O’Brien, Good Point! not go point. Can’t type today!

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Maybe Gearon and Levenson will have some stock options come thru, and Ted Turner decides to give his boy 300m – then they say “Let’s go for it!!” snd sign Dalembert and Humphries, Stack, and find a decent backup PG.

Yes, I know, I’m dreaming again OB

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A. Sherrod Blakely: The #Celtics and the #Knicks were the only other teams Rip Hamilton considered playing for, other than the #Bulls. Twitter

Wow, could yall imagine chasing Ray Allen around for a half and then chasing Rip for another half?!

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Hey, anybody on here got NBA2k12? Just wondering how to “Create a Player” Is this done in Season or Franchise mode?

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It’s not a bad idea to have leaders on the bench like Stackhouse, but we need leaders on the court more than anywhere else. The biggest leader on this team needs to a PG named Jeff Teague. It’s going to be his leadership that makes JSmith or AHorford give the ball to him rather than trying to lead fastbreaks themselves.

It’s also going to be his leadership that makes players stick with running the plays, rather than taking over and going ISO, or launching ill advised jumpers. It’s also going to take his leadership to make certain that players like MWilliams won’t be allowed to drift in and out of the OFF, and disappear for extended periods at a time.

I think after 4+yrs of being forced to compensate/cover for Bibby’s DEF liabilities, our players appreciate finally having a PG who can run, carry his own weight defensively, and create scoring opportunities for others. Also, with Jamal gone, and Teague running the OFF, we’ll see very little of the ISO OFF that was basically Woodson’s entire OFF approach, and part of Drew’s as well.

All I’m saying is there are many reasons to believe our Hawks will be a much improved team this yr.

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Strickland, according to your head coach, the idea is to take the first open shot available. His halfcort sets don’t require the PG to do much more than make the same pass to the open teammate as any other position player. Your head coach’s 5-man attack doesn’t really need a traditional PG, only during fast breaks (and that didn’t happen too often last season because the Hawks are a bad rebounding team). And BTW, Woody hasn’t coached the team in about 18 months. Last time Woody coached the Hawks, RandMo was wearing a Hawks uniform (just to add a little perspective).

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Thanks, Rick! We as fans knew your sincerity in trying to bring Chills, oops, I mean, JC1 back to our team. It’s amazing that a CHI rumor got out there thinking we might get something back for his departure. Yet you stayed on course and weren’t distracted with the fan base.
Now that JC1 has let you off the hook, you can now explain how our bench has never been deeper, our bigs have never run the court like these bigs do, and how it was impossible to keep Teague down. Your teachings to all of us are inspiring.

We as fans should never doubt you are trying to retain our spot as a playoff team, something very few teams can acknowledge.

I’m on the bandwagon and looking forward to another core run for our guys who continue to work to get better every year.

And you knew it was only a matter of time….and 5 years is a quick uprising too!

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With only $550,000.00 or so to spend before Luxury Tax, it’s probably going to be Wanamaker, unless Rolle is waived. Then we could sign Stack or somebody else for the Vet. Min.

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let me say, with cheap asg ownerships and atlanta fan base only going to get exiting with big stars in town it would take not 5, not 6, not 7, maybe 11 years like for thrashers to relocate to st louis again, bravo asg you doing terrific job. rumors began to fly, remember thrashes.

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OMG! Now we can trade for him! LOLZ

http://www.insidehoops.com/blog/?p=8845

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I think we can all agree that while Jamal may have had his flaws, when he did ish like this, he created some of the best highlights this team has provided in the Highlight Factory. In a perfect world not governed by the luxury tax, he’d be a Hawk and the coaches would use him optimally.

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Enter your comments here

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Bye Bye JC1! Thanks for the memories!! Now step off…..lol

JC1 is one dimensional. He received a reality check these past few weeks.. Still wish we had JC2 though? Shoot..

Coach Larry said Josh is making plays he hadn’t seen in years..Said Josh is MUCH QUICKER!!!!!!!!!!

GIT READY FOR THE HIGH-LITE FACTORY TO OPEN FOR BUSINESS REAL SOON! lol

Marvin is going to destroy those pip-queaks!!!! Get that turnaround jumper going on the post! Its un-guardable,

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mkjb22

December 15th, 2011
4:30 pm

“5 more pounds for Marvin? I’m guessing that’s 2.5 lbs. per butt cheek?”

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But at least “word on the street” has it that he’s finally standing upright after years of leaning forward and to the right so it was an optical illusion….{backside}

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Out of the gate, JT goes up against:

Deron Williams – road game
John Wall – home game
Deron Williams – home game
Kyle Lowry + Goran Dragic – road game

Out PG has his hands full immediately! No time for a breather if we leave camp with this roster. I think the best we do in this stretch is a split. Back-2-backs are tough to win.

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KevinM

December 15th, 2011
4:58 pm

Out of the gate, JT goes up against:

Deron Williams – road game
John Wall – home game
Deron Williams – home game
Kyle Lowry + Goran Dragic – road game

Coach Larry said Jt is one of the fastest guys in the league coast to coast!

TEAGUE= THE BLUR!

Those guards are going to have to chase him…..^^^^^

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KEVINM-I think the degree of success we’ll have during that stretch of gms will be determined by how well HC LDrew utilizes his bench. He can’t do like Woodson did in situations like this, by running his top six players into the ground while ignoring everything and everyone else. He has to coach smarter and utilize the assets that are available to him.

He should take what he hopefully learned from the JTeague situation, where he seemed to have gone out of his way to limit his opportunities. It wasn’t until being forced into giving him the opportunity he should have gotten long before the playoffs began that he had what was needed all along sitting on our bench. We might find out that Pape Sy, or Benson, can give us much more than expected if given the support and opportunity to do so.

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“ZaZa couldnt guard a tree.” – superiorblogtroll

That’s funny, troll. He was the second best man-to-man defender against Dwight, the greatest center alive on the planet, that we had. And keep in mind, if Dwight had any face-up game WHATSOEVER, Collins could no more guard him than he can Boozer. But Zaza could still guard him.

“Zaza should be starting ahead of Collins, who is here for one reason only.” – KevinM

Disagree here because I think we need to start Teague, JJ, Marvin, Josh and Al. Reason being is because A. Marvin needs to be showcased as a starter, not a reserve. This is to increase his value at the trade deadline. If we can get him scoring 15ppg and he stays healthy, we’ve got a shot to flip his and Kirk’s contracts into a significant player.

Secondly, after calling out All-NBA Al with the “No Excuses” sign, why then placate his wishes by starting Zaza or Collins at center on opening night? Don’t tell him no excuses and then excuse him from the responsibility of being the opening night starting center. I think Zaza is a starting-calibre center in the NBA… would probably be top 15 among starting centers if given the opportunity. But I’m more concerned right now with showcasing Marvin to future trading partners.

“10 man rotation…” – SteveW

With a healthy Kirk, we go 10 deep. If Sy is ready to earn actual minutes, we go 11 deep. I know Big Ray doesn’t want to live through Sy’s growing pains, but as thin as we are at guard until Kirk returns, Sy is about to get the best chance he will ever have to show that he’s ready to contribute.

So let’s say Sy’s hot finish to his recent stint at France, and positive reviews out of training camp, are not fools gold. Let’s say Sy can play 15 mpg of solid defense and not throw the ball away while standing in a corner on offense. That put’s us at an 11-man rotation. Sign Stack and it’s a 12-man rotation with Benson at the end of the bench. That’s pretty deep.

Unfortunately, because we’re so close to the cap we’re scraping every penny to stay out of the tax. That means we may have to keep Rolle just because his non-guaranteed rookie contract is what like $700k as opposed to $1.2m Stack would make on a vet’s minimum deal. The $500k difference could keep the Hawks out of the tax, which means a full share of the distribution of tax funds to non-tax paying teams. I could see the Hawks keeping some scrubs on the bench to start the season, then demoting them to the D-League before their contracts become guaranteed, then signing Stack to the max number of 10-day contracts before signing him through the end of the season, thus paying him maybe half of that full $1.2m vet’s minimum.

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Unlucky not to resign Jamaal, we’ll get him next year!!

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Please fire Rick Sund, this guy is worse than Billy Knight. Jamel Crawford for $5 mil. that is a bargain and they still will not sign him. What a joke, i am done being Hawks fun until they get new GM and Owners.

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When Detroit won the title, didn’t we have a big hand in that? Didn’t we give them the final piece to that puzzle that put them over the top?
They don’t win without Rasheed that year.
“It gives us a real shot to compete at the highest level in the NBA right now,” Dumars said.
“That fact that we didn’t have to break up our team and we were able to add the guy we did, it made it a no-brainer move for us,” Dumars said. “It created cap space and we didn’t mess with our core, so it was a great deal for us.”

This just sounds so eerily similar to what we are dealing with here. The problem is we don’t have wiggle room like what Dumars created. That was a once-in-a-lifetime strategy that worked to the max. Something so outrageous will not fall in our lap like this.

“I think this is what’s best for the Hawks,” Hawks general manager Billy Knight said. “I’m trying to build a team for the long haul in the best way possible. Rasheed’s a heck of a player, but I think this is best for us and best for him.”

Cleveland coach Paul Silas said he couldn’t understand why the Hawks made the deal.

“That’s going to make the Pistons awfully tough,” Silas said. “I just don’t know what some people are thinking about.”

Our history just has not been in our favor, example after example.

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” i am done being Hawks fun” -Sol (im guessing fun = fan)

You are a liar sir. You are just mad atm. However when your more stable you’ll realize that it’s addictive.

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“Cleveland coach Paul Silas said he couldn’t understand why the Hawks made the deal.

“That’s going to make the Pistons awfully tough,” Silas said. “I just don’t know what some people are thinking about.””

The pick acquired in the Rasheed Wallace trade ended up being Josh Smith. That wasn’t a bad trade. Sheed was the missing piece for Detroit, but he wasn’t exactly going to be the missing piece here, on a team that was far away from contention.

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In other news MC just replied to someone named “DickStillHard” on Twitter. Pause

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“Najeh but we helped another team win a championship. How many championships do the Hawks have? ”

I know, but in my opinion you can’t really look at trades that way. Very few real life trades are going to be entirely one-sided in your favor. Most trades are going to end up benefiting the other team in some way, shape or form as well. Even the much-criticized Pau Gasol trade ended up being OK for the Grizzlies, since Marc Gasol has become a good player.

The Hawks got Sheed in exchange for Shareef, who they moved in order to clear salary and rebuild. Sheed ended up being the missing piece for the Pistons, yeah, but are you really confident that the Hawks could build a championship team around him if he had stayed here? The Blazers assembled one of the most talented teams in recent memory, built around Sheed, and they couldn’t even make it to the Finals. Sheed was a good player but he wasn’t a superstar, even at his peak.

I didn’t have a problem with how Billy Knight gutted the roster at all. I did have a problem with Terry Stotts winning meaningless games after that Sheed trade and taking the Hawks out of the running for Dwight Howard, and I did have a problem with him passing up two franchise-caliber point guards for the Aflac mascot.

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Get on the phone with the Lakers Sund…LOL

“Kobe Bryant is livid with the Lakers, and he may demand a trade, Stephen A. Smith said Thursday. Appearing on SportsCenter, Smith said “I predicted that Kobe Bryant will demand a trade, and I am not budging from that. He’s livid. I’ve known Kobe too long. He is ticked off. “It’s not just because [the Clippers] got Chris Paul, which is a guy that he expected to have. It’s because Jim Buss seems to be doing the inexplicable,” Smith said. “It makes no sense. It’s one thing for the team not to have improved [after losing to the Mavericks], it’s another thing entirely for them to regress. If you know anything about Kobe, that is the last thing that he wants to do. “It will not be pleasant at all.”

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I was thinking the other day, name the PGs who have been the top 1-2 scorer on his team, led his team in assists, is considered a “superstar” and was drafted in the 5 years between 2000-2004.

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Can we watch the Falcons on the computer like we could with the Hawks? Does anybody have a link? HOOK ME UP!

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Good for CP3.

I don’t get the “fire Sund” mantras. Folks, it’s about the ownership, I’m tellin’ ya….

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oops wrong blog

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[...] was inconsistent with the jumpshot, but I still believe he would make a good addition, just for a veteran presence in the locker [...]

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