RandomFan

It should be pretty obvious that Cleveland will be our toughest matchup simply because of the talent on that team. I think we can win, and I think we will win, but they present us with the most challenging series. Other than that, Toronto seems to have our number. But as someone else mentioned, they have caught us at the right times and may have just gotten lucky with that. They are a tough matchup for us though; however, I think with being able to focus on one team for multiple games would give Coach Bud an opportunity to find some good scheme tweaks and matchup manipulations to take care of them. Other than those 2, I am not even remotely worried about anyone. Obviously, anything can happen and you can't control that. But other than Chicago being fully healthy (which is highly unlikely) nobody else really scares me.

Gonna be some more resting before the end of the season. Might as well let some of these people get their butthurt out of the way right now. BTW - anyone else notice we have 6 games during the last 9 days of the season? That's turrible planning right there. I wont be surprised if we rest players a lot more down the stretch. The #1 seed in the East is hardly at risk; being ready for the playoff grind is much more important.

Good video. Dare I say, perhaps even a little bit beautiful.

Don't forget about Gobert either.

Yep, this was a really good article. Should put to bed those "doesn't have a superstar in the clutch" concerns: yet I know it wont for certain people.

Is Kyrie still out?

Liked for repping V for Vendetta. Nearly unliked for conflating V with Malcom X... Kinda not even in the same stratosphere, yo.

OH Smoove, you turd. http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12417144/houston-rockets-forward-josh-smith-calls-atlanta-hawks-fans-bandwagoners Smith dubs fans 'bandwagoners' ATLANTA -- Houston Rockets forward Josh Smith called Hawks fans "bandwagoners" following the Rockets' 104-96 loss Tuesday at Atlanta on. The interplay between Smith and the Philips Arena crowd was lively throughout the night. Smith, an Atlanta native who played his first nine NBA seasons with the Hawks, was booed loudly whenever he touched the ball. The catcalls grew louder in the third quarter, after Smith drained a 3-pointer that rattled around the rim several times before dropping in. Smith then shushed the crowd by placing his finger over his lips as the Hawks called timeout. "I mean, those fans are fickle, very fickle and bandwagoners," Smith said. "It really doesn't mean anything to me." Despite qualifying for the playoffs in Smith's final six seasons in Atlanta, the Hawks never finished in the top half of the NBA in attendance. This season, the Hawks are faring better at the gate and averaging a smidgen more than 17,000 per game, their highest total since Smith came into the league. Smith was a polarizing player during his nine seasons in Atlanta. Chosen by the Hawks with the No. 17 pick in 2014 draft, Smith dazzled fans with his acrobatics, shot-blocking and athleticism. But despite being only a 28.3 percent 3-point shooter, Smith attempted more than 942 shots from beyond the arc as a Hawk. Toward the end of his tenure, a grown would emanate from the crowd at Philips Arena whenever he elevated for a long-range shot. In 24 minutes Tuesday, Smith finished with 14 points on 6-for-14 shooting from the field, along with seven rebounds, three assists, three turnovers and two blocks. Following the game, he remarked that his 2-for-5 line from long range was "pretty good." During his time in Atlanta, Smith was active in local charities. In 2011-12, he was nominated by the Professional Basketball Writers Association for the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award. "I'd been here for nine years, and all I did was positive things in the community and with the basketball team," Smith said. In 2013, Smith signed a four-year, $54 million free-agent contract with the Detroit Pistons. Smith struggled in Detroit, which waived him Dec. 22. Four days later, Smith signed with Houston, where he has shot the ball with a bit more proficiency (44.2 percent on field goals).

I'm glad his contract was traded. Never had a problem with Johnson other than he was paid like a superstar, and was nowhere near that level of a player. If he had been paid $5m per year, we'd have been glad to have him; if he had been paid $10m per year, I think we could live with that; but the money he gets paid in reality, no way is he worth that.

Not my rule. I understand some of this is probably tongue-in-cheek for most of you. But I don't believe in superstitious gobbledygook. There is no such thing as karma, luck, fate, jinxes, or any other unverifiable influence on the outcome of our purely deterministic universe. Therefore, we're free to talk about whatever we want to talk about, with 100% confidence the outcome will be affected in absolutely no way by said discourse.

Just noticed that in the BKN win vs GSW that the "great" Joe Johnson played 36 minutes and scored a whopping 5 points.

You're wrongly assuming Miami is going to be able to hold onto a spot.

Unfortunately, I think with the addition of Thad Young and the return to health of a few other guys, Brooklyn probably makes the playoffs now. Oh well. We'll still get a pick higher than what we would have.

Sorry, but your "opinion" is trumped by the only person who matters, Coach Bud.

Came to post the same thing, lol. Yeah, sucks that it was to Brooklyn, but I'll take #1 this late in the season as a consolation prize http://espn.go.com/nba/standings/_/group/1

Excellent points. To add one more of my own, I think some people underesitmate the value of knowing where to be on the floor at all times. It's very important to any offense, but even moreso in our "pace and space" system that is completely designed to take advantage of the defense with how our players are spaced on the floor to influence defensive angles and put pressure on them to provide open cracks in the D. If you've noticed lately when we play more of our little used backups on the floor at the same time, you'll frequently see bad spacing from them (3 players jumbled up in the same area, players not where they should be for passes, cutting at the wrong time, etc...). So in addition to everything you listed, knowing where to be and why to be there is a very underrated talent in our system: and Pero is apparently very good at it. Of all the reason's I've considered to why we gave up on Payne so quickly, a lack if being able to grasp this skill is most likely the biggest reason he looked to never move ahead of Mulscala, Brand, or Pero in the rotatation anytime soon. In addition to the reason of kicking the rookie contract and player can down the line, I think that is probably the biggest basketball related reason: obviously this is pure speculation on my part - but I'd consider it an educated guess. Payne was obviously more physically gifted than Muscala, and even Pero. That means that he will probably carve out a fairly nice career in a role that doesn't demand as much mentally from him as our system does. But in our system, understanding your role and how it fits in our system, and where you are supposed to be at all times is more important than mere individual talent.

Good article. Another confirmation of what many of us have been saying.

So, JaVale McGee is now a free agent. I know we don't really need a big man, per Bud, but I got to thinking to myself, hey, how many athletic 7 footers come available this late? Maybe we could grab him up and work on trying to develop his game some more, see what happens. And then....I saw this.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdb3vv-5ygI NO. Not just no, but heck no! LMAO at this guy. I had no idea he was this silly.

It doesn't help that Boston choked the 4th quarter by only scoring 15 points. Oh well, it would have been nice, but doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

A little off topic, but is anyone else keeping up with the GSW vs BOS game? WTF? Boston is taking it to the Dubs. Up by 26 at one point in the game. Lets hope they can hold on for that win. It would give us both the same amount of losses again.

Well then, there is part of your problem. I'm not the one saying he's playing poor on offense, you folks are. I'll allow that he is SHOOTING poorly. But the problem lies in thinking shooting well is all that is involved in playing good on offense, and many here appear to have fallen into that trap. It's not. And that's what some of us, including Coach Bud obviously, are saying. And just because you're not seeing it, he plays some darn good defense too.