This is a mediocre basketball team.

[niremetal]

GM . . . but the fans overrate the talent. People will readily say that JJ isn't a superstar ( which is correct ), but not talk about the obvious deficiencies in our other players.

- Who is the back to the basket scorer on this team? We don't have one. The one element that teams use to get easy baskets, we really don't have that here.

- Who is the sharpshooter on this team? We don't have one. JJ and Crawford are our best shooters, but they're not sharpshooters by any stretch of the imagination. Mo Evans can't be considered as a sharpshooter either.

- Who is the lockdown defender on this team? The closest is JJ. He's good, but I wouldn't consider him a lockdown defender.

- Who is the floor leader of the Hawks? Bibby is the closest thing we have to that. And people HATE Bibby.

There are a lot of essential elements that this team lacks, that the other good teams have. What we do have that they don't, is an extremely athletic squad that can get up and down the floor . . . but only when they get stops. They HAVE TO GET STOPS in order to showcase what they do the best. If they don't get stops, it's usually up to the shotmaking ability of JJ and Crawford to pull the game out. As much as I love Smoove and Horford, their games are limited as offensive players, because of the lack of low post moves to get them easy shots ( or trips to the free throw line ).

Wait, the team isn't perfect? It has flaws? You mean, like, it's comprised of human beings rather than the Monstars from Space Jam (who lost anyway)?

Every team has flaws. All the teams ahead of us have flaws. Hell, even the 72-10 Bulls had flaws - depth, lack of a starting-quality center, no PG. Do we have more flaws and/or more serious flaws than those teams? Sure. But it's amazing to me that you can nitpick so much about this team's talent but fail to see flaws in Woody's coaching.

[Joker]

Wait, the team isn't perfect? It has flaws? You mean, like, it's comprised of human beings rather than the Monstars from Space Jam (who lost anyway)?

Every team has flaws. All the teams ahead of us have flaws. Hell, even the 72-10 Bulls had flaws - depth, lack of a starting-quality center, no PG. Do we have more flaws and/or more serious flaws than those teams? Sure. But it's amazing to me that you can nitpick so much about this team's talent but fail to see flaws in Woody's coaching.

A superstar is what we lack, hardly any team is in as many games as we are in during the 4th QT. This team with Kobe instead of JJ is a 65 win team.

[gutz]

WE have the WORST f***ing coach in the NBA at making in game adjustments. Losing again last night to a COMPLETE inferior opponent missing their 3 leading scorers is a JOKE. Woodson just has to go. He just stands there during timeouts scribbling on his dumb board. I've sat right behind the hawks bench and witnessed this. Woody is flat out terrible and we need a real coach in here that can hold these players responsible and dish out some much needed disicipline. Smoove just does whatever the hell he wants to. He should NEVER EVER be shooting a jumpshot and Woody continues to let him. Any other coach would be sitting his *ss down. We will be lucky to get out of the 1st round people. We all need to really start worrying about that before we even talk about second round opponents.

[buckeye242424]

WE have the WORST f***ing coach in the NBA at making in game adjustments. Losing again last night to a COMPLETE inferior opponent missing their 3 leading scorers is a JOKE. Woodson just has to go. He just stands there during timeouts scribbling on his dumb board. I've sat right behind the hawks bench and witnessed this. Woody is flat out terrible and we need a real coach in here that can hold these players responsible and dish out some much needed disicipline. Smoove just does whatever the hell he wants to. He should NEVER EVER be shooting a jumpshot and Woody continues to let him. Any other coach would be sitting his *ss down. We will be lucky to get out of the 1st round people. We all need to really start worrying about that before we even talk about second round opponents.

Smoove has matured more on the court, than anyone on the Hawks. He's taken 7 three's this year, C'mon. We can't expect him to change everything in one year...

[gutz]

Smoove has matured more on the court, than anyone on the Hawks. He's taken 7 three's this year, C'mon. We can't expect him to change everything in one year...

Dude all of his jumpshots are a few feet in front of the 3 point line. He might as well be shooting a 3. He should never ever take any jumpshots because he simply can't shoot the ball. He can't even shoot FT's anymore. He is 60% from the line this year. That is awful.

[niremetal]

Smoove has matured more on the court, than anyone on the Hawks. He's taken 7 three's this year, C'mon. We can't expect him to change everything in one year...

How about in 6 years? No doubt Smoove has improved by leaps and bounds this year, but it's not like him shooting jumpers is a new issue. And stepping 2 feet inside the 3-point line to launch a jumper is actually less efficient than just shooting a damned 3.

Edited April 8, 2010 by niremetal

[uga2006]

What? This is what most you want,right? No JJ so back to mediocrity. I mean this team is horrible on the road anyway but last nights game was just embarrassing.

[AHF]

WE have the WORST f***ing coach in the NBA at making in game adjustments. Losing again last night to a COMPLETE inferior opponent missing their 3 leading scorers is a JOKE. Woodson just has to go. He just stands there during timeouts scribbling on his dumb board. I've sat right behind the hawks bench and witnessed this. Woody is flat out terrible and we need a real coach in here that can hold these players responsible and dish out some much needed disicipline. Smoove just does whatever the hell he wants to. He should NEVER EVER be shooting a jumpshot and Woody continues to let him. Any other coach would be sitting his *ss down. We will be lucky to get out of the 1st round people. We all need to really start worrying about that before we even talk about second round opponents.

The time to sit him down for shooting jumpers was 4 years ago. The time to structure your offense so he is not floating on the perimeter was at least 4 years ago. I don't think Woody can sit Josh anymore for shooting Js - just continue to work with him. Woodson can still make sure Josh is not in a position to shoot long J's on offense given his control over the team's offensive sets.

[buckeye242424]

How about in 6 years? No doubt Smoove has improved by leaps and bounds this year, but it's not like him shooting jumpers is a new issue. And stepping 2 feet inside the 3-point line to launch a jumper is actually less efficient than just shooting a damned 3.

Smoove is still young, not matter how long he's been in the league. You can't expect an 18,19, 20 year old to learn his strenghts that quickly, especially when you're coach allows the beahvior. I think by him giving up the three was huge in his growth. Hopefully less long 2's will be the next part of his maturation. He still hasn't peaked as a player...

[HawkWeisErrr]

A superstar is what we lack, hardly any team is in as many games as we are in during the 4th QT. This team with Kobe instead of JJ is a 65 win team.

This is what I've been saying for a long time. We have a very talented team but no star. We don't have anyone that can consistently put this team on his back when we are struggling. But we are rock solid all around. With Kobe instead of JJ we'd be a very very tough team to beat. Hell we might even win 70.

[buckeye242424]

A superstar may be what were lacking, but it's not like that void can be filled easily. Kobe's and LeBron's don't just appear. That's like saying the only thing we're lacking from being able to fly is a pair of wings.....

[niremetal]

A superstar may be what were lacking, but it's not like that void can be filled easily. Kobe's and LeBron's don't just appear. That's like saying the only thing we're lacking from being able to fly is a pair of wings.....

+1

[Guest]

A superstar may be what were lacking, but it's not like that void can be filled easily. Kobe's and LeBron's don't just appear. That's like saying the only thing we're lacking from being able to fly is a pair of wings.....

+1...all the top tier teams have their uber super star that's why they are where they are...the Hawks are continually adding and building.

[TruJerz]

It's not that the Hawks have mediocre talent. They have the talent.

What is really mediocre about this team is their attitude / drive.

They show too much "what the heck" attitude. Too much just

going thru the motions.

When they show up with fire in their eyes, all on the same page

and willing to do whatever it takes to win, the Hawks can be great.

They turn it on and off too much. My greatest fear is, when they go

into the playoffs, they will simply be unable to turn it back on.

:temperature:

exactly..well said. the talent is there. This is has top 5 talent but they dont always bring it, especially on the road. They dont play TEAM defense..and on offensive they settle for too many jumpshots. We have good foul shooters so we should get to the line more often. Also, I think we should push the ball more..be more of a fastbreak team than a halfcourt jump shooting team.

With that said, when the Hawks have the right attitude they can beat anyone and thats good to know. Its up to the leaders on the team(Bibby, Joe Johnson, and Josh Smith) as well as the coaching staff to have the team ready to play with the right attitude and mindset. Hawks have been playing like a team that just wants to hurry up and go to the playoffs instead of a team trying to close out the season on a good run and get a 3rd seed. Hopefully that changes when Joe Johnson comes back becasue they look lost out there..moreso when Bibby was out tho

[Plainview1981]

A superstar may be what were lacking, but it's not like that void can be filled easily. Kobe's and LeBron's don't just appear. That's like saying the only thing we're lacking from being able to fly is a pair of wings.....

You surely don't get stars by drafting nonathletic PF's with big heads.

[PureGreatness]

You surely don't get stars by drafting nonathletic PF's with big heads.

well he is with candace so...

Don't try to avoid the spam filter. Thanks.

Edited April 9, 2010 by AHF