pathway23

those that look at the stat sheet and say Marvin has improved, may be right - but you can look at the games and say that Marvin has improved also. ( Well, if you look past the allstar and superstar surprises picked ahead of him) and see the extremely talented and improving young player that he is. I think its funny that the biggest flaw in Marvin's game is his 3 pt percentage. he doesn't even take them. so is it then a flaw? I imagine if he took as many 3 pt shots as Smoove he would knock down more than Smoove's 32% last season..even forcing them up as Smoove did most of them..he just has a more fluid stroke out there. And getting more aggressive and stronger could make Marvin a monster even without the 3 pt game. Those trips for two shots at the line become and 1s. and Marvin's midrange shot and long 2 shots become more deadly as teams try to stop the drive (clumsy as it is, lol) but effective

Where was Marvin tonight? He failed to take charge again! Right Diesel?

I'm not all that sure that china is all that different from Singapore. Repression works for Singapore, as it does for China.

I don't think you even watched the game Walter, be honest. This game was lost due to Woody getting outcoached by Riley down the stretch, and veteran savvy over youthful inexperience on the court..ie, putting Lorenzen in vs Shaq...and the two HUGE offensive fouls drawn by Haslem, and missed free throws. Really this game should have been won. I don't think it proves we are far from contention at all. Both teams played poorly without their star players, both teams were hot, the Heat hotter, the Heat just had more experience and more guys who knew how to win and pulled it out. The Hawks are very close to being in contention actually. Be Honest walter, you only come on this board to hate, you don't even watch the games, you just look at stats and box scores and regurgitate the material of any negative pundit you can find. Cya.

It wouldn't be fair to any young player in the league exodus, to compare their progress to that of Smoove. I'm just glad we got him. I just wonder though ex, if someone like Bilas had criticized Marvin on draft night in front of the whole basketball world, as Smoove was, would Marvin have extra motivation and just tear it up as well? Hmm.

I'm not disappointed in Marvin, he has been more consistent lately, giving us double digit scoring, and solid defense. I am disappointed in only one aspect of Marvin's game right now - his rebounding. I think Marvin could come back with a little more attitude and a little more strength next year and make strides as Smoove has. For such a young player, giving solid consistent contributions is most definitely impressive to me. This coming from a person who doesn't view Marvin as the 2nd pick in a draft with coveted players we didn't select, but as a person viewing Marvin as a basketball player on the team this person is a fan of. Which makes quite a difference. I pull for Marvin because he is on our team. I don't pull against him because he wasn't the right pick.

Josh Smith will most likely end up being an allstar we drafted. Possibly as soon as next season.

This wouldn't be the opinion of a Phoenix Suns fan would it? JJ is worth every penny, barring the injury debacle the Hawks have suffered this team would be right in the playoff running and Joe would be the main reason why. Right now with all the injuries it is just too easy for the defense to focus on Joe. It really is testament to Joe's outstanding character that he continues to play so well despite everything these last few games. There really has been no second scorer. Marvin is like 60% because of the hand and Lue and Chill are out. Those 3 are our top scorers besides Joe. I think that this board overreacts negatively and a lot of that is fueled by the media which thrives on negativity.

I am!

Wrong forum Diesel? Not sure what the point is. I'm not interested at all in any summer league recaps other than the Hawks summer league team.

Hmm, 5 year plans do pretty well in China.

my dream O'Bryant at 8 and Rondo at 15

I'd love to snag Pietrus and have him behind JJ, especially if Chill is traded for something.

It was the move Levenson and Gearon wanted him to make. They publicly backed drafting MW over CP.

Hey walt, what do you think about drafting MW over CP again?

Wow, Diesel, that was nice. Why have you got a problem with female basketball fans?

They were a young team without a PG who needed a guy with PG skills like Diaw to run the offense, his speed disadvantage against NBA guards already goes against him there, and it was just too much for him not to shoot the damn ball when he was open on top of that. I like Diaw but I 'm not too stupid to overlook the legitimate reasons he was shipped out of here. I always defended Diaw while he was here but I was souring on him as the season went on that year, and I have no remorse about losing Diaw. Diaw was the only piece selected by Knight that didn't fit so far, and he was a piece selected by Knight for a team that he didn't build, it was for Babcock's team. The fact is no most improved player for Diaw if Kurt and Amare played 30 mpg. Period. He wouldn't see more than 15 mpg.

And he would fail at that role because he wouldn't have a quickness advantage against NBA guards like he has against NBA forwards/ centers. the fact is that he would see as little playing time as he saw in ATL his last season if Kurt Thomas and Amare were playing because they would eat up the minutes. He isn't going to take James Jones minutes because he would be a liability at James Jones position.

whatever - we've heard all this before...Most of the Hawks fans wanted Diaw gone, because his style didn't fit the type of team we had that year, and he didn't adjust. It was his ticket out of here. We wouldn't even hear this talk about Diaw if Kurt Thomas and Amare Stoudamire were at near full health because he would be sitting on the bench.

wtf has your math and science scores got to do with your ability to judge professional basketball personnel decisions and professional basketball scouts? You need your ego cut down a level or two.

Exactly. Our problem down low is 10 times more serious than our problem at PG, which is a problem, but at a much smaller level (we only need a capable guy to run the show while JJ is on the bench). We need a true C, or a PF that can bang to pair with Zaza. Our problem was having 2 softies at 4 and 5, Al and Zaza. Hopefully Smoove can have another offseason to bulk up and be able to handle the big boys at the 4, but we still need more size up front, Zaza should be on the bench.

Something I've noticed there, is that all of those guys on your list above Marvin were given plenty of opportunity to produce and in situations where they played a larger role in the team's offense...Lebron is just an incredible phenom, Carmelo was a similar situation to Marvin, but Carmelo was thrown right in, Marvin is being brought along slowly. If you looked at Josh Smith's tendex for the first half of last season, it was likely similar to what Marvin had the first half of this season. The difference is that Josh was given a lot more opportunity to produce in the second half of that year in a situation where the team traded away Antoine and didn't have a second scorer. You can call it excuses for Marvin all you want but that list actually makes me MORE satisfied with what Marvin did. Danny Granger is not better than Marvin as a rookie, the difference there is clearly playing time.

Nope, all we need is our own identity, chemistry, and experience. This team isn't even close to being a finished product and the sky is the limit for its potential, a lot of GMs would like to build on this roster. A lot of tradable assets a lot of talent and caproom to boot.

Its an old quote , and last season Josh Smith did play some SG for the Hawks. The kid is very versatile, its a good thing, not a bad thing. I think his game has evolved into more of a 3/4 game and still can evolve into primarily a 4. But the versatility he and Marvin both have to play the 3/4 is fine.

Al isn't a PF either.