Hawks Pleased With Direction Of Team, Admit Playoffs 'Not Our Goal'

Post #1 » by **RealGM Wiretap** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 3:42 am

Danny Ferry is pleased with the direction of the Atlanta Hawks, who have fallen to 32-41 after standing at 25-21 on Feb. 1.

Ferry is happy about the roster's progress and the job of Mike Budenholzer. The Hawks have sustained serious injuries to Al Horford, John Jenkins and Gustavo Ayon. Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver have also missed time.

"Throughout the year, I felt we've been on a good path," Ferry said. "When healthy, we've been a very good team. I like the way we play. It's system-based. I like our players. There's some substance to them. With the way we're set-up from a salary cap standpoint and a roster standpoint that good things can continue to unfold.

"We're not focused on trying to be the eighth seed in the playoffs because that's not our goal. We're trying to build something that's good, sustainable and the components are in place for us to do so."

The Hawks remain ahead of the New York Knicks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Via Jeff Zillgitt/USA Today

nikster · Post #2 » by **nikster** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 3:51 am

Noooo! Playoffs has to be your goal. I made a bet the Knicks wouldnt make the playoffs
Why wouldnt it be your goal when your holding the 8th seed

samjones · Post #3 » by **samjones** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 3:53 am

Lol tank fail

puja21 · Post #4 » by **puja21** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 4:38 am

samjones wrote:Lol tank fail

they just mean they have bigger goals than merely the playoffs (unrealistic, but bigger)

Knicks Universe · Post #5 » by **Knicks Universe** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 5:00 am

Paging Adam Silver - another hint of tanking!!!! When management are literally coming out saying it, and teams like the Sixers are losing 26 games in a row, only to miraculously play well to avoid owning a record, and then going back to losing, and you STILL CAN'T SEE TANKING??? Ignorance or turning a blind eye at its finest. This is not healthy for the league. Small market teams need to go. Period.

maxthefactor · Post #6 » by **maxthefactor** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 5:05 am

Ferry should say: Getting swept is not our goal. He knows just playing the 2 extra home playoffs games are not worth the possibility of getting a top 10 draft pick. When the balls are rolling for draft pick position, anything can happen and getting a good player can mean a big upside for Atlanta next year. They showed when healthy, they can be competitive, they were top 3 team in the East for a good part of the season. They are one or 2 players away for the upswing and with Indiana free falling and showing their limits, I do not blame them for sticking with the system. Very clever thought process

Knicks Universe · Post #7 » by **Knicks Universe** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 5:07 am

maxthefactor wrote:Ferry should say: Getting swept is not our goal. He knows just playing the 2 extra home playoffs games are not worth the possibility of getting a top 10 draft pick. When the balls are rolling for draft pick position, anything can happen and getting a good player can mean a big upside for Atlanta next year. They showed when healthy, they can be competitive, they were top 3 team in the East for a good part of the season. They are one or 2 players away for the upswing and with Indiana free falling and showing their limits, I do not blame them for sticking with the system. Very clever thought process

Aka tanking.

Post #8 » by **CoreyGallagher** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 5:59 am

Knicks Universe wrote:Paging Adam Silver - another hint of tanking!!!! When management are literally coming out saying it, and teams like the Sixers are losing 26 games in a row, only to miraculously play well to avoid owning a record, and then going back to losing, and you STILL CAN'T SEE TANKING??? Ignorance or turning a blind eye at its finest. This is not healthy for the league. Small market teams need to go. Period.

What small market teams are you referring to? Philly? Top 4 market, Atlanta? Top 10 market.

RaptorRed · Post #9 » by **RaptorRed** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 6:04 am

Knicks Universe wrote:Paging Adam Silver - another hint of tanking!!!! When management are literally coming out saying it, and teams like the Sixers are losing 26 games in a row, only to miraculously play well to avoid owning a record, and then going back to losing, and you STILL CAN'T SEE TANKING??? Ignorance or turning a blind eye at its finest. This is not healthy for the league. Small market teams need to go. Period.

Isn't it funny that the Hawks coudln't care less for the number 8 seed and the Knicks still can't take it from them.
I mean its right there for the taking .. just take it . Ahh. thats too hard , lets just get rid of them and all teams below the knicks in the standings , that way the knicks can make the playoffs by default !

Dan2087 · Post #10 » by **Dan2087** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 7:17 am

What kind of message does that send your players?

therealbig3 · Post #11 » by **therealbig3** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 7:21 am

I don't see how there aren't severe penalties for saying something like this. That's CLEARLY an admission of tanking. Nobody's going to outright say: "We're tanking!" But he just said his goal is NOT to make the playoffs, despite currently being the 8th seed. Which means he wants his team to lose games and get good draft position.

Honestly, the Hawks should be stripped of their 1st round draft pick this year. You don't just blatantly admit that your team is trying to lose games.

RaptorRed · Post #12 » by **RaptorRed** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 7:45 am

therealbig3 wrote:I don't see how there aren't severe penalties for saying something like this. That's CLEARLY an admission of tanking. Nobody's going to outright say: "We're tanking!" But he just said his goal is NOT to make the playoffs, despite currently being the 8th seed. Which means he wants his team to lose games and get good draft position.

Honestly, the Hawks should be stripped of their 1st round draft pick this year. You don't just blatantly admit that your team is trying to lose games.

Lol are you jealous because your team doesn't have a pick this year or something ? The hawks have been stuck in medicority for years , they NEED to tank and should have tanked many years ago. He never said he is trying to lose games anyway . Besides , tanking is basically not assembling a good team until you are ready to compete for the title , which is a smart strategy. Who cares if they are losing games ? I bet theyre fans love it , and other teams fans would love the extra W.

therealbig3 · Post #13 » by **therealbig3** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 8:03 am

RaptorRed wrote:
therealbig3 wrote:I don't see how there aren't severe penalties for saying something like this. That's CLEARLY an admission of tanking. Nobody's going to outright say: "We're tanking!" But he just said his goal is NOT to make the playoffs, despite currently being the 8th seed. Which means he wants his team to lose games and get good draft position.

Honestly, the Hawks should be stripped of their 1st round draft pick this year. You don't just blatantly admit that your team is trying to lose games.

Lol are you jealous because your team doesn't have a pick this year or something ? The hawks have been stuck in medicority for years , they NEED to tank and should have tanked many years ago. He never said he is trying to lose games anyway . Besides , tanking is basically not assembling a good team until you are ready to compete for the title , which is a smart strategy. Who cares if they are losing games ? I bet theyre fans love it , and other teams fans would love the extra W.

Not jealous at all. He just said their goal isn't to make the playoffs...that's an admission of tanking, because as it stands, they're currently a playoff team. And btw, if teams aren't tanking, according to Adam Silver, then EVERY team's goal is to make the playoffs. To say that's not your goal...again, that means you'd rather get a good draft pick, which is tanking.

Whether or not it's smart is a different issue...it's about openly admitting to it. You just don't do that. And obviously he didn't say his team is trying to lose games...nobody is actually going to say it that way. But his team has a playoff spot, and he said his goal is to not make the playoffs. How much more obvious can you get? I think statements like that deserve the loss of their draft pick. The concept of tanking, whether it's smart or not, is unethical. And yeah, usually you can speculate which teams are doing it, but there's never any proof. But with this quote, it pretty much is proof, and they should be punished for it imo.

raleigh · Post #14 » by **raleigh** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 12:13 pm

Nice job, wiretap. Kudos for the reading comprehension. :roll:

The actual quotes for the half dozen or so of you who replied without reading the article:

"We don't want to use them [injuries] as excuses. It's been a reality, and I like that our group has continued to compete. It's part of the reason I like the substance of our group. It will allow us to be competitive going forward."

"We're not focused on trying to be the eighth seed in the playoffs because that's not our goal. We're trying to build something that's good, sustainable and the components are in place for us to do so."

nikster · Post #15 » by **nikster** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 2:28 pm

raleigh wrote:Nice job, wiretap. Kudos for the reading comprehension.

The actual quotes for the half dozen or so of you who replied without reading the article:

"We don't want to use them [injuries] as excuses. It's been a reality, and I like that our group has continued to compete. It's part of the reason I like the substance of our group. It will allow us to be competitive going forward."

"We're not focused on trying to be the eighth seed in the playoffs because that's not our goal. We're trying to build something that's good, sustainable and the components are in place for us to do so."

The actual quote explicitly says playoffs are not their goal.

RaptorRed · Post #16 » by **RaptorRed** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 2:49 pm

therealbig3 wrote:
RaptorRed wrote:
therealbig3 wrote:I don't see how there aren't severe penalties for saying something like this. That's CLEARLY an admission of tanking. Nobody's going to outright say: "We're tanking!" But he just said his goal is NOT to make the playoffs, despite currently being the 8th seed. Which means he wants his team to lose games and get good draft position.

Honestly, the Hawks should be stripped of their 1st round draft pick this year. You don't just blatantly admit that your team is trying to lose games.

Lol are you jealous because your team doesn't have a pick this year or something ? The hawks have been stuck in medicority for years , they NEED to tank and should have tanked many years ago. He never said he is trying to lose games anyway . Besides , tanking is basically not assembling a good team until you are ready to compete for the title , which is a smart strategy. Who cares if they are losing games ? I bet theyre fans love it , and other teams fans would love the extra W.

Not jealous at all. He just said their goal isn't to make the playoffs...that's an admission of tanking, because as it stands, they're currently a playoff team. And btw, if teams aren't tanking, according to Adam Silver, then EVERY team's goal is to make the playoffs. To say that's not your goal...again, that means you'd rather get a good draft pick, which is tanking.

Whether or not it's smart is a different issue...it's about openly admitting to it. You just don't do that. And obviously he didn't say his team is trying to lose games...nobody is actually going to say it that way. But his team has a playoff spot, and he said his goal is to not make the playoffs. How much more obvious can you get? I think statements like that deserve the loss of their draft pick. The concept of tanking, whether it's smart or not, is unethical. And yeah, usually you can speculate which teams are doing it, but there's never any proof. But with this quote, it pretty much is proof, and they should be punished for it imo.

Uneithcal ? Come on now... Welcome to life. The big 3 getting together is also unethical , the Lakers having 3 dynaasties in the last 25 years is also unethical , but all of a sudden tanking which is the best way for smaller market teams to get good is unethical ? That's ridicilous, there is nothing wrong with tanking , its a real strategy to make a good basketball team , its called rebuilding.

williamsonfox · Post #17 » by **williamsonfox** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 2:52 pm

someone better tell the 12 atlanta hawks fans

therealbig3 · Post #18 » by **therealbig3** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 3:33 pm

RaptorRed wrote:Uneithcal ? Come on now... Welcome to life. The big 3 getting together is also unethical , the Lakers having 3 dynaasties in the last 25 years is also unethical , but all of a sudden tanking which is the best way for smaller market teams to get good is unethical ? That's ridicilous, there is nothing wrong with tanking , its a real strategy to make a good basketball team , its called rebuilding.

YES, intentionally losing games is unethical. It completely goes against the spirit of competition. Do I disagree with it? No, I agree, it's a legitimate strategy for teams to acquire stars...but you're not supposed to admit to it! That's the whole point I'm arguing.

It's like walking up to a cop and telling him you have a pound of marijuana in your car. Is it wrong to smoke marijuana? Not really, I don't think many people care. But it IS technically illegal, and it IS something the cop will punish you for if you openly admit to it. Just don't admit it, and you won't get in trouble.

Tanking is a don't ask, don't tell kind of thing. Announcing that your team doesn't plan on making the playoffs is an open admission to tanking, especially since they're the 8th seed right now. He should never have said that. Because he did, it's pretty much proof that the Hawks are tanking, and if you're the NBA, you can't let GMs openly say stuff like that and get away with it scot-free. Silver is already a laughingstock less than 2 months into his career as Commissioner, because he said tanking doesn't exist, when it clearly does, and here we have a GM admitting that his team is tanking RIGHT NOW. You can't let stuff like that slide. Ferry should have kept his mouth shut, or just given the PC answer of "we're trying to win as many games as possible, we can still make the playoffs, and that's our goal."

BeatDaCavs420 · Post #19 » by **BeatDaCavs420** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 4:01 pm

What theyre basically saying is that they suck and know theyre not going to make the playoffs so lets say it's not our goal

Shame cuz that mean the Knicks are going too SMH

jizzme · Post #20 » by **jizzme** » Tue Apr 1, 2014 4:24 pm

BeatDaHeat420 wrote:What theyre basically saying is that they suck and know theyre not going to make the playoffs so lets say it's not our goal

Shame cuz that mean the Knicks are going too SMH

no hes basically saying they're pretty much in tanking mode to get picks