Hawks should beat the Suns.

[Diesel]

It's not a question of Matchups per se.

It's depth.

IF Lon knows anything about Coaching, he should be able to throw in Hendu, Glover at the right times and cause big problems for Phoenix.

These are Diesel's points:

1. Feed the Big Dog

Big Dog's game really difficult for most defenders to stop. Mainly because he doesn't need to post up or to set up to beat you. He can score off the dribble, in the post, standstill jumpers, etc. However, the key way is moving with the ball. He's not fast but he's competent.

2. Theo, Stay out of foul trouble.

The Suns don't really have a lot of perimeter shooters. IN fact, most of their points (i would venture to say) come from layins. WIth that in mind, Theo should be able to force them into a shooters game. Advantage always go to the defensive team (unless you're playing Boston or Sactown). However if Theo and Hendu can control what happens down low, we should force them into some hard shots.

3. Give it to Reef in the Low Post

Big Dog is causing Reef all kinds of openness. Let Reef work down low is what I say. Googs has always been a horrid defender in the low post. His only good yrs were in Minn when KG had his back. Reef has so many low post moves, that I don't see Googs being able to stop him.

THE Minnesota Wrecking Crew

Neither are from Minn, but Hendu and da Glove are our own wrecking crew. They seriously change the game when they come in because....

1. Glover's game is more explosive than Newbles.

2. Hendu works hard.

I see Hendu and Glover as the blue collar guys on the team. They come in like Heywood Workman and Dale Davis use to for INdy.

I don't think we need more than defense from JT. JT has to keep Marbury in check. Marbury will score and it would be great if JT can get Marbury to think less of his teammates. Marbury getting a load of assists will hurt us.

Finallly

Less turnovers. Either by actual turnovers or by fouls, charges, etc.

BTW, Lon should be smart and switch Newble off on Matrix on defense.... GRob vs. Penny = ?

[jaywalker72]

I love that the offense goes through the Big Dog....It seems to set everything in motion and there almost always seems to be a good shot coming from it...

I agree with playing Dion more, especially after he played so well last night (and here I agree with Trace) even though he did not look 100% recovered from his twisted ankle.

Having Theo only play 16 minutes might be a boon to us tonight, as the Suns seem to have few perimeter scorers which plays into Theo's hands....

[Traceman]

I don't know if Hendu will be as effective because he will have some tough matchups with Stoudemire and Outlaw off the bench but I don't think the Suns have an answer for Glover. Johnson is not strong enough and Penny is not quick enough anymore to hang with DG. I won't be surprised to see the Suns play a lot of zone tonight in an effort to force us to beat them from the perimeter because they know that we have a tremendous advantage in the frontcourt and the zone will limit Glover's penetration opportunuties. If Big Dog and JT are on though, they are in for a long night.

I agree with your point about turnovers. In fact, up to this point in the season, that is the only real gripe I have. We MUST take better care of the ball and eliminate the needless turnovers. JT and DD both made turnovers last night that were the result of poor fundamentals. What happened to the two handed chest pass or bounce pass? I think JT would be a much better passer if he would pass the ball with two hands most of the time. Same goes for DD. The other guys need to quit trying to be PGs and give the ball up in transition. I think we will improve in the TO arena but it seems like we don't value the ball enough.

[BillShanks]

knowing we CAN win.

I anticipate games with a lot more energy that I have in the past. I simply can't wait for the games. Knowing that we have a scorer like BIG DAWG and have multiple scoring options, along with the fact that we have a defensive presence in the middle in Theo Ratliff.....

Well let's just say it's fun to be a Hawks fan right now.

I've preached all summer about how strong our bench was going to be AS long as we stayed healthy. Just think of how much more effective we'd be if Nazr was available. Right now, we have two players in Dion and Hendu who have the ability to start and be productive players. But they are coming off our bench, and that's only going to make us stronger as the season goes along.

Can we come back home with a five and three record? That would be great. This would mean we'd have to beat the Suns and Jazz, which is very possible. The Kings game will be tough and if Shaq comes back next Tuesday, well.....we'll see.

If we did come back 5-3, I really think we'd have a chance at finishing the month of November with over 10 wins. Look at who we have after we get back from the west coast trip:

Hornets*

Raptors*

T'Wolves*

Celtics

Celtics*

Sonics*

Hornets

Heat*

Magic

If we split with the Celtics and Hornets, that would be 7-5. Then looking at the home games remaining (Raptors, T'Wolves, Sonics, Heat) I think we can win three of those games but we are NOW good enough to win all four.

That would be 10-6 going into the Magic game on the last day of the month. That could be a toss up.

I think 10 wins in the first month of the season would be a huge step in the right direction. But I'm just glad it's not unrealistic to be talking about such a good month!

[Diesel]

Actually, if we remain healthy,

We have a better team than most of the NBA... So 7-5 should be a record we never see. However, if we stay healthy (and get more healthy with Nazr), I think our 5th loss shouldn't come to mid January. We can actually be a 50-60 win team this yr, but we must stay healthy. I looked over our opponents in the East and West. The only teams in the East that discourages me are:

1. New Orleans.

2. New Jersey.

And actually, I think we're better than NJ.

I think that Washington, Indy, and Miami will give us tough games but we should likewise out play them.

IN the West, there's LAL, Sactown, San Antonio, and Dallas. I think we can beat Sac town... But San Antonio will be a serious problem for us. LAL also will be an interesting matchup. NBA champs, but this time around, I believe we can beat them.

So in summary, I think we can go 5-0 this road trip if we stay composed. Sac-Town lacks defense, the Lakers haven't been looking too good and with Shaq on the way, Chemistry will be different. Kobe just might melt down on his own if the press keeps picking at him.

[Guest]

The Spurs will be a tough challege for us...But

New Jersey is a better than than the Spurs are.

They are old and Ginobili looks overhyped so

far....Rose is the one player on their team that

will hit us hard when we play the Spurs.

Sactown would be a winnable game at home..but

in Sac we will lose and also lose to the Lakers.

You are right about New Jersey and the Hornets

they are a problem.

[Traceman]

You see us at 33-5 on 1/15? We only won 33 games all of last year and you see us winning 33 by January 15? That would put us on pace to win close to 70 games! I like the optimism but it's not very realistic. If we finish November with an 11-6 record, I will be MORE than happy with that and that is a much more realistic goal.

D, you really crack me up. On one day, you are trying to trade Theo for two role players and then the very next day, you say the team AS IS should only have 5 losses by mid January. That's crazy! I don't think ANY team will have only 5 losses by mid January and if you think we're that good, why would you want to mess with the roster?

[Diesel]

I preferenced everything I said about the Hawks by saying, IF WE REMAIN HEALTHY?

I still don't trust Theo's health. CC's, Glover's, or Hendu's for that matter.

However, with the pieces, we have, we are the second most complete team in the East. (Following NJ) and tied with Charlotte. And we are one of the deepest teams overally.

I expect us to have hard games against:

Cleveland, Washington, Orlando, Detroit, and Boston... But we should be able to beat all those teams too.

ONLY if we remain healthy.

33 -5.. Maybe a little too much... We will have some injuries...

Give me 29-9.

I bet in January, we can easily be 29-9. If we remain moderately healthy.

[SoaringHigh21]

Hawks should win this, guarding Starbury is a tough task to ask from Jason Terry but at the very least Jason should match him in scoring. We just over power Phoenix in the front court. Theo should be able to make his presence known, and they'll have no choice but to double team Shareef. Pick your poison.

[Inside_Man]

This one's big tonight - second night of a back-to-back on a west coast road trip no less against a team that's better than then one we played last night.

Yes we can do it, and the bench led by hendu/dion will be key. i had this game penciled in as a W for my 7-3 start!!

[Traceman]

We can't expext Reef to play that many minutes with a bad back on the 2nd night of a back to back and be effective down the stretch. We can't expect JT to break the press by himself and then have anything left at the end if he has to play 39 minutes. The bench was so bad that Lon had to bring JT and Reef back early in the 4th and they ran out of gas at the end. I hope we see a lot more nights from the bench like we did against Denver and I think we will.