HAWKEYE

Quote: Its been 2 damn games!!! Lets not get carried away with teh trade Josh Smith talk just yet. I'm glad you're not counting any votes in tuesdays election. Who said anything about trading Josh Smith? I made reference to his need to develop an inside-midrange offense. Don't read anything more than that.

P.S. And I don't mean 1-3 dribbles to get inside but rather working from the post where he can play above his defender and take advantage of his athletism. He needs to keep his defender on the other hip away from his dribble.

Quote: Quote: I can't understand why he can't just take it to the lane and draw the foul. This is where the problem is! Smoove has never done it before but yet posters expect him to all of sudden start playing like that. The fact is that he can't dribble! Marvin on the other hand, has shown he can take it to the basket but yet some poster still don't believe he is better than Smoove. I stated in the preseason that the starting small forward will come down to Marvin and Smoove because Shelden is clearly the better power forward that both. Some of you continue to make the argument to start Smoove at small forward but it doesn't make any sense. I repeat again, Smoove does not have the skills necessary to be a good starting small forward in this league. Marvin already has the skills to be a great small forward in this league. I agree "P". We have a lot of collective wisdom on this board and why Smoove's game has not been worked on is baffling. If he has not in his entire basketabll career even against 6'4" high school defenders developed some semblance of an inside game or at least try a midrange game. Kevin Willis with smaller hands than Josh but at 7 ft. developed a "jump hook" that was unstoppable and carried him near 17 years. Josh needs finger rolls, jump hooks, fall aways inside, anything, that requires 1-3 dribbles and let it fly. His concentration on his body and not on his game is what is hurting him. Repetitions is where the action is needed for him. He actually can be found with hands on his hips at the perimeter while the other 4 players are in motion in the offensive flow.

Be ready for the ride this season. I have never seen this board so intense after only two games with the range of emotion from almost rage asking for coach's jobs that would be scary if they had that power at their own workplace, to the laid back "Lets just enjoy the ride". I have to admit I am some what in between. Basketball is very personal to us Squawkers maybe just short of politics and religion.

Quote: Quote: HE is slowly becoming a finesse player and shys away from contact. With his athletic ability he should be taking it to the rack every time he gets the ball instead of settling for his inconsistent jumpshot. That depends on what you mean by "s l o w l y". This scouting report was done 2 1/2 yrs. ago ( 4/8/04)) by Matthew Maurer for NBAdraft.net. Josh Smith weakness: "Will need to improve on his overall ball handling. This will aid him in taking opposing players off the dribble. While he has three point range he lacks consistency. Will need to work on shot selection as he gets a little too carried away. Lacks any real post up game to take advantage of mismatches. (even in high school)Settles at times for taking outside shots instead of driving to the basket." Have his high school and NBA coaches improved on this? Is he coachable? Until Smoove himself or a coach turns the light on in the lighthouse he is what he is but he still has time.

Quote: HE is slowly becoming a finesse player and shys away from contact. With his athletic ability he should be taking it to the rack every time he gets the ball instead of settling for his inconsistent jumpshot. That depends on what you mean by "s l o w l y". This scouting report was done 2 1/2 yrs. ago ( 4/8/04)) by Matthew Maurer for NBAdraft.net. Josh Smith weakness: "Will need to improve on his overall ball handling. This will aid him in taking opposing players off the dribble. While he has three point range he lacks consistency. Will need to work on shot selection as he gets a little too carried away. Lacks any real post up game to take advantage of mismatches. (even in high school)Settles at times for taking outside shots instead of driving to the basket." Have his high school and NBA coaches improved on this? Is he coachable?

They beat the Heat by 42 pts. Absolutely frightening !! Tyrus Thomas breaks his nose in his first NBA game but I like the stuff he made on Shaq earlier in the game. "The Glove" has lost a few steps and he is a shadow of his old self.

N E W S F L A S H !! Pacers also release John Edwards effectively preventing him from his predestined break out year. LOL

LLLLLLEEETTTTTSSSS GGGEETTT RRRREEEAAADDDDYYY TTTOOO RRRUUU MMMBBBLLLE ---- 10 Rounds ---- Er! I mean 82 games. In this game injuries count. I hate missing on Marvins production but let the games begin. I think the thinking on Bozeman is that he is a big upgrade on Royal in that he can guard three positions on defensive rotations which will be required on the perimeter and when his man wants to take him inside. He doesn't have to shoot much better to be an upgrade on the offensive end. I expect him to get more minutes than Ivey as he might get lost at the end of the bench. "Free G" may be more a consistent scorer, than Salim without the turnovers, and supplying a spark off the bench in limited minutes.

Quote: In reply to the OP, strong opinions is what drives message boards. Actually most effective writing delivers a clear and strong opinion. You see it with sports writers, radio show hosts, and yes message board posters. Just don't expect the strong opinions to go away whether it's someone who posts gloom and doom or someone who posts hyper optimism. Intelligent and insightful discussion makes this board great. You do have to take the bitter with the sweet. We have a board that we can be proud of and we need to spread the word. I was surprised at the open scrimmage how many people were very curious about this board and they were surprised that they had "never" heard of it. Let's spread the word. GO HAWKS ! GO HAWKS ! GO HAWKS !

Hawkeye with all due respect, How are we to know with any certainty the assistants performance? I look how Josh's handles have not improved. Last year he was dribbling off his foot or losing his dribble by dribbling too high because of not being able to see both where he was going and maintaining his dribble. I believe his coaching at the high school level and the one on one that the assistants at the NBA level should have helped him show some measurable improvement. He can not depend on as we all can agree on super athletism and not work on fundamentals. His turnovers are still high and will continue into the season. I think that is why he can be found hanging at the perimeter for the kickouts because his his handles will hurt him in the post or taking it to the basket to at least get to the foul line. Sometimes his finishing is hurt resulting in his losing the ball at the rim. We are aware that he has smaller than ususal hands for his size but a Kevin Willis with even smaller hands that he could not even palm the ball for a man his size made a long and productive career. Josh should have been project #1. If Josh had been instructed to work on his handles with the same amount of time he put in the weight room maybe he would be further along the line. Our interior defense last year w/Zaza included should have improved. I know we had personnel problems (Edwards- Esteban,etc.), but the cake walk by opposing offenses I see adjustments even made at high school games than what we showed. We could have at least Este execute some hard fouls each game and every game ,if necessary, to get some respect in the middle. I could go on and on but I don't think all of this can be laid at the feet of Woody. Where do the assistants have some responsibility and accountablility for this. They should be spending the bulk of the time with the players and should be at the top of their profession or at least NBA caliber.

Quote: I know Woody will get all the heat but what do you think of the job our assistants are doing. They are responsible for much of the one on one workouts, player development, practice, in game adjustments and head coach suggestions. Larry Drew -- Herb Brown -- Bob Bender -- Greg Ballard-- David Fizdale -- Pete Radulovic . Some very successful teams have former NBA coaches with lots of experience. Herb Brown, Larry Brown's older brother, has the most experience. Do some "seem" to be little more than clip board carriers. Our you satisfied with player development under these assistants? Could a tweaking in the staff over the off season have helped?

So why aren't these guys playing more in the preseason? Why do you play J. Smith 45 minutes in a preseason game particularly when he is struggling? Why not put someone big on Ilgauskus like Glyniadakis? Can't figure out what woodsen is trying to accomplish this preseason. I believe we know the drill with Woody. We will question his rotations , his matchups, his strategy, his adjustments during the game. I guess we expected better from such a long time assistant to Larry Brown, who was highly touted by Brown himself.

I posted after seeing only the open scrimmage that "Big Glyn" and Freije really stood out for me. Now with a couple of preseason games it has not changed my mind. I'm not sold on Cedric and he would have to do a lot more to put Ivey on the bubble especially since he is already under contract. Freije has some instant offense that Salim is inconsistent right now on. We need "all the options" that we can get.

Quote: Quote: I didn't really understand a thing you just said, be at l east I tried. Brethren ! I say unto you, he hath eyes, but he seeth not !! P.S. Behold Brethren ! I Say unto you again and again he hath eyes but he seeth not, but He Doth Tryeth !!

Quote: I didn't really understand a thing you just said, be at l east I tried. Brethren ! I say unto you, he hath eyes, but he seeth not !!

Quote: So many here have been making judgements on summer league and preseason games. One minute it is why did we pick Sheldon Williams. The next minute hes the best thing since sliced bread. Two bad games you are the worst player in the world two good games your the savior. I just don't get the impulsive rush to judgement when we don't have a significant sample from NBA play. I remember last year half the genius on this board had wrote of Marvin Williams as a bust. Two years ago it was the same thing with childress and Smith. As far as i know, no one on this board is an NBA scout so just cool your jets. S M I T H R U L E S !!!!! What a thought provoking post. You have your casual critics , your hyper critics and your "go for the jugular" critics while most of the readers are just viewers. That's the audience you have. Just look at the ratio of posts versus views. IT's really what drives this board. S M I T H you have a thought provoking post with a collective " No Comment".

than Zaza. I thought he was getting lost on Detroit's bench. Zaza was getting his shot blocked multiple times by Smoove when he was with Milwaukee. I would have bet my money and lost it on the potential of Darko. Yesterday Zaza wore Darko out in the middle. Just a little over a year since and Zaza is being compared to Chris Kaman. What will his continued improvement bring? I know you going to say you saw Z's potential in Milwaukee.

Quote: They were just talking about it on790thezone and had the Falcons PR guy on. Falcons are denying that it ever happened (but then mentioning that "emotions are high" after a tough loss like that) - so maybe profootballtalk.com wasn't exactly correct - but it's likely that there are some strained nerves at flowery branch. Any truth to the report that Blank himself was on 790 The Fan to deny this?

This posted on Hawks Real Gm board. We're hearing that there was a huge blowup in Falcon-land after Sunday's Loss To The Giants, and that the problems spilled over into monday. The issue arose shortly after the 27-14 loss to the Giants, when defensive coordinator Ed Donatell got in offensive coordinator Greg Knapp's face regarding the inability of the offense to sustain drives, which resulted in the defense being on the field for far too long. Word is that Donatell blamed several injuries sustained by his troops on the poor play of the offense, because the defensive players were exhausted late in the game. We're told that on monday,Arthur Blank summoned Donatell and Knapp to his office, and that Blank wouldn't allow head coach Jim Mora inside the room until Blank had a chance to talk to them. After the four met, Knapp was angry- and the word is that Knapp is openly blaming the performance of the offense on the limited passing skills of Michael Vick. Stay tuned -- this could get ugly with backup Matt Schaub eligible for restricted free agency after the season.

The guy is a gunner. When he is on, he is one of those rare shooters that can bring a team back from large deficits back into the game. When he is not, which seems to be the case in all the "preseason games" he is "persona non grata". We will need the former at times during this season. We are not a lock down defense that can be counted on to get stops to get back in some of these games and with our expected record there will be times where we will need an above average streaky shooter like him. We need as many options as possible.

Was it coincidental when defensive players started undercutting Josh Smith on his nasty dunks inside and he did not know how he how he was going to land when he hit the floor(old playground move!) that a perimeter game was born. He would give them a look like "are you trying to hurt me"." Ref isn't that a flagrant foul ".

Can Marvin's body take the pounding inside? The Utah Jazz sent him a message in the Summer League and they are not by any stretch an elite defensive NBA team especially their Summer League team about what awaits "anyone taking it strong to the hole in the NBA" . He was kept out of SL games because of bruised ribs and now the first preseason games he has the recurring bruised ribs. According to reports its the work of Eddie Jones in the Memphis game. No question he has got the mental attitude needed but the body might pose different problems.

Quote: Coach Brown said the team would employ a lot of different lineups depending on matchups. One thing to look for was that he said don't be surprised to see a small, quick lineup of Smoove at Center, Marvin at PF, Chillz at SF, JJ at SG and Speedy at PG. He also indicated that Shelden could play quite a bit of Center in some matchups. Should be fun to watch. VERY INTERESTING , VERY INTERESTING

Quote: I missed the scrimmage. Did Marvin show any indication that he had extended his outside shot to the 3-point range? Remember last year that he was always 1-2 feet inside the line. Just curious if he has fixed that. He did not take any 3 pointers prefering to work inside. I can't wait till the Memphis preseason game tomorrow. I'm sure the Hawks are ready to go to work against some other teams instead of each other to see how things sort out.