Without Rebounders and Defenders.. we are...

[Mdizzle5]

Marvin.. with as much hate as I have for his game, was able to stand in front of his man most games.

Did Marvin just get a compliment from Diesel?! Lol

But seriously, I agree. Defense and rebounding is going to be a problem with this current group. No one seems to ask Ferry or LD about the team's defensive issues. That said, I don't mind if this is our step back year in order to move forward to at least a future Eastern Conference final.

[Peoriabird]

Did Marvin just get a compliment from Diesel?! Lol

But seriously, I agree. Defense and rebounding is going to be a problem with this current group. No one seems to ask Ferry or LD about the team's defensive issues. That said, I don't mind if this is our step back year in order to move forward to at least a future Eastern Conference final.

Joe didn't rebound the ball so we must be talking about missing Marvin's contribution on the board?

[Mdizzle5]

Joe didn't rebound the ball so we must be talking about missing Marvin's contribution on the board?

I didn't have that much of a problem with the guy. Marv wasn't going to be an all-star HOFer but what he did give (outside of comedy in the chat) in defense and rebounding will be missed. Not sure what your tone is here but can you really say that you'd rather have Korver and/or Stevenson starting at the 3 than Marv on this squad?

[Peoriabird]

I didn't have that much of a problem with the guy. Marv wasn't going to be an all-star HOFer but what he did give (outside of comedy in the chat) in defense and rebounding will be missed. Not sure what your tone is here but can you really say that you'd rather have Korver and/or Stevenson starting at the 3 than Marv on this squad?

Neither one of those guys will start, Josh Smith will.

[tbhawksfan]

Neither one of those guys will start, Josh Smith will.

And each minute he plays SF, he'll be out of position. Smith needs to be at PF. Smith at SF either means, we don't have a good starting real C (Horf is a natural PF) or we finally got a good C and Smith is playing out of position. It's not the worst case senario, but not the best either. I'd be looking to get a good starting C to pair with Horf and I'd be moving Smith in the interest of team balance and move forward with a big and legit front-court.

[MrMeltdown]

We are a cap space team as currently constructed. Team cap space. We would be fun to watch in a market that just loves basketball but that is not Atlanta. I can remember the year Doc first became beloved when he took a team full of players that were not the long term answer to the playoffs because they played hard every night. Bo Outlaw, Darrell Armstrong, etc. I think we can be that type of team but will Atlanta appreciate that like Orlando did? I don't think so.

[thecampster]

A jump shooting team. Let's face it, we have nothing to get stops with right now. Smoove or Horf may get an occassional block but for the most part, teams will be able to score and get second chances because we have no defensive positional players. I hope that Stevenson can still do it and is agiven a chance but right now, I see us being the Nuggets of the 80s. High scoring losses.

Horford, Zaza, Smith, Johnson, Petro I count 5 rebounders and 3 will be in the game together nearly at all times.

[Peoriabird]

And each minute he plays SF, he'll be out of position. Smith needs to be at PF. Smith at SF either means, we don't have a good starting real C (Horf is a natural PF) or we finally got a good C and Smith is playing out of position. It's not the worst case senario, but not the best either. I'd be looking to get a good starting C to pair with Horf and I'd be moving Smith in the interest of team balance and move forward with a big and legit front-court.

I don't know what Zaza has to do to bet respect on this messabe board. Horford was out for 55 games last year and Zaza average a double double as the starting center in his place. To me you can ask for much more from your starting center

[MaceCase]

I don't know what Zaza has to do to bet respect on this messabe board. Horford was out for 55 games last year and Zaza average a double double as the starting center in his place. To me you can ask for much more from your starting center

He was pretty damn good by defensive metrics too. Per minute wise both him and Jeffrey rivaled Smoove so if that is kept up the defense shouldn't falter. We have our deepest PF rotation also with maybe Ivan and Scott then Petro and possibly Benson give us the deepest C rotation we've had with guys that can get up the court in less than 20 seconds. Then it's really not hard to find a Damien Wilkins/Mario West to operate as a stop gap defensive specialists on the wing to fill in between Morrow, Korver, Stevenson and Smoove rotating.

[DrReality]

Could use some zone DIf he turns us around in a year that will be masterful

[High5]

You say we're now a jump-shooting team, but we're going to be less of a jump-shooting team this year than we have been in the past. Less jump shots, but less stops.