Atlanta Hawks: Former coach Bob Weiss returns as adviser
Hawks GM Danny Ferry’s efforts to move the franchise’s player development program forward will include a reach back to the team’s past.
Former Hawks coach Bob Weiss is set to join Larry Drew’s staff as a coach and consultant. Weiss will be heavily involved in developing players and will sit behind the bench during games.
Drew said he had considered hiring an assistant with previous head coaching experience when he got the Hawks job in the summer of 2010.
“Somebody who could really watch and look at the big picture of the team, be that birdie on my shoulder as far as suggestions and ideals and what he sees,” Drew said. “I started interviewing and compiling a list of guys. I met with Bob for a second interview and I thought he was the perfect guy from a consultant standpoint.
“He will be sitting behind the bench, looking at things and giving me ideas and giving me opinions about different things with the team as a whole. I’ve always admired him from afar–didn’t know him personally–but watched from afar, even he when played. He has a wealth of knowledge.”
Weiss coached the Hawks from 1990-91 to ‘92-93 and also was head coach for the Spurs, Clippers and Sonics. He most recently was a head coach in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Weiss’ hiring is one of a few Hawks staff moves announced today.
Kenny Atkinson has officially been hired as an assistant coach. He’s a former Knicks assistant who earned notice when Jeremy Lin credited him with helping his development.
“Kenny came highly recommended as a guy who not only had experience as an assistant but also phenomenal player development guy,” Drew said. “I did a lot of research on him talked to a lot of people. I interviewed him a couple times and thought he was a great candidate to be that third assistant coach and a player development guy.”
Assistant coaches Kenny Gattison and Tyrone Hill will not return.
“I thought Kenny Gattison and Tyrone Hill did a really good job but, like with anything else, you are always looking to enhance what you have and try to make a situation you feel can help the ball club,” Drew said. “I felt it was time for a change.”
The Hawks hired Jeff Watkinson as the strength and conditioning coach. Watkinson worked at Indiana University before leaving in 2010 to take a job as Eric Gordon’s “personal development basketball coach.” Watkinson replaces Chattin Hill, who was with the Hawks for seven seasons.
Former Hawks GM Rick Sund, who has remained on staff during Ferry’s transition, will take on a new role as a senior adviser to the basketball operations. Sund’s duties will include scouting and he will split time between Atlanta and his permanent home in the Seattle area.
“Rick has been helpful during the changes and I think it’s a good situation to still have him available as a sounding board,” Ferry said.
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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516 comments Add your comment
steven a smith
August 31st, 2012
5:44 pm
Ra’mon
August 31st, 2012
3:09 pm
Here is my trade of the day guys.
Atlanta Gets:
Kevin Martin
Houston Gets:
A. Morrow
K. Korver
And D. Stephenson
Bad trade. No way we should even consider trading Morrow and Korver. Bad idea.
Slimjr
August 31st, 2012
5:58 pm
“Hawks vs. Heat, ECF” –W.W.Clyde-
Wait a minute Sir.. Slow down, Mr. Bahia!
1st the Hawks will have to contend with the Knicks in the 1st rd.
Knicks= 3rd seed
Hawks= 6th seed
Oh the Humanity!
KevinM
August 31st, 2012
6:04 pm
FWIW, NBA Hardwood Classics on NBA-TV now showing Nique getting 52 and the Hawks playing the Knicks to double OT in the Omni.
Our coach: Bob Weiss….incredible timing by the NBA-TV crew.
Got to see Rasmussen, Volkov, Rumeal, Willis, Mo Cheeks, Snoop Graham (remember him?) and Doc……Van Earl Wright and the Stinger with the call.
We had some an imposing team in ‘91!
And for all the talk of needing a SF…..I don’t see that being a huge impact. Josh is going to be our SF, Al our PF, providing Zaza is healthy. A SF getting 10-15 mpg sounds like what Danny is looking for.
And any update on Ivan or do we just wait til official practice to get any update on him?
And Nique gets the pump fake bucket over brother Gerald.
Slimjr
August 31st, 2012
6:10 pm
Grandad:
This Josh vs. Al landslide began with one of the [regulars] mentioning that Al is is locked in for several more years so he’s cheaper and it maybe in the best interest for the Hawks to trade Josh since he may cost max money at the end of the season to keep on board..
And yes 1950’s [set shot] might have been very accurate in the 50’s, today I shut it down if I saw that in the Gym..
Hence it becomes less effective as you march towards the finals in today’s NBA.. The defense ratchets up and the set shot is neutralized 65 years later.
Down goes Frazier!
KevinM
August 31st, 2012
6:13 pm
Paul ‘Snoop’ Graham (#25)talking trash to Sparks…and my bad, Doc’s not on this team.
Slimjr
August 31st, 2012
6:14 pm
If the Hawks to not find a star wing at the 3:
I do not see Josh and Al taking this team to an ECF much less a Finals…
One will eventually be gone to go farther..Hmmm
Which one Danny?
KevinM
August 31st, 2012
6:15 pm
Talk about a different Hawks scheme back in ‘91…Willis and the frontline giving the ball up in the backcourt to Rumeal and Mo…
You don’t see that on today’s Hawks teams! Perhaps Weiss does have something over LD!
steven a smith
August 31st, 2012
6:16 pm
Kevin Willis could probably be our starting center “today” Imagine if we had Nique at SF right now, a young Nique. Al would not “crack” the starting 5 of this Hawks team.
Slimjr
August 31st, 2012
6:18 pm
If I saw All NBA start bringing up the ball with his one handed dribble and totally ignore my point guard, his azz is sitting on the bench next to me…
We do not need a point 5…..C’mon man[Larry]!
Slimjr
August 31st, 2012
6:21 pm
Just Joe, Al is foul prone against better than average centers. So he’s riding the bench early in games..
Start this guy at the 4 and watch him pickup his 2nd foul 3mins into the basketball game….Hmmm
Slimjr
August 31st, 2012
6:23 pm
[do not]^^^^ delete [to]
Ken Strickland
August 31st, 2012
6:40 pm
I’ll be so glad when Sept 11 comes and goes so Ferry can legally start initiating trade talks using the players we acquired in the JJ and Marvin trades.
Ken Strickland
August 31st, 2012
7:10 pm
Enter your comments here
Ken Strickland
August 31st, 2012
7:28 pm
FOOD FOR THOUGHT-Shortly after the FA period opened, there were rumors of us having serious interest in Cleveland’s Alonzo Gee. We know he’s so far refused to sign their contract offer. Suppose he won’t sign because he wants to sign with us, knowing we have a big need for a SF and he’s very familiar with Ferry.
He knows he can’t get a bigger contract from us than Cleveland can offer, but he knows he can if he’s part of a sign and trade. However, if that’s true, he also knows we can’t do a sign and trade using the players we acquired in the Marvin and JJ trade before Sept 11th. Maybe he’s holding out until Ferry is in a position to do a sign and trade using the JJ and Marvin trade acquistions.
Sautee
August 31st, 2012
7:55 pm
“Just Joe, Al is foul prone against better than average centers. So he’s riding the bench early in games.” – slimjr
Hey slim, got anything to back that up, since Horford’s career average for PF / gm is 2.83?
Slimjr
August 31st, 2012
8:21 pm
look it up
Ken Strickland
August 31st, 2012
8:43 pm
SAUTEE-If he’s telling you to look it up, you can bet your life he hasn’t bothered to look anything up.
Sautee
August 31st, 2012
8:53 pm
slimjr,
Since when is less than 3 fouls per game “foul prone”?
I DID look it up – BEFORE I posted to you. I don’t see any evidence, other than vs. D12, of anything like “foul prone” vs. “better than average” centers. D12 leads the league in FTA, so Horford’s not alone in getting called for fouls against him.
That’s what I got on that subject slim. What do YOU have, other than an opinion stated as fact?
Roger that!!
August 31st, 2012
8:58 pm
Yea, Al is foul prone, injure prone, allergic to defense, and has become un-tradeable.
Roger that!!
August 31st, 2012
9:10 pm
Who was that scrub center on the hawks that committed SEVEN (7) tunovers in one (1) game and cost the hawks the playoffs this year?
oOhh, That would be Al ” I refuse to play defense under the basket”, horford.
Otis
August 31st, 2012
9:13 pm
Enter your comments here
Sautee
August 31st, 2012
9:15 pm
Well, good evening, T-s. Have you found those links yet?
I guess not, lol, since they don’t exist.
O’Brien showed you how easy it is to link to a real story of a trade proposal. Strange that a Google search only finds rumors, and conjecture. But I’m just sure that you’ll be able to find just one link to a story of Horford being turned down by a GM. Just one. Piece of cake, right?
I hope you find the links. O’Brien wants to read those stories like I do. You wouldn’t want to disappoint your fellow bloggers, now would you?
steven a smith
August 31st, 2012
9:17 pm
Roger that!!
August 31st, 2012
8:58 pm
Ditto! Well said Roger that!
Otis
August 31st, 2012
9:20 pm
I am so tired of trying to defend Al horford to I sat out of this site most of the year. I just shook my head watching the hawks play so much better with out Al.
I cant defend Al any longer he has had ample enough time to deliver and has failed. Many times he did not try. I will no longer do like Sautee and Ken. I will not twist facts or ignore truths to help; Al horford.
Sorry Ken, Sauitee. I agree. Al is whats holding this team back. We cant even trade Al.
Al is the new Marvin William. Id like to see Danny Ferry pull off a Al Horford Trade. Looks like he tried this summer but couldnt find any takers.
I cant say I blame the other teams. They are not stupid. Al is the new Marvin William. We cant trade him so we are stuck with him. SMH
Al is the new Marvin Williams
Sautee
August 31st, 2012
9:27 pm
Hey Otis, if you are going to accuse me of twisting facts, then at least have the courage to stand up and say exactly which facts I’ve twisted, and how.
So tell me…
Sautee
August 31st, 2012
9:28 pm
BTW, Otis = T-s.
As if we couldn’t tell, LOL.
Roger that!!
August 31st, 2012
9:28 pm
Well, good evening, T-s. Have you found those links yet?
do you mean the many many links of discussion on Hawks trade offers involving Al Horford the past 3 months that every one can google and find except the little deaf dumb and blind sautee sheep?
As in this google that has them listed but you cant seem to open…
http://www.google.com/search?q=Al+horford+trades+2012&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=fflb
Roger that!!
August 31st, 2012
9:31 pm
Lets see Last week I was the honorable Steven A Smith, This week Im the Honorable Otis. Actually who ever calls out Al (the new Marvin Williams) for his s hit will be reduced to T. S.
Yea, we now How convenient for the Al horford nut smelling cult.
Mean While Back at the freaking Ranch Al is the New Marvin
Sautee
August 31st, 2012
9:35 pm
No, T-s, I want links to the stories that show your claim that 4 GMs have turned down a trade for Horford in the last 2 1/2 months, as you have repeatedly claimed. Yes, I found the conjecture, but not a single fact of a single GM “turning down” a Horford trade.
Your “link” only shows the rumors, and “trade ideas” from writers. Not a GM in any story mentions Horford. Not one. Nor is there any whiff of an actual trade proposal from the Hawks about him.
So why do you continue to lie about this? It’s very much like Dick Cheney and the WMDs.
pointguardslim
August 31st, 2012
9:39 pm
Wow
T-S is allowed but I’m not?
Sautee
August 31st, 2012
9:39 pm
“Lets see Last week I was the honorable Steven A Smith, This week Im the Honorable Otis. Actually who ever calls out Al (the new Marvin Williams) for his s hit will be reduced to T. S”
Maybe to some, but both steven a, and I told the blog that you were not the same people. And that Oits post WAS you, you tricky devil.
Besides I don’t think that someone becoming T-s “reduces” them in any way. Think more highly of yourself.
pointguardslim
August 31st, 2012
9:40 pm
Oh wow, well maybe it was a 1 day ban then. Carry on acting crazy guys.
Otis
August 31st, 2012
11:13 pm
I dont know if you know me or remember me. I was one of the biggest horford Fans when He got here. But I having to admit the guys on this site are right. Horford has peaked and he is not much better than he was when he got here. He is a very ordinary player who has disappointed me too much. I cant defend him any more. Hes a bust. or at the least he is like Marvin Williams, both are underachievers I expected more from Al .
Beer Belly Stan
September 1st, 2012
12:15 am
I would not trade Al for just any body. But then again we’d be lucky to get some thing for him.
Beer Belly Stan
September 1st, 2012
12:16 am
We got to take what we can get.
Roger That!!
September 1st, 2012
12:23 am
Heres another of the Sautee denied trade winds featuring Al Horford.
NBA Draft Rumors: Bobcats-Hawks Trade Could Include Al Horford, Thomas Robinson
Jun 28 8:06a by Matt Conner
Read More: Al Horford (C – ATL), Charlotte Bobcats, Atlanta Hawks
David Thorpe has the latest trade possibility for NBA fans to consider and it’s one that could directly affect the very top of tonight’s NBA Draft. The Charlotte Bobcats have been looking to move the No. 2 pick in the overall order, and even said so publicly through new head coach Mike Dunlap. They might have a partner in the Atlanta Hawks.
Specifically the ESPN NBA analyst believes that Thomas Robinson could be a good substitute for Al Horford down low for Atlanta — giving them a far cheaper player and the ability to use that money elsewhere.
“Enter Horford. He immediately improves the Bobcats on both ends of the floor. He becomes their best player, the face of the franchise and an excellent recruiter on the free-agent front,” writes Thorpe. “The Hawks then could grab Robinson and use him the way they use Horford (Robinson is very comparable to Horford). I don’t expect Robinson to ever be as good as Horford — who is probably the most underrated player in the league — but he certainly could end up getting there, or close to that level.”
That’s a new possibility for Robinson, who is often mentioned to the Bobcats or Kings at the top of the draft. Robinson averaged nearly 18 points and 12 rebounds per game last year for the Kansas Jayhawks.
For more on Kansas Basketball check out Rock Chalk Talk. For more college basketball news and notes head over to SB Nation’s College Basketball page.
Beer Belly Stan
September 1st, 2012
12:54 am
See. Thats what I mean We have to get something for Al. We got Devin Harris for Marvin. We could get Javale McGee for Al
pointguardslim
September 1st, 2012
1:08 am
Every time I troll I get blocked but Sautee and T.S. troll all the time and they dont get caught. I dont think its fair that Sautee gets to troll as much as he does. So does T.S. but you guys block me.
Why stop me from Trolling?
Grandad
September 1st, 2012
1:52 am
Slimjr
Yessir;
I realize the set shot from the `50s is no longer a viable option.
I also realize the difference between a catch and shoot jumper
-&-
a 1950 set shot.
My remark on accuracy was mostly comic relief.
Evenin` Slim;
Go Dawgs
Ken Strickland
September 1st, 2012
8:02 am
Anyone with as much as an ounce of intelligence can read the 12:23am post and see the Bobcats were head over heels about trading for Horford. That article totally contradicts the moronic idea that they didn’t what to trade for him. It also contradicts the MORONIC idea that he’s a scrubb. or liability, and proves it was the Hawks who refused to bite on the idea.
SAUTEE-After all this time searching the net trying to find something that can present to satisfy your repeated and long standing requests for some documentation to support his stupid assumptions and outright lies, he finally comes up with this. And to prove just how stupid he is, he shoots himself in the foot by presenting something that actually proves everything he’s claimed is totally wrong. STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES, STUPID. YOU CAN LEAD A JACKASS TO WATER, BUT YOU CAN’T MAKE HIM THINK.
Ken Strickland
September 1st, 2012
8:23 am
GRANDAD-Don’t sweat the ignorance that some thrive on. Being critical of the way a player shoots him shot, rather than the results, shows a total lack of common sense. It’s like having an Olympic runner train and run as hard as he can only to come in last. And instead of awarding the Gold Medal to the winner based on results, they award it to the last place finisher based on his effort.
People who simply didn’t know any better were critical of the jump shooting technique of Reggie Miller, Jamal Wilks, World B Free, Vinnie Johnson, and George Gervin, Dick Barnett, and Rick Berry(free throws)to name a few. But intelligent fans looked at the results, and we’re obviously dealing with someone that doesn’t fall within the latter category.
steven a smith
September 1st, 2012
8:40 am
“Climt Eastwood is now officially an IDOT” Eastwood probably beleives Al Horford is an ELITE center!!!
steven a smith
September 1st, 2012
8:46 am
Correction! IDIOT. Clint Eastwood is now officially an Idoit! Clint probably believes that Al is a top 10 Center…
steven a smith
September 1st, 2012
8:59 am
IF Mitt Romney will turn the United States Of America around, then Al Horford will lead the Atlanta Hawks to an NBA Championship! and i will officially retire from Blogging.
steven a smith
September 1st, 2012
9:44 am
Leaning toward the upside of Detroit’s Austin Daye 6″9″.75(without shoes). A guy who may grow into the role of Adequate scorer and Defensive Stopper. He may be our long term answer at the 3 or 4.
Roger That!!
September 1st, 2012
9:50 am
Yea BB Stan, I could appreciate a JaVale McGee protecting the rim over Al ’s All NBA escort service. We may lose 3 or 4 points offensively until JaVale develops but defensively that a very significant upgrade over Al’s escort service and Javale hasn’t begun to develop his skill sets. He will only get better.
On the word going around that Al Horford is the New Marvin Williams, Well we tried and tried to trade Marvin and finally pay dirt with Harris an upgrade over Teague in the back court. Good Move. This hasnt been easy to find a taker for Al this summer. The reports are showing that the Hawks tried. I think Super Danny will be able to get us something at the opening of the season.
Go Hawks
Roger That!!
September 1st, 2012
9:53 am
*and Javale hasn’t begun to develop his Offensive skill sets. He will only get better. Defensively he does any team a good service By owning and protecting the Post.
Grandad
September 1st, 2012
9:58 am
Slimjr I have not participated in Sandusky’s acts. I have friends and I cant be responsible for whether they get caught or not.
Whats significant is I did not get caught
doing any thing.
There is no reason not to trust me around your little boys.
OK?
steven a smith
September 1st, 2012
9:58 am
Roger That!!
September 1st, 2012
9:53 am
Absolutely agree with you. Javale has “tremendous” upside! Al Horford has no upside left, Al Horford has peaked. This is as good as it gets with Al!
steven a smith
September 1st, 2012
10:03 am
Ken Strickland and Al Horford may be one and the same??? I can not see any other reason why any one would suugest that an 11.0pt/8rebound playoff average is worthy of an All-star appearance!!!