Like it or not, ASG got it right this summer.

From the get-go lets remember one thing: Never Trust The ASG

1.) Signing Joe Johnson was good for the short run but absolutely horrible for the long run. As said throughout this blog, he has a good 2 -3 year max where he will perform close to or right under the contract that he was given. What about the remaining 3-4 years of his contract? He’ll be in the same position as Tracy McGrady… Overused and Aged. He will take up almost half of our salary cap which will make us virtually impossible to make adequate moves with free agency and we’ll be trying to find the next “fix.” Also the All-Star Center doesn’t want to play that position and seeing that he is a Restricted free agent, you want to save as much money for him and try and get pieces that complement him.

2. & 3.) The ASG once again blew smoke up our asses when they were “trying” to sign O’Neal. All it took was a 2 year $2.8 million deal. He was probably turned off from this dysfunctional ownership group who didnt know how to come to single decision that he took less money and a lesser role on a team that knew what it wanted to do from the start. What do we have in return. Jason Collins returning for the veteran minimum ($1.3 million) and Josh Powell who signed for a one year deal ($1.1 million). Wow ASG youve really outdone yourselves.

4.) I would’ve really liked to draft a young Big in the draft to see what we wouldve done. First rounders automatically count against the salary cap, but second rounders do not and come at a fraction of the price… So instead of seeing a potential bench player come in and work for minutes we rely on people who don’t really contribute on the court. ASG did overspend for a bench player and his name is Jason Collins

5.) Yeah, they aren’t going into the luxury tax unless they come up with a Chris Paul trade idea… and knowing how hard it was to trade for Joe Johnson that isn’t happening from this ownership group.

6.) The only reason ASG would sign Crawford to a multi-year deal is if Johnson went somewhere else… It’s not happening and he’s most likely going to get traded by the trade deadline.

So, ASG promised to put pieces around JJ if he signed and they have done jack squat but put the same pieces as a year ago only to a more inflated salary… I dont blame Rick Sund as much as ASG because they are the ones making the decisions in this game he is pretty much a puppet in the whole scheme. Way to go, ASG

For Woodson’s entire tenure they blamed him for everything, and thought that the Hawks would do better if we had any other coach.

Now that we have a chance to find out, they think that their is NO WAY that we will be any better than we were last year. And they even have the balls to criticize ASG when they blame something on Woodson now.

I thought this blog was suppost to uplift these hawks and we being diehard fans behind them 100%. But all I see is negativity. I understood that some just like to tell it like it is and criticize when needed, but when is beating a dead horse enough? this post brought positivity but somehow had turned negative

But when your(not particularly anyone) discussing the same thing that more than likely won’t change and keep comparing them to teams you haven’t seen play yet consider “top” teams in some peoples books. it gets annoying to hear " the hawks won’t make it past the second round" " we need a big(to match d.Howard basically when no one can shut him down effectively w/out fouling the ish out of him or vice versa)" " Marvin for shaq(really?)" look all I’m saying is where is the hope and support?

I appreciate the post which gives a positive take to the outook at what the Hawks did and didn’t do but it would be naive to think that it going to be sunshine lollipops all the way through when the reality of the situation is that we still have unanswered questions with the line up and what the management has done so far. I want to see what the Hawks pull at the February trade deadline, I mean we have to pieces to pull off something great but I’m not getting my hopes up looking at their track record so far.

on the buisness side of basketball….is winning a championship the primary focus of most franchises? We as fans would want our teams to try and win it all every year, but how many owners worry about that? Owners should know their odds of winning a championship better than we do, so you could say the ASG got it right because they know we can’t win a championship this year even with significant additions. This could explain the attitude of the Hawks for the past 7 or 8 years of the ASG era…..If you don’t have a chance, don’t take a chance.

On paper, the Hawks should be the fourth-best team in the East. The Bulls may nip them for fourth.

Unfortunately, the Hawks have been outclassed by the Celtics, Bulls, and Heat this offseason. Unless Larry Drew is a miracle worker, there is nowhere for the Hawks to go but down. It’s disappointing but true.

The Hawks aren’t wet behind the ears anymore. We’re going to have to bet past the “53 wins during the regular season” cop out. Cleveland won 61 and? Until we have a gritty, hard fought 2nd round exit, I’m not handing out any congratulatory pats on the back. They should want better than that. They get paid to produce better than that. They’re a group of talented young men that SHOULD have a chip on their shoulders after they were straight up destroyed in the 2nd round. Somebody needs to step up and hold every single guy on the roster accountable for his actions and play. If not the highest paid guy on the roster, then the one with the biggest heart needs to do it.

the hawks have gotten absolutely embarrassed in 5 out of their last 5 playoff appearances. I cannot believe so many people here are fine with that. Name another top 10 NBA team you can say that about.

In fact, I agree with all of your arguments. But I still take issue with the signing of Joe Johnson to a max deal. Joe Johnson has done nothing for your team. How many times do you need to watch your team get beaten in the second round of the playoffs before you realize that he can’t take you to the promised land? Sure, if Joe Johnson isn’t on the team, the Hawks are not making the playoffs. But as long as Joe Johnson is the best player on the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta will not win a championship.*

So now you’ve committed $120+ million dollars to a player that can get your team swept in the second round of the playoffs, and locked him up for six years. Terrific.

I suppose, from an owner standpoint, a playoff team makes a lot more money in ticket and merchandise sales than a non-playoff team and losing your best player because you don’t want to pay him is certainly not good PR. But if winning a championship is your ultimate goal (and I hope it is) then paying Joe Johnson through the nose so you can keep losing in the playoffs while he averages 16 ppg and takes money baths after every game isn’t going to get you there.

*It is my opinion that to win an NBA Championship you have to have one of the ten best players in the NBA. After that, there are plenty of ways to build a team, but first you must have that top ten guy. If you disagree with that, that’s fine. I can’t really objectively prove that, so it’s more of an opinion than a theory. I think that Joe Johnson is a top 15-20 guy, and could absolutely be the second best player on a championship team (if he somehow made it to Orlando or Boston, for example, I think they would have a great shot). If you disagree with my assessment of his talent, I cannot fault you. Perhaps I don’t watch enough or know enough about the Hawks, and he’s better than I’m giving him credit for.

Overall, our team makes the right moves. Listening to some fans you would believe the Hawks are headed for the lottery. Other than signing Jamal long-term, I wholly agree with your article.

I actually like this alot. you are finding the positives amongst the negatives that many people enjoy bringing up.

Taking money out of the equation, and only looking at the upcoming season, where have we improved from last year? We still have a hole in the pivot (Shaq wasn’ t gonna fill that hole, and if K. Perkins wasn’t out till January at best, he wouldn’t be in Boston), we still have a hole on the wing (unless by some miracle Marvin plays up to his draft position), we still have no real bench outside of JC(no backup at the 3, Mo Evans is very much past his expiration date, bigs are nothing more than filler), and our PG can’t guard anyone that moves faster than a tricycle. People keep harping on the fact that we won 53 games last year, but all that got us was 7 games with a Milwaukee team that was at maybe 70% of what they are capable of, and a 4 game, 100 point plus whitewashing embarrassment. We all know that we are not championship material, and anyone tha t thinks otherwise is coo coo, dumb, and crazy. Miami will switch places with Cleveland, Chicago and Milwaukee have gotten as good as we are, and Charlotte and Washington aren’t that far behind (and they made moves to improve, unlike us).

You need either three great players or two superstars, one of them being a big man to win a championship (the only exception is Detroit since 1980). Right now, we don’t fit either of those templates. We have three very good players…one of which has the potential to be great. Let’s be real…we are a first round playoff team, who with the right matchup, can get to round two. And while I hate that this is what we are, it is better than what we were before, and it’s OK to accept that. We can all hope for the best, and I’ll be right there watching and hoping. But let’s not hope and wish from an unrealistic foundation. We are what we are.

*system
*efficient
*attempt

3. I don’t think, rather I don’t know if Shaq upped the price for Atlanta simply because of Atlanta. These were one of the teams Shaq was considering in the first place. If Shaq was coming here with a large role to play of course he’s going to ask for more money. And considering the roster why would he be on the bench if he’s healthy? In the end the Hawks didn’t show Shaq that he would only be complimentary piece for the veterans minimum, they wanted him to be the catalyst for the veterans minimum.

4. So Jason Collins and Josh Powell are better than any draft pick the hawks sold this year? Well, that’s yet to be seen I guess. But that is assuming that the other NBA teams are picking up garbage.

5. The three highest payrolls were also in the conference finals