Boomer

Rathbun was saying last night how he thinks Biedrins(sp?) would be a perfect fit for us. I don't think we can afford him though.

As mentioned earlier it IS a vicious circle.

He doesn't produce because he gets no playing time.

He gets no playing time because he doesn't produce.

And around and around it goes.

He knows, if I mess up, Woody will pull me out of the game and I won't get back in.

Sure enough, being tense and hesetent, afraid he's going to mess up, he does. Out

he comes and back to the end of the bench.

He's not that bad. He needs to go out there, relax and play his game. He needs to

build his confidence. He has the ability - The talent. He needs time on the floor. He

can't get time on the floor because of his delima - - The vicious circle.

If the Hawks ever get in a game where there is garbage time - - We haven't had

much of that so far this season -- Maybe, just maybe, we can get him off this journey

to nowhere that he's on right now. I hope so.

:angel19:

I think Mule has the right idea. We haven't had much garbage time minutes the last few games. Hopefully against Washington and Charlotte at home next week we can build a lead and let Acie get in there and get his confidence up.

Sekou said that he's a gametime decision. He's still nursing his shoulder. Apparently range of motion is an issue.

That's good that Boone is out. I was hoping Devin Harris would be out again too.

Anything less than 4-2 over the next 6 would be disappointing to me. Wish we knew more about Zaza and Smith's injuries.

Excellent analysis dog, couldn't agree more. While I wish Marvin would keep shooting 1000% from 3, it can't last forever.

You guys make me happy to live in the A where I can listen to Bob and 'Nique. I miss Smitty, but 'Nique is pretty good too.

Could you guys mute it and listen to the radio broadcast over the internet? There might be some timing issues, but it might be worth a shot... :idea:

Yeah, you can't fault Solo for his effort. He was trying for every rebound. I think he got an over the back call last night going for one.

Yeah, I was very upset with the officiating last night.

Horford definitely bites on the pumpfakes too much, but I think that can be fixed fairly easily.

On too many possessions last night our offense slipped back into last years mode where we sit around and watch Joe. We can't stop that ball movement. The only reason we were so close last night was our amazing 3pt shooting.

81-1 :beer11:

I dunno, Randolph Morris was pretty terrible last night. 4 minutes, 4 fouls, 1 rebound, 1 turnover. He was better in the Toronto game though.

I also really liked Solo's toughness tonight. I know he had some ticky tack fouls, but he wasn't backing down from anyone.

Agreed that the refs were out to get us tonight. We had 33 personal fouls to their 23. Pierce shot 16 FTs. Joe didn't get any calls hardly, going to the line only 9 times. Our 3 point shooting was the biggest reason we hung around in this game I think. 59% on 3s as a team.

I hope Horford got some good rest last night. He's gonna need a ton of energy. Seems like the Celtics like to go to KG with the early postup everytime down the floor, so Horford is going to have to do a good job of sprinting back on D.

That makes me so happy to see Hollinger eat his crow. He was really getting on my nerves with all of his doom and gloom predictions for the Hawks this offseason.

Five more thoughts on the NBA:

1. The Hawks are a good team.

Or, more specifically, there is a 99.1 percent chance that the Hawks are a good team.

For an NBA team to win its first six games is an accomplishment; for a team to do so when four of the six games are on the road is particularly impressive. If the Hawks were an average team and played an average schedule over the first six games (Atlanta's schedule was probably more difficult than average, but just play along with me here), the odds of their winning six straight, when four of the six are on the road, would be just 0.9 percent.

Thus, six games into the season, we can reject the idea that the Hawks are an average team, at least until we're provided with substantial contrary evidence in the coming games. As for the idea that they'll go 31-51, as some crackpot said before the season started -- well, that can be dismissed even more readily. Using the same assumptions as above, there is only a 0.17 percent chance that a 31-win team could pull off such a feat in its first six games.

So, the assumption we'll work from, until further notice, is that the Hawks are good -- probably 50-win good, provided Josh Smith gets back with reasonable speed (and based on how quickly he returned from a groin injury two years ago, that's a fairly safe assumption.)

Yeah. I feel like last year we would have lost that Toronto game with Smith going out. This year we've been able to keep the pedal to the ground when we have a lead and not let up. I'm anxious to see who starts tonight for Smith. I have a feeling we'll see Zaza again, albeit on a short leash.

I hear ya Dolphan. I'm trying to be optimistic, but I really wish Smoove was healthy.

Besides Boston and Cleveland, I don't think we should lose any games this month. NJ, Indiana, Washington, Charlotte and Milwaukee are all crap.

Our next 16 out of 18 are part of a back-to-back actually. Ugh.

Yeah, the back-to-backs are definitely going to be a test. Especially without Smith in the lineup. My friends and I are hoping for the fastest recovery possible. Even with Smith gone and all the back-to-backs, I could see us winning the rest of the games this month except for Boston and Cleveland. That may be wishful thinking...

I think it's certainly a fair argument to have. I was saying last week how I consider him to be 2nd in the league to Kobe as far as being smooth. I think that he also needs to have some selfish games where he blows up for 50+, although that's not good for our team. Joe is unlikely to ever be considered a superstar unless he becomes a lot more vocal and gets some type of endorsements or commercials, even if we win and have many nationally televised games.

Josh Smith is the only player we have young enough and talented enough to really be considered a superstar by those outside of the Hawks but is he eloquent enough? Is he able to do national interviews and have commercials like a Lebron or Kobe or KG? He's a long way from where he was as a rookie in that regard but I'm just not sure he's there yet.

I think Dolfan brought up one of the most important things to consider when talking superstar vs star: marketability. Players like Kobe, Wade, LBJ, Howard, Paul all are very well spoken and personable. I love Smith, but he's not very eloquent, just like Dolfan said. I can't really see JJ being a big-time commercial guy either. I'm fine with it, I still love both players. But I don't think either will ever be considered superstars around the world because of it.

It feels like Woody is coaching better thus far, but I also still see some Woody tendencies from last year. One being the automatic benching of a player with 2 fouls no matter the circumstances. Another being how he's quick to bail on something that isn't working that well. Like Horford in the post, or significant minutes for Acie. I think those are both things we need to keep concentrating on.

If I see that guy walking around the stadium tonight I'm going to give him a big fat middle finger

It's not like we are the only team in the NBA who has problems with Paul. He's a wizard with the ball. I was thinking put West on him for periods to try and take him out of his game. Best bet is for our team D to try to keep him from going totally wild.

I kinda like that idea. Maybe throw West in there at certain times to really hound Paul with some fullcourt pressure. Maybe give him 5-10 minutes of PT.

I like how they went right at Reddick with Flip. Poor Reddick, you could tell he was trying so hard to play well since he finally got some playing time, but nothing went right for him.

Thought Zaza played pretty well. Showed some good hussle.

Solo got thrown around by Howard when they were in together.

Bibb was awful from the 3 pt line.

Smith looked like he was under Howard's skin all game. Smith seemed to always be a step ahead of him with steals and blocks. Smith had two ridiculous blocks on Howard.