Favorite Players

[AHF]

I am just really enjoying every moment of Hawks basketball this season. I was thinking the other day about year's past when I would look at our roster and see the promise in rookies Josh Childress and Josh Smith. Their rookie year, I was really excited about my new favorite player, Josh Smith. Everytime he was on the floor, I was paying extra attention to watch his development and to watch what spectacular play he might make next.

Fast forward a few years and I had the revelation while watching the Phoenix game that I have a bunch of "favorite" players right now that I can't wait to see on the floor for the Hawks. It definitely makes for even more exciting viewing as a fan!

[exodus]

Yeah it is fun to see guys basically growing up as players right in front of you. When you have seen their struggles it makes the victories more fun to watch.

Fairweather fans don't know what that is like.

[Hawkzzz21]

What ex-Hawks would you be willing to add to the roster right now? If we could just magically get them for free and could add 1 or 2 guys, which guys would you choose?

Rasheed Wallace

Al Harrington

Stephen Jackson

Jason Terry

Boris Diaw

Antoine Walker

Shareef Abdur Rahim

Speedy Claxton (oh wait, he's still here)

Rasheed would be my choice based on talent, but Harrington and Terry would be the choices based on what they did while they were here. Harrington is a fan favorite and obviously the Pacers thought enough of him to bring him back to them and Terry was always the guy welcoming the newest Hawks to our team.

[Wretch]

Especially Childress. Man, I don't know if anyone was beat up as much as Chill was for his awkward shot, small frame, and inability to finish. People dogged him for everything that was "wrong" about him and refused to see the potential in his game.

Now that I think about it...I think it was all the round and round about Childress, or was it CP vs. Bogut...(?), that forced me to take a step back on the debate front. Well, either way, it's great to see him as our heart and soul of the bench. Guy comes in and just does all the little things to keep a run together. Solid guy and such a smart player.

I'll take it a step further too. Chill is playing exactly the way that I thought he would years later. He's long, he's quick, he moves without the ball, and he can snake his way to the basket and putback/finish. We hail him as our 6th man savior, but if he leaves our situation and ends up starting alongside a good PG/frontcourt...with a halfway decent coach...he'll really make Hawks fans cry. I for one hope we keep him right where he is.

[Wretch]

Jason Terry hands down. He was my favorite Hawk for years and we were always looking for that 2 guard that could handle the ball and do a little playmaking. Dear God what a nightmare it would be to try and guard JJ and JT on opposite sides of the court.

Put Marvin and Smoove in there, man that would be nasty. Double JJ and swing it to JT...it's automatic! Have Smoove attacking the basket and drawing a double...JT, JJ, and Marvin spotting up...ZOMG...

And Horf cleaning up the glass...lol

Yeah, gimme JT all day long.

[exodus]

Depends on whether or not we are allowed to time travel. If we are i would put prime Deke on this team and it would be scary. With a healthy Speedy we would definitely be the best defensive team in the league.

[DJ_Money]

Back when we were desperately looking for that big guard to play next to JT, Joe Johnson was the guy I wanted. I kept saying we should trade Ratliff for him (giving the starting Center spot to Nazr after that solid run he had at the end of the year...)

We ended up with Joe later after all...and he ain't half bad.

[BossTweed]

I've only been a Hawks fan for 3 years because I just recently moved to Atlanta, but I'm definitely enjoying the growth of this Hawks team. Another thing I really like is that all the players on the team are good guys from my point of view as a fan. Sure there might be a bit of an emotional outburst here and there from Josh or Salim, but they are only doing it because they want to win and are frustrated at something. Plus it isn't something that happens once a month or anything, it's only even happened a few times.

BK deserves some credit for not jumping at the chances to get "underpaid" locker room cancer type like Steve Francis, Ron Artest, etc. I really want our players to win, not just because it's cool or fun to be the fan of a winning team, but because they are people I want to see have success, no matter where they were playing.