Congrats, we're now in NBA hell

azuresou1 · Post #1 » by **azuresou1** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:36 am

Too good to get a gamechanger in the draft.
Not good enough to actually be even a semi-legitimate threat in the playoffs.
Too much salary tied up to pick up a free agent.
Massively overpaid long term liability.
No realistically moveable assets.
No promising young players (Horford's pretty much entering his prime).

Unfortunately guys, I think this will be my last season as a Hawks fan until we get new ownership that doesn't have its head up its ass. I'll be around until playoffs, but I'm really not sure if I'll even follow the team for the remainder of regular season.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #2 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 2:49 am

I said that as soon as they signed Joe. They've basically become the 2005-2008 Washington Wizards-their top 3 players are pretty good but they don't really have any leadership,quality depth,draft picks,or a coach with a pulse.

Geaux_Hawks · Post #3 » by **Geaux_Hawks** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 3:15 am

A decent coach could at least negate the Hawks not being a semi-legit threat in the playoffs

parson · Post #4 » by **parson** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 3:53 am

And they're SELLING the team? After all the years of lawsuits - making us wait for the money to be freed up from litigation, they are now trying to SELL THE TEAM?

They'd have been better off letting Belkin HAVE the team and making him agree to leave the team in ATL.

I tell you what, rich people and their petty pride...

azuresou1 · Post #5 » by **azuresou1** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 4:24 pm

It's actually impossible to blow up this team. Congrats, ASG, you managed to lock yourselves in to suck for the next half decade.

Hell, if I had the money, I still wouldn't touch this team.

#1 pick · Post #6 » by **#1 pick** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:36 pm

Teague is promising. He has potential to be a very good player. Atlanta have quite a few movable assets. It's Joe and Marvin who aren't movable unless we are taking a much worst contract.

sutrick · Post #7 » by **sutrick** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:52 pm

I don't think a change in coaches will make a significant difference. It's sad to see that Atlanta's run is over. Breaking up a team is never easy and usually filled with mistakes but what in the world could change the mentality of this team. Josh must go but since he doesn't play like he cares frequently how do you get fair value? Horford is great but he looks disgusted out there. JJ doesn't look like he's looking forward to 5 more years of this. After last years poor playoff showing ( barely beating the Bogut-less Bucks), its too bad more thinking didn't go into the offseason options including sign and trade possibilities for JJ.

Hope the Hawks get lucky and don't suffer through many years of no hope.

CALPURNIA · Post #8 » by **CALPURNIA** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:12 pm

Teague is a promising young player with the proper guidance. Sy should be an interesting prospect too.
Then Josh should get us something interesting in other areas, Crawford's money could allow us to get something in the summer and Hinrich, JJ, Marvin and Al should be a nucleus strong enough to get at least a trip to the POs.

Then a change in the coaching staff would be desired. Either someone new with the capability, both the knowings and the back-up of the owners and GM, to do something different or a LD with the guts to implement a new system in which the players should follow his instructions and shut up or be stack on the bench, whoever the name of the player is.

evildallas · Post #9 » by **evildallas** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:06 pm

A coaching change could make a small difference, but without new ownership, you could have included "Can't afford a new coach" in the list of issues. Truthfully, the impact of a change in coaching would have best been seen 3 summers ago when Woodson was given a 2 year extension. That was the moment to get a different voice in to reach the youth (not just promote from within on a budget). Too late for that now.

It is possible to salvage things, but it involves taking risks and stepping back before moving forward. The team has been run on the promise of slow, steady progress ignoring the flaws in the foundation. The team was built wrong and then reinvested on top of it. Not going to rehash the mistakes again here, but will say they should have sucked longer and accumulated more talent before making the moves they did. Rick Sund and the ASG can't do it. It takes new ownership/management in order to salvage roster so they can make the hard moves without worrying about that step back or admitting their own mistakes.

azuresou1 · Post #10 » by **azuresou1** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:18 pm

The ASG must have destroyed the value of the Hawks by at least a good 80% over this past year.

Post #11 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:55 pm

Things look terrible, and losing Jordan Crawford really hurts. (He might be named Rookie of the Month for March btw.)

But we still have a decent team. They just lack heart. We are a playoff team, and I remember that pathetic 13-69 team all too well.

We need a real leader at HC and to invest more in scouting and development. We waste 2nd round picks and don't develop 1st round picks.

Detroit, Golden State, Toronto fans would probably kill to be 40-31 and in the 5th spot of the playoffs.

azuresou1 · Post #12 » by **azuresou1** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:35 pm

That 13-69 team blew chunks, but at least they cared back then.

I'd rather be Golden State or Toronto than be 40-31, 5th seed, and locked into this team for the next 5 years.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #13 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:03 am

Golden State shouldn't really be grouped into that group but yes...I'd much rather be the Raptors(for example) than the Hawks. Simply being a "playoff team" doesn't really matter in the NBA if you have no hope to actually compete with the top teams,can't draw fans to the arena, and/or you don't have a budding young superstar(ala Derrick Rose or Kevin Durant" last year who is just starting to scratch the surface.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #14 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:06 am

& the worse part isn't the fact that the Hawks are stuck in the middle...it's that they don't really even have the option to rebuild even if they wanted to. The Hawks should probably be praying that Dallas flops again in the playoffs because there isn't another owner out there(other than NY who just went all in with Melo) who would think twice about trading an expiring contract for Joe.

D21 · Post #15 » by **D21** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:33 am

parson wrote:And they're SELLING the team? After all the years of lawsuits - making us wait for the money to be freed up from litigation, they are now trying to SELL THE TEAM?

They'd have been better off letting Belkin HAVE the team and making him agree to leave the team in ATL.

I tell you what, rich people and their petty pride...

I remember (but can't find it) a letter of Gearon who was saying some years ago he always was a winner, and so he thought he would be eternal winner, and a winner in anything.
Maybe he was making some money at this time with Hawks, and for him, it was being a winner, money being more important than winning games for lots of owners.

JoshB914 · Post #16 » by **JoshB914** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:46 pm

It sucks. This is the overall destination we all feared the most during the rebuilding process. I'd call it "purgatory" rather than "hell." Honestly, I'd rather be in hell in this case.

azuresou1 · Post #17 » by **azuresou1** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 7:15 pm

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/21 ... n_Freefall

Atlanta has been blown out at home more often than any team with a winning record in NBA history. The Hawks have suffered five home losses by 20 or more points, including three by more than 30 points. Each ranks as the top total in NBA history for teams with winning records, according to STATS, LLC.

Why am I not surprised?