Hawks doubling on D

[exodus]

Haven't seen too much of this. They need to do it more often. They will probably miss the backside help occassionally until they get used to it.

They need to stop trying to play Lue and Salim together. The mini-me backcourt doesn't work.

[KB21]

Josh Smith is having a really crappy game. Sometimes he plays like he just isn't focused. It's games like this where he needs to catch some spinters in his butt, because he's playing stupid basketball right now. Two terrible turnovers early in the game, missing his rotations, taking bad shots...he's just not playing smart basketball.

Marvin Williams is hot tonight though. He's got 7 points in 9 minutes. He should be on the court more.

[exodus]

Smith has been struggling on offense for awhile. In fact ever since his coach forgot to put him back in the Boston game he has been in a shooting slump and making some dumb plays.

[KB21]

Now that was a great play by Josh. Way to stay with the play and get the block.

[exodus]

They make so many dumb turnovers it is painful to watch sometimes.

At least they are playing with some effort. Josh's block started a nice run.

[exodus]

Can't remember them getting that many steals in a game.

Marvin's best game so far this year, scoring well in a winnable game.

[KB21]

I think it has a lot to do with his experience in the league, but this guy paces the Hawks when he's on the court. He's a crappy defensive player, but he seems to give these young Hawks a steadying influence when he's on the court.

[exodus]

They were down 11 in the 3rd to a good team and shut them down, stepped it up offensively and won going away. They have made only 3 three pointers.

JJ had his best game in awhile.

How about my boy tonight? haha

[dalamchops]

pacers is not that great of a team w/o artest... they r starting anthofrickingny johnson

[warcore]

yea props to marvin shooting 100% and doing everything right.

did anyone watching the game notice that the "go together like peanut butter and jelly" was marv and jj this time....not al and jj.

marvin is developing and we gotta make room for him. and plus, seeing indiana get so many offensive boards made me really want a big man to change that.

[TheDude]

marvin's production per minutes played looks really good...can't watch the game, only going by stats...he's definitely getting better through the season..i think it has to do with a little more aggressiveness and also getting a feel for the talent on this level..

start him i tell ya...al's got to go for big man help.

[unknownjdb]

What kind of package could we get from Seattle for Harrington? I saw today on RealGM that Reggie Evans' agent asked for a trade. I don't get to see them (Seattle) play much, but his rebounding stats look pretty nice for his play time.

Oh, and Congratulations Hawks on a great win!

[thesheedera]

Marvin had a good game, but no need to bring him along too quickly. Selfishly I'd love to see him in there 30 minutes/game, but our depth at the 3 and 4 (technically I guess) is letting him develop at a good pace. While Al is not great defensively, he's our most consistent and best player we have right now. Having a guy like him around can only help a kid like Marvin.

Marvin's not ready to be a starter in the NBA. I guess you could throw him to the wolves, but if we're invested in him long term, I think a more patient approach is best.

Al's helped us get the wins we're getting, without him we'd be even worse. The more we win, the better the environment for young players. Trading Al puts more pressure on Marvin, Childress and Smith, and probably means more losses. They don't need that burden yet.

Keep Al as long as we can, unless we can get a true big man or point guard, who can get us more wins than Al can.

[Lascar78]

yeah if I hadn't seen the rest of the season and focused on this game alone, I might actually think Woody was a good coach. We seemed like a different team. Coming out of a timeout, we actually ran a clever play, executed it well, and got a layup! We trapped without giving up easy uncontested jumpers to other players! We had a foul to give, and used it appropriately at the end of a quarter! I saw players not only move, but RUN without the ball on offense.

Other than Smith looking like he didn't even want to be in this game, this was a great game. Good effort by Childress and Marvin, solid leadership from JJ and Al. Good shooting by Lue (after turning it over 2 secs after he came in), he was feeling it and kept on firing it.

The only other negative was our rebounding. They seemed to own us there (although I haven't looked at a box score).

Anyhow, great win despite another puny crowd

[emeans]

Yeah the more I look at this team the more I think you better not mess with this team AT ALL.

I don't think we should even consider trading anyone right now, not even Al. The chemistry is too delicate right now to mess with. They are learning together and growing together.

We need to concentrate on adding a 2 veterans in the offseason to this team as it stands right now.

Although Al has frustrated me on numerous occasions, I do have the sensibility and onsite to know that we wouldn't win 10 games without him. He is our veteran and he is still a kid in terms of NBA veteranship. All of these guys are just young and that is why we lose so many games. They haven't gotten the cerrebral part of the game down and the only thing that is going to grow that is experience and chemistry and the ADDITION of 2 more veterans in the offseason.

I wouldn't touch this team right now!!! The potential is right there, with a few more veterans (preferably big men) this team is going to be a very nice squad.

[KB21]

I agree. The Hawks need to continue to allow Marvin to find his comfort level. When the time comes for Marvin to become a starter, everyone will know it. He is building his confidence with a great month of January on a per minute basis.

He's also getting much better defensively. He's one of the few players we have that defend the pick and roll correctly.

I think when the time comes, Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson will be a great combo and a fabulous foundation for the Hawks to build from.

I hope they resign Al Harrington, because it looks to me that Marvin will soon pass Josh Smith in the readiness department. Keep Al around until Josh grows into his power forward position.

[SmooveTheFuture]

Quote:

---

I agree. The Hawks need to continue to allow Marvin to find his comfort level. When the time comes for Marvin to become a starter, everyone will know it. He is building his confidence with a great month of January on a per minute basis.

He's also getting much better defensively. He's one of the few players we have that defend the pick and roll correctly.

I think when the time comes, Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson will be a great combo and a fabulous foundation for the Hawks to build from.

I hope they resign Al Harrington, because it looks to me that Marvin will soon pass Josh Smith in the readiness

department. Keep Al around until Josh grows into his power forward position.

---

Wat is this what have you done for me lately crap. Where you were when Josh Smith was playing awesome and got benched for no reason. Now that hes playing bad people are saying hes not ready to play. Marvin is playing well but he wasnt playing like this earlier. Josh Smith had a stretch where he was playing good then the coach benched which made no sense. He was 0-4 for 2night its not that the end of the world everyone has bad games. Hes not given an oppturnity every night to show what he can do. All young players have growing pains. As bad as some of you think he is hes still the teams best shot blocker and one of the better rebounders. His offense game will come when given more of a chance.

[Packfill]

Always seems like the Hawks play their best when Woodson is under the most pressure. I don't get it. Nice win though.

Maybe this means Woodson will be a great playoff coach.

[warcore]

yea about smoove, i was actually please with his effort. sure his offense was crap tonight but his defense helped a lot

both of his blocks translated into fast break points for us, one was the jj three. he also altered many shots, o'neal didnt dominate as bad as he did last time.

[Spiral]

Smoove is my favorite player on the team too, but he's been playing like dookie lately. His shot hasn't fallen, he's made some bad passes and really looks lost at times. In this next off-season, I believe he should work on his game from the inside out. He misses alot of shots around the basket unless it's a dunk. He really needs to learn to finish a lay-up. Tonight, he missed a very easy put back, and he didn't miss it by a little bit either. Does this mean that we should just bench him? Of course not. But in my opinion, Woody is quite justified playing him around 20 miuntes a game until he gets out of the slump.