Some other thoughts from the game...

[Diesel]

Kwame Brown is too Massive to be so sorry. He is a Chiseled 6'11". Can we trade Lue for him? I would just like to see if a different coaching scheme could help this kid.

The Lakers announcers had some funny moments. One was when they said: " If that had been a good pass, Kobe would have stolen it". The other was "Stoudamire, In Rhythm... Man that was a Brick". Also their expert diagnosis of Chillz shooting...

The Lakers announcers were also annoying. I couldn't believe that they dissected JJ the way they did. From the first second they talked about discontinued dribble, taking two steps before the dribble, everything. I was happy that JJ had 8 assist coming out of the first half.

We play much better with Ivey on the floor than with Salim. Period. Even when the Baby Hawks were on the floor (Salim, JC, JS, Batman, Marvin) it seemed like Salim just kept f-ing up the flow. He's either a turnover, a made shot, or a missed shot waiting to happen.

Kobe hit some incredible shots. The one from about 30 feet with the double clutch... I have to give him credit.. However, I think that this is the role Kobe wants. Superman with no help. I hope the Lakers miss the playoffs... COME ON KINGS!

Anybody noticed that most of the time, it was Al who broke the press? I guess not.

[Seano]

I feel it's highly obvious that Salim's future in this league is not as a PG, and probably not even as a starting player. He seems destined to be a 6th man, gunner-type shooter off the bench... which is fine. Every team would love to have one of those instant-offense type players. He just doesn't show the ability to direct the team, which is something that just seems to come naturally to Ivey.

[Admin]

I didnt think the announcers were annoying at all. They are far from the worst I have seen. They were correct about JJ, he does discontinue his dribble. However most PGs tend to travel a bit when they get the ball from the inbounds pass but that is never called either.

Yes Salim missed some shots, but he also hit some HUGE shots last night. Those 2 runners in the 4th quarter were massive for us. You cant forget that. He also hit that really long 3 with the clock winding down. I would much rather see Ivey in there, but I am definitely okay with Salim getting big minutes. The only problem is that he cant break a press to save his life. If we hadnt had Ivey last night we would have lost the game because everyone was getting ripped, even JJ.

[Diesel]

I really don't like Salim. He's not basketball smart. He's just that guy that's going to shoot everytime he gets it. I don't feel comfortable with him in the game when we have a lead because he will squander it with quick shots. I don't feel comfortable with him in the game when we're down because he's going to play outside the design of the offense. Right Now, I would see what teams would give for Salim because I don't like his style of play. I love the fact that he can hit the three, but at what cost??

I wonder if PTL would trade Steve Blake for Salim?

[Seano]

Quote:

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I really don't like Salim. He's not basketball smart. He's just that guy that's going to shoot everytime he gets it. I don't feel comfortable with him in the game when we have a lead because he will squander it with quick shots. I don't feel comfortable with him in the game when we're down because he's going to play outside the design of the offense. Right Now, I would see what teams would give for Salim because I don't like his style of play. I love the fact that he can hit the three, but at what cost??

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Well, none of those are fatal flaws in my opinion. All of them can be resolved with proper teaching and showing him how to play within the framework of the game- to not always be heaving up shots, to look to try and involve his teammates, to show patience and better awareness of what's happening on the court around him, all those things are correctable and teachable in my opinion.

He's still a very young player. It's proper for all of us to expect him to improve his game, and I believe he will.

[exodus]

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Anybody noticed that most of the time, it was Al who broke the press? I guess not.

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Al had 3 turnovers in the first half. Nice job.

[joannes3000]

I agree. With Salim's role of coming off the bench, I don't blame him for shooting a lot and shooting from long distance where I like his chances. That's what he's supposed to bring to the table for now, so as long as he's producing in that role I'm happy with it.

As far as development down the road, I also agree with Diesel that Salim leaves a lot to be desired in terms of a more team-oriented style of play.

[Spiral]

The key to the entire game to me was putting Royal Ivey back in the game in the 4th quarter. Salim was turning the ball over & JJ couldn't get through the press. We either turned the ball over or got it knocked out of bounds several times because of the press. Many times the shot clock was at 10 seconds or less before we even got into our offense. Ivey came in and stopped all that. He came and got the ball, then calmly brought it up the floor. If they tried to trap, he passed out of it. I felt JJ dropped his head and tried to dribble out of it. For a while, I felt the Hawks lack of a ball handeling point guard was going to bite us in the azz again.

[exodus]

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The key to the entire game to me was putting Royal Ivey

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I am really starting to wonder what Ivey has to do to get more minutes. It was such a relief to see him come back in at the end of the game.

If there is any Hawks who doesn't deserve the minutes he gets it is Salim.

[exodus]

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The key to the entire game to me was putting Royal Ivey

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I am really starting to wonder what Ivey has to do to get more minutes. It was such a relief to see him come back in at the end of the game.

If there is any Hawk (besides Al) who doesn't deserve the minutes he gets it is Salim.

[chillzatl]

Kwame is a bust. You claimed that getting him out of washington was all he needed. Heck even I thought that we'd see SOMETHING from him in L.A.. But now you're looking for another team to revive a career that never was. Face it, he's just not the player people thought he could be.

I'm indifferent on the Al vs. the world debates around here. If we can get something for him, we have to do it. But over the last 10 games or so, in which JJ has really started to find himself on this team and become the leader we hoped he would be, Al has seemingly shrank into the background more and more. He used to be the focal point of this offense. But it seems that JJ has clearly taken that role away from him, to the betterment of the team. JJ has, without a doubt, become our best player.

[Popeye]

Where are those guys who said Ivey Stinks he should go to the NBDL.

[Johnnybravo4]

Ivey had a good game...and he should be in the game when the defense runs the press. But like I said before Salim has the ability to get a 30 point game, which Ivey will never do ever. In reality it wasn't Salim's fault we didn't break the press at first because intitially we were inbounding the ball to JJ then to Al. At that point Salim was playing the 2.

[flava]

I thought they:

1) didn't take the Hawks seriously from the get go...

2) figured the Lakers would run away with the game after the initial Laker run...

3) discounted another players ability to have a career night against the Lakers (Smith)

4) spent the who second half, trying to "make amends" for all of the condescending comments during the first half (i.e. that announcer ridiculing childress' form when he dropped that three - may question at that point was "how may NBA threes have you hit Mr. Announcer?"...

flava

[Diesel]

Kwame is not as good as expected, but he has a lot of potential (still)...

I'm all for getting something for Al to. I just take exception to the people who say Al for a pick above 20 or Al for Watson. I mean these are some dumb a-- trades that we here day in and day Out. I would rather see if we can get somebody like Miller (either Andre or Brad), Swift, or some up and coming young guy... But please, not these has beens and bad contracts and contracts at the end point.