Iman

Nique is always involved with the coaches at home games. DJ has been sitting behind the bench also. He usually sits at the end of the row beside a towel boy and looks bored. I noticed him on TV at that game you mentioned also, it looked like he was a little more involved, maybe he was glad to see Lon go too?

I somewhat agree, we are NOT a team of good defenders and never will be. However, I really havent felt that bad about our D this year. I think it's these total lapses of solid play that are killing us in my mind. We had Boston at Boston and our offense completely fell apart. We'll play a solid game for a few minutes then start turning over the ball or allowing too many offensive rebounds and the next thing you know we lose all confidence and fall apart. I'd rather see us spend more practice time on our offense than D. If we had just cut out 5 or so of these REALLY stupid turnovers per game then we'd have 3-5 more wins by now. And I think many of these turnovers are caused by our players trying to do things they arent good at. I think I'd bench Big Dog everytime he dribbled behind his back, maybe then he'd quit and try to score in the normal offense.

It's funny, we looked better the first part of this season than we have lately. My take on it is that we were coming around then a few pathetic losses (starting with folding against Boston) killed our confidence and we just cant get back going. Whenever we play well for a portion of a game, we still lack confidence that we can sustain. Next thing you know the other team gets momentum and we fold!!

I dont think it's a hustle thing, I think we have just lost our confidence. With some good coaching we'll turn around our turnover problem. We'll stop some of our other in game mental breakdowns and next thing you know we'll win a few and get our confidence. Really I thinks it's just a matter of us coming together as a team.

Unfortunately I'm not sure the mentality of some of our players in combination with our coaching is gonna work. Even if we do right the ship and slide into the playoffs under Kruger I still think we will be underachieving. I'd like to think that if we lose a few more "should win" games that management will step in and shake things up with a coaching change. I think that would be best for us in the long run. However I agree with Jaywalker's comments, Kruger is probably here for the year.

Looking at our schedule, I can almost see us losing another 5 or 6 in a row, especially if we dont beat Washington. I wonder if a 9 game losing streak with 4 near all-star level starters would be enough for us to make a coaching change?

I think Hendu is a better overall player than Nazr. To me the only advantage to Nazr is he takes up a little more space and is somewhat more of a center type player than Hendu. I think Nazr's stats show him to be a good rebounder just because he doesnt try to intimidate shots, he just blocks out and rebounds. That would be a good combo to have on the floor with Theo and I hope Lon figures out how to do it. Doubt he will though, the more traditional sub pattern will be bring in Nazr for Theo and Hendu for Reef.

Hey Traceman, didnt you have seats around our goal over in the 119 section last year? Didnt see you so far this year, assuming that was you in the Hawks jersey last yr. We were 5-10 rows back and are in around the same place this year (10 game package).

I agree, I'd like to see much more equal minute distribution. I also would like to see that mostly include 8-9 players, let Email suit up with the cheer team if he needs more minutes..lol. Our starters have to learn to play together but we dont have to wear them out, especially Theo. I'd like to see Reef, Theo, Hendu, and Nazr spread out so Reef gets more like 32-34 mins, Theo 28, then that'll bout add up to give Hendu and Nazr your proposed 18 each. I'd also like to see the mins at the 2 and 3 divided up mostly between Big Dog, Ira, and Dion. Heck, I might even start Dion a few games just to shock him as a reward for a good previous game. I'll be mad if he doesnt average over 20 mins per game ASSuming he doesnt get hurt. Throw in about 5 mins per game with JT at the 2 and then just use CC and Ham as situational players for offense (CC) or hustle (Ham).

Yup, we definitely are NOT improving. That first Boston loss seemed to be the turning point to me. We had that game then a little tough defense and we completely shut down. After losing that game you knew we would be in trouble the next and at home we looked worse, Boston had us figured out.

I hope we are just in a little slump. I think it's to be expected that it takes some time for a team to come together and figure out how to win together. A little good coaching and we should turn this thing around. However that may be the problem, Lon just doesnt know how to run a good pro offensive system? I guess we'll see because I doubt we make a coaching change unless we really fall apart.

The biggest disappointments to me so far are:

1. Turnovers-I had no idea that Big Dog was such a bad ball handler. But some of the problem is us trying to use him as a point forward and he thinks he can but he actually is horrible at creating.

2. Darvin Ham and Email suck. I dont mind keeping them around but I just dont wanna see much of them. JT has to have some help so I'd like to see Maloney first, Email almost never. I guess we're bringing Ham in to play power forward but in my book I'd rather see more of McCaskill and slide Hendu over to power forward. Maybe when Nazr gets back that'll cut out Ham's minutes.

He did seem to have some issues when we had Lorenzen Wright taking all his minutes but I think he knees really slowed him down for a few years. He's kinda like Ratliff to me in that he's undersized for his position but makes up for it with hops. When he loses that he just cant make anything happen. Now he's got that quick leaping ability back and he's tough to deal with. I'm still dont think Ratliff or Hendu is really worth what we pay them but we also cant afford to not have them either.

Hopefully we'll get a better offensive flow soon. Honestly we looked better the last few months last year, especially when Kukoc was playing well. I just hope we stay close to a .500 record until we do get straightened out or if we dont I hope we go ahead and make a coaching change.

I'd like to see much more of Crawford and Dion. At times I think McCaskill needs to be used more too. Darvin and Email both seem to be a skill level below what is needed no matter how hard they hustle. Ira can look that way at times on offense and he may be getting a few too many mins to me too, especially when we also have Email and Ham on the floor, not that I'd ever do that anyways..lol.

Dion's a better playmaker and ballhandler to me than anyone other than JT. Dion makes some stupid plays but no more than the rest of the team, I dont know why he seems to get benched for spells so often.

Actually certain seasons that doesnt work. Hotlanta/ARR puts up some good stuff at times you just gotta ignore him when things go bad. I like most all of Diesel's concepts but I'm sure that trading for Battier or getting rid of Lon has been posted before. Hawksfreak is bout the only one I can ignore, but that's probably just an age thing..lol.

Hot topic, two threads on this subject. I think in today's high priced ticket world you really have to put a great product on the floor to see the fans come out. I was bored but Toronto without Vince on a Monday for $55 just didnt work for me. I'd rather wait until Wednesday and shell out to get to see KG live. Actually I shoulda just went anyways, I went out to a bar and blew more than that anyways..lol.

Our offense looked horrible last night. I havent looked at the boxscore but I'd guess Theo took as many shots as Big Dog. And like ya'll said, where did the movement and screens for Big Dog go?

I'll give it a few more games but our coaching does seem questionable. Why not bring in Dion even if you dont wanna take Ira out, let him play SF. I was glad to see once last nite when we pulled JT we left Big Dog and Reef. I think that could work well, but then very quickly after that Ham and Henderson were in and we had no offense. Ham turned into our play maker, that sure didnt work.

At least we won, barely. I have to remember we did look good in most of our other games except turnovers. Hopefully we're coming around and it's not a coaching thing cause I doubt we'll lose enough to get rid of Lon.

I think our stars wanted a big win like this and played hard but just couldnt get it. If it had been at our home, if we had gotten a few calls, if Christie or Bobby Jackson had cooled off, or if we had a better backup PG we could have won. JT was a little off and then you bring in Email and at least you'd hope he'd protect the ball but he just didnt give us anything. He seemed to start slow last year too, maybe he'll still come around. I'd also like to see more playing time for Dion, might as well use him while he's healthy.

I kinda like regular substitution patterns. I would like to see more of Dion but otherwise really cant complain. It seems to me that Lon is much more the NBA coach this year and hopefully he'll continue to improve as we do. Btw, I thought Chicago sub patterns really made no sense and were overdone. I felt they might have beat us if they had played there starters but with Donyell Marshall more.

I think our ballhandling skills will get us by just fine if we just play smarter. I think JT or Email can consistently break the press if encouraged to do so. I think they were told to wait for an outlet pass receiver and no one is coming back. Then if someone does it's Ham, BD, etc and then they really dont seem to know what to do with the ball. Plus I think we just looked tired against the Suns.

I think Ira or Dion can get us down the court but for some reason they weren't coming back like they should...coaching? Dion really seems an enigma to me, he can drive the ball through crowds but can seem to just bring it up court with someone on him. I think he just needs to work on it. Now if DJ were in there I think he's the one with really poor ballhandling skills.

If dominating on all parts of the floor is required to be a superstar then I agree, Shareef is not that kinda player. A few players do that but most other second tier superstars can be exposed too. Nowitski, is he a shooting guard or PF? Practically the same with Walker, just a junk player. On the other end, in my mind Ben Wallace is a PF due to his height and to me he's not close to the superstar level, I can shoot the ball better than he can.

What I like about Reef is you put him on the floor for 35+ minutes and you know what you're gonna get. He's one of the most consistent performers I've ever seen. Just watch he'll have an off nite shooting one nite and he check the stats at the end of the game and he'll still get close to his 20?10. He's very tough to stop on offense but does seem to miss the clutch shot, often because he seems to wanna shoot if from outside instead of staying on the post in the clutch..coaching and having Big Dog out there should help that. He's a solid but unspectacular rebounder and defender in my book. Sometimes he cant stop a good PF that's on a roll but that's true of most non-Shaq or Jordan named players. As Theo and Reef get most used to each other I bet it'll seem Reef's defense improves.

Give me Tim Duncan at PF, if he's unavailable I guess I'd be stuck with Weber, but after that I'll take Shareef as long as you have someone like JT who is gonna usually get the key shot anyways.

I think Theo is good at what he does, providing backside defense. I think that is pretty much what this team needs. If not I'd trade him but I really dont know who needs a player of his type as much as we do and his salary and injury tendencies further demolish his trade value. Given all that, I'm happy to keep him. I like what he brings to our team and would be happy if we can keep getting what we are getting out of him now all year.

I would have liked to have seen us pick up a big backup center and that is even more obvious now with Nazr down but when we picked up Ham I was happy with that. When Nazr comes back he'll help our depth alot. Nazr statistically rebounds much better than Theo but if you watch, it's just because he never challenges shots, he just blocks out and rebounds. Luckily most of our bigger players are good rebounders, especially Ira and the Dog, so that takes up for Theo's weakness. Right now the biggest weakness I see on our team is backup PG.

I'm not concerned if our record stays around .500 for the first month or two of the season as long as we are getting some solid wins and Theo is continuing to come along. I'd love to see a 3-2 road trip but predict a 2-3 one but I wouldnt be surprised if that included a win over either LA or SAC. There seems to be alot of parity so far in the league and home teams seem to be dominating so hopefully we'll play well. Btw, I agree, Hassell looked great on defense to me!

I think Email is just a solid CBA player but he does fit us fine now as long as we have a scoring 2 such as Dion. I think Diesel is trying to rebring up something that will get us Battier. I agree, Battier is a GREAT fit to start at the 2 for us. I wouldnt do it though. I think the only way we become a great team is with a great backside defending center like Theo or Ben Wallace. Lo definitely isnt that kinda player. Battier would be a Ira with more offensive skills plus a little more but I think we'd be a weaker team in theory. BUT, that assumes Theo stays healthy! Given his history it would be a solid move for a GM looking for stability to move Theo. I think Babcock knows he's gotta gamble and take this franchise beyond just solid if we wanna get the fans back so I think he's willing to gamble and hold Theo for that potential.

I doubt we make any moves, especially if Dion has an improved year vs last, but I agree with my man Moonknight that any good move for a 2 would be nice. Maybe we can find a 2 that can hit the three pointer and that brings some height and defense to the table...wait, we'll have that when my other man DJ comes back!!! But just in case let's look, and maybe even draft one. I wonder if we could get Juan Dixon for Dion, how has he looked so far?

I guess Dermarr is my favorite Hawk to follow. I think he may still have that McGrady/Pippen type game in him. But, if I were Hawks management a forced to make rational economics decisions, I would not pick up the option on Dermarr for next year. I'd take a gamble and see how his recovery progresses. If he looks good, we could still sign him up later and maybe then I'd go ahead and lock him up for a 3-4 yr span.

Yup, Reef was complaining but I think it involved one of the rookie refs and he T'd Reef for it. I think having 2 outta the 3 bigmen we have on the floor together at times would be a great idea, we'll see if Lon does soon enough I guess.

I remember he was shooting around 50% from the field and well over 40% on threes when he went into his slide.

I was for starting DJ for his confidence/development and to spread the floor. I still felt Ira would average as many if not more minutes per game than DJ would even if he didnt start. To me Dion is different. I think his game somehow always dominates when around NBA second stringers but unless he's on he can struggle around top notch talent. That's why I'd bring him off the bench, I think it gets him more of the matchups he needs to flourish. Maybe as Dion develops more consistency he'll be more starter material. For now I'd put defense on the floor to protect our big three and then ride their offense as far as it takes us.

Btw, even though Dion's stats may seem to beat Ira's in preseason, I'd bet that season ticket playoff bonus thing that Ira is shutting Dion down when he's on him in practice. I wonder if that was the matchup in the recent local scrimmage game?..anyone know? I luv Dion's skills but he seems to only wear out certain players, I'd bet Ira's not one of them.

I used to luv the Life College Rookie thing. I bet I'd like the scrimmage just as much. Hopefully one year I'll get around to going.

DJ is my favorite Hawk to watch. I still think he'll be an allstar in a few years but I honestly feel we'll be just as good this year without him. To me Ira brings the intangibles to the court that a team with three 20 point scorers needs. He'll defer to the stars and show them how to hustle on both ends of the court. Also without DJ, Dion hopefully will get the minutes he needs to straighten his game out. Then in the next few years if we can keep this team together it'll continue to improve or if needed we can trade one of our big three as the others step forward.

I think we may surprise into the playoffs with a top 4 type seeding but then we'll find out if our defense will hurt us or whether we'll step up and have what it takes. I see weaknesses on most East teams other than:

1. NJ

2. NO

3. Indiana

4. Atlanta

But I'm not that sure about Indiana's young players ever coming together and I hope Grant Hill and Jordan both come back so my final prediction is:

3. Atlanta

4. Orlando

5. Indiana

6. Wash

7. Boston

8. Milwaukee

I think NY will be close but Detroit falls way outta it. Either way I cant wait.