On hiatus
I’m headed for a few days of R&R. C-Viv is on the beat to keep you updated while I’m away.
The plan is to maintain a space here for your to discuss the Hawks. Be cool, keep it clean and and the forum stays open.
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451 comments Add your comment
Slimjr
July 13th, 2012
5:23 pm
Surrounding shooters for his center piece?
Jae Evolution
July 13th, 2012
5:29 pm
Minny waived Martell Webster, pick him and his goofy hair up for veterans min.
Ken Strickland
July 13th, 2012
5:53 pm
Under both Woodson and Drew, the Hawks OFF was based primarily on shooting jumpshots, along with liberal doses of ISO Joe, Flip, or Jamal. But Ferry’s version of the Hawks will actully have the shooters needed to shoot lights out, as well as penetrate. I don’t know how many of our shooters will make the active roster, but there will be no shortage of them.
Korver, Jenkins, Morrow, harris, Williams, Scott, and Horford are all effective shooters. This yr we’ll finally have the players that will allow us to be an effective jumpshooting, running, and penetrating team. And I’m really tired of hearing all of this team being undersized. A so called undersized Miami Heat team just won the NBA title after making their 2nd consecutive trip to the finals.
Couldn’t you also consider the Celtics undersized as well? Other than 7′+ OC KGarnett, check and see how tall SG RAllen, PG RRondo, PF BBass, and SF PPierce SF are. If you have the right players with the right talent that are playing in the right system, and they excel on both ends of the court, size isn’t the deciding factor.
Ken Strickland
July 13th, 2012
8:30 pm
Jenkins is a player, and not just because he scored 19pts in a summer league gm, but because he did it with so much poise and confidence. He might not be the quickest, fastest, or most athletic, but neither was Reggie Theus or Reggie Miller, and they both had very successful careers as SGs. Put Jenkins next to a quick, fast, athletic PG like JTeague or DHarris, and he’d be a perfect compliment.
There’s one thing I simply love about Danny Ferry that no one else has brought up. Not only is Ferry a mover and shaker, Unlike Sund, but he’s made it perfectly clear how we’re going to play and is putting together a roster to do just that. Sund, on the other hand, left that totally up to the HC and wouldn’t even comment on the matter.
That tells me that Ferry isn’t going to tolerate Drew pulling a WOODY, by ignoring the development of his his prized picks, especially Jenkins, and forcing him, or them, to gather splinters at the end of the bench. I doubt if he’ll allow the same type of constant disruptions and lack of discipline that Drew has permitted in the past from Josh and JJ.
We have far too much talent and depth for Drew not to step up to the plate. We can run, shoot, and play halfcourt, assuming we effectively run his motion OFF when in our halfcourt OFF. I think by the Allstar break, our Hawks will have developed into a better team than we’ve had the last few yrs.
With the speed, quickness, athleticism, penetrating and shooting/scoring ability we now have with Teague, Harris, Morrow, Jenkins, , Josh, Horford, and Korver, we’ll definitely be a serious playoff factor. And don’t dismiss JPetro as our #3 backup back center, because his overall production was better than Collins and Dampier combined.
Ken Strickland
July 13th, 2012
9:19 pm
Here’s why I say this yrs team will end up being better than last yrs, even without JJ and Marvin.
1-Whoever replaces JJ at SF should be able to average between 12-13PPG.
2-Whoever replaces Hinrich at SG should be able to double his 6.6PPG. There 2 projections alone will make up for JJs scoring average.
3-With our primary scorer and shot taker gone, Horford will move up as a scoring option and take more shots, which should put him back to his 2010-2011 15.3PPG.
4-With JJ gone, Teague will have more control of the OFF, and will be depended on more to score. His scoring should increase from last yrs 12.6PPG average to between 14-15PPG.
5-LWilliams will provide the instant OFF we once got from JCrawford and Flip Murray, but didn’t have last yr.
6-KKorver will give us the stretch wing score/shooter we thought we had with VRad, but that Marvin provided near the end of the season.
7-DHarris, if he comes off the bench, will provide us with a starting caliber backup PG that’s better than any starting PG we’ve had in yrs.
8-Petro and LWilliams are younger, quicker, faster, more athletic, and have proven individually capable of giving us better backup production than our previous #3 & 4 backups combined.
9-Our bench will have better shooters, and more of them, than any starting lineup we’ve had in well over a decade.
10-SG AMorrow, as well as PG/SG DHarris and LWilliams are starting caliber players that are definite upgrades over Pargo, Green and Stackhouse.
11-Ferry will make certain we play and maintain an uptempo style of ball that caters to the bulk of our talent, rather than a select few players like JJ, Bibby, Jamal and Flip.
Ken Strickland
July 13th, 2012
10:07 pm
http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8162534/houston-rockets-eyeing-dwight-howard-trade-orlando-magic-release-luis-scola
Here’s an update on the DHoward saga if you’re interested.
Fitz
July 14th, 2012
4:01 am
Im really surprised the Magic passed on the Rockets offer. If they are getting rid of Dwight, they need to start over. I can’t think of a better way to start over than getting
1. Good young players like Chandler Parsons and Patrick Patterson
2. Their choice of 2 guys just taken in the 1st round (Jeremy Lamb, Terrance Jones, Royce White)
3. A possible high lottery pick for 2013 (Raptors pick) and another future 1st rounder
4. And a proven veteran scorer in Kevin Martin
But if that means the Hawks get Dwight, thats fine with me. I just can’t believe they would pass on the Rockets deal for
1. Al Horford (a #3 option on a legit contender)
2. Jeff Teague (a PG with potential, but will probably never be an All-Star)
3. 1st round picks that will be somewhere in the 20s
4. And maybe Zaza Pachulia (a quality backup C on a good team, a starter on a bad one)
But by all means, rob the Magic blind
Fitz
July 14th, 2012
4:05 am
I forgot to add the multiple bad contracts the Rockets were willing to take on. I guess the Hawks would to, but the other trade pieces the Rockets offered were far better for rebuilding a team than ATL’s.
Al Horford is already locked up for $13 million for a while (fair price imo, but not ideal if you are rebuilding)
And Jeff Teague is a restricted FA next year and will probably want a pretty decent raise. And they just re-signed Jammer Nelson
ryan
July 14th, 2012
10:21 am
The Hawks seem to keep getting lucky survived Nets, Lakers , Rockets ether Howard stays in Orlando this year and Ferry waits for 2013 or he pulls trigger its a waiting game folks we have cap space for next summer .
Ken Strickland
July 14th, 2012
10:56 am
RYAN/FITZ-There’s no way Orlando will go past the trading deadline without trading Dwight, and by that time they’ll be up against a timeline. The Magic organization is under the misguided impression that they can get fair market value for Dwight, and that’s just not the case. Dwight screwed himself and the Magic with his stupid and immature decisions and actions.
Right now, they know the Hawks and Rockets offers will continue to be on the table if they choose to accept either of them, along with the Warriors. It’s also likely that LAs offer will remain on the table as well. Knowing they will always have these fall back offers, they can afford to explore more options to facilitate a trade that will get them closer to what they consider fair market value for Dwight.
I just can’t get over him being so stupid. First, he shot everyone down by refusing to opt out of his contract last yr, thus tricking the Magic into thinking he’d resign if they gave him what he’d wanted most, which they did. They fired the HC and GM. After doing what he wanted, he now says he won’t resign with them under any circumstances, and will only sign with the Nets.
After all of that, the Nets grew tired of his BS and killed any chance of him joining them by resigning their main trade chip, OC BLopez, to a huge contract. As it stands, this fool still says he’ll only sign an extension with the Nets, even though they can’t trade for him before January at the earliest.
And this fool still refuses to commit to any of the 3 teams(Hawks, Lakers, Rockets), that are able to facilitate a trade for him even though he knows they won’t trade for him without a prior agreement to an extension. Oh well, STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES.
Ken Strickland
July 14th, 2012
11:04 am
My take on the Hawks future, if we don’t trade for Dwight, is it will be very bright indeed. Take a core of Horford, Josh, Teague, Williams, Zaza, Scott, Korver, Jenkins, mix in the possibility of as many as 2 1st rd picks, along with a ton of cap space, and this could definitely end up being a potential NBA Championship contender.
ryan
July 14th, 2012
11:46 am
If we don’t get D12 i am glad we are at least looking at Mayo and Iguadala maybe Rudy i agree Howard is the Terrel Owens of the NBA selfish clown .
Mark
July 14th, 2012
12:00 pm
I would get Scola, to back up al @pf ZaZA @ c, Dont sleep on ZaZa he is a quality center he proved it when he first got here, and he proved it last year. we could get us a quality sf to back Josh. and Let the D12 thing play it self out. We are in a good position and I love it.
myrak43
July 14th, 2012
12:01 pm
are serious? Horford, Josh, Teague, Williams, Zaza, Krover? that is not a Championship roster. that roster would be the laughing stock of the of the southeast. well maybe not the laughing stock but we would not have any chance of beating Miami or ………………….. Washington for that matter. and if Orlando keeps Howard we wouldn’t be able to beat them either. Maybe if we keep Harris and Williams we would be on the same level that we have been on the last five years…. but we would clearly not be a championship team. now replace Teague with CP3 and Horford with Dwight Howard….. now that is a champion ship team.
Zaza starting at center will never be a championship team. unless the rest of the lineup is Rose, Lebron, Durant, and Dirk.
Ken Strickland
July 14th, 2012
4:18 pm
MYRAK43-I don’t see how you could even consider a roster made up PGs Teague/Harris/Williams, SGs Morrow/Jenkins, (Williams), PFs Smith/Johnson/LWilliams/Scott, OC Horford/Pachulia/Petro(LWilliams), and SF Korver/to be acquired. Korver, Williams, Harris, and Jenkins gives us as much, if not more, potential firepower than we had with JJ and Marvin. And they can do it without hogging disrupting the OFF, or hogging the ball with ISOs.
You can bet Teague’s and Horford’s scoring will increase with JJ and Marvin’s shots being redistributed. This only thing this team will potentially lose is some DEF at SF, depending on who we end up getting to play the position. However, we’ll make up for it by scoring more, and more consistently, especially at SG, since Harris or Morrow will certainly do better than Hinrich’s 6.6PPG.
Were dead
July 14th, 2012
6:56 pm
1. Teague
2. Jenkins
3. Smith
4. Horford
5. Benson
Big Ray
July 14th, 2012
9:37 pm
It does not matter who was on his team. As a two time All-Star, Al is supposed to stand out. It was not as if the US team was focusing on him, doubling him or mking it difficult for him to score. He simply had no moves in the post, and they shut down the midrange jumper. My personal belief is that no matter how bad the team, a star player will stand out.
NBA coaches and sports pundits vs. Rod from College Park – those guys know nothing. They didn’t play the game at the level that Rod did. So the fact that they kept voting him into the all-star game was just a mistake.
BTW, we sure know who was good at dodgeball in grade school. Completely dodged the analogy involving other “all-stars” such as Mo Williams and Jameer Nelson. How well did those guys stand out in the last two years? Didn’t Jameer get outplayed by Kirk Hinrich and Jamal Crawford in the playoffs a couple of years ago? And to think, neither of those guys are or ever will be all-stars.
Caught with pants down and arse in the air yet again….poor Rod…..
Big Ray
July 14th, 2012
9:41 pm
Marc J. Spears: Free agent forward Anthony Randolph sitting with Nuggets brass at summer league game vs Warriors. DEN and ATL high on Randolph, source said Twitter
Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets, Free Agency, Anthony Randolph | share
Mike McGraw: To recap the day, Kyle Korver was not traded to Atlanta, but probably just a matter of time. Full details are unclear. Twitter
I’d like to get Randolph. But I can see him going to Denver instead. Hope not, but who knows…
Ken Strickland
July 14th, 2012
10:00 pm
BIG RAY-If Randolph has any aspirations of starting he’d sign with the Hawks, because he’d have little to no competition at SF this point. Between he and Korver, we won’t get much rebounding from the SF position. I’ve also read where there’s a plan to try rookie Scott at SF, because of his rebounding and shooting ability. If it’s believed Josh can be effective at SF why not Scott, since he’s a much better shooter.
Ken Strickland
July 14th, 2012
10:20 pm
BIG RAY-Have you noticed how these HORFORD HATERS can come up with so much 1st class BS that it makes them look just as stupid as those idiots who insist on claiming Egypt isn’t in Africa? They’ve actually deluded themselves into thinking they are far better qualified to judge Horford’s abilities than the writers, coaches, and players who get paid to make these judgements, and who end up voting him to the Allstar gm and All NBA team.
These clowns seem to think Horford has gotten selected to the Allstar gm and ALL NBA team because he’s soft, timid, undersized, has no postup gm, shoots and makes too many midrange jumpshots, doesn’t defend the rim, and/or doesn’t make an impact. STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES.
steven a smith
July 14th, 2012
10:41 pm
Ken Strickland
July 14th, 2012
10:20 pm
KEN STRICK-LESS…..
If Al was so great, why didn’t team USA recruit his “Scrub behind” to be a back-up center?
Ken Strickland
July 14th, 2012
11:16 pm
STEVEN A.SS SMITH-Every player can’t be selected to team USA. I would think even a HORFORD HATING MORON wouldn’t be that stupid. I seriously doubt that they would select a player who hasn’t fully recovered from a season ending injury that required surgery.
To be honest STEVEN ASS SMITH, you’ve proven my point. Only a delusional HORFORD HATING idiot would call a player that’s earned 2 Allstar selections and 1 All NBA selection in his 1st 4 yrs a scrub. Again, STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES, and you’re living proof of that.
myrak43
July 15th, 2012
5:32 am
Ken Strickland
July 14th, 2012
4:18 pm
I was responding to the post of Horford, Josh, Teague, Williams, Zaza, Scott, Korver, Jenkins being a championship team. …………….. it is not………. you see Harris was left off. he makes a big difference. we need more scoring now that JJ and Marvin defense will not be here……
myrak43
July 15th, 2012
5:34 am
but that is still not a championship team…. it should be a pretty good team however. playoff team in the east 1st maybe a 2nd round exit…….. about what we already were.
Andy Ried
July 15th, 2012
9:35 am
John Jenkins looked incredible in his first summer league game, dropping the toughest degrees of shots from downtown with ease. A few early shotclock beaters and coming off screens with a very quick and clean release. I’m really happy with our pick. John will shut his haters up quickly this year.
Ken Strickland
July 15th, 2012
11:41 am
MYRAK43-The moves Ferry has made weren’t designed to make us a championship team at this point. These moves were designed to put us in a position to be able to build a championship caliber team in the near future. We certainly weren’t a championship caliber team with JJ and Marvin, and their contracts weren’t going to allow us to become one.
Without the burden of their contracts, we will now have the cap space and draft picks, along with a core of talented players, that will allow us to acquire what’s needed to make us a championship caliber team. Trading JJ was more than just getting rid of a burdensome contract. It also allowed us to get rid of a style of play that we also instramental in holding us back.
JJ was our leading scorer and go to guy. He was at his best in the slow down halfcourt style of play which featured ISO a lot. The rest of our starting lineup were at their best when playing uptempo fastbreaking style of play. Drew held the others back by playing the OFF style that best suited his go to star, rather than the style that accomodate the majority of his players.
Can you honestly say you’ve seen JJ leading a fastbreak, or filling the lane and finishing one at the rim? Once he got his hands on the ball after a rebound, he walked it up and dominated the halfcourt OFF. JJs absence will allow us to run a style of uptempo fastbreaking OFF that caters to the majority of our players, not just 1 or 2. And Ferry as made it clear, in words and by his acquisistions, that we will play an uptempo style OFF.
With the acquisition of DHarris, LWilliams, KKorver, AMorrow, JPetro, LWilliams, DStevenson, to replace, EDampier, JJohnson, MWilliams, JStackhouse, JCollins, VRad, TMac, WGreen and JPargo, we’ve dramatically upgraded our team quickness, speed, athleticism and youth. This will give us the ability to play more team DEF rather than relying on the DEF of individuals like JJ and Marvin.
JJ was a solid defender, but he didn’t have the quickness or speed to double team and recover. In fact, Pargo and Teague were the only backcourt players with the speed and/or quickness to do that. Now, in addition to Teague, we have Harris, Williams, Jenkins, and Stevenson who can do it. JJ and Marvin’s individual DEF will be missed, but not as much as you might think. Our DEF, just like our OFF, will now be geared more toward the team concept.
This yrs team will me a better without JJ and Marvin than it was last yr with them. Why, because we’ll be quicker, faster, deeper, younger, more athletic, and we’ll play rely more on the team concept.
Ken Strickland
July 15th, 2012
11:54 am
Stop making excuses by using negatives, whether real or imagined, to put players down. Some use the excuse that Korver doesn’t play much DEF, which could be true, but his DEF, or lack thereof, didn’t stop the Bulls from being one of the NBAs top DEF teams. The same can certainly be said for CBoozer, who definitely wasn’t know for his DEF upon becoming a Bull. They used team DEF to make it work. That’s what we’ll see with this yrs Hawks, due to the lack of individual DEF players.
rick
July 15th, 2012
1:09 pm
Josh and Dwight are planning to go to Brooklyn next year and play with Deron, Joe, and Gerald.
Big Ray
July 15th, 2012
1:47 pm
Ken Strickland ,
Exactly…
ryan
July 15th, 2012
3:47 pm
Jason Kidd arrested in the Long Island area .
Ken Strickland
July 15th, 2012
6:20 pm
RYAN-If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t Jason Kidd playing in the NY/NJ area when he was last arrested for domestic violence?
ryan
July 15th, 2012
8:52 pm
He may have !
Ken Strickland
July 15th, 2012
9:06 pm
If we end up trading for the NBAs most dominant, immature, and self centered player, I’ll be excited to see how Ferry develops a championship caliber team with him. If we don’t trade for him, I’ll be just as excited to see how Ferry builds a championship caliber team without him.
Big Ray
July 15th, 2012
10:55 pm
So Mr. Jenkins can shoot, and Mr. Benson averages 20 ppg against summer league scrubs.
Were dead
July 15th, 2012
11:25 pm
@rick HAHAHAHA the nets cant becasue they have NO cap room.
I say start Kieth Benson this year! He is killing it! See how he does and if he turns out to be good, no need for howard and we can get Cp3 instead of howard
1.Teague
2.Jenkins
3.Smith
4.Horford
5.Benson
Were dead
July 15th, 2012
11:27 pm
Next year lineup
1.Chris Paul
2.John Jenkins
3.Josh Smith
4.Al Horford
5.Kieth Benson
ryan
July 16th, 2012
7:40 am
Are we after Mayo or Iguadala who are interested in other than Howard .
Ken Strickland
July 16th, 2012
1:21 pm
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1254595-dwight-howard-trade-rumors-latest-rumblings-on-a-potential-d12-deal
Don’t count the Hawks out of the Dwightmare soap opra. It seems the only thing that would hurt the Hawks in their pursuit of Howard would be Orlando’s possible reluctance to trade him to a division rival.
Ken Strickland
July 16th, 2012
1:51 pm
To me, what’s more important than the DHoward saga is who will end up playing SF, even if we successfully acquire him. If Howard isn’t in the picture, we know our starting lineup will be AMorrow or DHarris @ SG, Teague @ PG, Josh @PF, Horford @ OC, and who knows at SF. A do know that AMorrow and DSevenson are listed as SG/SF, but both are around 6′5″ and aren’t good rebounders.
KKorver will be used primarily the same way as LWilliams will be used, as wing and backcourt scorers off the bench. It’s hard to believe that after all of the issues we had with acquiring an even adequate starting PG under Woodson, and before Teague, we now have a backup PG that’s far better than any starting PG since Mookie Blaylock.
We’ve also gone from having only 2 legit PFs, JSmith and IJohnson, to having 4, JSmith, IJohnson, Scott, LWilliams. Scott is considered to be athletic, and he’s 6′ 8″ 237lbs, which puts him squarely between JSmith(6′9″ 240lbs), JJohnson(6′7″ 240lbs), and MWilliams(6′9″ 245lbs). All 3 players played SF at some point during the last 2 or more yrs, and we might see Scott pull duty there.
With his solid OFF gm, and rebounding ability, he just might end up being a perfect option at SF. With a rotation of Teague, Harris, Morrow, Jenkins, and Stevenson, our backcourt is set when it comes to speed, quickness, athleticism, shooting/scoring ability, depth, and versatility. We’re also set as far as depth and talent at PF is concerned, with JSmith, IJohnson, LWilliams, and maybe Scott, and at OC withHorford, Zaza, Petro, and maybe even LWilliams.
JJ and Marvin will be replaced by the acquisition of more talent and depth at what were positions that lacked depth and overall talent last yr, like PG, SG, OC, and PF. This will be a better team than any we’ve had over the last decade or so, either with or without Dwight.
ryan
July 16th, 2012
2:10 pm
If Orlando can’t trade him Howard said he would sit out the season the Hawks have the cap space for 2013 to get CP3 and D12 IMO might be best to go after him next summer the Nets are over the cap to sign him long term but the Hawks could .
Big Ray
July 16th, 2012
2:28 pm
Still on hiatus, I see. Well, I reckon I’ll watch the summer league game today….
Larry Drew
July 16th, 2012
2:54 pm
Is Woody still the coach? Fire Woody!!!!!!!!!!!!
George Bush
July 16th, 2012
2:57 pm
War is a dangerous place…
bird
July 16th, 2012
5:01 pm
The summer league pg’s for the Hawks are garbage.
donte080
July 16th, 2012
5:42 pm
ken strickland….good analysis….I’m sure Billy Knight is rolling over in his graveyard of former GMs seeing the strength of hawks team is now PG, and biggest weakness athletic wing forwards!
Not sure about this being the best hawk team in a decade, but it may be the most interesting one. I personally think we’ll fix SF in next year’s draft….
Ken Strickland
July 16th, 2012
10:42 pm
http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2012/7/16/3162083/nba-free-agency-josh-childress-amnestied-by-phoenix-suns-back-to-the
What do you think Hawk fans? Would you consider using Childress as our SF solution? He’d certainly give you rebounding, DEF, very low turnovers, high percentage scoring, and good ball movement. His ability to play and defend 3 positions(PG, SG, SF), would add size and versatility to our backcourt.
ryan
July 17th, 2012
7:13 am
There goes OJ Mayo he heading to Dallas .
KevinM
July 17th, 2012
4:42 pm
After seeing Humphries getting a huge raise to 12M from the Nets, I gotta think Josh will be looking way upwards of that number annually.
Are we going to play out the season before offering Josh a deal at this stage?
Also, On Chills coming back, I’m not sure I don’t want someone more physical as a defender and rebounder as opposed to a slasher at the 3.
I think we have enough shooters unless you start Stevenson at the 2.
But we all know not to trust LD giving Jenkins even a legitimate look at the 2 this early on.
And FWIW, Pape Sy doesn’t fit the mold we need at the 3.
Ken Strickland
July 17th, 2012
7:22 pm
KEVINM-I agree, we have our share of shooters, although you can never have enough of them. Considering how many quality shooters we have, wouldn’t a slasher be a welcome compliment to all of the shooters we have? And why should we have a more physical defender it we’re going to play a more team oriented DEF? The Bulls have been a top 2 DEF team for the last 2yrs, and no one can accuse anyone on that team of being a physical defender.
I just want a good defender at the 3, and I’m not concerned about how he gets it done. If I remember correctly, Childress was one of our best 3pt shooters, if not our best. If you have the shooters to spread the DEF, you want to balance that with slashers and penetrators that can take advantage of that by getting to the rim. Also, I’ll bet that DHarris, LWilliams, JTeague, and JChildress, could get to the FT line as often, if not more so, than JJ did.
Mr.E
July 17th, 2012
7:46 pm
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/sam_amick/07/17/josh-smith-hawks-dwight-howard/index.html?eref=twitter_feed