Ferry on his remade Hawks:
Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 3:07 am
The Hawks had two choices: They could have kept what they had and continued to get the same results, or they could have done as Danny Ferry did. So long as the Core Four was intact, this organization had both a floor and a ceiling. The Hawks would be too talented to stink, too mismatched to win a championship.
Said Ferry, speaking Wednesday night: “The status quo wasn’t going to be good enough to reach our goals, and we weren’t even going to be able to sustain that.”
That’s a brutally accurate description of the Hawks before this general manager took hold of them. And where are they now, 2 1/2 weeks and two major trades later? Ferry again: “We’re in a situation where we made some changes, and hopefully going forward we can be more opportunistic — hopefully better and more sustainable.”
Thing is, “going forward” isn’t synonymous with “here and now,” and we live in an age where gratification is seldom deferred until tomorrow, let alone next year. Ferry’s way involves risk. As newly constituted, the Hawks seem at best a .500 team. And even as I applaud this GM’s vision and verve, I also recall a conversation with a former GM.
It was Year 2 or Year 3 – or maybe Year 4; they tended to run together – after the Billy Knight deconstruction, and I wanted to know how much longer it would be until the Hawks got good. Originally I’d voiced enthusiasm for Knight’s brass in dumping players and salary, but so many losses over so much time had silenced the hosannas.
“You’re getting impatient,” Knight said, and I guess I was. http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/ ... od-enough/
Said Ferry, speaking Wednesday night: “The status quo wasn’t going to be good enough to reach our goals, and we weren’t even going to be able to sustain that.”
That’s a brutally accurate description of the Hawks before this general manager took hold of them. And where are they now, 2 1/2 weeks and two major trades later? Ferry again: “We’re in a situation where we made some changes, and hopefully going forward we can be more opportunistic — hopefully better and more sustainable.”
Thing is, “going forward” isn’t synonymous with “here and now,” and we live in an age where gratification is seldom deferred until tomorrow, let alone next year. Ferry’s way involves risk. As newly constituted, the Hawks seem at best a .500 team. And even as I applaud this GM’s vision and verve, I also recall a conversation with a former GM.
It was Year 2 or Year 3 – or maybe Year 4; they tended to run together – after the Billy Knight deconstruction, and I wanted to know how much longer it would be until the Hawks got good. Originally I’d voiced enthusiasm for Knight’s brass in dumping players and salary, but so many losses over so much time had silenced the hosannas.
“You’re getting impatient,” Knight said, and I guess I was. http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/ ... od-enough/