Yes, you who have followed the series knew that this was to come. And because of it's importance, I have decided to blog this one. So here's the question. How important is Marvin to the success of the Atlanta Hawks? Well, the dieselputer has your answer.

Marvin is very important to the success of the Atlanta Hawks. However, that's not a good thing. First, let me go into why he's very important to our success. I think the loss of CHillz will have a big effect on this team. Chillz was really our low post game. Horford nor Smoove have come into their own in the low post. People talked about Chillz cherry picking, but he was the one guy who we could count on offensively to go down in the post and fight with bigger players. It came to pass that when other teams played us they had to respect Chillz working the baseline. Not only could he work down low, he also patrolled the baseline waiting to posterize somebody on a baseline drive. Somebody says well, Chillz was replaced by Evans! Well, in what way? Will Evans provide low post scoring and low post rebounds? No. We don't even Know if Evans will provide the OG ball handling that we got from Chillz. IN my memory, I remember Evans as a set shooter/slasher.

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So how does this fall back to Marvin? Marvin has to step up and hold down the space that Chillz left. With that part of our offense, defenses will just ignore the post and will double our shooters. What can Marvin do? Marvin has to take the clumsy out of his game, get some fire and learn to be effective driving the ball. I don't expect Marvin to work down low like Chillz did. Nor do I expect him to be a good rebounder. But if Marvin can add three point shooting and driving (without charging) to his game, he can make defenses respect him and stay off of our shooters.

Another reason why Marvin is important. We have placed too much into his development. We have squandered players, trades, and starting minutes for this guy. He has to show up and earn everything he has been freely given. This is YEAR 4. We have heard all the excuses in the world from the Marvin loyalist. However, this year should be filled with impact. That means when we need a score, if JJ and Bibby can't get it, Marvin has to step up. No more excuses.

The one thing I hate about this is that I can already hear the excuses... Well Woody has to call plays for Marvin... Bibby has to pass to Marvin.... Smoove has to throw it to Marvin.. JJ has to give Marvin a chance... All of that means nothing. Marvin has to step up and earn it. The same way Smoove did, the same way Chillz did. If we look around and Marvin is 5th option, then there's nobody to blame but Marvin.