Is Glover really an option to start at the 2?????

[MoonKnight]

I am somewhat surprised to see the number of posts that have Glover in the competition for the 2 spot with DJ and Ira.

I am a homer and have pulled for Dion since his GT days but I don't see him as a viable option for the starting 2 spot. Two years ago he showed flashes of being a good D player with streaky O skills. Last year his D may have been the worst on the team along with Nazr. His O game disappeared and he was injured again. Dion may simply need a change of address to recharge his game. I simply don't believe he will pull ahead of either Ira or DJ at the 2 spot. E-mail is not a bad third string 2 either. So, I feel Dion is expendable for a player with size to be a b/u 5. While I am all for an open competition at the 2 spot, I think we are kidding ourselves if we believe Dion is an option at this point. Thoughts?

[LastDon]

the only reason is because we are looking for someone who can flourish without the ball in his hands and this role is more fit for a guy like DJ or Ira.

I think that he has the talent to be one of the best 6th men in basketball. He is a 2 but has the strength to play the 3 for small stretches.

I'm not ready to give up on Glover because he is the 4th best offensive player on the team and that's good considering the great offensive players we have.

[Guest]

Right now Dermarr needs to do more or Dion

needs to be kept.DJ showed some defensive

improvement throughtout the season.However

I expect 11PPG 4.5RPG 1blk 44% shooting from

him this season.If it fails to even give these

numbers I think it's proof that he is a bust.Granted

he was a 6th pick but with Big Dog/Shareef/JT/Theo/

Nazr/Dion you aren't going to average 15-20PPG.

[RLHawk]

That is not that good considering the talent we have.

GR/SAR/Jt are 3 steps above DG. They can all create their own shots and dominate at their position in games. They can all put the team on their back in any given game and carry it for long stretches.

DG has offensive skills. Everyone keeps saying that he is a good slasher/shooter. That is wrong!!!!! He is a good slasher/scorer. He is not a good shooter. His average is decent because of his slashing offense.

Watch a game where he misses his first 3 outside shots. He will then only score 5 pts int he game. He looses his confidence, aggresiveness, ball contol and his game goes in the toilet. I would not want him as my needed offense with his game today.

I do think he will make a good 6th man. (sparkplug type player). On his off games, you just don't depend on him. Let Ira get more minutes and play for a lower scoring game.

[chillzatl]

he definitely has to be considered an option. Last season I was as hard on Dion as ANYONE on this board. But I really feel he's got a very good shot at getting the spot. I always thought he could be a very very good defender and he even said once that he wanted to be the hawks "stopper". So he obviously cares aobut his D. Last year he just lost the will to play it and his offense suffered as a result. He's worked hard in the off season and tore it up in the summer leagues.

We've got three solid contenders for the spot and they all bring something a little different. Though none of them are so good at any paritcular thing to set them apart from the others.

If Ira has been working on his outside shot more, as rumored, and he's able to deliver from there, he'll win the spot. He is a very good shooter and good at getting to the basket, he just needs a bit more range. If he were even a moderate perimeter threat he'd have to be the choice. Physically he's built right for the position. Good wingspan, height and weight. He's built to match up with just about anyone at the 2 or 3 spots.

DJ needs to show that he can play top level D against NBA players. He's shown it in the summer leagues and on occasion last year, but not consistantly. He's shown the offensive range to give what the team needs out of the spot though. If his defense is there, he will take the spot. Physically he needs work. A good post playing 2 or 3 would put a hurtin on him.

DG is the dark horse. He's shown the ability and desire (his own words) to be the stopper on this team. He floundered last year in that respect. But I think he can still do it. Offensively he's the best of the bunch at the moment. He can shoot, drive and post. Though he could use a little more range on his shot. Physically he's very good. few guards could push him around and he's got the quickness to stay in front of guys. For Dion it's about desire though, not what he can do physically.

All of these guys have 1 thing that, if they improved it during the off season, would give them the edge over the other guys. You've got to like the odds that one of them will succeed in improving in the needed area though.

[Diesel]

Actually, Dion is a good scorer but the game changed on him. He is in the mold of J. R. Rider/Jordan... A SG with the strength to postup and use his strength to overpower his opponent. New rules make it impossible to play that game . So while guys like Wells changed with the flow and added an outside Shot to his repitoire, the Hawks tried to move DG to SF to play a garbage game like Marion. Unfortunately, moving DG to SF only made his offense more streaky because:

1. He wasn't strong enough to overpower most SFs like Thomas, Pierce, etc.

2. Lon's scheme calls for the SF to be an outside threat. (Toni, DJ, etc)

Defensively, he wasn't big enough to stop opposing Sfs. And while playing beside JTat SG of course he looked bad.

The mishandling of Dion is one of the reason I dislike Lon. He doesn't know how to make his offense around what he has... Instead he tries uselessly to make the players fit into the scheme of his offense. That's another reason why I am aware that JT is on the trading blocks. If JT can't play PG like Lon's offense calls for JT to play it or if DD does a better job, I bet that Lon will call for the trade of JT.

[Traceman]

block." That is simply not true. The team is NOT actively trying to trade JT. In fact, they have made it CLEAR that he is the PG they plan to go to battle with. Now if a team made an offer of a better player, particularly a PG, for JT of course the team would trade him. If Charlotte calls and offers BD for JT straight up, I'm pretty sure the deal would get done.

Accusing Lon of mishandling Dion is a joke. Lon STARTED him last year and gave him every opportunity to succeed. In fact, Dion was no worse than the 3rd option on offense at the start of last season. It's not Lon's fault that Dion couldn't guard a 3rd grader or stay healthy last year. At any rate, Lon did a HELL of a lot more for Dion's development than Lenny ever did. Lenny wouldn't even play him after the season was lost until Pete ORDERED him to do it.

As for DD, if he does a better job of running the team and if the team has more success with him at PG than it does with JT there, then DD SHOULD be the PG. I can't imagine that happening but if it does, fine. At that point, the team could either look to move JT if they got a good offer or he could become our 6th man and one hell of a 6th man he would be!

[Guest Walter]

NO!

He needs the ball too often and too long to be effective offensively (though he can be very effective, thus his role in the 2nd unit), his defensive intensity is lacking, and the team needs a perimeter defender who can get his points efficiently.

W

[Guest Walter]

And I hope the forum gets sick and tired of Diesel just pulling [censored] out of his a** like "JT is on the trading blocks".

Yawn.

W

[Iman]

I think that if our starting 5 work well together and Dion sees that he wouldnt get the ball enough as a starter anyways, then maybe Dion will decide to stud out from the bench. We've all seen Dion dominate at times, especially against lower competition levels. Maybe Dion will catch some good matchups early in the year off the bench and grow into enjoying that role, maybe even with it being in the back of his mind that if he looks good enough maybe he'll be traded and then get to start for someone else. Either way I guess I'm pretty much with Moonknight now and wouldn't at all mind seeing Dion's trade value increased to get us a lottery pick or better yet some BIG backup center!

[Nique21]

RL Hawk makes some good points on Dion. Glover is a slasher and he is really the only one on the team as I see as a slasher. I like that part of his game. Another thing is when the other team gets off kiltered a little bit, it seems like Dion is running, jumping, stealing, and dunking all over the other team. He has ways of changing the tempo of the game. He is young and althetic and gives us some energy off the bench. I just hope his injury problems are behind him. This has plagued him since his Georgia Tech Days.

[Diesel]

In reply to:

---

You Are NOT "Aware Of JT Being On The Trading block." That is simply not true. The team is NOT actively trying to trade JT.

---

A couple of months ago it was leaked that JT was involved in a deal for Spree. Our drafting of DD is very suspicious. Like I have said a million times. If DD shows that he can run this offense better than JT as a PG, I wouldn't be surprised to see JT traded.

In reply to:

---

At any rate, Lon did a HELL of a lot more for Dion's development than Lenny ever did. Lenny wouldn't even play him after the season was lost until Pete ORDERED him to do it.

---

First off the question isn't Lon vs. Lenny it's LOn. Secondly, Dion was not healthy while Lenny was here. He had ACL/MCL tear for most of the season. When he finally got back in Feb, Lenny did play him.

In reply to:

---

It's not Lon's fault that Dion couldn't guard a 3rd grader or stay healthy last year.

---

If that Third Grader is 6'9 234 pounds and his name is any of the starting SFs in the league then it is LON's fault. Lon sets the matchups. Playing Dion as a SF takes him away from his strengths both offensively and defensively. Dion is 6'6". He doesn't fair well gaurding Sfs. Yet, Lon would rather Dion play there and JT play at SG. That's why we were horrible on defense. Lon's insistance to play JT out of place caused a DOMINO effect on the rest of the team.

Watch the Dominos fall.

JT @ Sg.

Dion @ Sf because he cannot play Sg anymore. Dion is not big enough to play SF. SFs shoot over him.

Email @ PG.

What the ? Email had to play PG because somebody had to cover for JT at SG.

Then Email gets hurt.

BK @ PG.

At this point we Suck defensively. We have both BK and JT in the game at the same time.

The one time we played well last season we had:

Newble @ SF, DJ @ SG, JT @ PG. A lot of credit was given to Newble.. However, I think the truth is that moving JT from SG to PG and playing DJ was more of a factor than Newble. Newble is a good one on one defender but the overall team defense was improved because we no longer took a loss with JT at SG.

[Diesel]

Jealousy becomes you.

Seriously Dion has shown more as a collegiate than now. He shows more when played consistently at Sg than he does in Lon's topsy turvey system.

Like I said before, maybe the best thing is for Dion to go elsewhere and shine because guys like you will never believe that Lon is ruining him.... But Lon is ruining him.

As for your jealous remarks about me? Check the stats.... I'm probably the MOST read Poster here. And I thank you and the rest of my fans... I can go away for months and still come back and post something more interesting and thought provoking than you could ever do Walter. You like the [censored] I pull out of my a**. So my advice is ... Don't hate.

[Jester]

In spite of this post by DIesel, all the posts here about DG were thought provoking and very well thought out and written. I enjoyed reading them all. This is a forum and no one here is getting paid by the NBA because they have a talent that would pay money. All we do is watch games and form opinions about the team or player and we don't have the insight that Pete, Lon or anyone else in the organization has. In spite of it all, I enjoy the reading and give thought to your opinions - because it is not just one person looking at something from just his point of view - and then form my own. BTW, I never lost faith in DG because he always reminded me - a little - of Dominique when he played. Now that DJ may be out because of today's car accident in downtown ATL, DG may be starting at OG and have a chance to show that his playing in the Summer League was no fluke. PEACE 10-4.

[Guest]

If DJ's truly hurt/ can't play, I think you'll see Ira start at the 2 for defensive purposes, hustle, and garbage points. The fact that Dion can be, when healthy, instant offense, off the bench only strengthens his role as 6th man.

Everyone knows we'll be able to score with Terry/GR/SAR on the floor - Ira's defensive tenacity, combined with Theo's, will surely help balance us at both ends.

While only slightly elevated at the time, I'm not breathing a HUGE sigh of relief that we signed Ira...it'd be a lot more dire had we not.

[Guest]

Diesel why didn't we trade for Stackhouse?

He's only 27/big SG/slasher/passer and can

play the two and three.....Detroit won games

with a PG so why if Babs wanted to trade JT

why not trade JT for Stackhouse?

I can understand Spree due to age and stuff...

But Stackhouse is a better passer and a better

player at this point in his career.

It doesn't make much sense.

[Diesel]

I really like Dion but I hate that he will get his opportunity because of an accident to DJ. I like Dj too. I hope Dion makes the most of this opportunity and I really hope Lon doesn't get it in his mind that the only way to go is JT at SG or Email at SG.

In fact, we need to get a BU Sg if DJ is to miss the whole season. I suggest Chris Carr. He had a good summer workout with us. He's a pretty good three point shooter and would provide something different while Glover is on the bench.

But you're right. This is Glover's opportunity (unfortunately).

[Guest Walter]

The supposed "leak" of a trade of Spree for JT was from a desperate NY reporter and talks for JT P-E-R-I-O-D were denied by the Hawks, Lenny never played DG (and had cut Lo's and JT's MPG EACH by over 50% in favor of a FA named Bimbo) until a necessary but embarrassing public front office M-A-N-D-A-T-E stopped him from playing only players over the age of 28, Dion was playing much more BU 2 guard for the last 60 games WHEN he lacked any an all defensive intensity!

W