The Answer is simple, yet complex.

[Diesel]

I think that either way we go, we will have to face a big in the 2nd round of the playoffs (if we make it that far). I true big is a problem for us. However, there are 2 possibilities that we have if we want to consider matching size for size and rebounding for rebounding.

Camby - Everybody has mentioned Camby because he's the PF of the lowly Clippers. I think he's trade bait, but to the right team.

and

Heywood. Hear me out here. Heywood is a guy who hasplayed well against Orlando.

The thing is that I think Heywood being in the last year of his contract may be available to us. Washington is in disarray. I think soon, they start to tank to get a better draft pick. The question is what would you give?

How about all the clutter from our bench including Mo and Joe + our first round pick for Heywood? Would Washington do it?

The complexity of the matter is when does he play?

IS he the first guy off the bench?

I guess.

How long does he play?

Then there's the Cavs. For as good as he has looked against Orlando... .he hasn't looked so good against the Cavs.

Still...

A rotation of Horf, Heywood, Zaza... could be our three headed monster.

[Diesel]

The other main question to answer is... Will increasing our ability to rebound help us to defeat Orlando and Cleveland?

or is the problem with our offensive gameplan?

[thecampster]

The other main question to answer is... Will increasing our ability to rebound help us to defeat Orlando and Cleveland?

or is the problem with our offensive gameplan?

I would go with offensive gameplan. The magic are not working hard enough on the defensive end and have the legs to knock down shots and for Howard to completely dominate on the offensive end. There has to be motion in our offense in the half court. They need to be chasing the ball. The second we go iso and give them a chance to settle back on their heels and for Howard to stand on the edge of the lane and look for the iso driver...it's over.

[spotatl]

The problem isn't the offensive gameplan- is the personnel on offense. Horford doesn't present any problem whatsoever for Howard on Defense so Howard pretty much doesn't even bother to guard him when Horford tries to draw him outside. That means that he is free to roam on defense. If the Hawks had a big who was actually the least bit of a threat from outside it would help a TON. The problem for the Hawks is that the Magic are perfectly happy to let either Horford or Smith shoot from 18 feet out and it means they can take away everything inside.

[swolehawk2]

The problem isn't the offensive gameplan- is the personnel on offense. Horford doesn't present any problem whatsoever for Howard on Defense so Howard pretty much doesn't even bother to guard him when Horford tries to draw him outside. That means that he is free to roam on defense. If the Hawks had a big who was actually the least bit of a threat from outside it would help a TON. The problem for the Hawks is that the Magic are perfectly happy to let either Horford or Smith shoot from 18 feet out and it means they can take away everything inside.

We simply don't attack Lewis and Howard on the offensive end. Horford and Smoove need to attack the basket and not settle for hooks or jumpers. What happened to Smoove taking two dribbles and trying to break the rim he rarely does that anymore.

Vince gets to guard Marvin, which means he can relax.

Attacking the interior and creating fouls is the way to go. We have to keep the game close. If you watch the Magic, when the game is close Anderson, Redick and Barnes are not nearly as comfortable taking and making threes, but when they get a lead it's like those guys gain confidence because a miss doesn't mean as much when you are up by 10-15.

Defensively, fouling Dwight as much as possible is the key. He gets frustrated and we don't have to double. Be aggresive and push him of the block, if we foul, so what. Al, Z, Collins, Smoove, Joe Smith, that's 30 fouls use'm.

And yeah making Jameer defend Craw is also a good Idea.

[spotatl]

The Magic don't see either Smith or Horford as a threat on defense. They are more than happy to let Howard guard horford 1 on 1- they don't think its a matchup that at all favors the Hawks. Likewise they don't see Smith has having any advantage over Lewis- they are more than happy to let Lewis use his length and quickness to guard him.

I think the Hawks gameplan should be to have Crawford and Joe create from the outside and take it to the rim to draw contact. Then once Howard goes to help the defense is unsetteld and THEN Horford and Smith can do more damage. The problem is that Joe and Crawford will settle for Jumpers instead of exploiting the doubleteam.

My biggest worry about the Hawks is that Joe and Crawford do not get to the line often enough. As an example, Crawford and Joe COMBINED haven't been fouled as much as Corey Maggette. Joe and Crawford have combined to shoot over 900 more shots than Maggette but Maggette has shot 52 more freethrows.

Edited February 1, 2010 by spotatl

[HawkItus]

I always wonder why we don't run a big on big pick and roll against Howard. Get him moving, then have some room under the basket.

[spotatl]

I don't get why teams would voluntarily want to bring Howard closer to the ball. He is more of a threat near the ball than Horford is away from the basket.

Edited February 1, 2010 by spotatl

[Diesel]

The problem isn't the offensive gameplan- is the personnel on offense. Horford doesn't present any problem whatsoever for Howard on Defense so Howard pretty much doesn't even bother to guard him when Horford tries to draw him outside. That means that he is free to roam on defense. If the Hawks had a big who was actually the least bit of a threat from outside it would help a TON. The problem for the Hawks is that the Magic are perfectly happy to let either Horford or Smith shoot from 18 feet out and it means they can take away everything inside.

That's an interesting POV there Spot. So your remedy would be for us to get a big who was a threat from outside like Okur, Dirk, or Rasheed.

What would we look like if we were to trade for either:

Troy Murphy, Andrea Bargnani, or Channing Frye.

I believe we could get one of them, but it would cost us.

[gsuteke]

I'm not convinced a trade will put this team over the top Diesel.

Subsequently while failing to plan is certainly planning to fail nobody here knows what the playoff landscape will look like as of today. Who would have thought at this point in the season last year we'd have so many injuries at the most innopportune time last year. Who knows if Orlando will face the same situation this year.

I think you continue what you've been doing which is building aroung the guys you've already got. I wouldn't even trade Teague at this point. I'd take my chances on Joe or Crawford going off in the playoffs.

If Joe resigns this offseason there is no reason this team will not be a Finals contender some time down the road.

[Diesel]

I'm not convinced a trade will put this team over the top Diesel.

Subsequently while failing to plan is certainly planning to fail nobody here knows what the playoff landscape will look like as of today. Who would have thought at this point in the season last year we'd have so many injuries at the most innopportune time last year. Who knows if Orlando will face the same situation this year.

I think you continue what you've been doing which is building aroung the guys you've already got. I wouldn't even trade Teague at this point. I'd take my chances on Joe or Crawford going off in the playoffs.

If Joe resigns this offseason there is no reason this team will not be a Finals contender some time down the road.

I disagree.

Notice the effect that two trades have had on our team thus far:

Getting Bibby..

Getting Craw.

With those two moves we have moved from being a nonplayoff team to being an elite team. Will one trade put us over the top is not a question of how many.. but a question of quality. It all depends on what we can get. I have to agree with spot on one thing... we need a way to bolster our frontcourt offensively. We had hoped that Joe Smith could help, but he's no help. If we were to be given Troy Murphy, I believe he's the type of player that could put us "Over the top". I have always believe that a scorer at the 4 or 5 would make this team work well. We really needed McDyess.

[gsuteke]

Diesel your sig is killin my blackberry

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The problem isn't the offensive gameplan- is the personnel on offense. Horford doesn't present any problem whatsoever for Howard on Defense so Howard pretty much doesn't even bother to guard him when Horford tries to draw him outside. That means that he is free to roam on defense. If the Hawks had a big who was actually the least bit of a threat from outside it would help a TON. The problem for the Hawks is that the Magic are perfectly happy to let either Horford or Smith shoot from 18 feet out and it means they can take away everything inside.

Yep . .. they're not worried at all about those two guys. The only time you'll ever see the Magic double team somebody, is if JJ has the ball. When the Hawks threw it down low for Horford or Smoove to create a shot, they didn't rotate anybody toward those guys. If a rotation did come, it comes at the last minute via Howard challenging the shot at the rim.

The Hawks are simply going to have to outshoot this team, while hoping that the Magic isn't anywhere near their 3-point production average. Woody should just give JJ and Jamal the ball, and see if they can be the high volume type scorers to lead us to victory. Horford and definitely Smoove should never take a jumper against the Magic. Most of their concentration should be on grabbing as many rebounds on both ends of the floor as possible.

When Bibby was making those early shots, it helped us build that early lead. So we're just going to have to make our open jumpers. The mentality of this team isn't to drive to the basket to look for contact. Your observation of JJ and Crawford's FT production, and how it compares to Maggette's FT production, is right on point.

So to make up for that, they're either going to have to take a lot of shots, or make a lot of threes. Either way, the ball should be in their hands on most possessions, with them looking to shoot the ball. They can try to share the ball early. But if the complimentary players aren't getting it done, the star players need to completely dominate the ball.

Edited February 1, 2010 by northcyde

[Johnnybravo4]

Our problem isn't the center posiition. Our problem is we have no ability whatsoever to stop pg dribble penetration. Also our starting pg has no ability to dribble penetrate.

[AHF]

Our bigs can't be expected to get the ball and go iso against their bigs. Lewis is quick enough to usually stay with Josh and Howard is everything that Horford is but better, at least around the basket. We would need to do some different things on offense to get them in better position to score against Orlando's bigs. Until we diversify our offense, our guards are going to have to carry a big load against the Magic every single game.

[jerrywest]

Only Marvin for Dikembe would cure all heart burns.

[Crank]

The Magic don't see either Smith or Horford as a threat on defense. They are more than happy to let Howard guard horford 1 on 1- they don't think its a matchup that at all favors the Hawks. Likewise they don't see Smith has having any advantage over Lewis- they are more than happy to let Lewis use his length and quickness to guard him.

I think the Hawks gameplan should be to have Crawford and Joe create from the outside and take it to the rim to draw contact. Then once Howard goes to help the defense is unsetteld and THEN Horford and Smith can do more damage. The problem is that Joe and Crawford will settle for Jumpers instead of exploiting the doubleteam.

My biggest worry about the Hawks is that Joe and Crawford do not get to the line often enough. As an example, Crawford and Joe COMBINED haven't been fouled as much as Corey Maggette. Joe and Crawford have combined to shoot over 900 more shots than Maggette but Maggette has shot 52 more freethrows.

Its hard to compare what Maggette does to what Crawford and Joe does . Maggette's entire game is based around getting to the line and often times he is basically playing PF in Nelsons small ball attack . He doesnt shoot the three ball at all he puts his head down and just drives and his numbers are inflated because of the pace the warriors play and the fact that they are scoring over a 107 a night . Maggette did the same thing for the Clipps it looks excellent on the stat sheet but those ft attempts do not impact his team in a positive way sort of like the way Kevin Martins ft attempts really dont for Sac .

Crawford drove at will against the Magic and drew Dwight over to help but our spacing was horrible and no one but Zaza ever actually rotated into position to receive a pass or hit the offensive glass .Our starting frontline is more concerned about getting there shots blocked or getting dunked on than challenging Howard in the paint.

What Diesel said about marvin could be applied to our entire frontline when they see Howard . They self check and Dwight just laughs because its nothing better than knowing you can leave your man and even if he gets the ball he will fumble it away or miss easy layups or shoot it before you come over .

Until our front line decides they have had enough or Howard and goes at him for 48 minutes nothing will change .

[Diesel]

Only Marvin for Dikembe would cure all heart burns.

I disagree.

Again, we don't know what to do with a defensive C. The answer is to get a scoring SF. The only way we will beat them is to outscore them. The only way we can do that is to improve our ability to score. Marvin's job is to help stretch out the defense with his shooting. He doesn't do that. So we have Bibby and Joe trying to stretch the defense. They are easily stopped on the perimeter. We perk up a bit when we replace Bibby with Jamal... However the truth is that we need more production from the 3, 4, and 5. Being that our 4 and 5 is responsible for our rebounding... A scoring 3 is a good fix. Marvin for Maggette in some form or fashion would help. However, chemistry wise, I don't know. This is why I like Troy Murphy. He's a big. He's a good scorer. He can hit an outside shot. He can help open up the defense so that we can either drive or take it into the midrange. BUt right now, we're just wasting shots from outside and hoping somebody who is single or double covered can get hot. That doesn't work.

[bird_dirt]

Yep . .. they're not worried at all about those two guys. The only time you'll ever see the Magic double team somebody, is if JJ has the ball. When the Hawks threw it down low for Horford or Smoove to create a shot, they didn't rotate anybody toward those guys. If a rotation did come, it comes at the last minute via Howard challenging the shot at the rim.

The Hawks are simply going to have to outshoot this team, while hoping that the Magic isn't anywhere near their 3-point production average. Woody should just give JJ and Jamal the ball, and see if they can be the high volume type scorers to lead us to victory. Horford and definitely Smoove should never take a jumper against the Magic. Most of their concentration should be on grabbing as many rebounds on both ends of the floor as possible.

When Bibby was making those early shots, it helped us build that early lead. So we're just going to have to make our open jumpers. The mentality of this team isn't to drive to the basket to look for contact. Your observation of JJ and Crawford's FT production, and how it compares to Maggette's FT production, is right on point.

So to make up for that, they're either going to have to take a lot of shots, or make a lot of threes. Either way, the ball should be in their hands on most possessions, with them looking to shoot the ball. They can try to share the ball early. But if the complimentary players aren't getting it done, the star players need to completely dominate the ball.

i agree that outshooting them should be a significant part of the gameplan, though i would like to add an additional twist to that plan.

i would think that the hawks best chance to beat orl and clev is to run them into the ground. everyone has been screaming for the hawks to play uptempo ever since bk drafted smoove and chillz. it is when we play these teams where it would actually work (imo).

horf can't match the size of big z and shaq in clev, but he can outrun their old *ss legs. have i read somewhere before that horford leads all centers in leading fast break drives or something to that effect? wear them down!! they are old and slow!!

as for orlando, howard is the biggest matchup problem. he's young and athletic for his size, so he will do a much better job keeping up with horf (and smoove), so i would hope the fastbreaks and other drives by smoove and horf (ideally helped by jj/bibby/craw shots opening it up a little) would draw fouls and basically try to get howard to foul himself out of the game.

everyone likes to point out "match up problems", like it's a one way street. well, if there are significant differences in personel, you utilize your differences to your advantage. if their bigs are bigger and stronger, then most of the time ours are smaller and quicker. exploit it, woody!! don't settle for 1/2 court offense everytime (though that isn't as easily to do come playoff time). a quicker and more defensively minded pg than bibby would help out greatly in this instance, too. bibby's good when we want to try to grind things out in the half court more, but getting teague up to snuff defensively would be huge going against teams with these bigs (teague, craw, jj, smoove, horf).

[RedDawg#8]

I actually think that makes the most sense. Considering whenever we got ahead or went on a run against Orlando it was because we were in fact running. When we created turnovers and got them guessing on offense we take advantage of it.