Dsinner

Not ISO, the term you guys are looking for is he is an "one on one" player. There's no need to clear his side of the court because he usually gets his shot off before that play can develop.

Ahh, so the 99% rest of the world who knows that Woody was strictly an ISO coach was wrong? Must have just been an ISO coach when everyone but Craw was in. Interesting, interesting indeed. Look, ISO, one-on-one whatever you want to choose it doesn't matter as the point is Jamal crawford IS NOT a movement player and unfortunately that was the argument. Now does Craw posses the ability to be one? Absolutely, the man is built to be that guy. Problem is he isn't mentally able to be a player that succeeds in a motion heavy offense. Ask any fan of any of the teams he's been on and I promise you they will tell you the same. He simply doesn't have the mentality to fit in to a structured offense. He's a lethal "and-1" scorer and he's absolutely great at it so this is not a knock on him.

I'd rather pay Crawford than take AI on a volunteer basis even. No freakin way would this help.

The fact that he played on a media friendly team that won two championships and the fact that he hit arguably the single biggest shot in college basketball history (based on the drama of the game and the high profile nature of the participants) is what made his career, IMO.

I don't think any serious basketball fan mentions Laettner in a conversation about greatest college player ever except Duke fans anymore. When he was at the height of his hype you heard that, but as time and perspective come to fruition most people recognize that a player averaging 16 points and 7.7 rpg is not worthy of being in that conversation.

BTW - Laettner didn't hold up too well against Zo in their junior year meeting:

Laettner 5-22, 14 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, 0 steals

Mourning 8-12, 22 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 steals

IMO, Laettner's hype was influenced primarily by three things:

(1) Team success;

(2) Media spotlight; and

(3) An outstanding college career.

Whereas Lew Alcinder is a legend whereever he plays, Laettner would not be held in such high regard as a college player had he played for LSU, Richmond, etc.

From my perspective, every NBA talent evaluator knew that Laettner was the inferior player to Zo and Shaq but the better short-term PR move for the Dream Team.

His career average is a little warped seeing as how his freshman year he was a backup behind some decent bigs. You base his matchup with Zo on one game? Anybody over 30 has him in the conversation. The fact that we are even talking about him vs Zo and Shaq (two Hall of Famers and 2 of the best centers ever) proves the point. He played 4 years on some good teams so of course his numbers might not be up to par with some but forget the numbers, the dude was Mr. clutch period.

Of course NBA heads had Shaq and Zo ranked higher than him as they were obviously going to be better NBA players (hence the draft). You won't get an argument out of me either as I knew they would be better players in the NBA. Too bad this discussion has nothing to do with that. One player had to be picked from college to be on the Dream Team and who else would they pick? Hmm, maybe the college player of the year? How is this even a discussion? Oh that's right, a Kentucky fan is devaluing a Duke player. Big surprise there lol. (That was good natured picking btw).

Crawford is an ISO player no doubt about it.

Really!?!?! Cause apparently you don't follow the NBA much less the Hawks lol.Ask anyone with .0000000004th of any NBA brains and they will tell you that Craw is the epitomy of an ISO player and the Hawks were the epitomy of and ISO team. How is either one even debatable?. Ball movement and Crawford have never ever been in the same paragraph much less the same sentence.except in this thread. No suprise there.

Actually it doesnt stop and it didnt stop last year . We didnt isolate Crawford nearly as much as Joe in fact I would say that Crawford was our most effective pick and roll player . Considering last year Jamal was either spotting up for a jumpshot or running the high screen and roll with Al or Zaza the majority of time I dont get where people think we cleared out the side like we did for joe and let jamal go to work because that almost never happened.

Some of you have a twisted view of basketball. No matter what offense we ruin when the clock is running down the ball is gonna find its way into Joe or jamals hands its the way the league works. If you design an offense that doesnt get your best offensive players better and easier shots or FEWER shots then your offensive is a failure .

Nearly everyone of Craws shots was with a hand in his face. You have a twisted view of the hawks if you saw ANY ball movement whatsoever. It wasn't that we had JJ isolating and only JJ. That's the only type of offense WE had period. Basically what you're talling me is that we only called ISO's when JJ was in but when Craw was in we magically had some sort of ball movement that still ended up with Craw having the ball at the end of the clock.. Really?

That is rediculous. Jamal is motionable as any. He moves with and without the ball. He is a very offensive adaptable player. He Is A Baller. I say sign him, deal with next season at the appropiate time. At worst we can match an Al offer. Thinking clearly Al may not be as a keeper as some suppose. Like all players, he has trade value. I would not shoot us in the foot this season worrying about what might be next summer. Signing Jamal is more important than not having him and keeping Marvin. The move is for Marvin not losing Jamal.

Yeah he moves WITHOUT the ball but once he gets the ball the ball stops. Hence, the "motion" stops. Hence his being so good in an iso heavy offense. Hence why it is far from "rediculous." Look I like Craw, alot, but I still say his numbers go down if he has to pass tha ball after he recieves it. Not rocket science here.

I am going to say this is a solid signing he is aggressive and can get rebounds.

Def not an impact player but I've always liked his game as a bench guy. Still though, Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

Tosh.0 is the funniest show on TV right now. His stand up his hillarious but almost hard to watch as there is no line he won't cross. If there is a hell he's going guns-a-blazin.

I love, love, LOVE how Jamal's game fits here with thw Hawks. But if this 'report' is true, it's time to do something here. With certain bigtime players available out there on the market, the Hawks cannot afford to let these opportunities slip away. I thought this decision could wait until the trade deadline but it appears that the time may be NOW. There's been a lot of talk about Carmelo NOT wanting to come here but I think that's bogus. His game would fit perfectly with this starting lineup. It appears he's available now, and we have the big expiring contract, young player with potential(Marv), and picks to get him. Sund and the ASG have to be looking into this. Right???

If LD is true to his word with our offensive plan then Craw may not "fit" here as much as he did last year. Even though he has better vision than I thought, in no way his he a movement offensive player. Trade him and let's get some true all star talent here or at least a legit big.

I watched Laettner's career closely. He dominated on teams with multiple lottery picks like Grant Hill playing supporting roles. He was the third big man picked in the draft that year and he wasn't close to the others because he obviously wasn't as talented. He was the biggest symbol of a college winner, though. He did things the right way by going to a good school and graduating after a full 4 years and won big doing it.

Laettner was a solid 20 ppg scorer his last two seasons but he averaged 7.9 rpg, 2.0 apg, and a huge .9 bpg his senior season.

That same year, Mourning averaged 10.7 rpg and 5 bpg while Shaq averaged 14 rpg and 5 bpg.

Laettner wasn't close on the talent scale or productivity scale that year. Why he was picked was because he was the poster boy for a great college team that won multiple championships (Zo and Shaq didn't sniff college championships). He was around to waive the towel and be a symbol for retaining the innocence of amateur participation. Who was better for that than the All-American white center from Duke? Had they picked based on talent, they would have made the same decision the NBA scouts did when the draft was made: Shaq.

With that talent of the Dream Team and the level of international competition, though, and the addition of abandoning the tradition of amateur rosters they didn't need to pick for talent and could afford a poster boy.

That wasn't really aimed at you but you do know he was college player of the year that year right? THAT's why he was picked. Head to head vs Shaq and Zo he held his own. He was the college player picked because he was the best player in college tha year, arguably ever. That's right, he is seen by many as the greatest college player ever. I'm a huge Duke fan and I would tend to disagree but the fact he is even mentioned deserves a little respect. I don't think Shaq or Zo are even in that conversation.

If you assume that they are picking a college player and you assume that college player is being picked not based on an ability but on the strength of his college career, Laettner deserved to make the team over Shaq, Nique and Isiah.

If a college player had to be picked then L8 had to be the guy. Sometimes I wonder if anyone watched college ball that year and just saw the names in the draft years later. Laettner dominated college ball that year and was even better than the big Shamrock.

...or he's just as good at BS'ng the media as Woody was. Knows all the problems ("we need balh blah blah", "so and so needs more blah blah blah"). None of which happened. Of course LD is going to talk about our stale offense and how he's going to change it. What else was he supposed to say to get the job. Let's just hope he can fix it.

Nique should have been on it and despite what you think about L8, he deserved it as well.

To even be considered "athletic" at 7ft takes coordination. To make it in the NBA at 7ft takes skill despite what some MB poster thinks. They're not as skillful as some of the SF's or SG's but they also have feet the size of boats. Every one of the guys you mentioned would destroy any one of us in a one-on-one game and you prob wouldn't even score double digits. Stop comparing their skill-set to other position's.

How come people with financial means can't get their shi*t together? Leave the hood life in the hood. You were better than this Lo.

This question addresses what he's working on and the thing that sticks out to me the most is he doesn't mention working on scoring inside at all and that is a problem.

Why would you want him working on something he's already good at? As a player you always want to get better at your "problem" areas. All he has to do is become an average midrange shooter and he will be even better. If he perfected his inside game and didn't improve his jump shot at all he's still the same Josh.

There's still chemistry to worry about. More importantly, there's injuries. Is LeBron + Bosh enough if Wade goes down again?

Umm, yeah. Do you even realize you just typed LeBron +Bosh?? That's still (on paper) a MUCH better team than we have. LeBron + Nobody just lead the NBA in wins. Again.

I would not jump to any conclusions based on summer league preformance (basically street ball)

Performing well does not mean anything. Performing badly is a whole different story.

Teague and Crawford did play good for us but they have to work on the turnovers and shot selection for sure before training camp.

Sy would be better off staying in Europe and refining his skills with more PT over there. When he is ready then we should bring him over for a try.

No one else on the roster will make the team...if they do it will be to sit on the bench with Collins.

That's why during summer league you don't go by stats. You can pretty much tell a guy's skill or potential though. Simply comparing them to RaMo is obvious during summer league.

Aminu is in (should be anyway).

I also think Davidson should get a strong look. I'd take him over Joe Smith even.

Crawford and Teague are obvious but I've been pleasantly suprised with Crawford. I knew Teage was capable I was more worried about his confidence. He is setting up great but more importantly he is shooting very very well.

I like Hendrix strength and think he could be a very good defensive player one day. Might not make it here but deserves consideration.

I really, really, really like Sy. Very agressive with a very good handle. Also plays good D. Hopefully not injury prone but he WILL be on this team next year barring injury.

Like Gilder but he won't make this team.

Jackson is interesting. The guy can shoot and has a good feel for the game. Won't make the team.

No one else worth typing about.

We won 53 games last year with a PG who cannot guard anybody, in an offense that does not suit our players, and a weak SF.

We now have a PG who will definitely be a better defender, an offense better suited towards our needs, and hopefully an improved SF (due to the offense).

While it looks as though we are not gunning for a championship this year, we still have a chance to do really well. This year is also a good time to see how good this offense can be without blowing things up. Assuming things are going well, we are in a GREAT position to make a move during the deadline next year.

Looking at hoopstats.com, Bibby is remarkably inefficient and Marvin has been horrid. If these are the only things that change and we can stay healthy, who says we can't win 52 games again?

Assuming we don't play Orlando, we could move our way through the playoffs even if we don't get a big to guard Dwight like Shaq.

Is this reasonable or am I being a major homer?

I wouldn't have agreed with this had I not seen this year's summer league squad. If Teague and Craw2.0 play as comfortably has they have mixed with a more fluid offense and we have a shot at top 3 in the East.

But I agree Hawkman, Crawford is very smart with the ball in his hands and has a natural feel on offense that Teague just doesn't have. Both He and SY appear to know how to attack a defense by finding the weaknesses which allows them to get to the rim better than Teague. Hopefully Teague can learn this also.

Crawford has a quicker first step but Teague has been penetrating defenses at will this summer (including, perhaps, against the best PG in LV). So far I've been more impressed with Craw's D than Teague's and Teague's O more than Craw's. Reason being that I expected the exact opposite.

yeah.....that's why he's doing Ritz commercials? Sorry man but Lauryn Hill was the Fugees. Not only was she one of the best female lyricist but she was a hella good as a singer.

honestly I lost all respect for the dude after he murdered Marley's

Yeah, he sold out but "not talent hag"?

BTW he did nearly all the music for the Fugee's. Hill is amazing but Jean was the brains. He may not have lived up to Marley's standards on that song but I give him credit for respecting one of the greatest people to ever live enough to cover his song.

I do agree with the rest of your sig though.

The only problem i see so far with Crawford is that he shoots better under pressure (i.e. with a hand in his face) that he does when he is wide open. Hope that changes.

Not a whole lot of wide open shots vs good teams.

I didn't notice during the game but Aminu played well defensively. 8 points, 3 blocks, and 6 rebounds in 18 minutes of play.

I really think he makes the team.

hawks would be in a good position to beat the heat

Just read your sig.

Wyclef is a "no talent hack"? LMAO

You do realize he was the mastermind behind the Fugees and is a decent producer now? So, in other words he isn't even a reggae artist ("Bob Marley wannabe").

We have 3 guys on our summer roster that could replace him right now.