Hawks close to signing Josh Powell

[Admin]

Just because we are lifelong fans of the team does not make us lifelong fans of the owners.

Yeehaw! Great signing ASG this should really give us a shot against Howard now!

Is that better Dolfan?

A side note that may make you see a little reality....Derrick Caracter, the 58th pick in this years draft, in all likelihood will be getting the great Josh Powells minutes.

I must have missed the part where I referred to Powell as anywhere near great. And you must have missed my posts about being pissed about the 2nd round decisions, but that doesn't keep me from seeing the positives to this signing, rather than only the negatives.

[DrReality]

Im just thankful that Hawksquawk doesnt have a suicide button as depressed as some of you seem to be. Why even continue to follow the Hawks if all you are going to do is complain?

Perhaps that is their purpose . . . . . to complain.

[spotatl]

A paraplegic could have done an equally decent job in that situation.

LOL... Parapalegics are the first thing that come to mind for someone who can't do a desk job?

[Buzzard]

I must have missed the part where I referred to Powell as anywhere near great. And you must have missed my posts about being pissed about the 2nd round decisions, but that doesn't keep me from seeing the positives to this signing, rather than only the negatives.

I was trying to at least keep my humor by being sarcastic.

I do not see any real positives in this signing. We got a guy who the Lakers will easily replace with the 58th pick in the draft. And I do not think they or any of our competitors will be losing any sleep. If you can find me a positive other than he fills a spot on our bench at less than a million a year please do.

In my opinion Josh Powell is a bigger version of Mario. He has been in the league a while but has nothing other than youth (younger than Smith or Collins) to bring to the table. His best season he put up 5 and 5 while shooting .460% from the field. His shooting % has gone down every year since. It was a woefull .366 this past season. I really just don't see him as a player that will help make us better at all.

He is a undersized power forward who is in love with his outside shot. I guess this is one more positive, him and Smoove can practice hitting 3s together.

There, I found three positives. Next move ASG...Get us Shaq!

Edited July 22, 2010 by Buzzard

[Admin]

I was trying to at least keep my humor by being sarcastic.

I do not see any real positives in this signing. We got a guy who the Lakers will easily replace with the 58th pick in the draft. And I do not think they or any of our competitors will be losing any sleep. If you can find me a positive other than he fills a spot on our bench at less than a million a year please do.

In my opinion Josh Powell is a bigger version of Mario. He has been in the league a while but has nothing other than youth (younger than Smith or Collins) to bring to the table. His best season he put up 5 and 5 while shooting .460% from the field. His shooting % has gone down every year since. It was a woefull .366 this past season. I really just don't see him as a player that will help make us better at all.

He is a undersized power forward who is in love with his outside shot. I guess this is one more positive, him and Smoove can practice hitting 3s together.

There, I found three positives. Next move ASG...Get us Shaq!

Here's the thing, people need to accept that we aren't going to spend over the luxury tax line this year. It sucks, but it's apparently a fact. People can either continue to complain about that and never be satisfied or accept that fact and try to judge the moves that the ASG makes based on that fact. So based on that fact and for the amount of money he's making he is an upgrade over Joe Smith. He's apparently a great locker room guy, he plays hard and he's a quality defender. I really don't know what more you can ask for from an end of the bench guy making the minimum.

[Swatguy]

I was trying to at least keep my humor by being sarcastic.

I do not see any real positives in this signing. We got a guy who the Lakers will easily replace with the 58th pick in the draft. And I do not think they or any of our competitors will be losing any sleep. If you can find me a positive other than he fills a spot on our bench at less than a million a year please do.

In my opinion Josh Powell is a bigger version of Mario. He has been in the league a while but has nothing other than youth (younger than Smith or Collins) to bring to the table. His best season he put up 5 and 5 while shooting .460% from the field. His shooting % has gone down every year since. It was a woefull .366 this past season. I really just don't see him as a player that will help make us better at all.

He is a undersized power forward who is in love with his outside shot. I guess this is one more positive, him and Smoove can practice hitting 3s together.

There, I found three positives. Next move ASG...Get us Shaq!

A BU PF at the vet min.

We could have done worse.

He may bring more noise than you think. You must understand, he will be fighting for the next contract.

One thing I can agree with you, GET SHAQ !!!!

[Buzzard]

Here's the thing, people need to accept that we aren't going to spend over the luxury tax line this year. It sucks, but it's apparently a fact. People can either continue to complain about that and never be satisfied or accept that fact and try to judge the moves that the ASG makes based on that fact. So based on that fact and for the amount of money he's making he is an upgrade over Joe Smith. He's apparently a great locker room guy, he plays hard and he's a quality defender. I really don't know what more you can ask for from an end of the bench guy making the minimum.

I would have liked the draft pick Caracter, picked at 58 while we took whats his name at 55, who is going to take Powells place for starters. And you can pencil in these other three rookie bigs that were available at 31...Alabi, Lawal, Whiteside. Our owners pretty much suck at aquiring talent and depth. I just cannot ascertain if it is out of fear, ineptitude, or some combination of both.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Buzzard

[Buzzard]

A BU PF at the vet min.

We could have done worse.

He may bring more noise than you think. You must understand, he will be fighting for the next contract.

One thing I can agree with you, GET SHAQ !!!!

I hope he brings more than what his past performance shows. But with the way the Lakeshow in general displays a knack for figuring out who can play at a higher level than most thought and who cannot, I have serious reservations.

[Admin]

I would have liked the draft pick Caracter, picked at 58 while we took whats his name at 55, who is going to take Powells place for starters. And you can pencil in these other three rookie bigs that were available at 31...Alabi, Lawal, Whiteside. Our owners pretty much suck at aquiring talent and depth. I just cannot ascertain if it is out of fear, ineptitude, or some combination of both.

I would have loved if we had taken Whiteside, Alibi, Varnando, etc. and I hate that they sold the 31st pick but I can't fault them for taking a flyer with the 58th pick, especially if the kid held his own in tryouts with some of the more well known college players. And from what I saw with Sy in the summer league he's still a year or two away but he's pretty gifted physically and I think he could be a quality player for us down the road. The thing I have to remind myself of is that I honestly don't think that the ASG would have sold the 31st pick if they didn't need the money, and while that sucks, if that was the difference in keeping Joe then it was the right move. And for the record I do still want them to sign Shaq, just not for the MLE and definitely not via trade.

[Buzzard]

I would have loved if we had taken Whiteside, Alibi, Varnando, etc. and I hate that they sold the 31st pick but I can't fault them for taking a flyer with the 58th pick, especially if the kid held his own in tryouts with some of the more well known college players. And from what I saw with Sy in the summer league he's still a year or two away but he's pretty gifted physically and I think he could be a quality player for us down the road. The thing I have to remind myself of is that I honestly don't think that the ASG would have sold the 31st pick if they didn't need the money, and while that sucks, if that was the difference in keeping Joe then it was the right move. And for the record I do still want them to sign Shaq, just not for the MLE and definitely not via trade.

I have lost almost all faith in these guys (The ASG) to do the right things and make sound decisions. I really have. They can restore it, no doubt, but not with moves like this. I like the Crawford pick, but everyone around us is getting better. And I mean much better. These guys have got to get over this mindset that we are a elite team. It just baffles me when I think about Gearons statement..."to continue to have a elite team while staying out of the luxury tax".

Elite teams do not get swept in the 2nd round once, much less two years in a row.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Buzzard

[Buzzard]

And for the record I do still want them to sign Shaq, just not for the MLE and definitely not via trade.

One other point on Shaq. I am a math guy. I look at percentages and try to find logic. Here is my logic on paying Shaq the MLE.

If we can pay Crawford 10 million to put up 18 and 3 in 31 minutes to be our perimeter hired gun. Why can't we (our owners) see the logic in paying Shaq a little over 1/2 that to put up 12ppg, 6.7rpg, and 1.2bpg in 23 minutes as our interior hired gun?

Two hired guns, one inside, one outside. Shaq is actually the better deal on a per basis vs dollars paid and he also plays better against Orlando than Craw. The MLE is not a bad deal at all when you compare him to Craw. That is my logic concerning Shaq.

Edited July 22, 2010 by Buzzard

[coachx]

One other point on Shaq. I am a math guy. I look at percentages and try to find logic. Here is my logic on paying Shaq the MLE.

If we can pay Crawford 10 million to put up 18 and 3 in 31 minutes to be our perimeter hired gun. Why can't we (our owners) see the logic in paying Shaq a little over 1/2 that to put up 12ppg, 6.7rpg, and 1.2bpg in 23 minutes as our interior hired gun?

Two hired guns, one inside, one outside. Shaq is actually the better deal on a per basis vs dollars paid and he also plays better against Orlando than Craw. The MLE is not a bad deal at all when you compare him to Craw. That is my logic concerning Shaq.

Your logic forgets to account for the luxury tax and losing out on the league revenue sharing. Teams over the luxury tax cannot get any of the revenue sharing. Once that is factored in Shaq would cost more then Crawford.

Edited July 22, 2010 by coachx

[Buzzard]

Your logic forgets to account for the luxury tax and losing out on the league revenue sharing. Teams over the luxury tax cannot get any of the revenue sharing. Once that is factored in Shaq would cost more then Crawford.

Then SNT Evans and send a second round pick. We have a couple now that our owners do not want to spend on anyway.

[MaceCase]

One other point on Shaq. I am a math guy. I look at percentages and try to find logic. Here is my logic on paying Shaq the MLE.

If we can pay Crawford 10 million to put up 18 and 3 in 31 minutes to be our perimeter hired gun. Why can't we (our owners) see the logic in paying Shaq a little over 1/2 that to put up 12ppg, 6.7rpg, and 1.2bpg in 23 minutes as our interior hired gun?

Two hired guns, one inside, one outside. Shaq is actually the better deal on a per basis vs dollars paid and he also plays better against Orlando than Craw. The MLE is not a bad deal at all when you compare him to Craw. That is my logic concerning Shaq.

Follow the math, you can't have 4 high usage players on the same roster getting regular minutes in addition to the other 3 that people are complaining about not getting enough touches. Somebody has to cut back their touches and Shaq has said already he doesn't plan to be that person.

These were our leaders in usage% last season.

Joe: 26%

Jamal: 26%

Josh: 22%

Al: 18%

Shaq: 25%

Again, people are just looking at his raw stats but they are not looking at the fact that he had the ball in his hands basically as much as Joe and Jamal did last season to get it. That's not a role player. The idea is to boost our frontcourt's production not replace them with a 38 year old that was featured way more in Cleveland yet wasn't as productive as Al or Josh. If you want Shaq to be in any form or way effective both in the amount the cash strapped ASG would invest in him and how he fits the team then he has to be heavily featured. Now which one of Al and Smoove do you want to mitigate to a role player to make that happen?

[HAWKSFAN89]

This is sad. Im still not satisfied.... a signing like this should not be discussed this much.

[niremetal]

Just because we are lifelong fans of the team does not make us lifelong fans of the owners.

Yeehaw! Great signing ASG this should really give us a shot against Howard now!

Is that better Dolfan?

A side note that may make you see a little reality....Derrick Caracter, the 58th pick in this years draft, in all likelihood will be getting the great Josh Powells minutes.

THERE IS NO ONE WHO WE CAN SIGN FOR THE MLE WHO CAN STOP DWIGHT HOWARD.

Hell, none of them can even slow him down better than Al can.

In any case, our biggest issue against Orlando wasn't stopping Dwight. It was Woody becoming obsessed with stopping him, doubling down on every freaking possession, and leaving their shooters wide open time and again.

Red. Freaking. Herring.

Edited July 22, 2010 by niremetal

[BudBall]

THERE IS NO ONE WHO WE CAN SIGN FOR THE MLE WHO CAN STOP DWIGHT HOWARD.

Hell, none of them can even slow him down better than Al can.

In any case, our biggest issue against Orlando wasn't stopping Dwight. It was Woody becoming obsessed with stopping him, doubling down on every freaking possession, and leaving their shooters wide open time and again.

Red. Freaking. Herring.

Yea but wasnt howard like 75%shooting against us? Shaq at least slows him down.

Edited July 22, 2010 by AliznotaCenter

[Admin]

Yea but wasnt howard like 75%shooting against us? Shaq at least slows him down.

Shaq doesn't slow him down. Dwight had dominant games against Shaq last year and I think (I haven't checked, just going off of memory of someone else's post a few days ago) the worst game Dwight had was something like 14 and 12. Where Shaq DOES help in a big way is that he can force Howard to guard him in the paint and he'll draw fouls against the Magic interior defenders and tire them out. As much as I like Al Horford he struggles big time scoring in the paint against the Magic and I'd probably start Shaq with Josh whenever we played the Magic and then let Al dominate the 2nd unit of the Magic.

Edit - updated with stats

Season Averages

Al averaged 14 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 55% in 35 minutes

Dwight averaged 18 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 61% in 35 minutes

Shaq averaged 12 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 57% in 23 minutes

Vs Team Averages

Against Atlanta Dwight averaged 21 (+3) points and 17 (+4) rebounds while shooting 55% (-6%) in 36 minutes

Against Cleveland Dwight averaged 19 (+1) points and 12 (-1) rebounds while shooting 63% (+2%) in 37 minutes

Against Orlando Al averaged 8 (-6) points and 7 (-3) rebounds while shooting 54% (-1) in 31 minutes

Against Orlando Shaq averaged 13 (+1) points and 5 (-2) rebounds while shooting 67% (+10) in 23 minutes

Granted the vs team averages aren't an exact science but they're the best indicator I found to look at.

[Buzzard]

THERE IS NO ONE WHO WE CAN SIGN FOR THE MLE WHO CAN STOP DWIGHT HOWARD.

Hell, none of them can even slow him down better than Al can.

In any case, our biggest issue against Orlando wasn't stopping Dwight. It was Woody becoming obsessed with stopping him, doubling down on every freaking possession, and leaving their shooters wide open time and again.

Red. Freaking. Herring.

Wow great use of child like fonts and superduper whammy blammy post there metal man. Is that some sort of 12 year old like revelation you just had or did it take you your whole apparent 12 year old life to spell it out?

I have never posted anything about stopping Howard; just about how well Shaq plays against Howard. My point never being to stop, but you can contain some and offset his damage by your own players threat and production at both ends. Now that I have spelled this out for you can we go back to normal size adult like fonts and postings?

Edited July 22, 2010 by Buzzard

[niremetal]

Wow great use of child like fonts and superduper whammy blammy post there metal man. Is that some sort of 12 year old like revelation you just had or did it take you your whole apparent 12 year old life to spell it out?

Stay classy.