joannes3000

I was flipping back and forth during the premier of it. Looked pretty interesting from the bits and pieces I saw, but I can't stand the glut of reality/superstar/idol/earn your way to something/general garbage tv.

Unless you're talking about someone other than Chris Wilcox I'd say no. Maybe him and swapping picks, but no way straight up. I just don't see the upside compared to what we should be able to draft.

Current: Sportscenter, Family Guy. What more do you need? Old: Sportscenter, The Simpsons

Quote: when we get a new head coach, i want a proven nba coach, not a college coach Agreed. No more Lon Kruger experiments. I'll give Tubby his just dues but all too many times, college coaching success doesn't translate into NBA coaching success.

I couldn't see him giving in and turning pro after one year. How long did it take before Duke lost an underclassman early? And it's not like he's as polished as Elton Brand when he came out as a junior. He'd be doing himself an injustice by trying to learn on the fly instead of getting another year or two of seasoning under Coach K. I do like his basketball smarts though. I've posted before that I think an intangible like that can only make a player not only progress faster in the NBA but also sustain their level of play once they get there. All to many times you get a super athlete that forgets to watch film or study the playbook (Mike Williams with the Lions).

Yeah I'm hating the injury bug too. Going into postseason play I lost my starting pitcher, 4th and 5th bats in the lineup, and an outfielder. I'm starting to get the hang of things in dynasty mode going into my 3rd year of coaching/simming games.

Even better for you folks: What's our PPG with and without? What's our assist/to ratio with and without? What's our fastbreak/hustle points with and without?

Arg. I forgot to mention that I picked it up on the PS2.

What platform? I was thinking of getting 2k6 myself because I wasn't overly impressed with Live. The AI finally got ramped up to par (your players get rebounds finally!) but I agree with the feel being half sim and half arcade.

Quote: no Yeah, I do believe it has to be one of our own picks and not one acquired from another team.

I picked up a copy yesterday for a few reasons: *NCAA Football and Madden aren't out yet *I prefer to go with a dynasty when I play, and it's far easier to win with the Hawks, Thrashers, Falcons, Braves, and Dawgs so I wanted to give the Diamond Dawgs a try *It was only $30 I think it's worth the price of admission, especially with game rentals costing upwards of $6. I was playing on the second hardest setting on ESPN Baseball 05 and was wrecking teams, so like I mentioned earlier, I wanted to see if I could build GA to a national baseball powerhouse (which should be much harder than in football). I won't go super in-depth with a description but I'll hit some highpoints: *The gameplay is similar to MVP 05 with tweaks that incorporate the R analog during everything other than pitching (unless I haven't figured that out yet). *The dynasty mode and recruiting leaves a lot lacking compared to NCAA Football but that's an unfair comparison. It's good enough for casual players. *It's definitely challenging enough on the 2nd highest difficulty setting. *EA seemed to prioritize more on gameplay and graphic look versus depth of play in general. Overall I think the game is worth the $30 tag. It was this, ESPN Basketball, or NHL 06. I figured I'd go out on a limb and go with the more obscure sport of the bunch and I'm happy with the choice.

Total load of crap. I watched a highlight and come on, a stretcher! You'd think that KG threw an anvil at the guy.

I don't get to watch many games either, but from what I can gather it's due to: *JJ's and the rest of the team's increased comfort level with their own roles and their teammates. *Natural progression on the part of JJ as a leader on the team and as he has become more of a scorer he is creating more open looks for the rest of the team.

Good way to clarify the offseason signing. All along I felt that even if we had to overpay to get JJ it was going to be worth it both short term and long term and the only way to be 100% sure of getting JJ on board was to go forward with the trade. This keeps me optimistic looking forward to the offseason with Al's status being in the air as of now, but I don't have any concerns that we made the right move by not moving him at the deadline and holding off for a better deal (keep him or trade him). It would take an absolute meltdown for Al to just walk away.

Quote: i would say the big difference this year is obvious, Joe Johnson. while i am on the side that they overpayed for Joe i am smart enough to realize his long term importance for the franchise. I was happy with what I saw when the JJ trade went down and I'm happy to this point with the results that the trade has produced. I'm gonna be investing in some sort of league pass for next season so I can get a chance to watch our Hawks in action.

Quote: I'm not really sure what to think of Deron yet. I certainly don't want to pick up Kwame's or Giricek's contracts either. I dont' want any multi-year contracts unless it is a cheap productive player or a possible starter. I agree. There's a reason we didn't bite on Kwame last year and there's no way I'd understand taking on two long contracts at this point, even if it nets us Deron. We're not quite to the point of adding one or two pieces to make a run deep into the playoffs.

Quote: JJ is like a modern day Oscar Robertson. He can score, but he is terrific at getting his teammates involved. His scoring comes within the offense, not outside of the offense. I was thinking of the same comparison but didn't want to sound crazy. Just to set the record straight, KB said it first but I definitely second it! How about a less athletic but what looks to be a more cerebral LeBron for a more modern comparison? I'd actually rather have someone that doesn't rely solely on athleticism because that can become a crutch when the player thinks sheer talent without enough drive can make you a superstar.

I'm still hoping we can be players for Ben Wallace this offseason although it looks highly unlikely now that Detroit made that Darko/Arroyo trade for more cap space.

Quote: Quote: don't want to see Joe Johnson be made into a traditional shooting guard. What JJ showed tonight is that he has some Kobe, Tmac in his game. It wasn't his passing or ball handling that made him the man. it was the fact that he took over the game and scored 40 that made him the man. Notice also that Tmac or Kobe or Vince can take the team and become essentially PGs who score for their team but the question is does that make them better or worse. I think it takes away from their ability. I believe the same is true of JJ. If we try to make him a PG, he will not be as potent as when he is a pure SG. I don't want to see JJ cast into the Kobe (and somewhat Vince) mold of a SG either. To me, these guys definitely make buckets but they HAVE to be the focal point of the offense at some point during the possession - bringing the ball up or taking the actual shot - to be at their best. Granted, if JJ does turn into a pure scoring machine I'd be fine with that. What I'd rather see is JJ become more of a a team guy versus a superstar + roleplayers guy.

Quote: As far as PG. I think BK has a team with at least 4 ball handlers. That's scary becuase old school dictates one general, but it's good because you never can gameplan on who will bring it up. I instantly thought of the Knicks when I read this, and that's not a good thing. I was watching them play against the Nets tonight and it was laughable. Nothing but isolations and one of the guards waving for a pick so they can slash to the basket. They were the antithesis of team play and it looked ugly last night. On the other hand, I do think it's good to have guys that can bring the ball up and/or take care of the rock when a press or trap is on. Going back to my original thought of the Knicks, it is definitely a bad idea to have 4 guys on the court that have to have the ball in order to be effective on offense.

Quote: Quote: A big athletic big man that can challenge/block shots and rebound!!! I agree! So shouldn't this be priority #1 instead of point guard because our assist numbers are going up with familiarity but our team defense has not improved. In fact, it may be worse. It's possible that with more familiarity our team defense should improve as well. Continuity in the same system with roughly the same personnel works wonders; take a look at Detroit and San Antonio. Those guys do have very good 1x1 defenders but I think just as important is the comfort level of each defender with the other 4 on the court. From what I've read regarding Fred Jones tonight, that's where good team defense comes into play. Granted we can definitely use a defensive presence in the middle - could you imagine Smoove with the freedom to roam around a bit with a legit big??? - but regardless I think our defense will improve naturally with more seasoning as this year ends and next year begins.

Quote: Marvin brings those types of abilities to the table. Just wait till he becomes comfortable when his role becomes that of a scorer. Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams are the guys that the offense will be around, and I think it is fantastic that both players bring multiple skills to the table. Both are terrific jump shooters. Marvin has terrific ability to put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket. He will become a better finisher as he grows, gets stronger, and simply gets more confident in that ability. Potential being realized! Now let's put that wasted pick bandwagon in the past. I hate not being able to watch many games up here but you guys put up very informative and detailed posts regarding the games.

Yeah, was too late to edit my original post.

Quote: Quote: I am in Section 107 punk...come on down! I'll destroy you both! I wrestle polar bears for fun! I smash glaciers with my forehead! RARRRRR And on that note, I'm outta here for the day. See you peoples this evening. Keep fighting the good fight, section 107. Let me know how your revolution goes.

Quote: Who cares, he doesn't address our problem. He is 6'10 230. What is he a PF or a SF? He is basically Lamar Odom. You would've missed the boat entirely on The Matrix and Amare, huh? Oh wait, you'll say they were freakishly athletic to defend yourself. Right.