RealGM

Not sure how anyone else has felt but I've really lost my faith in the Spirit Group. Not that I had a lot to begin with but reading Sekou's latest blog and seeing this summer drag on has been extremely frustrating and apparently neither side is that close on contract negotiations. Either way, I think both Joshes will have a bad taste in their mouths even if a deal is agreed to.

I've given the ASG the benefit of the doubt a lot of times but I'm really not liking what I'm seeing.

Well, I was dismayed at how dedicated they were to resign Woodson. I understand the business side of the player contract negotiations, but it does seem like they misread the Childress situation. I think the key will be if they can resign Josh Smith without him souring on the organization. They can try to play hard ball and make it as cheap a deal as possible or they can pay a little more and try to have a happy employee at a fair price.

Too bad Blank can't buy every Atlanta sports team.

uga_dawgs24 wrote:Too bad Blank can't buy every Atlanta sports team.

Too bad the ASG just won't sell the Hawks to someone who actually cares and will spend money to keep our own free agents around.

I think the key will be if they can resign Josh Smith without him souring on the organization.

Yup. I've seen it all too often (Al Harrington the most recent) where our players leave on a bad note and trash talk our organization. A step in the right direction would be nice.

Thrasher fans are just as frustrated with the ASG as the Hawk fans. I don't feel the ASG is as dedicated to winning as they'd like for us to believe and the real test with be two years from now when the stars hit the market.

While Josh Smith is frustrated with the lack of money the ASG is offering, I understand why the ASG want to be patient, but overall we know Josh Smith needs to be part of the foundation for many years, and for that reason the last thing the ASG need to do is upset him to the point of him wanting out completely. At some point the ASG needs to realize this and pay more to make him happy!

I also can't stand the fact that so many shooters have been scooped up for dirt cheap and we continue to sit on our hands as if we don't need any. I understand our priority is to retain both the Joshes, but at some point you must fill other holes, and I would much prefer two quality players over one (Josh Childress).

Honestly...the Woodson hire is the last of my complaints of the ASG right now which shows how bad they have been. The Sund hire has been awful as the only two things he's done thus far are hire Woodson(w/o interviewing any body else)and workout two big men. He is basically an extension of the Billy Knight era based on how intent he is of keeping ALL 8 rotation players on a 37 win team. They have taking a reactive approach in free agency and there are reports(and it doesn't appear to be a rumor with Chil)that both Joshes want out. The multiple threads about our inactivity when teams were picking up players like Jones,Azuibuike,and Mason makes Sund look even dumber because now we have no fallback option if Chil goes to Europe. I just can't believe the morale of Hawks' fans is this low less than 3 months after the Boston series.