T21

2 years - 15 mill, that's it!

P.S. Losing JC will hurt us, but Hawks can't afford another huge contract...

Hawks top 10. Rank the current Hawks 1 - 10 with 1 being the best.

Then Rank the Hawks 1-10 of all time.

I will start.

Current:

1. JJ

2. JSmoove

3. Horf

4. Craw

5. Bibby

6. Zaza

7. Marvin

8. Teague

9. JCraw2

10. Powell.

All time

1. Petit

2. Nique

3. Deke

4. Smitty

5. JJ

6. JSmoove

7. Pistol Pete

8. Doc Rivers

9. Beaty

10. Dan Roundfield

H. Mentions: John Drew, Mookie Blaylock, Jason Terry, Shareef, Mo Malone, Toni Kukoc, Tree Rollins, & Al Horford.

You missed Kevin Willis! :magnifier:

Well there's the rub time. I think we have to re-evaluate who our "core players" really are. JJ is obviously a core player (for gosh sakes we just invested 120M for him)...Smoove is obviously a core player, another investment and a game changer at either the 3 or the 4....Horford, 20/20 tonight and increasing stats on the average, like Smoove, obvious core.

And then thats it IMO. Bibby is semi-core since he is by far our best PG and this is a league that demands PG play. So he is semi-core since we have no other PG that we can trust at all.

True 100% core = JJ, JS, AH....and JS and AH have overlapping positions.

Agreed!

If anyone wants to have success, there must be a constant process of re-evaluation...

I must say that I like Sund's approach (if I'm right)... He's not panicking, he's very patient and wise...

Unlike last year, this year we've been dealing with adversities (new coach, different system, injuries, contractual issues...), which inevitably brought oscilations in the early stage of the season.

Having said that, I realize that our Hawks haven't show the real face yet (is it 6-0, or 0-4 Hawks!?)...

I just want to send the message that it's still way too early to hand out grades or make radical cuts... I understand that all of us want the best for our team, and that there are some frustrations with our erratic form and results and that some posters are negative to a certain extent about that...

However, unless there's a deal that instanly makes us championship caliber team, I would sit patient, remain positive and faithful...

I know many of us wanted him, but o well. :help wanted3:

It's becoming more and more obvious that Sund will decide to make a trade only if there's a big time opportunity to make us significantly better ... having said that, it's also obvious that it's not happening without one of our core players, JC's exp. and a draft pick involved... there's too much in play right now, so much hard work, continuity and chemistry at stake... I'm quite sure that he's got a plan and some targets, so we'll see what happens...

P.S. If there's no significant upgrade on the market (and price not too steep), he'll just settle with movin' JC, 'cause he's not going to let him walk without getting something in return.

Well... New York is perhaps the only team in the NBA that would be willing to take on JJ's contract... and maybe even attempt to reunite Stoudamire and D'Antony with Nash and JJ.

I wouldn't mind movin' JJ and his contract as long as we get some talent in return and naturaly gain back financial leverage to bring in a true star who could take us past the second round...

I know that Raptors have been shoppin' them for some time now... but I read it again on Hoopshype today, and I'm just wondering if any of the two could help us improve our PG play (especially on the D-end)...

It's quite obvious that we must do something to get an upgrade at point, it's our weakest link and all opponents are designing offensive game plans on targeting Bibby and even Teague (who is not a bad defendar, but lacks confidence on both ends of the floor)...

I think that both Jack and Calderon have decent qualities and they could easily fit our system...

I wonder what do you think about this possibility?

P.S. There aren't many good PG's available...

Let's see, we have Joe, Melo, Smoove, and Horf so that means that we will win about 70 games. So our first round pick will be # 30 overall.

2010 = Lazar Hayward

2009 = Christian Eyenga

2008 = J.R. Giddens

2007 = Petterrri Koopenen

Let's see...

You say that Marvin, Craw, and Lazar Hayward for Melo is NOT BAD?

It seems nobody reads what I have written.... Melo can walk away from Denver without any compensation, and I proposed throwing this bait to see what happen's, to get better understanding of what they're really lookin' for!

I mean, you're all for givin' them half of our lineup straight up... that's not the way to do business...

You are joking right?

Hey... the man will walk anyway... Nuggets are just barganing and being patient...

The package I proposed offers them:

1. Talented starting SF, who could turn into a star...

2. Exp. contract that would give them financial leverage for the future and

3. First round draft pick.

I don't think that's a bad offer for someone who will DEFINITELY LEAVE one way or the other...

I'd love to get Melo but I'm not sure how we do it without giving up either Josh or Al.

Let's not forget that Melo will walk anyway, so Denver will not be able to get the same or similar value in return... Marvin, Craw (exp.) and a 1st rounder should be our bait!

... Beatin' so-called "lesser teams" in a business kind of fashion sits just fine with me, because it's a sign of maturity and obvious quality...

I agree that we're yet to be truly tested, but I don't have any doubt that we'll be able to raise to any challenge.

Just keep believin' in LD's system and keep executing... if everybody sticks with the plan we'll finally start playin' basketball that can maximize potentials of our core players and our roster! :conversation:

I just don't understand this BS! :thumbsdownsmileyanim:

Proven A-hole writtes something... and even though initially our posters criticize the idea of trading Smoove... all of sudden everybody starts commin' up with their own ideas where to trade him... without seriously contemplating what would it mean for our team... It seems Smoove is already gone, he just doesn't know it yet! We give up so easy on our own... Damn!

P.S. Hawks are a team made for high-tempo basketball with deep rotation, athleticism, energy, emotion, and finally a coach (that recognizes those strenghts and is not affraid to implement this)... take Smoove out from that equation... and what's left!?

Great deal!!!

Just read it on AJC... Obviously Al wanted to remain in ATL... Al's a great kid, winner, leader, hard-worker and most importantly has his head straight...

:thumbsupsmileyanim:

P.S. Props to Rick Sund!

I like the way we play as LD's new philosophy surely fits the makeup of our team... It's still early to handout grades and marks, but if we keep our focus, improve offensive decision making and limit TO's will be excellent!

Let's not forget that we're still adapting to the new system... and it will take some time to maximize our potentials. Chemistry and continuity that our team has will make things easier...

P.S. Defense must improve as well!

When you look back on Nique's career he had so many things working against him and so little true support... One of the NBA worst decision was to cut him short of a place in NBA's 50 Greatest Players... But true fans know better...

Nice post and a great idea!

I could watch those games over and over again... and I miss those old uniforms!

I think you are looking at the chicken egg syndrome. When Woody was here, he employed a switching defense. While that may have been used to protect the holes in our defense, I think that what it really did was make us softer defensively. We didn't have to fight through picks or do anything to stay with our man. Hell, we didn't box out or fight for anything. We just went out there and hoped that we can use enough athleticism to finesse the ball towards our direction. While that worked in the regular season (to an extent) what our team was missing was the true toughness that a team should have. It's both physical and mental. We should be more willing to put a body on somebody. We should be more willing to box out. We should be more willing to use our legs. We should be more accountable for our own man. Much is this is what LD is preaching, the other part is what happens when you practice what he preaches. So yes, I'm hoping to see us being more physical with other teams. Mental toughness is an idea. It's real, but it doesn't come without being physically tough. The physical toughness is the spark that teaches a player to be mentally tough. If you doubt me, point to one finesse player that was mentally tough.

There's another negative aspect of switching D... Anytime you don't have assigned individual match-ups, there's plenty of room for miss-comunication on D and opportunity for opposing team to force match-ups in their favor, plus poor defensive rebounding (as in zone D's)...

P.S. Switching D can be applied only at times, when there's a need for a change in the tempo of the game, or you want to dissrupt opponents offensive flow, run...

One of the things that I would like to hear coming out of camp is that we have much physical play from our PFs and C. Not to the point that it causes disharmony or injury but to the point that during the season, our front court becomes known for being physical. One of the thing that is true of most Championship teams is that there is a smart physicality that exist in the frontcourt. I don't think we can be finesse up front and win.

It's not so much physical thoughness... I believe that we need to get tougher mentally and play up to our strenghts (athleticism, young legs, long rotation, high intensity)!

Let's face it, we're not gonna bully anyone... but that's not our style anyway! We'll be fine as long as we play up to our strenghts! That's where coach LD comes into play...

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Everyone is predicting that we'll drop out of East's Fab-Four!

I understand that we had a quiet off-season while others made a splash... but I'm fine with it... Even with all the landscape changes in the East, there are just two teams stronger than us (on paper) - Miami and Orlando...

But basketball is played on hardwood, not in the virtual fantasy world... and I surely expect us to improve, both individualy and as a team... I'm not gonna judge our season by W totals, but by the way we play and how far we advance in the Playoffs...

P.S. BTW I'm sure we'll win at least 50 again!

I am not really a fan of any of those trade scenerios

I'm not thrilled by any of them either... but I guess there's somethin' goin' on and it seems that some of the journalists see Crawford already gone...

Looks like Crawford subject is kickin' into high gear!

Now that major moves are in the rearview mirror, and World Championships over, journalists are focusing more and more on developing JC story and even go that far to offer possible trade scenarios...

Here's an article from Hoopsworld:

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I'm just interested to hear what do you think of the proposed, suggested scenarios?

I'm couple of thousands miles away my friend... but I support all our franchises!

GO DREAM!!! :friends1:

I mean, it's not just a feel good article...

We got some front-court depth:

Al is a complete package, no doubt!

Zaza is an excellent back-up, but he needs to get himself more involved. He's got quick feet, sets solid picks, and rebounds well...

Thomas will become an instant defensive stopper and enforcer, bringin' couple of extra fouls off the bench...

and Collins will serve as a banger here and there. If recent reports are true, he worked out well this offseason and has gotten himself into decent shape.

So... everybody brings something different to the table... and I believe LD will mix things up with deeper rotation, in order to keep fast pace, high tempo basketball, fresh legs, combined with strong "D"... Obviously that's the key and should bring the best out of our team...

P.S. Just think about defensive potential of this line-up:

PG Teague

SG JJ

SF Smoove

PF Al

C Thomas

i agree. we got some big bodies that need to just be worked. LD has to get these men playing tough and getting physical! he does that we will be ok!

I mean, we all understand that other teams have gotten better and that Miami had "NBA 2K15"-like-off-season... but we're overlookin' our team's unique strenghts... depth, athleticism, chemistry, continuity... and as you've said LD's determination to truly push this team to play up to it's strenghts and potentials...

Sure I like the addition of Ethan Thomas. I think he's a good teammate, hard worker and a physical player. I also think that he can improve our depth, give us solid 10 - 15 minutes off the bench and a couple of "Purpose" fouls...

I'm actually quite happy with the way our roster looks like... I belong to one of those who believes that our team still has tons of room for improvement from within... and although we don't have Howard-type center (as well as the rest of the NBA), I think we should be fine with Al, Zaza, E.T. and Collins!

I understand and respect your point D, but Al is the last player on our roster that I would be willing to trade!

Al is the closest thing to franchise player that Hawks' have... IMO.

He's rock solid, has his head straight and a proven winner!

... and Hawks have to do everything to keep him in our uniform for a long, long time...

I think that we need to keep both Al and Smoove, 'cause they represent our strenghts... no matter what position they play! They are dynamic duo that no other team in the league can match! Surely there are enough minutes to work thing out and play Smoove at 3 and Al at 4 (big line-up)... but that's up to our coach...

P.S. We're clearly burnin' bridges between us and JC, that's quite obvious... Knowing that, Hawks have to make a move involving JC and another piece or two, and try to land 'Melo or a legit big...