Atlanta Hawks: Danny Ferry hired as GM

Is Gearon ashamed of his work with the franchise that he never wants to talk about it?

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At least we know what kind of Team Ferry will construct, how they will play, and it is not ISO basketball.

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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba–atlanta-hawks-offer-danny-ferry-gm-job.html

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MC

I`m not saying you are not a good source.
Only validating your source !

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“Buddy Grizzard, if this is (indeed) true (that the Hawks have offered the GM job to Danny Ferry), then the “bust” for the 2012-2013 regular season has already occurred (before it [the regular season] has started).”

High-Sider, please tell us why you arrived at this opinion. I would like to hear what criticisms you have of Ferry that convince you that somebody who was twice a member of the best front office in professional sports (San Antonio) is a sure bust as GM of the Hawks.

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My son and I just talked.

We decided – this is the best Hawk news since;
drafting Al Horford.
*[Horford overshadowed sacking Wdsn]
**(due to replacing Wdsn with LD)

Dang – I`m Happy – Now … git `er done !

Please, Please, Please – don`t mess this up.

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As GM of the Cavs, Ferry surrounded Lebron James with the likes of Sebatian Telfair, Delonte West, Mo Williams, a 34-year-old Antawn Jamison and later a 39-year-old Shaq, eventually forcing James to leave the organization. Forgive me if I don’t get too excited about Ferry coming to ATL.

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H-S

They went to the NBA Finals in his 3rd season;
then the next two seasons:
won 60 games twice !

He has the background, he has the resume.

What ?

You want more of Sund ?

Give it up High-Sider / this is a good day;;;;;
-if `n-
they finish the deal.

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This news story began on Friday without any notice from the AJC. This is disgraceful coverage of Atlanta sports and whoever is responsible should be removed from his or hers job.

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know what you Hawks fans need? Is for the weak ### dude Najeh to stop blogging like he knows whats going on. Maybe after he quits rubbing on 10 year old little boys behinds he will have some knowledge. Go Celtics!

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BNH (Bad News Hawks)

Jamison was 33 when he went to the Cavs;
one yr older than P.Pierce, who is still kickin`.
By the way – Shaq avg 18 & 10 (per 36 min)

Oh yeah – LBJ quit vs the Celts that yr.

I reckon that was Ferry`s fault.

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I`m not gonna defend DF anymore:
Anyone who comes on here today and criticizes
this [attempted hire] … is an Anal Minded Moron !

*(please get this done)*

With all due respect to Ken Strickland.

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I hope that Ferry knows how to sell draft picks. We will need the cash soon.

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So after Najeh detailed all the horrible moves the Cavs made before and after the drafting of LeBron James that destroyed any chance of building a talented roster around him, I wanted to know if Danny Ferry was responsible for any of those moves. Then Sautee posted that Ferry actually had an excellent draft record with CLE, finding late first round gems.

So I did a little research and discovered that most of the horrible moves CLE made before and during the LeBron era were made by Jim Paxson, who now serves as a consultant to the Bulls, where is brother John Paxson is VP of Basketball Operations. Jim Paxson, was Cavs GM from 1999 until April 2005. His tenure there was a commedy of errors as the Cavs recorded a 185-307 record.

1999: Andre Miller (8th); Trajan Langdon (11th)

2000: Jamal Crawford (8th) traded with cash to CHI for 7th pick Chris Mihm

2001: DeSagana Diop (8th); missed on Joe Johnson (10th)

2002: Dajuan Wagner (6th); missed on Amare Stoudamire (9th)

July 30th, 2002, CLE trades Andre Miller and Bryant Stith to LAC for Darius Miles and Harold Jamison. This was after a season in which Miller averaged 16.5 points and 10.8 assists.

2003: LeBron James

2004: Luke Jackson (10th); missed on Al Jefferson (15th), Josh Smith (17th). This would be the last lottery pick of the LeBron James era.

On June 27th, 2005, Danny Ferry was hired as GM by CLE. The 2005 NBA Draft was held at MSG on June 28th, the next day.

2005: No pick, 1997 three team trade among PHX, CLE and DEN in which CLE obtained Wesley Person and Tony Dumas.

In 2005-06, Cleveland went 50-32 and went to the playoffs for the first time in 7 years.

2006: Shannon Brown (25th)

2007: No first round pick. BOS obtained this pick from Cleveland on Feb. 24th, 2005 for Jiri Welsch in one of Jim Paxson’s final acts as GM. Cleveland also owned Toronto’s 2007 first round pick, but traded it to Charlotte on June 23rd, 2004 for Sasha Pavlovic.

2008: J.J. Hickson (19th)

2009: Christian Eyenga (30th)

2010: No pick (traded 30th pick to WAS for Antawn Jamison)

Now that I know the facts, I think Danny Ferry is a brilliant hire. After he stepped down as Cavs GM, San Antonio didn’t hesitate one moment to bring him back into the best front office in professional sports. I wanted the Hawks to get somebody from the SA or OKC front office, and if they reach a contract agreement with Ferry, they will have done it. This may prove even better than hiring Dennis Lindsey or Troy weaver due to the inexperience of those GM prospects. Ferry has served admirably in the pressure cooker that was CLE prior to “The Decision,” and he did a credible job of adding talent despite never making a single lottery pick for CLE.

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“Can you imagine the negotiations/limitations that Gearon/Levenson is trying to put in place should Ferry accept?” – KevinM

Kevin, rumor has it that Ferry preferred the Hawks position over PHI because Hawks owners were willing to give him more autonomy. In PHI, coach Doug Collins is seeking to have final say over the GM they hire. The GM in PHI would basically report to Collins.

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Nice review, Buddy, but Ferry did fall on the sword when LeBron left, so that told you what Cleveland felt about his track record. Oh yeah, they dropped Mike Brown as well. Ferry overlooked the fact that Orlando wasn’t the only East threat. Boston bit him in the arse.

Not against the Ferry hire at all. He will have a different animal to try and wrangle here.

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Jeffery Taylor will be the Hawks pick at #23 if Fab Melo is drafted.

With Boston having pick #21 and #22 no way will the Celtics allow the Hawks to draft Melo.

So Melo with be a Celtics come draft day.

BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE

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From Broussard: “The Atlanta position likley would give Ferry more power and autonomy, which is a critical factor in his decision, sources said.”

I see the word likely, but I will have to see it to believe it. If Sund didn’t have the needed power, who’s fault is that?

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Shamrock, that is as sad of a post as some of crass garbage UGABugkiller, TS, and that moron TrueFalconFan drops on other blogs… You can disagree without being tacky!

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well … not locally … but … ?

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Blodus………no member of the ASG can go public.. They are so hated in this town, nobody believes a word they say. Best use of their time is finding new ownership. Only problem finding new ownership is, that guys with that knd of $ are really smart. I think the Atl fan are stuck with these guys for a long time

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I can’t view this as a positive move since Ferry failed at bringing a credible number 2 to Cleveland. If you can’t build around the best player in the game, how can you build around this?

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I’ll take this hire I feel it’s better step in the right direction

With BK we got Joe and Josh and for the time being J-Chills.
Plus Marvin, Shellhead, and a slew of other busts.

With Sund though We drafted Teague and resigned Zaza plus Horford.
But the list of blunders he’s made could almost be equal to Billy Knight.He resigned Marvin Williams and Mike Bibby(at the time it wasn’t too bad, but it was overpriced). Hired LD(One of the biggest mistakes).

Then he traded away Bibby, Mo Evans, JC2, and our draft pick for only Hinrich(overvalued) and Armstrong in return.

I don’t remember all of Billy Knights blunders off the top of my head, but you could argue sund did a worse job.

Still though have to see how this plays out.

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We did ask ASG to hire within a winning organization when searching for a GM and they did at least I’ll give them that much.

Now keep Josh Smith in place here at home give him the contract he deserves. If that means dealing the other 2 captains to do so although I’m supportive of keeping Al here.

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Ray we also got Jamal Crawford and a solid bench on peanuts last year. He was not the problem.

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AJ, Danny Ferry knew he wanted to be a GM again. He will have been preparing for this draft both in the event that he got a job before the draft, and because a top-flight organization like SA is ALWAYS evaluating players and ready to make a trade to jump in and grab a player they want. See Kawhi Leonard last year.

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THANK YOU ASG!!! For once you made a very smart move, by bringing in someone from a classy, championship organization!! This is the first and ONLY smart move you have made, hopefully this is the start of something big, and maybe he can bring us up to the Spurs level of championship caliber basketball in the next 2 or 3 years, but with this mess of a roster…more likely is it will take him 6 or 7.

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Since the Wizards have Okafor and Nene it probably means JaVale McGee is coming to Atlanta straight up for Al Hoford.

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I still feel as though if Keith Benson actually had a chance he might have been good how good who knows, but do we even have someone here to develop 6′11 above people anyway?

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I was begging for ASG to bring in someone from either the Oklahoma City or San Antonio organizations….Finally shows they are somewhat serious about building a quality, sound organization at every level and most importantly winning a championship. This guy comes from an organization that built a team with Manu Ginobli, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker as their core and surrounded them with the deepest bench in the league and the best coach in the league. I have a feeling one of Ferry’s moves will be to let Larry Drew walk after this year, and bring in a quality coach in the Greg Popovich mold. He can’t fix the roster overnight, but putting the amnesty on Joe and trading away Marvin for anything will be a start.

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The Spurs built a bench with guys like Matt Bonner, Tiago Splitter, and Dejuan Blair. By contrast the Hawks bench last year had Jason Collins, Eric Dampier, and Jerry Stackhouse on it. Do you see the difference between an organization like the Spurs, who win championships….and the Hawks??

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1st unit
J. Teague Joe Johnson Josh Smith Al Horford Zaza Pachulia
2nd unit
K. Hinrich Kevin Murphy* Marvin Williams Ivan Johnson Festus Ezeli*
*draftees
Reserves: Al Thornton/Willie Green; J.Pargo ; slimmer E.Dampier

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*Make sense

Man, Im not only old but im stupid too

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1st unit
Point guard to be named later. J. Teague Joe Johnson ,Josh Smith JaVale McGee

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A GM position is for White Men. Every body know that. Black boys are too dumb to be GM. Thats why Sund F ed up, Hes part black through his cousins best friend uncles pet poodles owner. You black guys dont get it. It was us that brought yall here as slaves. Now play your position, and stay in your lane.

We will hire another white man.

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From High Sider: “How hard it is to acquire and build around a good player if you are picking in the top five of the (NBA) draft?”

I dont know why don’t you ask the Hawks, since they’ve failed everytime… Let’s see for every Tim Duncan and Kevin Durant, there are 3 duds in the top 5 every year. Just ask Sheldon Williams, or Marvin Williams, or how about Darko Milicic?? Secondly, I think your comments on Danny Ferry are a little biased and one-sided.. He wasn’t put into an ideal position when he came in, the Cavs were the laughing stock of the league back then and had never been serious title contenders until Ferry got there. Not saying he single-handedly turned that organization around, but in did stabilize it and turn it into an annual title contender every year, most years the Cavs were the #1 seed and routinely won around 55-60 games a year. Yes they had LeBron, but stability was also added by an underrated coach in Mike Brown and LeBron’s help wasn’t as feeble as you make it out to be. They played their roles perfectly, similar to last year’s Bulls team. They had Zydranus Ilgaskus in the middle, Anderson Varajeo, all-star guard Mo Williams, Shaquille O’Neal (a little after his prime, but still), Anthony Parker, Leon Powe, and former All-Star Antawn Jamison. I mean Lebron James by himself didn’t win 60 something games by himself, Ferry brought in some good talent….unprecedented talent for Cleveland. And he gets double bonus points because he brought in that much talent to Cleveland, a city that NOBODY wants to play in. He will face a similar predicament in Atlanta, because Atlanta is not a hot spot for NBA players either.

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If you guys keep asking for Al hoefart to be traded I will also ask that we trade Josh Smoove because I want to give his position to Al.

I found a rubber in my rectum, does anybody know who it belongs to so I can return it ?

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Grandad:

McGee doesn’t play for the Wizards anymore. He was traded to the Nuggets back in March.

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For the record the Cavaliers went 272-138 under Ferry, and who doesn’t want this guy in Atlanta??

Secondly, after that feat with Cleveland he is coming from the Spurs organization who finished with the #1 seed this year, was arguably the best team in the league entering the playoffs, as they went 50-16.

So lets see the last 4 years all his teams have been #1 seeds…

08-09 Cleveland #1 seed
09-10 Cleveland #1 seed
10-11 San Antonio #1 seed
11-12 San Antonio #1 seed

All I’m saying is this guy is around championship organizations, and he knows what it takes to build lasting, dynamic teams. A guy doesn’t spend time with teams that go to the NBA Finals and earn #1 seeds and not know what he is doing…Championship basketball coming to Atlanta with Danny Ferry!!!

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Ditch~Weed

I`m inviting you to the draft party.

I`ll be looking forward to mtg you.

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Non of you guys smoke as much weed as I do.

I Smoke weed every day.

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But I think McGee’s a free agent now.

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Ditch~Weed

You do understand, McGhee is with Denver now. – right -

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Hopefully Ferry realizes that it’s okay to take a few steps back to build a contender in the long run.

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Well we have to make room for JaVale and the best way to do that is to trade Al, who is making 12-14 million dollars a year to produce 12pts 8 rebs and fight with his teammates about playing Josh’s position of power forward.

That will be a non issue with JaVale. and this should also free up enough money to resign Josh. Thats a nice from court with JJ, Josh and Javale. …. Damn that 3 Jays. call it J ^ 3

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Please tell me what top 5 picks Danny Ferry has selected in his career. Hint, I listed every first round draft pick of Ferry’s 5-year career as CLE GM in a previous post.

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@Monger You should stop talking. You have said some really dumb things. Like really really dumb.Geez!

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Ditch~Weed

You do understand, McGhee is with Denver now. – right – but I do know he can be had easily. the guy averages 3.1 block. He and Josh will shut down the paint. Then all we need is a point guard.

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Listen everyone. T.ruth S.erum is on line today. We all neded to send an email
to Michael Cuningham by using the box at the bottom of the comment box.
If we do this everytime he does this we cam keep him off the blog.

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How nice for me to come home from the funeral of my best friend’s mother (whom I knew from the age of 16) and find that our troll has posted as me with a reference to Jerry Sandusky. And even worse, he (T-s) is spouting racist nonsense in my name.

Lotta class there, T-s. Just what I needed at this time.

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~yawn~ Wake me when the Hawks have new ownership..

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If the Hawks are serious about Danny Ferry then they were stupid to extend the contract of LD. They should allow the GM to hire his own coach instead of being stuck with a marginal coach for another year.

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SWEET CHRISTMAS!!!

No problem with the hire, I see most as predicted are against it….I’ll wait a few years before rendering judgement….Truly believe that no matter the Hawks hired this blog would be in typical complaining mode….and thats a guy thats not a current GM, Thunder GM etc have no reason to leave.

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You idiots in Atlanta would complain if they hired Jerry West as GM and Phil Jackson as coach. There’s a reason no free agent worth a s$&@ will come to Atlanta and it’s not the owners. It’ idiot fans and a bush league newspaper. Not to mention idiots like John Kincade on the radio.

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@Buddy Grizzard

“LMAO that you bring up John Kuester, who was hired by a black GM, Joe Dumars.

“…overrates the accomplishments of white executives such as Sam Presti, R.C. Buford, etc.”

Yeah 4 championships for SA… totally overrated organization. Seriously High-Sider, you are the dumbest person I have ever had a conversation with. Seriously. You’re dumb as a box of rocks.” – Buddy Grizzard

No matter how hard you try to “pump up” or “hype up” the supposedly great decision-making skills of your favorite (white) executives, the bottom line is that the NBA is a player-driven or players’ league. Executives and head coaches don’t win NBA championships; players do. The most common denominator in your “4 championships for SA” example is that all four Spurs championship teams included the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NBA Draft and future HOFer, Tim Duncan. The NCAA Tournament champion is not necessarily the best team in college basketball but is most often the “hottest” team in college basketball. The NBA playoff series system/format/set-up is one of the best competitive selection processes, if not the best competitive selection process, in selecting a basketball championship team. Except for the NBA players themselves, positions such as head coaches, general managers, asst. general managers, directors of player personnel, asst. directors of player personnel, athletic trainers, team television announcers and analysts, team beat writers, team statisticians, journalists, team mascots, cheerleaders, etc. are positions I would consider ancillary or slightly above ancillary. Keep in the mind, the players are “at the center of the center.” The NBA and other professional sports should be about the players first and foremost. They (the NBA players) are “the engine that makes the car (NBA) go.” The NBA players are putting in the most work (labor) and, I would argue, are releasing the most body fluids (e.g., blood, sweat and tears). And what color are most of these NBA players especially the superstars? That’s right; they’re black. But what I see from you, Buddy Grizzard, and your “minions” is a constant fascination, fixation, preoccupation and obsession with white executives and their supposed, often inflated and embellished, decision-making prowess. I’m “calling you to the carpet” and you don’t like it. Do I constantly and excessively discuss Jamal Crawford? Yes, I do but at least I am being honest. How the hell can you (Buddy Grizzard) and Grandad tell me to take race out of the equation when race permeates every fabric of American life – damn that. You know I am telling the truth and, on the cool, I probably help keep this blog interesting. Am I provocative – yes! Am I inflammatory – yes! But that’s me. I respect your opinion when warranted and I ask that you respect my opinion when warranted. I have no ill feelings toward(s) you (Buddy Grizzard) or Grandad. Actually, I’m somewhat amused.

P.S. NBA players should almost always get more credit for winning (and, perhaps, losing) than (NBA) head coaches and executives.

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Blodus
June 24th, 2012
4:51 pm

Is Gearon ashamed of his work with the franchise that he never wants to talk about it?
_______________________

He should be (ashamed), which means he probably isn’t.

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JSS
June 24th, 2012
5:51 pm

Shamrock, that is as sad of a post as some of crass garbage UGABugkiller, TS, and that moron TrueFalconFan drops on other blogs… You can disagree without being tacky!
_____________________

No he can’t. He made his miserable presence felt in similar fashion here during the Hawks-Celtics series a few weeks back. Was hoping we’d seen the last of him with Boston’s collapse against Miami. No such luck.

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Ray
June 24th, 2012
7:23 pm

Well I take it people stole other people’s name handles. They really should do something about that.
_____________________

Yeah, they SHOULD, but don’t count on it. They also SHOULD fix their idiotic filters, which block perfectly legitimate posts while allowing crap like steven a smith’s 7:00 p.m. post to slip through.

Better not count on that either.

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what do y’all think about dominique wilkins as gm?

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“Yeah, all No. 1 (playoff) seeds and no championship – not even an NBA Finals appearance. Can you say “underachievement”? I can.”

If a GM puts the pieces in place for a team to earn the #1 seed, I’d say he’s done his job. Just because players underachieve, does not mean that management did. Unless we’re talking about a player / GM, and I don’t think there’s ever been one of those.

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Sautee

cle only had the 1st seed due to lebron, the best player since Jordan..Once he left Cle won less than 20 games right?….

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Buddy I think I said as much in my initial post on this topic. I also specificaly suggested that they may not have held the same workouts as the Hawks. These candidates can only visit so many teams. The Spurs likely interviewed a few guys during the combine and certainly have hours of film on the various players, but I doubt that their workout schedule is comparable to the Hawks (in terms of 1st round candidates).

Don’t be surprised if Ferry’s contract is effective July 1st. There is precedent in the league for a new GM taking over in time for free agency but allowing the previous GM to run the draft. Not to mention that the ASG probably has no desire for there to be any overlap between GMs (or said differently, no desire to pay two GMs even for a week or so).

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Ferry worst move was not moving hickson for amare, Lebron only needed one solid option…..this would be the worst hire ever…

Yeah? In that case, Miami could have done fine with just Bosh and Lebron, right? Or just Lebron and Wade? I mean, he only needed one solid option. News flash – Miami almost bought it against Boston as Lebron’s “one solid option” (Wade) never really showed up. Once Bosh was back in, the tide began to turn. Also, if you think the Heat beat the Thunder without Bosh, you’re crazy.

BTW, did you watch the Knicks any this past season? Amare isn’t the player he used to be, and doesn’t fit with everybody. Dude flamed out for the Knicks and never played to even his reduced potential when put on the floor with Carmelo Anthony.

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Don’t be surprised if Ferry’s contract is effective July 1st. There is precedent in the league for a new GM taking over in time for free agency but allowing the previous GM to run the draft.Not to mention that the ASG probably has no desire for there to be any overlap between GMs (or said differently, no desire to pay two GMs even for a week or so).

Makes a lot of sense. And the initial “non-confirmation/decline to comment” is basically perfect proof that serious talks are going on. It’s the ASG’s M.O. for sure. Either that or outright denial…

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I like this potential move. Hope it happens. Ferry can do a good job here. Don’t understand the instant negative reaction by some.

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Word is that Ferry prefers a job where he has more autonomy. They say he has less of a chance with that if he goes to the Sixers, as he would possibly have to give way to Doug Collins, who is apparently looking to have such autonomy himself.

Umm…..considering the way things have been run here since the ASG bought the team, I’m not sure Ferry’s autonomous desires are any more likely to come to fruition in the ATL.

But more than that, you have to wonder about the money aspect. The ASG isn’t known for paying average dollar for the GM or HC spots….and there’s where we may be disappointed yet again.

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“Executives and head coaches don’t win NBA championships; players do. ”

Obviously you are ignorant of the history of the league. In 1956, Red Auerbach traded Ed MCCauley and Cliff Hagan for the rights to draft Bill Russell. Eleven Championships in 13 years later, it was the best trade in the history of American sports (Babe Ruth never won 11 World Series). Without that move, would Boston have had their dynasty?

THAT was an executive making a championship winning move.

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BTW, I wouldn’t get too excited about Ferry’s possible authority. What has been written suggests that he would have more “power” with the Hawks than with the 76ers. That does NOT mean that he will have more power than Sund. If Doug Collins would ultimately have the last say in basketball operations in Philly, then that means the GM is operating in 3rd place. Collins decides the basketball move and you best believe that the owner decides the financial moves. Collins is NOT using amnesty on Elton Brand (as an example) without approval from the owner who must write a big check. With the Hawks, Ferry knows that he doesn’t have to answer to LD (stop laughing). But that does NOT mean that Gearon still won’t be making strategy decisions as both the owner and Head of Basketball Operations. Ferry may be in a distant 2nd place in terms of power… better than what he would have in Philly but still not optimal. My hope (to reiterate a pointI made when the rumors first broke) is that as an experienced GM, he knows the type of authority he needs to be successful and that he will negotiate and document that authority clearly in his contract (not that the ASG have always been good about signing clearly worded contracts).

Obviously, I don’t know. But I do know that no one should reach the conclusion that because Ferry may have a little more power here than in Philly, that the ASG has decided to relinquish some important authority to the new GM (e.g., hiring/firing the head coach).

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Astro Joe ,

I see you and I are very much on the same page. Nicely written…better than what I put down…

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I did a little background work:

The next year, the Danny Ferry and the rest of the front office basically decided that they had to prepare this team to take down the Magic. They acquired Shaquille O’Neal from the Suns and he played pretty well, to be honest. He battled some injuries, but was overall still a solid player (18 points and 10 rebounds per 36 minute). The Cavs also managed to trade for Antawn Jamison for essentially nothing. They sent a first round pick and Ilgauskas’ expiring contract to Washington and later re-signed Big Z once he got bought out. Jamison was intended to stretch the floor against Orlando and open up the paint for LeBron. Shaq was meant to be a big body that could at least slow down Dwight Howard. The Cavaliers never refused to give up JJ Hickson for Amare Stoudemire. That just didn’t happen. The Suns wanted more for Amare, but I digress. The series of moves looked good at the time and nearly every expert on ESPN or wherever else picked the Cavaliers to win the 2010 title. Unfortunately, they ran into a buzz saw against the Boston Celtics with a rejuvenated Kevin Garnett and never even got another shot at the Magic. Ultimately, the biggest flaw in Ferry’s tenure was his overlooking of the Celtics. He incorrectly assumed that the Magic were the only real resistance for the Cavs to get to the Finals in 2010 and they got burned for it.

-Cleveland Plain Dealer-

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IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME! GO HAWKS!

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http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/arkanthill/nba/shaq_danny_ferry.jpg

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“…And that was a good thing I remember when it was announced Jamal would come here and I remember a lot of Golden St. fans breathing sighs of relief and also mocking us telling us that we’d be sorry, and they were correct…” – Ray @6:43pm dated 6/24/2012

And so they (GSW fans) were correct, huh? In Jamal Crawford’s first year with the Hawks, he (Crawford) averaged 18.0ppg off the bench (second behind Hawks scoring leader, Joe Johnson), won the Sixth Man of the Year Award for the 2009-2010 regular season, scored 20+ points off the bench in (approximately) 32 regular season games, converted nine (9) four point plays which is a regular season record, and helped the Hawks finish the regular season with the 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and a win-loss record of 53-29; the Hawks had not won 50+ games (in an 82-game season) since, I believe, the 1997-1998 regular season. And so you’re telling me that (the) Hawks fans should be sorry for that (Jamal Crawford performance)? Yeah, right (dripping with sarcasm).

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[...] The Atlanta Hawks have confirmed the reports, releasing a statement that says they have “reached out” to Ferry and are engaged in conversations in regards to the team’s basketball operations, writes Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. [...]

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There is a difference between autonomy and power.

D.Ferry – might have autonomy;
meaning he can act independently from the owners.
exp – He don`t have to ask before he does somethin`;
or at least every time he does somethin.
An Athletic Director at a Univ has autonomy from the
President of the Univ.
Still the Univ Pres has the Power.
*(even still the Univ Pres must answer to someone)

The Owners have the Power:
*(ultimately they answer to someone)
However by definition, power gives one authority over others.
*(the owners maintain their authority)

Let us hope;
the ASG give DF ‘ autonomy ” – which is what DF is most likely
negotiating for at this point.

-let`s all pull for Danny boy to win the negotiations-

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Danny Ferry did not build the Spurs…he did little with the Cavs. Did so little that the second best player on the team behind LeBron was Anderson Varajou. He is the right “type” to please Atlanta fans though…team will be beyond garbage in no time flat.

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2013 Brooklyn Nets

D William, D12, Josh

True Rumor.

This why Hawks must traded Josh ASAP.

Tyreke and #5 for Josh and #23

Teague, Tyreke, Joe, Horford, Andre Drummond.

Andre would really really really really look nice in a Hawks uniform.

BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE
BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE

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@Big Ray

“…Didn’t the Cavs make the Finals? Was that once or twice? Winning them is the ultimate success. But getting there is anything but a bust or a failure. And last I looked, the Hawks couldn’t come close to getting through the 2nd round of the playoffs…” – Big Ray @9:04pm dated 6/24/2012

The Cavs made the NBA Finals in ‘07 (lost) and the Heat made the NBA Finals in ‘11 (lost) and ‘12 (won). Those NBA Finals appearances (’07, ‘11 and ‘12) were primarily and mostly because of LeBron James and not Danny Ferry. Let’s keep it real (on this blog).

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Reading this AJC blog of mostly cheap shots by cheap critics which equals cheap entertainment is sort of sick! Which is why I roll in the asile while laughing out loud! Let’s Go Hawks! Hire Danny Ferry so we sickos can continue to be entertained by the cheap shots.

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@Grandad

“…If I were to select Yes as my answer to your query;
‘`Am I provocative ?`’
then I would also be remiss were I not to select ‘`anger`’
as to the reaction to your provocation.

If that is your intent, then what purpose do you serve ?” – Grandad @10:06pm dated 6/24/2012

I post comments to opine and cause others to think, contemplate, laugh, respond, reflect, genuflect (just kidding) and opine as well. This posting of comments aka blogging is (for me) a form of entertainment and education – education in the sense of imparting knowledge. I like to think [that] I am, at times, providing a unique perspective like everyone else.

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I knew Grandad would like this hire. Great minds think alike!

To those of you who hate it: Stick to video games, this is grown folks business.

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GT4Life (the Original)

June 24th, 2012
10:10 pm

Any trade that keeps Joe Johnson and gets rid of Josh is stupid…get Danny Ferry as a GM and it will come true though.

Joe Johnson most likely will be amnestied, if not, he can still get you 20pts per game…HELLO!!!

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tjhook

June 24th, 2012
6:32 pm

A lot of people want to slam Sund but he was not the problem. The only questionable deal he had was resigning Marvin Williams over Josh Childress (Joe Johnson and Bibby were owner and coach-driven deals). Otherwise, he helped improved a team that had a shaky coach in Larry Drew. Ferry – I judge him by the Cavs history more than the Spurs. The Spurs is all Popovich.

*******************

OK

Then in Ferry’s 5 year tenure with the Cavs:

- they made the playoffs all 5 years
- got to at least the EC Semis 3 years
- got to the EC Finals one year
- got to the NBA Finals one year

( and in one of those years in which they only made it to the EC Semis ( Lebron’s last year ), they won 61 games ( could’ve won more if they played the starters more minutes in the final games ) and had the best record in the league. Only an alleged internal scandal brewing in Cleveland brought that team down.

If Sund gets credit for the Jamal Crawford trade, then Ferry must get credit for the Mo Williams trade, because it did elevate that team to elite status, even if they didn’t win a championship. Even the Shaq trade was a good move, seeing that they got him for Sasha Pavlovic, an aging Ben Wallace, and a 2nd round pick.

There was never any talk of “liking his core” or “our bench was the best in the league” or any of that junk. Dan Gilbert simply gave Ferry the leeway to construct the best possible team he saw fit. Even after reaching the NBA Finals, that team didn’t stand pat. They were always looking to improve.

Had Ferry been willing to give up who seemed like a real nice player in JJ Hickson for Amare, that may have been a game changer in Cleveland in that 2010 season. That means that there is no trade for Antwan Jamison, and Big Z and Hickson goes to Phoenix ( as fools gold ). Cleveland should’ve given up just about anything outside of Lebron and Shaq to get Amare.

Hopefully if he comes here, he can look at this roster and see what we need. And if he needs to make a move involving ANYBODY on this team to improve us, let’s hope that Gearon stays out of his way and just sign the damn check.

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Hire Ferry and let him do what the hell it takes to win..give him complete control….and I’ll remove the x-in front of hawkfan.

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*[shoud]

Okay – logically – why is there an ” L ” in [should] anyway

So I either misspelled *[shoud] or [shoud] was a typo.

Either way, whomever invented the word:
shoud have spelled it correctly.

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If Ferry wants to trade Josh Smith + Marvin Williams for Pau Gasol and their next available 1st round pick to be traded . . . you let him do it

If Ferry wants to trade Joe Johnson + a future pick for Carmelo Anthony . . . you let him do it

If Ferry wants to trade Al Horford a top 5 pick and a starter quality player . . . you let him do it.

If he wants to fire ( or promote ) Larry Drew, and bring in a new coach . . . you let him do it.

Cause as of right now, this team as constructed cannot take out the Miami Heat, or maybe not even Boston or Indiana or even Philly, who handled us easily this year.

When Ferry was with the Cavs, he understood who he had to beat, and reconstructed that team almost on a yearly basis to achieve that goal. The shooters were brought in to beat Detroit. Shaq was brought in to beat Orlando. And had Antwan Jamison played anywhere near how he played in Washington, he was brought in to beat Boston and/or Orlando, by providing them with a scoring/stretch PF.

That dude didn’t stand pat, and act like everything was OK, even when their win total exceeded 60 games.

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( edit )

If Ferry wants to trade Al Horford for a top 5 pick and a starter quality player . . . you let him do it.

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“And what color are most of these NBA players especially the superstars? That’s right; they’re black. But what I see from you, Buddy Grizzard, and your “minions” is a constant fascination, fixation, preoccupation and obsession with white executives and their supposed, often inflated and embellished, decision-making prowess.”

A significant portion of NBA fandom, myself included, is more interested in the NBA Draft than the NBA Championship. That’s because the process of building teams is fascinating. This isn’t pickup backetball where LeBron and Kobe make one from the top of the key and then take turns picking players. This is an industry where billionaire owners vie against each other to assemble the best front office talent in hopes of ensuring themselves of the best on-court talent.

So whether the GM is black, white or yellow, the goal is the same, to assemble a championship roster. I give Billy Knight credit for his successes (drafting Josh, trading for Joe) and condemn him for his failures (drafting Marvin) without respect to the pigmentation of his skin. I likewise base my opinions of Sund and any other GM on RESULTS not race. But you seem to be suggesting that I gloss over the accomplishments of the players and emphasize the actions of front office personnel because of the predominant skin colors. Are you suggesting that I’m a racist? Because, as an anti-racist activist in Atlanta for a number of years, let me tell you High-Sider, it’s very obvious that you hate white people.

http://www.hoopinionblog.com/2012/05/open-letter-to-josh-smith.html

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Enter your comments here

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BIG DOG / steven a. smith / all yawl:

Hopefully everyone knows that alot of us had our ID jacked
earlier this eve.

So, if someone has their drawers in a pinch
over sumthin` I said;
make sure it was really me – just ask – if `n you can`t figure it out.

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*just think blackfrican americans are better athletes aren’t suited to thinking.

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If Danny Ferry becomes the Hawks new GM, look for Josh Smith to be moved/dealt.

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Trade Josh before he walks and the Hawks get nothing.

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please trade our mvp Josh smith so we can give his position to mediocre Al horford… we like losing.

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http://espn.go.com/nba/team/_/name/atl/atlanta-hawks

Thorpe: Should Hawks deal Horford for No. 2 pick? Insider

As he continues to look at the top draft needs for NBA teams, David Thorpe writes that the Atlanta Hawks should think about trading Al Horford for the No. 2 pick, and that the Indiana Pacers should take a long look at Baylor’s Quincy Miller.

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This team has already proven it is a better team without Al horford. That was proven last season. So trading Al will only make us better than we were last year with out him. We should get a lot for his 12mil dollars.

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I got to be the stupidest mother fcker that ever blog. I put my foot in my mouth so much they call me leather lips.WTF

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1
NBA Rumors: Atlanta Hawks Trade Al Horford for No. 2 Pick?
Jun 23rd, 2012 at 6:04 pm by David MenzeHawks
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ESPN.com Insider David Thorpe sees a scenario in which the Atlanta Hawks trade their all-star center Al Horford to the Charlotte Bobcats for the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft on June 28.

In the article, Thorpe discusses the notion that Horford isn’t a true center and would actually be best utilized as a power forward — reminiscent to his Gator days when he helped the University of Florida win back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2006-07 alongside current Chicago Bull Joakim Noah — and how Horford’s contract is the most cap-friendly in the trade market out of all the other tenured Hawks.

If Atlanta did trade away Horford, Thorpe notes the Hawks would then most likely select Thomas Robinson with the No. 2 pick, essentially replacing the all-star

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Hawks co-owner says team will not trade Josh Smith …
probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/…/hawks-co-owner-says-team-will-n…

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@Buddy Grizzard

“…But you seem to be suggesting that I gloss over the accomplishments of the players and emphasize the actions of front office personnel because of the predominant skin colors. Are you suggesting that I’m a racist? Because, as an anti-racist activist in Atlanta for a number of years, let me tell you High-Sider, it’s very obvious that you hate white people.” – Buddy Grizzard @11:21pm dated 6/24/2012

Buddy Grizzard, you have called for the firing of LD continuously on this blog for his head coach decision-making but, when it comes to Rick Sund and his decision-making, you want to give him Executive of the Year consideration at the beginning of the season. This past year Rick Sund acquired Jerry Stackhouse, Vladimir Radmanovic, Tracy McGrady, Jason Collins, Erick Dampier, Jannero Pargo and Willie Green to fill out the Hawks roster/bench. You criticized and complained about Collins, Green, Pargo, Radmanovic, McGrady, etc but where is the criticism for the individual (Rick Sund) responsible for assembling that group of players? You continuously rave about Hinrich’s +/- statistics in the playoffs and his supposedly great defensive performance on Rajon Rondo particularly in Game 3 but Jamal Crawford can’t get any credit from you for his regular season and post season contributions as a team member of the Hawks. How well did Hinrich defend Rondo in Games 1,4,5 and 6 vs. the Boston Celtics in 2012 playoffs? You just talk about Hinrich’s Game 3 performance. Hinrich is supposed to be a modest double figure scorer but he only averaged 6.6ppg in the 2011-2012 regular season and 5.7ppg in the 2012 post season. Where is the criticism of Hinrich’s (lack of) offense? I wouldn’t say that you are (a) racist but I do see racial bias in your opinions, criticisms, perspectives and analyses? I don’t hate white people but I do hate the incessant tricks, the racial injustice, the racial disparities, the unlevel playing field and the complete dismissal of the truth out of which I speak with respect to racial discrimination, racial bias, racial injustice and/or racial disparity. You also say that Pachulia is the best backup center in the (NBA) league. Pachulia is a decent player but I would take Javale McGee, Marcus Camby, Samuel Dalembert, Omer Asik and others over Zaza Pachulia.

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David Thorpe – ESPN insider….what does that mean? That he has access to the cafeteria to get some of Broussard’s info?

Thorpe just told us Josh Smith had a terrible contract….what a clown.
He also told us that Smith or Horford was only worth a high draft pick.

Yes, I will be waiting for the next breaking analysis of this insider.

And for those who think we may have turned the corner in good moves….
“Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. told The Associated Press last month he hoped the 61-year-old Sund would continue as general manager.”

Man, how much does it cost to buy to buffoon out? Is this Don Waddell the sequel? You have to quit to get away from the ASG.

Go back to your art museum visits and get out of the basketball business….sheesh.

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@Chris_Broussard
Hawks offer Danny Ferry a 6-year deal to become their GM, sources say. That’s strongest indication yet the club is no longer for sale.

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EL Mongo

June 25th, 2012
12:06 am

1
NBA Rumors: Atlanta Hawks Trade Al Horford for No. 2 Pick?
Jun 23rd, 2012 at 6:04 pm by David MenzeHawks
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ESPN.com Insider David Thorpe sees a scenario in which the Atlanta Hawks trade their all-star center Al Horford to the Charlotte Bobcats for the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft on June 28.

In the article, Thorpe discusses the notion that Horford isn’t a true center and would actually be best utilized as a power forward — reminiscent to his Gator days when he helped the University of Florida win back-to-back NCAA Championships in 2006-07 alongside current Chicago Bull Joakim Noah — and how Horford’s contract is the most cap-friendly in the trade market out of all the other tenured Hawks.

If Atlanta did trade away Horford, Thorpe notes the Hawks would then most likely select Thomas Robinson with the No. 2 pick, essentially replacing the all-star

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I pull the trigger on that trade. in Fact anything we can get for Al has to be an improvement. Al just doesnt fit any more. This team played so much better with out him. Al’s attitude about Josh and playing his position is part of the problem that alienates him from the other players. That and his limited skills.

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yeah, Thats right Javale is with the nuggets but is still easy to acquire and a easy up grade over Al. we can target and get McGee with the 12.5Mil Al makes then draft a point and move teague to the 2 since he cant play the 1.

New point
Teague
JJ
Smoove
J McGee.

Or trade Hinrich and our draft pick and move up to get the best point in the draft

Best point in the draft
Teague or Hinrich
JJ
Smoove
JaVale McGee

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If, the Hawks did trade for Charlotte’s #2 pick, I could see them drafting Beal over Robinson or Drummond, now after seeing the interviews and scouting reports. Beal seems to have the explosiveness that Wade had in his first years in the league. He’s not the leader that Wade is, but who is? A line up of Teague – Beal – Joe – Josh – Zaza is very serviceable, with enough cap space left over to sign a free agent big to back up Zaza. Davis, MKG, and Beal are the three superstars in this draft. Davis is a sure bet. And Beal and MKG are superstars in the right system. Coming in as a fourth option, Beal would be in the right system to run the floor with Teague and Josh with Joe stopping at the 3 pt line for the kick out transition spacing.

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El Mongo

June 24th, 2012
11:37 pm

You can Pimp anybody statistics if you take a capsule of their best minutes and project it across 40 minutes.

But let’s get real

What you do night in and night out is what matters. Not how you misuse stats to give a false impression. Here is what is real about Al. He is very very limited in creating shots and must be set up with the pick and roll, bump with a screen or have a play run to get him to a certain spot to get a shot off. He is mechanical predictable and limited in what he can do offensively without slowing down the offense. He is not in Josh is league talent wise, smart wise, assist wise or the ability to score multiple ways as Josh does.

Nobody has to set Josh up and Josh doesn’t need the pick and roll nor a screen. Josh can take you off the dribble, left hand, right hand at the basket, cutting, on the fly, cross over. face up, step back short hook, whatever. Josh has lots of offensive tools. Al doesn’t. Get real Al has a face up shot from 12-17 ft back that’s it. That’s why Al can’t score or command a double team like Josh.

Don’t mask the truth with phony potential and trumped up stats. The only stats that matter is what you do night in night out.

Al has peaked. When he came out of college he was the most nba ready player in the draft, but that was 6 years ago and Al has now peaked. Whereas players Like Josh Smith who came straight out of high School is maturing as a person, has learn the NBA game and is now taking his game upwards.

This is who Al is

College? 12pts game
Pros? 12pts game
Allstar 05 pts game
Playoffs? 11pts game (42 games)

That’s Al and that’s what you get from Al. You put that with his unwillingness to play defense, his lack of off season work regiment. His non team infighting about wanting to play Josh’s position, his uncanny for disappearing in the playoffs and his ability to injure himself makes Al a player to be traded.

This was a much better team without Al and every player accepted his role for the better of the team. No one (or his father) stir up trouble and disharmony about playing another players position. The focus was on winning.

The hawk’s chemistry is not as good with Al on the team as without him. His 12pts 8rbs was easily absorbed by Ivan and or zaza.

Bottom line? Josh showed great leadership and was this season’s Hawks MVP over JJ.This is Josh’s team and the player to build around. If the hawks are going to get better Al has got to go.

**************************

LOL . . that player you described sounded more like Lebron James, than Josh Smith.

And now, here comes the truth . .

Josh Smith’s Top 5 offensive possessions

- Spot up jumper . . 25.3% of possessions . . . shot 36% FG
- Post up . . . . . . . 19.9% . . . 39% FG
- Isolation . . . . . . . 14% . . . . 38.7% FG
- Transition . . . . . . 13.1% . . . 70.5% FG
- Cut to basket . . . . 9.1% . . . 67% FG

Al Horford’s Top 5 offensive possessions

- Post up . . . . . . 19.6% of total possessions . . . 59.3% FG
- Spot up . . . . . . 17.4% . . . . 51.3% FG
- Pick/Roll Man . .14.5% . . . . 36.4% FG
- Cut to Basket . .14% . . . . . .66.7% FG
- Transition . . . . . 9.5% . . . . .81.8% FG

Josh Smith’s main contribution to the Hawks is on the defensive end. And while his raw offensive numbers were damn good last year, he was also highly inefficient . . . mainly because of all the jumpshots and the turnovers in transition.

It’s funny that when we needed someone to step up in Game 6 in Boston, neither Joe Johnson nor Josh Smith did it. Guess who did?

Mr. Roboto.

Damn near won the game by himself.

If this team comes back as is, Larry Drew would be a fool to give all of those jumpshots to Josh Smith, like he did last year. What we need, is for him to be in the 20% usage range with his post ups, and see those Spot Up jumpers decrease to around 12%.

And both guys need to hit the offensive boards more.

LMAO @ that description of Josh Smith’s offensive game though. Wow. He can’t even do all of that on a video game, let alone real life.

What’s next? Joe Johnson has Russell Westbrook-like quickness and athleticism?

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Last year = this past season ( 2011 – 12 )

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Ferry needs to get in place soon. We do not want two lame-ducks likely to be working for other organizations soon (Sund and Pendercrap) making draft picks for the Hawks.

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The only teams out of the top ten in the lottery that I think would trade for Josh, since he’s in the last year of his contract, are Golden State and Detroit. Mainly because both teams would ask the Hawks to take back contracts they don’t want. Houston, LA, Philly, Dallas, Boston, and Brooklyn are your likely trade targets for Josh.

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I agree with the consensus on blog…the Ferry hiring would be a good move…if it happens.

It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out…nothing is a given when comes to the ASG.

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“vava74

June 25th, 2012
6:54 am
The Ferry signing has all the makings of a ASG smoke-screen.

They pretend that they are making a move to improve the franchise and then will give the GM spot to Pritchard.

I’ll give it an 85% chance that I am right.”

Vava, you change Pritchard to Pendergraft and I’m right there with you. I am still shocked the ASG has phone numbers of any other organization. So far, they have done NOTHING to show they have basketball knowledge. Oh, did I mention their marketing is a bit undersired as well?

The only thing they have done right is tie Nique up to this organization.

northcyde, where I am with Josh / Al……should Al get moved, and IMO the odds are 95% it ain’t happenin’, if Josh got back to his PF ways, I would sign off on that. But you know as much as I know that now Josh is gaining more confidence in his jumper, there is no way he goes back to what made him a terrific player.

Yes, he’s a stat stuffer, but his blocked shots have gone down with his discipline. So what I see from a suburbs is…..

I won’t miss one Josh jumper should they decide to move him. I won’t miss one Josh turnover bringing the ball up the court. Both of those happen 75% of the time Josh is on the court, so I can say, yes, send him off where he can grow as a jumpshooter elsewhere.

We can’t possbily come back with the same roster this year, can we?

Plain and simple, if you can’t win your own division, gut the roster and start over. For now, Sund is already retired and no moves are going to be made. We all know it.

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With a new GM I think that we should blow up the core and start rebuilding the team. What do you all think of the following suggestions?

If we trade Al for the #2 pick we should then draft Kidd-Gilchrist and we should also try to trade Williams to Cleveland for thier #24 pick. With the #23 &#24 picks we should draft two of the following players: Fab Melo, J, Taylor, or Andrew Nicholson and then draft either Sims or Sacre with the #45 pick. With freeing up the money from the Hofford and Smith trades we should look at getting Sessions and one of the following: Nick Young, Jamal Crawford, or Shannon Brown in free agency.

New Starting Line up:
PG – Session
SG – J. Johnson
SF – Kidd-Gilchrist
PF – Smith
C – Melo or Zaza

Bench:
PG- Teague
SG – Young, Crawford, or Brown and Lightly
Forwards – J. Taylor, A. Nicholson, Benson
Centers – Melo or Zaza, Sims or Scare (#45 draft pick)

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why cant we just tank the hole season trade away every one blow up the team same with the braves

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trade away every one blow up the team

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KevinM…I think Sacramento has 0% chance of re-signing Josh if they traded for him. Houston would be a perfect fit, but I think they have other players in mind first. In a pre-draft trade, there doesn’t seem to be many options.

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All we need is JERRY SLOAN, not to blow up anything.

Obviously now that Lebron “got it”, things will be much more difficult going forward, however, that is not a reason to simply lay down and feel like mediocrity is good like the ASG does.

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KevinM,

The “new” Lebron is here to stay for the next 5/6 years, so, what is the purpose of rebuilding from scratch if after that journey into the desert you will still have a dominant Lebron in front of you?

Lebron playing from the low and high posts like he did to close the finals rather than from the perimeter is a whole new animal.

He does not even need Wade to win now (of course it helps but he can replace Wade for any top grade SG and the results will be very similar).

Also, all veteran free agents will now line up begging to play for a ring with him for the veteran’s minimum.

Blowing up is ZERO fun.

The major change we need is on the bench.

Josh (and even JJ) have been coached only by limited fools. Woody/LD (and Dantoni) are guys who are unable to mold and find correct roles for their players and all the crappy habits that these two guys have come out of absent or bad coaching ministered by them.

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[...] Atlanta Hawks confirmed that they are in talks with Danny Ferry about taking over their GM spot. From the AJC: The Hawks confirmed they are in discussions with [...]

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Najeh,

If he can blow up this team, find a superstar, and reconstruct it into a true contender, I will be thrilled..

Not asking for much, are you I’m surprised you didn’t mention a championship too before his contract is up

Ken S,

Hope you’re doing well.

Does anyone think there’s a top 10 team in this yrs draft that would trade their pick for Josh Smith?.

Think about it this way. If you had a top 10 pick, would you trade it for Josh Smith who only has one year left on his deal, and more than likely will not resign with you?

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News from orlandopinstripedpost.com;

The Orlando Magic have fired assistant General Manager Dave Twardzik and six members of the team’s scouting department, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Rob Hennigan, the team’s new GM, made these decisions his first after joining the Magic on Wednesday.

Hennigan also dismissed advance scout Al Walker, pro scout Bob Staak, regional scout Greg Stratton, international scout Rudy D’Amico, scouting coordinator Sam Foggin, and regional scout Tom Conrad on Sunday. He declined comment on the moves..

That’s what I’m talking about. Change.

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A six year deal is a pretty big commitment. Are the ASG getting serious (finally)?

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8092424/atlanta-hawks-offer-danny-ferry-6-year-deal-gm-sources-say

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AJ,

Josh for Dalembert and #16 would be terrific and I think the Rockets have the cap space to make that happen..

If Houston makes that deal, I can see them trying to flip Luis Scola (or Josh) and Lowry for Pau Gasol.

With Lowry reportedly not liking the HC, could we expand the deal to bring him in? Maybe Dalembert, Lowry, and #14 for Josh, Teague and #23?

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BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Don’t hire a guy that can’t win with Lebron James.

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Ray, playing a position has less to do about size and more to do about skills and attitude. Josh (IMO) is not a viable long-term option at SF. It would put him that much further from the basket on defense (making it harder for him to provide weakside defensive help) and his offensive skill set does not fit the SF position. I’m sure you have noticed how Josh struggles against even mediocre stretch PFs (like the way Matt Bonner always looks Dirk-like against Josh) because Josh’s natural tendency is to roam near the rim on defense.

The funny thing, the Heat won with a smallish line-up that more closely resembles the Hawks typical starting 5. In Game 5 9as an example), the Hawks would have had Horford on Bosh, Josh on Lebron, Marvin on Miller, Joe on Wade and Teague on Chalmers. In fact, the Heat turned Kendrick Perkins and his $12M/year salary into Jason Collins… a slow, plodding center incapable of helping his team despite great defensive fundamentals.

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I got my bags packed and ready to move. But I just want somebody to explain, in plain english, why is it that almost every mock is talking about the HAWKS drafting a pt guard or a 6 ft 7 swingman. We need a CENTER, pure and simple. Move Horford to PF and Josh to Thailand. Oh, I am moving to OKC because they seem to know a little something about building a winner. Seriously.

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Danny, you had a great college career and a pretty solid pro career. Unless you need the money really badly, you had better run away from the ASG as fast as you can still run. Their incompetence and stooge-like decisions are well chronicled. They flat-out lied to the hockey fans of this city. Their real talent is the sport of legal gymnastics……suing each other and their lawyers. These amateurs couldn’t run a fantasy team well and their record speaks for itself.

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Vava, the reason I’m for blowing it up is I don’t see us getting a Nash in here or D12. Those are our 2 slots that we need a big time star here.
Nash with Teague may be able to compete with Miami, but since that isn’t going to happen, we’re going to have to go find some new stars during LeBron’s run. I can see us matching up with Wade and Bosh.
But with LeBron, we need to have a matchup for him as well as create a mismatch in the other areas.

The roster we have now is not close to competing. We just have to realign and if it takes new youth, then so be it. You have to be all in or you’re humoring yourself and your fan base.

We aren’t just 1 or 2 spots from being a contender. That’s all I’m trying to point out. We are wasting our chance to blend what talent we have to what talent is coming into the league.

It would have been nice to see a Cousins on this roster and not so many PFs that we seem endured to. Plus admit the Marvin experiment is done and use that 8M more wisely.

That’s 2 moves and its not the bench that is our issues. You can always find bench players.

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Yep, looks like its official according to the Hawks site. For the Hawks, they moved fast on that one. I doubt he will impact the draft any…..but i would imagine, it will change who we target in the free agent market.

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doc,
This isnt a political blog, just let those things slide and don’t give a whole speech on it.

Not much of an upgrade from Sund, Sund was great in his trades but was pretty poor in the draft, not bad with JT though. Overall, it was the contract offers that ultimately led to his demise, as he was then faced with a tight strap on building a team. Now, Ferry has inherited this issue, so the only difference he can really make is possibly in the draft. But at least now we have a VP who has some valuable experience, so we could use that in other aspects

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Well good luck to you Danny Ferry. Hopefully the Duke education comes in handy.

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This should be an active summer as opposed to the Summer of Stand Pat Sund.

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This is the year to step over Boston, Chicago and Indiana.

No more wait til next year.

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Please folks, don’t make this about race. And you wonder why no one believes it when we call out the loads of racism that does actually still exist in this country? Anyway, back to basketball. The good news about this move is that Sund is out as GM. The bad news is that, if Ferry couldn’t build a championship roster around LeBron with an owner committed to winning a title, how’s he going to build one around Joe Johnson & such dysfunctional ownership as ASG? Point blank, the slickest GM in the world couldn’t pull off dumping our bad contracts (Joe, Marvin, etc.) & overcoming this ownership group.

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OB,

Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon Jr. told The Associated Press last month he HOPED the 61-year-old Sund would continue as general manager..

He HOPED that Sund would stay (IMO, b/c the ASG wanted to stay cheap if they COULD have BUT IF they needed to spead the BIG bucks, better be for the right person) which means the ASG needed to have a backup plan in mind just in case he didnt want to return. To offer Ferry a 6-yr deal right off the bat still lets me know that they may have had this guy in their rear view mirror.

Also u say, “So Ferry was not in their rear view mirror. They wanted Rick to remain GM. If ASG was really interested in Ferry from the start, they would have let him decide LD’s fate (instead of picking up his option).

Again, I say not if the ASG wanted to stay cheap as long as they could. Ferry could STILL fire Drew if he likes, esp, if he could make ALL his decisions on his on w/o the help of the owners. Keeping Drew to let Ferry decide to keep him or let him go is the way a thrifty person would think. If Ferry keeps him based on how well he did last season with all our injuries, the ASG is thinking, “HEY we saved ourselves some money.” But if not, then atleast they gave it a try. (Again, how a thrifty person would think.)

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They could had wait but I think that Drew days as coach is numbered. But the question is, does Ferry works this draft or Sund will?

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This is a great hire ! Now let’s see if the ASG will let him make the decisions or if they will continue to hold the Hawks back…

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I assume that he is in charge as of today… no mention that his contract is effective on a future date. Maybe Pendergraft/Sund will need to get his approval before making the draft selection 9or certainly, any draft-related trades).

http://www.nba.com/hawks/hiring-danny-ferry

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Nice first move Hawks! The deal is how quick can he get in here and make some moves with this roster. Lets see what you got Danny!

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Would it make sense to put this into a new blog topic? The earlier pages were about the speculation. Since Ferry has been hired, that should stand on its own, rather than paging down to see relative comments.

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What’s this? A rumor that Josh wants to be traded? Say it ain’t so.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-trade-rumors-whos-on-the-block

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Sekou applauds the hire.

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/06/25/hawks-could-hit-home-run-with-ferry/#more-32045

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Well, he better move Josh unlike what he did by holding onto Sczerbiak and getting nothing in return.

I’ll take this hire and now anticipate more moves to be made. No way Ferry takes a team who can’t beat +.500 teams into next season with the same starting 5.

He could move Marvin, fire LD, and show he means business like ORL showed their entire staff.

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I will remove the X=….Hawkfan again.

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Josh for lottery picks or he walks and we get nothing…

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Can’t possibly be worse than Sund. Now the next move needs to be getting rid of Drew. Can’t have a coach who won’t stand up for his players.

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Why would the Hawks trade Horford, who have said this his team and the love for this city, when Josh always pouting and making secret statement about being traded, I BE DAM

Me im the biggest Josh supporter, every since that statement he made about ATL, that tell me he want out, why continue to support Josh if that’s his feeling for Hawks and the fans.

IF YOUR HEART IS NOT THERE THEN YOUR PASSION FOR THE TEAM DEFINITELY NOT.

BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE

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Move #1: trade Marvin please! & get a REAL center!

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*YAWN*

If Ferry makes a decision will the Spirit Group override him?

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Andre Drummond would look real good in Hawks uniform.

BIG DOG IN THE HOUSE

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In other news, the Rockets are trying to trade for Dwight Howard without a commitment to stay beyond this year. Wish the Hawks were as willing to roll the dice.

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Rumors are made up everyday

We’ve had a few talking about players coming to play for us what happened nothing.

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[...] Leave a Comment [...]

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Ferry is President of Basketball Ops and the GM. So in theory, he could split those duties in the future… stay as the President and then hire a GM later. Personally, i like the 6 year contract. It makes it appear more like a true commitment. And consider this, Ferry may spend year 1 “evaluating”. If he decides to “blow it up” next summer, and ownership agrees, there is no way he can make that happen in 2-3 years. Well, he could blow it up quickly but can’t put it back together that soon. 6 years gives him about two bites at the apple. If you want to hire an experienced exec with ties to the league’s elite franchise, you have to do more than treat him like a rental.

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@Najeh,

Never know, Ferry may start joining in the fun at trying to get Dwight here since he will be tryin to keep Josh here as well!! Im sure he doesnt want to start off his 1st day at GM w/o atleast making a play at Dwight. He doesnt want another taste in his month like he had b4 with what happen with LeBron and all! Let the fun begin!

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Manny

June 25th, 2012
10:52 am

I didn’t read all of the comments, because who has the time to do that But I will say this: Danny Ferry was the GM of the Cavs. And I’m looking at the Cavs and I can say that he wasn’t successful. So why do we think that he’s going to be successful here?

*********************

If the Hawks would’ve gone to an NBA Final, an EC Final. and 3 EC Semifinals in the past 5 years, and had two 60+ win seasons, the ATL fan base would be elated at that. The hell Cleveland weren’t successful. That was easily their most successful 5 year stretch in their franchise’s history.

Meanwhile, the Hawks have 3 EC Semifinals and 2 First Round appearances. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but nothing like Cleveland’s success during their 5 year run.

Good hire by the ASG. Now let’s see what Ferry can do. And he doesn’t have to trade off everybody to improve this team. Just trade off some of the core to bring in better players that fit better.

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BIG DOG, why trade Josh ? Josh have not said anything about being traded them are just rumor, unless you here from the horses mouth then it’s not true.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Great hire by the Hawks.

Danny if giving the keys will do a good job.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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2012 ATLANTA HAWKS

STARTERS TEAGUE, JOE, JOSH, HORFORD, ZAZA

BENCH PARGO, GERALD GREEN, MARVIN, IVAN, MELO

RESERVE WILLIE, ERIC GRIFFIN, COLLINS

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Make a strong push for free agent Gerald Green.

#23 Fab Melo

#43 Eric Griffin

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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If Hawks sign Gerald Green, and draft Eric Griffin this team will be the most Athletic team ever in ATLANTA.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!

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darrell starks

June 25th, 2012
12:20 pm

BIG DOG, why trade Josh ? Josh have not said anything about being traded them are just rumor, unless you here from the horses mouth then it’s not true.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

************************

Now the flip side to that. Has he said anything definite that he wants to stay in ATL, with all of the trade rumors around?

Nope.

What Josh says, is that he’ll simply let this all play out and see how everything looks once his contract is up. When rumors about Marvin requesting a trade came up, Marvin immediately denied it. When those same rumors came up about Josh, there was no denial, rather than a “diplomatic neutral response”.

Josh himself may not be fueling the rumors. But his agent and people around Josh surely are. Otherwise, this would be a non-story.

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It’s hard for me to believe in this hire simply because of the people doing the hiring.

Atlanta Hawks: Commitment to Average.

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Now for a new coach?

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Lebron’s play making ability is surreal!

His passes are on the money form anywhere on the floor 99.9% of the time..

A thing of beauty too watch! Lets go get a knock off? Hmmmmmmm

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marcus

June 25th, 2012
12:21 pm

what did danny ferry do in cleveland? nothing…..
bringing him here is a joke, another duke retread. ferry was nothing as a player. it kills me that these guys with the duke pedigree get to be gm’s. if he goes out and gets a “true” center, finds some poor sap to take joe johnson, and then signs monta ellis, then he should be executive of the decade. he had the job in san antonio because of one reason; coach k’s close ties to pop. sund should have stayed if they were going to get this stiff. dirty player, sorry ass gm.

*****************

Stop with the Duke bias. I don’t like Duke like the next person, but it stops when they leave that school. Under Ferry, the Cavs got to the NBA Finals and the EC Finals, something the Hawks have NEVER DONE while in Atlanta.

************************

@MsDee

If you have $20 to blow, I would suggest that you sign up for ( mysynergysports . com )

It will give you a much clearer insight into how these players play on this team, because you’ll have the ability to see them in a variety of offensive and defensive plays. Their strengths and weaknesses are highlighted beyond question.

It took me a long time to come around on Jeff Teague. But if the Hawks simply play to his strengths as a basketball player, that dude could be a better asset to the Hawks than what he is now.

It was obvious to me from the start that he played better alongside JJ. But if he had the ball more in his hands, especially in transition, it would do wonders for the Hawks offense. But “you know who” has to give him the ball and then run the wing, not bring it up himself.

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BTW Lebrons passing skills are more advanced then 99% of the guards in the NBA!

A freak of nature? lol

C’mon Danny, go find a knock off please?

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No doubt now Larry may have become the “weakest link’ as of 1300 today? No?

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Maybe Ferry can convince the Cavs to take Marvin for the 24th pick or their two early second rounders. He has a relationship with their current GM so it might be easy to move Marvin to the Cavs now. I dont think many of the bench players come back now.

darrell starks I dont think the Hawks will have the money to pay Gerald Green. I think he stays with the Nets. Have you actually seen Fab Melo play? Seems like you’re in love with his size and shot blocking and have ignored the other aspects of his game. He is a poor rebounder. In fact there are a few guards in this draft that rebound better than Melo. He has no offensive game, he fouls a lot, and he has a low bball iq. Im all for upgrading the center position but I dont see Melo as the guy.

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Great to hear the hawks made this move!! 1st step to hopefully many more wise ones…

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And that is not to say that Ferry is some HOF exec… just that I’d rather have an experienced “basketball guy” running the basketball operations than an owner who attended Hawks games as a child with his father (Gearon) or an owner who lives in DC (Levinson).

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Bob Rathbun ‏@BobRathbunTV
Ferry: Sund will work with me over the next month, and table the discussion until after summer camp. Ton of respect for Rick.

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cp, I have seen him play, rebounding is not his weakness, his weakside help is big because Syracuse zone type defense, witch force him to play more up front by free throw line than down low by the rim.

Syracuse never played the traditional 2-1-2 defense there style is more of backside help forcing teams further out from the paint.

Melo lead this team a would have been in the final four if not eligible in academics.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Somebody please tell me Ferry has watched PLENTY of Hawks tapes. Cant take another ‘evaluation’ year. Thank you.

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Great news for the Hawks and Atlanta! Now, how about a new head coach?

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Do not draft a guard that has no jumper! Enough!

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Prediction:

D.Ferry – builds ‘`his`’ Team starting [right] now !
1. trade Josh for picks
2. unload Joe or use amnesty clause on Joe (zero ties to Joe)
3. Marv for picks or amnesty clause (he has no ties to Marv)
4. Reloads -not- rebuild !
5. As much as I love Zaza; he is a valuable trade chip, say good bye.
6. He will build around Al … or … mega trade ? [pkg with Joe perhaps]

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G-dad for Assistant GM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m buying all said above Sir! lol…

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What does the immediate trade of Josh for picks do for the team’s success? I fail to see any positive correlation between picks for Josh and Hawks success.

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Promising GM move but won’t matter much as long as we have ownership that can’t do something as simple as keep operable scoreboards in the arena they own. New ownership, then I’ll get excited.

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Josh wants out..If he walks at the end of next season as an UFA the Hawks get nothing in return..You cant let that happen.. So with this deep draft, the deepest in years you take advantage and grab at least a couple of 1st rd picks to ramp up for the future… That is a positive move..

For Josh to walk without any compensation of any kind is negative to Hawks success!

I wish Danny could get rid of Larry before the start of the season…Need new coaching..

Get rid of any association to Billy Knight asap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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@ MistGamer

People think trading for these picks will guarantee instant success cause their looking at OKC and how they got where they are.

Funny thing is Andre Drummond is signed off as a bust in most people’s eyes. In fact the draft is again most people have said it fools gold.

Plus not only that trading away Josh Smith means the little people that do go to the hawks games are all, but gone or watching another team. And then the people that watch the games are all but gone as well. Just saying.

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Ferry will be on 790 the zone sometime between now and 3 pm.

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how many seasons does it take to play 917 games? according to ajc 2. Danny Ferry your a bad man.

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finally, maybe now the hawks will find that missing piece and get to the finals and win it all

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can guarantee you:
Mr Ferry will value shot makers.

! -spoiler alert- !
… my next statement will be unpopular …

Josh is not a high % shot maker / that can stretch the floor;
* translated = he can`t shoot !
therefore, Josh has exceptionally High trade value at this time.
So, it seems to me that – ‘`Josh will be traded.`’

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Atlanta should trade up in the draft and draft Dion Waiters, a D-Wade like. He can erupt the crowd just like Josh can so that can be a perfect to trade josh up for them. Second we NEED a small foward. Marvin is absolutely terrible, he is a SF who doesn’t demand the ball and that’s what they’re stand for. If we are able to keep our 23 pick, we need a BIG because Al I’m sorry, isn’t big enough and is too valuable. Larry Drew get him out, we need a true coach that draws up plays and doesn’t play iso all the time. Last we need to get our bench YOUNGER.

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There were many components that made this the right fit for me but clearly my confidence in the ownership group and their dedication to building a championship-caliber franchise was most important – play this ferry quote back at the end of next season

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Two Words: Dion Waiters

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He helped build a roster around lebron james? thats reason enough for him to never work in the NBA again. He got lebron no one to play with and king james left only to win a championship in the second year. bulls get jordan they build around him and win a number of championships, same with the lakers with kobe. cavs get lebron and the get daniel gibson and he is gone as soon as he can. great job as a gm. you gotta be kidding me.

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Ray. I total agree Keep Josh, Horford, Teague.

Trade Joe should be the player traded if so.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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@Astro its always hard to say with Ford. He can be high on a guy like Marvin but when that player doesnt turn out as projected he seems to slam the team for taking that player ahotugh he was riding the bandwagon just before the selection. Draftexpress is usually spot on with their draft slots. I guess we have to wait and see. I dont think Lamb falls that far or that Simms goes undrafted but stranger things have happened.

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Josh has a broke jumper, and has been for years..He was never taught the proper way to shoot a basketball.. Too bad..He’s on the cusp, but his broke jumper will not help him over top…

He needs to get in the gym with a shooting coach to fix what is broke..

Hey Josh hit me up if you want some lessons! Like you I’m left handed and my jumper is professional grade..Try me!

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Put it another way if Josh is producing the same amount as Joe and getting paid far less who do you keep you keep Josh it’s simple as that.

This past season Josh produced the same amount as Joe Johnson in fact he actually did better than him go look at their gamelogs on ESPN and you’ll see their about even with Josh being better in Rebounds and blocks.

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TEAGUE, RUDY, JOSH, HORFORD, ZAZA

LOOK GOOD

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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“CORE= POOF” -G-dad-

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cp, did you watch Melo play ?

And if so what type zone did Syracuse play ?

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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@ O’Brien

Got to see how landscape looks who knows Brooklyn Nets might be wanting him by that cause they’ll be trying to trade for Dwight Howard most likely and Josh will go with him or even Boston as well.

You think people won’t trade for Josh at that time, but you just don’t know.

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darrell starks – I know you did not ask me but …..

Syracuse has played a very modern 2-3 zone
ever since boeheim has been there.

He has adapted well and kept up with the times
but it is still a 2-3 zone with match-up principles.
____________________________________________

I watched Melo play and he is awful.

He played in a zone and will have a huge learning curve
for man to man principles. [pros]
-he has lazy feet-

He also has a dead battery !

Sorry to disappoint.

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How can anyone be unimpressed with that interview.

He told us more than R.Sund since RS has been here.
He does not appear to be fearful of the press.

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Danny Ferry’s interview;

Didn’t really give us anything new. But…

1) He said he talked to LD yesterday, and looks forward to working with him this year. He also hopes Rick Sund will stick around for the year (instead of just the one month).

2) Over the next couple days, he plans on going over the roster and talking to some of the players (including Josh and JJ).

3) He watches games, and he did watch the NBA finals.

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Danny said he will look at building a team for the future? Hmmmmmm

You got 1st round draft picks? Need more picks!!!!!

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Fab Melo sounds like a bust waiting to happen..Danger Will Robinson!! Danger, Danger, Danger…

Red Alert, Shields up Scottie!

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Ray

June 25th, 2012
2:08 pm

@ MistGamer

People think trading for these picks will guarantee instant success cause their looking at OKC and how they got where they are.

Funny thing is Andre Drummond is signed off as a bust in most people’s eyes. In fact the draft is again most people have said it fools gold.

Plus not only that trading away Josh Smith means the little people that do go to the hawks games are all, but gone or watching another team. And then the people that watch the games are all but gone as well. Just saying.

*****************

Please stop it with the “Hawks fans come out to see Josh Smith” stuff. No they don’t. I’ve been in that arena plenty of times to see the Hawks play non-superstar player teams, and have seen that arena at 60% – 75% capacity. If anybody on this team were a box office draw, that arena would always bee at least 85% full for every Hawk game, regardless of who we played and what day we played them on.

That is the same crowd that moans and groans everytime he takes a long jumper. You think people are paying to see that?

As for the “fools gold” part of your post, I agree. And I’m not in favor of trading Josh away for a draft pick. That should be an absolute last resort. I’d much rather trade him for an established player that is close to his level, on his level, or above his level.

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“BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Don’t hire a guy that can’t win with Lebron James.”

A Finals appearance and two 60 win seasons in five years isn’t “winning” to you?

Are you familiar with the Hawks postseason history?

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Danny also said he would “turnover” every stone! Great!

Bye Marvin..

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Hawks and the core have been on a meteoric trajectory in the last 5 years. this will put them over the moon. Go Hawks. ECF 2013!!!

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Toronto wants Lowry
Houston wants Dwight
Our Hawks have Josh = Dwight bait

Can anyone say ‘`three way`’

from Hwks / Josh to Houston
from Rckts / Lowry + filler + #16 to Toronto
from Raps / Bargnani + #14 to ATL
from Raps / #8 to Houston
-then-
Houston sends pkg including:
Dalembert + K.Martin + #8 pick for Dwight
___________________________________________

I received an A+ for Creative Writing in College.

-not really- I was just being creative again !

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Talking to Joe a Josh about what? Iso’s and jumpers?

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Oh yeah:

We turn Josh`s wish into:

Bargnani / Harkless / -&- we keep #23.

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So are we about trade Al Horford for the 2nd pick which has been rumored now that Ferry is GM this would clear some cap space if this happens .

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Ray . . . Hawk fans go to Hawk games to see the Hawks as a team, not one specific player.

If you were to trade away any of the guys on this team, you’re not going to see a mass exodus of fans. Josh and Joe represent 2 of the most 3 hated players on this team. So even if people love Josh, you’ll probably have an equal number that either hate him, or wouldn’t shed a tear if he left.

I simply want what is best for this team. And right now, this team can’t progress because they are out of balance. If Josh would drastically eliminate the jumpshot from his game, and concentrate more on being an energy player in the mold of Serge Ibaka, Kenneth Faried, and an “in his prime” Shawn Marion”, Josh would be my favorite player.

Instead, he wants to be Magic Johnson, Kevin Love, and Reggie Miller all rolled up into one. He flat out refuses to play to his strengths as a player.

If Drew is going to continue him to be “kamikaze”, then yeah, get rid of Joe Johnson. We can’t have Josh taking the same exact shots as JJ, with Josh shooting a very poor percentage on those shots. Trade JJ for a high volume rebounder that can gather in Josh’s misses.

Josh wants to be the offensive superstar of the team, without the offensive skillset to do it. And even though he should be recognized as a defensive superstar, he doesn’t, because of some of the antics he does on the court and his lapses with his on the ball defense.

Coaches like Joe Johnson because they know exactly what they’re going to get from him . . good and bad.

Coaches are leery of Josh Smith because they never know what they’re going to get.

So if they keep Josh, and Josh refuses to play the right way on offense, then yeah . . trade Joe Johnson. We need someone on this team who is willing to play like a big man, not like a SG.

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He lost me when he said he had confidence in the owners.

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@Sam Amick
Well, that didn’t take long: with Atlanta GM Danny Ferry in his first day on the job, the message is spreading that he’ll be looking to shake up the Hawks’ roster and rebuild in some capacity. No specifics yet, but forward Josh Smith has tremendous value and an expiring contract (next season at $13.2 million), center Al Horford will be healthy again and is an attractive piece as well (four years, $48 million remaining) and shooting guard Joe Johnson has the sort of deal that any sane GM would try – and likely try in vain – to get rid of (four years and $89.3 million left).

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LOL Phil Jack coming to the hawks is waaaay beyond a dream #Never_Gonna_Happen

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I have been watching the Hawks for a long long long long time and its time for some change. Danny Ferry is a awesome hire for the Atlanta Spirit, ONLY if they LET HIM DO HIS JOB WITHOUT INTERFERENCE… Start with the roster, after last season there should not be a doubt in ownerships mind who the team should make top priority. Stuck on that one, well it ain’t Joe Johnson… #5 Josh Smith is the face of the Hawks… Trade #2 and that other guy that hasn’t worked out as well, you know uh Marvin Williams. To be the highest paid player on the team Johnson has never played like it when it matters most. Post-season baby. Ponder this ppl, Every team that beat the Hawks the last 4 years has played in the Eastern Conf. Finals, and/or won the Championship or played for it representing the East. Need more I am ready and always available. Peace and Go Hawks!

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High-Sider, but doesn’t the decision come first? What if I don’t make the moves to get Bill Russell? Bill Russel goes elsewhere to win those 11 out of 13 Championships, its a total team effort. It begins with Front Office decision making and ends with Calibur Players but if and only if, our GM makes the right moves to grab a player with performance, play, hustle, physical labor a.k.a AL HORFORD and Not a Jo Johnson…….

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““Decisions” don’t win NBA championships; “work” (e.g., performance, play, hustle, physical labor, etc.) does.”

Neither “decisions” nor “work” mean as much to winning NBA championships as “talent”.

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I don’t think it’s fair to deprive Ferry credit entirely for the Cavs’ Finals appearance and 60 win seasons, but let’s face it, none of that happens if you replace LeBron with someone who isn’t a top-3 player in the league. Ferry deserves some credit, but LeBron made about 75% of that happen.

That doesn’t mean Ferry is a bad GM, but it does mean that the Cavs’ record while he was there should be viewed in the appropriate context.

I would also contend that the East was pretty weak for most of Ferry’s tenure there, at least compared to what it is now. Specifically, the Cavs’ Finals appearance happened before the Celtics’ Big 3 came together and before Dwight Howard became the best center in the league.

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@northcyde

“…Stop with the Duke bias. I don’t like Duke like the next person, but it stops when they leave that school. Under Ferry, the Cavs got to the NBA Finals and the EC Finals, something the Hawks have NEVER DONE while in Atlanta…” – northcyde @12:59pm dated 6/25/2012

Many NBA experts and analysts have said that LeBron James (essentially) took a bad Cavs team to the ‘07 NBA Finals and I agree with them on this particular assessment. But you (pro-Danny Ferry) bloggers want to give him (Ferry) a significant amount of credit for the Cavs reaching the ‘07 NBA Finals. If you go back and look at that Cavs roster for the ‘06-’07 regular season and post season, you would see that there was really no No. 2 (scoring) option on that team. LeBron James should get most of the credit in leading the Cavs to the ‘07 NBA Finals and Danny Ferry should get very little credit, if any. I predict Danny Ferry will make personnel decisions/moves that will upset a lot of Hawks fans.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2007.html

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Lets sign Steve Nash

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Ferry’s response to Mike Bell when asked if he’s had discussions with the players:
“Well, there’s only 6, so it won’t take long”.

And until Sund is officially gone, his input will still be there. He just won’t have final say. I can accept that for now.
Standing pat with what we have tells me Sund still has input.

And if you think Marvin is leaving, don’t forget Ferry was also a failed #2 draft pick. Will that push Marvin to another uniform? That would be my offseason mission.

“cp

June 25th, 2012
1:15 pm
@Kevin. In Ford’s latest mock he has us taking Doron Lamb in the second. I dont think he falls that low but if so he could be a steal. Get a sf in the first and take Lamb in the second and im happy witht this draft.”

cp, you don’t want Chicago getting this guy. And if Lamb gets a 5 year deal, he will earn it, guaranteed. He is one of best shooters in the draft, even up against lil Rivers. He can spell Teague as well and has Joe to learn from.

There is no way I belive draftexpress. They have Lamb lasting way too long. There’s no way Melo, Tyshawn Taylor (think Jacques Vaughan), Quincy Miller, Ezeli, Green and Taylor are not going to make as much impact as Lamb. Once you’re a 2nd rounder, all bets are off. You just want a camp invite. Jenkins and Lamb deserve better.

I would find a way to get another pick in the latter part of Round 1 or high Round 2. If Ferry goes for it out of the gate and goes for a high #1, I can’t complain about him trying to get us better talent. I don’t expect it, but that would be a nice intro to Atlanta.

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“it is funny presti is a genius in okc with durant and ferry is an also ran to some even both of the teams they were “behind” made it the same distance.”

I give Presti that much credit not just for Durant (which I agree was luck) but for the array of subsequent genius moves he made. Ferry made many pretty good moves and some questionable ones. That’s not bad at all, but it doesn’t touch what Presti has done.

Let’s be real — if you replace LeBron on that 2007 team with, say, Carmelo Anthony, do they get anywhere near the Finals or 60 wins? I don’t think so, not even in a weaker East. Yeah, you can say the same about Durant and OKC, but I’d argue that Westbrook and Harden (both Presti picks) are far better than any teammate LeBron ever had in Cleveland.

Not trying to say Ferry is bad and Presti is good. Just saying that Presti is great and Ferry is “aiight”. Like I said earlier, he’s still the best GM this team has had in at least 17 years. Just because I am not jumping out of my seat with excitement doesn’t mean I think he sucks.

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Also, the book is closed on Ferry’s tenure in Cleveland. Given the average age of OKC’s core, it is likely only in its early chapters on Presti’s tenure in OKC. So yeah, while Presti has only gone as far as Ferry did (technically slightly farther since OKC won a Finals game and Cleveland didn’t), he has a lot of time to win a title.

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I Guess…. He was set to retire a few months ago- I hope isnt already retired on the job.

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This maybe the best hire in 18 years for this franchise….

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No wonder no one wants to come play here! Half of the posts by these “fans” are so stupid as to defy
logic!!!!
It’s Danny Ferry!!! He is, from day one, the best GM the Hawks have had in an eon!

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“Neither “decisions” nor “work” mean as much to winning NBA championships as “talent”. …”

Are the Knicks “talented”?

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And for all the dummy naysayers…you wouldn’t know quality if it spit in your face. Ferry hire is on par with Falcons hiring of Dimitroff by Falcons….

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“Many NBA experts and analysts have said that LeBron James (essentially) took a bad Cavs team to the ‘07 NBA Finals and I agree with them on this particular assessment. ”

That team was 5th in the league in defensive points allowed. In the playoffs they were 1st.

Do you think LeBron covered all 5 players of the opposition? LMFAO.

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High-Sider

You provoked this thought:

Had Red Auerbach schemed to get Chamberlain;
then Boston would have won all those Championships
-because-
of Chamberlain`s hard work;
and as Najeh said, chamberlain`s talent.
-because-
If you read Bill Russell`s book:
you might understand -How- the synergy created by
the ” Team ” of Russell & Auerbach worked for the greater good.
-or-
the interaction of elements that when combined
produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

Perhaps you have no understanding of the concept of Team.
-Why-
`Tis where human beings come together and work for the greater good.

I Corinthians 1:10;
‘`I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that all of you agree with one another
so that there may be no divisions among you
and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought`’
-The Apostle Paul-

May I ask you sir;
do only black basketball players enter heaven ?
-or-
just black people in general ?
-also-
I have asked this before:
Do we – white folks – get to claim Shane Battier ?
Yawl can have Bibby ?
How about Joakim Noah ?
I seriously do not know about Blake Griffin ?
Then there`s Miles Plumlee; I mean look at how high he jumped ?
____________________________________________

If you dare to say any of my thoughts are assinine;
[intentional misspelling] then you are a hypocrite !

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“So who is more important (between “Red” Auerbach and Bill Russell) when it comes the Boston Celtics championship dynasty?”

It doesn’t matter who one thinks is more important. They are totally different roles. Apples and Oranges.

Auerbach did his job, and acquired the talent that Najeh mentioned. Then he did his job and coached up that talent. Then Russell did his job and won 11 rings.

The GM’s job is to acquire talent. Auerbach gets an A+.

The Coach’s job is to coach. Auerbach gets an A+

The Players job is to win championships. Russell gets an A+

Don’t diminish that with ignorance.

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“Do you think LeBron covered all 5 players of the opposition? LMFAO”

Exactly, that’s like saying the Bulls are garbage without Rose. Uhh no, both are still a damn good teams and they consistently won without their best players because of great defense and depth. But we see people over rate these all-offense players who play no D yet always get knocked out in early rounds of the playoffs.

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“Are the Knicks “talented”?”

Besides their top player, not particularly.

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” Ferry hire is on par with Falcons hiring of Dimitroff by Falcons….”

Here we go again. How many playoff games have the Falcons won under the man who drafted Sam Baker and Peria Jerry in the first round? When are we all going to stop fawning over a man who has accomplished NOTHING in four years leading the Falcons?

I sincerely hope Ferry is a hell of a lot better than Dimitroff. We don’t need any more average GMs in this city.

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Najeh

c`mon Naj

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Here’s a fun fact: in four years of drafts (not counting 2012 since those players haven’t played yet), Thomas Dimitroff’s draft picks have COMBINED FOR ONE PRO BOWL APPEARANCE.

ONE.

By comparison, the 2008 Patriots’ draft class alone produced two Pro Bowlers.

Something tells me they don’t miss Dimitroff much. If there is a more overrated sports figure in Atlanta sports right now I don’t know who it is.

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You know, I have a better question. Who is Ferry is going to bring with him to Atlanta for scouting and front-office matters?

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Dimitrioff’s draft picks one pro bowl…

Here’s a fun fact…falcons are now a perennial playoff team, something they never had before hiring Dimitiroff as their GM….

Nice job of data-mining….TD has only been falcon GM for 4 years, kinda hard to expect alot of his draft picks to be pro bowlers this soon…….except for last season when they traded up for Julio Jones (who will be a pro bowl player in due course) they have always picked low in the draft due to their successes on the field…not as easy to draft pro bowl players when you pick in the late 20’s every year….And Sean Weatherspoon will eventually be a pro bowl player…my guess is Peter Konz will too….

And every team…NE, NY Giants, Pittsburgh Steelers etc has some draft busts….it goes with the territory…

Try again, you’re barking up the wrong tree and just showing your ignorance dissing Falcons GM, he’s considered one of the brightest in the business…he’s put a competitive team on the field, it’s up to the players to win in the playoffs…..

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THIS IS A ATLANTA HAWK BLOG,ISN’T IT ?????

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[Mr Blank] shooting Blanks…

How long must we wait, how long Mr Blank?

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You guys and your ‘word on the street’ BS are like a bunch of gossipy women….

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@Kevin I dont think Lamb lasts that long either but you never know. Some GM’s might overvalue some of these bigs and push Lamb down the board. I know you’re not a fan of Q Miller but I still think he will be a steal in the 20’s. Im hoping we can get another first or a early second.

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If Marvin Williams is trotted out there again this year as our starting small forward, then the Ferry hire is a bad move. Any GM worth a grain of salt will realize that Marvin should not be starting and go from there. Amnesty Marvin, or make him a permanent fixture on the bench.

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It takes time and you don’t just bring in a lot of talent,” Willis said. “Atlanta brought in several big names over the years, all the way from J.R. Rider to Dikembe (Mutombo), but that doesn’t mean you’ll win a championship. Moses Malone and Reggie Theus — you could name guys all day long, but until the chemistry and the trust is built from the coaching staff to the players to trust one another, you can bring who you want in there, you still won’t win a championship.

“San Antonio, in my opinion, has written the book about that, bringing in the right players, the right guys who sacrifice, guys who want to win a championship, guys who have been superstars on other teams, but they come in and say, ‘You know what? For the betterment of the team, I’m going to sacrifice. Maybe I’m not going to play as many minutes. I may not shoot the ball as much. My role may change a little bit.’ That happens. I think Danny understands that and I think that’s what he’ll bring to Atlanta and he tried to do that in Cleveland.”- Kevin Willis

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Rod, I don;t think a GM worth his salt decides which players start and which players are on the bench. A quality GM allows the head coach to make those decisions (and punishes/rewards as appropriate).

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Culture Change…

Ferry made the Hawks promise to change the culture if he was going to come….WOOOOW!

We all grow at a different pace…Maybe ASG has grown up.

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