hussamga

Just about any foreigner who does business in Russia is heavily protected. My friend said he had a bodyguard 24/7 and they would try to lock him in his hotel room overnight for his safety (threat being kidnapping or violent muggings). Anyone that has lived in Asia (include russia) knows girls are mixed into the culture of business alot. Was in china the previous two years, i would say half the factory managers/bosses would invite me out for dinner then either karaoke club or massage parlors. Just the way they build relationships. Dont really see how bomb proof doors are perks (unless you live in chicago with all the house invasions)...girls i mean dude is gonna be an NBA player, no one will have to pay for his girls now..

Its good timing, with Zaza expiring next year, adding another euro big at value would be great. His Russian team was offering him 4m i think... So somewhere in the 4-6m range per year for couple years sounds reasonable...what you guys think? Im guessing Maccabi team they played in finals or semi finals was interested in him, why the news was coming out of Israel.

Yah its speculation i think...but Avery is not a candidate for PHO, so its like Atl/Chi ...expect them to choose a GM within 14days or so. With the Draft Lottery June16th, im thinking we wont know about Woodsons future until the beginning of June. Draft Lottery June 16th Draft June 29th We dont have any picks..but i think we still workout some possible undraftred FA and prepare for summer league July 11-28 (not the RMR)

Avery Johnson Waiting On Atlanta? Posted: 5/10/2008 3:59:00 AM Source: Chicago Sun-Times A source close to Avery Johnson’s situation said a scheduling conflict forced Paxson to postpone an interview with the recently fired coach of the Dallas Mavericks. The Bulls have shown a willingness to reschedule, but there’s a sense that Johnson is serious about sitting out next season and collecting money from the Mavericks, who would owe him $12 million over the next three seasons if he decides not to return to coaching. Johnson also may be waiting to see if the Atlanta Hawks are in the market for a coach once they hire a general manager. Sun Times article

The key to playoff success for a roster like ours is an elite PG...this offseason i think alot are available..and bibby is average right now. He will put up more pts next year but i dont think his fg% will be much better ..he did avg more assists than i thought he would. Baron Davis, TJ Ford/Calderon, Hinrich and Nash (for right price) are possibilites. Watching boston against the cavs in the playoffs, an all star caliber PG would make them dominant on the road...and Ray Allen as their 3rd (allstar) wheel is looking like a poor choice.

I doubt we could get melo without selling the house...I'd take prince/turkoglu instead

Last year Wages of Wins had Morrison as the worst player efficiency wise for minutes he got. At the Midpoint of this year....Bargnani was the worst....projected to have cost them 7 losses on the season Midwaypoint 07/08

Bargnani so far has been the Kwame of Euro bigs.... He doesnt rebound, sucks on defense, and on top of all that cant hit his shot consistently. Hes not worth an asset of ours..pick him up in 2009 off FA mebbe.

Trying to use assets for multiple assets to build bench. 1) Smith for Biedrins+azubuke (all 3 need to S&T) 2) Marvin and filler for Calderon (think marvin would work straight up) 3) Bibby + 2010 1st for Mike Miller+Critt (or lowry) 4) Diop for MLE if at all possible cap wise PG - Calderon/Law/Critt SG - Joe/Buke/Critt SF - Miller/Childress PF - Horford / Jones C - Biedrins / Diop / Pachulia Roster Fill - West, Richardson, Speedy I think this would put the team at 70-74m rough estimate, meaning we would have to let pach $4m to expire at end of year and hope speedy retires $6m for 2009, put us at like 64-68m for 2009/10.

Id say BK should get more credit by getting the #11pick then from what acie has actually shown so far. In his limited play late in season, it did seem he improved in his decision making somewhat. In the beginning of the year, his decisions with the ball werent fluid, like when he decided to take it hard to the basket, there was no turning back. If someone stepped in front he would just leap into him for the charge. He almost never dribbled through the defense (probed)..he got caught in the air with no place to go on drives etc. He is more full speed like deron williams than herky jerk like paul. But i think he will grow much more next year, more assists less turnovers, but i dont see the jumpshot raining down for couple more years.

I think in a trade of Smith...you grab a Center like Diop with the MLE and use Smith to grab the veteran shooter/scorer and draft pick or young pg to move bibby at the deadline. Memphis with Miller+pick or Miller+Critt or Lowry. Diop MLE Golden State take Biedriens + Buke and then sign Posey/James Jones with MLE. Toronto, id take Calderon+Parker, Sign Diop. Looking at the BYC post, yah the miller trade would be tougher to workout.

Well i see Gaines as more of a playmaker, ala wade/roy (not as talented, but style wise). Billy Humphries seemed more of the shooter...but waiting for a shooter to develop as a rookie would be too frustrating for most of us (Carney/salim and tons of other players).

A good running lineup /rotation off our first set of subs (childress for marvin, acie for bibby, and possibly jones for horford/smith if they are in foul trouble) Acie Childress Johnson Smith(jones) Horford Would be a great attacking lineup ... very flexible with 3 bench players in the game. Funny thing is how the hawks at home in the playoffs played exactly how i play them in nba2k7 or 2k8....running around blocking shots from weakside and using joe as the playmaker exclusively in halfcourt sets hah.

As the title suggest, presuming woodson will sign a 2yr deal or so...what slight changes to the roster and offensive changes would you implement? Assume we can resign the josh's and have the MLE around $6m to use. Im thinking, by keeping our core...we play to our strengths shown in the boston series, running off misses, opportunistic fast breaks off blocks etc. Same starting 5 obviously...this leaves us with the predicament of slow half court battles with celtics/pistons... The truth is i dont think any MLE signing will displace a starter (outside of injury)...the best signing we could make is for a James Jones type player. Use him to run off the baseline screens ala Ray allen etc. Sure Joe can do this and we run this for him sometimes, but i think having a player other than joe running wild will cause alot of matchup problems for our second unit. Should be able to find more cutters and relieve more pressure off Joe. I think woody would have to develop a solid 2nd rotation/substitution pattern....like Pachulia/Marvin/Joe/Shooter/Bibby. If marvin could develop a little post game this could work. He just needs to accept the entry pass, develop the faceup jumper with a hand in his face (something i havent seen yet) up to 16ft or so and/or draw help defense. You got bibby/joe/shooter spotting up. Pachulia also in post, working weakside rebound, picks for shooters or the 10foot jumper. A big problem is we dont have any forwards who can hit the 16-18ft shot off a pick n roll. Just about every playoff team has one...West for NO, Garnett BOS, Wallace DET, etc etc.. Sure, Smith can play this role...but i think currently Marvin is closer skill wise to filling this role than Smith (i think hes 2yrs away from his jumper hitting at a decent clip, heck horford is closer imo). The use of Josh Smith effectively within a slow halfcourt game is probably our biggest challenge. The worst play/offensive sets of the year has been the Josh setting picks out at the 3pt line...leaving him with the ball (about 10x a fricken game) 18+ ft from the basket with under 10secs to shoot. Its ridiculous how we consistently put ourselves in a low percentage situation. Teams leave him open and expect the drive...lining bodies up for the charge. Not to mention the double teaming of the ballhandler forcing turnovers as well. So how do we use Smoove? You cant deny his BBIQ on offense has been bad...this is why you gotta put him in situations that are somewhat scripted. The more creative he tries to be the more the defense makes him look bad. He needs a bread and butter post game, nothing fancy. 1-2 pivot hooks, foul line jumpers, one dribble floaters...etc. Pick n Rolls ala Tyson Chandler (starting around foul line), etc. He is semi effective with the dribble drive...really depends how much space is available and where the help is coming from, because his first step is fast and hes quick, but his handles stink in traffic. 4-6pts in the post + 4pts on dribble drives + 4 pts on fastbreak opportunities and the 4 or so on ft makes...thats a good 16-18pts on high % shots. Alot of people want a defensive C like Diop..but coming off the bench...i am not sold on how more effective that would be then adding a non undersized shooter. Just develop Solomon into such a role. Just seeing all the Head Coach and GM threads made me want to write/read bout something else..and i understand all those threads are what make the forums fun...speculation.

Van Gundy has said several times he wont coach the 08-09 year, but maybe after that.

The way i see his review...we dont have to change the starters. Marvin has been improving over the years, where he hurt us alot his rookie year now he is slightly helping. Joe playing like he did post all star break is an extra 6 wins alone. Add a couple positive play bench members and we could easily be a 45-50 win team. It also shows that our weakest starters are at PG and SF, im sure most will agree with and that our bench is horrible sans childress. Also shows the regression of Pachulia. Basically he confirms from a data point of view everything we saw. The data doesnt care if we add a shooter or slasher to the bench, just that the guy is efficient with his possessions.

I know the statistic/ranking favors rebounding (possessions) and efficiency over scoring total...but funny thing is it generally works....at the beginning of the season or 1/3 through i remember his stat projections had us at 35-37 wins... Table of Atlanta Production Dec27 has us at 37.8 wins I think there are some things you could dismiss, like relative rankings of players...but the body of work is pretty strong. Someone mentioned New Jersey, he wrote a post about how RJ has regressed greatly over last 2years in his efficiency. He Review of the Bibby Trade at the deadline... basically saying his shooting efficiency is slightly above avg, but he doesnt round out the rest of stats and turns it over more than AJ etc... About Joe Johnson, at the all star break he had him only producing 2.2wins, at end of season he has him at 6.9 wins...the improved play after the all star break a stark contrast every hawk fan noticed. If Joe had played like this all year round he would be around 12wins and our most efficient player and #3 on that list of top15 sg's behind Kobe and Manu...Exactly where he belongs

some bench guys i think could fit and wont command more than MLE?...getting 2 of these guys would really solidify the bench. Ariza SG/SF Defender/slasher, 6th man Barnes SF Defender 6th man Pietrus SF 6th Man Newble SG Defender light bench work Diop C Defender Bonzi Wells SG/SF 6th Man all around game Bogans SG Shooter/Defender Novak SF Shooter James Jones SF Shooter Roger Mason SG defender

Theres alot of analysis on that website if you take the time to read through it....methodical team by team analysis, from the 1/3 mark, 1/2 way, to the end of season. Heres a link to his Top 15 players at each position post and Most Improved Player Looking over the lists and our current theme of trading to improve the team...the RFA's we should target according to efficiency would have to be Biedrins and Calderon who both rank high, Mike Miller is also worth mentioning. Trying to get these players is another matter altogether... Possibly Smith for Biedrins+Azubuke? And Marvin for Calderon? Then try to send Bibby off for veteran shooter and lesser expiring? Either way our team will be on the brink of luxury tax, so owners are going to have to come around. Loss of Marvin W -2.5wins Loss of Mike Bibby -2.4wins Loss of Josh Smith -6.7wins Gain of Biedriens +14.5wins Gain of Calderon +16.0wins Net gain of +30.5-11.6 = 18.9 wins = 56 win team next year? Yah i doubt we would be that good or it would translate like this, but fixing our PG production would go a long way, +10wins is reasonable IMO

I know alot of people dont like the statistical analysis/projections out there, but theres still some good reads (btw he has Horford as the most productive rookie statistically) "So how much did atlanta improve.." Basically our starting rotation of bibby/johnson/williams/smith/horford was slightly above league avg, which should project us out to around 50wins...however our bench outside of childress was horrid statistically, bringing us below this avg to his projected win total of 36wins vs our actual of 37.

My offseason schedule off court/on court for the team, either enhance a strength or address a weakness of their games.... Bibby - rest and heal up offcourt, catch n shoot jumpers oncourt. Joe - Tai Chi offcourt (build upon his strengths), Referee Manipulation and Smiling oncourt. Marvin - Ballet lessons or capoeria off, 3pt range/post up game on Jsmoove - Survival training with Bear Grylls (man vs wild show;build his mental game), jumper on court Horford - become a motivational speaker offcourt, Work offhand (left) hook shot oncourt. Law - Birdwatching offcourt (peripheral vision), teardrop/fingerroll (avoid the charge) oncourt. Zaza - BudLight English classes offcourt, standing still while setting picks oncourt. Childress - Watch JJ reddicks better basketball shooting video offcourt; Jumper practice oncourt (with or without the thriller shot, just gotta knock em down) Richardson - Golds Gym pass (Pack on some muscle), practice lateral footwork/ man2man D from west. Jones - Golds Gym pass (Build upperbody strength), work the 5-8 foot hook off glass. West - watch videos with childress offcourt, learn from childress oncourt (weakside rebounding/finishing) Salim - dancing with the stars offcourt (learn to stay in front of his mate/footwork), teardrop oncourt. Speedy - House shopping in the citrus state offcourt, Turn in his retirement papers oncourt.

In the woodson post game, they said trainers would treat it and rest it saturday and he would play on sunday...probably less minutes if it starts to act up. Sounded like woodson was matter of fact with that statement hah...like "not with my job on the line"!

As long as the celtics keep reaching and going for strips/manhandle us, we will keep the FT advantage over their old saggy selves.. And Kevin cant guard josh at all. But Josh is unsure about his back to the basket moves against KG.

I didnt get to key in on this last game, but seemed like we gotta run JJ like rip, off the ball picks and screens...i specifically remember one series like this was when he caught the ball took the 3 in the corner and he drew the 3 shot foul. This should make the double team easier for him to manipulate with his great handles. They seemed to be defending the pick n roll while hes handling the ball alot better, trapping him and making him more frustrated. I know the catch and shoot isnt his forte really, but its about giving him as much time to assess the situation; where the double team is coming from, find the open man...and if they single cover him, drive, draw the foul, step back, whatever. He can create on single cover confidently. Also as Josh smith can attest to (he always gets called for fouls on silly defensive picks)...we can draw more fouls on them as they try and chase and run through screens. There was a ton of hand checking going on last night too when they tried to defend against us driving the ball...i noticed we contest up top, they manhandle and go for the strip for the most part.

Our defense has outplayed theirs for the most part...its just our offense is fugly as usual.