RLHawk

I may be slightly off of Bob's reference, but it always makes me think of the old days (Tree Rollins type era). In those days, the bonus (penalty) was less automatic. They got 1 free throw and if they made it, they got a second free throw. I think he is referencing that style. In today's game, you automatically get the penalty shot, but I think that is where it comes.

This makes me real excited to see if Kyle can be even better after he gets his groove back. If he can get his shot away quicker, that is only good. It is early but he is getting better already. First 4 games (5/20 for 25%), last 4 games (7/12 for 58%). Its early, but lets hope for more to come.

I dont get the 4 centers is too much. If you look at our roster, it lines up with last year. Horf -- Horf SAP -- SAP Splitter -- Antić Moose -- Moose Edy -- Brand Scott -- Scott That is the same basic PF/C structure as last year. SAP/Horf start with Splitter the primary big off the bench. If we go deep, the Scott is the next off the bench with the occasional Moose sighting.

I think the two guards is a good thing....when we are in aggressive mode. That is why it worked well in the 1st half. Where it doesn't work well is in the slow down and burn the clock mode (like the last 4 minutes). In that case, we don't actually use the multiple cuts to gain an advantage and thus only get the benefit of weaker defense.

The bench has absolutely sucked.....We are use to having our bench outplay their bench so that we were at worst the same when the starters came back in during the regular season. In this series (and all play-off series to come) the bench plays much less, so our bench has to play against other starters...they cant or at least haven't performed. I hope Bud shortens the rotation or at least uses BKN's rotation to guide his.

I think GSW by far. In the grand scheme of things, there are only a few reasons why a win matters: 1) It helps you in the standings (a win over GSW could help more because it causes the warriors to lose) 2) It gives you confidence (a win over the "best team" in the league at their house with best record would give lots of confidence) 3) Bragging rights (while the team would not admit it, Bud beating Pop is no big deal to them...while being the best in the league is)

Everyone is bothered that Sund has ntmade a 2nd move yet. There are many things he could have done... Get Shaq... Get Miller... Tade for CP3... Trade for Melo... What exactly would you give up to get these assets? What if the trade gutted the team? Would you trade Smoove/Jamal/Marvin/Teague for CP3/Okafar? Well the trade works but I would not like our chances with what is left even if it may rival Miami. CP3/JJ/Mo/Horf/Okafar? What if Melo would cost you Josh / Jamal / Horford Maybe just maybe Sund has not gotten a deal that he would accept!!!

But which two stars are they going to get?...the market s drying up quickly

WOW...that is very interesting. Tht pushes me to think that he is all flash and not much substance. Although I really like his game, especially in a motion offense, i would rather keep a growing Horford over Smith if I had to choose. If we could get CP3 / Okafor, I think we would be a championship caliber team

Other than the contract,Okafor is exactly what we need to pair with Shaq for our C position. I always thought the deal would have to be Smith / Jamal / Zaza for CP3 / Okafor. I would do it in a second... Paul / Teague JJ / Crawford 2 Marvin / Mo Horford / Joe Smith Okafor / Shaq Tht is pretty damn good.....

My dream scenario is two trades: Smith / Jamal / Zaza for CP3 / Okafar followed by Chillz for McGee (am not sure why they woud do this tough). That would give us the best starting 5 in the NBA and a pretty good bench... CP3 / Teague / Bibby JJ / JCraw / Bibby Marvin / Mo Horford / Okafar Okafar /McGee We would need another PF type like Joe Smith.

I think the point is that in the period of a week, the Hawks went from the best record in Basketball to 8th in basketball and tied for 3rd in the East. In the NBA, there are too many top teams for dry spells to not hurt your standings. If we come back and win 8 in a row, then we will climb back on top. If we have another week like the past one very soon, we may fall far enough back to never get above 4th place. My opinion is...We need to dominate the month of December to prepare for January's gruel. January will tell us if we are contenders or not.

I know it is way early, But who in the NBA could beat the Hawks in a 7 game series with the Hawks having home court. I think the Lakers, but I am not sure anyone else could do it. What are your thoughts? Randy

In ATL he can have both money and opportunity to win. Where else would he go to get both? If he wants to be the leader...which is why he left Pheonix...then he has it here. If he wants to be paid...then he has it here. If he wants to contend for a Championship...then he has it here. The only chance of him leaving in my opinion is for 1 of 3 spots - Join Boston to replace Allen (potential championship) - Join Wade in Miami (but they play the same position) (potential championship (although unlikely)) - Join SA to replace Manu (potential championship) I think Boston is the only place that would be worth leaving ATL.

I think the Hawks will be in the drivers seat in the FA market. If Joe does not want to come back (which if we make it past the 2nd round..he would be a fool not to come back...winning is everything to a vet), then we use him to get one of the others.... The Hawks are quickly becoming the flash, excitement, championship caliber team. Free Agents and stars like coming to teams like this. So if Joe wants to leave, where is he going to go? The team either has to have money (and cap space), be a contender, and want Joe or Atlanta has to work a trade. This limits things a lot for Joe. So where would he want to go? NY - Lebron wants to go there and they will not win without Lebron but with Joe instead CLE - if Lebron leaves then he may go there, but they have less than ATL MIA - if Wade leaves then he may go there, but they have less than ATL (I would swap Joe for Wade in a second) SA - Would you swap Joe for Manu? Boston - If Ray Allen leaves, they may want him...but no cap room so would have to trade what are your thoughts?

i was looking at that (only 3 teams with losing records and yet we are 10-2). 10 of the next 14 have losing records...just image what we can do through that stretch. 11-3 / 12-2. The hawks can realistically be 21-5 or 22-4 as the schedule completes the first third. The schedule gets hard at the end of December though for about a month.

I was thinking about how the Hawks seem to have one tough game after another to begin each year. This year is no exception. We are going through a brutal stretch of games... Denver, NY, Boston, NO, Portland, Miami, Houston, NO, Orlando That is 6 of the best teams in the NBA across both coasts. That is a brutal 9 game stretch. If NO wa not off so far, we would be playing 8 of 9 against the tops..BUT...so far ATL is standing tall. After that stretch...things should get much much easier. The next 11 games only have 2 above .500 teams. Phili, Detroit, Toronto, NY, Dallas, Chicago, Toronto, NJ, Memphis, Utah. If Atlanta can withstand the Houston and Orlando games without losing focus. We could and should be sitting on top at the end of the first 1/3 of teh season. I would predict 21-5 should be the worst we are at that point. That is almost half the wins we had all year last year (in a really good season).

The challenge that I have in figuring out his role is does he do this? and does he do it well? I would not mind him being our Artest if he is up to the task.

I was trying to go through an analysis of the team and why we were showing so well this year, and I think the team is well constructed, with one big question mark. What is Marvin Williams role? Bibby is the point...with the ability to hit outside shots....got it! JJ is the main scoring threat...inside and outside...got it! JSmoove is the defensive presence in the lane with athletism to score cutting and in the post...got it! Horford is the athletic Center that can score in the post and on the break...got it! JCrawford is the 6th man scoring machine...got it! Joe Smith is the defensive big off the bench...got it! Pasculia is the big avg center off the bench...got it! But when I get to Marvin, I can not really figure it out. Is her the scoring SF? No Is he the defensive leader? No Is he the perpetual outside threat? No Is the the athletic runner for breaks and cuts? No Does he drive and dish? No so what does he bring the team? All I come up with is we drafted him high, so we need him... Help me out, why is better for us than any other average starting SF?

I am a little cautious as well about this team, but let me say what I like and do not like.... 1) Our team has a high level of balance. We may not have a superstar, but we have quality in the front court, back court, and bench. If a team has strength in the front court (like Portland), then our back court of JJ, Bibby should have an advantage. If a team has strenght in the back court (like Miami), then our front court of JSmoove, Horf should have an advantage. 2) Our team is starting to play more mature. I am not sure if it is because they are more mature or if the infusion of Joe Smith & Crawford influenced it, but in the past we could beat you or forget to play on any given night. The Boston & Laker games are examples, but really good teams do not have many of those. We have had 2 this year (out of 11). So hopefully, they are fewer than before. With those advantages, I believe we can play with anyone. Can we beat them 4 of 7? I don't know yet. We must be coached well to win this division...and I am not sold on that yet.

I follow all of the threads on signing Smoove & Chillz, trading Smoove, S&T of Marvins, etc...it all leads to this question... What would it take to WIN (and I mean win big)? Last year we did not win half our games...I think people forget that because we made the playoffs as a losing team. I do not want the hawks to be losers. I want them to be winners. what would it take? Is is continuity? keep the team together because they almost broke even.... Is it a big body off the bench? Is it a big body to start? Is it a shooter? Is it more up and down play? Is it more half court play? Is it better defense? Only once we know what it would take does it matter if we sign Smoove, Chillz, Marvin, Brown, or anyone else...

I hope the ASG is lowballing him...I am tired of competing against ourselves for players and winning. I have lived through the Koncak / Chris Crawford / Ken Norman days. Not that I am comparing Smoove to any of these, but if there is no competition for his services, then we should save some money on him (hopefully to finish out the roster). If we could save $2M on Smoove and $1 on Childress, then we could use that money for Kwame Brown. Image adding him for free. Remember we did not win half our games last year...

We would be a more traditional team (like Woody likes) where our Center (Kaman) could get more Reb and let our PF (Horford) release on the break (much like Smoove did). I would like this trade Kaman / 1st for Smoove. Bibby / Law JJ / Childress Marv / Childress Horford / ? Kaman / ZaZa

What I immediatley thought about when I read the story of the Clippers trading for Camby was is this for the Hawks? Could this signing be in preparation for a S&T with the Hawks? If they want Smith and do not want us to match then they have to give us a trade. But we want a big and that would leave them with the same gap they have now. Now that they have Camby, maybe they would do a Kaman / 1st for Smith? Can someone come up with a trade they would do?

I would do harrington for Ely/Brevin. Let the young guys play and see what happens with a real PG.