Glover vs. Ira.

[Diesel]

At this point, Email is really Cut material if we can get the right player. I say let's give Alvin Jones Jr. a Call. 7'0 265 shot blocker... Can't hurt.

But on to more pressing issues.

Ira vs. Dion.

Right now, Dion is the man of preseason. And for me preseason means a whole lot more than summerleague. Dion's scoring is good. Dion's Rebounding is good. Dion's defense is not bad. When the Big Dog gets back... The Dion/Ira fight should be over. With his speed and confidence, I don't see why Dion doesn't win the starter's role.

That is unless a trade is on the way? Did somebody say Spreewell?

Secondly, Alvin Jones Jr. He's available. Probably cheap. ANd he's a legit 7'0er.

Theo/Nazr/AJJ

SAR/Hendu

Big Dog/Ham/CC

Glover/Ira

JT/DD.

Has a nice ring to it? Right now, we have too much riding on this season to allow Theo or Hendu ruin it with their injuries.

BTW, what happens if Hendu goes down? Do we replace him with Theo as a BU? With this configuration, we can... Imagine:

Jones Jr/Theo/Ham/Ira/DD...

The Second squad is the Defensive type!!!

SwatCity!!!

[PoppaFritz]

I agree with you on the Dion subject, he just brings more to the table than Ira. I think in the long run Dion should and would be a great backup if the Hawks are going to eventually become a contender.

As for Alvin Jones, I'm not sold. He is a good shot blocker but this team could really use some veteran leadership. I think that's one area they could use help. I don't have anyone in mind but isn't there an unsigned veteran out there that could rebound, defend, and add some toughness and bulk in the middle?

[swolehawk2]

Email is CUT material now according to you...wait til DD has one of those 7 turnover games and can't stay on the floor u will be loving Email. Let's just see how ready DD is before we cut Davis.

[capstone21]

DG's offence is good as his preseason rebounding. WOuldn't you want that to come in with the second unit. I would. I like IRA with the first unit, we have enough scoring already with the big 3 and then when someone sits incomes Dion to keep the flow of the game going. Ira can sit or move to the small forward position then.

I think we need a high scoring 6th man and some perimiter defence with the starting unit thus

Theo

SAR

Dog

Ira

JT

DG - 6th man

I think that will make us a better team then throwing all of our scoring in the starting lineup and basically having all of the role players sitting. You need a good balance to your lineup and substitutions. This is a much better balance if you ask me.

[chillzatl]

I love the way DG has came out in the summer leagues. He could have easily pouted his way off this team (as some writers would have had us believe last season). But he came out and so far has played with confidence, if you can judge such a thing from boxscores. As it has been said many times though, the position will not be won with offense. The player with the best defense will get it, and rightly so. I think that will be Ira. BUT, that isn't a bad thing! I think Dions confidence will be just as high if he's coming off the bench. Maybe even higher. He has said that he's ready and willing to do whatever they ask of him. I think if they give him the minutes (ie. show some confidence in him), he'll come out and get it done. Besides, we need someone in the backcourt who can come off the bench and draw the other teams focus a little. If we can get a consistant 10-14 out of Dion, off the bench, we'll win a LOT of games.

[Traceman]

I think we're going to be okay with either guy starting. I agree 100% with your logic but at the same time, I think Glove has the potential to be much more than a solid role player as a starter. If Dion starts, I won't be surprised at all to see all 5 starters average double figures.

In addition, I think that Ira's mentality will allow him to be very productive off the bench but I'm not so sure about Dion. Dion's game could be perfect for a 6th man role but can he handle it mentally? I'm afraid that if Ira starts, Dion will see it as the coaches being disappointed in him rather than seeing it as Ira wining the job. That may not be the case at all but with young guys, you have to deal with the fragile egos.

I share your concern that if Dion starts, who will be our spark plug off the bench but I think that most of that can be mitigated by keeping 2 of the 5 starters on the floor at all times. If Dion does start, I think Nazr, Hendu, DD and hoepfully CC will all be asked to provide some scoring punch off the bench.

The bottom line for me is that I'm all for letting them settle it on the court. Whoever plays the best with the first unit should win the starting job.

[Armond]

The Sixers are thinner then the Hawks up front and they cut Alvan Jones. This should tell you something. Jones has good size but is too slow.

The way DD has played the last couple of games I think Email could get lots of minutes!

Spreewell?! That's funny.

[Traceman]

If we were still in rebuilding mode I would have no problem sending E Mail packing but he can help us win games right now. Even if DD does play well on some nights, he is not ready to shoulder full time backup PG responsibilities and God forbid something should happen to JT for even a few games.

You have to have 3 guys on the roster who can play some PG. If we sign, Jones, cut E-Mail and JT gets hurt, who backs up DD? Glover?

[Guest]

I couldn't agree more.

[Iman]

I was for starting DJ for his confidence/development and to spread the floor. I still felt Ira would average as many if not more minutes per game than DJ would even if he didnt start. To me Dion is different. I think his game somehow always dominates when around NBA second stringers but unless he's on he can struggle around top notch talent. That's why I'd bring him off the bench, I think it gets him more of the matchups he needs to flourish. Maybe as Dion develops more consistency he'll be more starter material. For now I'd put defense on the floor to protect our big three and then ride their offense as far as it takes us.

Btw, even though Dion's stats may seem to beat Ira's in preseason, I'd bet that season ticket playoff bonus thing that Ira is shutting Dion down when he's on him in practice. I wonder if that was the matchup in the recent local scrimmage game?..anyone know? I luv Dion's skills but he seems to only wear out certain players, I'd bet Ira's not one of them.

[Guest Walter]

What the TEAM needs more (than anything) is (perimeter) defense amongst the starting unit and (instant) offense coming off the bench. Newble fits the first bill to a "T" (and can score his points - and not pout - as the fifth option of the starting offense) and Dion the second. Really, at the start of the season, barring injury, both should see about equal time with their relative effectiveness in said individual role and ability to take on other responsibilities as needed determining their amount of PT (if not title as BU or starter) as the season progresses.

W

[PoppaFritz]

I just compared Dion and Ira's stats from last year at nba.com and I found something a little concerning. Both players are poor perimeter shooters. When you are the 4th-5th option on the floor it is very important to be able to knock down the open jumper. They are going to be the player most likely to be open when teams double team and from what I've seen both players struggle from the outside. If one of them can step up and start knocking down shots, thats going to make everyones job easier.

[Guest]

Dion was shooting well for abotu the first month

and half then he start trailing off.

[PoppaFritz]

He must have been awful after the first 1 1/2 months, because .421 FG% isn't what you are looking for from a slasher/finisher. The 3pt% .330 is ok but not enough to stop teams from leaving him and these are his career highs!

[Iman]

I remember he was shooting around 50% from the field and well over 40% on threes when he went into his slide.

[Guest]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/splits?statsId=3343

He had a good month of November then he trailed

off.In my opinion he was injured early in the season

and he slowed down every month even more.I think

he was hurt WAY before we found out about it.

[capstone21]

Big Dog and JT are our perimeter players. Ira will get the garbage points. We don't need his offence anyway, we need his D with these 4 starters.

[Diesel]

Cmon Swole.

What is there to love about Email?

The way he slows up the offense or the way he continuously chucks up three pointers. I would cut Email and pick up Mark Jackson as Player/Assistant coach if I could.

[Diesel]

I agree Trace.

Dion has definitely shown lots of improvement. Dion has the potential to have a breakout season on both ends of the court. Do you reward him with a seat on the bench and the label 6th man? I think it will be hard to take for him to show that he has the ability to be a starter but be forced to sit behind "the defensive specialist" because we have too much scoring on the first team?

I don't see anybody saying, let's sit JT to play Email more? I mean, Email is a good on ball defender on the perimeter and JT would score so much with the second squad.

[Guest]

Diesel,Mark Jackson signed with Utah......