Diesel has an answser for the Hawks C woes.....

[Jody23]

I agree completely, I always felt those Phx teams never had a center which is why they never could get far in the West. Look when they had the Nash, Marion, Amare, and Raja team. They had the talent to contend but didn't have the size. When they did have the size that fit, Robin Lopez, Amare, Nash, they got to the WCF and lost in 6 not to mention swept the Squrs. That shows you that they were contenders. The problem was the Lakers had a superstar, a very good player (Gasol), and two good players in Odom and Bynum. They were outmatched talent wise. But they were contenders once they got size. The Suns had two very good players who were closer to superstars in Amare/Nash, one good one (J-Rich) and three good role players (Hill, Frye, and R. Lopez).

I think a true center making a presence is more important then being good at one statistical measure. Almost all marginal to elite centers create a presence at the least. That's what the Suns lacked till last year. The Hawks lack production much less a presence from that position. It's clear went Horford struggles v. true centers. The problem I've noticed is when Horf started playing center, there were only 10 marginal to elite centers in the NBA. Now there are 16-18 marginal to elite centers. The elite centers count is still at one though (D12). That makes it a lot harder to play Al at center now than it was when Al first came to Atlanta.

I think you make an outstanding point here. So many people want to look totally at stats and not at "presence". If you just look at the stats, sure Horford is an all star center. However, if you actually watch the games, you'll see that he does not have the prescense of a true 5 because he's clearly a 4. There's a reason why playing Jason Collins extended minutes against Orlando has resulted in very competitive games (two wins for the Hawks) rather than blowouts and being killed inside with the regular small team. No offense to Jason, but imagine what the Hawks could do if they had another center who could do what he does defensively and rebound the ball well.

Edited February 12, 2011 by Jody23

[Joker]

I think you make an outstanding point here. So many people want to look totally at stats and not at "presence". There's a reason why playing Jason Collins extended minutes against Orlando has resulted in very competitive games (two wins for the Hawks) rather than blowouts and being killed inside with the regular small team. No offense to Jason, but imagine what the Hawks could do if they had another center who could do what he does defensively and rebound the ball well.

I don't think the center that we can land can help right away. The guys on the market that we can land have a presence like Zaza or worst. I just want someone with potential. The NBA has proven that if you play a bad center with potential: JaVale McGee, Daly, Gortat, Brook Lopez, Hibbert, that they can develop fast with a good amount of minutes. That's promising. Same holds true for PF's. It's PG's and SG's that need to be ready before they play. Those guys can get eaten alive early on and lose confidence and never reach their potential.

Edited February 12, 2011 by nbasuperstar40

[sillent]

Bottom line Horford could get his wish and be a Power Forward and maybe that'll help my boy Josh get his wish and be an all star as a small foward. Horford is the second best all star in the East and that is only second to a guy name Dwight Howard. How far down the list does he have to go to make all star at Power Forward. Let Josh be second to Lebron because with another year of maturity he can easily catch Paul at this point as an all star Small Forward. My point is with greatness comes sacrifice. Make the best of your situation or complain until you get what you wish for and hopefully it is what you wish for.

[Joker]

Bottom line Horford could get his wish and be a Power Forward and maybe that'll help my boy Josh get his wish and be an all star as a small foward. Horford is the second best all star in the East and that is only second to a guy name Dwight Howard. How far down the list does he have to go to make all star at Power Forward. Let Josh be second to Lebron because with another year of maturity he can easily catch Paul at this point as an all star Small Forward. My point is with greatness comes sacrifice. Make the best of your situation or complain until you get what you wish for and hopefully it is what you wish for.

Horford is an All Star no matter if it's at the 4 or 5. The problem is, he should be a starter at the 4 over Amare. I don't think Amare is as good as Horford overall. Better scorer without a doubt but Horford is a better player. Horford is better at PF by a good margin. I wish we had a decent center or at least a bad center with potential. Zaza below average and can't start and Collins is bad and neither have any potential to get better.

[HawksBalla]

Point Guard is the bigger need.

[Joker]

Point Guard is the bigger need.

A much bigger need. The issue is we need a PG who can defend and play the position who is good like Jamal if that's who were trading or at least has the potential to be. I really love Jrue Holiday but Philly not trading him to us. Daly isn't an impact to make sense for trading Jamal. Daly doesn't win you games or impact the game a whole lot. He does create a presence which is nice. He would just be a luxury for us to help Al while at center. Jamal is a need for us. He wins games and is our only bench player with any impact much less good impact. I don't think what we need now is on the market, but so we need to look for guys we can get who can help and potentially be that guy for us.

[capstone21]

Point Guard is the bigger need.

I agree that PG is the bigger need but we are in desperate need of a post presence on offense that can also play big on D.

[Joker]

I agree that PG is the bigger need but we are in desperate need of a post presence on offense that can also play big on D.

No one is on the market in bolded.

[capstone21]

No one is on the market in bolded.

I am good with someone who will not embarrass himself on offense like McGee but will still contribute on D. Collins is not an answer

However, we still need a pg who will play solid d

Edited February 12, 2011 by capstone21

[Joker]

I am good with someone who embarrass himself on offense like McGee but will still contribute on D. Collins is not an answer

However, we still need a pg who will play solid d

I like McGee potential but those guys aren't available. 12 teams need bigs and 13 teams who have them aren't trading them. With only 3 centers on the market all of whom are marginal (Daly, Kaman, and Andy V) and it would cost us Jamal who has good impact for us and his value is more important for us than any of those guys can ever be. The price is too high and the value is too low. I feel the same way about PG's in this market. This is not a buyers market as mid-season deadlines rarely are.