Compare: Mookie vs. JT vs. Speedy

[jerrywest]

[terrynoonan]

Mookie was a professional on the court. He played lock down D on every one he faced. He was the reason I remained such a rabid Hawks fan after the Nique trade. Worked the pick and roll/pop as good as anyone in his era. Was outstanding from 3 when the line was moved in. Bottom line-We were always in the game with Mookie running the show.

I really don't even want to talk about J.T. We've been losers since he replaced Mookie. I don't want to hear any excuses. He has a beautiful jumper. So what. The point guard sets the tone. J.T. had no respect for the basketball. It's no big deal that I just dribbled off my foot. We can come back! So much potential. So many turnovers. I know he had a weak cast around him but what happened to leading by example? He played no D. He stretches his legs wide so it looks like he was. But he never moved. I mean, Steve Nash takes him to the rack easily. No help D either. He acted like 20 turnovers a game as a team was not an impediment to winning. That's it. I could go on forever but he's not worth it.

Speedy - Haven't seen him up close enough to make an honest assesment of where his game is. Joe is still gonna have the ball an afwul lot.

[exodus]

Mookie was easily better than both. My one problem with him is that he was a little too quick to put up a long jumper.

Just imagine having Mookie and Dikembe in their prime on this team. Scary.

[DJlaysitup]

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...Just imagine having Mookie and Dikembe in their prime on this team. Scary.

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That would be a perfect combination of 1 and 5 for our current crop of youngsters +JJ...then we could really use all the 6'8"/6'9" SFs and PFs - and we would need the depth because every other game Deke would knock one of them out with an elbow :-)

[bonethugz]

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...Just imagine having Mookie and Dikembe in their prime on this team. Scary.

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That would be a perfect combination of 1 and 5 for our current crop of youngsters +JJ...then we could really use all the 6'8"/6'9" SFs and PFs - and we would need the depth because every other game Deke would knock one of them out with an elbow :-)

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damn but

i thought steve smith did pretty decent at that time both offensively and defensively. if using defense wins, that team was a bad example. yea we did make the playoffs but that's about it.

[terrynoonan]

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i thought steve smith did pretty decent at that time both offensively and defensively. if using defense wins, that team was a bad example. yea we did make the playoffs but that's about it.

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That's all you can ask for. Unless you get lucky and suck at the right time and get one of the greatest ever to build around or make an unbelievable trade. Which takes two parties.

Does anyone remember when we blew it up in the supposed chase of a better team? One with the ability to win a championship.

Now it's just about getting back to the playoffs. It's been 7 years!

[Guest Walter]

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Now it's just about getting back to the playoffs. It's been 7 years!

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....but that is my fear. Every move made this offseason was aimed at mediocrity, not title contention.

Mookie and Deke would be awesome with this lineup. Deke is certainly the type center defensively that could allow us to play a 2-Sf lineup. Mookie would lock down the perimeter for us. Bring back Fratello, too, as Woody shouldn't be head coaching IMO.

W

[bonethugz]

i thought bringing back fratello was a good idea but not anymore. yea he did get the grizzles to the playoffs in the very tough western conference but he couldn't get them even a win. don't they have a good team and a franchise player in gasol?

[terrynoonan]

Yeah. Only if you have the same proven management and ownership can you really aim like that. To build for a title.

I think you have to be solid first. Then if we can get some veteran role players to want to come here and play with our emerging stars(Joe, Smoove, and Marvin)we can talk about picking and choosing the exact type of player we want to fill needs. Until then we need to change the mindset and be competitive.

[MoonKnight]

Mookie was the best on the ball defensive point guard I have ever seen play. He was simply fantastic at guarding the other point and would give certain point guards fits (Mookie would destroy Penny Hardaway to the point that Penny had severe difficulty dribbling the ball up the court against Mookie). Mookie was a streaky outside shooter, a tough player in general, and a good teammate. My major complaint with Mookie was his unwillingness to penetrate into the lane and dish. He rarely drew fouls because he was rarely in the lane on offense. Speedy is a poor man's version of Mookie except he has a worse outside shot and is injury prone. Comparing JT to Mookie is a bit unfair because JT is not a pure point and never will be.

[Diesel]

JT = Off Gaurd. He couldn't run an offense. From day one, he was a problem trying to run the offense. From day one, he always elected to give that duty to someone else weather it were: JRider, JJackson, Email, Brevin Knight, Matt Maloney, Toni Kukoc, Big Dog, or Bob Sura. I think his best match was Toni Kukoc or Bobby Sura... The problem is that both of those guys were always injury prone.

Defensively, JT was below average. The most that he could do was stay in front of his man.

Mookie = Very Good. Mookie was a great defensive PG. Mookie could run an offense fairly well. He got the team into and out of sets very well. He was exactly what we needed as a floor general. Mookie's failing was that he gave himself the greenlight to shoot up the three too much. The statement of fact about the Hawks in Mook's day was " as mookie goes, so goes the Hawks"... Yes we had the outspoken Steve Smith, yes we had the enforcer Deke, we even had the Sheriff Ivano Newbill... but our team revolved around how Mookie was shooting. He could shoot us into or out of any game. Usually, when the shots were not falling, our defense made up the difference.

Speedy = Wait and see. I'm not that impressed by speedy other than he's a guy who's really a PG. He did well in NO. Honestly though, I would rather have Brevin Knight and let Knight train Salim to be a PG (if it's possible). However, the good about Speedy is that it looks like he can run an offense and he plays defense. The bad is his injury profile. One of the things I forgot to say about Mookie is that he was an ironman amoung Ironmen. Mookie, Smitty, and Deke rarely missed games because of injury. Over his career, the same can't be said about Speedy...

It will be interesting.

[VDiLetto]

I miss Mookie and Mutumbo. That team was fun to watch.

[Peoriabird]

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JT = Off Gaurd. He couldn't run an offense. From day one, he was a problem trying to run the offense. From day one, he always elected to give that duty to someone else weather it were: JRider, JJackson, Email, Brevin Knight, Matt Maloney, Toni Kukoc, Big Dog, or Bob Sura. I think his best match was Toni Kukoc or Bobby Sura... The problem is that both of those guys were always injury prone.

Defensively, JT was below average. The most that he could do was stay in front of his man.

Mookie = Very Good. Mookie was a great defensive PG. Mookie could run an offense fairly well. He got the team into and out of sets very well. He was exactly what we needed as a floor general. Mookie's failing was that he gave himself the greenlight to shoot up the three too much. The statement of fact about the Hawks in Mook's day was " as mookie goes, so goes the Hawks"... Yes we had the outspoken Steve Smith, yes we had the enforcer Deke, we even had the Sheriff Ivano Newbill... but our team revolved around how Mookie was shooting. He could shoot us into or out of any game. Usually, when the shots were not falling, our defense made up the difference.

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I can tell that you were a true Hawks fan when Mookie played. This is a very acurate description of Mookie's game during those years. Well done Diesel. Posters that talk about Mookie being a great shooter don't know what they are talking about. He is not Ray Allen! Mookie had the speed and the ball handling ability to penetrate and dish at will but most games during the season he took the easy route and fired up jump shots which didn't always go in. Great player otherwise

[jerrywest]

I used to go "noooooooooooo" almost every time Mookie shot, but the ball used to go in more times than it should have.

[Nurlman]

To quote the late, mostly great Jeff Denberg, Mookie was "an ardent but poor shooter."