Interesting

[capstone21]

I was reading ESPN Insider rumors and they mentioned that Hinrich will come off the bench when he comes back from injury. However, Drew eventually intends to start him alongside Teague and move Joe to SF. I guess that means Marvin could be heading to the bench soon.

from ESPN:

Hinrich will come off the bench

Kirk Hinrich | Hawks

Kirk Hinrich is set to practice on Wednesday and if all goes well he'll play for the first time this season later that night.

Jeff Teague has been starting at point guard with Hinrich sidelined and head coach Larry Drew says Teague will continue with the first team.

"At this point, I am going to stay with that I have," Drew told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Jeff has shown that he deserves it. He has done a really good job for us. As of right now, I am just going to keep it as is."

Drew also said he may eventually start Hinrich at shooting guard and move Joe Johnson to small forward.

Now that Hinrich is back, the Hawks may release one of their guards -- Donald Sloan, Jannero Pargo or Jerry Stackhouse -- with a non-guaranteed contract.

Edited January 24, 2012 by capstone21

[Admin]

That would be very interesting and I would expect it would help increase Marvins production if he were playing with the 2nd unit. But we'd get smaller and Joe would have to guard bigger players than he's been guarding and Hinrich would guard bigger players than he should be guarding so I'd be worried about the physical toll it will take on them. I trust LD to make the right decision though and I'm excited to see Hinrich back in the lineup Wednesday night!

I will say this, if they cut Pargo while keeping Sloan and Stackhouse I'm going to be pissed!

[EAambassador]

I read that article from Michael Cunningham on ajc.com and it did not state that Drew will eventually start Kirk with Jeff and Joe. Drew simply said that it will be another lineup that he will explore. Like everything else Drew made no commitment to anything besides that Jeff has earned the starter spot. The main question now is who gets cut? I say Sloan, because of his inexperience and I do believe Stack is making a difference in the locker room and at practice. Also, Cunningham reported "The Hawks aren’t enamored with the available free-agent centers and their trade options are limited. Look for them to make a run at Kenyon Martin when FIBA releases him from his Chinese contract once the Xinjiang Flying Tigers wrap up their season late next month." I say stay as is and make a run for K-Mart and get Al back for a strong playoff run. Eastern Conference finals here we come.

^^^ sorry for the link mid comment (still a rook at posts)

Edited January 24, 2012 by Dolfan23
Fixed ... you didn't do anything wrong, you just need 15 posts before you can post links

[benhillboy]

It really doesn't matter where Kirk plays or when, just as long as he takes some of Marvin's minutes. Kirk is more probable to get us 10+ points, is as good of a defender of his position if not better, more savvy and competitive, and more of an extension of leadership on the court. Marvin did his usual kick-start of the season. He's done now. I'm sure Joe starting at SF will be a night-to-night decision based on the opponent.

Edited January 24, 2012 by benhillboy

[Randy]

Its an interesting line up, and over the past few years, seems like we often had a 3 guard line up at the end of games. ZaZa and Josh could probably carry the rebounding load.

[Dragitoff]

Remember Kirk's defense now is usually better against slower PG's and SG's anyways. I thought someone posted something here before where he was one of the better defenders in the NBA against SG's, but just about average against PG's. I'm not sure how well Joe would do against biggers SF's like LeBron or Carmelo, but against normal guys, he would hold his own. It might even make his life easier since alot of SG's run around coming off screens.

Honestly, Joe would certainly play better defense than Marvin did at times last night. There were at least 4 or 5 plays where Marvin's man (usually Shaun Livingston) got uncontested shots (most were drives to the basket) because Marvin couldn't stay with his man or had completely fallen asleep on the play.

[Peoriabird]

Its amazing to me that so many posters want change when we are winning. Want to trade Smith or Horford...Want to move Joe to Small forward...Start Heirich...Bring in J. McGee and Nick Young? lord! This team seem to be fine to me as is. Could we add some rebounding off the bench in K-mart or Joel Przybilla? Absolutely! But to say at this point that we need to blow up the team is a bit premature. If the team fails during this current road trip then there is room for criticism and a call for change is warrented. But for right now, lets just enjoy the victories!

[Peoriabird]

So many people over the years have wanted someone that was available whether it be Stoudamire, Carmello, Chris Cayman, Andres Biendrins, Roy, Greg Oden, Paul, Darren Williams, Yao Ming you name it. All of those guys have one thing in common which is less playoff success than the Atlanta Hawks current core.

[AHF]

Its amazing to me that so many posters want change when we are winning. Want to trade Smith or Horford...Want to move Joe to Small forward...Start Heirich...Bring in J. McGee and Nick Young? lord! This team seem to be fine to me as is. Could we add some rebounding off the bench in K-mart or Joel Przybilla? Absolutely! But to say at this point that we need to blow up the team is a bit premature. If the team fails during this current road trip then there is room for criticism and a call for change is warrented. But for right now, lets just enjoy the victories!

It depends on your time frame and your goals. If the goal is to be a championship contender, then I think you should always be looking at possible moves - especially one that could bring you a star. Now McGee and Young? Ummm...they aren't in that category and aren't guys I would be real excited about. They certainly don't have reputations for being high basketball IQ or hard working. But if you are talking about blowing up the core for Dwight or something like that, then I totally get why people would want to talk about that strategy.

If your goal is really focused on making the playoffs, then I agree with your statement. Things are going well and you watch for the short-term trends to see if an adjustment needs to happen (Kirk starting, trade, etc.).

But if you have a long-term goal of a championship, then the current road trip is not going to give you any meaningful information. The only thing that would really change the calculation on that is a major development by one or more players (career threatening injury, Josh develops a Dirk-like shooting stroke, Marvin starts pumping in 20+ points and 7 rebounds per game, etc.) or the team suddenly is right there for the Eastern Conference title (i.e., major new playoff performance).

[coachx]

I read that article from Michael Cunningham on ajc.com and it did not state that Drew will eventually start Kirk with Jeff and Joe. Drew simply said that it will be another lineup that he will explore. Like everything else Drew made no commitment to anything besides that Jeff has earned the starter spot.

Exactly........it seems the ESPN writer is puting words in Drew's mouth.

ESPN is awful..........For example, just look at their trade value article on the 34 year old Paul Pierce. They actually put on line some garbage about Rudy Gay, Josh Smith and Danny Granger being possible trade scenerios.

[Sothron]

I think it is understood that probably in two years Joe's going to have to move to the SF fulltime because he won't the lateral quickness to defend two guards like he does now.

[EAambassador]

I think it is understood that probably in two years Joe's going to have to move to the SF fulltime because he won't the lateral quickness to defend two guards like he does now.

I think with the way Joe plays the game he has a few more years in him than you may think.

[Guest]

I think it is understood that probably in two years Joe's going to have to move to the SF fulltime because he won't the lateral quickness to defend two guards like he does now.

The demise of Joe has been greatly exaggerated - Joe has never relied on busrting speed to keep up with players on defense. Joe at SF loses the advantage he has over SG with his height and weight. Besides, in 2 years we will have a legit SF that can guard SG but plays offense at the SF position

[Plainview1981]

Either way, I hope it means less minutes for Marvin because he sucks.

[Wretch]

I've been thinking about that lineup for a while now. Kirk's a starter and his game has not fallen off. He's just been moved aside (3 times now) by a young PG prospect. He's a really good PG with a decent stroke.

I don't think JJ to SF is so terrible. Joe is a big dude. Yeah he's got an advantage over most SG's, but he'd be a handful for most SF's too.

[MaceCase]

I've been thinking about that lineup for a while now. Kirk's a starter and his game has not fallen off. He's just been moved aside (3 times now) by a young PG prospect. He's a really good PG with a decent stroke.

I don't think JJ to SF is so terrible. Joe is a big dude. Yeah he's got an advantage over most SG's, but he'd be a handful for most SF's too.

His athleticism and length are actually substandard for the SF position and his height and weight are average so I think any future move down the line won't be advantageous for him. He'll have to go the Kobe route, slim down and master his post game where he not only just bullies guys but gets them way off balance with pure footwork.

Other than that, when it comes to Drew you have to take anything he says regarding lineup changes with a grain of salt. He talks up change all of the time only to go with the same ole same ole with maybe a slight tweak if any. Also, if he has any and I mean any inclination to go small and start Collins he should be fired. He will literally be telling Josh "Get every rebound because you know the rest of these underachievers won't".

[Diesel]

I've been thinking about that lineup for a while now. Kirk's a starter and his game has not fallen off. He's just been moved aside (3 times now) by a young PG prospect. He's a really good PG with a decent stroke. I don't think JJ to SF is so terrible. Joe is a big dude. Yeah he's got an advantage over most SG's, but he'd be a handful for most SF's too.

Most people miss both of those points. Joe is 240. He knows how to use his weight. I'm sure, if it becomes neccessary, we send Joe out there at SG to post em up. In fact, the Joe/Tmac 2/3 combo is effective at the end of games, but the minime backcourt can pay dividiends. It frees Teague up to be that fast dude who can beat his man off the dribble. It puts another shooter on the floor. This couldn't really work with Pargo because of the size, but KAPN Kirk can play good defense.

[benhillboy]

I know his weight teeters, but I thought Joe was/ is closer to 230 this year.