TheTruth

Wow, what an immature response from an equally immature poster. You obviously don't know what defense really is after making such an outlandish post. For example, just because Smoove is #2 in the league in blocked shots and rebounds well does NOT mean he is a great overall defender. He is an awesome WEAK SIDE defender, but he doesnt play great defense one-on-one. Kaman is the same way. Analysts have said it time and time again. If you dont realize that just looking at a stat sheet and creaming your pants just because a player is great at rebounding and blocks, and then automatically assuming he plays great D, then you cant be helped.

You kidding right? Kaman is all offense and no defense. Kaman has NEVER been known for his defense. If we are going to trade Smoove for a Center, no way do I want a pushover like Kaman.

Sure did KB. About effin time they let Dominique play a more active role in the passing of his knowledge to our young guns.

Haha, well if we are strictly talking just eye candy, then I very much likey the ATL womens. :P

Let's see... 1. We have no style of play. Until about a game or two ago, it was "Give it to Joe and watch what happens." We dont play uptempo consistently enough to be called an uptempo team, we aren't defensive-oriented, and there is nothing else I can describe the Hawk's style of play besides nonexistent. 2. We finally have a quality PG, yet we dont have that true inside presence yet. Horford is trying to develop one, but he is a rookie (although awesome one) that is still learning. A true Center could give us one, but those are hard to come by. We will see what happens... 3. Joe Johnson is a very good player. Does the rest of the league regard him as a superstar? Most dont. Most see him as a very good player. However, during the past 10 games or so, and with the makeup of our current team, he is the HAWKS' superstar. Josh Smith could be one if he puts everything together and cuts down on the TOs. 4. A beast eh? Look no further than Al Horford. Rookie Wall, what rookie wall? He is a rookie putting up double-doubles every night, out of position, AS A ROOKIE! Center is one of the top two positions that is hardest to excel at immediately (the other is PG), and for him to do so is nothing short of amazing. He was hobbled by Dwight Howard-itis at the free throw line early in season, but since then he has dramatically increased his FT% to over 70%. He is going to be something truly special in the years to come. 5. We have an under-utilized and inconsistent at bes bench. Chill is basically all we have in terms of offensive production, while Acie provides generally good defense at the Point. Needless to say, we will need a helluva lot more bench production if we are ever going to go far anywhere. 6. Too many times we have heard players say "We need to step our game up" and "We were humbled by that loss" etc etc only to have them continue to lose. It appears as though Joe has decided to take the team on his back and ride them into the playoffs. With the playoffs fully within our reach, it is a time of great adversity for the Hawks. Will they rise to the challenge and take what has elusively escaped their grasps for nearly a decade? 7. Magic moments happen, we have seen many from Joe' half-court 3 pointers, infamous Woodson hugs, and Bibby, bad heel and all, sticking it out each and every game because Acie was injured and we had no one else to run the point for 30 mins a game. There is no way to predict magic moments, so it is all about making the most of them when they happen. 8. Chemistry...now that Bibby has been here for a good amount of games now, and our young guys have played together for several years, it appears as though the chemistry is there between our PLAYERS. I cannot say the same for how that chemistry extends to the coach. A change in coaches and GM could do wonders in that respect. I would add a 9th caveat to Kenny's list. It helps to have a decent coach and FO that knows what they are doing, is willing to spend money, and will make the right moves more often than not. Now, if only we could get ours to do the former and latter...

I call BS unless I see pictures. There are some attractive women in the ATL (I go to Emory here). But when you factor in the more important factors like maturity, intelligence, and inner beauty, I would say not so much. Who is the female in your avy?

Well, let's hope the Goe Joe offense is dead, because even when Bibby got here, the Goe Joe offense was in full force. It is awesome to see JJ on fire. Teams will have to respect his shot more which will leave others to knock shots down (like tonight).

Well, that's why the recent game against the Nets was SOOO important. I have heard that with today's win, we are now 2 games up in the 8th seed. Either way, we moved up a full game. I dont have a breakdown, but I totally agree that we need to avoid Boston at all costs. I'd rather play the Pistons than the Celtics at this point.

JJ has been playing like an All Star the past 10 games or so, but he played like crap the first 2/3 of the season. Let's hope Joe keeps this high level of play up for the remainder of the season. After all, the Joe of the past 10 games is the Joe we have been used to.

And so has Horford. They both played like All Stars tonight. Bibby also had a few clutch shots.

Yes, AND we only had a couple TOs in the 4th thank God. Also, our offense came out blazing with everyone stepping up to hit shots and make plays (Bibby, JJ, Horfy). We also limited the Howard offensively.

Just about anything is better than Billy Knight. However, if the new GM, whether it be Bird or Jesus, is going to be handicapped by the owners like BK has allegedly been (Calderon this offseason, request to fire Woody), then not much is going to change.

Like I, an Emory scholar, need to know the DENOTATION of the word devastation. Since you missed it, my whole point wasn't the definition of devastation, it was about how you are making that loss out to be. I don't care which of the myriad of definitions of the word devastation you use, the fact that you underscore that loss to such a degree proves to me that you don't really understand the gravity of the loss. THAT'S what I was getting at.

Quote: this is just not a good thread. Do you even watch the games?? Smith had absolutely ZERO inside game whatsoever last year. This year there are times when no one on the opponents team that can stop him, and that is his true peak. I dont think you were referring to me on this one, moreso the original poster. At any rate, I applaud J Smoove for developing more of a post game. He defends the pain pretty well, and opponents score less when he's in the game. If he is going to continue to grow as a PF, then that part of his game will have to continue to improve. After all, that post game is something that wasn't really in his arsenal until this year.

Quote: IMO... Injuries and inconsistent playing time have messed with Acie's confidence. It's hard to play with confidence when you know that if you make one mistake that the coach is pulling you out of the game. Then what's worse is the coach lets a vet make the same mistake, but takes no action. So sad, but so true. We will see a much-improved and confident Acie once we get rid of Woodson and bring in a REAL coach who knows what the hell he is doing. Acie is scared to death to make a mistake out there--and it has been the same way all year because Woodson will yank him in a NY minute.

Quote: We are competing with New Jersey to see who gets to be swept by Boston in the first round. I'd be thrilled if we were able to beat Boston, but I would literally bet everything I own that we would not. I do feel that making the playoffs is crucial for the experience and growth of our young players so I really hope we make it and at least make it a competitive series. Could not agree more with everything you just said. It would be nice to make them, but if we do, I hope the ASG has enough brains to dump Woodson and BK.

I am scared out of my mind that we will retain Woody if we make the playoffs. How awful that would be...I guess we will find out soon enough.

You right cap. When I saw the halftime score and NJ's FG % when I got back to my dorm last night, I said oh Lord, we are probably going to lose this game. I told my Dad that we will probably have a 3rd quarter meltdown. We cannot win games without playing defense. It's great for us to score 115 or so a game, but with our defense and lack of adjustments, we will have to score 130 a game just to win by a few points each game.

Quote: Quote: we should have won that game but by losing it, not only did we miss out a chance at a 2 game cushion for the 8th spot but we let NJ tie us and gave them the tie breaker if we have the same record at the end of the season. We also let Chicago get closer. That loss last night might have very well cost us a chance at the playoffs since we now have to have at least one more win then NJ. Devastating? give me a break. There are 14 games on the schedule and this loss on the road is devastating? You guys cry like chicken littles. that loss was Hardly devastating. Get a grip. Swatguy, are you kidding me? You tunnel vision guys clearly outweigh the big picture ones. We had a chance to put two, not one, full game between us and NJ last night for that slowly 8th spot in the playoffs. Have you seen us play recently? Do you know how inconsistent we are, even against bad teams? The battle for that last spot has been very contentious. With so few games left, and our radically inconsistent play, the Hawks HAVE to win games like this. It's not like we were playing the Jordan-led Bulls. We were up by 10...10 at halftime! So don't give me that crap about how it was "hardly devastating." If you wanna make a push for the playoffs playing like the Hawks have, a loss like this is VERY devastating. Period.

Quote: I think Smith has gotten almost as good as he is going to get until he gets a coach who disciplines him With the right coach Smith seems to still possess a ton of potential. However, with the current staff his growth as a player is now almost stagnant. That is basically the gist of your post, and easily the most important parts. Smoove does not shoot the 3 ball well, yet he continues to take nearly 1.5 a game. Unless the coaches are encouraging him to continue to take those shots to improve his game development-wise (which I doubt since they have made a concerted effort to get him to develop a post game), then his continuing to take them is as much a fault of Woodson's as it is Smith's. Smoove HAS improved quite a bit over the years. This year he has taken great strides in his post game. It still needs a lot of work, but it adds another element to his game that players have to respect. Yes, his numbers havent changed that much over last year, but the development of his post game is really significant. Here is my final thought. Right now, we dont have a competent coach. We dont have a coach that utilizes his players in the best ways. He does NOT find ways to get the best out of his players. Until we get a coach who knows what the hell he is doing, NO ONE on our team, especially any young guys we currently have or bring in, we will continue to see a relative lack of development across the board. A good coach will cut down on the bonehead decisions that Smoove consistently makes because he will make Smoove pay for it AND teach him in the right ways.

Quote: Childress could have made that 3 in a row but nooo, he has to go and be classy and not dunk that ball at the end. Nah...Chill just choked is all :P

I didnt see the game because I just got back to my dorm now that Spring Break is over. So, I have only been able to look at the box score. Here are some comments: 1) Joe is listed at the top of the box score (where the PG is usually slotted). This is the first time I have seen him in that slot all season (Bibby was in the 2nd slot which is usually where Joe sits as SG). Did Joe play PG today and Bibby SG for a change of pace? 2) Joe had 28 points on 10/21 shooting, 11 Assists, and 2 TOs. He has certainly elevated his game the past few games. 3) Bibby was 2/11 from the field. Ouch. 7 Assists, but 3 TOs. How did he look out there? I know he is still hobbling... 4) Marvin Williams! Where has THIS MW been all this time? 25 pts, 11/19, 8 Rebounds. See, this is the MW everyone believes he can be EVERY night if he would just come full circle... 5) Childress had a great game offensively...but we know how that can be misleading. However, he was the highest rated +/- guy on the team. Looks like we got solid rebounding from a bunch of cats today. With his big game offensively, that means our bench finally showed up for once. Strictly from what I see from the box score, you have to give it to Joe (with a close runner up being Marvin).

The one on the left is kinda cute... Lucky bastard. Haha, jk. Would have loved to have been there!

Quote: Is channel surfing not working today or is it just my computer? It's just you. Im watching on it now.

Yeah, I hope Acie comes back within the next game or so... My God, it looks like we aren't playing defense again tonight...