HawksBalla

I'm not surprised in the least that JJ struggled. The guy plays 40+ minutes practically every night, even during blowout games. Last night he played 45 minutes after playing 43 minutes the night before. And the "rest" he does get is a minute off here, a minute off there. I fully expect to see JJ struggle on the backend of a back to back for the rest of the season. And its 100% because of his coach.

Paul is the best PG in the game but Roy is a weak duplication of NOBODY. That kid can play and he will be an All Star every year for quite some time.

Jerrywest posed the question would you take Paul and Shelden or Roy and Marvin. I'd take Paul (who cares about Shelden) but it is damn close. Would we be better with:

Paul

JJ

Smoove

Horford

Shelden

or

Roy

JJ

Marvin

Smoove

Horford

Good question.

The problem with those lineups is that you arent accounting for the fact that drafting Paul would have lowered our pick past #5,and there is no way we would have kept our pick that drafted Horford because we wouldnt have been so terrible. And you have to assume that if we drafted Roy, again we wouldnt have been so bad as to keep our pick of Horford. I think more like lineups would have been:

Paul

JJ

Chills

Smoove

Zaza

vs

Roy

JJ

Marvin

Smoove

Zaza

Imagine that second lineup with Chills dropping Marvin to pf and Smoove to center. They would run teams off the court. Still though I've got to go with Paul. If we had drafted Paul, Smoove would have been an all-star last year, averaging 20 points a game. Smoove would have joined Paul and JJ at the all-star game, and we'd have one of the most lethal "Big 3" combos in the league. I think we would have been good enough to win 50 games last year.

But instead of either of those lineups, we keep treating to a constant stream of Iso-Joe plays.

Caption:

Zaza: Hey, how about setting a screen on the baseline?

Woodson's only response was to make ^ that ^ face until the timeout ended.

Hilarious.

Then why is his shooting so mediocre? He is probably under 43% after tonight's game and only 34% in 3's.

Why is he shooting so mediocre? Easy.

He's gassed. You cant play someone 40+ every night for 2+ years and not expect it to affect them. He's mentally and physically exhausted. This is 100% Woody's fault.

Sign Iverson to a two-year deal, 10 million per. I think he would be a good fit. He would draw lots of attention and then kick the ball out to JJ or throw it up to Smoove. We'd take advantage of his hot perimeter streaks because Iso-Joe would plug AI right for Bibby. Look at Bibby's 3pt%, it's no coincidence that he's doing so well playing next to Joe Johnson. Johnson does the double, Bibby gets the wide-open look. Rinse, repeat ad nausem. Anyways...AI might also be a better mentor for Acie. And we know he'd help sell tickets. Iverson to Smoove would be some great highlights.

I cant believe I feel this way but...I am not opposed to trading Horford. It doesnt appear that his ceiling is much higher. I'd be shocked if he got to 16pt 12rb 2blk. He's a pretty good power forward at center, but not irreplacible.

Tonight was an example of small rotation costing us. Despite two days off, our guys were just gassed in the fourth and ot. We played basically 7 guys the whole game. That isnt going to work, and the results are just going to show that more and more. Wait for tomorrow, they'll be on fumes in the 1st quarter.

I saw Wilis, Barkley and Dr J couple weeks ago at this restaurant i do valet for. Acie came in after the game on tue night and stiffed us. lol..... I saw just about anyone except Marvin and Solo.

What restaurant?

Unfortunately for your position:

We are 20th in team scoring. Sorry, but this does suck

15th in team FG%. About as mediocre as you can be

10th in 3 Pt%. Remember when we were #1 or #2? Didnt last too long

11th in team assists. This has improved dramatically

9th in team turnovers. I'll take this as well, considering that we run the Iso-Joe offense and play Josh Smith

Statistically, this is not an offense that sucks.

I think this offense is far below what it could be. We run an Iso-Joe offense with our favorite play being Bibby and Joe pass it back and forth until one of them gets open. We dont post up Smith or Horford enough. We dont run enough screen plays for Marvin. And I dont think we run enough for how athletic we are.

My biggest problem is Woody's use of the bench and playing time. See, I'm thinking about later on down the road when we get to the playoffs and our starters are on fumes, Joe especially, and we end up playing the Cavs or Magic. We will never make the nba finals if we are playing an eight-man rotation in December. And not only does it burn us out now, it could have future implications. We have to sign Bibby because Law isnt being developed. And will JJ think about going somewhere else because he's tired of plying 40 minutes a season?

So until the offense improves and our bench gets a chance to develop some confidence, I am not a Woody fan whatsoever.

One thing for sure is that Woodson must be a good salesman because he has Management, the media, and even some fan believing in a number of things such as

1) Iso Joe is a real offense

2) Acie Law can't run an offense but Flip Murray can

3) Two rebounders on the floor at the same time is one too many

4) Only two players should touch the ball on most offensive possessions

5) Josh Smith is not only a point guard but a 3 point specialist also

6) Josh Childress is the best defender on the team with Joe being a close second

7) Al Horford is Moses Malone

8) Zaza is a post player

9) Good defense is defined as the opposing team's point guard living in your painted area

10) The team shouldn't push the ball more because they are better in the half court

11) Solomon Jones and Horford don't belong on the court together

12) Mike Bibby is a point guard and so is flip Murray

13) Shooting contested jump shots are high percentage shots therefore encouraged

14) Driving the lane and drawing fouls is illegal

15) Giving rest to your starters during a game is not a good idea

16) The NBA only allows 5 fouls now therefore players with 2 fouls can't play again until the 3rd quarter

17) The point guard's responsibilities are the bring the ball up and pass it to Joe in the high post or just shoot it with 22 seconds left on the shot clock.

I'm pretty sure others can add to this list but its a start.

Nicely done. I agree with all of them. We win in spite of Woody, not because of him.

1. Solomon Jones and Zaza kept us close in the 3rd quarter. They are going to be solid coming off our bench all year.

2. Still disappointed about the whole Law situation. I wish Woodson would play him more, but I also wish he played better to earn more minutes. I had such high hopes for him.

3. Flip Murray is going to earn a hefty raise in the offseason if he keeps this up. We lose this game last year, but insted now we have our own Ben Gordon-lite.

4. I liked seeing Marvin take it to the hole when Joe was out. He needs to keep excerting (sp?) himself offensively. Great 3 near the end, also.

5. We looked way too selfish tonight passing. We need to pass the ball better to get Horford involved on the post.

6. We really miss Josh Smith. Almost all those easy layups and dunks would have been contested. With Josh Smith tonight I think we win by at least 10.

Great win. Now lets get one more against the Bulls. Go Hawks.

Its hard for me to call the owners cheap when they are losing tens of millions of dollars a year.

I would take Chills back, but I dont want him back. Our bench is completely different with wings that can shoot 3's and create their own shot. Chills was good and valuable, but I rather spend the money on keeping Flip, Marvin and dare I say it...Bibby.

I dont think Bosh is miles ahead of JJ. I think JJ means more to his team, helps his team more, and is much more versatile.

JJ is more skilled, but Bosh's talent level and height make him appear to be better.

I am absolutely shocked . . . SHOCKED . . that 58% voted that they wouldn't trade Horford for Duncan. Duncan right now, may be a top 5 player in this league. If he's slipped a little, he's still a top 10 player. Put Smith beside Duncan, and we'd easily have the best defensive frontline in the league for the next 3 - 4 years.

I like Horford, but he'll be nowhere near the player that Duncan was/is today. Duncan is an impact player on both ends of the floor and commands your total attention.

LOL . . . JJ might shoot 50% FG and 45% 3FG, if he played alongside Duncan.

Bibby

JJ

Marvin

Smith

Duncan

Good lord people.

Like someone else said, that may be an NBA title team right there.

2 bonafide all-stars . . . one potential all-star . . . a solid PG . . and a solid SF

We could play inside/outside . . uptempo . . any style of b-ball you wanted.

Even 4 years from now, Duncan may still be one of the best center in the league, because his style isn't based on explosiveness or overpowering strength. It's based on fundamentals.

He won't fall completely off the map like Shaq did, once he started to slow down. Duncan could still be a 15 ppg - 10 reb - 1.5 blk - 3 assist guy 4 years from now. It might take Horford another 3 years to even reach that level.

Yeah I thought about this some more and...we would definitely be a contender the for Eastern Conference title.

-Against the Celtics, would they there put Perkins on Duncan? If they dont, then we have Smith against Perkins, which would be a rout.

-Against the Pistons, Josh Smith would run circles around McDyess

-Duncan would completely tie up Dwight Howard, which would leave Smith on who, Rashard Lewis? Please.

See a pattern? When we played other teams, they would most likely scheme to take out Duncan. That would leave Josh Smith free to terrorize. Duncan hasnt played with a big of all-star calibur skills since David Robinson, and Robinson couldnt run or have the range that Smith does.

And we havent even talked about all the wide-open looks that JJ, Bibby and Marvin would get from people trapping Duncan. His affect on our team would be huge. Plus remember the East only has a couple of quality big men. Outside of the Magic, Celtics, and Raptors (who I think we are better then without Duncan), Duncan would be able to put up 20 without even trying.

The downside is yes we'd lose Al Horford and Duncan is going to fall apart if 4-5 years. But lets say Duncan gives us Shaq's current numbers in 5 years...that aint bad folks.

EDIT: No way the Spurs trade Duncan for a package where Horford is the centerpiece unless Horford starts averaging 20+ a game. The Spurs dont have enough scoring to just give away Duncan's points, and like others have said...they would be a fringe playoff team at best with Horford. I think its more likely the Spurs trade Duncan in the same manner the Knicks traded Ewing to the Sonics, or how Houston traded the Dream to Toronto.

I wouldnt. thats like trading a young Shaquille O'Neal for an older Hakeem Olajuwon..

lol Dont insult young Shaq. He had FAR more impact then Horford did last year. If Horford was a young Shaq we would have won a lot more then 37 games last year.

Moon conspiracies are tiring. There is an experiment left on the moon that is still used by scientists today.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=605

I'd like him to try to force less shots and lean on his teammates more. I understand why he feels like he has to do it all on his own, but sometimes he'll take some ugly shots against good man d or double teams.

Teams that almost definitely will finish ahead of us:

-Washington: Won 6 more games than the hawks without (arguably) their best player all year. They are a lock to finish ahead of us. They scored more than us and allowed less points than us, not sure how they play "no defense".

-Toronto: Won 4 more games than us last year. If JO doesn't work out, they're as good as last year, which is better than us. If JO stays healthy and meshes, they are WAY better than us.

-Philly: was better than us and added one of the very best post players in the league. Again, if he doesn't work out, they are probably a little better than us, if he plays most of the season, they are WAAY better than us and could even contend in the East.

I dont think Washington is a lock. Will Butler still have as many touches with Agent Zero back? Will Jamison hold up with so many minutes on the odometer?

If O'Neal isnt as good or gets hurt, I dont think Toronto is a lock. I know Ford was hurt awhile but he still contributed to some wins. And who knows if playing in the Olympics after a postseason will affect Bosh.

Philly does seem like a lock, but you dont know what you'll have with a player coming off an acl tear that barely played last year, plus Miller is also getting old. And they wont be sneaking up on teams anymore.

Honestly though it would be a shock to get the 6 seed.

I look forward to reading Sekou's work in the AJC!

It's the first thing I look for in the sports section!

I think Sekou is a good beat writer as well. Have you people forgotten what happened when Sekou broke the story on Knightmare trying to get rid of Woodson? He had to go into hiding. Sekou cant just openly rip the Hawks...why do you think in his last blog he posted twice saying he wasnt trying to incite a riot over ASG? Because if he gets on them openly, they'll cut him off. And if that happens, well...its hard to be a beat writer of a team you dont have access to. DOB of the Braves walks the same tight line. You dont seem him ripping the Braves for all their mistakes this year.

Pacers????? We'll see

The Pacers will not be better then us.

That said it will be tough to get out of the eight seed.

If you think Marvin will be a top 10 sf next year... how would your rank him against these other SFs?

I only had time to add 20 of them, so guys like Prince and AK47 got left off.

LeBron James - 30.0ppg - 7.9rebs - 7.2 asts

Carmelo Anthony -25.7ppg - 7.4rebs - 3.4 asts

Richard Jefferson - 22.6ppg - 4.2rebs - 3.1 asts

Paul Pierce - 19.6ppg - 5.1rebs - 4.5 asts

Danny Granger - 19.6ppg - 6.1rebs - 2.1 ast

Hedo Turkoglu - 19.5ppg - 5.7rebs - 5.0asts

Rudy Gay - 20.1ppg - 6.2rebs - 2.0asts

Rashard Lewis - 18.2ppg - 5.4rebs - 2.4asts

Josh Howard - 19.9ppg - 7.0rebs 2.2 ast

Ron Artest - 20.5ppg - 5.8 - 3.5 asts

Stephen Jackson - 20.1ppg - 4.4 - 4.1asts

Mike Dunleavy -19.1 - 5.2 - 3.5 asts

Lamar Odom - 14.2ppg - 10.6 rebs - 3.5asts

Shawn Marion -15.8ppg - 9.9rebs - 2.2 asts

Al Thornton - 12.7ppg - 4.5rebs - 1.2asts

Peja Stojakovic - 16.4ppg - 4.3rebs - 1.2asts

Kevin Durant -20.3 ppg 4.4rebs - 2.2 asts

Caron Butler - 20.3ppg - 6.7rebs 4.9 asts

Corey Maggette - 22.1ppg - 5.6rebs - 2.7asts

Gerald Wallace - 19.2ppg - 6.0rebs - 3.5asts

Luol Deng - 17.0 - 6.2asts - 2.5ast

Andre Iguodala -19.9ppg - 5.4rebs - 4.8 asts

Wow, thats a pretty stout list. If he cracks the top ten he'd have to score at least 20 a game, and even then its not a lock.

I offically do not like him anymore after hearing his interview.

Wow, some crazy posts on here. Lets try to restore order.

-Amir is not Josh Smith with two inches of height. If this were true, then they would keep him instead of trading for Josh Smith. Pretty easy to figure that one out.

-Bragging about Amir's stats is silly. How many minutes did he log against meaningful competition?

-There is no way Marvin will be the best 6th man in the league. Half of his points come off open jumpers because teams are doubling JJ. What happens when Marvin is coming off the bench and JJ is on the bench?

-Trading for Turk would be a disaster. Not only could Turk not come close on block shots or rebounding, he'll have less then half of the wide-open 3s that he had playing with Dwight Howard.

How about pf? After all isnt that where Smoove played?

If we are going to trade Smoove, we need back a Center to make it worth our while.