DominoT

I'll always dig J Chill and his game, but I agree when you guys say both parties have moved on. I just don't see a way he can fit back into this team. Of course, the offseason, fortunately, is a long way away.

Woodson's gotta win games. That's what we all want him to do. Teague, a late 1st round pick, has already shown us he's probably better than the Acie pick. Right now, he's 13 games into his career, and he should be happy that he's on this team. You can learn a lot on the bench of a really good team. He'll get his chance to play, but Mikey and Jamal are winning us games. Let's just hope for some blowouts, and he'll get plenty of time.

I just love Marv. Great guy, and I am glad we re-signed him. He's got an upside that we all saw tonight. Let's see what he can do

Sorry you're not excited. I am. I'm fine with being excited, knowing full well that something bad could happen in the future. That's kind of the point. Anticipation. Fear mixed with awe. All in all, it just makes me want to watch every game start to finish. It's great.

I would argue that the Hawks' half court offense has many more possible outcomes than other good teams' offenses. The Lakers, Cavs, and Heat consistently see one guy pound the ball and go for 25+ every night. We consistently have 5 or 6 with double digit points. We pass in to the low post a lot, and Josh gets a lot of assists because of that. He's exciting to watch this year, because he's seeing perimeter shooters get open as he drives. Our half court offense does end up being 1on1 a chunk of the time, but no more than anyone else's. We spread the ball around a lot, create a diverse array of plays, and of course have a ridiculous transition game. All in all it's an exciting, powerful package. It doesn't involve fancy set plays with multiple players shifting around away from the ball as much, but it does involve a team effort with multiple players consistently racking up assists (as opposed to the Suns, who have one playmaker). And you can see Woodson at work there. I'm not sure you can design an offense that exploits the wildly varied offensive styles of each of our players. Josh, Al, Joe, Mike, and Marvin all have totally different methods of scoring. And since they've played together for a while now, they know what each other can do. It's kind of absurd to have a rigid idea of what an aesthetically pleasing NBA offense should be and criticize a 10 - 2 team's offense for not matching a preconceived conceptual model that has no basis in reality. A reality that has been years in the making.

There's no doubt it will be an exciting year. I'm going to savor every game, and go to as many as I possibly can.

This is ludicrous talk. Joe Johnson is a valuable free agent, but he's entering free agency with all the other crazy 2010 big names. It's going to be nuts. Right now, who the hell would want to leave this team? Especially after he's worked so hard for so long to get this team to where it is. There is absolutely no point in trying to figure out what will become of Joe after this season because that will be mostly determined by what happens this season. Thus, trading him is a laughable idea, and would be tragic suicide for this franchise. JJ's going nowhere in 09-10, and that's all that really matters until July.

Another solid win. One by one...

Listen to two seconds of a NY area sports cast and your face would turn beet red from all the ridiculous bravado. If anything, Atlanta fans have always been too nice.

I was being largely facetious. I respect Jameer's abilities. Jason Williams will at best dish a behind-the-back pass to Dwight Howard (who might not see it coming).

I will be at all the games after new years.

Phil Jackson has had the absolute best talent every year his teams have done anything. Maybe the lone exception to that is last year. But who can really say these Lakers are wanting for talent? Doc Rivers? W/o the big three last place. With the big three, championship. Yes, they're both excellent coaches, but I don't think you can say they're an order of magnitude better than Mike Woodson. Woodson's guidance has everything to do with our offense's ability to improvise. He also has always emphasized discipline on defense. I think you can draw a lot of comparisons between the Pistons championship team he was a part of and this Hawks team.

I'm sure Jason Williams, brought back from the dead, will be just as good...

The offense is good enough. Everyone knows defense wins championships. I'm sorry he doesn't have a nifty geometric shape like Phil Jackson to market his offense with.

I'm sold on Woody. It was just a few years ago pundits were calling us the franchise with the most dismal hopes in professional sports. Our ownership situation was horrible, we had a terrible GM, and no top talent wanted to play here. Mike Woodson has presided over a phoenix rising from the ashes (see ATL's city seal). Every year we've gotten better. He's managed to craft Josh Smith into a major talent. Conventional wisdom in that draft was that he had the athleticism but not the NBA caliber talent. He kept his head up when Billy Knight, clearly a horrible GM, wanted him out of town. Sund should've extended him, but if things keep going the way they are, Woody will be around for a long time - which I have absolutely no problem with. I don't think Woody goes to great lengths to make people like him. That includes AJC's Jeff Shultz, and some of you on this board. Just admit it, he's a damn good coach.