Why all the hate for Al?

[Packfill]

I don't understand most of you guys. You constantly hate on Al. Is Al a superstar? No. But, he is a very solid player. He plays hard, average 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game. Those are good numbers for a small forward! (and don't give me the crap about the power forward stuff, we know he is a small forward who is frequently placed at power forward by a bad coach). His numbers are substantially similar to JJ's (just revers rebounds and assists) who everyone loves.

Yes his defense is less then stellar, but if the Hawks had a competent head coach he would place Al more on the perimeter on defense rather then matching him up inside with bigger players.

Now, I am not advocating that he be resigned necessarily because of the glut of small forwards on the team, but he is a sold player who when used correctly can help a team win. No he does not deserve a max contract or really anything close to that, but for $7-9 million in todays NBA he is a nice player to have.

Most of you have such a love/hate relationship with Hawks players. You love a guy initally based on potential then hate him if he doesn't become a "superstar." This has happened with JT, SAR, Antoine, Al, Alan Henderson, Lorenzen Wright, etc.

[Plainview1981]

Al is wildly inconsistant... What did he have the last game? 34 points and 11 rebounds was it? Now he follows up with this effort. He isn't dependable.

[Packfill]

Outside of the true superstars do you expect someone to get 34 ponts a night? Again, I am not advocating that Al is a superstar or anything akin to that, just that he is a solid NBA player.

19/7/3 for a small forward who is the second offensive option on a team is not bad.

[DJlaysitup]

Al is the 2nd best player on our team. Therefore we must get rid of him to get more playing time for a kid who hasn't proven anything. This team will likely do that and will likely have about the same record or worse next year (IMHO)

[Final_quest]

Yeah, he's a solid player, and some fool of a GM is gonna pay him over $10 million/year.

[Johnnybravo4]

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Al is the 2nd best player on our team. Therefore we must get rid of him to get more playing time for a kid who hasn't proven anything. This team will likely do that and will likely have about the same record or worse next year (IMHO)

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You are right he hasn't proven anything, but Al has proven time and time again that he is not clutch so I'll take my chances with the new guy.

[Plainview1981]

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Outside of the true superstars do you expect someone to get 34 ponts a night? Again, I am not advocating that Al is a superstar or anything akin to that, just that he is a solid NBA player.

19/7/3 for a small forward who is the second offensive option on a team is not bad.

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A second offensive option on a bad team I might add. He needs to go back to the role he had with Indy... He really isn't good enough to be playing more than 30MPG because he tends to be a ballhog AND a terrible defensive player.

No, nobody expects 34PPG from him... But he isn't a consistant player.

[Packfill]

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Al is the 2nd best player on our team. Therefore we must get rid of him to get more playing time for a kid who hasn't proven anything. This team will likely do that and will likely have about the same record or worse next year (IMHO)

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You are right he hasn't proven anything, but Al has proven time and time again that he is not clutch so I'll take my chances with the new guy.

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Inevitably, if JJ, Marvin or Smoove don't improve to expectations then you and the rest of the crew will be hating them as well.

[chillzatl]

becuase many people think that he should be better than he is. Despite the fact that there are probably only 20-25 players in the entire league that are better than him. Because he's simply good and not great, means that we, one of the five worst teams in the league, can do better.

With that said, I put myself among those that think that Marvin (or smooth) could come close to matching his production next year. He's not going to be a 19ppg guy next year or anything. But 14-15ppg with better rebounding and better defense will have as big an impact for us if not bigger, than Al has had this season.

I personally don't think Al was destined to be here long term. My theory is that Marvin was signed for that very reason.

[exodus]

When a guy getting paid millions can't be bothered to raise his hands over his head when someone is shooting a layup in his face I have a major problem with him.

And it isn't just his man d that sucks. He misses or is late on rotations all the time. The slo-mo replays of opponents layups exposes his total lack of team d. He just won't help.

His effort on D is about half what it is on offense, and that is why I want him gone.

[CrawDaddy]

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becuase many people think that he should be better than he is. Despite the fact that there are probably only 20-25 players in the entire league that are better than him. Because he's simply good and not great, means that we, one of the five worst teams in the league, can do better.

With that said, I put myself among those that think that Marvin (or smooth) could come close to matching his production next year. He's not going to be a 19ppg guy next year or anything. But 14-15ppg with better rebounding and better defense will have as big an impact for us if not bigger, than Al has had this season.

I personally don't think Al was destined to be here long term. My theory is that Marvin was signed for that very reason.

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Well put. Bottom line is that Al is not a needed piece in the team we are trying to put together.

[DJlaysitup]

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When a guy getting paid millions can't be bothered to raise his hands over his head when someone is shooting a layup in his face I have a major problem with him.

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Now we're talking about Zaza, Marvin? Sadly, that quote applies to more than one Hawk.

[exodus]

That doesn't even remotely apply to Marvin. Marvin will either challenge the shot or give a hard foul.

And Zaza at least tries to challenge shots, he just doesn't do it well because he can't jump. I am not a fan of Zaza at all but no way is he as lazy on D as Al.

[DJlaysitup]

Are you serious? Marvin challenges very few shots. He and Zaza are usually backing out of the paint as the finger roll drops in for the other team. The only big playing any kind of defense on this team is JS.

[exodus]

You seriously need to pay attention. Marvin challenges shots all the time. Or he just drills them and puts them on the line.

Al doesn't challenge shots at all. He has a grand total of 9 blocks on the year. That is absolutely pathetic for a starting 4 playing big minutes. I would bet there isn't a starting forward in the league that blocks fewer shots per game than Al.

[Diesel]

I don't know what Luefan is watching. Maybe he's watching to see what color suit Lue has on.. But Marvin is not defensive. In fact, Marvin is a foul magnet. If there's a play with a stupid foul involved, it's normally Marvin.

Al is not as bad a Lue fan says also. If you watch the games, you will notice that a lot of times we play a zone with Al on the top.... Luefan doesn't know this because he doesn't watch. Al does a decent job of guarding on the perimeter and using his hands to swipe balls.

[Diesel]

You don't have to block shots to be a good defender.

Hell, Juwaun Howard is a good defender and he doesn't get too many blocks.

defense is about moving your feet, effort and position.

[exodus]

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defense is about moving your feet, effort and position.

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Al doesn't do that either.

And while blocking shots doesn't make a player a good defender, BLOCKING ONLY .15 SHOTS PER GAME IN 37 MINUTES PER GAME IS PATHETIC.

[Lascar78]

I have 2 problems with Al

Problem #1 is that he can be a ball hog and a chucker. That problem seems to have largely gone away after the first couple of months of the season though.

Problem #2 is that he often doesn't try on D.

I can handle a guy with no skills, but guys who don't try piss me off.

That being said, I like Al, and I would be fine with him staying if he would sign a reasonable deal. Someone would need trading at some point, but oh well.

[DJlaysitup]

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...That being said, I like Al, and I would be fine with him staying if he would sign a reasonable deal. Someone would need trading at some point, but oh well.

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I wonder if the Hawks could get any takers on a package deal putting Salim and Zaza out there and seeing what they could get.

Reasoning: both are reasonably well thought of but both have physical deficiencies (height/athleticism) that will keep them from being upper half of the league starters at their positions.