AUhawksfan

I put Othello because it never hurts to have a little more size and he could be good to play between the 3 and 4 slots. While I like Mario's hustle, I think Othello can help plenty on D and provide a little more offense. Apparently he has definitely improved as well.

Agreed. I think we'll miss that side of Flip, the ability to "change pace." While I also don't want to put a lot of responsibility on Teague, I think he could be the wildcard and I am excited about that. We all have heard about the praise of his ability to attack the rim. Even if he doesn't contribute a ton this year, he can definitely fill a need.

Now that BK is gone, maybe Ford will start to be nice about us Hawks. He had a personal vedetta against that guy.

Agreed, I almost always feel that Woodson sets his expectations just low enough so that he knows he can achieve them. If he doesn't aim high, he doesn't risk his team underachieving. Then at the same time, if we do better it makes Woodson look like that much better of a coach (even though he isn't). The season is a long ways away, there are still some signings to be made. The NBA season is also a long one, there are many chemistry and injury issues that come into play too. What if KG goes down again? What if Shaq is a horrible fit in Cleveland? etc. This clown Woodson wants to already nail us a 4 seed? What a joke! He's just positioning himself to keep his job, that's the only thing he seems to be good at. Great quotes Diesel, if the coach doesn't believe then how is that going to motivate the players to believe? I'm not saying the Hawks will win it all, but there is still a slim chance. That is what keeps these guys motivated to play every night. If you set the goals low and don't even mention a championship, that can evaporate the slim chance into nothing.

Actually I thought it was great when he called Woody out in the playoffs. I think it can help, because that at least got Woodson to think about how he was coaching. Woodson was the one setting Josh Smith up on the perimeter, so of course Bibby is going to pass to the open man. Probably the only time Woodson actually thought about his offense and that maybe he is the culprit. The two still obviously respect each other.

Completely agree. We need to take this signing for what it's worth. Bibby provides us with good veteran leadership, something that is missing with our other players and especially our coach. I can't think of another PG out there who can help fill this void and at least mentor Teague. I'd feel a lot more nervous starting the season with a Crawford/Teague combo at the point. Scares me to think about.....at least with Bibby we know what we're going to get, and yes I know not all of it is great but he has his strengths too.

You know, I only notice his lazy eye when I'm drinking.....

Any coach that doesn't get or command respect from his players should not be the coach of the team. The fact that he has been called out by Bibby and that he has to talk to Josh Smith through other players is pretty sad. Can you imagine another player trying to call out Phil Jackson, Sloan, or Poppovich? No way jose! I would be much happier with him though if he at least brought in some kind of offensive coordinator so we could improve on that end.

And if we had some semblance of an offense where Joe could easily get it to another guy when doubled.

"I’ve written it before and I’ll write it again, once again Smith serves as the easy scapegoat for the Hawks’ larger problems (their paper-thin depth, their flawed offensive scheme the wordsmith Mark Bradley nailed in his recent column and their inability to get ball pressure on the ball at the outset of offensive possessions, just to name a few)." Good point here. Sund will be responsible for the first one this offseason but the other 2 are because of Woody and sadly I don't think it will improve with him as coach. We really need to find someone else! I also like the reference to the Billups article at the end and highly recommend the read myself. I think the article doesn't show so much how important it is to have a point guard, but how important it is to have a leader on the team.

I see what you're saying and you're right we didn't hit open looks. To truly take advantage of the double, we should have had the open man drive the ball. If done correctly this can lead to three things: -a close shot at the basket -if you draw a defender, dish off to the guy he left -a trip to the free throw line Every time Joe passed out of the double, the player receiving the ball didn't react fast enough and allowed the extra man on the double to get back to his guy.....thus negating the double for our benefit. That's what happens when you run an iso play with a player that is going to get doubled almost 100% of the time. You leave the other guys standing around so that when Joe passes out, they aren't in the right position to take advantage. Have them run some kind of motion, even if it is something simple! This is offense 101, and we need a coach that can notice these types of things.

Exactly. When we went to a straight double team on Lebron he moved the ball around and had the type of teammates that were willing to pass the ball around to find the open man. What I don't understand is why Woody didn't have the Hawks scrimmage with Joe getting double so that he could not only get used to it, but so they could actually exploit it. Everybody just stood around when Joe was doubled and that just won't cut it! You have to run something or make your players cut! :computer8: Once you exploit it, then the doubles won't come or at least not nearly as much and then Joe could take advantage. This is basic offensive coaching and Woody can't handle it.

When your supposed "captain" can't even muster up confidence that isn't going to rub off well on the rest of the team. I don't know if anyone else noticed how pissed Joe got last game, I've never seen him that upset before..... We really need to bring in a confident leader to this team! Joe isn't the answer, and Woody will never step up as a leader considering he can't even gain his player's interests and he gives way to much leeway to his veteran players.

The one thing we need is clear: a leader. That doesn't mean a superstar, but we need a veteran player to be a positive force in the locker room for us. I have seen our players get too pissy this year's playoffs (especially Bibby and Joe) and not be a stable, calm leader when we've needed it most. If we could find somebody with an ounce of character as this guy (read article below) I'd be extremely happy. I think players are more willing to listen to other players that have "been there done that" before as opposed to coaches. Woodson is not the type of guy that is going to get his players to listen to him when he's been preaching the same thing since he got here. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/sto...=090511/billups It's going to take a certain player to get in Josh's face when he shoots an ill-advised jumper. It's going to take a certain player to get his teammates to trust each other and move the ball instead of playing 1 on 1 ball. It's going to take a certain player to pump up his team before a big game. It's said when Horford is one of the more vocal leaders on our team and he has only been with us for 2 years.

Woodson may have been saying the right things but you have to ACT on them too. Do you know how many times I would have pulled Josh after shooting those horrible jumpers he does? He needs to have a short leash with the starters just like he does with the rookies. It has worked for Jerry Sloan a looong time in this league.

From a recent ESPN poll: 4) (4) Atlanta vs. (5) Miami: Which team wins? 28.8% Heat in six 25.8% Heat in seven 21.1% Hawks in seven 14.9% Hawks in six 4.6% Heat in five 2.8% Hawks in five 1.1% Hawks in four 0.9% Heat in four Apparently people have once again forgotten about last years playoffs and see us getting beat in 6! It's ok though, I love being the underdog. I think winning this series is huge for us and can do a lot to give us some respect, especially with the primetime spots we are getting in the series.

Yeah you're right, JJ has no heart and is just collecting a paycheck. Especially last year in the playoffs when he almost single handedly took care of the Celtics in a couple of our wins...... :slap1:

Agreed. That shot by Joe will never get old for me either.

Yeah, but the same thing could be said about Jordan's final shot to beat the Jazz. Both were still awesome at the end of the day. That was probably the most excited I've been as well.

Probably everybody else that posts here, which brings me to another question: If you don't care why are you posting here and still watching the hawks? The whole point of being a fan is caring about your team.

^ Exactly. Makes me think of the situation with Porter in Phoenix.