benhillboy

Players who can't shoot, dribble, and struggle to stay in shape always compromise chemistry. I love Shaq the Man, I've never seen Shaq the Basketball Player.

Take Allen Iverson, add a near-flawless Jumper with much better court vision/ awareness, intelligence, better body control, less hops, but the same reckless abandon at the rack, and you have this dude. He's a basketball prodigy, plain and simple. True, it was the Warriors who can't guard a grill, but 55 is 55 is 55 when shooting over 60%.

The running and passing of the Bibby-Craw-JJ-Josh-Al lineup is shaping up to be a beautiful thing. All five deserve All-Star consideration. They're like an All-Eastern Conference Third Team.

I wasn't a fan of the Crawford addition at first. Poor shooting percentage, career loser. I feel like a dumba$#. The man balls out. The three in the corner with dude in his jersey convinced me. He uses his wierd torso build (like an old-school robot) very well when squaring his shoulders to shoot and absorbing contact on drives. He can hit a jumper with contact with the best of 'em, and when he isn't carrying, can maneuver to his desired spot at will. He's only taking open threes in rhythm. Much like Flip, it seems this will easily be Craw's best season becasue the parts around him relieve pressure, and vice versa, so he is free to dazzle home and away crowds alike. As long as he shoots 48% and has 1 more assist than turnover, give him all the minutes he wants, because there simply aren't many teams who can withstand Josh and Craw acting plum fools at the same time on both ends. Hell, some teams will just sit back and enjoy it like the Celtics, and their fans, did. Let's go Hawks.

I wanna see a lot of Teague, and it's always fun to see Josh outclass overrated forwards like David West.

Big hits, big misses for Sund. I'm liking Crawford, still prefer my boy Flip. Craw is more talented and spontaneous, Flip more forceful and controlled. As long as Craw shoots 48% and doesn't travel, I'm rocking with him. Marvin is getting paid like a General Motors CEO who spends 8 months on vacation. Get him out while some teams still feel he can be an asset to them. He simply doesn't fit in here. I could take or leave Joe, rather leave him. Had questions as to whether Bibby would justify his re-up. He has. Let's go Hawks.

I was very skeptical, and frankly pessimistic about the way the Hawks were winning early on against the Pacers, Kings, Knicks, etc. Outscoring teams, yet easily giving up 100 like the Suns' "Less than 7 seconds" gameplan model (A model that should have run it's course as far as popularity and copycats. All parties involved ( Suns, Knicks, D'Antoni, Warriors) have proven that it will never work if you can't adjust your style from night to night.) The Hawks have shown that they can light up the scoreboard and embarrass the Knicks, only playing Defense for the last 8 minutes of the game. But they also showed that they can hold the C's to 1 make from beyond the arc? They do have arguably the greatest 3 point shooter in NBA History. The Celtics had to work for everything last night, beginning to end. By no means do I think we are 11 points better than the C's. We simply proved that we are not some rinky-dink, powderpuff team who employs a fly-by-night style that increases our points per game drastically, trying to be a sexy team while sacrificing the defensive prowess that got us to the second round. I respect the Woody bashers, but usually don't agree with them. Give the man his due. What more can he do but increase wins every year? I thought there was no way this year, but now, 48 and beyond seems real. Find somewhere for Marvin to go, pick up a real impact forward, show Crawford and Joe how to play without traveling, and we're in there. It seems (still too early though) that the Einstein Lightbulb is lit in Josh's dome, and Al will outwork most of his counterparts. Not good for the rest of the league. Progressively, Bibby and Joe are realizing how and when to get the ball to Crawford. The Celtics were looking like "Why they go and get this fool who we have no answer for?" Let's Go Hawks.

You guys sure have a lot of hope for Marvin. Give it up. If Rick Sund is a s good a GM as most think, he'll find a way to dump Marvin's grotesque salary before the deadline, because after last night and the winning streak we went on last year without him, it seems evident that he can be easily replaced, probably cheaper, for the better of the team. Hell, the Celtics found a way to use Shelden Williams (lol). There's some fool franchise who thinks they can mold Marvin, so let them have him. As far as Crawford, and Joe for that matter, those shots fell last night. Wonderful. Fact of the matter is, many of the big ones they hit in crunch time were ABSOLUTELY AWFUL in terms of selection, but Crawford's shots seemed quite devastating to the Celtics, because they were shots that they wanted to force: long jumpers, fade-aways. It's like they gave up when they realized that he could do this for another quarter. Also, there's probably nothing worse than unforced traveling turnovers, something they both do over and over. Pathetic. Bibs, Al, and Josh drove that win, Joe and Jamal just added a little flash down the stretch. Let's Go Hawks!

It seems Joshh has finally realized that there are only 2 All-Star spots available at forward (LeBron's is built in for another 10 years at least), and he's making all these coaches take notice (but hopefully not the ones who vote for Wally Sczerbiak, Ben Wallace, and Ilgauskus and bypass Bibby and The Jet.) Josh would electrify an All-Star Game, and continuing to play like this, it seems like his time. Stuff the Stat Sheet, folk. First time the Hawks played Defense throughout the contest. I guess Marvin thought the season started last night, a week late. Someone tell Marvin that he is damn good at drawing fouls when he faces-up and dribble drives. DON'T STOP!!! Let's go Men.

Joe Smith can barely hold his ground on either side of the court. Since his rookie year he's been light as a feather.

Whoever the Memphis GM is, I would drive up to Memphis, knock on his door, and thank him personally if he ever lost his mind to such a degree.

I want him out. No money.

Someone remind me again, why are they here? I know good big men are few and far between but damn. It has to be better alternatives. It's got to be.

You can't be surprised because the Cats always run us. Gerald Wallace could make a case for being the most underappreciated player of the past 5 years and we have shown that we have no one remotely close to matching him on either end. Adding Raja and Chandler to Felton and Augustine, with Diop on the way back, this team will not be a slouch under Brown at all. I could see Larry pulling a career year out of Diaw (pulled a beautiful post move last night that I thought he was incapable of) and pushing Nazr to the limit. And then we come to my dude Flipperachi, outscoring Joe and Jamaal, in his first game with the Bobcats. We were -23 with Joe in the game. Again, -23!!!! How some of you can clamor for ways to keep Joe for even half his current salary is dumbfounding. And whose bright idea was it to put the salaries on the homepage anyway: seeing Joe and Marvin's numbers every time I visit make me cringe . As I stressed all last year and offseason, Flip has more heart than Joe and is simply better than Crawford, point blank. The day he left, we became a lesser team. We were looking past Charlotte to Denver, so we better show up for 48 minutes tonight or we'll give up 20 points to 5 different guys, and Ty Lawson might be one of 'em. Hopefully, JR Smith won't go tonight. We should all be used to the opposing team's best player outclassing Joe, win or lose, so expect Carmelo to steal the show while Joe mopes and lags behind. Sorry, I 'll try to keep the Joe bashing to a minimum this year, but I can't help it. The guy is mud. Let's go Hawks. Are we playing Defense this year? No? Damn.

Once they acquired Vince, I knew it was a double-edged sword. I'm indifferent toward Jason Williams, and Matt Barnes is hot and cold. But for no other reason, I think we will have a winning record against the Magic because of what happened last night to Vince. As great of a player he is (who unfortunately steps it up a couple notches against the Hawks), I knew he would go down for an extended period, probably more than once. Not wishing injuries on anyone, but I expect more to come. If Jameer goes down again, who'll be surprised? Rashard has had injuries in the past, and taking steriods and having a birthday don't help matters. Brandon Bass has also had injury trouble recently, and Superman is simply due to miss time (has he ever missed signifigant time?) Sure, we have to guard against our own history with Marvin's back, Josh, Joe, Mike, and Al's feet and ankles, but as a whole, I just like our team's physical and youth makeup much more than theirs. If we can get 2 games against them while they miss key parts, and steal 1 mano y mano, I like our chances of winning the series head to head. It certainly won't guarantee a division championship because the Magic runs through poor teams and beats great teams at a better clip than us, but the last thing I want to see is a debacle like the back-to-back thrashing we took last year that kinda set us back as far as mindset when competing with the division champ. What y'all think? I'm out.

Damn, I was watching the game on and off last night, and didn't even realize Pau didn't play, who would've made a big difference but wouldn't have changed the outcome. Everybody, including me, slept on the Mavs and we should apologize because they look very solid under the consumate pro Carlisle and the Matrix is back after a hibernation in Miami. With that said, I'm not afraid of the Lakers at all. A huge part of Kobe's dominance in the past, the ability to rise much higher and quicker than his opponent, is all but shot after the Olympics, but leave it to him to consult "The Dream" and develop a comfortable post repitoire. Gasol, Bynum, Artest (who replaced a much better fit in Ariza) Fisher, Odom, none of these guys strike fear in me, as evidenced by their folding up last night and poor losses in the playoffs last year. Brown and Mbenga are the only players, other than Kobe of course, who I am confident can play with intensity while staying in their role. If Pau doesn't play, I can see Josh and Al embarrassing their front line, and everything else shoould fall into place if we are focused from the outset. I'm still hurting over the Flip departure, but I'll get over it if Al and Josh dominate the boards regularly and the latter overflows the stat sheet like he has in the first two and keep embarrassing jumpers to an extreme minimum. Don't want to see Crawford matched against Kobe on either end, but make Fish run after Teague, and we finally get a respectable position on ESPN highlights. It seems Cleveland losing is more important than us winning. We have to make the league respect us all over again, along with putting some butts in the damn Phil. Lets go Hawks.

One of the Greatest of All-Time? Isiah would laugh, then punch you. Last time I checked, PGs have a man to guard also. It just so happens that Nash has never done this. This is full-court ball we're talking right? His defense, or lack thereof, is only exploited to the highest degree, leading to embarrassing losses against scoring points who salivate at his presence in front of them, and often go on to have career games at his expense. Offense fills seats, Defense wins championships my boy. Just ask all the frontcourt players who racked up fouls because Nash's man had a straight sprint to the cup.

People who loved A.I. during the prime of his stardom (G-Town, not the Sixers), yet became more knowledgable about the Game of Basketball as they got older (like me) care about him less with each passing day and each nugget learned about how winning ball is played. I actually thought he would catch alleys and tip-dunk in traffic his whole career. The only player I can refer to out of thousands (go look at your old HOOPS and Skybox player cards) who had lengthy careers, yet added ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to his game since his first second as a rookie. He and Steve Nash are one in the same as the only MVPs who couldn't guard a grill. At least Steve mastered the Art of Passing, while A.I. has yet to register for Ball Movement and High Team Shooting Percentage 101. I hate to see him go to Memphis and retard the growth of O.J., although judging by Mayo's court awareness he probably wouldn't want much to do with A.I. anyway. Stick a fork in Mike Conley's development.

Bruce Bowen is synonymous with empty seats. We don't need anymore in Phillips.

Sorry Jerry, but losing for that long will have a profound affect on him. Hopefully he doesn't contaminate our locker room. As for Larry Brown's praise, it seems like smoke to me. There's no way he would take a liking to a defender as poor. For once, Hollinger is dead on with his analysis of a player. I'm still waiting for him to come up with a Defensive PER matrix that would ban Steve Nash from the league and void his MVP awards.

Thanks for the critical thought Anakin. It seems Big Men make a conscious effort to pass the mantle to ensure the growth and tradition of their position (Patrick Chewing, Kareem, David, hell, all the Hoyas) while a lot of the great scorers think they're helping by making a phone call and making sure the media let's us know they talked to so- and-so and gave him some advice just in time for the Sunday Primetime game. Not saying that 'Nique should've forced his wisdom on Josh, but we all know that Josh would be much better off if he did.

The frontcourt scoring looks non-existent to me.

I welcome Joe with open arms. He is a seasoned vet, even if he has underachieved every second he was on the court for his career. Block a couple shots, alter a lot more, drain a couple jumpers, maintain flawless defensive positioning, hustle, and play with heart is all I ask. Every coach he's ever played for would've probably liked to see a lot more, but I don't believe any can say he detracted. You can never have too much length. Let's go Hawks.

Are you guys confident that Crawford knows how to win? I certainly am not.

Al is always clean, but Zaza got that fly European flair to his threads. I will never know how Josh got the name "Smoove." When I think of smoothness, it's ease of dribble and shot, and an overall sense of gliding over the court, a la O.J. Josh is the antithesis of being Smooth. That's Chauncey's name back at home, so I know he laughs his a** off whenever Josh is called it. Zaza's girl ain't no slouch either.