T21

I'm fine with it, especially if he eats 200 innings and keeps his ERA at 4.00...

You're right, he's been moving around like a dark cloud, but I don't think its poor Rickey's fault... Just bad luck!

Good post! I like Horford very much anyway (without the stats)... So far, he really looks great... and BTW, he'll be playing both 4 and 5 through his career. As far as he is concerned, its fine, guy just wants to win and do whatever it takes for his team to achive those goals... Stand-up young man, who is definetely one of our corner-stones for the present and future!

Lets face it! Our team needs one or two moves to become real basketball team and a legitimate contender... I mean, we need a low-post offense (C or PF)! Running game is fun and we sure have athletic roster to implement that, but we can't rely only on that. Other teams make adjustments and they will employ zone-D's on us, slow the game down, intimidate us down-low... Hawks will strugle under such circumstances, as we witnessed against Wizards... I was never a big fan of Woody (God knows that), but in all honesty, its damn hard to play successful half-court offense with our roster... What would you do?! That's where all the trouble begins. Our team is very young and when they strugle on offense, it makes a reflection on defense as well, as they lose focus, composure and intensity. In today's NBA, if you're off for 5 or 10 minutes, its over, you won't have the chance to get back in the game! No matter how much we all like fast pace, highlight b-ball, we know that come second half of the season and especially playoffs, teams with strong D and half-court games are always on the winning side of score-line! We have an obvious surplus of forwards, and we know we won't be able to keep'em all... We could assemble a package of (for instance) Marvin, Zaza/Shelden, one of our PG's and try to lure Pau Gasol from Memphis... Hawks line-up would look like: PG Law SG JJ SF Smoove PF Al C Gasol Bench: Chillz Salim Zaza/Shelden Solo This team wouldn't lose any of the atributes we all like, plus we would be set for years! Just imagine Pau inside and JJ outside? Smoove and Al roaming the lanes? Anyway, I believe that Smoove's better playing off of options 1 and 2 on offense, without the ball, cutting to the basket, comming from the weakside, just using his athleticism... If you look at this lineup, you can easily see that nobody in the NBA would be able to physically match with us...

Quote: Let's all thank BK for being stubborn enough to stick to his plan even when his teams' fans and all star had/has complaints!! I agree! OK, we all understand that few things here and there could have been done in a different way, but hey, at the end of the day we have a very talented, young and deep team, that has nothing but the bright future ahead! We were frustrated and anxious to see results immediately, but it takes time! That's why the process is called rebuilding in the first place...

Unfortunately, I must agree and say that we'll eventualy lose one of 3 (Smith, Marvin, Childress)... I just don't see Hawks being able to afford all of them... So if we realize its going to happen' regardless of what, we might as well get something in return via trade... Just commom logic! I know it suck, because we're talking about our baby, soon to be grown-up, Hawks!

I hate to bring this up, but just imagine what Rick Adelman would do with our team?!

Yeah! I feel very positive about our future, but... If we glance the stat sheets of first two games, we can easily notice that Woody is under great deal of pressure to win, and win now! That may lead to some distractions and mistakes... I didn't like short rotations he used. I felt, comming into this season, that our advantage over other teams would be deep rotation, young legs and high-level rythm... I believe that we can be very successful if we employ that kind of strategy... Last night's game was illustration of that. Our Hawks lost some of the energy and focus when it was make or brake! I know that we have shown lots of guts when we came back, but realy, it shouldn't have happened, because we should have had an easy W!OK, I give some credit to the Pistons, refs and the fact that we were shorthanded (but we still had Salim and Solo on the bench), but I just wouldn't want to see Hawks missusing obvious potential...

Yep! I've read the article... I honestly believe that we'll have a breakout year! I mean, the Hawks don't get good criticism from ESPN and others just like that! Why is this year different? I guess we could tell by many articles we read about Hawks and upcomming season... The climate has changed... These analysts now understand that Hawks have assembled a very good team, with lots of talent and depth, which is ready to make that crucial step forward and take this team to another level! Obviously, they're not reluctant to freely express their oppinions (its not a wild guess)...

I don't know what's wrong with this kid. When I first saw him (few years back), he was agile, making plays, scoring... You could see why he was drafted... But then I saw him in some Euro-cup and Turkish national team games and he was just invisible, totaly lost! I guess that some euro teams (bigger ones) have difficulties developing young players. First, when they show flashes of talent, they acquire them... But then they sit them on the bench behind foreign players... That might have been the case with him... But he is still very young, and if he can resurect that old form and gain some confidence, who knows...

Quote: Quote: We very well could be seeing Smoove and Horford starting together very soon under Woodson. Al very well could be a 12/9 player. Smoove is a 20/10 player waiting to happen. I agree. It is not a matter of if, only when ? The only question is who do you sit ? There will definately be an expeirmental faze. There are 2 approaches. Woody will get ridicule mo matter which route he takes. Should he stick with one line up of the sake of chemistry and roles ? or Should he constantly expierement with different line ups at the expense of consistent roles ? There won't be long before everyone realize that Smoove and Al need to be on the floor together! They present the future of our franchise! No other team in the league has such combo on the wings!

JJ - 11th SG?! That's crazy! JJ is better than that, he is ammong 5-6 best SG's in the NBA!

I know its way too early, but I just can't help but notice how Smith and Horford resemble young Dominique Wilkins and Kevin Willis... They are both very athletic, up-beat and above-the-rim players, who can take over the game simply by unleashing themselves on opponents... just like Nique and Kev did some time ago... They are the future of our franchise and Hawks should stay on this course and build around these guys, creating the style of ball that suits them the best...

I truly believe that both Horford and Law deserve starting positions, but I don't want to jump into any premature conclusions... We should first see how these units work together and what comes out of it... Eventually, both Horford and Law will be playing more minutes than Speedy and Zaza, especially come chrunch time. Horford because of his defense (far superior to Zaza's) and Acie because of his shot (opponents' D's will focus on JJ and someone will have to make shots)...

I can only put it this way! I'd rather have JJ that any of these guys ranked in front of him: - Kidd - too old... - T-mac - banged up, about the same production as JJ... - Pierce - rest my case... - Boozer - 're you kidding me... - Parker - I'd like to see him on his own... - JO - great talent, but he is fadding (injuries)... - Davis - another great talent, but also banged up... - Marion, Redd, Rip, Vince, Chauncey, Deron, Josh Howard, Allen, Deng, Ginobilli. Let me think... that's number 17. on my list! So much about the NBA, markets and medias that surround it!

43!

One of the biggest reasons (in my opinion) why Hawks drafted Al and Acie lies in the fact that they are both great, stand-up kids, very confident, but with down-to-earth attitude and great work ethic... PG's need to be cocky and confident and its great to know that Acie brings that! Al is also very confident and aware of his abilities, but in his own way, just waiting to inflict the pain on opposition!

We all know that Hawks need one or two moves to round up the roster and get the shape of a real contending team... How will that be done and what will it take, who knows?! However, there's one thing that we can't overlook. We have too many forwards and not enough minutes nor money to keep'em all! Hawks will have to make a decision whether to trade Marvin or Chillz! Its a heavy decision and obviously Hawks are still waiting to see how will things turn out (Marvin's development...), so I don't think there will be any major deals until trading dead-line. P.S. Obviously, Hawks will have to get rid of one or two of our PG's, and I expect that move to take place very soon.

Hollinger gave very realistic and down-to-earth analysis and prediction... and I find it very good! Although its clearly evident that Hawks have made huge strides and are poised for a break-out year, everyone is still very cautious with predictions... We should understand that, because it mainly comes from the fact that we have been very poor for quite some time now and we'll have to earn back that respect! It is also evident from Hollinger's article in which, although he was very critical, he concluded it with a very positive (but still cautious) 42-40 prediction. All-in-all, most of the input information that we gather day-by-day leads us to believe that Hawks are not far from becoming a strong team with more than a bright future ahead!

Quote: I may do that move mid way through the season once we see what we got on the floor. Not sure yet if Horford and Shelden can hold down the center spot by themselves full time. ZaZa is a necesity until we find out. Marvin is only 21. In the same breath getting a 4 time allstar who can play effectively with Smith as a foward would improve the team now. I am really hesitant with Marion b/c: His game is based on raw atheletic ability. That being said, he is 29 and has chronic plantar fasciitis in his left foot (his power jumping foot). Even without this chronic problem Marion only has 2 years of production before he loses atheltic ability and he wants a 4 year committment with big $$$$. I'm also not sure if Marion is AS good as his stats say b/c Phoneix's system has been know to really help his style of play. On anoher team I am not sure if Marion would still average a double a double. The fast pace they play in Phoneix sure does give you alot more oppurtunities for rebounds and more offensive possessions to try and score. Then again, if Horford shows he is a beast and can play C twice as good as ZaZa and Marvin is the same old Marvin as last year.......Only then do I pull the trigger. JJ would no if Marion is a good locker room guy or if there is something in Phoneix that just rubs you the wrong way if your name is not Nash or Stoudamire. If we made a move for Marion it would be b/c JJ pushed for it and had a glowing review for Marion. Word up! You covered all the angles... Personally, I want to see how Marvin will come out this year, and I'm also not sure how we would look against some teams (with strong inside presence) without Zaza...

Smoove is just a forward! Obviously he can play both, but eventually it comes down to the team and the style of basketball... If a team plays half-court game, he is probably better suited at SF, because he would be exposed guarding bigger post players and would quickly run into foul trouble, also his true assets would be limited... However, if we're talking about a running game, Smoove can play PF, where he can take advantage of his athleticism and speed on both ends...

Absolutely. I think swapping Wright/Jones for Horford + an improved Shelden will do wonders for the Hawks' interior play on both sides of the ball. There remains a lot of pressure on the PG's, though. Can Speedy return to form, and will Law play well as his backup? Those questions are going to have to be answered. As you said! We improved already in both areas with Al and Acie. These two are not just ordinary players... they are both well schoolled and have kind of experience (big games, pressure) that Smoove, Chillz and Marvin never had coming in... When we add improved Shelden (with up and down rookie year behind him), healthy Speedy, more focused Salim and even more matured and polished JJ, to this group, you can see why we're all excited! When you put that kind of talent on the floor, its just the matter of implementing the right style of basketball and allow these guys to excell at what they do the best!

Don't get too hypnotized by all these stats! I understand where you're coming from... and I agree that our team can improve by putting the right team on the floor, maximize potentials and speed up the chemistry... So I'm not saying these stats should't be studied! All I'm saying is that (if studied carefuly) these stats confirm something we all already know! The keys for success of our team remain better post play and PG position! Hawks can play inside-out type of B-ball successfuly, with likes of JJ, Acie, Salim and Marvin making perimeter shots, but not without strong inside post presence (hopefully Al can bring some of that)... and running game, where just about everyone on our roster can fly, especialy Smoove, Chillz, Marvin and Al... in order for that to happen', we need a floor general! Either healthy Speedy, or Acie (I hope he'll turn into our floor leader)!

I don't want to be rough on any of listed guys, because they are all good basketball players. Let's be fair and honest, we should all know better... it takes lot more to have success in the NBA... sure you need talent, but players also depend on many other things like: adjustments to the NBA and new systems, pressure, injuries... We start judging young fellas from the moment they step on the court, why? Because of the hype (as you mentioned) created by NBA, agents, media, and god knows who else... People who would basically sell their mothers for money! We should not buy that crap and we should understand that young players need time to develop (remember, guys on the list are 22 or younger), and we'll realize that few years down the line they will lead their teams and be all-stars...

Yep! I read the article this morning... Good stuff from Sekou! It realy looks like Hawks will break out this year! I know that all of us always get excited during this time of the year, but who wouldn't?! We're all hungry, and we all know that Hawks deserve much better place and respect as an organisation (regardless of our ongoing internal situation) in the NBA. This year is special, I think we can all feel it in the air... I believe that Hawks will play well this year and break .500 mark!