some thoughts on Big Dog and his offense

[Blunt91]

Well we all know Big Dog's defense sucks so I want comment on that but I will comment on his offense. To me Big Dog is a better player in the post than he is on the perimeter. Sure he is a good midrange shooter but a streaky 3point shooter. Maybe Bigdog looked better with the Bucks because they were a "doughnut" team, meaning that they had or have no scorer at PF or Center postion who demanded the lowpost as opposed to the Hawks who have Reef. In Milwaukee BigDog could post up as much as he wanted to because they had no scoring option in the middle unless you call Anthony Mason or Jason Caffey scoring options.My point is Big Dog's game is at it's best in the low post not sitting on the perimeter. We need to trade him to a team similar to that of Milwaukee. Anyone agree?????

[KB21]

I disagree.

Shareef is not a player that has to play primarily in the post. He's a guy that is pretty consistent out to 15 feet on his jump shot, and this year, he's having a career year on 3 pointers (38%).

I think the two players could work very well together once the identity of the offense is defined.

Glen can play in the post, but his game is still predominately perimeter oriented.

What Glen and Shareef need to do is find that niche where they know when to shoot and when to pass the ball to get a better shot.

[Diesel]

SAR and Big Dog's games can compliment one another. However, right now, we have to move away from the 1 on 1 mentality (Identity) that Lon had defined for this team. Meaning that JT has to become a smarter distributer.

If you sat and watched Milwaukee, their strength was that everyone could score. However, if allowed, Big Dog could go out and get 30 each time out (in that system). The difference here is that there is no offensive system yet.

It's only a few games in. I figured defense would be easy for Stotts to teach. Just tell guys where the play demands they be. However, offense is a bit harder. Guys have to actually develop chemistry and Knowledge of whats going on in the play. Being at home for the next 5 games is good because no time is wasted on travel.

[Blunt91]

Reef has one of the flatest jumpers in the NBA despite his stats. Everytime Reef shoots, I want to hold my breath because his form is so bad it loks like there is a 50/50 chance it will go in. I disagree with you in that BigDog is better on the perimeter than the lowpost. When BigDog catches the ball on the lowpost on the left side his little jumpshot is almost unstoppable. He is more accurate there than standing on the perimeter.

[Playmaker0017]

Blunt91,

Big Dog is a "mid-range" player. He is best between 7-15 feet out.

Reef does have the FLATTEST shot. But, I'll take 50/50 odds every time! P

Play.

[KB21]

Flat shot an all, Shareef is shooting around 51% from the floor and 38% from behind the arc. When he scores, the Hawks win. This is something that needs to be pounded into Shareef.

The Hawks are something like 7-2 when Shareef is the leading scorer on the team. They are 5-7 when Big Dog is the leading scorer. When neither of them are scoring, the Hawks are 0-9.

I think the Hawks should build their offense around those two, but to do it, they have to get a true point guard that knows when to get these guys the ball.

[Playmaker0017]

KB21,

Shareef is easily the Hawks best player. If he isn't involved they Hawks will lose. Pure and simple.

But, the concept of making it work between Big Dog and Reef is flawed. Mainly because Big Dog doesn't pass. I don't think any offense can get him to pass. It isn't in his nature. He is a ball hog, plain and simple.

The best strategy would be for the ball to get down to Reef. Load Reef's side with Robinson. If the double comes, kick it to him for the shot or a reset down low.

But the problem is... the Hawks NEVER reset the ball downlow after a kickout, no matter what position the player has.

That and Big Dog would rather die than pass.

I think the only way to make it work is to trade Big Dog for a role player.

Play.

[chillzatl]

We can have great success with bigdog if he's used properly. Bigdog doesn't pass, but he doesn't have to. IF we had a point guard that could actually find guys in teh right spots, bigdog would be fine. He's a 20ppg scorer that shoots a high percentage. He doesn't need to be everything.

If we had a playmaker and not just a passer (JT) we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Reef may be our horse, our big scorer. But this team lives and dies with JT. He has to become a playmaker or we have to get someone in here that can. If we had a player with 1/2 the offensive skills of JT, but was a playmaker and played defense. We would be at or above .500 right now.

You also need to understand that our prevoius coach simply didn't use the players to their best advantage. Give Stotts some time to get his gameplan down to the players. We've already seen that he has a different gameplan in mind than Lon did. He's trying to use the players differently and is trying to define roles. Something Lon just wasn't able to do.