Antmillennium

I think that bashing comes from the fact that his coaching style is not sustainable come playoff time. Too predictable and easy to stop. When the game slows down his lack of coaching is exposed greatly!!

Exactly. That stagnant offense is easy to stop in the playoffs. Throw in the fact that his defensive scheme is not really that difficult and doesn't change AT ALL, and I'd say that Woody isn't that good of a coach. All he does is let the players on offense do whatever they want and all we do on the defensive end is switch everything. I see no adjustments whatsoever. I don't think there is anything special in that. However, Woody will prove what he is or what he isn't in the playoffs this year.

You know the hawks have a top 5 offense in the league right?

Well, the Hawks do not currently have a top 5 offense, but I do understand what you mean. However, I feel that the offensive style of the Hawks will be easily shut down in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Much like last year. I'm hoping for the best, but I just don't like the flow of the offense. It just seems like too much isolation and too much freelancing.

I just don't get it. We have a very suspect bench, a complete bust at the starting 3, and a once well-respected starting point who has seemingly died. He increases his win total EVERY YEAR!!!! Fewest turnovers committed, suffocating defense in the fourth, raising two monsters in the frontcourt, realistic goals to advance further in the playoffs, sweeping recent champions in the regular season. What more do yall want from the man?

I want him to start caring about the other 50% of the game.

I call BS on all of this "He was trying to raise money for Haiti" stuff. If Joe Johnson wants to give more money to Haiti, then he can simply give more money - regardless of the amount of points he scored. Some of you are acting as if he can't give more money if he chooses to. As if he's just locked in to only giving what his points dictated him to give. Ridiculous.

This game was over but Joe just had to try and match Crawford shot for shot. Why does he lack confidence in himself and his position with the team? He should know he will get the big contract and that he is better than Jamal. There is no need for him to try so hard to show Jamal up. He was doing just fine through 3 periods before he started forcing it... Which caused him to miss everything. He needs a good talking to. But this was a good win. I admit, I thought they'd fold to a hot Charlotte team.

Yep. Like I said a couple of weeks ago, Joe's selfishness is becoming a real problem. I think he is more concerned about proving that he is deserving of a max contract than he is with the success of the team. He is absolutely obsessed with proving that he's "Da Man!" He is putting his own selfish goals above the team goals. As a result, Joe Johnson has become a worse teammate (maybe even a bad teammate now), and he has become a worse player too. I believe his selfish play is actually hurting him and the team and actually proving that he is NOT worthy of a max contract. Also, I find it very contradictory that Joe was quoted earlier in the season as saying: "Since when did we become a selfish team? People don't know their roles. It's all about me, me, me. Everybody wants to go one on one. Everybody who touches it wants to score." Yet, Joe Johnson has proven to be, far and away, the most selfish player on this team. Joe needs to wake up and realize that his comments are actually an indictment on his own selfish play. While he's pointing the finger at others, he needs to take a long look in the mirror.

The fact of the matter is that Joe Johnson's ego is way out of control and he is primarily concerned about proving that he is deserving of a max contract. Joe Johnson has put his own selfish desires above the team. As a result, he has become a worse player, a worse teammate, and he has often become a detriment to his team this year. If Joe would stop being so selfish and actually concentrate on team goals instead of his own personal goals, he would actually put up better numbers and the team would have more chemistry. The ironic thing about this whole situation with Joe Johnson is that instead of proving himself to be a Max Contract type of player, his ball-hogging and ball-stopping style of play is actually proving to everyone that he's not deserving of a max contract. Joe is playing his way OUT of a max contract, and it's his own fault.

Horford and Smith played a combined 76 minutes vs Indy and Indy outrebounded us by 12.

They played 77 minutes against Denver and they outrebounded us by 5.

They played a combined 61 minutes against Minny (Smith foul trouble) and got outrebounded by 9.

Horford played 47 minutes against the Bulls, same story. Horford is by far the Hawks best rebound and he has played at least 39 minutes in each of the last 4 games.

Your definition of logic must be different from mine.

Honestly, I think it all starts with Josh Smith. Josh has seemed to have lost his interest in rebounding or something, because his rebounding numbers have been pretty sad lately. It seems as if Horford's rebounds are going up, but Smith's rebounding numbers are going way down. He started out getting 14 and 15 rebounds a game. Now, we'll be lucky if he gets 8. Josh needs to refocus on getting 10+ rebounds per game and I'm sure our team rebounding numbers will go back up.

Dwight Howard and Brook Lopez. That's it.

Whats interesting is that the hawks had to win the lottery and finish in the top 3 that year or else the Suns would have gotten the pick. This team would have been far different if the ping pong balls fell differently.

Also, we were fortunate to get the #3 pick that year instead of getting the #1 pick. Had we gotten the #1 pick, we would have certainly drafted Greg Oden instead of Horford. At this point, I'd MUCH rather have Horford over Oden.

Good to hear. Now if we could get people to arrive on time for any Atlanta sporting event...

Honestly, I think we need to stop having games that start at 7:00 during the week. It's just too hard to get to the game at that time.

The Hawks have got to keep on putting a good product out on the basketball on a consistent, and then the fans will come back. The Hawks were lousy and boring for a long time. It's going to take some years to recover from all of those years of futility. However, attendance is rising, and if the Hawks keep going like they are, I think that we'll see a packed arena towards the end of the season.

You win as a team and you lose as a team .

True, but I really can't give Randolph Morris and Jason Collins much credit for this team's good start.

hey weres marvin lol u got mike bibby, josh smith, joe johnson, al horford lol everone does hate marvin williams lol

I don't hate Marvin. But, I do think he's playing terribly right now. I believe in giving credit when it's due. Marvin Williams doesn't deserve much credit for that win in my opinion. However, that's no knock on Williams, because Crawford doesn't deserve any credit for that victory either. It's just giving credit where it's due.

The Hawks played about as bad as they could possibly play for about 3.5 quarters. They were missing WIDE OPEN shots, throwing balls away, and not capitalizing on Portland's mistakes. There is NO WAY we would have won that game last year. They would have quit halfway into the 4th quarter. However, these Hawks showed grit, determination, fight, and they NEVER gave up. Joe Johnson came up HUGE and Josh Smith was a beast on those boards. Horford kept the team from getting down too much and Smith kept his composure and didn't start throwing up jumpshots like he used to. After watching this game against Portland, I have REALLY good feeling about this team. I'm just going to put it out there right now. If the Hawks play with this kind of determination the rest of the season, we're going to win 60 games this season. I can't wait to see how this season unfolds. However, it looks like we'll be holding onto that #1 ranking for a little bit longer, and we should get some highlights on Sportscenter for a change.

I would consider a loss by less than 20 a victory. This team is still a few years away from competing with the top tier teams on the road.

Are you serious??? The Hawks lost IN BOSTON last year by one point on a shot at the buzzer. Now, you are somehow trying to say that losing by less than 20 would now be a victory????? On the contrary. Losing by 15, 17, or 19 points would be a step backwards in my opinion. It would make much more sense if you said that losing by less than 5 would be a victory, but losing by 19 is still getting your butt kicked any way you slice it.

My beef with Joe Johnson is that he is being a complete hypocrite this year. I have no problem with him turning down a contract if he feels he can get more on the open market. However, what I have a HUGE problem with is him calling other players on the team selfish and saying they're all about "me, me, me" while he has been playing the most selfish basketball on this team. Joe needs to look in the mirror and practice what he preaches. It looks very "peculiar" for Joe to complain about others not knowing their roles and playing selfishly, and then turn around and CLEARLY be the most selfish player on the floor. It looks especially bad for Joe Johnson being that he is saying these things in a contract year. It seems as if Joe is looking out for his own interests as opposed to putting the interests of the team first.

Crawford second best? No way, he's a one dimensional player.

I don't understand how you can possibly call Crawford a one-dimensional player. Crawford can score from the outside, he can shoot off the dribble, he can drive AND finish, and we're starting to find out that he also good at dishing off to the open man and setting him up for an easy bucket. Crawford is far from one-dimensional. He can do it all. Honestly, he's the best scorer AND the best PG on this team.

All I know is that I'm sick of the Hawks being beaten by the freakin' Bobcats. Every time I go to a game when the Hawks are playing the Bobcats, the Hawks find a way to lose. I don't think I've EVER been to a game where the Hawks beat the Bobcats. I'm so sick of being beaten by the Bobcats that I'm thinking the owners need to stress beating the Bobcats or getting fired if you don't.

Honestly, looking at it from the other owners' perspectives, why would they buy out Belkin??? It looks like Belkin can no longer stop the majority from doing what they want to do with the team, so it's kind of like he's trapped now. Therefore, I wouldn't offer him anything more than an extreme bargain. I'd probably offer to buy him out for the $25.8 milliion that he already owes. Am I off-base on this or am I missing something??? As it stands right now, I feel like all of the pressure is on Belkin now and the ASG is holding all of the cards. I see no reason for the ASG to offer to buy Belkin out now. Again, am I just not getting something???

I too am very skeptical about Siler. He is huge no doubt but the fact that he is able to push Morris around doesn't impress me very much. Any suggestion that he might come in and have an impact against Shaq, Howard or even Brook Lopez THIS year is wishful thinking in my opinion. Besides, unless we can trade Morris' guaranteed contract, I just don't see where he fits with our cap/luxury tax situation. We need at least one big man who can DEFINITELY contribute right now and that doesn't include Siler or Morris in my opinion.

If it's clear that he's obviously stronger than all of our Bigs, and he has a nice touch around the basket, I think it would be foolish for us not to sign him. We need size and strength in the worst way. You can't teach size. Furthermore, you might as well sign him to replace Solomon Jones. I'd just hate it if the Hawks passed up the opportunity to sign the guy and then see him progress into a solid NBA Center on another team.

Depends on what they mean by significant raise.

Exactly. If he has gotten big money, I'll be pretty upset about that. I probably would have tried to sign Gortat.

I'm stating that the margin of error is large when drafting. There's some accountability there, sure. But, to call Billy a complete failure based on what he did in the draft isn't fair.

I never said that Knight was a complete failure. I understood his philosophy and I was actually fine with it. However, he had a change to bring all of those pieces together by selecting a good PG, and he absolutely blew it. If you're building a car, you can use the best parts known to man, but if you neglect to put a good engine in that car and put in a bad engine instead, then the car will suck because the engine is unreliable. It doesn't matter that you have the best leather seats, best windows, best woodgrain and etc... The car is not going to be nearly as good or enjoyable as it could be because the engine is unreliable. Billy Knight was on his way to building a top-notch car, but he skimped on the engine. Billy Knight had a chance to bring it all together and complete the car with a nice engine, but he failed to do that in order to throw in an expensive spare tire. Therefore, Billy has to be held responsible for that huge blunder.

Again. You're falling under hindsight is 20/20. At the time, who's to know those two players would turn out they way they did?

Derron Williams did not even play the point position most of his time in college! Dee Brown did. How did BK KNOW Derron Williams was going to turn out to be the type of PG he has been.

You can say, we passed on a need. Well, that may be true in our eyes. However, it was his choice to draft players of interchangeable parts. If you want to ridicule him for his overall team philosophy, I understand that. But to blast a guy for draft picks is unfair. Unless you're Nostradomus. There's a reason it's called LOTTERY picks. They're all a gamble.

Well, Chris Paul was widely regarded as a good PG in college. Marvin Williams was not a starter on his college team. At the time, we already had decent players at Marvin's position. We had nobody at PG. Also, I don't know about you, but I certainly wanted a PG over a SF that year. I didn't care if it was Williams or CP3, but I wanted a PG. Also, using your logic, it sounds as if no GM should ever be held accountable for their draft picks because "they're all a gamble." At what point do you hold a GM accountable for their draft picks? You pay a GM to pick the right players and make the right decisions. If you want to look at everything as a gamble, then you pay a GM to gamble and win - not gamble and lose. Gambling is not for everybody, and Knight wasn't very good at it.

I find it hard to blame/praise a man for draft picks. It's so difficult to determine what type of pro a player may be, unless it's an obvious choice at number one. Even so, how many are obvious? For example, Orlando went back and forth on Dwight Howard or Emaka Okafor. I think we all know they made the right decision, but at that point in time, we're they certain?

The draft is a crapshoot. We can't call him a complete idiot for passing on CP3? Who knew he would turn out AS GOOD as he did? On the flip side, at the time, we were ridiculed for taking Smoove at 16 - awful pick correct (see Jay Bilas) - but he turned out to be a cornerstone of this turnaround.

You don't pass on opportunities to get good PGs. We had Childress and Josh Smith. We had no PG at all. The no-brainer decision should have been to select a PG since we had a big gaping hole there. If the competition is close between PG and SF, then you should always go with the PG. You can find a good SF easier than you can find a good PG. Knight had the chance to draft 2 really good PGs in Williams and Paul, and he chose to draft neither. That kind of mistake is unforgivable. He let his love of height, length, and versatility blind him to the fact that good PG play in the NBA is crucial.

Knowing Woodson, Teague won't be getting much playing time at all. He'll figure out a reason to put him in his doghouse and let him waste away on the bench in favor of Flip Murray or some other veteran.