sillent

I'm happy that he quit.

BK would have drafted a 6'9 forward instead of Teague

Although Sund has done good things for our ball clubs Sund's best move was keeping BK's core together. Besides Jamal Crawford,Jeff Teague, Joe Smith, Jason Collins this is BK's team(BK would have kept Chillz or got a good trade for him because he values his picks). And who knows if BK would have pick Teague or not(Again he values his picks/decisions and would not pick someone that could possible start over Smoove, Marvin, Horford or JJ).

I thought Crawful was wearing #11 this season?

U r correct back to his Knick/Isiah Thomas number wearing days :helpsmilie: Hopefully he plays with that same motivation or more when he played decent defense for Larry Brown.

The real missed part:

Chillz salary = Zaza+ Collins+ Joe Smith + Mo Evans + Siler + (Stackhouse, I wish), and Hawks still have money left.

Remember, Collins+Joe Smith get most of their salaries paid by the NBA.

I'm obviously not saying let's lobby for Chillz for this coming season!!

The real missed part is that both Joe's so far only have one year left on there contract. Same as Mo Evans,Collins, and maybe Siler and Stackhouse. Whatever we do/if we do decide to re offer for Chillz the price is not set in stone. Al Horford is also going to be a critical piece that needs attention but if him Marvin and Josh Smith all get closer to there potential, Teague shows potential and JJ is questionable for a return. Childress with his new found understanding on the game and improvement could be very helpful in making sure there is not much chemistry/talent lost because Smoove, Marvin, and Al may be closer to becoming the new star(s) of the team. Jamal Crawford will/should still be here along with Bibby, Zaza and maybe some new additions to compliment/fill out the team. If JJ does come back chills can still be a critical peice.

My earlier post was a lil misleading to show Chillz in this year's line up when we all know his not coming back for this coming season but I just wanted to give a visual of what our team with Chillz back on it would look like.

Teague/Bibby

(maybe) JJ/Jamal Crawford/Josh Childress

Marvin/Josh Childress

Josh Smith/?Joe will be a year older and maybe no longer an option

Al Horford/Zaza

I will be very dissappointed if that is the type of player he becomes. Undersized shooting guards are a dime a dozen in the NBA. We need a player who can run an offense. If he can't do that then I hope we sign someone who can.

Imagine Flip with better court vision and a willingness to pass the ball when needed!!

Besides how our team is composed everybody is a complimentary player at times even Joe(playoffs for example). So who says Chills want have times where he shines as well!!

This topic/post was mainly to inspire fans to actually watch and see what is needed for our team and if the main answer is Chillz lets lobby to get him back out there on our team.

So depending on how we do this year maybe we have the money/motivation to convince Chillz to come back but all it may take is the fan support.

I remember year one or two of the Josh's rookie season where people spoke of Josh Childress being more of a player that was best suited for a playoff team (great complimentary player). Even last year I felt Childress would have been a great complimentary piece with flip, evans, pachulia, and solo. This would also be a solid bench with Acie, Hunter, Gardner and Morris also being able to come off the bench if needed.

Now we are even deeper!! Childress is an excellent complimentary player. If his role is to score he will find a way to score if it's defense, rebounding, etc same thing. I was watching the 2008 playoffs and reminiscing over seasons with Chill on them and he besides Joe, was one of the only players to fill his role on a consistent basis. Josh would be that extra guard/forward that could take the ball up the court(for those who still feel we need an extra point guard). Not saying he is one but he can handle those capabilities. For times when that extra length was needed he could be the player to play with Joe/Crawford ,Marvin, Josh Smith and Al Horford. For those that wish we had the someone to get the offensive rebound when Smith,Crawford,Bibby,Teague,Johnson, Marvin missed or took an ill advised shot.

For times when Marvin, Josh Smith, Johnson, Crawford, Bibby, Horford are on a scoring tear and just need a complimentary guy to be in the game with them(Because there are not enough balls to go around). Or on occasions where most of them are off there shot and need a complimentary player to make up for their mistakes.Basically any play where a player like Chills can come in handy for this team let's lobby for him. I've seen Chillz do some jaw dropping things along with Smoove and Marvin but the main thing that can be seen with Chills is his intangibles that he brings to the court every night.

I am lobbying for Childress now in hopes that next year everyone in the organization and Chills can have change of heart and work hard on making him apart of our team again for the following season. Every time we see a missed shot on the baseline that Chills could have got to or a hustle play that Chills could have been involved in this season let's lobby to get him back and help complete our puzzle. We are chills and a dominate big man(Center) away from being an elite team for years to come.

We may be able to get a big man in the draft but if we can get Chillz back

Bibby,Teague,Crawford,Childress/Johnson/West

Johnson,Crawford,Evans,West,Childress

Williams,Evans,Childress,Smoove,Johnson,West

Smoove,Smith,Horford,Pachulia/Rookie(big)

Horford,Pachulia,Collins,Smith,Morris/Rookie (big)

Whenever you can look at a line up where you can go 4 deep or do at least for different rotations you got a pretty deep team

The Team this year has the potential to do something very special and even if they are spectacular enough to win the whole thing this coming season they can still use a player like Chillz to upgrade for the next season. Mo Evans can not take the place of Chillz and Neither can the player I lobby for the most that is not(yet) a hawk(Gerald Green). Gerald Green would be an option after Chillz or if Joe were to leave at least the potential of greatness in his position will be there. Reguardless Chills is a number priority because of all the things he does that may or may not show up in the stats!!

AS OF NOW BETWEEN KNIGHT/SUND THEY HAVE NOT GIVEN US HAWKS FANS TOO MUCH MORE TO ASK FOR (BESIDES MAYBE A LAKERS/PAU TYPE TRADE (MAY HAVE ALREADY HAD A SIMILAR OCCURENCE WITH JAMAL CRAWFORD), DOMINANT REBOUND/DEFENSIVE CENTER,FLIP MURRAY BIG PART OF LAST YEAR TEAM'S HEART, JOSH CHILDRESS WHO CAN FILL MULTIPLE ROLES AND POSITIONS AND WOULD NOT HURT BUT INCREASE THE CHEMISTRY ON THE TEAM).

PLEASE!! PLEASE!! PLEASE!! HELP OUT IN THE LOBBY FOR CHILDRESS DURING THIS SEASON ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU NOTICE PARTICULAR PLAYS/GAMES THAT U FEEL CHILDRESS COULD HAVE HELPED US WIN/IN.

And we all know about Woody and young players. If Teague doesn't prove on the court, that he's a baller, he may become a situational PG, instead of one that knows he'll play 12 minutes a night.

I'll believe an 11 or even a 10-man rotation from Woody, when I see it. I say that he tries to go 9-deep, with Crawford, Zaza, Evans, and either Teague or Joe Smith holding down the 9th spot. The loser between Teague and Joe Smith won't play every night.

:thumbsupsmileyanim:DAT SOUNDS ALOT LIKE WOODY!!

Speed and lateral quickness are two completely different things. Josh's lateral quickness is not exceptional at all. He's very fast which allows him to run players down on the fast break for blocks, but in terms of guarding players on the perimeter he is well below average. He's a much better defender when he's inside.

:bye1: VERY TRUE!! I AM REFERING MORE TO INSTANCES THAT SHOW POTENTIAL. HIS LENGTH, SPEED AND ATHLETICISM ALLOWS HIM TO BE VERY CAPABLE OF PLAYING GOOD WING DEFENSE AND WOULD BE A VERY HARD TAKE IF HE USED HIS STRENGTHS CONSISTENTLY!!

Now, his first step offensively is pretty quick, but again that's completely different than lateral quickness.

DATS KIND OF AN EXAMPLE OF LATERAL QUICKNESS. USUALLY YOU HAVE TO USE YOUR LATERAL QUICKNESS WITH THAT FIRST STEP THE SAME WAY YOU GOT TO BE LATERAL TO DEFEND IT. AGAIN JOSH STOPS JOSH FROM BEING GREAT/ALLSTAR!!

Yeah, I am LMAO about someone calling out people as being new fans or having a short memory and then proceeding to tell us that Smith can defend perimeter players exceptionally well when he is clearly well below average to date in his career. The guy will make some highlight plays even if they put him as a PG on defense but he just has never shown any sustained ability to guard the perimeter (or score from it).

I DIDN'T MEAN ANY OFFENSE TO THE MEMORY REMARK BUT AGAIN I WAS SAYING HE CAN AND HAS :helpsmilie: JUST NOT CONSISTENTLY!! I UNDERSTAND YOU BEING A LITTLE DEFENSIVE OVER THE MEMORY THING AS A TRUE HAWKS FAN SO SORRY TO ALL TRUE HAWKS FANS. YOUR STATEMENT WAS A LIL REDUNDANT AND CONTRADICTING SO I FIGURED MY STATEMENT MIGHT HAVE CAUSED YOUR REACTION. I WAS JUST REFERRING TO THE POTENTIAL I'VE SEEN.:helpsmilie: JUST NOT CONSISTENTLY!!

no offense Sillent but I think you give Josh a bit too much credit. If Josh was who you see him as... he'd be easily an all-star. Not that he doesn't have potential to be but some of that stuff he just can't do. Guarding guards is one of those. There's nothing wrong with that, but thats more reason why he's a PF.

SAME AS MY FIRST QUOTE ABOVE!!

When your 23 and already have all the talent that he possess this is based on his growth and development which has actually been noticed slowly but surely since he got in the league. The reason we as fans get more frustrated with him(My favorite player since Nique) is because deep inside we know how great he can be as well. Take Lebron for instance, besides a little extra muscle/weight what makes him different from J-Smoove. Decision making and focus on honing his talents and turning them into a skill. Lebron came in with better handles, passing, and decision making Smoove came in with better off the ball defense. Lebron learned how to shoot off the dribble, three pointers, free throws and he recently put together his off the ball defense. Smith definitely developed a nice post game but it is his decision making that makes his development seem stagnant. Both are freaks of nature and can start a new Nique/Jordan rivalry its just taking Josh a little more time to develop and hone his skills but that's all a mental aspect because there is no denying the talent is there.

I'm not the biggest Lebron fan but...

I feel like you're insulting Lebron with that comparison. He didn't just have better handles and passing... he understands how to play basketball. You can see that if he wasn't 260 or w/e he is, and have the athleticism, he'd probably still be a decent player. Josh (from the very few games I get to see...) just doesn't have that same level of understanding. Take away Josh's freak athleticism and what do you have?

I didn't think I was too insulting!!

Hawks Blog

When players are made

8:27 pm September 10, 2009, by Sekou Smith

Courtney Sims is now comfirmed as yet another training camp invitee for the Hawks. I’m hearing the total group will number at least 18 and possibly as many as 23 or 24. That sounds a bit on the high end to me. This is a team that already has so many roster spots set, there’s little need to add a ton of extra bodies to the training camp mix.

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2009/09/10/when-players-are-made/

I'm surprised. Guess this is based on his upside only?

When your 23 and already have all the talent that he possess this is based on his growth and development which has actually been noticed slowly but surely since he got in the league. The reason we as fans get more frustrated with him(My favorite player since Nique) is because deep inside we know how great he can be as well. Take Lebron for instance, besides a little extra muscle/weight what makes him different from J-Smoove. Decision making and focus on honing his talents and turning them into a skill. Lebron came in with better handles, passing, and decision making Smoove came in with better off the ball defense. Lebron learned how to shoot off the dribble, three pointers, free throws and he recently put together his off the ball defense. Smith definitely developed a nice post game but it is his decision making that makes his development seem stagnant. Both are freaks of nature and can start a new Nique/Jordan rivalry its just taking Josh a little more time to develop and hone his skills but that's all a mental aspect because there is no denying the talent is there.

In reality we all know our rotation will be closer to 10 men than 11. Collins will probably recieve some DNP's in some games.

Yep!! I think Collins was brought in more for situations(injuries,toughness,size) rather than actually scratching the playing rotation on a consistent basis. Other than that pretty good and well thought out. I do not think Woody will make your scheme quite the reality but it will be interesting to see how it all actually plays out. It definitely shows us how deep/versatile our team is or at least can be.

Like I said before in another post referring to those that say we need one more guard just in case Teague doesn't pan out. If Sund and Woody did not think he was ready they would have done something to secure that position by now. Sund is securing all positions for Woody so this will be a no BS position for Woody. If Woody can not live up to expectations this year he knows where he is headed and Sund does not want to give him any excuses.

:thumbsdownsmileyanim:

"Josh isn't worried about shooting 3's any more."

This would suggest that he has been worried before now, wouldn't it?

Or, maybe he's just going to take the 3 pt shot and not worry about it.

Remember the guy on the front of mad magazine? (This for you older fans

who can remember Mad magazine). "Who me? Worry?"

Hopefully, he won't have the opportunity to take so many of those last second

3 point shots. But, if he tries them, I hope he hits them!!

:snowballfight:

Exactly!! Hopefully if he is going to take them he has more confidence and does not randomly force them especially in momentum/game changing situations.

People do not call Smith one of the most athletic people in the league for his size just because he can jump. There are not too many quicker than Smith he just allows them to think they have the advantage to bait them in for the block. Either some of u are new fans or have a short memory but besides last season Smith was a legit 1 man fast break stopper. You can not be slow and block as many guards and any one else attempting to get away with a fastbreak dunk/lay up.

As far as the wing I recall a game against the 76ers Josh's rookie year when he blocked a game winning 3 to dictate and win the game. Maybe some of yall seen the game/highlight this past season where he did the same thing to Delonte West. These are not the only times just a couple examples but I'm saying this to say the only thing that limits Josh at any position whether SF/PF is Josh. Once/If he learns how to make his talents dictate games on a consistent basis this conversation/topic will not matter.

Josh's problem is consistency and we as fans want him to consistently make the right moves at the right time to win games. Yelling at the refs when he can stop the break or set up on defense. Taking ill advised shots(Only ill advised when he has other/better options). Hopefully he practiced making his shooting mechanics more consistent(Any body can shoot so why limit that option for him).

His dribbles really are not that bad for his size. Because of his size and speed it may look a little unorthodox or sloppy but his dribbling skills have been more effective tha we give him credit for and hopefully he does nothing but get better at that.

Case and point he can have an advantage at any position he plays but as for now his skills are best suited for the pf position. Still I would not mind playing him at the 3 or any position that he can take advantage of in certain situations.

Well, the more road games we have early on the less we have later in the season. I'm trying to think of what's better. Win a lot of games early on and then slump later or slump first and win more later. Hopefully we can just be a good road team this season and it won't matter where we play.

The last two seasons(playoff seasons) we needed a good start. It gave us enough confidence to finish the seasons strong or at least to clinch that playoff spot. Hopefully that confidence will stay with us regardless if we win or lose early.

Wat happened to the rebound behind the back put back dunk by Smith after a missed shot by Horford against the Heat. I know Marvin/Joe had more/better highlights. I don't mean to be picky but I just feel like some research was not done to get the best of the best highlights if your only going for the top 10.

As we go, Josh and Marvin are now the unknown difference makers. Those two have so so much potential it is scary.

I AGREE!!

One more guard on the roster, then lock it down at 14. Silar can force Sund to sign 15, but we need another guard.

The way we been making needed moves this summer make me feel like if we needed another guard we would have another guard. Sund/Woody must be even higher on Teague than we expect to not resign Flip. I think Sund has been filling all the gaps for Woodson this year to see if he is actually the coach we need him to be or if we should start looking for other options. Just saying I think if we really needed another guard we would have one. Unless u mean shooting guard(not undersized) and in that case I would get West/Green or both and they can handle the 1-3 in sparring back up minutes.

Yeah I would not mind keeping West even if he's forced again to be good practice for Joe and Jamal. We are pretty deep at all/most positions and it would not hurt to have a role player that leaves it all out on the court(at least when he actually gets on the court).

I always felt like one of the reasons we made the move for Crawford was to have some kind of attack against Wade(52 point game against heat/Wade). If u saw the playoffs and witnessed Dwayne Wade destroying us at times u would definitely look for a way to negate his play. Sund might also be predicting what actually might pan out and is trying to prepare for it.

Note: Of course I know D-Wade is not the only reason we got Crawford and no Crawford is not better than Wade but he can make him work alot harder on the defensive end.

In other words it's hard to discredit a superstar like Wade from at least willing his team to make it some where near 5th in the East.Plus he may want to seek a little revenge on us if he can(rather than worrying about facing Boston,Cleveland/Orlando).

I agree this forecast seems logical. The wiz are where they should be. I don't know if the Heat are going to be that good though.

I always felt like one of the reasons we made the move for Crawford was to have some kind of attack against Wade(52 point game against heat/Wade). If u saw the playoffs and witnessed Dwayne Wade destroying us at times u would definitely look for a way to negate his play. Sund might also be predicting what actually might pan out and is trying to prepare for it.

Note: Of course I know D-Wade is not the only reason we got Crawford and no Crawford is not better than Wade but he can make him work alot harder on the defensive end.

I'm confused, all of those names have actually been mentioned in connection to the Hawks except for Gerald Green, well outside of this forum. Shouldn't he be included amongst the others option rather than getting his own?

I believe there was an article a little after mini camp that stated Gerald Green was invited to our training camp.

:cant believe:

Our team will be better this year.

Our division will be much stronger this season.

Our conference has improved a lot this year.

Our team expects to move up in the standings.

Our team will be a real force this season.

Who will be saying these things? Every team in the NBA (Or any other sport you can think of)

Very true!! There are teams right now like Bucks, Grizzlies(Who remind me of us not too long ago), Clippers, Thunder, Pacers, Nets and etc. who are all optimistic about their current status. While other teams/people may have doubts they have a strong optimistic belief that with this fresh start they can change their past.

LOL..... no way in hell

Agreed!! I thought it was a joke(DON'T SLEEP ON J SMOOVE).