tremor

Numbers don't tell the whole story. Russell is not only an average jumpshooter, but his handles need some serious work. He was stripped from the ball by Jose Calderon twice last night. He also is not an on the floor general like Paul, Williams or Rondo. But his potential is scary - he's athletic, fearless and likes to take over the game.

JJ's poor performance so far this season should be put in perspective. Some other guys also played not so well, bad or really bad, namely Jamal, Marvin and Zaza. Joe still has been third best player on the team and was able to contribute in number of ways thanks to his high BBIQ while Smoove and Boss (AKA Lion) were leading (with the little help of old good BB) the team to 12-7 record which is not so good considering quality of opponents but also not so bad considering circumstances.

Finally someone noticed. Bibby has been shooting with 54 FG percentage from three point line this season and he's second in the league right now in this stat. And he's clutch.

That's what I also expect, but I believe Marvin's knee is not fully healed. If Jordan starts we have a back up that can play extended minutes at 3 while playing Smooth at this position means more time play for Powell and/or Zaza/Collins (in case Al plays PF for some time). Our bench bigs suck so I'd rather see Jordan out there, plus, in case it doesn't work, Drew has at least an excuse for making risky move. I was hoping LD wouldn't reproduce Woody's mistake and would stay focused on play offs: preserve JJ's health and energy and develop youngs when mistakes cost less but blow outs against Boston and Milwaukee made him much more conservative and short sighted.

I would like to see Jordan starting. I know it's risky, but can he be bigger vulnerability than Jamal on D? On offense he just needs to hit open shots - an opportunity which he didn't have so far in short time he was on the court. Of course he would play less minutes than Jamal anyway.

It's to early to judge JT. He had some good moments here and there but still doesn't seem to be confident and "empowered" to do what he would like to. He should get reasonable minutes with starters, not with Craw, when 2/3 of plays are isos Jamal, or in garbage time when no plays are played whatsoever and no one really cares. But it's really hard to fight for minutes with Mike when he's leading the NBA in Effective Field Goal Pct with whooping 63.4% thanks to 52% from three point land.

Good move from Drew who pulled out Powell after he had missed to shots that would had made it triple double for Smith. Raptors were missing Reggie Evans who's been one of the best rebounders in the league so far. They have really no one under the basket except him.

Mavs are definitely in the conversation as long as Chandler stays healthy. He was the missing piece for them.

Exactly. That's the difference between him and Jamal/Bibby. On the side note - Mike's been shooting very well so far this season.

Jamal and Al kept safe win margin in 4th, Mo was spark in third. JJ has been bad and Zaza just horrible.

And despite that, and giving away talented players like Outlaw and Webster, they're still PO caliber team. BTW I'd swap Marvin for Batum in a heartbeat.

I agree to some degree, although: Smoove and Horf, while don't create for themselves, create for each other. Not very often, not in crunch time, but still (Smoove averages 4 assists/game). Contested 18ft jumper from Al a sure miss? I don't know, his jumper has been the most reliable Hawks weapon so far. The biggest criticism targeted at Joe is that he's not efficient in offense. He misses wide open looks time after time and doesn't go to the FT line often. He already looks tired (it is a well known fact that the fresher JJ is the better he shoots) and lifeless that early in the season.

He should see it - from time to time, Just to stay ready when he gets the dime. Trust me - now he's rusty That's why he plays like D-Leaguer past his prime.

No one said Bibby was useless. It's just evaluation of his strengths vs weaknesses. He's back to his normal shooting % and he helps offense flow, also his screens for JJ are great but he's just bad defender. In Drew's system where everyone is held accountable for his man it's even bigger issue than before. Hawks may finish RS with solid record but in playoffs Rose/Rondo/Nelson will exploit this without mercy. Drew even tried to sub different backcourt for offense and defense late in a game vs Minnesota but we need to find a better, permament solution.

I have no doubt that Jeff is talented player. Two things are holding him back: lack of confidence and problems with shooting. He's been very good from free throw line so far, I bet he's been working hard on his shot. I'm pretty convinced that leader role doesn't fit his personality. Either coaching staff accepts who he is and will act accordingly or they'll continue to encourage him to step up and become a leader on the court which won't change much.

I agree on effort part of your opinion - he's decent defender and rebounder but he was advised as good jumpshooter. Meanwhile he's 44% from the field and majority of his shots were either open jumpshots or lay ups. And when playes misses two easy lay ups in a couple of minutes, he's either offensively inept (Ben Wallace style) or has no self confidence whatsever (JT style).

I liked Teague's block leading to easy basket in transition. That was Smoove-like.

I think it's too early to evaluate Drew's work. Unlike previous coach, he's willing to learn and adapt.

Wolves played without their two important players (Ridnour, Flynn). Their third string PG, Telfair, was having a party against Bibby while Crawford can't even stay with his man playing off ball D. Luckily Wolves have no center. That guy they put up front was on our side and did all he could to help us win. Joe was ill and LD wisely limited his minutes. Apparently coach likes Mo a lot. they're on the same page. Josh Powell ... sucks. All he has to do on offense is to hit open shots and he missed two lay ups tonite. Marvin's a defensive specialist? Beasley was guarded either by Joe or Josh.

Just hit [End] key and you'll see in the bottom left corner combo where default value is 'Hawksquawk 3.1.2'.

TBH I prefer Calderon to Jack. He's true point guard that can create for others and has great stroke from outside. He would be a better fit for the Hawks but his contract is no go.

LD is very vocal about problems. I hope he manages to open players heads to free them from negative energy. We can talk square on and on again about missing pieces, strategy, jumpshooting, match ups and so on. But the biggest hurdle for next step is players' mentality, esp. so core players. Drew's approach is different from what Woodson was doing, maybe it'll work.

Good points except for Wizards game. Thornton was torching Marvin early in the game and he was replaced with Crawford and JJ was moved to 3. I think we should adjust line-ups according to match ups. Collins will start against Orlando, maybe Houston if Yao plays, Nets, Lakers with Bynum. He doesn't have anything else to offter but decent D against 7footers, in other cases he's pretty much useless.

JJ's quote sums it up well:

Because there are reasons to be optimistic: a b2b away game vs. team that has our number but Hawks played with heart, just fell short in some areas (turnovers, bench, switch late in the game on D).