It's obvious, Joe should be our PG!

[TroyMcClure]

Look at the way the team is playing without him. I hate to say it but he bogs it down at the 2. He likes to hold it and well, act like a pg. I think it is the answer. I like what A.J. is giving us, all in all. It would be nice in a backup role. Here's the lineup that we could be winning with this year:

C - Zaza

PF - Shelden

SF - Josh Smith

SG - Marvin

PG - Joe

BENCH

Childress, AJ, Solomon, Lue, Batista, Speedy

This lineup would allow for trading Speedy, if possible. Lue as well. It maximizes what each player can do. Smoove can play the 4, but I think after a night like tonight it's clear he is a 3. I don't want my 4 raining 3's. Josh can do that. Joe, Marvin and Smoove can all slide positions when the need arises. Isn't that BK's dream?!!!!! Why aren't we doing it? Why do we play crappy to mediocre pg's when we have Marvin ready to play 2 and Smoove the 3? Makes no sense to me. Didn't Joe want to be a pg anyway? His demeanor is more suited to that role, I think. He could still be the primary. Smoove is like a point forward. I've been thinking this for a while now. Tonight probably cemented it.

I am ok with AJ, Solomon and Batista. I think if you fill needs properly( no speedy and lo stuff) this is a 6-8 seed next year.

[gsuteke]

good in theory, bad in practice as we saw last season on the defensive end. the Hawks made Brevin Knight look like a first ballot hall of famer last year.

[TroyMcClure]

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good in theory, bad in practice as we saw last season on the defensive end. the Hawks made Brevin Knight look like a first ballot hall of famer last year.

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I'm saying we should dictate what we want to do. You mention Brevin Knight. How about we post Joe 25 times in that matchup! It takes a coach. Obviously Joe could not match up well against a Paul or a Nash, but who could? Bigger points like Joe need to back their man down more. That is something Joe needs to do more of. He is leading the team in assists! I think if we are basing our pg spot on the ability to defend little quick pg's, we are making way too big a deal of it. It's basketball. Between Smoove and Joe, we have all the point guard we need. IF we get a big man, that is. I'm talking about flexibility and maximization of talent. Joe can always play the 2 or 3. I'm just saying we need to redirect our thinking. It didn't work last year because, among other things, Smoove and Marvin were not ready. I think they are now.

[JJJ]

That would be the slowest team ever!

The best team we could put out there right now would :

Salim

JJ

Marv

Smoove

Shell(Give him Z's minutes and he would be giving similar numbers - More Rebounds than Z, less points than Z, MUCH improved Team D!)

I havent been a Salim fan up until these last few games, but the kid is playing great BBall right now - Give him a shot, Woody!

[Guest Walter]

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C - Zaza

PF - Shelden

SF - Josh Smith

SG - Marvin

PG - Joe

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Craig Smith makes him look god awful. Please. No mention of SW in the starting lineup.

W

[BossTweed]

Regardless of who our point guard is, they need to push the ball up the court more, in my opinion. Josh Smith is the only one who does this right now. It seems like our regular PG's and JJ are content to dribble the ball up slowly and set up a half court game, but I think our gameplan should be to push it up. I don't know if this has more to do with Woody or to do with the players bringing the ball up the court.

[JJJ]

Did Craig Smith do ANYTHING against Shell tonight? Shell was the one that got KG out of his groove early in the 4th - Easily the best anyone on our team played KG tonight!

He had some nice blocks. One was taken away by a BS call, but he played better D than any big on our team tonight. And it was in the clutch.

He should be our starting C!

[Peoriabird]

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Regardless of who our point guard is, they need to push the ball up the court more, in my opinion. Josh Smith is the only one who does this right now. It seems like our regular PG's and JJ are content to dribble the ball up slowly and set up a half court game, but I think our gameplan should be to push it up. I don't know if this has more to do with Woody or to do with the players bringing the ball up the court.

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Believe me its Woody!! He snatched Stoudamire in the Memphis game when he was pushing the tempo and inserted slow it down Lue

[ATL_BALLER]

It's painfully obvious we need a DISTRIBUTOR, ala Kidd (pipe dream), Ridnour, Sergio Rodriguez, Jose Calderon.

[DJlaysitup]

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It's painfully obvious we need a DISTRIBUTOR, ala Kidd (pipe dream), Ridnour, Sergio Rodriguez, Jose Calderon.

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I think Ridnour would be about perfect for this team right now. He pushes the ball on the break and can defend a little bit on the perimeter. If he gets blown by we have JS, Solo, and Shelden (yes Shelden has been blocking a few shots lately) to cover for him. We would then have the type of running team that could scare some folks.

Now if you dream of a real championship type team - get D.J. Augustin out of U. Texas. He's young but he's blazing fast at his "under control" speed. You put him and JS and MW and JC and Salim and even Solo on the floor (obviously not always at the same time) - and you could run teams right out of Phillips.

[vdunkndunk]

I think one reason the Hawks have looked good recently is that AJ has provided some of the leadership and unselfish PG play that we've been lacking.

I also think that this summer may be our best chance to land a very good young PG. The Pacers just keep losing, and good young PG's seem to be coming out of the woodwork.

We kept hearing about how weak this PG class was, but right now it looks like DJ Augustin, Acie Law, Ty Lawson, Mike Connely, and Javaris Crittenton might ALL be available in the middle of the first round.

That's a lot of good young talent right there, and most of those guys would be surefire lottery picks if they stayed in school longer.

Most of them will probably take a little while to devleop, of course, but still...this could be the year we finally get the PG of the future.

[ATL_BALLER]

...will BK finally draft that PG? And who goes out of T-Lue, Speedy, AJ?

[TroyMcClure]

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It's painfully obvious we need a DISTRIBUTOR, ala Kidd (pipe dream), Ridnour, Sergio Rodriguez, Jose Calderon.

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I' don't see us getting a pg that could control this team at all times. For better or worse, Joe is the best decision maker we have. Combine him with Smoove and we have nice distribution. I do not think Smoove is an everyday 4. That makes him a 3. I really, really like Marvin as a 2. His jumper has been looking lethal lately. He's beginning to look like the player I thought he could be. So, that leaves Joe at the point. Joe or AJ, Speedy, or Lue? That's an easy one for me.

If we could push with a backup pg, that would be ideal. Smoove leads a lot of our breaks anyway. He instinctively starts it. I just don't think he is a full time 4. That forces other moves. Joe would still be out there on the break. There would just be another big man and no incompetent to barely competent pg on the floor, pounding and such. If anyone is going to pound, I want it to be Joe.

[AtLaS]

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I do not think Smoove is an everyday 4. That makes him a 3.

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You think wrong.

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I really, really like Marvin as a 2. His jumper has been looking lethal lately.

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Please name the last 6'9 (in shoes) sg. Marvin will get blown by on defense, and won't be able to beat anyone off the dribble (not that he can anyway). Please quit trying to make up for BK's indefensible moves by playing players out of position.

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So, that leaves Joe at the point.

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Joe can't/doesn't want to play PG. That experiment lasted all of 2 games last year. He wouldn't be an all-star right now had he played pg all year. He's nowhere near as effective as a pg, and he can't guard pg's, they will blow by him.

[DJlaysitup]

You know what folks - we gotta get usta this - JJ is a helluva shooting guard...period...exclamation point.

JJ isn't our saviour...did we overpay for him? yep. But we got him and he is VERY GOOD. Let's start this team using him as an actual shooting gurad instead of BK's MJ wanna be.

P.S. if he doesn't like that F-him. Take your pay pal.

[DJlaysitup]

What was the great old football quote (to a qurterback maybe)..."hell...we can lose without your contract".

[AtLaS]

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You know what folks - we gotta get usta this - JJ is a helluva shooting guard...period...exclamation point.

JJ isn't our saviour...did we overpay for him? yep. But we got him and he is VERY GOOD.

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JJ is not overpaid, period. Who could we have used the cap on that was better? He is better than probably 3/4 of the players in the league with big contracts.

Diaw is still horrible and is still scared to shoot, on any other team besides PHX, or Dallas, or SA, he would go back to his Hawk days. THREE players put up career offensive numbers in PHX last year. Look what Tim Thomas did, and look at him now, Raja Bell is actually an offensive threat in their system. That's what a great offensive scheme and pg can do for a team.

[HawkNJersey]

Yo DJ, you are off the chain today. Just curious...what lineup would you place out there?

[HawkNJersey]

I would agree that JJ is not overpaid, but his ceiling is Ray Allen. Ray has never led his team deep in the playoffs. He's a great player....but he could never put a team over the top.

There are 2 situations confronting us. Either Woody changed his gameplan to get others involved, with the loss of JJ. And failed to attempt this while JJ was in the lineup

Or JJ dominating the ball and being the "goto guy" is hurting the development of team.

Keep in mind, these last 3 games are a small sample. Living in Philly, I can't help but watch what has happened to the 76ers since Iverson was traded. It took some time, but these guys are now playing well together and they appear to be a better team, with AI gone. At the moment, the same thing is happening in Atlanta. Ironically, thats the team we face next....

[DJlaysitup]

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Yo DJ, you are off the chain today. Just curious...what lineup would you place out there?

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LOL - off the chain.

Seriously, the one (mixed lineup) we have now is winning. Let's see if the fellas can beat Philly?

are you trying to bait me into a "JJ sucks" thread? JJ doesn't suck - he is/would be a great shooting guard on our team. period.

But we beat a good team without him - a team that wanted the win. Reality is Reality. Check the boxscore.

JJ isn't all that...he's a very good perimeter shooter.

Me: "get to the line JJ"

JJ: "what's the line"