Nurlman

I think I'd just let it ring. Let's see what we've got. There's more upside to be had, and one of the ways a team gets better is to let them play. So I'd let them play.

I remember last year when Bibby got here and Woody said something to the effect of, we're going to let Mike run the team and if he wants to change something, we'll change it. Woody got roasted here for that. Turns out he was exactly right; didn't work immediately as well as it could, 'cause (I strongly believe) Bibby was hurting and they hadn't all played together. But if you think about this team now versus two years ago - or even early last year - without Bibby, this is a nice-running machine. Before Bibby it was a beautiful car without a battery. You take the good with the bad. Bibby ain't much on defense, it's true, but the team runs - literally and figuratively - on offense now, and that's a healthy Bibby (and development of Marv, Josh, Al, Zaza, smart bench signings). But Woody's letting him run the offense and still doing his own defensive thing, and it's working nicely. I think there's at least a little more upside to be had here. How much, I don't know. But I like these guys individually and I like this team. We don't have to worry who's going to get arrested at 4am clubbing, who's going to have a domestic, etc. They've got a good work ethic and if there's more upside to be had, I think Woody and these guys will find it. I'm just happy to turn the TV on and say, "ooh, there's a Hawks game on tonight" and enjoy it. It's been a long, long time.

Mods ought to change this topic title. ASG hasn't matched anything. I agree they'd have to be some kind of special not to.

Good God. Is that what we're reduced to? Why not throw Isiah in there, too?

Quote: The word for the day is Coachability. If Woody is the coach, it's a strong possibility that Smoove is going to do the same thing that he has always done. Horford looks like the PF of the future. What can we get for Smoove. I have a trade. Smoove to Philly for Dalembert and #16 in the draft. Doesn't matter. Smith's not going anywhere. You know, it's real easy to point out Smith's flaws because we know him better than everybody, but he's really grown in four years, which is tough to see, again because we see him more than anybody. Every year he does something a little better. Karl Malone, early in his career, dedicated himself to improving one facet of his game each offseason until he became the best power forward of his generation. Smith's got a little of that in him. For instance, if he comes back next year and shoots 38% from 3 point range instead of 28%, do we feel better about him taking them? I think he's got it in him. If he starts paying more attention to on the ball defense rather than just the spectacular blocks, do we feel better about him? If his play on the road starts to become more consistent, as often happens as players mature, do we like him better? His behavior and quotes in the media show increasing maturity. He's growing up. He's a good guy. He's local. He's spectacularly talented. Though he bucks at it, he takes coaching. I think it'd be a huge mistake to trade Josh Smith, and say what you will about this ownership group and the management of the team, I'm pretty sure they feel the same way. They're going to re-up him for a nice number, maybe not max, but he's going to be here.

Quote: It's clear that we do not have as much talent as NO. Say what you want but in the NBA having 1 or 2 superstars particularly at the Pg or center positions is better and = more talent than having the JJ and the "potentials" we have. W Just like the 90s Bulls with Ron Harper at the point and Luc Longley/Bill Wennington at C, right, Walter? There're lots of ways to get it done, not just your way.

Quote: Quote: Wait, so should I believe ESPN or Walter. Hmm ... let me bake on that for a while. ESPN indicates that we are 100% playoff bound EVEN WHEN the AJC says we have yet to clinch a playoff spot. Interesting. ESPN would seem in statistical err at this point and you right along with them for covering your eyes and ears. 100% means absolute. Our playoff chances are NOT absolute as we can still not make the playoffs. That means ESPN is WRONG about our chances. How difficult is this for even the simplest to understand. Oh, and yes, if we had drafted based upon my opinion (Deng, Deron, Roy) we would be far better off. So don't be so flippant when (eh, hem) you are 100% wrong. W Walter is right, but he's still a great big garbage-bag sized douchebag.

Quote: ok, here's how i look at it: vegas will generate the odds for all of these games and convey them in one of many forms - one form will be the traditional line - another will be a percentage likelihood of a win. in fact, ESPN uses something called accuscore to generate it's percantage probabilities - you can see it in the preview webpage - it, too, runs thousands of iterations and gives a favorite. using this, we can calculate the odds of us making the playoffs. so let's say atlanta is given a very generous 70% chance of beating orlando and a 70% chance of beating Miami. let's also say indy has a 30% chance of beating washington and an 30% chance of beating the bulls. BTW, the atlanta %'s are overestimations and the Indy are underestimations - but all are done simply to prove a point. the odds of atlanta losing both games and indy winning both games is = (0.3)(0.3)(0.3)(0.3) = 0.0081 or a 0.8% chance of happening. since this is the only combination that keeps atlanta from the playoffs, atlanta has a 99.2% chance of making it - but not 100%. and realistically, those odds are 55%, 65%, 45% and 70%, respectively - meaning that the odds of two atlanta losses and two indy wins is 4.9%, giving the hawks a 95.1% chance of making the playoffs. this i'd believe. flava Yeah, that sounds about right.

Quote: KG has sort of been on cruise control averaging around 19PPG this year. But he sure made it look easy against Al. You guys really think the Hawks stand of chance of playing competitive in the first round because of this game. Boston was barely even trying. If KG can take a crap on AL playing in cruise control he surely can embarrass him in the playoffs. You're an idiot and an [censored]. The Hawks, and Al in particular, played well last night. Garnett is one of the five best players on the planet and Cassell got hot. That's what championship teams do. The Hawks have made a lot of progress and there was a lot to like last night if you'd get your head out of your ass and watch instead of being Captain Sunshine, retard.

Quote: A thought I had. IN the offseason, it's possible. To SNT Smoove for Noah/Gordon. To trade Gordon for Pryz/1st rounder (unprotected) With the first, pick Serge Ibaka. Resign Chillz, Salim, and Solo.. Hire Billy Donavon as Coach. Heh. As a Florida grad, I love it. By the way, when we got Horford, we got the right Florida big man. Not even close. Folks don't realize how passionate Al is because of Noah's antics, but Al was the better athlete, the better NBA body and one of the smartest players you'll ever see. THAT was what made that Florida team go. We could add Brewer as our latter-day Bruce Bowen (D & 3s) and draft Speights with that number one we got in the Pryz deal. Then he could be your NBA-skilled big man. Might have some defensive intensity problems to work through. And, of course, the last poster is right. Orlando let Billy D off the hook because he agreed not to go pro for five years. Having said that, I'm sure there are liquidated damages in the contract and Orlando could be bought, since they're probly happy with how it all turned out.

Here's a question I honestly don't know the answer to. Thought I'd throw it out there. When you look at some of the old-time Chamberlain/Russell era scores, you see some crazy numbers, like 146-134 and stuff like that. The game wasn't longer, and there wasn't a shot clock. Nowadays, when I see somebody break 115-120, I immediately think what godawful defense the other team played, and yet - you always hear about how much more fundamentally sound the (for instance) Celtics and Lakers of the 60s were. So how did those teams put up those lotto numbers back in the day, if everybody played such sound fundamental defense? How'd they get enough shots off for the Big Dipper to get 30 boards a night?

Quote: Josh Smith should have been embarrassed with his defense last night. Horrible. David Lee? Wilson Chandler? WTF are these guys? They suck, but look great against Atlanta. David Lee is a terrific young player. You just don't know it because he plays for Isiah.

Quote: Alright, so I was wrong on this one! I guess I am so used to Woody saying stupid things in the post game press conference that I expect it all the time I was so pissed that he didn't know how many wins we needed to clinch yesterday, that I was ready to jump on anything he said. I agree, that we have to win at all costs now, but the point I was trying to make was that Woody has ignored how tired Joe, Bibby and other starters appear sometimes and NOW he says it doesn't matter. That's great, but you cant wave a magic want and undo what he has done all season. I just hope our guys (especially JJ) have enough in reserve to complete these last few games with energy to the end. Lets hope we can end this thing tonite at home! (Go Bobcats!) Yeah, but I think you manage minutes through the season so that they're fresh for their playoff push. So now is when you play 'em til their tongues hang out. 'Sides, they'll prolly only have to play fo' extra games once Boston gets through with them. That'll give them six months to get their legs back.

Quote: Quote: Quote: ....has really enabled us to interchange all of our versatile SFs, and play them more in their natural positions. - Smoove @ PF and C ??? C is anything but a natural position for Smoove. He should never, ever play center in an NBA game The days of dominant BIG centers has passed. Possibly the best center in the game is Dwight Howard. Do you all realize he is only 6'11 and 215 lbs approx? Smoove is 6'9 and 210 approx. So yea, PF/C is his best position to me. And as far as the minutes, last night's rotation should be permanent. As I said before, the starters, Chillz and ZaZa are the only ones who should see the court. No way in hell Dwight Howard is 215. That's a big man. Gotta be 270. On the height thing, seems to me that's negated by strength, armlength and leaping ability. That's why Brand plays 7'0". Horford almost does. And Zaza plays 6'4".

Quote: Josh Smith for Kaman. No first. Straight up. Before the boos and hisses start.... Kaman is a pretty good Center. 1. He's tough. 2. He's a double double walking. 3. He's polished. 4. He's blocking over 2.5 shots a game. If we played Horf at 4 and Kaman at the 5, I think we'd have no more front court problems. Not a bad thought. However, he's a little fragile and I'm not sure why the Clippers would do that deal. Surely they, too, must know that he's a 16/13 center. How many of those are there? Plus then we'd lead the league in ugly white guys (assuming they wouldn't want Zaza in return).