ATL Q & A

[shard24]

Open for any and all questions regarding the Hawks.

[rookieoftheyear]

Will your team be going with a full rebuild through the draft or will you make moves looking to contend ?

[malice]

As a manager generally regarded as being "very, very capable"... what advice would you give to new GMs?

[BoshtrichBurger]

Do you consider yourself a possible playoff contender in a weak Eastern Conference? Or is your personnel not ready yet?

[celticfan]

What do you feel is the next step in rebuilding the hawks?

[shard24]

Mar 22, 2014 18:06:03 GMT rookieoftheyear said:

Will your team be going with a full rebuild through the draft or will you make moves looking to contend ?

Well last season we obviously wanted to take the Hawks in a different direction.  We had a bunch of great players on this squad.  However, we wanted to get younger. With such a young and inexperienced group it would shock me if we were in contention this upcoming season.  That said, we feel we have some very talented players.  With more experience and improvement from within, we hope to improve on our record from last season.

[shard24]

Mar 23, 2014 0:23:02 GMT malice said:

As a manager generally regarded as being "very, very capable"... what advice would you give to new GMs?

Have a direction and make your moves accordingly.

[shard24]

Mar 23, 2014 11:32:50 GMT BoshtrichBurger said:

Do you consider yourself a possible playoff contender in a weak Eastern Conference? Or is your personnel not ready yet?

We have a very young squad so it's highly unlikely.  That said, I really like the players we've assembled.  I see a ton of potential.

[shard24]

Mar 23, 2014 12:18:16 GMT celticfan said:

What do you feel is the next step in rebuilding the hawks?

Try to draft well, make trades that will help the squad and hope that our free agent signings pan out.

[HyperYellow]

You have very quickly assembled some nice defensive pieces there Shard24, particularly on the wings. But how many minutes would you expect Marcus Camby to need to have some front court presence, and how much scoring would you be sacrificing given that this would mean less minutes for Hibbert and Curry?

[shard24]

Mar 26, 2014 2:18:12 GMT HyperYellow said:

You have very quickly assembled some nice defensive pieces there Shard24, particularly on the wings. But how many minutes would you expect Marcus Camby to need to have some front court presence, and how much scoring would you be sacrificing given that this would mean less minutes for Hibbert and Curry?

Thanks.

Well with Curry out for pretty much the season with a broken skull, Camby will get a ton of mins.  It's unfortunate because Curry was having a great season.

[rookieoftheyear]

How would you grade rookie Roy Hibbert's performance thus far ?

[shard24]

Mar 29, 2014 18:22:57 GMT rookieoftheyear said:

How would you grade rookie Roy Hibbert's performance thus far ?

He's been solid.

[celticfan]

Does Eddy Curry have a future with this team?

[shard24]

Apr 5, 2014 13:25:41 GMT celticfan said:

Does Eddy Curry have a future with this team?

Absolutely.  

We love EC and what he brings to the table.  He's a dominate low post scorer and we feel he, along with Hibbert can form one of the most dominate low post scoring duos in the league.

[shorty]

The Hawks have some stiff competition ahead of them in the East playoff standings. Will the team continue to look to compete, or will it be a better idea to just mail it in and try and get a better draft pick?

[celticfan]

How important will it be to retain Danny Granger in the upcoming off-season?

[shard24]

Apr 6, 2014 6:37:14 GMT shorty said:

The Hawks have some stiff competition ahead of them in the East playoff standings. Will the team continue to look to compete, or will it be a better idea to just mail it in and try and get a better draft pick?

We have too good of a record to try to all out tank right now.  This is a deep draft so I think we can definitely get a solid player with our pick.  We feel we have a roster loaded of young talented players who can be forces in this league.  Either offensively or defensively.  Some players both.  That said, TRUE tanking was never really a realistic option.  This season was a season of development.  We will try to win as many games as we're capable of.

[shard24]

Apr 6, 2014 13:55:02 GMT celticfan said:

How important will it be to retain Danny Granger in the upcoming off-season?\



We want Granger to be here for years to come.

[malice]

Can you beat the Magic/Bulls/Heat in a 7 game series?

[rookieoftheyear]

Do you think Gerald Wallace's defensive value makes him worth that contract ?

[shard24]

Apr 8, 2014 7:34:36 GMT malice said:

Can you beat the Magic/Bulls/Heat in a 7 game series?

Sorry for the late response, just saw these questions.

It's doubtful.  This team is still very young and still developing.  Making the playoffs will be a tremendous challenge. I dont think we are anywhere near ready to win in the playoffs.

[shard24]

Apr 8, 2014 12:48:02 GMT rookieoftheyear said:

Do you think Gerald Wallace's defensive value makes him worth that contract ?

We love G-Wall.  He wasnt asked to do much last season as we were doing alot of experimenting with the lineup.  At 7/8mil per I think that's a great bargain for a guy who can defend on the perimeter, be an effective scorer ( when called upon) and he can rebound.  I have no doubt that if called upon to fulfill a bigger role that G-Wall can absolutely deliver.

[malice]

Apr 17, 2014 7:37:12 GMT shard24 said:

Apr 8, 2014 7:34:36 GMT malice said:

Can you beat the Magic/Bulls/Heat in a 7 game series?

Sorry for the late response, just saw these questions.

It's doubtful.  This team is still very young and still developing.  Making the playoffs will be a tremendous challenge. I dont think we are anywhere near ready to win in the playoffs.

Sorry man, but some questions have a "use by" date.  You have to answer 'em, or lose 'em.  I'll ask you another soon...

[shard24]

Apr 17, 2014 7:44:09 GMT malice said:

Apr 17, 2014 7:37:12 GMT shard24 said:

Sorry for the late response, just saw these questions.

It's doubtful.  This team is still very young and still developing.  Making the playoffs will be a tremendous challenge. I dont think we are anywhere near ready to win in the playoffs.

Sorry man, but some questions have a "use by" date.  You have to answer 'em, or lose 'em.  I'll ask you another soon...

no problem, my badd.  maybe i should read up on how ths Q&A works lol

[malice]

Apr 17, 2014 7:57:51 GMT shard24 said:

Apr 17, 2014 7:44:09 GMT malice said:

Sorry man, but some questions have a "use by" date.  You have to answer 'em, or lose 'em.  I'll ask you another soon...

no problem, my badd.  maybe i should read up on how ths Q&A works lol

All good.  Here's another:

On the cusp of a new season, what are your hopes/aspirations for the Atlanta Hawks?

[shard24]

Apr 17, 2014 8:09:29 GMT malice said:

Apr 17, 2014 7:57:51 GMT shard24 said:

no problem, my badd.  maybe i should read up on how ths Q&A works lol

All good.  Here's another:

On the cusp of a new season, what are your hopes/aspirations for the Atlanta Hawks?

Just for the squad to continue to grow individually and collectively as a group.  I feel we are a piece or two away from taking that next step.  We have two first round picks in the upcoming draft and we're hoping to obtain those missing pieces there.

[malice]

You've had some good wins this season, but how far can Atlanta go in the Playoffs?

[shard24]

Apr 25, 2014 12:57:03 GMT malice said:

You've had some good wins this season, but how far can Atlanta go in the Playoffs?

I love the progress this team is made.  Seemingly getting better and better as the season goes along.  That said, I still think we are a season or two away from truly contending.  The core players of this team are all still in their early 20's, so im anticipating the players will continue to improve individually as players and as a result we'll continue to improve as a team.  Playoffs can be a crap shoot though.  If you get in anything can happen.  It will be interesting to see how we do, IF we get in. Still not a lock that we do.

[celticfan]

Eddie Griffin has been very important this season. Are you surprised with what you have gotten from him this season?