"They Say Du-Wop Homeeee" The GREAT Dwight Howard Returns...2016-17 ATL Hawks Season Thread

[Rickdogg44]

 

[AVXL]

Great all around game from Wop, WOAT & Sap. Dennis rebounded after a rough start and Timmy found his rhythm late. shyt Calderon too

WAS has the advantage in the backcourt, but outside of that they're not a better team than us. Hawks gotta get Game 5 and close this out in 6

 

[FreshFromATL]

I damn near lost it when Caulderon got lit after that tip in

 

[AVXL]

Ressler won’t second-guess contracts of Howard, Bazemore
2

• Chris Vivlamore
  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

4:04 p.m Tuesday, April 25, 2017 Atlanta Hawks

HAWKS

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This summer, the Hawks committed $140 million to Dwight Howard and Kent Bazemore.

Principal owner Tony Ressler is not about to second-guess those sizeable contracts, though they have been the subject of much fan angst during an up-and-down season and even now during the Hawks’ playoff run.

The Hawks evened their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals playoff series against the Wizards, 2-2, after victories at home Saturday and Monday. Game 5 is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday in Washington.

The Hawks signed Howard to a three-year, $70.5 million deal in July. There is no doubt that the addition of Howard has improved the team’s defense and rebounding. However, the statistics prove that the offense runs better without Howard on the floor. In fact, he has sat several times down the stretch of games.


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Can you dig it?

The Hawks signed Bazemore to a four-year, $70 million deal. He started the season in the starting lineup but after returning from a late-season knee injury has come off the bench.

Ressler addressed the signings of Howard and Bazemore in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week.

“The NBA is all about second-guessing,” Ressler said. “I know this, we play a lot better when those guys play well. Yes, I think there are some players you play and think you’ll have, in my opinion at least, years to make them fit in exactly as you hoped. We are doing our best. Me to talk about specific contracts and to say this was a perfect one and his was not a perfect one, listen at the end of the day I’m going to argue that if you look at our payroll this year, I think we did OK. We had a $98 million payroll. We won 43 games. We are in the middle of the playoffs. We are really competitive.”

I think in a lot of ways we are a better team, not in every way, not in victories, in a lot of ways we are a better team. I think in a lot of ways we are a better team with Baze and Dwight. Again, I happen to think pointing to a player or a contract in this process, you can say that’s too much, that’s too little. I think you have to look at the 15 contracts and say how are we doing? I think we are doing OK.”

Both Howard and Bazemore played big roles in the Hawks’ 111-101 victory Monday with their best games of the series. Howard had a double-double, with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Bazemore had 16 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

Even with the Hawks down 0-2 in the series, Ressler boldly said he believed the currently constructed team is better than those of either of the past two seasons. That would be the 60-win team that advance to the conference finals before Ressler purchased the franchise and last year’s version that won 48 games and advanced to the second round. Both postseason runs ended in sweeps by the Cavaliers.

Ressler pointed to young players such as Dennis Schroder, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Taurean Prince in addition to Howard and Bazemore for his reason for optimism.

“I think these are really, really good players that we didn’t have or didn’t have in this capacity,” Ressler said. “Paul (Millsap), we already knew was a great player. These guys are all getting better. Dennis, Timmy, Taurean, Baze, they are all getting better as players, in my opinion. So, yeah, we thought at the beginning of this season and at the beginning of these playoffs we thought we were a better team.”

Ressler’s faith in the current roster is not to suggest that he believes there is no room for improvement. He admitted to a level of frustration in trying to build a championship-caliber team with the decreased regular-season win total in his two years as owner. However, he looks to a young core of players surrounded by a group of veterans that has the franchise in contention with a 10th consecutive playoff appearance.

“I’m two years in, we are trying to run this franchise with a commitment to the present and the future,” Ressler said. “I think you have to run a franchise in this way. Things like age, things like payroll, things like long-term contracts, things like the NBA moving to be faster and younger, all of these are part of the decision-making process.”

I'm not gonna talk about WOAT's contract since we're in a playoff battle right now, but Ressler is trippin if he thinks this is a better roster than 2 years ago

 

[FreshFromATL]

Ressler won’t second-guess contracts of Howard, Bazemore
2

• Chris Vivlamore
  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

4:04 p.m Tuesday, April 25, 2017 Atlanta Hawks

HAWKS

VIEW CAPTION


I'm not gonna talk about WOAT's contract since we're in a playoff battle right now, but Ressler is trippin if he thinks this is a better roster than 2 years ago

Let's see how this play out first

 

[AVXL]

Let's see how this play out first

I wish the owner would've taken that same approach. If the Hawks don't win this series you're taking about a team that has gone from the ECF to losing in the first round in 2 years, 60 wins to 43 wins and 4 All Stars to 1. Wop's contract was good for what we brought him in for...WOAT yea Just the timing of these comments is bizarre. Win the series and then talk. But he's been saying some off the wall shyt lately, even Arthur Blank heard some of this shyt and was like

 

[AVXL]

Prior to Saturday’s thrilling Game 3 win by the Atlanta Hawks, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a pair of articles by columnist Jeff Schultz and Hawks beat writer Chris Vivlamore stemming from an exclusive interview with Hawks majority owner Tony Ressler. If you haven’t read them by now then I suggest you do so now, because it is a revealing look at the decision making process in the team’s front office and sheds some light on some puzzling situations.

Credit to Schultz, Vivlamore and the AJC for asking these questions and credit to Ressler for answering them. There is plenty to unpack in these stories but the root of everything goes back to this.

But the owner also dismissed any suggestion that Budenholzer is the final decision-maker.

“I make the final decision,” he said.

“If you think Bud makes a final decision on everything that we do, you don’t understand the way the Atlanta Hawks are run. … The president of basketball operations is what I say it is, not what you say it is. (Budenholzer) has the loudest voice, not the final word. There’s a dramatic difference.”

Other things we learned.

• Ressler was directly involved in the negotiations with Horford and admits that he might do things differently if he had the opportunity.
• That the front office was divided on the decision not to trade Paul Millsap at the deadline, but that he killed the notion entirely when it reached his desk.
• Ressler believes that the 2017 edition of the Atlanta Hawks is a “better playoff team” than the 2015 club that won 60 games and reached the Eastern Conference Finals.
• Ressler doesn’t anticipate making changes to the Hawks’ front office structure.

Shoutout to Peachtree Hoops for the breakdown but you can't tell me that something isn't wrong here

 

[AVXL]

But wait there's more

Ressler admitted in the interview that the front office was split on the decision of whether or not to trade Millsap before the deadline. He also says that when it “reached his desk” he used a colorful acronym “NFW” in shutting it down. More on that thought process in a bit but it is also worth noting that just a few weeks later season ticket holders began receiving notices of increases, some substantial, for the 2017-18 season.

Can you hit the reset button and then ask season ticket holders to pay more? Probably not.

Ressler also gives some insight into why he was resistant to hit the reset button on this group. He says in the interview that he thinks the 2016-17 edition of the Hawks is a “better playoff team” than they 60-win team from 2015 that reached the Eastern Conference Finals. If you thought this team had a chance to go two rounds deep in the playoffs then sure you wouldn’t entertain the thought of blowing it up no matter what.

Lets put that to bed now. This Hawks team finished with a 43-39 record and a negative-0.9 point differential for the season. Per Basketball-Reference, their expected win-loss recordwas 39-43. This team overachieved and that is a testament to Budenholzer and his coaching staff. This team doesn’t belong in the same conversation as the 2015 club and I question the judgement of anyone that thinks that is the case. This team hasn’t even proven to be as competent as the 48-win team that made it to the second round last year.

There seems to be underlying theme throughout the Hawks fanbase that the team’s front office structure needed to be shook up. Schultz alluded to it in his column and Ressler says that it likely isn’t going to happen.

There needs to be a shakeup but it doesn’t involve Mike Budenholzer or Wes Wilcox. I alluded to this back in 2015 when ownership was being introduced but the Hawks basketball operations was already in good hands. New ownership needed to come in and give them the tools to be successful. Reducing Budenholzer to merely a voice in the room doesn’t provide a lot of confidence for the future. Especially when the final decision maker doesn’t have experience in making those basketball related decisions.

Ressler’s group has done many great things since taking over ownership of the Hawks and I’d venture to say they have done everything right off the court. A brand new state of the art practice facility is on the way and it is going to be among the best in the league. They will have their own D-League franchise starting next season and it will be relocating to College Park in 2019. They even got the City of Atlanta to pitch in on renovations to Philips Arena that will bring it up to par with the best arena’s in the league.

However, ownership’s involvement with the on court product has not gone well. I have no idea if the decision to pass on hitting the reset button in January was influenced by the timing of the season ticket increase but it does seem reasonable given the timing. Perhaps the decision last July to sign Howard was predicated on more than just improving the team’s rebounding.

Building from the middle is fine as long as you can remain flexible but this Hawks team isn’t that and it looks like that is only going to get worse this summer. Better yet, what is the plan? Is there a plan at all? Is the plan simply to keep the playoff revenue rolling?

Thoughts on this brehs?

 

[FreshFromATL]

But wait there's more



Thoughts on this brehs?

Anything from Peachtree hoops get the . Them cats still mad that Horford and Korver isn't Hawks anymore.

 

[FreshFromATL]

It's over...

 

[Recca Gatsby]

Lol at Taurean Prince being a better version of Demarre Carroll, already

 

[Rickdogg44]

It's over...

Blacked out?

 

[FreshFromATL]

Blacked out?

That's what LeBron usually do when the playoffs starts, blacks out social media and just focus on the game.

I think Prince might go gawd mode tonight

 

[AVXL]

Anything from Peachtree hoops get the . Them cats still mad that Horford and Korver isn't Hawks anymore.

Breh I'm taking about Ressler's comments

 

[Sly Cookin]

Breh I'm taking about Ressler's comments

I think if anything it reduces some of the blame on bud. Ressler might have wanted dwight to sell tickets...maybe bud had a deal lined up for millsap. Nobody knows exactly but it can't be good for Ressler to have a final say when he isn't a basketball mind.