Where will we be without JJ

[Nicholasp27]

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the fact both Chill and Smith numbers are down slightly this year.

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they are UP from their numbers when al was on the team last year

they are only slightly down from last year's overall because they got 20-30 games without al to go 15/7

if al is traded or injured for a long period of time, then their stats this year will be better than last year; even if he's not traded or injured they should still put up better stats than last year when the season is DONE

[Nicholasp27]

btw, the reason they won last night is party cause of woody

after they were lazy in the 2 losses, he took away their day off and worked their butts off and yelled at them for being lazy and needing to get back into shape

i think that affected how they played this game

[chillzatl]

are you really so naive and clueless that you think another coach is going to make a big difference in where we are right now? His players haven't tuned him out and they haven't stopped believing in what he's teaching them. After a slow start, one that should have been expected by everyone, they are playing near .500 ball. Did you really expect more?

[KB21]

I really don't think some of you understand the situation.

More harm than good would be done if Billy took the quick fix approach and built this team the wrong way. If we did what the Knicks are trying to do, our future would be blown.

Look at the Knicks. They have $125 million committed in payroll for next season and won't have any salary cap relief till 2009. Yet, they are attempting to blow that by trying to trade for Steve Francis, thinking that getting him will allow them to make a push for the playoffs. All you do is destroy your future by doing that.

Atlanta could take that approach, but what happens when it comes time to resign the young players on the team and you suddenly don't have the cap room because you foolishly traded for Steve Francis's $17 million contract? You lose those young players, and you go right back into the rebuilding situation, without being able to help yourself in free agency due to the contracts you have taken on and can't trade.

Winning now was never an option. Billy Knight stated that the day he took the job. This was not going to be a quick fix situation. All a quick fix will do is put us in the position the Knicks are in right now.

What situation would you rather be in right now? The Knicks, with no salary cap room, no tradeable contracts, and no high draft picks --> no chance to improve your team.

or would you rather be the Hawks who have salary cap room, have a glut of young players with high upsides, and have another high pick coming to them?

Take a look at what we had two seasons ago and what we have now, and please tell me how anyone could expect the team to make a quick turnaround.

[TAdams_1]

It is also partly because the Lakers are a mediocre team. I think we all give the too much credit. It makes me sick that Kobe scored 81 points in a game. What a selfish person he has proven to be over his career. I cannot think of a worse teammate.

[TAdams_1]

See my previous post. You haven't been in the convo. for an hour.

[Wretch]

There fans that change their moods with the winds. Most of the respectable posters around here don't do much of that. They usually stay on one side of the fence or make a well thought out change of heart if they switch.

I don't know who says what and when, but I know that most everyone in here wants this team to win; and they are always in here voicing their opinions one way or the other. More power to them.

Me...?

My stance has always been the same regardless of how much or how often I post. Chill and JJ are my favs, and have defended them on the merry-go-rounds forever. I wanted Chris Paul...but I'm happy with Marvin. We drafted too many swing players - Al's cool by me but I think he's the odd man out because of that. I trust BK, but I'm not a big fan of Woodson.

And I've been saying for months that this team is MUCH better than last years and we have definitely turned a corner in the rebuilding process.

[chillzatl]

Your understanding of how the NBA works is painfully obvious. You bitch that we started the season slow, after ending horribly last year. but you don't take the time to recognize or acknowledge that the starting lineup changed drastically from last year to this one. You also don't seem to have noticed that the biggest change in that lineup (jj) was playing a position and role that he had never played on the Pro level. Yet you expect that they should have just came out of the gate firing on all cylinders?..

Indinana sure didn't do a hell of a lot without Artest. Such a loaded team with such a great coach. Yet take Artest out of their rotation and they struggled to be a .500 team. You'd think that a team that was considered finals caliber and one with such "great coaching" wouldn't have been a complete disaster with one player missing. A big part of a coaches job is to keep his players focused, despite the distractions. Their great coach sure didn't do a very good job of that.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that Carlisle is bad by any stretch. But it goes to show that your idea of exactly what a coach can and can't do is completely wrong.

[chillzatl]

and I saw you back peddling on your woodson comments.

You had overblown expectations for this team and unrealistic ideals about what a coach can really do, for any team. It took a few posts for you to realise that. But you seem to have come back down to earth.

[TAdams_1]

There are plenty of teams that have screwed around for 10 years trying to get the right combination of young players. The Clippers didn't get good until they combined veterans with youth. Everyone knows I. Thomas is an idiot and the owner a bigger one for letting him destroy his bank account. The problem is where you spend so much time working the draft, your original draft prospects leave to get overpaid in NY. ha ha

In addition to the said problem above, if BK / MW doesn't produce a winning team in the next couple of years, the owners are going to go broke and then you are really going to have problems bringing in free agents.

?? I thought we were talking about MW anyway. I question his game coaching ability more than BK GM problems.

[TAdams_1]

I never backed up on MW being a good coach. I said I will try to be patient with him. This in no way indicates that I have seen his ability to get us to the playoffs.

[Duff_Man]

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It is also partly because the Lakers are a mediocre team. I think we all give the too much credit. It makes me sick that Kobe scored 81 points in a game. What a selfish person he has proven to be over his career. I cannot think of a worse teammate.

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I love how everyone praises Diaw and the Suns for winning in the West because it is soooo much better than the East, but when we go out West and beat a team that was over .500 , they become a "mediocre team".

They went out West, and won a game in which they had to come back and weather a lot of storms. Geez, enjoy it already.

[TAdams_1]

Yeah, what genius promised JJ to play the point guard position. Obviously, you were right on board. That shows you the baskeball basic understanding we are dealing with hear. Now that you reminded me of that idiotic comment, (from BK) I feel that I have made my point crystal clear.

[TAdams_1]

Let me clarify, the lakers are between awful and good. You don't really think they can compete with SA, Dallas and Phoenix do you?

[chillzatl]

Despite your poor attempts at grammer and humor, BK's vision of JJ as a PG seems to have been working out pretty well over the last month. JJ has assumed the primary ball handling duties that were envisioned for him and the team is playing an undeniably better brand of basketball. While JJ will never be a traditional PG, I seriously doubt that BK ever expected him to be that. But he has all the skill and ability to be the PG for the type of team BK looks to be building and the last month sure seems to back that up.

[TAdams_1]

That belief in itself will make ATL worse than it should be. Crazy schemes are for crazy people.

[Duff_Man]

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Let me clarify, the lakers are between awful and good. You don't really think they can compete with SA, Dallas and Phoenix do you?

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They are 2-2 vs Dallas this year. I think they are 0-1 vs SA, and 0-1 vs Phoenix, both on the road. We'll have to wait and see the future results to determine whether they can hang.

BUT, since we have beaten SA, DET, IND, LAL, I guess that makes us better than LA. Sweet!

What we need to recognize is that this is the type of game we would have folded and died in last year. The improvement in this team is remarkable. Have fun and enjoy a much needed road win!

[chillzatl]

There were as many people saying the same thing about the triangle and zone defenses in the NBA. But they seem to be working out pretty well.

[TAdams_1]

That is a whole different story. Point guards can make you or break you. I will say over time and I mean alot of time they might develop into a decent PG for example JT. We know how many years it took him years to develop running a team and he had to become a point guard or be put on the bench. He is too short for anything else.

[TAdams_1]

Enjoyed the debate. I gotta go.