We are deep team talent wise

[RedDawg#8]

Joe Johnson: All star, one of the best all around skillsets in the league

Mike Bibby: Very talented shooter, floor leader, vet, FEARLESS

Marvin Williams: San his passing, is a great all around player with his pure shot rivaling JJ's

Josh Smith: This time last year, he was on his way to being a young superstar with freakish exciting athleticism

Al Horford: Great rebounder with a good jumper for a player his size, underrated passer from the post, WINNER

Flip Murray: Fearless and agressive scorer, good smarts for the game, plays fast

Mo Evans: Money from the corners, plays hard on both ends even if his shot isnt falling

ZaZa Pachulia: May look clumsey but always finds away to chip in the game, great rebounder, wont back down from anyone

Solomon Jones: Athlete who is still improvong, plays aggressive defense, plays hard

Acie Law: Great skillset on the wrong team

Mario West: Can instantly change the tempo of the game on both ends, inspires teamates, Always gives 100%

We have a talented team, esp. within the starting 5 and 6th man Murray. The thing is everyone will never be on at the same time, but every night at least 2 players will burn you giving us a chance to win. If we have a 3rd player making an impact we almost always win. I think the lack of consistency is a result of not knowing who will be the main guy next to Joe or Bibby each night. We know it could be any two other players but we dont ever know which one, and neither do the players. If they can play hard for 48 mins tho they can beat anyone and thats the prolem with our team... playing hard for 48 mins. Sometimes they become too passive on Offense or Defense because they either knowingly or sub-consciously defer to the OTHER guy too much not knowing who the supporting playmakers will be. 5 very talented players cant all stand out at the same time. Weve seen from Horf, Marv and Smith (last year) that they all can be great one day, but Marv and Horf tend to defer despite have better overall games than Smith, who (to our dismay) seems to think he is better than he is.

I think their roles should be:

Joe: Distribute ball during game, only take available shots, make plays happen for other players, take over in crunch time

Bibby: Stay behind arc, share ballhandling with Joe, shoot every open three, drive and kick when lane is available

Williams: Move more without the ball, spot up and call for ball for open J's, drive at the end of the clock to go to FT

Smith: Stay in post, set some screens, rebound, take over in the fast break

Horford: run the offense through Horford, he will make the right pass out of the post or take good shot if its there

Murray: Run, drive, get to the rim, make defense collapse, find teamates more, stay aggresive taking open shots

Evans: Live in the corner, its home, run the baseline from corner to corner til you are open

Zaza: Clean up the glass, shoot open post shots

[mrhonline]

Could use a vet rebounder, but I just don't see Joe Smith signing with the Hawks...

[Popeye]

Nice analysis RedDawg, now forward that to Woody..

[Diesel]

Here's the real question.

If we get to the playoffs, do we turn it up a notch (like last year).. and

If we get into the second round, will momentum take us to the finals?

The truth is that EC playoff teams have to be a little intimidated about playing us from the second round on. We're a young team with just a little bit of experience. If we win our first round matchup, I don't think that Boston or Cleveland will feel at ease playing us in a best of 7. They know that if we get 1 road win in a best of 7, we may advance to the next round. We have bad coaching, we have wasted talent... but even with all that, the bright lights of the playoffs transforms us from a mild mannered team to a hard to beat team. IF that same Joe Johnson who played in the Boston series shows up for the playoffs... Lebron can bring an Army of Refs to give him calls, it won't matter much. Paul Pierce is much better at getting real calls than Lebron. Peirce and the rest of the big three couldn't beat us in Atlanta. IF we get to the second round, Lebron couldn't stop us either.

[DrReality]

Even though JJ has not been his old self I think it has had an advantage of allowing different guys to step up and show their stuff. And they have passed this torch around with one nigh being Marvin, another Al, Flip, etc. I think that shows growth and something that we will need going through this tough stretch.

[Traceman]

Joe Johnson: All star, one of the best all around skillsets in the league

Mike Bibby: Very talented shooter, floor leader, vet, FEARLESS

Marvin Williams: San his passing, is a great all around player with his pure shot rivaling JJ's

Josh Smith: This time last year, he was on his way to being a young superstar with freakish exciting athleticism

Al Horford: Great rebounder with a good jumper for a player his size, underrated passer from the post, WINNER

Flip Murray: Fearless and agressive scorer, good smarts for the game, plays fast

Mo Evans: Money from the corners, plays hard on both ends even if his shot isnt falling

ZaZa Pachulia: May look clumsey but always finds away to chip in the game, great rebounder, wont back down from anyone

Solomon Jones: Athlete who is still improvong, plays aggressive defense, plays hard

Acie Law: Great skillset on the wrong team

Mario West: Can instantly change the tempo of the game on both ends, inspires teamates, Always gives 100%

We have a talented team, esp. within the starting 5 and 6th man Murray. The thing is everyone will never be on at the same time, but every night at least 2 players will burn you giving us a chance to win. If we have a 3rd player making an impact we almost always win. I think the lack of consistency is a result of not knowing who will be the main guy next to Joe or Bibby each night. We know it could be any two other players but we dont ever know which one, and neither do the players. If they can play hard for 48 mins tho they can beat anyone and thats the prolem with our team... playing hard for 48 mins. Sometimes they become too passive on Offense or Defense because they either knowingly or sub-consciously defer to the OTHER guy too much not knowing who the supporting playmakers will be. 5 very talented players cant all stand out at the same time. Weve seen from Horf, Marv and Smith (last year) that they all can be great one day, but Marv and Horf tend to defer despite have better overall games than Smith, who (to our dismay) seems to think he is better than he is.

I think their roles should be:

Joe: Distribute ball during game, only take available shots, make plays happen for other players, take over in crunch time

Bibby: Stay behind arc, share ballhandling with Joe, shoot every open three, drive and kick when lane is available

Williams: Move more without the ball, spot up and call for ball for open J's, drive at the end of the clock to go to FT

Smith: Stay in post, set some screens, rebound, take over in the fast break

Horford: run the offense through Horford, he will make the right pass out of the post or take good shot if its there

Murray: Run, drive, get to the rim, make defense collapse, find teamates more, stay aggresive taking open shots

Evans: Live in the corner, its home, run the baseline from corner to corner til you are open

Zaza: Clean up the glass, shoot open post shots

I agree that we have talent and I think that one reason we are not as consistent as we could be is that Woody has to do a better job of establishing roles/pecking orders on the team as the young players develop. There was a time with this group where JJ had to dominate the ball/shot attempts for this team to have a reasonalbe chance of winning but that is clearly not the case anymore.

While I would like to see Marvin continue to develop into our primary 2nd option, all 5 starters are now capable of exploiting favorable matchups and Woody needs to do a better job of CONSISTENTLY taking advantage of that. I think your assessment that JJ should concentrate on taking available shots, making plays for others and taking over in crunch time is right on. He should also look to take over when the others are struggling.