Post by amanuel0620 on Jan 28, 2011 1:17:07 GMT -5
The Augusta Chronicle
The Atlanta Hawks come into this preseason as a team on a mission. At the beginning of the season the Hawks did not know where they were going and that question was not answered until the deal with the Mavericks did not go through. Without their 2008 first round pick the Atlanta Hawks were forced to stop dreaming about competing potentially in 2009 and focus on competingnow! With that, the Atlanta Hawks front office moved quickly to try and put a competitve team together.
With the deal sending Nash to Dallas not going through, the Atlanta hawks turned their attention to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers and Hawks had discussed a Steve Francis for Steve Nash deal but things never really heated up. But after the Mavs deal did not go through the Hawks were quick to make the move because of a couple of reasons. One is that Steve Nash was getting up there in age and they need to get a younger PG. Altough Steve Francis isnt a youngster himself he is 3 years younger than Nash and is in the prime of his career. The Second reason the Hawks made the deal was the type of system they were putting in. The Hawks new Iso system calls for a scoring point guard which Steve Nash was not. Steve Francis a proven scorer was to a certain degree being held back by the Lakers with their all star starting 5. With Francis coming to the Hawks, he will be asked to carry more of the load than he was forced to in LA.
"I love it, out in LA Phil Jackson wanted me to be more of a pass first PG and I wouldnt say I did not like it but it forced me to do things out my norm. There were plenty of times where I could have attacked the basket but I knew that, thats not whats best for the team. But now I think the Hawks are going to let my play my game. This ISO system I got a chance to talk to with Avery Johnson and Mo Cheeks about sounds great. It allows me basically be the quarterback of the team and I decide what to do with the ball. If I see a hole in the defense I can either try and score or try to set up my teammates. Its something I really look forward to doing and I love."
But the Hawks after making the deal for Francis, had to worry about free agency. With Francis on board the Atlanta Hawks had made thier decision that competing for a championship was thier goal. So they started talking to Antoine Walker's agent about possibly him coming back to the Hawks. After weeks of talking back and forth the Atlanta Hawks had come to a verbal agreement with free agent small forward Antoine Walker on a 5 year deal worth over $91 million dollars. Quickly as the deal went down many analysts from all over the league questioned why the Hawks made this deal.
Dan Lebatard of the Miami Sun time said of the deal, "Yuck at that Walker deal...Thats a franchise killer. "
Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe also mentioned, "Antoines contract is atrocious like yall said he would of been locked in for 3 years but 5 at that price is wild. i thought hawks were rebuilding?"
But as time went by and people actually looked at the contract its turnd out that really its more of a 3 year deal istead of 5 years. The Atlanta Hawks have team options on both the 4th and 5th year of the deal. But to deactivate the contracts on the last 2 years they have to pay Antoine $1.2million dollars to get out of the contract. But as I look at the deal, yes they may have over paid but they can get out of the contract after the third year. By the second year, Walkers deal might become a huge expiring contract worth over $18 million dollars. Antoine for the time being should be the number option for the Hawks and with Francis on board they should make a pretty good duo. You throw in a soild third option in Caron Butler and an above average front court and the Hawks have something. In addition to Walker, the Hawks also came to an agreement with other free agents. Some key interesing free agents were swingman Ricky Davis, defensive specialist Rick Clack and Nazr Mohammed, and two vetran point guards Antoinio Daniels and Derek Fisher.
With preseason about to start tomorrow, the Hawks look to start climbing up the mountian they once conqured a few seasons back. But before we head off I would just like to talk about training camp. Last year as a rookie Ronnie Price got the scaps of what ever was left in term of minutes played by Steve Nash. But after the season ended he worked out with Steve Nash and came into this season, in his own words, the best shape of his life. As training camp started it was quickly seen how much better he had gotten. His shot had more touch on it, his handles were quick and crisp and he even increased his leaping skills by about 3 inches. With such a drastic improvment shown, the coach staff have given Ronnie the right to be the starter for preseason. He looks like a new player and should show case his skills this preseason. If he is able to show he can run this team and has a firm grip on being a true professional is, the Hawks might have found thier point guard of the future.
The Atlanta Hawks come into this preseason as a team on a mission. At the beginning of the season the Hawks did not know where they were going and that question was not answered until the deal with the Mavericks did not go through. Without their 2008 first round pick the Atlanta Hawks were forced to stop dreaming about competing potentially in 2009 and focus on competingnow! With that, the Atlanta Hawks front office moved quickly to try and put a competitve team together.
With the deal sending Nash to Dallas not going through, the Atlanta hawks turned their attention to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers and Hawks had discussed a Steve Francis for Steve Nash deal but things never really heated up. But after the Mavs deal did not go through the Hawks were quick to make the move because of a couple of reasons. One is that Steve Nash was getting up there in age and they need to get a younger PG. Altough Steve Francis isnt a youngster himself he is 3 years younger than Nash and is in the prime of his career. The Second reason the Hawks made the deal was the type of system they were putting in. The Hawks new Iso system calls for a scoring point guard which Steve Nash was not. Steve Francis a proven scorer was to a certain degree being held back by the Lakers with their all star starting 5. With Francis coming to the Hawks, he will be asked to carry more of the load than he was forced to in LA.
"I love it, out in LA Phil Jackson wanted me to be more of a pass first PG and I wouldnt say I did not like it but it forced me to do things out my norm. There were plenty of times where I could have attacked the basket but I knew that, thats not whats best for the team. But now I think the Hawks are going to let my play my game. This ISO system I got a chance to talk to with Avery Johnson and Mo Cheeks about sounds great. It allows me basically be the quarterback of the team and I decide what to do with the ball. If I see a hole in the defense I can either try and score or try to set up my teammates. Its something I really look forward to doing and I love."
But the Hawks after making the deal for Francis, had to worry about free agency. With Francis on board the Atlanta Hawks had made thier decision that competing for a championship was thier goal. So they started talking to Antoine Walker's agent about possibly him coming back to the Hawks. After weeks of talking back and forth the Atlanta Hawks had come to a verbal agreement with free agent small forward Antoine Walker on a 5 year deal worth over $91 million dollars. Quickly as the deal went down many analysts from all over the league questioned why the Hawks made this deal.
Dan Lebatard of the Miami Sun time said of the deal, "Yuck at that Walker deal...Thats a franchise killer. "
Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe also mentioned, "Antoines contract is atrocious like yall said he would of been locked in for 3 years but 5 at that price is wild. i thought hawks were rebuilding?"
But as time went by and people actually looked at the contract its turnd out that really its more of a 3 year deal istead of 5 years. The Atlanta Hawks have team options on both the 4th and 5th year of the deal. But to deactivate the contracts on the last 2 years they have to pay Antoine $1.2million dollars to get out of the contract. But as I look at the deal, yes they may have over paid but they can get out of the contract after the third year. By the second year, Walkers deal might become a huge expiring contract worth over $18 million dollars. Antoine for the time being should be the number option for the Hawks and with Francis on board they should make a pretty good duo. You throw in a soild third option in Caron Butler and an above average front court and the Hawks have something. In addition to Walker, the Hawks also came to an agreement with other free agents. Some key interesing free agents were swingman Ricky Davis, defensive specialist Rick Clack and Nazr Mohammed, and two vetran point guards Antoinio Daniels and Derek Fisher.
With preseason about to start tomorrow, the Hawks look to start climbing up the mountian they once conqured a few seasons back. But before we head off I would just like to talk about training camp. Last year as a rookie Ronnie Price got the scaps of what ever was left in term of minutes played by Steve Nash. But after the season ended he worked out with Steve Nash and came into this season, in his own words, the best shape of his life. As training camp started it was quickly seen how much better he had gotten. His shot had more touch on it, his handles were quick and crisp and he even increased his leaping skills by about 3 inches. With such a drastic improvment shown, the coach staff have given Ronnie the right to be the starter for preseason. He looks like a new player and should show case his skills this preseason. If he is able to show he can run this team and has a firm grip on being a true professional is, the Hawks might have found thier point guard of the future.
