So why hasn't Mario been playing?

[d2v16DKG]

Mario looks great! Why hasn't he been playing? Where's Marvin Williams by the way?

[Lascar78]

[JackB1]

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Mario looks great! Why hasn't he been playing? Where's Marvin Williams by the way?

You answered your own question. Play great and you will soon be on the bench.

Thats the Woodson way

[oiatlhawksfan]

Didn't look all to great after that hot start.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

Mario should be part of the bench rotation... replacing Salim.

[High5]

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Didn't look all to great after that hot start.

How much consistency can you expect from a rookie who only gets to play the last 2 seconds of a quarter? Our team looks lazy and uninspired too often for a guy like Mario to waste away on the bench. He can be a spark plug on offense and defense.

He still played good D and go to the rim, he just was a little off.

[NJHAWK]

It could have something to do with the 2 airballs he shot from 4 feet away.

[DrReality]

Over the past month every time Woody has let one of the bench guys play some regular minutes they have come through. Clearly shows how he has mismanaged his bench.

[Plainview1981]

Because he is an untalented (by NBA standards) scrub. He provided a good 3 or 4 minute lift and didn't impact the rest of the game. No need to cream in your pants.

[High5]

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Because he is an untalented (by NBA standards) scrub. He provided a good 3 or 4 minute lift and didn't impact the rest of the game. No need to cream in your pants.

He is an above average defender and a great leaper. His offense could use some work, but he isn't a scrub by any means. He was on the floor for almost 8 minutes in the first quarter where he scored 7 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and held Artest (who murdered us last game) to 3 points. That was the longest stretch of real minutes he has played in his NBA career and he performed very well. He only got 8 minutes the rest of the game and he missed a couple of floaters, but he got a good look around the rim which is the hardest part.

With more play time that he'll get a better feel for the offense and those shots will start going in more frequently.

[DJlaysitup]

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...With more play time that he'll get a better feel for the offense and those shots will start going in more frequently.

Or at least hit the rim from four feet....but I do agree he is an asset to our team - defensively and energy-wise.

[Plainview1981]

He is an above average defender and a great leaper.

I guess it all looks good in 8 or 10 minutes. But Mario West is likely no better than an Ira Newble. The people here tend to fall in love with the 12th 13th men on the roster. This isn't the first time. I don't think he has anywhere near the potential that some people here. If he gets more minutes, I'm sure everybody will start seeing why he is lucky to even be on an NBA roster.

[High5]

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Or at least hit the rim from four feet....but I do agree he is an asset to our team - defensively and energy-wise.

What about Joe having a wide open layup after hitting a couple of 3's and missing it? How many layups have Smith and Marvin missed? And they aren't extremely inexperienced rookies. Just like some people get too excited, some people expect way too much.

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He is an above average defender and a great leaper.

I guess it all looks good in 8 or 10 minutes. But Mario West is likely no better than an Ira Newble. The people here tend to fall in love with the 12th 13th men on the roster. This isn't the first time. I don't think he has anywhere near the potential that some people here. If he gets more minutes, I'm sure everybody will start seeing why he is lucky to even be on an NBA roster.

I'm just talking a good defender who can provide a lot of energy and hustle plays, nothing more. 8-10 minutes a night would be fine by me. (not just blow outs and the last seconds of a quarter)

[Plainview1981]

I'm just talking a good defender who can provide a lot of energy and hustle plays, nothing more. 8-10 minutes a night would be fine by me. (not just blow outs and the last seconds of a quarter)

Once players or teams see him more... His so called great defense could get exposed. He is an unknown player right now. A guy like Ron Artest might simply not know how to attack him yet. If he guarded Ron for a real length I'm sure Ron would destroy him.

[High5]

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I'm just talking a good defender who can provide a lot of energy and hustle plays, nothing more. 8-10 minutes a night would be fine by me. (not just blow outs and the last seconds of a quarter)

Once players or teams see him more... His so called great defense could get exposed. He is an unknown player right now. A guy like Ron Artest might simply not know how to attack him yet. If he guarded Ron for a real length I'm sure Ron would destroy him.

You're really reaching now.

[Plainview1981]

Not really. It just takes more than giving a few minutes of energy over a season to get me excited over a player. Again, there is a reason nobody other than the people on this board seem to think Mario is anything special. He is not very good or very skilled. That's why he doesn't get to play and that's why he probably wouldn't be in the NBA if it wasn't for the Hawks.

[VarsitySlacker]

West has survived off his defense since high school. It was his defense that got him the scholarship at GT, when Hewitt went to scout someone and came away with the player that held him to 6 points. It was his defense that put him in the rotation, and his defense that got him the non-roster invitee in summer league. To say that his defense is a myth is false. However, saying he's no better than Ira Newble is not false, but also not necessarily a demerit. If you haven't noticed, Newble is still in the league playing defense. He's not a superstar, but a quality bench player, which is what Mario is capable of doing. His offense is pretty rough, but for a defensive stopper, we could do much worse. If nothing else, he does certainly deserve to be out there in front of Salim.

[Plainview1981]

Newble has barely got off the bench the last few years. He had been playing under 10MPG the last two years and probably only got more minutes this year because of the problems Cleveland had at the start of the season with Sasha not playing and problems with other players.

[High5]

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Not really. It just takes more than giving a few minutes of energy over a season to get me excited over a player. Again, there is a reason nobody other than the people on this board seem to think Mario is anything special. He is not very good or very skilled. That's why he doesn't get to play and that's why he probably wouldn't be in the NBA if it wasn't for the Hawks.

Mario has supplied almost 200 minutes of energy this year. I can't remember him ever being on the floor and me thinking, "Wow, I wish Woody would bench him." I don't think anyone is really excited with him, they just realize that he should be a part of this team for several minutes, not a few seconds. If you disagree then I have to ask if you have seen him play.

[Plainview1981]

I've seen him play and he isn't that good. Whoa! He has hustled for a few minutes. Which is great, but not anywhere near enough on it's own. Remember when ZaZa was putting up numbers the last two years when there was no expectations? If this guy got regular minutes you would find out that he isn't very good.

It's like in the NFL when the fans always root for the backup QB that doesn't play.