why the Hawks won't make the playoffs

[hds428]

1. the Emanual Lewis/Gary Coleman backcourt. It's gimmicky and cheap, and it only worked for about one game. BTW the Hawks are 0-1 when Webster leads the team in scoring. JT should be traded to a team who won't keep jerking him around and that will realize his full potential, that's clearly not going to happen in ATL, he's already visibly lost his confidence by being flip-flopped yet AGAIN to the 2.

2. I said it before, I'll say it again. Interrim head coach and playoffs don't go together in the same sentence unless its a punchline. I would'nt expect Terry Stotts to exactly shatter that paradigm, either.

3. and most importantly, Reef. As Shareef goes, so goes the Hawks, so its no wonder these guys hang their heads and fold up when they look to their captian for a spark and there he is in the post getting abused by the rookie or scrub du jour. Reef's offense is fine, h e l l it's great, it's the entire rest of his game that's nauseating. Tossed around on the boards and blown right past on defense, every rookie, scrub, and journeyman PF has a good night in store for them at Philips. "Abdur Rahim scores 30 in Hawks loss.." there ya go, cut and paste that headline into the very back page of AJC sports for the next three years. "Theo go it" won't work every time down the court. He does'nt need to be Ben Wallace, but if Reef continues to not even try, this team is going nowhere for a very long time and no coaching carousel will change that.

[KB21]

1. True. We don't have a true back court. We've got guys who are guards, but we have no true point guard and no true shooting guard. It hurts us offensively in the half court set because we have no one that the offense can be run through. It hurts us defensively due to the size limitations, even though we play extremely well when going to a zone defense. Something has to be done with the backcourt in the near future. If JT isn't traded, I think they need to put him into a Bobby Jackson role.

2. Jim O'Brien took over the Celtics after Pitino was let go in December of 2000. One year later, his team was in the conference finals. Stotts technically isn't an interim coach, and I think there is a good chance he will keep the job after the season. So, I wouldn't blame this on having an interim coach. Our defense has improved immensly since Stotts has taken over.

3. That's not entirely true. When Reef scores, the Hawks win. Period. There haven't been many games where Reef scores 30 and the hawks lose. They are 7-2 this year when he's the leading scorer. Again, you talk about his defense, but when we play zone, we are very good defensively.

[chillzatl]

He's flip-flopped because he is not a quality point guard, PERIOD. he either doesn't have the ability to be a good point guard or he doesn't have the heart/desire to change and expand his game enough to become one. Gloss it over any way you want, but that's the facts.

I'm willing to give the new coach a chance. To see what Stotts can make JT into. It's possible Stotts can find a system that makes the most out of the PG skills JT has. But it's obvious that Stotts doesn't feel JT is what we need at the 1. He just doesn't see the game the way a point guard should. Mike Wilkes has proven that in only three games.

It's the same cross-roads that many of us felt JT was at this year anyway. He either has to become a poing guard, we have to get someone who can cover for his shortcomings or we have to trade him.

[KB21]

I don't think it is a lack of heart/desire on JT's part. He will bust his butt to be the best he can be at either the PG or the SG position.

JT's problem is that he doesn't have that instinctive quality that allows him to make the players around him better. Jason Kidd has it. Baron Davis has it. Andre Miller has it. DaJaun Wagner is showing that he may have it. Jason Terry doesn't have it.

Mike Wilks understands the position a little better than JT, but even he is more of a scorer than distributor. We haven't seen enough of Dan Dickau to know if he has it. What we do know about him is that he did make the team around him at Gonzaga a lot better. Is he the guy for the point position? I don't know, but I have a feeling we may soon find out.

[dimes4life]

THANK YOU. Jason Terry is a good basketball player, but he is not a point guard. Point Guards are and have to be smart, and Jason Terry doesn't show that on a consistant basis. Personally, I would let him walk after this year. His stats might look good, the same goes with Reef and G-Rob but stats doesn't mean s**t !!!!!!

[Guest Walter]

Get something of value for him. I'd dream of a deal sending JT for Desmond Mason. Really, though, IF you aren't looking to resign JT (or his price appears CONSIDERABLY too high) then get a deal done even if it doesn't include a player of Mason's caliber. Don't risk returning nothing during a year when teams will have considerable cap space and the Hawks have seemingly no other way to improve their team.

W

[Swopa]

You have to play him at PG, but have someone else who runs the offense. How many teams fit that profile? And of the players they'd be willing to give up, who would you want?

The Lakers... Kareem Rush? (I don't know if they'd give up Devean George, with Fox slowing down the way he has.)

The Magic... Darrell Armstrong??

The Kings... if they expect to have Bibby and B. Jackson healthy for the playoffs, they wouldn't give up much.

I could keep going down the list, but I think you can see that it's hard to find a match -- that's why it's tough to make trades in the NBA nowadays.

Probably the best the Hawks can hope for is to send Terry to a team like the Magic or Lakers in exchange for an expiring contract and a mid-1st round pick.

[chillzatl]

our best bet is to trade him, IF we can't find a player to help him succeed. If we let him walk we get NOTHING for him. It doesn't matter how much money we have to spend, do you think any marquee free agent is going to sign here? NOPE.

[KB21]

I think Seattle would be a good fit for him. He can play at the off guard spot beside Gary Payton and be pretty productive for them.

If Atlanta can't make a deal with Terry, then letting him test to the market to see what kind of interest he will receive is the right thing to do. If he gets no biters, we give him a Bobby Jackson type contract and play him in a Bobby Jackson type role OFF THE BENCH.

We are getting close to the point to where we should just stick in Dickau, if healthy, to see what we have with him.

[Swopa]

The first problem with Seattle is that they already have Brent Barry filling that role. Second, they don't seem too enthusiastic to pay GP to stick around as he gets older -- and adding the burden of re-signing Terry would make it harder for them to do so.

Your idea about using restricted free agency to keep Terry's salary reasonable is interesting, and may well be what happens. Ditto about playing Dickau. The Hawks are in a situation where they really need to start looking at how to maximize their assets for the future.

[KB21]

.....The Clippers.

The Wednesday ESPN Insider states that Alvin Gentry loves using Lamar Odom at the top of the key to initiate the offense, but Andre Miller doesn't play well enough off the ball for Gentry to use that as effectively as he would like to. That combined with Miller wanting a max deal in the offseason, as well as Marko Jaric's presence, could make for a trade partner.

JT is a guy who can play PG defensively, but offensively, he's better off the ball than on it. He possibly could be a cheaper resigning than Andre Miller as well.

Andre Miller would be a dream for the Hawks, as he's just the type of point guard they need and want.

There will be a lot of competition for Miller though. Your Golden State Warriors would love to make a trade, as you have similar problems that we have at the PG position. Gilbert Arenas is more of an "off the ball" player than an "on the ball" player, and you guys struggle in getting the offense set. He doesn't hurt you guys as bad defensively as JT hurts us due to size matters though.

[Swopa]

ESPN Insider can be kind of whacked out in its analyses sometimes, but GS just beat the Clippers in L.A. on Saturday, and it was clear that the lack of outside shooting (Piatkowski is injured) was hurting them badly -- and that both Miller and Odom are best when they're dominating the ball.

The idea of the Clips keeping anyone who can be a free agent is always iffy, but Terry could be a very good solution to both of those problems. And you're probably right that Miller could salvage the current Hawks team better than anyone else they could hope for.

I'm not sure if the Warriors are still interested in Miller, if they ever were. You're right that Arenas is similar to JT right now in adapting to the PG position, but he's picking things up much faster (Gilbert is 4 years younger than Terry) and has a much bigger upside.

I had some hopes that GS might trade the #3 pick for Miller last summer, but Arenas is winning me over -- he's progressed a lot more quickly than I thought he could (he had zero halfcourt PG skills last year). Miller is good, but I'm starting to think that in a couple of years Arenas will be noticeably better.

[Guest Walter]

...just the little you might get in return is better than "letting him walk".

I believe JT is a much better player than he has shown the last month and is even a far better Pg. I would only trade him for a good offer, if he intends to not resign, or if his demands are outrageous relative to his play (especially of late).

Still, if he were determined to leave or too highly priced for his positive impact, I'd look for say DG/JT for Dooling or Jaric (whichever we think is better)/Maggette/and maybe a pick. LA has a tall Pg in Miller so when JT wasn't at the point the backcourt would not be a mini-me backcourt. JT for Desmond Mason might be a possibility as JT is a Seattle native, he can both play along side Payton, and he can eventually replace him. The likelihood might really be JT for a slightly higher than mid first rd pick. Truth is I don't think we get our value out of JT by trading him but if we must we should get some value.

W

[KB21]

What happened with Jamieson's blow up when he stated that Arenas was shooting too much? There was some speculation that EMuss was going to install Boykins at PG, possibly sitting down Jason Richardson.

How's EMuss doing out there anyway?

[Diesel]

Is a team like UTAH.

In Utah, JT will get StRUCTURE and tutored by the best PG to play the game in Many yrs.

Also... He can be a part of the 2 generation Jazz.

JT/Stevenson/Harpring/Kirlenko/The guy from Standford?

However, the question is what can we get for JT...

[Diesel]

JT and a 1st for Miller.

Miller would run this offense like we needed.

[KB21]

A structured environment is not going to give him that instinct he lacks.

The best thing for Terry is to be paired with someone else that is a ball handler and can initiate the offense. He needs to be with a player like Lamar Odom. He's at his best off the ball, and I just don't think that's going to change.

Either that, or he needs to be a combo guard off the bench like Bobby Jackson.

[Diesel]

I agree that he lacks instincts... But sometimes, that's overcome by procedure and structure. That's what made him look good as a PG in Arizona in the first place.

Lute knew he was a 2. Lute taught him the playbook. and over and over again, Lute got him to do what the playbook subscribed.

That's why Lenny and Lon had problems with JT as a PG. Neither had the time to put into training him instincts.

However, in Utah. With Future coach John Stockton looking over his shoulder. He can fit in structure play where he's coached all the options.... and then he can be tutored about the other stuff. Look at Eisley and Vaughn and Crotty. [censored], wasn't Crotty a SG? The System can work.

[Swopa]

There's too many teams in the league, and too many newspaper articles about them, to really know what's what if you try to absorb all of them. And particularly if you've got a market niche as a leaguewide gossip sheet to protect, there's a strong temptation to just take the juiciest tidbits you can find (accurate or not) and ramp up the speculation as much as possible.

The Warriors are a young team, with below-average ballhandling ability in the starting lineup, learning a new offense under a first-year coach. So, yeah, there's a problem with players knowing where or how to get the ball to their teammates -- and resisting the temptation to throw up a questionable shot themselves when they're in doubt about what to do.

But I haven't seen any complaints by Jamison about Arenas shooting too much, so I'm not sure what you're referring to. In fact, nearly all of the comments I've seen in the press have been by Arenas ... including this one, which identifies it properly as a teamwide problem: "Coach brings it up all the time -- being a selfish group. But when you hear selfish, you start thinking of other players." I'd also note that since this whole issue boiled over after a bad loss in Sacramento, the Warriors have won three straight games and seem to be noticeably coming together more as a team.

And Richardson has gotten his game back together after being overwhelmed for a while. Not that Boykins was ever going to start, IMO -- if anyone breaks into the starting lineup any time soon, it'll most likely be Dunleavy replacing either Murphy or Richardson (if he slumps again).

About Musselman ... the guy's awesome. It's not like he sprinkles magic dust over the players or never makes mistakes, but you can see the improvements he's made in each player. A small example -- last year, the Warriors were 27th out of 29 teams in FT percentage; this year, with mostly the same roster, they're 5th (and even that has dropped a bit). And using the practice days after the Sacramento game to get the team settled down and playing together is an example of his knowing how to help the team as well as individual players. If only GS had hired him instead of Cowens a couple of years ago...

[Swopa]

Eisley? Vaughn?

In all his years with the Jazz, who has Stockton taught to become a quality PG?

Answer: No one.