My Observations

[capstone21]

Great hard fought win!

Lue was clutch in the 4th but he doesn't pass and he is probably the worst defensive player in the NBA. However, we would not have won without his shooting tonight.

Sheldon -- well done. He played solid D and did a great job of rebounding. I like him as a solid backup 4/5 off the bench. He will do well in that role for us.

Horford/Law -- I was very impressed with both rookies. Some quick fouls but they were nervous and it was their first game. Both are looking like they are going have good years. Horford is a monster and I couldn't be happier that we have him.

Smith - 1st quarter he was great but after that he just kept making bone head play after bone head play. He needs to slow down and he needs to think. He is trying to make too many exciting passes or plays with his dribble. Those rushed passes and bad dribbling really cost us. Take your time.

Marvin -- good game. I think he is coming along with his confidence.

Chil -- Some nice rebounds and plays. Did you forget how to dunk?

AJ -- Sorry dude but you are just way too slow now. I was one of the guys who was wanting you on the floor. I now think you should be a mentor from the bench.

Speedy -- Get well soon. I want a combo of law and you at the pg position.

JJ -- simply awesome. He is looking great out there.

Blond chick next to Mavs bench -- Simply Awesome too

Fans -- I am shocked at the fans. They were great tonight and loud. I hope this is a trend to come. Its nice to see the Hawks get supported by its home fans.

I love the new uniforms and the new floor. They look great!

Great win against a great team. The Mavs won more games on the road last year then we did all season. Great win!!

[Eddielives]

Way too soon to panic about Smoove but his erratic play was hard to watch at times. Like you said, he's just got to play smarter and he'll be fine.

[aznsensation]

Some good assessment there...I'm also impress with the rookies although they were a little to quick to foul. I thought Devin ouyplayed Law. Don't know injury to Devin helped us or not since Barea guy killed us.

[cyman3]

the hawks should have more special offers this season and try to sell out the phillips every game.

but yeah its been a while since we've had this much cheering for the hawks.

[atlien]

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Blond chick next to Mavs bench -- Simply Awesome too

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Im glad someone else noticed that Those were some TIT-TAYS!

Good synopsis. No hate on Smoove, b/c he is REALLY important to us, but he did make some really bad TOs tonight. I still liked a lot of the things I saw from him. You can tell he's added some new dimensions to his game.

Marvin is looking like he's gonna be a much more consistent scorer. He also had some great passes where he found the open man for a wide open shot.

[aznsensation]

Gotta go back and check my TiVo for the chick. Anyone remember when she appeared on tv?

[Peoriabird]

Even though the hawks kept screwing up their defense of the pick and roll, overall I think they did a great job! Except on Berea! My god can we get a point guard that can stay in front of a 5'10" 3rd string point guard?

I know no one on this board will ever mention AJ and defense in the same sentence again!

If Smoove would play within himself, he would easily be an allstar but i guess it is hard for him to understand still! He did play good defense on Dirk though! Advise for you Smoove...When you get a rebound, find your point guard unless it is AJ

Shelden is just slow and has bad hands but is a pretty good rebounder. Not as smart as you think he would be coming from Duke

Joe needs to also tighten up on those unnecessary turn-overs. Played like an allstar down the stretch though

Horford had 5 fouls because our bad point guard defense! He easily handle Diop in the paint! He definitely can play center in the NBA

Marvin wasn't aggressive on offense but played excellent defense on Stackhouse.

D_mn Childress! You look like Shelden trying to finish around the basket

AJ should never steal any minutes from either Lue, Law or Speedy! AJ is terrible!!!!! Good offensive games to Law and Lue but you both may have to puts some extra work in to tighten up that defense!

[Joker]

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Great hard fought win!

Lue was clutch in the 4th but he doesn't pass and he is probably the worst defensive player in the NBA. However, we would not have won without his shooting tonight.

nba's take: Agrees

Sheldon -- well done. He played solid D and did a great job of rebounding. I like him as a solid backup 4/5 off the bench. He will do well in that role for us.

nba's take: He really was better when no one was around on the boards, at times he was outmatched in the post, I didn't much to make me think he deserves more then 10 mins a game.

Horford/Law -- I was very impressed with both rookies. Some quick fouls but they were nervous and it was their first game. Both are looking like they are going have good years. Horford is a monster and I couldn't be happier that we have him.

nba's take: both were damn good, Horford got the rookie treatment in the foul department, he needs to pick his spot, especially since Zaza hurt, he cannot do this vs. Det.

Smith - 1st quarter he was great but after that he just kept making bone head play after bone head play. He needs to slow down and he needs to think. He is trying to make too many exciting passes or plays with his dribble. Those rushed passes and bad dribbling really cost us. Take your time.

nba's take: After his spin move lost it's luster he fell off bad, he looked lost in the 2nd half. He almost cost us the game with his bad shot selection.

Marvin -- good game. I think he is coming along with his confidence.

nba's take: Did good, not too impressed but he improving and he building more confidence, that take to the basket on Stack was impressive.

Chil -- Some nice rebounds and plays. Did you forget how to dunk?

nba's take: Childress stuggle, no need to make more of a case.

AJ -- Sorry dude but you are just way too slow now. I was one of the guys who was wanting you on the floor. I now think you should be a mentor from the bench.

nba's take: He didn't do much, I think a trade for a extra foward for him would help.

Speedy -- Get well soon. I want a combo of law and you at the pg position.

nba's take: DNP

JJ -- simply awesome. He is looking great out there.

nba's take: He looked good in the 2nd half, still not a superstar or anything but he a All Star level player and is improving which is good.

Blond chick next to Mavs bench -- Simply Awesome too

nba's take: didn't see her.

Fans -- I am shocked at the fans. They were great tonight and loud. I hope this is a trend to come. Its nice to see the Hawks get supported by its home fans.

nba's take: I was surprise by the attendance, this isn't usually the case for Hawk games, I been a couple sold out games, Wiz with MJ, AI with Philly, and Kobe and Shaq with the Lakers, those games were sold out but most weren't.

I love the new uniforms and the new floor. They look great!

Great win against a great team. The Mavs won more games on the road last year then we did all season. Great win!!

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I hated the floor, it was suppose to be blue instead of Bobcat orange.

[Joker]

Berea was much too quick for Lue and Johnson, and much too smart for Law, I could us having fits with Barbosa and Parker and quick PG in the League.

[Plastic Man]

I know someone on here said Horford is skinnier than they thought but he is a space-eater that can actually play on both ends and handle the rock.

[Johnnybravo4]

Remember 2 years ago when I said the Barea was the steal of the draft. I made about 30 threads about him.

[Swatguy]

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Great hard fought win!

Lue was clutch in the 4th but he doesn't pass and he is probably the worst defensive player in the NBA. However, we would not have won without his shooting tonight.

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Lue found Shelden three times in the forth quarter. Had Shelden converted, Lue would have 6 Assist instead of the four credited with.

It amazes me. Every off-season people trash Lue and every November and December he is forced into many minutes and responds with clutch effort to clutch effort. Yet after he made timely passes and shots but you slight him. Wow.

[capstone21]

I am not in a panic about Smith at all. I just think he needs to slow down. When he just plays he was doing well. He just tries to do too much and it led to a lot of stupid turnovers. Especially when they should have been easy baskets. He is playing to fast. He needs to slow down and think a little. If he just makes a normal pass instead of the crazy fancy ones we will have more success. Instead with these crazy highlight passes it leads to a fast break for the other team or us throwing the ball out of bounds. He also needs to stop shooting 3s and he needs to not dribble down the court so much. Those are his big weaknesses and thus he needs to stay away from them. At least until he can consistently do it well. The first quarter he was looking like an all star and he was playing at a normal pace. The second and third quarters he looked like his rookie season. Out of control and trying to do too much.

[Plastic Man]

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Remember 2 years ago when I said the Barea was the steal of the draft. I made about 30 threads about him.

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BUMP

He WAS being "guarded" by Lue though, right?

[capstone21]

I have watched the Hawks closely last year and yes he would make some great shots for us and some clutch ones too. However, he often hurt us as much as he helped us out there last year. He would dribble the clock out and then hoist a shot up. Sometimes some really bad ones.

Tonight he took a lot of shots he should not have been taking. He would dribble down and hoist it up. The good thing about tonight is that they were going in. He did do a good job.

His defense was terrible and every body he guarded just blew right by him.

However, I did say in my observations that if it was not for his shot making tonight we would not have won. His shooting was clutch tonight.

I personally think he is a better version of Salim. He is not a good pg but he is a good scorer. Basically he is an undersized shooting guard in a point guards body.

[HawkNJersey]

This stat line is why I don't worry about Smoove...

37 6-15 0-0 4-9 3 13 1 2 0 1 5 16

It's not Smooves, this is a max contract guy's stat line, tonight.

If we had a floor leading PG, his turnovers would diminish. But right now, our wings and bigs are out running our PGs. He does need to relax...but I'm sure he knows that.

[yardbird]

I agree about Lue. He's not Jason Kidd, but he knows that and is very effective in his role as a scoring, backup point and team leader. Only when he is forced out of that role by injury to others is he ineffective (sometimes), but that's not his fault. He's only trying to cover for roles best filled by others. For what he does, I like his game (and especially his loyalty for turning down slots on contending teams to help this one develop)!

[Atlantaholic]

Josh Smith is an emotional guy, and playing in front of this crowd tonight with the expectations spurring from the preseason, I think he put a lot of pressure on himself to do everything he could to win. I don't think the mindset is wrong, but he needs to learn to control his emotion and channel it into smart play. I think/hope that as we continue to win games and he becomes accustomed to atmospheres like tonight he will settle down a little more.

[TexasPete]

I agree with you on Lue. He tends to overdribble and when your PG overdribbles your offense gets flat, people stand around and it all comes to a halt.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen him dribble the shotclock down to nothing and then has to hoist a long J at the shot buzzer.

The good about Lue is that he can light it up when he gets it going. He is not a starting PG. His style, a more offensive shoot first PG, is totally more suited to the 2nd unit. His defense is worse than bad which also means that he has to play with the 2nd unit.

Lue will win some games for us and hit some huge shots. That's what he does and he can be very valuable. He is also not afraid to take a big shot.

Lue is a great leader in the locker room and a class guy in general. I like Acie starting with Lue off the bench. AJ only in a pinch.

[Peoriabird]

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I have watched the Hawks closely last year and yes he would make some great shots for us and some clutch ones too. However, he often hurt us as much as he helped us out there last year. He would dribble the clock out and then hoist a shot up. Sometimes some really bad ones.

Tonight he took a lot of shots he should not have been taking. He would dribble down and hoist it up. The good thing about tonight is that they were going in. He did do a good job.

His defense was terrible and every body he guarded just blew right by him.

However, I did say in my observations that if it was not for his shot making tonight we would not have won. His shooting was clutch tonight.

I personally think he is a better version of Salim. He is not a good pg but he is a good scorer. Basically he is an undersized shooting guard in a point guards body.

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Lue is light years better than Anthony Johnson!