benhillboy

I meant that Flip has gone to the playoffs for most of his career as a considerable contributor, which is infinitly more than you can say for Crawford, who has never been being a predominant starter. Numbers aside, Flip has a much better body build than Crawford, which is invaluable over an 82-game haul, something Ole 'Maal aint too good at. He has never impressed me with a show of strength: his finishes are mostly great balance and control. When he goes down with a non-contact or simply weak-body injury and misses considerable time (and we still win), you heard it here first.

Maybe I'm crazy. I'm looking at the fact that Flip is used to playing well in the post-season and Glass-Craw is lucky to play a full losing reg. season. My bad.

Braves all the way baby, if the starters as a collective make a inspired effort to go 7 innings from here on out. Everyone in the bullpen not named Soriano or Medlen should see little to no action. Never been a Chipper fan, but we need him to step it up, and we need a few more extra bases if we are to compete with Philly. Like I say, I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Braves rode it on out from here behind the sparkling starting pitching, if everyone can sustain. Big ups to Roger McDowell.

Hopefully both sides got what they wanted, and I'm sure there are loads of kickers, incentives, and provisions that we'll never know about. ESPN revised the report and said he wsa 3rd highest behind Steve Smith. His placement seems about right. I don't know how much Houshmanzadeh is paid, but they're about a wash. Andre Johnson certainly can command more when his time comes, and Roddy's contract should be a landmark for Calvin Johnson and probably Marques Colston if they bust out this year. I know Roddy better not drop a TD like he did against Denver and show something in the WR running game now that High Def is out. Let's go Falcons.

I couldn't imagine being an NBA journeyman having a WNBA MVP as a wife. Hopefully he can drain at least 1 13-footer before Doc yanks him for not hustling.

Trust me, Flip is better.

Hell, I'd co-sign in a heartbeat. Green scores more, is a much better range and free-throw shooter (but who isn't), younger, and has to be more stable mentally and emotionally. Both hit the board 7 times. Josh's only advantage is blocks and steals. Add on Collison's paltry 8 and 7, for less money, and you have a sweet deal. Hit Rick with this one. As far as the contracts and technicalities, hell, throw in a check and a second-rounder, and Randolph, whatever, who cares. At this point, we all know Josh has pretty much peaked, having no clue on how to shoot nor keep his head, while Green has only scratched the surface with a good foundation to build upon.

On another note jy21, is that a new Hawks logo? Looks official. Hopefully it is, as the uniforms, colors, and Phillips floor need severe refreshening with some true-school yellow instead of dead blue.

y2kenta seems to have it about right. As far as Boston, no matter how old, I would give the advantage 200% of the time to a team with 4 H.O.F.ers and an All-Star player/ coach over a squad with nothing remotely close to those credentials. I think Rasheed, like always, is as good and focused as his coach. Although I'm not a Doc fan by any means, he does wear a chunky ringpiece.

What's with this Joe Smith stuff? Every second of his career has been below expectation, and he's not getting younger.

I sure hope not. Joe plays the weakest 20-5-5 game that I've ever seen.

True. But I'd much rather give minutes, and money to a very able 20-point scorer who has great familiarity with the league and playoff experience over a rookie whose true position isn't even solidified, aside from the fact that Woody and Bibby aren't exactly the type to harbor maximum growth and potential of a young small guard. I know you can't have 4 scoring guards on a team, though. I would like to know where this big-man savior is coming from, sooner than later, although getting one during the season is a possibility, and hopefully not a reaction to losing and being outclassed in both paints. I guess I'll never come to grips with swapping Flip for Crawford, as you all will get tired of me numerous times this season when Craw goes through prolonged, awful stretches that frankly, Flip never had last year aside from a rough shooting patch for about a week in December(?) Flip, as far as I saw it, was the difference between being closer to 50 wins as opposed to 40, homecourt as opposed to traveling. Hopefully, I'm wrong. If not, when Spring rolls around, you all know where you heard it first. Check the game logs. Flip contributes to winning wherever he goes. Wish I could say the same for 'Maal.

Crawford better than Flip? Eeeeh. I respectfully, but intensely disagree. When Crawford helps a team to the playoffs and plays well in a SINGLE playoff game, we can argue. When action has to be forced in the dribble-drive game and at the iron, there will be no one to do it. Those lackadasical points that the Hawks go through in the second quarter, down 4 or 5, are going to swell to 8 or 9 instead of a tie at the half and Stan Verret asking Flip how did he do it. His hanging jumper is twice as good as Joe's contested fade-away or some of the possession-wasting crap that we'll see from Crawford (unless Woody employs an ofensive set coordinator, and we all know he probably won't), and his tendency to draw contact and/ or finish in the paint is unrivaled by either also. Sure, Flip has a tendency to fire haphazardly, and early in the clock, but has the presence of mind to feel the pulse of the game and grind to offset his mistakes, while our other SG's compound mental mistakes. We've all seen Joe drift away from the action if he turns the ball over (unforced) the next play after a pitiful attempt at the basket. We need Flip.

I respect Zaza. Indifferent towards Marvin. Don't claim to know about Teague. Not a Crawford fan. I think Bibby is slightly more harm on "D" than help on "O." Josh is a bonehead, Al is below his curve, and Joe is a creampuff. Mo and Rio fit into their role. What's going on with the glue to this squad? I'm sure Sund has the same opinion as I do: Flip knows his game and plays it better and more consistently than anyone else here. Why is his contract situation the last to be handled?

Newsflash: There are no worthy big men available!!!! Please stop this Gortat, McDyess, Zaza nonsense. Our coach isn't good enough to maximize anyone, so these projects for hopeful performance and caretakers for the young guys and the bench don't make any sense. Gortat! Varejao! Please. We got to the second round with basically nothing up front offensively. That will not be the case if we give away money and roster spots to more front liners who can't score. No, McDyess's jumper, while nice, isn't needed here. While Sheed can still score a bit, you have to be kidding me.

McDyess? Seriously?

I like it simply because we gave up nothing. I always wanted to see Speedy go far, far away, and Oaktown is far enough. Acie, eehh. Hopefully he can find his way under an offensive guru. I could never fully co-sign a career .404 shooter. I just can't. He's probably best served going heavy on the tre at damn near .350. I thought his TO's would be above 2.30, but it's 2.13, nice. But what's not shown in his numbers is his ability to aggressively make a play to get open, recieve, and create comfortable operating room, shoot the last shot of the game with the same form and confidence as his first, and rip it. Craw has 4-40 point drops (anybody know how many Joe has?), and 1 Fiddy, a skill that separates the real scorers from the fakes (Mike James notwithstanding). But what of Flipper?(My Dude), a guy with similar skills to Crawford, but in my opinion, a considerably better player due to size, defensive ability, shooting percentage and selection, etc. I would never front like I know Crawford's game: the Knicks have as many prime time games as we do. But I've seen his play-making ability for others, if he seems interested to do so that particular night. If his shot is falling, he's more inclined to play an all around game: he's often the center of nice runs. But if he's off, he's pretty much useless, if not counter-productive. Not to mention he's going to be on the trainer's table more than anyone would like. If we have to get rid of Flip in order to make a spot for him, I hate the move. But most importantly, he's never been a winner, or play for a winner anyway. The difference between this acquisition and the two last year was Flip and Mo didn't have to learn to win. They had considrable playoff experience. Crawford is not built to play 75 games in the regular season, let alone 10 more at increased intensity. I don't know where we're going, adding two skinny scorers and defensive liabilities in 24 hours, when our coach doesn't know how to run an offense, but specializes in defense. I'll give Sund credit for spicing it up, though. Clearly he felt we didn't score and run enough. I'll hold out for that impact big man and word on our agents. There is still a ways to go. I hope our great city will be a factor in retaining Marvin, Bibby, Flip, and Zaza at reasonable prices in this economy. If we can keep everybody, we still won't come close to a championship, but we'll be running and gunning and scoring more if Teague can play his game off the bench. Let's go Hawks.

A raise? WTF. Really. WTF.

I was trying to hold it in, but you did it Joe lovers. I can't stand Joe Johnson, but many of you are well aware. Unforced turnover committing, baby-bottom soft paint attempt shooting, 1 foot jumping, injury complex from Phoenix having, contact shying, overpaid, non-shot contesting, traveling, no-show in the playoffs performing, contested shot settling, shot-clock wasting, weak dribbling, often stripped and blocked handling, 2 free-throws the whole game shooting, zipped-lipped, emotionless, last man back in transition running, non fast break finishing, once every two months dunking, defeatist attitude having, excuse making, useless baseline game having, waste of a 6'7 240 lb frame. Offense or no offense, these are shortcomings that I can't bear to watch from a supposed "number 1" option any more. Thank you for the emptiest 20-5-5 seasons an NBA player can possibly have. Always at odds with Joe fans, respectfully, Benhillboy Let's go Sund/ Spirit Group!

Damn, I'd rather have 90% of that list instead of J.J.

Hollinger is a clown. Oooh, he saw how poor of a defender Bibby is. Expert analysis. Chicks can see how slow he is. What's all this talk of Boozer? The guy is a mercenary who makes no bones about "going where the money is" while he's still in his current employer's uniform, not to mention missing chunk after chunk of the season, then make's excuses when he returns as to why he's not producing. The absolute LAST thing the Hawks need right now. Also, who really cares if Marvin comes back or not? His toughness, or lack thereof, combined with a serious back injury, is not a good combo, especially after a payday.

I'm rockin with Sessions. Felton if we get a great deal that leaves room for further improvement. Hinrich has too many focus blackouts. I want to see J.J. offer some money back a la' Chipper Jones, but it won't happen. Ford's ceiling for games played is 45. Kidd? Seriously? There will be 29 teams looking to expose Bibby defensively next year. It's just too easy and common-sense. I like Bibby, but simply cannot stomach his footwork for extended minutes next year. I'm also of the school of thought that Woody could've destroyed even Chris Paul's progress and ascension in his game, so even the best point coming out of school will more than likely be wasted.

You mean as opposed to not making the second round at all? I would never wish that my team not advance as far as possible. This is a learning experience. A one win improvement in the regular season plus one in the second round, as miniscule as it sounds, will be yet another year of steady improvement, while many declining teams can expect lesser records. Every team in the NBA has 1 main priority this offseason: building or expanding on a team that can contain LeBron James. We have a first hand, extended film session on what is required to do that, which is invaluable. Can it be done? Proabably not. The Nuggets will have their chance this year. After that, the coronation begins.

Frosgrim, I can tell you with 100% certainty, #98 (I cannot state his name) shouldn't be on a practice squad, let alone active roster. Scott Case reference was refreshing, haven't heard his name in about 10 years. I am concerned about Jerry's injury. A knee sprain is never something you brush off. He already has the "injury-prone" title before he's done anything. Matty Ice always sounds good, and I 'm glad he's clicking early with Gonzalez, as there was also mention of the draft pick receiver stretching the field. Hopefully Peterson will be that dominant backer, because I don't see it from Lofton. He simply didn't show me that he could play in the backfield enough, something that Grimes and Fudge did much more often, given playing time, than our entire starting linebacking and secondary corps. Roddy is looking for an extension early, and he should get fair market value, although I expect him to run the ball much more/ better than he had last year (2 rushes for 4 yards.) With Gonzalez on the field, White should bust a reverse/ double reverse/ direct snap for 13 once a game. I personally want to hear more about Snelling getting a larger role in the offense, and I 'm sure the center position has been, and is being analyzed by the Dimitroff/ Smith Football Brainbank, although I like (not love) McClure. With the Hawks' season winding down, it's all about the Birds. I smell one more big splash before training camp.

I wouldn't overreact too much. I think a lot of us are simply underestimating the greatness of LeBron. They lost 1 meaningful game at home all year, and we are the 3rd youngest team in the league. Not a good combination for us. I do think that Sund is coming to the realization that top priority is getting Joe out of here, though. While Marvin's conditioning, Josh's brain, Bibby's defense, and Woody's X's and O's (or lack thereof) are all notorious topics in the NBA right now, I do believe thay can be salvaged by a complete, Sund-ordered offensive overhaul. Come to think of it, the always-switching defense has to go also, or at least Woody has to come to the realization that there are some teams you can do it against, and some who laugh at it. Al seems more of a blue chip, seeing as he is probably the most attractive player on our team to the rest of the NBA. I don't know where the 20+ point scorer is coming from, nor the dual-end point, or the post scoring threat, or the coach who actually knows how to administer a set, but I hope the days of Woody (if he doesn't welcome an offensive coordinator) and Joe are numbered. It is pretty sad when the best players to help build a future come off the pine in Zaza and Flipper. With that said, yall know how I do. Let's go Joe-less Hawks! I hope that flight home was on turbo and they make the practice court their home until this series is over. They don't deserve to do anything or go anywhere not related to game-planning against Cleveland, and I expect to hear as much from Woody and Bibby. What they actually do about it is another matter.