observations from tonight's game

[gsuteke]

The Hawks needs to shut Joe down for a week or two. Apparently he has a turf toe injury along with a lingering calf muscle problem. he is innefective by his standards right now. shut him down and bring him back after his injuries have had some time to heal.

I only saw the second half but from what I saw tonight Marvin's hand is bothering him bigtime. I think if this team were a littler better he'd still be sitting right now. Unfortunately they're not.

Chris Bosh looks like a crackhead. Skinny lankey body and a big head attached at the top. his hair didn't help his case any. he looked like that guy from a horror movie, can't remember the name.

[buckeye242424]

That's the problem right now...JJ doesn't play, we don't have a chance in hell. I never thought I would post this with Marv, Chillz, Shell, ect. but DAMN we miss Smoove!! It's funny, b/c he is my stat stuffer on NBA 2K7 and I take it for granted. Now it's for real, and my eyes are opened. Is JJ untouchable? Probably, but so is Josh Smith.

[DJlaysitup]

I really think our offensive strategy just stinks. We have some real athletes and we run a stagnant perimeter shooting offensive style and without P-shooters (JJ semi-hurt, TLue out, Salim in the doghouse for probably trying to punch Woody again)...we can't do anything. Double team JJ and win - how hard is that.

We have quality players standing around on offense - there is NO OTHER way to say it...we have a very poor offense - not surprising since we have a coach who has never been a head coach before and as an assistant he specialized on defense. Good Lord - If we just flat EXCHANGED TEAMS with PHX - the PHX coach would have these guys in the playoffs in a year and a half...against better competition.

[AtLaS]

yeah it's obvious that JJ is playing injured, and he's still logging 40+ minutes a night. He's much slower, keeps getting beat off the dribble, and is getting no lift in his legs on his jumper, which is why he's shooting at a lower percentage.

JJ isn't the most athletic guy anyway, and with this injury it's really hurting his effectiveness.

We just need help on the offensive end, we have NOONE to score the ball since Lue has been gone. What's with Lue anyway?? He's been day to day for like a month! Is it something more serious than what they are telling us?

This is making Zaza and Salim look a lot worse than what they really are, because they are FORCED to create on their own which isn't to their strength, but someone has to shoot so it's making them look a lot worse than what they really are.

[DJlaysitup]

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...This is making Zaza and Salim look a lot worse than what they really are,...

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Well I don't know about Salim looking worse because as far as I saw (watching the whole game)...he was a "did not play - coaches decision"....what's up with that when we really needed an offensive boost in the second half?

This team is a soap opera...and a bad one. Lordy...is this an NBA team??? This will implode soon I'm afraid.

[buckeye242424]

I'm not afraid. I'm ready for an implode. Ridiculous.

[DJlaysitup]

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I'm not afraid. I'm ready for an implode. Ridiculous.

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Well I really don't want an "implosion"...I just expect one...I'm trying to be more optimistic...but I don't know who we can beat right now. I hope Indy.

Believe it or not I pull for the Hawks every game.

[Johnnybravo4]

JJ is a great player but the fact that he isn't a malcontent right now makes me question his leadership ability. It is time for JJ to step up and personally run Woody and BK out of town. Like Magic did Westhead and Jordan did his coach, JJ must run an ineffective coach out of town. He has to go in the media and say.

"We lack focus"

"Our schemes are ineffective"

Tell me what bona fide "star" would suffer throught this bullsh*t?

[TheDude]

-the problem may be Woody's style of O isnt right for our bunch. we do have the running type of athletes but we don't run much. then again running is created off of defense and don't play that well much in the paint

-marvin looked good tonight. he said he was going to come out and be vocal and play loose and he did. didnt press or overdo anything..and made a fare share of his shots. he should try to keep that up win or lose otherwise it can take a toll on him like it has JJ.

-jj is just not hitting his shots like he used to. he DOES need some time off but how do you do it? might as well just chalk up the losses while he's out.

-one part of smooves game that i also realize we miss is the excitement he can turn on by just a block or a dunk.

-how come when we drive and try to get around a screen, the guy defending the ballhandler is able to stay in front of him somewhat and make the pick and roll less effective against them. but on reverse, they always get around our guy and zaza defends the pick and roll badly. he goes out on the ballhandler too much. he should just try to cut him off so he doesnt have to go as far out and leave the paint open.

-at one point i feel physically ill in the 4th quarter realizing we were going to lose by double digits to Toronto.

Unless some wins don't come soon, I say Woody doesnt last January.

[DJlaysitup]

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--one part of smooves game that i also realize we miss is the excitement he can turn on by just a block or a dunk.

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I dunno there Doc...as much as I liked to fool with Josh's rambles to the basket (after he blocked the shot)...JS is the second most talented - and dangerous to the other team - player on this team - and if TLue, Speedy and Chillz are healthy - he may be more important than JJ IMO.

[Sothron]

I think the message came down in late Dec. to start tanking personally and we are seeing that message on the court.

[DJlaysitup]

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I think the message came down in late Dec. to start tanking personally and we are seeing that message on the court.

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My guess is that there is mor to it than that - I would bet that - with this many youngsters on our team and no real hierarchy - it's all about playing time and shots. Follow the money. JJ is going to get his. The scraps are VERY important.

BK got rid of conracts but didn't set up a system for how all these youngsters will survive and become stars (which is what they all want to be)...my guess is what? what? What do you think Josh Smith's agent is telling him...what about Marvin's and Josh C's...do you think Salim and his agent are happy?. Playing time and points mean money.

You can't make a championship team unless everybody is relatively happy with their paychecks and positions. This many young guys? A recipe for disaster - especially with a guy like JJ getting the big bucks.

Josh's agent to Josh "Phuck JJ - he can't win without you - let him try".

[Diesel]

Westhead was not ineffective... Westhead had won a NBA Championship with the Lakers... He was coming off a 57 win season. Moreover, Jordan never ran any coach away and he needed to run Collins away from Washington.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

LOL @ the posts on this board.

I saw a Hawks team that moved the ball about as well as they have the entire year. They didn't go into that high post offense that slows everything down and tries to get the ball to Joe. They actually moved the ball around last night. And once more, guys didn't hesitate to take open shots. Marvin played with extreme confidence. Shelden looked very good. And while Joe was hobbled a little, he didn't try to force it and played a decent game as well. About the only guy who couldn't get it going last night, was Chill.

We lost last night because we couldn't get to loose balls on the defensive end, which gave the Raptors too many 2nd and 3rd chance opportunities. Offensively, we were playing pretty well. The Hawks were shooting over 50% for most of that game. But the Raptors were over 60% for most of the game, and we couldn't overcome that.

And I'm surprised that no one has commented on the fact that Woody shortened his rotation last night. ( couldn't complain about the substitutions pattern last night . . lol )

If he could've, he would've only played 7 guys last night. And that's exactly what I was trying to illustrate in some of my posts last week. If Smoove and Lue were back, guys like Ivey, Salim, and maybe even Lorenzen would hardly ever see the court. We'd have a solid 8 man rotation here that could play decent defense and be solid on offense. Then the fringe guys could play spot minutes just to spell people.

It was disappointing to see Toronto get to every loose ball and have free run when in the paint. But I liked what I saw last night from this team offensively.

[Johnnybravo4]

He ran Collins and Albeck away from Chicago