How's this for a concept -- trade and/or sign only WINNERS! I love everything about SAR except his LOSING %!!! This also means that some of the Rox roster should be looking for RE agents, IMHO.
Should have pulled the trigger on the Griffin/Rahim trade when we had the chance. Also, how about Collier for Kobe and Shaq? Collier has a better jumper than Shaq but is a better post player than Kobe. Lakers would be more efficient.
Terry could work out, but SAR is way over-rated. I never did understand why he was selected to the USA Basketball team a couple of years back. Now I'm new to this board, but I've seen more than one post about getting Elton Brand. I like the idea: Francis, Brand, & Ming.....
Sounds reasonable to me, if only the salary imbalanced could be bridged. Work on that, please, gr8-1.
I've already did a ATL-Hou trade: Griffin,Mobley and Taylor for SAR,Glover and a future lotto protected pick. It works cap wise plus it gives them a 2 guard and a choice at the 4 in the east. The trade gives us a legit 4 man who's only 26 and a backup 2 in Glover while Posey plays the 2. Shots are redisstributed to Ming,SAR,and Francis. Consistency in the offense is what hurt this team the most this yr.
I like that trade. I don't want Terry. He's never been spectacular. He's good...but no. SAR is what I want. He's the man. Glover is good too. Good dfender I guess. BUT SAR IS THE MAN. Eddie...forget him. We don't have anymore time to waste. SAR!!! Hawks would do it because they love trading players...they just love trading players. And SAR doesn't fit anymore. And they get a power forward with a lot of potential and a solid power forward in Mo Taylor. Maybe they want Cato...
An Abdur-Rahim article... Abdur-Rahim fights to shake 'loser' label Michael Lee - Staff Sunday, April 13, 2003 Before he joined his hometown Hawks in the summer of 2001, Shareef Abdur-Rahim was regarded as "the best player nobody knows." It was a cool title but one that Abdur-Rahim hoped to banish after spending his first five seasons in Vancouver, a city so out of the NBA loop that the franchise actually sought refuge in Memphis. After two seasons in Atlanta, Abdur-Rahim finally is known --- but not only for the reasons he would like. Though his splendid gifts on the basketball court have been rewarded with an All-Star appearance and an Olympic gold medal, Abdur-Rahim also has endured more NBA losses than any other player --- 387 --- since he was chosen as the No. 3 overall pick in the 1996 draft. "That's probably the thing that haunts me the most," Abdur-Rahim, 26, said after a recent practice. But after Abdur-Rahim failed for the second consecutive year to take the Hawks to the playoffs, his critics have given him a new label, one that Abdur-Rahim refuses to accept. "I don't see myself as a loser. That's how people want to perceive me. That's the rap people want to give me because I haven't won in my NBA career,'' he said. ''But I've never been a loser. I don't think I carry myself as a loser. I don't play like a loser would play." Abdur-Rahim has been a model of consistency, durability and high character throughout his seven-year career. He has been efficient this season, scoring 20.2 points on fewer than 15 shots a game, and shooting 48 percent from the floor --- best in the league among power forwards. And he will average at least 20 points and seven rebounds for the sixth consecutive season when this year of unfulfilled promise mercifully concludes Wednesday night in New Orleans. "Shareef doesn't want to be associated with being a loser," he said, speaking in third person. "In life, we all have our little tests, our little things we have to overcome. Even though it might not be that major --- there are things that are a lot more serious than basketball --- but I think this is about basketball and life. This is a major thing for me to be able to be a part of a good team. "How I feel has nothing to do with what anybody writes. That's the honest truth. I want to win for the satisfaction of it. Not for the people saying X, Y, Z about me." This season, Abdur-Rahim was supposed to be surrounded with the supporting cast that would take him into the postseason for the first time. The front office even guaranteed it. He formed a front court of former All-Stars with Theo Ratliff and Glenn Robinson, but the results have been eerily similar to Abdur-Rahim's first year with the Hawks, when the injury-riddled team went 33-49. (That win total equaled his first two seasons with the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies.) As the season began to sour, then Hawks general manager Pete Babcock said his team lacked a dynamic leader, which prompted some critics outside the Hawks to contend the low-key Adbur-Rahim should assume that role as its best player. Memphis coach Hubie Brown, speaking in general terms about leadership, said a player doesn't have to be in somebody's face all the time to be a leader. "I think that's always overrated,'' Brown said. "You'd like to have guys be vocal, but if it's not in a guy's makeup, then he will never convince a soul because they will all know that he is a chameleon. And pro guys don't follow chameleons.'' Some also have questioned if Abdur-Rahim is a complementary player or a franchise player, demanding more of the young star because he has so much skill and athleticism at 6-feet-9. "He's a big-time player. A franchise player? That has to be developed over time," Indiana Pacers president Donnie Walsh said. "You can win with him. If he's on the right team, he's going to be a hell of a player." Hawks director of basketball operations Billy Knight supports his star, saying Abdur-Rahim should not take the blame for his team's failures. "The teams he's been on haven't been winning, but it's through no fault of his own," said Knight, who spent a season with Abdur-Rahim as general manager of the Grizzlies before trading him for Pau Gasol, Lorenzen Wright and Brevin Knight. "He's done everything he can, everything his coaches and teammates have asked of him, and he'll continue to do that. He doesn't waver from the way he approaches the game. [Losing] just makes his competitive fire burn brighter, because he wants to win." Still, some look at Abdur-Rahim's career winning percentage (.281) and lump him in the category of stat-packer. He doesn't sound like one. In December, after becoming the fifth-youngest player to score his 10,000th career point, he asked reporters what the big deal was, especially because his team had just lost a game against the Washington Wizards. Near the trade deadline, Miami Heat coach Pat Riley reportedly said he had no interest in acquiring the Hawks' power forward because Abdur-Rahim is a player who scores "18 points a game on a bad team." "He's a good player, a very good player," Nets president of basketball operations Rod Thorn said of Abdur-Rahim. "He comes to play every night, works on his game. He's a model pro. [But] the only way you get rid of that stigma is to win, and I'm pretty sure he's trying." Hawks coach Terry Stotts said, "I think society likes to label people. I would like to label [Shareef] as the ultimate professional. He does extra work in the summer, leads by example. I think it's a testament to his character that he's been able to work through adversity." Abdur-Rahim, a devout Muslim, said his faith has helped him through the difficult times in Vancouver and his hometown. The former star at Wheeler High in Marietta still calls coming home a "blessing" for giving his family a chance to share in his experience. Adbur-Rahim admits he hasn't lived up to some of the expectations placed on him when he arrived in Atlanta. "I was brought here to win, and we haven't done that," Abdur-Rahim said. "I'm a very big part of this team. The games we lose, I always think about the things I can do better. But I understand you can't beat yourself up. "I have something I have to deal with here. It's a challenge, and I'm not running from it," he said. "If we come back next year and put together a helluva year, people will forget all about that. They'll forget about those first seven years." And people can finally call Shareef Abdur-Rahim a winner. http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/sunday/sports_e3992001f68610060051.html
Well all that matters is... He has been efficient this season, scoring 20.2 points on fewer than 15 shots a game, and shooting 48 percent from the floor --- best in the league among power forwards. And he will average at least 20 points and seven rebounds for the sixth consecutive season when this year of unfulfilled promise mercifully concludes Wednesday night in New Orleans. And it doesn't matter. Because Eddie Griffin and Mo Taylor are both losers too. I still want SAR.
