Links: Odds and Ends…
Including Josh Childress, dwarves and aliens…
I spent all day Monday and Tuesday in Vegas on a secret mission. Once I receive clearance to talk about it, I will. In the meantime, stuff’s backing up here, so I wanted to try and get to a lot of stuff today…
• First, reader mail, like back in the day. Reader Jake F. writes…
Lang, long time Slam reader and Hawks fan from Chattanooga here. I’m hoping to get some kind of response from you to Sekou’s reporting on the Childress situation. I consider you two to be the most knowledgeable about anything Hawks related (and we fans owe you because seemingly no one else has uttered the word Hawks in the last four years absent a punchline). HOWEVA, there seems to be a difference of opinion on the reason Josh left and its effect, symbolic and real, on the team.
We both know Sekou can be prone to an occasional overreaction, but he calls this a TKO for the franchise and blames management for not locking Chillz up last year. You take a less cynical stance noting he wasn’t even among the top hundred scorers in the league and isn’t irreplaceable. Your point that a sixth man who can’t create his own shot and isn’t a proven outside shooter is not worth 10 mil a year is well taken. And given the anomalous nature of this situation, can we blame Spirit? Sund? Woodson?
I guess what I’m saying is in my head I agree with you that this is a unique situation in which the Hawks couldn’t win. But Sekou speaks for my heart. We have our best showing in 9 years and in the offseason one of our top players spurns us for Greece? At the very least its another black eye. At worst, it reveals the depths at which the franchise remains.
So how do I reconcile my head vs. heart here? (Hint: Any good news on the Smoove front would help). And I’m right that the Hawks aren’t a playoff team with Law/Pachulia as the 6th/7th men, right? Wade, Beasley, and Marion could beat the Hawks with me at point and you at center. Indy looks improved. Ah, whatever.
Thanks as always for the Hawks coverage. Keep hope alive.
First, thanks for the letter, Jake. I won’t speak for Sekou, but he can leave a comment below if he can stop drinking his cafe con leches long enough.
After thinking about it for the night, I still don’t think this is a disaster for the Hawks. New Hawks GM Rick Sund did a phone press conference late yesterday, and the first question was from an AJC columnist, and he asked Sund, rather incredulously, “How could you let this happen?”
The thing is, I don’t really understand what else Sund could have done. The Hawks had a chance to lock up Childress to a multi-year deal one year ago, and the GM at the time (Billy Knight) chose not to do that. So by the time this offseason rolled around, Childress had done his job and had a good season and raised his value (or at least his perceived relative value).
Then, when free agency began this summer, Sund reportedly made an offer that was, at least by NBA standards, a competitive offer, and he (allegedly) told Josh’s team of representatives that if they could find him a better deal, the Hawks would match it. Josh found a much better deal, but it was in Greece, where not only does the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement not apply, but even our currency doesn’t hold as much weight. Maybe the deal Josh found is competitive by Euroleague standards or Greek League standards, but by NBA standards, where the deal would have real world applications for the Hawks, it was way too pricey for the Hawks to match. And I get that. It sucks for the Hawks, but it is what it is.
Many years ago, when the Hawks were an up-and-coming team in the ’80s, they had a young reserve center (Jon Koncak!) who was a restricted free agent. Detroit signed him to what was then a wildly inflated offer sheet, and the Hawks matched it, scared to let one of their young reserves leave. And it ended up partially handcuffing the Hawks for the next six years.
I love Josh as a person and a player, but even I don’t think the Hawks could afford or should have to pay him what he could get in Greece. I would’ve let him go, too. I’ve gotten emails from people and seen message board comments about how the Hawks don’t care about their fans. Well, I’d argue that if they’d paid Josh $10 million a year, that would mean they don’t care about their fans. (Although I also realize that things like nuanced thinking aren’t really common occurances on mesage boards.)
And no, we didn’t get anything in return for him, but what could the Hawks do? No other NBA team was offering JC $10 mil a year, so there weren’t sign-and-trade options out there. Besides, the NBA is the only League bound by the CBA, so there was no real way the Hawks could demand anything in return for him.
Would Josh have taken less money to stay a Hawk? Maybe, but that process would’ve had to begin years ago. And to me, that’s not Rick Sund’s fault.
• SLAM columnist Dave Zirin is suing the government! For real. And only Dave could reference Ice-T in a column about COINTELPRO.
• We were talking yesterday about this John Edwards stuff and how nobody seems to be paying attention to the story.
Well, I think this one is a way better story to pay attention to. I knew it all along!
• This one has a great headline. It would be awesome if it was Mr. Ping Ping.
• And finally, I was looking at videos of brawls last night while putting together a list for SI.com today, and I came across the following video of a basketball brawl in a Big Ten game (Minnesota vs. Ohio State) in 1972. Even though this went down well before I was born, I can’t believe I’d never heard or read about it at all. The knee-to-the-groin move is incredible…
28 Responses to “Links: Odds and Ends…”
Jul.24 at 4:51 pm
AT says:
I’ll say it again: All this for Josh Childress? Good riddens. Was that guy trying to stomp on his head while he was laying on the floor?
Jul.24 at 5:06 pm
Jackie Moon says:
Wow that guy on the floor got it bad. Pretty vile of the first guy to pretend to help him up, yank him up, and then knee him in the nads.
Jul.24 at 5:07 pm
Ryan Jones says:
The Gangsta Gophers! Holy sh*t that motherf*cker is dirty.
Jul.24 at 5:22 pm
Cheryl says:
dude must have called his momma a name. i mean, other than that or some other nasty utterance, why else would the guy do what he did? that was retaliation for something, it seems obvious to me.
Jul.24 at 5:32 pm
Penny Hardaway says:
Last night,I was looking at videos of brawls in basketball too!!
Jul.24 at 5:39 pm
Bubba Chuck says:
yo i saw dave zirin on tv!
Jul.24 at 5:52 pm
Penny Hardaway says:
The dirty ’70s. Thankfully, all players were friends in the ’80s. Here’s a proof
http://www.verbungle.com/littleday_11_14_05.htm
Jul.24 at 6:05 pm
RV says:
Witte went for a layup but was fouled hard. Immediately following the foul, Minnesota player Corky Taylor extended an arm to help Witte up, then kneed Witte in the groin and punched him in the head. While on the floor, he was also kicked and stomped by Minnesota player Ron Behagen, knocking him unconscious. What followed was an extended brawl that included fans leaving the stands and joining in. Witte’s teammate, Dave Merchant, attempted to come to his aid, but was struck in the face several times by Gopher Jim Brewer. Another Buckeye, Mark Wagar (currently the President of Empire BlueCross BlueShield in New York), was attacked from behind by Minnesota player — and future Major League Baseball Hall of Famer — Dave Winfield, who landed five punches into Wagar’s face.
Hospitalized for several days, including 24 hours in intensive care, Witte’s injuries, which included 29 facial stitches and a scarred cornea
Jul.24 at 6:06 pm
RV says:
looks like it was a lot worse than you can tell from the clip
Jul.24 at 6:12 pm
Sekou Smith says:
I haven’t had any cafe con leche in about five days, man. But I will gladly explain my perspective on the Childress deal (and point out that it would be beneficial for the letter writer or anyone else to read my take on today’s blog about the whole affair). The loss of Childress was much more damaging from a perspective standpoint and from a message standpoint for the Hawks than it was from an on-court basketball standpoint. If the Lakers can trade Shaq and make the Finals three years later it’s clear that anyone can be “replaced” on the floor. But the Hawks have been selling the symbolism of both Childress and Josh Smith for more than for years now, so to allow what transpired with Childress and what could go down with Smith (no good news there right now) is an unquestioned disaster. It’s going to be hard to take the Hawks serious until they show that they’re upgrading from what they had the last time we saw them, which in its totality was a pretty impressive showing (with both Smith and Childress playing vital roles) against the eventual world champs. And yes, the front office needed to take care of its business with these cats last October so that all they’d have to do now is upgrade in spots to put a better and even more competitive team on the floor in the fall. But that was previous administration that botched that, not Sund and his crew. And what the $#!@ do you mean “prone to overreaction?” … just kidding.
Jul.24 at 6:30 pm
BETCATS says:
Dave Z is the man
Jul.24 at 6:31 pm
BETCATS says:
is that ‘the’ Sekou Smith?
Jul.24 at 6:46 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
Yes, that is “the” Sekou Smith.
Jul.24 at 7:10 pm
WeS says:
Thats wild….. In 1972? I’m going to guess it was something racial said after the foul. Not only did dude catch a knee in the crotch, but he got stomped. I’ve never seen anything like that in a sanctioned basketball game.
Jul.24 at 8:55 pm
Dma says:
serious lang i know you’re a hawks fan and all, but man, you gotta let it go. childress is one of the most overrated underrated players in the league. read that again. he’s a glue guy, but not more than MLE good.
Jul.24 at 9:04 pm
BETCATS says:
Dma, even if he is overrated as being underrated he is still good at his role he played for Atlanta. It will be a blow for them
Jul.24 at 10:57 pm
Homie says:
Dave Zirin has every right to be supremely pissed. I can’t believe your government would actually spend money on that…oh wait I can! All jokes aside, cause you know the Canadian govt wastes money all over the place, but that’s some pretty scary stuff. The thought police are coming…
Jul.24 at 11:22 pm
Stikz says:
Sports Guy had posted this brawl on his links page. Also, the guy who kneed the dude in the nuts, that was some classic sh*t. Helping the dude up and then putting him right back down. Stone cold right there. Looked like something off Smackdown.
Jul.24 at 11:29 pm
Boshraptor says:
lemme help u up…wait eat knee ni**a!!!
Jul.24 at 11:30 pm
Rubens says:
Lang’s still with SI? Dang I gotta go to cnnsi.com morew often…
Jul.25 at 12:20 am
Co Co says:
I understand Lang and Sekou’s point of view and I agree with a little bit of both. No one is irreplacable, howeva Josh was the beginning and the end of the Hawks bench. He played the 1, 2, 3 and sometimes 4 on damn near every night which is why he played so many minutes. Yes in theory you can replace a 6″8 swingman, but can you replace one that fills all those roles. I think that is something that is being overlooked. And, once again for everyone who thinks Atlanta didn’t wanna pay Chills because they wanted to save money to pay other players, prove it. They’re cheap and fail to realize that they’re going to have to pay someone if they really want to field a competitive team. I don’t believe they want to do that. I know no team that’s basically bidding against itself wants to pay a penny more than they have to, but this boils down to how you treat your players and they could pay Josh Smith the 11 or 12 million he wants. He’s the only player who takes any real heat for the struggles of the team anyway which is funny to me because he wasn’t making max money. He gets franchise guy criticism so he should be making franchise guy money. But, that’s another story for another day.
Jul.25 at 12:54 am
what says:
I’m with Sekou on this. The biggest problem here is that the Hawks showed that they are still a piece of sh-t organization that can’t do anything right. There are so many better ways to get rid of a restricted free agent without letting him walk to another league. They should have taken care of this a long time ago.
Jul.25 at 2:20 am
J says:
Lang, I’m not sure if you meant that Edgar Mitchell link as a quasi-joke or not but I’m going to write this comment anyway. For many people, the topic of extra-terrestrial life is a topic of ridicule. But with even a very basic knowledge of astronomy and biology, a person can see that current science paints a picture of a universe in which only one form of intelligent life is virtually impossible. And so, to me, the question is not, ‘is there intelligent life out there?’, it’s ‘have we been visited by intelligent life?’ It’s really quite amazing, considering the technological, political, religious/spiritual, and social implications, that this topic is not thought about more seriously. Again, I’m not sure how serious you were about that link, but if you’ve come to the realization that we are no more alone in this universe than the earth is flat, then I suggest checking out ‘The Disclosure Project’ to start.
Jul.25 at 8:23 am
TADOne says:
HA! Yo, that dude helped my man up and then took his knee to his groin! Classic stuff right there. I was actually looking for a red, white, and blue ball because I figured it HAD to be an ABA game.
Jul.25 at 8:30 am
TADOne says:
Oh, and Dave Zirin is on point. I’ve never seen that site and i’m glad Lang linked to it. There is some really informative stuff in that article. Thanks for that Lang.
Jul.25 at 10:18 am
Toney Blare says:
is there a name for that move? the sportsman-to-unsportsman-like knee drop? the “sorry, ok not sorry, how’s that?” the psyche-ballbust?
Jul.25 at 2:01 pm
Tarzan Cooper says:
if you pay close attention, you can see stephen jackson in the back cracking skulls
Jul.28 at 11:47 am
Rocklet says:
That’s even cheaper than Carmelo’s manly moment at the Garden…