sillent

Collins is here to help mentor our young bigs like Joe Smith and give us 6 tough fouls and a strong big body who knows the NBA game(not saying he can play it but he knows how it is played). I was not ever a fan of the Collins but Jason was always better than Jarron and has more experience than Siler. You don't want a young Big in Siler making a rookie mistake in a close/important game against a Shaq, Dwight or other marquee big and you know what Jason is going to bring you which is hard fouls, defense savvy(semi smart play whether it is a good foul,box out or ect..). If you are a true NBA fan and not only watch our players but know almost every player you know Jason is not even considered as a star. His addition to our team was/is strictly beneficial to show our young bigs that with no real talent you can be successful in this league with playing smart, knowing your role/capabilities, using your advantages to the best of your ability. If I were going to motivate a young deep team why not higher a successful(he's been in the NBA this long) slop who can motivate some of our players and teach them that with smart play and playing within your self you can have a long career in the NBA. If I'm Josh and Al and I look at my talents/abilities and his I am super pumped and extra hyped about what I can potential become in this league.

You got a great imagination!! lol

Joe can't even replace Joe. I hate to have to say it but what has Joe done for us lately. Crawford is deferring not only to Joe but to/for our entire team. What is Joe's excuse? I don't think people think Crawford can replace Joe as far as overall production but as far as being the scoring leader of our team Yes He Can. Joe is a better defender but Crawford is a better passer. Ball movement is important on our team. So is defense but Joe's defense want be missed as much as good play/decision making. Coming to a new team and trying to fit in isn't easy especially if it is a good team or has plenty of marquee players( Ask Baron Davis). Not saying Crawford can/will be our Joe but Crawford is doing a good job for his situation. What is Joe's excuse( Big Contract,maybe last time he plays with Hawks why not go out in a bang/within team, Deferring is not a problem when the team is winning but when you don't have good/great contributions in a losing record?) Yeah I'll say it again!! This year Joe cannot replace the Joe we knew and loved. While saying this I still believe it will be a different story after the All-Star break( Joe might even show where all the Elite talk is coming from). Joe is a businessman( I can't say it enough) so I don't see him being mediocre at best all season and I do believe he will eventually go out and earn his money(the money he wants) before the season is over.

The big picture is Joe is not Elite(at least not playing like it) and Woodson does not coach offense. When we continue to move on the court and move the ball we are almost unstoppable. When our movement is stagnant and we rely on one on one plays it shows just how much we lack as far as offensive plays. When our defense and effort isn't there then of course we are not going to be able to contend with any team including Nets. Woody has his faults but the players know and understand the freedoms they have on the court on the offensive end if they work with each other. When they choose not to play defense and with energy relying only on making shots these are the results. If we are complacent with just being good this will be the results if we want to be Elite we have to learn to hustle,defend and play with effort every night until it becomes a habit.

Before the season started we had one of the toughest predicted schedules of the league. We had to start off with a Pacers team known for being very scrappy. A healthy revamped Wizards team. Lakers and Blazers 2x(who were also considered to be entering Elite status) A scrappy Kings team Nuggets, Boston(@Boston), New Orleans/Knicks 2x(who knew Chris Paul would be out/2nd game fresh off of high of beating a good Pheonix). Pistons(revamped offensively/ because of injuries we thought it would be an easy win) Raptorsrevamped Heat(Ask the Lakers if their overrated) A scrappy Rockets, the Magic and a team that made the playoffs last year in 76ers. Our problem this year is that we've struggled to show up against low marquee teams at times. Yes we can turn it on when needed when we continue to have good ball movement and defense but when we struggle in those categories we struggle period.

Exactly!! Joe , Smoove, Horford and yes even Crawford all have a good chance especially if we maintain our Elite status(continue winning at a high level). Another factor that will help is if we all continue to vote daily.

Sothron? Making a rookie mistake? No team that has 1 win out of 19 deserves an allstar and I'm pretty sure the coaches will have no mercy in this reguard especially when Horford is a good second choice behind Dwight.

We (The Hawks) currently are not yet elite but taking the next step towards that goal. This is a process and a record of 11-4(tied for the best record in the 1st and 2nd spot in the East is not too shabby). The season is still pretty fresh and the Elite are trying to separate themselves early (which is an NBA custom). The exciting part is we have not yet played our bet basketball yet we are sitting on top with the Elite. We may have had or may have one of the toughest schedules in our conference and we haven't folded(much). We beat a tough Pacers team, a revamped Wizards squad that had/has high hopes out the gate. We are undefeated against an up an coming Portland team(meaning we won a tough home and away game), we destroyed an Elite team in the west in Denver at home and Celtics away. We beat a tough and scrappy Kings,Rockets and Miami team. We beat New Orleans and New York when we were supposed to win. My question is... why the Panic Imagine a Josh Smith in the All-Star game after playing with all these other great players and really feeling like he can compete with anybody( This summer playing with a lot of his peers made him realize he needs to play smarter and to his strengths). What about Jamal Crawford sniffing not only the playoffs but a chance to do something big when we get there even that much closer. Joe realizing his money is on the line for the rest of the season and playing out of his mind. Marvin is a competitor and will eventually find out how to fit in just fine on a daily basis. Jeff Teague being a half a season in and more acclimated into our system and the NBA game. Horford despite the defaults still being a double double machine. And the rest of our vets doing what is needed to keep our team running as a well oiled machine. Remember we are working towards being Elite and it will take a little time actually becoming what we and others believe we can be but we are taking the right steps. By the time we are in midseason we should be closer to being our best form and playing at the Elite level we are capable of playing which is scary (at least for the opposition) seeing that we are already still at the top of our conference and in the league. We are one loss away from being tied with the World Champions and still there is panic with some Hawk fans. Not being satisfied is a good mentality for players and fans alike but the disgruntled fans, that ridicule and hate just to hate nick picking a game or two in a 82 game season need to reconsider which team they need to be rooting for. True, there are Laker fans that wanted to get rid of Kobe but seriously it is a thin line between being dissatisfied and being ridiculous. With a record of 11-4 with our Hawks that have struggled for years can you really say you are dissatisfied and if not than the latter may apply.

Ladies and Gentleman we have a thinker!! :thumbsupsmileyanim: !! To fire a coach that has grew with the team(chemistry) and is 11- 3 is more fit for a fantasy league than real life. Yeah Woody has his faults but he is an evil genius. Our record and play is not a fluke and even though I agree with Billy Knight in the fact that he should get more out of the talent given I do agree with Woody's lesson's he tries to teach. So what if he doesn't compose an offense for NBA players( Most have no problem in knowing how to score the ball). This strategy will also be baffling to the opposing team!! The most important thing in the NBA that needs to be taught is what Woody has been teaching since he got here. Hard to hate on someone that has been consistent in his ways since he has been here and the current result is a 11-3 record. No wait, Yeah let's fire the guy with the best record in the league(Yeah that will teach him and no of course it won't be any pressure for the next guy coming in, We welcome you, until you lose your first game).

Rudy Gay/ Andre Iggy would be good fits for our team. Our team is constructed to be a team with many weapons that can attack from many angles at any different time and we rely on our defense to win games. Rudy is/would be available and would definitely not need ISO's for him. This means more ball movement and help defense which actually is the strength of our team!!

This is the NBA A league that boast World Champs when you when a championship. A league where great international, highschool and college players come in looking mediocre on most occasions. Almost everybody in the league is a good scorer and and good something(feel in the blank) but to be a good or great team you have to play your role to perfection. This same Rockets team beat the Lakers and they are tough because everybody knows their role and they play hard(Trevor Ariza was number two high school player coming out of Cleveland behind Lebron James). I'm saying this to say that it's not too many scrubs in the league and strategy, hustle, heart and know how wins games. Skills and talent are important but most people in the league have this in some form or another(Gerald Green,Josh Smith, Isiah Rider, J.R. "Earl" Smith are all very skillful and talented but even our own Josh Smith had to endure a 13 win season). This Hawks team is for real(chemistry/skill wise) and only when we defer to doing things outside our strategy do we really get our butts kicked!!

True!! Yes Bibby is our floor general and does run our plays(Woody let's NBA players be NBA players and create their own offense) but he is not our best player. This gives us time for other guys to figure it out(p.s. Crawford is a good point guard that's just not what he is used for on our team). Knowing Woodson he is not going to start his sixth man which means Teague will get to start early and come in often. Most of the rookie point guards from the draft have got ample playing time and now Teague will get his :thumbsupsmileyanim: . It may be a slight bump but definitely a good experience for our point guard of the future (Teague is a baller and knows how to play and now he will get his chance to get a feel of the NBA game more with more minutes). Like I said many times before Teague will be starting either next year or after the All-Star break. I've said this for the exact reason that we face now with Bibby who of course is getting older and his predecessor is more athletic with the talent to be great.

Exactly!! I hope that most people are joking!! 11- 3 not too shabby of a record (6 home wins 5 road wins 8 road games). Maybe if we were 6 - 9 like New Orleans we may have a slight issue but playing teams like a revamped Wizards (early when they had higher hopes), any road game especially against teams like the Lakers, Celtics and the Blazers, Home games against top/hot teams like Denver, Miami, Blazers and Houston. When I think about it yeah that loss to New Orleans pretty much doomed us :lol6: .

I can still recall the Ed Gray's, Willie Burton's, Preist Lauderdale and Ira Newble's of the team!!

Exactly!!

You just answered your own question. New Orleans was a pretty damn good team 2 years ago. Say we do have Chris Paul, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith we would probably still be one of the most exciting teams in the league. Josh would still probably take at least till his contract year(past tense) to put it all together(He did come straight out of highschool). You would have 3 big contracts (Paul would grant one and so would Smoove on top of JJ getting/wanting more). We would be great but probably still a step below winning a Championship. Too good to continue building through draft picks at least Lotto's and either way would have to eventually worry about losing/trading one of the 3 if our late draft pick did pan out( Can't afford them all). Look at Utah with the Boozer/Millsap situation. Confusion turns to disfunction and when you don't know your role or place on a team it could hurt chemistry. What would have happened to us if Joe wanted to be the man over Paul(which Joe did come to this team looking to make a name for him self)? Or Josh was to good to soon(skillfully ready but not mentally ready) and decided he wanted to be the man of his home town team and ran either Joe or Paul away.Or maybe Woodson would not tolerate it and either he or Smoove is gone (Smoove would be even more hot headed being young with no peers besides Childress and Paul coming in alot more mature. Sure at the time we may get the so called "championship coach" most of us asked for or would be asking for since Woodson is more of a developing coach than a win now coach. But who is to say that this coach would not want to formulate the team more in his image (whatever that would be) and not allow our team/talent time to develop together. Yes a scenario could be that we win a Championship but it would have been unlikely with a young Josh Smith, Joe Johnson trying to make a name for him self and maybe getting a lucky pick outside of the lottery soon enough to have a legit title conteder before it all falls apart. Point is we would be New Orleans in some form or another. Great but not great enough before everything unfolds(Basically saying we can be good for as long as we can with not much room of improving in the long run without making changes that may be major) SEE UTAH. Our current team is still young, are flexible financially and position wise,deep and have no where to go but up for awhile.

I would hope not at the financial stage we were in. All these players would be great to have but if we don't have the finances to get more talent around them we will be like 3 of the aforementioned above. All of these players are too talented and have too much pride to get a good(lottery) draft pick so we'd either have to go until we've reached our peak or continue building with talent until we are too deep to fail. We took undeveloped talent which takes time. Looks like most of the above teams were/are playing Tic Shaq Toe to get a win!!

Well Crazy!! I think YOU ARE RIGHT SO THAT MAKES 2 OF US!!

Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine Oneal, Tracy McGrady, Lebron James, Darius Miles, Jonathan Bender??, Al Harrington, Rashard Lewis, Andrew Bynum, Gerald Green??, Louis Williams?? and Martell Webster all came straight out of highschool. Everyone of them had/have to go through their own learning curve but you rarely see many busts. All of them are/were picked so early because of their phenomenal potential and Josh is no different(let me include Marvin while I'm at it, laugh now believe later) . We always talk about what the players need to do to improve but I think the biggest thing fans need to improve on is their patience and maybe foresight. Sometimes it is OK to believe in the potential you see and although it's hard to see growth(especially when you see someone daily) take a step back and look at the continued improvement. As for the Horford NOT being an all star comments it's sad to see that some of us are still stuck in the I don't believe it until it happens mode :cant believe: But I do understand after years of losing hope you we need someone as optimistic as me or an outsider looking in to tell you WAKE UP!! YOU'RE NOT DREAMING AND WINNING CHANGES EVERYTHING!!

I think Woody actually doesn't put too much of an emphasis at all about offense. This may be another reason we needed Crawford. Woody knows that pretty much any player in the NBA can score (I believe Tyronn Lue had a 50 plus game in highschool and Wagner had a 100 point game). The point being is that Woodson understands this and also knows that hustle(rebounding/defense) can beat talent(scoring) meaning Defense and Rebounding Wins Championships and this is what he emphasis. Not saying that knowing that every(most) NBA player can score given the opportunity is an excuse for not emphasizing offense but if you look at it now he obviously has a point. Hot or not our defense has won games whether it was in spurts, 4th quarter or the entire game. Now I understand(not approving) why he let Salim rot after a 30 point game his rookie year against Chris Paul. Salim was disproving his point in an almost heroic offense effort and he wanted to make it clear to Salim that his offense will not always be there. That may be why he will sit a hot player down trying to prove that with defense whether you are hot or not you can still win. He's probably thinking let's see if you put up a strong effort defensively(hustling) when your not so hot and I bet we will still win the game!!

Maybe!! Are You Ernie from those old movies!!

:thumbsupsmileyanim: Well Said!!

Part two of the Evil Genius. He spent most of his years teaching/learning from some of his own lessons. Now he is getting :blow out candles: Our team is growing up and we are very deep!! Now that our team is starting to practice what Woody has been trying to teach year in and year out and they have been tasting the wins from it they are starting to buy in and be hungry for more. Of course that hunger grows with everyone including Woody more of a will to win than teach(You can only teach the same things for so long before it is either understood or you have to go in another direction. I think we(Hawks) are starting to understand and therefore given more freedom(Hence our scoring/offense) and getting more trust from Woody to know when it's time to play we are going to play!!

I'm voting Daily!! :help wanted3: To those of y'all who think the NBA world doesn't want Smoove to be an all star starter and a great player in this league. They always knew he had the athletic ability to be great and they would love to see another hometown kid battling the likes of Lebron's and the Wade, Dwight,Carmelo's, Bosh's, Iguodala and Granger's being the new top dog's of the league to name a few. I can name players like D Rose ad Brandon Jennings too!! Damn the East is deep and we're on top, if we stay this way we at least got to have two allstars!!

I told y'all Crawford was a big addition and the combination of he and Teague made us one of the strongest back courts in the league. With JJ and Bibby being one of the best half court duo's in the league and Crawford and Teague being one of the best fastbreak duo's. Yes Teague is a beast and I still think he will start either the second half of the season or next year(Bibby is not going to go down easily). I said 1 or 2 of our 23 year old Talents would have a breakout season in Smoove, Horford and Marvin. I also said Joe could be Elite if Joe wanted to be Elite and playing on a contract year and with guys like Crawford being his competition in practice he would have to step it up(Joe is a businessman). I gave the same analogy for Woody with this being his contract year and been giving so many weapons(deep bench) so there would be no excuses to give for his evaluation (Woody is also a business and an Evil Genius might I add again). I've called Woody an Evil Genius for things I've noted/noticed in the past about his substitution and rotation decisions. Biggest one to me was when he let Boston of 3 years ago before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have a layup drill in a game where we were up big, only needed a couple of defensive stops and would not put Josh Smith in the game. His excuse was he forgot he had the young phenom shot blocker with a record/highlights to prove it "Josh Smith" at the end of his bench. It was then I knew Woody didn't coach to win he coached to teach. Guess we learned a little over the years!! I've been trying to pump up our fans with every topic and get a lot of us more optimistic about our Hawks because I not only saw the potential in us but deficiencies in other teams around the league. I let y'all know that all though our chemistry is giving us our biggest edge now that we are not even close to showing our full potential. Referencing the fact that you could not pin point a single player(p.s.this was before Joe had his 30 point games and even then..) who has played to their highest potential on our team.Yet we are still winning pretty easily and collectively. I'm still trying to tell y'all we are one of the most well built teams for the next five years(resigning Joe or not). Again I'll give Kudos to those who have built this team Billy Knight( Hate it or hate to love it) and Rick Sund. Now do you believe that Josh Smith can be a "Hall of Famer" (now only at the age of 23). Now do you believe in the makeup of having two or more athletic 6'9/6'10 guys who can run the floor and handle the ball on offense and destroy opponents with rebounding and blocking shots. If you didn't know. NOW YOU KNOW P.S. I wanted to do this again before its time (Yes, 12 games is too early to claim supreme victory) because I'm confident in my statements and understanding of the game. I expect plenty more nay sayers before it is all said and done but my goal is to LET HAWKS FANS KNOW THE TIME IS NOW FOR YOU TO PUT FAITH BACK INTO YOUR TEAM!! I KNOW WE BELIEVED BEFORE AND HAVE FAILED BUT GIVING A LITTLE CONTINUEOS QUOTE WOODY FROM WOODY "THIS YEAR IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT"!! :thumbsupsmileyanim: :thumbsupsmileyanim: