99PROBL3MS

The biggest difference between JJ and Pierce is that Pierce gets the star calls and JJ doesn't. Maybe he should flop more?

Marvin seems to have lost ALL confidence. I guess being benched from the starting lineup 6 different times in one season will do that. I am not disagreeing with the benching because his play warranted it. I thought he would go to the bench and give us some much needed help there. That didn't happen. He was eventually outplayed and replaced I the rotation by Damien Wilkins. Marvin had the worst season if his care this year. I can chalk some of it up to several injuries but Marvin looked lost and confused all year. I think dyed to the magnitude of how he was projected, he is a much worse pick than Sheldon (in hindsight). We thought we were getting a Boozer, Big Baby in Shelden. We thought Marvin would be a perennial All-Star.

I think if Smoove spends this summer with a world-class fitness trainer and hires a nutritionist instead of that "Chef Jeff" he could play more minutes at SF. He has to get in shape though. Having them both is part of our dynamic.

Solid plan Diesel. Shopping Marvin Williams when he is due 8M over the next three years will be tough. CLE may be a viable trading partner. They may do a Marvin Williams for Varajeo deal? The salaries are fairly close and Marvin's deal ends a year earlier. Right now their concern is building for the future and perhaps Varajeo could be available. 1. Make a play for Nick Young. WAS is said to definitely tender Nick Young. They are looking for a physical Center to backup Javale Mcgee. They are also looking for another SG. S-n-T involving Zaza for Nick Young. Resign Jason Collins. Resign Damien Wilkins 2. Marvin Williams traded to CLE for the rights to Anderson Varajeo. 3. Sign Delonte West. He is a bargain for what I consider a still very productive player at just over 1M. I would offer him 1.5M. 4. Sign Chuck Hayes. Sticking with the theme of being undersized, Hayes could give us a physical presence. He is also one of the best post defenders in the NBA. The combo of he and Collins would give guys like D12 fits. 5. Sign TMac. Tmac on a relevant team would maybe sell a few more jerseys. He could also play solid minutes as a reserve SF on a contending team for cheap. PG Jeff Teague (1.57M) SG Joe Johnson (18M) SF Josh Smith (12.5M) PF Anderson Varajeo (7.9M) C Al Horford (12M) Kirk Hinrich (8M) Nick Young (4M) Delonte West (1.5) Chuck Hayes (1.9M) Tracy Mcgrady (1.3M) Jason Collins (1.29M) Damien Wilkins (.75M) Magnum Rolle (.5M) Total Salary: 71.21M This would go into the tax so I seriously doubt ASG or MGjr would consider such changes. It would definitely be a contending team though. I know there is no way it happens but it is fun to speculate. I know it is all a pipe dream of mine. There is also no telling how the new CBA will effect things, but I think this team would be a definite contender. With no 1st round pick, I think they should just sell their 2nd round pick for whatever they can get.

I wish there was an option for *neither Diesel. I have a few suggestions. 1. Get Smoove away from that doggone *shooting coach this summer and get him with one of the world's best personal trainers. Get him back down to the 240lb range where he can jump out of the gym. 2. Horford needs to spend this summer with Karl Malone. Both on the court and in the weight room. PG Teague SG Joe SF Smoove PF Horf C ? 6th Hinrich

Joe is one if only 4 hawks that actually speed up tonight. Joe, Smoove, Teague and Zaza are the only ones who played worth a flip. Everyone else can hit the door in my opinion.

Crawford hasn't really seen many double-teams this series. He has no excuse. They actually haven't been trying to force the ball from his hands either. They have allowed him to isolate and see if he will shoot his way out of the game and it has worked. You just can't really argue with people wanting the better defender playing more minutes when the explosive scorer starts 1-8, has turnovers and plays bad defensively. Here is to hoping he has a huge game tonight!

We just have to play smart and rebound. If we do those two things, CHI has no chance because we are the more talented team. When Smith or Horford take a long jumper, Joe and Teague need to get back on defense to prevent those easy fastbreak points. That allows Horf and Smoove to Crash the offensive boards. We must box out. We must also not turn the ball over. Protect the ball and rebound with effort.

Everytime he shoots a very questionable jumpshot, I will think about Barkley wearing the helmet to protect himiself from Josh Smith's ill-advised jumpshots.

He was on lastnight. The best thing about his game lastnight is that he made quick decisions with the basketball. He went right up into his shot coming of of the screens. He recognized the double team (and sometimes triple team) and either made a move or found the open man right before/as soon as it arrived. He is making smart and quick decisions. When he is doing that it makes all of our players better. We need him to keep doing what he is doing.

Joe certainly hasn't forgotten how to score. They didn't double in game one and he murdered them. Same thing with Crawford. I don't think it is a talent thing at all. As it was just mentioned, the frontcourt MUST make them pay for trying to double/shadow all game. We have a 5 time allstar and a prolific scorer at SG that can't get a quality shot off because the other 3 guys haven't shown up consistently. We need Josh Smith in the paint using his athleticism to crash the offensive boards and get a few OREBs as opposed to being a nonfactor 20ft from the rim. I want the gritty, hard-nosed Horford from 2008 back. Add that style of play to his vastly improved outside shot and he would really have something. We just need SOMETHING productive from Marvin. 2008-2009 Marvin looked to possibly have allstar potential. Sorry for the rant.

I too think there is a legit concern and getting older shouldn't quite be a valid excuse for him yet. He was dunked on twice last game. I can't remember the last time he was dunked on twice in one game. It may have never happened before. It didn't happen because he is getting older. It is because he isn't in nearly the shape he was in. Even looking at pictures from early last season, there is a noticeable difference. If fat old Jason Collins can work his tail off and drop 25lb in the offseason at his age, there is no excuse for Smoove to not do the same. He thrives off of his athleticism. Hopefully he works himself back into shape and extends his dominance as one of the NBA's elite athletes.

I am just upset with the fact that we held a team to 86pts on 39% shooting and still found a way to lose. I am so sick of not just Smoove, but EVERYONE on this team taking bad shots all freaking game. It is like they are too stupid at times to realize how good they can be if they just don't play like idiots. We clearly have more talent than CHI. Deng and Rose are the only two Bulls who would even play for us. If I didn't feel like we could win this series, then maybe I wouldn't be upset. Teague has kept Rose in check. JJ has outplayed CHI's SGs by a ton. We have to get more from Marvin, Smoove and Horford. If they would just hit their AVERAGE numbers, we win this series easily. Also Craw has to try and at least get better shots off instead of chucking terrible shots. It is frustrating to watch even if they go in sometiems. Okay......./rant.

To make a long story short, they came out and hit us dead in the mouth and we punked out like last yeast. We are sucking it up at both ends tonight. Hopefully they can make it respectable in the 2nd half. I after that we lose the series if we lose game 6.

What a load of bs......All J-Rich had to do was not go over there and instigate the whole situation....If anyone was defending themselves, it was Zaza. J-Rich is the one who started it all.

I agree. I think Zaza handled the situation about as skill as you could. J-Rich should see a game for sure.

Will the league suspend J-Rich for instigating that altercation with Zaza? He wasn't even involved in the initial play. He flat out hit him in the face.

The Magic won Game 2 because of terrible officiatiing. Dwight has commited about 12 fouls in each of the first two games. The refs just haven't blown the whistle. He could be called for offensive 3 seconds virtually everytime down the floor but they haven't blown the whistle. Well they did blow him for it twice last game, I guess......Dwight Howard is the only player on the Magic squad that would start for Atlanta. The Magic have no shot at winning this series without the continuation of lopsided officiating. Everyone who has bothered to watch this series so far sees that Atlanta is the superior team.

Those numbers are VERY misleading also. During Collins time on the floor Dwight was 2-4 shooting, 6-12 from the line, with 3 fouls and 6 turnovers. He didn't allow 46pts.

They do realize that Dwight scoring so much was by design don't they? LD could have doubled down and took the ball out off his hands. Do they realize that D12 only scored 9pts on 4-9 shooting when Collins was in the game. I am watching the ESPN coverage and it is a joke how they tried to spin it. Props to the NBA TV guys for calling it like it was.

Smoove and D12 can be two of the most intense competitors in he NBA. i wouln't be surprised if they don't speak to their mothers after a playoff loss.

LOL!!!!!

Yes it is virtually intact in my opinion. If his 3pt shot was falling at the same rate as last year, That would raise his FG % from 44.5% to 46.3%. It would also raise his scoring average about a point. It would also help if he shot 82% at the FT line instead of 80% this year. The rest of his stats are virtually identical. Minutes are nearly same. FT stats are almost identical. Assist are identical. Rebounds is down .5. Steals is down .4. Fouls is the same etc. etc. etc. I just don't see much difference except for the fact that his 3pt shot isn't falling. I don't see much difference at all. Disappointment is a relative term. I think he has been a disappointment because when he reaggrivated his shooting hand after having a great January, he should have taken some time off to heal but kept playing. He needs to get healthy and the old Joe will be back.

I just don't really get the great disdain for Joe. The guy is playing injured and his 3pt shot is obviously suffering. The rest of his game is virtually intact. People are complaining about jumpshots but Joe took ten shots in the paint tonight. Everyone else combined took six. He scored 8pts in the paint and the rest of the team scored 12. The last thing I expected after this game was another thread like this. Smoove shoots 38.6% from while Joe shoots 39.2% on jumpers from 16'23ft. Joe probably still settles for too many jumpers, but he is second only to Dwade in points-in-paint scored per game (actually tied with Kobe for #2) and second only to Wade in terms of % made on paint shots. The difference between Joe this year, and Joe last year is his 3pt shooting. His FT numbers are virtually identical. He just needs to keep driving and attempting to score in the paint. I also think this is another factor:

I think the last game vs NYK did something to him. Amare stole the show and he hasn't been the same since.