Some of you are putting this on JT

[JTFan31]

And that is definitely not the problem. You might say I am being biased, but in reality alot of you know I'm not. JT is playing his heart out there night in & night out. The problem is Lon Kruger, yes Lon Kruger. His offensive plays are college level and thats the reason we are so stagnant on offense. You tell me that JT can't run a complicated offense and every other PG in this league can, even backups in this league can, but not JT right, thats BULL.......is that Krugers offensive plays are very basic and college level. Some of you say JT is not a truel PG? IMO he is a very da-mn good one, but this guys aren't neither considered true pg's: Shammond, Delk, Billups, Atkins, Snow, Troy Hudson, Bobby Jackson etc..and where are these players teams at now, right on top, WHY? because they all have a da-mn good coach...Yes they have the Pierce's, Walker's, Garnett's, Webber's.....and we have Big Dog and Reef, so there is no excuse because the talent is there.

We all very well know is Kruger, these teams have also new players, actually all of them do, and they arent struggling, because they all have great coaches. And thats the difference, Atlanta has a NBA level coach and we have a winnign record, bet on it.

[Guest]

1)JT doesn't play his heart out everynight.He

doesn't get around screens worth a [censored] on

defense.

2)It's part of EVERYBODIES fault besides Hendu

I give him credit for busting his a** everynight.

[JTFan31]

I have watched every Hawks game this season, and I have watched JT play his heart out in every game, he goes out and does everything he can to win, the ones that aren't are Big Dog and Reef and that is where a good coach comes in, thats where a real NBA level coach either benches his star players or gets on their a** for their mediocre performances. I dont see Kruger doing that in practices and in games, I dont see none of that happening.

In this league if you are a star player and getting paid the bucks, you bet be bringing it everynight, everynight freaking night and Reef nor Big Dog are doing that right now. I see very little intensity out there, I'm seeing some but it needs to be done for 48 minutes. That is not happening. IMO an NBA level coach is one that runs different offensive plays, different defenses, a motivator, and someone that knows how to adjust to different teams and guess what Lon does not do not even 1 of those.

[Admin]

Take fast breaks for example because this is one of the biggest areas where he struggles as a PG. How often do you see the Hawks have a successful break, compared to teams like Sac, NJ, Dal......etc? Every one of those teams has a PG that has a 6th sense to be able to find the right passing lane at the right moment which allows the recipient that maximum opportunity to score. JT just doesnt have that 6th sense. Its not that he isnt hustling or trying or doesnt have the heart, he just doesnt have the natural PG instincts. I am sure that he works very hard to get better, but there is a reason you never see amazing passes from our team.......JT is the only good passer we have and even he doesnt see the passing lanes like a pure PG does. I have mentioned Doug Christie as someone that would greatly help us out a few times.......I watch almost every Kings, Mavs, Nets games that I can with NBA League Pass because thats what real basketball looks like........and every night I see Christie or Nash or Kidd make passes that are just amazing. Beautiful bounce passes on the break that settle the recipient right into the scoring lane for an easy layup. However when we come down on the break JT either tries to score himself or we have some awkward exchange that ends up as a turnover or short outside jumper from Big Dog or Reef instead of a layup or dunk. Those types of plays really hurt us because the crowd only gets into the game on thunderous dunks and big blocks and short jumpers just dont excite anyone.

I was really wanting to hold off on joining the fire Lon crew, but I have seen enough in his 2+ seasons to see that he isnt improving one bit as an NBA coach. Its time to bring in an experienced coach, or look for some young assistant coach in the NBA (like Muss was) to hire. Our guys are veteran enough that they would understand that a change had to be made and I honestly think a change will be made, since the team does still have that playoff guarantee out there.

So, while I dont think that JT deserves any amnesty for his poor play (at times) this year, I do not put all of the blame on him. Each and every player is deserving of plenty of the blame, minus probably Hendu, like ARR said. I really believe that its going to take something major to shake this team up and its either going to be a trade or a coaching change and I really think its going to happen sooner rather than later.

[Traceman]

I'd add Ira to Hendu as the two guys who bring it every night. Other than that, ALL of the players have a tendency to play in spurts and that is simply not going to get it done. The problem is that neither Hendu nor Ira are really starting caliber NBA players. They should both be coming off the bench bringing energy when the team hits one of its all too frequent lack of intensity spells. I too think this team needs a major shakeup of some kind if its going to reach it's potential. That shakeup could come in the form of a lineup change, a trade or a new coach.

Obviously, the lineup change is the least disruptive of the choices and the easiest to implement. I think its time that Lon give Glover a chance to start. Ira is great and I love his effort but he is simply not a very good ballhandler, shooter or scorer. If he could do any of the 3, I think he would be fine as a starter but with JT's limitations at PG and with Big Dog's limitations as a ballhandler, I think we need a SG who ideally is in the Brent Barry / Doug Chrisite mold. Due to the fact that we don't have anyone with close to that skill set on our roster, I think giving Glover a chance to start might give this team a jump start. Glove is not a great ballhandler but he's a better ballhandler than Ira and having him in the lineup does force the D to account for him because he can score. As things stand now, Ira gets wide open looks all the time because teams double Reef (or Big Dog if he's hot). In addition, as things stand now, Glove is usually the first or 2nd option when he hits the floor because he's usually in with only one of the Big 3. If he were the 4th option instead of the first or second option, I think he would be much more effective and would turn the ball over less because he wouldn't have to force things. Putting Glover in the starting lineup would leave a significant void because we wouldn't have any true scorers off the bench but things are certainly not working now so I think its worth a shot. In addition, starting Glover might be a way to get CC more PT because honestly, I think he brings a lot more to the table than Ham.

As this season goes on, I am beginning to see just why Karl was frustrated with the Bucks inability to implement his defensive strategy and why he had to change his entire coaching philosophy before that team could have success. Defense is always going to be important but this team just doesn't have the personnel to rely upon its defense to win games. If we are going to win games, we need to start by taking care of the ball and follow that up with better offensive execution. I think turnovers are hurting as a lot more than our lack of ability to play D. If we put as many offensive weapons on the floor as possible, perhaps that will allow us to score easier and not put so much pressure on guys to do things that they are not capable of doing on a consistent basis (e.g. Big Dog handling the ball on the break or at the top of the key). I'm not suggesting that we should abandon our defense at all. In fact, I'm sure that every game will have situations where we want Ira in the game in place of Glove (or Big Dog). I just think that this team needs to develop an identity and right now, I don't think that identity can be anything other than a team that scores a lot because that's what I feel our personnel dictates that we must do. Kenny Smith pointed out (quite correctly in my opinion) that we do not have an identity. Until that happens, I think we will be what we currently are, a VERY mediocre team who MIGHT (actually PROBABLY) squeak into the playoffs as an 8 seed but who own't have a bats chance in [censored] of getting out of the first round.

The bottom line is that right now, we are a mediocre team but we don't have an identity. We need to develop one and I think that our personnel dictates that we should be an uptempo, fast paced team. In addition, unless a significant trade is made that involves us acquiring a SG who can shoot, score and handle the rock, I think Glover needs to be given a chance to start. Thoughts???

[Gray Mule]

We had ONE player who played as if he really cared what

happened last night and that was Dion Glover.

If he had brought that kind of fire and intensity to the

game as a starter, maybe the rest of the team could

have gotten their own fires lit up before it was too late.

[Blunt91]

As good of a defender Ira Newble his defense hasn't really helped a whole lot because when teams see that he is playing good Defense one on one, all they do is set screens to get their player open. We don't give good help when the other teams set their screens so they still end up getting there shots off and alot of times hitting the shots.If we are going to get burned on screens with Ira in the game who doesn't contribute much offensively we might as well have Dion in there who can at least add another scorer and ballhandler on the floor.