ryandauwalker

My question is . . .

If people are so frustrated with the Hawks and their inability to get past the 2nd round, that they want to see the team blown up . . . will those same people buy season tickets for the next 3 - 4 years while this team is rebuilding, and support the Hawks?

I already know the answer to that.

And LOL @ the people worrying about the state of the Hawks in 3 to 5 years. If we get rid of JJ and basically get nothing in return, you BETTER worry about the Hawks in the next 1 - 3 years. Because if this team becomes a lottery team, the people of ATL will NOT support them while they retool.

And if that happens, what if rumors to move the team OUT of ATL start to surface.

LOL . . so while people are worried about the impact of a JJ contract 2 - 4 years from now, they might be rooting for the Seattle Hawks, if ownership blows it up, fans stop coming, and the ASG sells the team to the highest bidder.

The people of ATL generally do not support the Hawks anyways (apart from playoff time or when MIA, CHI or LAL are in town).

The reason that people haven't supported us is because we've put a lousy product on the field throughout our franchise history. If we have JJ's bloated salary when he is markedly worse than he now, that WILL have a strong negative imprint on our team. There are capable SG's who can come in and average a max of 4 less PPG and we'll be fine.

To think that if we let go of JJ our team will go to Seattle is crazy. Who says we won't go to Seattle if we keep him? JJ is at his max value now (even though it is very low), and if we don't take it, we'll regret it in the future.

Thanks for the update, sturt. Those are very reassuring words.

I know that I might viewed as somebody who wants to "blow it up" by ridding ourselves of Joe Johnson, but I hate this deal.

I think this is a blow up move. Definitely makes sense from Orlando's perspective (to keep Dwight), though

Josh is definitely frustrating, and Horf has his identity issues, but Joe (because of the contract) is the least valuable to our team.

In the midst of their individual issues, both of our big guys are signed for good contracts and provide more value.

This is a tough question because they all create different holes if each are traded. If you are asking which one is the least valuable to us...

Johnson.

And it's not even close. With his contract, his age for a SG, the fact that he's already reached his ceiling, it's no contest.

Diesel,

I'm not thinking about this year or even next year. I'm thinking of Years 3-6 of that contract will absolutely kill our franchise. Joe will be noticeably worse, and he will cover a remarkably high percentage of our team salary.

This trade allows us to get out of that without blowing up everything. We got a good year of Joe, we'll have a solid SG to fill in his place, more financial flexibility, plus a very high draft pick.

I'm NOT saying we should blow it up... because of the NBA cap rules, we were forced to give Joe that unconscionable contract and now we are getting an opportunity to get out of that obligation. He has peaked and there is no evidence of anything outside of that. I'm of the thought that this is a minor speed bump so our future is not in the toilet.

Kemba really isn't a starting 5 guy. He's more of a sixth man. I'm a UConn grad, so I don't take this as me hating on the guy, I really like his college game. The problem is his size and high volume shooting is more suited for a sixth man role in the NBA.

You're probably right... but here's the issue that us Hawks fans have to deal with. Signing Joe to that contract will hurt our franchise one way or another. There's no way that we can escape it. I was on board with signing him to that deal because we had no options considering all of the cash in the free agent market, and the cap prohibiting us from signing anybody of worth.

I think this is the best time to take your lumps as a team. We got Joe for a good price this year, we can retool our team, have a weaker year in 2011-2012, and not hurt the overall landscape of the franchise.

I hope I'm not right, but this is a way to stop the bleeding, and I think we should take it... who's with me!?!

If during the last offseason, we were offered Joe for 1 year, 16.3 million dollar offer, #8 pick in the 2011 draft, plus Rip Hamilton, how would you feel?

Consider that the alternative would be a 6 yr/$121 million deal.

I would love for this to happen because I think down the road, this Joe Johnson deal would blow up in our face. Rip isn't great, but he's a stop gap. Kemba with #8 can make Rip a reserve.

Every year, Its Kaman for Josh, Biedrens for Josh, Ilgauskas, the Gasol Bros. In fact lets trade Zaza, then trade him back for Josh.

To pin this on race is absurd. We have needed a C for years, and we haven't had one since Mutumbo.

Let's be honest: a lot of centers are white, and some of the untouchable ones are black. What does this result in? Us going after a white center.

Everybody here wants us to win, and nobody would give a rat's *ss if we had a black center or white center if it gave us wins.

Imagine if LeBron would have taken his talents to Chicago instead of South Beach... pretty crazy.

One has to assume no Boozer if that's the case (I think), but they'd be nasty.

True Story:

Two years ago (when I was 23 years old), I was playing pickup ball at the Concourse Athletic Club and Jason Terry showed up. Living in Atlanta, he isn't the first NBA Player to show up (Kevin Willis and Steve Smith have been regulars). Anyways, he starting playing pick-up and I happened to be matched up on him. I was probably 5-7 from the field, and he was probably 4-6 but was playing around 50%. Being a 5'11" white guy who has moderate athleticism, it was a lifetime achievement award to have done so well... you could tell he was pressing on me after I made my first two buckets, and I still did well.

Afterwards, I said good game to him when he was sitting down, and he gave me an extra handshake afterwards, but while I was there, he told his buddy, "this mf'er can shoot the s*** out of the ball."

I was beaming for the rest of the day.

Why have things changed? For the first time, the PLAYERS have bought in.

Sund takes a lot of flack here, but I think he deserves as much credit as Twin himself. When he was acquired, I, like most, couldn't have cared less. His roster spot, combined with Drew's willingness to play him against Dwight, is the main factor in our Hawks taking a huge step in slaying our nemesis that embarrassed us just a year ago. Good article. And where would Miami be without Anthony? I always knew he was a championship level defender, even if he's a mid-major college scorer.

Hearing Larry Drew's interview with 790 (I think), he mentioned that when he got here, he demanded that we keep Twin. I was actually annoyed when we resigned him (as we did it pretty early in the offseason), but it's a good thing I'm not a GM!

I think LD deserves more credit than Sund on this particular occasion.

I still feel we gave up too much in the trade. Only winning an NBA Title will change my mind about that. If the Hawks can win this series. Then the trade start looking better on our end.

When Kirk did come to us he was playing very well. Then he sat out that game vs the Nuggets with a calf injury. No one has mention it since he cameback. I have wonder if that injury was a problem for him?

I think this is too unrealistic. Bibby is not really a PG, but a small guard that shoots three's. This move helps us SO MUCH defensively, and it can help us mature down the road into a real offense. But to say if we're not in the Finals by next year it's a bad deal is crazy.

We gave up a bloated contract, Mo Evans (wasted player who cost way too much), "he who's name shall not be mentioned" (no place on our team with little value elsewhere), and a late 1st round pick. People need to stop acting like we traded Dominique Wilkins and a lottery pick.

Also, we might say that Bibby's contract is only for this year now, but he would not have changed his contract for us because we were a contender.

This move was big in helping us in 2012...

I'm a big fan of this deal.

I'd much rather JJ start than Quentin Richardson. He's able to hit the three decently, and he's a good defender.

I was getting giddy thinking about how well Joe would play tonight with JJ being his main defender.

To be competely fair about this, you are actually kinda right. Late in Game 2 Horf took and missed a step back fadeaway AND a three at a time when we could've won hte game. Both of those shots were ill timed and outside his comfort zone. To be fair, not much was said about that at all. If Smoove had taken those shots, there would be a 4 page thread on it. I guess the bottom line is we need BOTH of these guys to play up to their potential. They BOTH should spend more time inside than outside.

On that particular shot, the shot clock was going down, and Al was forced to take a bad shot. It was also a broken play, and he just had to get it up.

Like everybody else has said, Al has proven to be efficient from outside and Josh has not. Why is this continuing to be debated?

Al has his own problems, but it is NOT his mid-range game.

Zaza flopped on our own guy and it's a foul on Orlando...wtf? I wish we had centers that stood their ground and actually defend instead of flop. It's embarassing.

You're right, that was a bad call. Only takes about 20 more of those calls to even things out for the series.

EDIT: Thought you were an Orlando fan. No Hawks fan could honestly make that comment

"Atlanta's a team that if things aren't really going their way, they're going to struggle a little bit," said Ryan Anderson, who led the Magic's reserves with eight points. "We're different in a sense where if we're down we kind of know how to fight our way back into it."

Hopefully LD uses this to encourage the troops.

This is absurd.

With that being said, Marvin played way too much in the 4th quarter. LD's subbing hurt us pretty good late in the game.

According to MC's twitter, we just signed him.

2010 2nd round pick from the Thunder who's in the NBDL.

Championship?

Here's how easy it can be:

If Josh thought to himself whenever he gets the ball (and sees there's not an open man), "I'm taking this to the rack," we would be so much better.

Also, if he thought to himself, "where's my PG?" when he doesn't have a mismatch or a 1-on-1 fast break, we'd be a lot better too.

Isn't that crazy?

Like I mentioned, I think it is a good thing that he is developing his jumper if and ONLY IF he uses it as a secondary tool.

Unfortunately, he has turned it into something that he relies on too heavily as it's easier to sit and shoot rather than exert the injury to get to the hole.

Especially considering Horford's mid-range game is so solid, we need Josh to get to the rack much more often than he does.

Josh Smith has the tools to be an All-NBA Player. He knows it, and the staff knows it.

PROS:

Developing jumper

Freak Athlete

Great help-side defender/blocker

Quicker than his defender - ALWAYS

Highlight dunks

Decent passer

CONS:

Shoots too much from outside

Has too many silly turnovers

Doesn't always play towards his strengths

Inconsistent effort/support of teammates

--

What does this table illustrate?

His issues are mental and his ceiling is absurd. Even though his developing his jumper has caused him to periodically be lazier and dependent on them, it could really round out his game if it's his secondary move (as opposed to his primary move of getting to the rack).

The fact that his shot has improved so much speaks to his work ethic. This is a rare element to an NBA player with his type of maturity, and it might be a signal that Smoove is more coachable than people might think.

If I'm Rick Sund, I would have a good sit-down with Josh this offseason and try to find an assistant coach who will focus his efforts on Smoove's character, development, and skill. He's got all the raw materials to be an all-NBA player, but the head of an 16-year-old high school kid. I think somebody mentoring him will be the best way for him to mature into the player that the Hawks (and himself) want him to be.

I think having Larry Drew as our coach this year has helped us see the greater problems with this team. We thought it was all Woodson, but now I think that a trade needs to be made.

This isn't to excuse some of Drew's mishaps, but I think the stubborn nature of this team won't change unless a dramatic shift takes place.

It's also not a pitch for Woodson being our coach... I think we have enough pieces on this team to move forward in a good way, but Sund's going to have to earn his paycheck for that to happen.