Where was "The Shooter?"

[Gray Mule]

When a group goes out to a party where there is drinking, they insist on having

a "Designated Driver" who should not drink so that every one can make it home

safely and get no ticket for driving while drunk.

When the Hawks go into a terrible slump with their shooting, which they seem

prone to do, they need a "Designated Shooter" to come in and turn things around.

We have, from all accounts, the finest pure shooter to come out of college last

year. Yet, there he sat, gathering splinters on the bench, while the game slipped

away. Our new, rookie JJ, who has all that talent, goes unused.

JJ should be our "Designated Shooter" because he has the ability to do this very

necessary job. We know that, if he's covered up, that opens things for someone else.

Yes, but - - - - Bull Feathers.

Sure he's a rookie and sure, he may not be able to hold up under the pressure. We're

sure to find out about this with him riding the pine.

Our solution? Let J. Smoove take the shots! Yeah, that's really the answer. NOT!

[macdaddy]

I'm still not one of the ones itching for these guys to get a bunch of minutes. Come February we will see. I think right now we are still trying to figure a good rotation and the more we throw the entire bench into games the harder it will be get some cohesiveness.

[BrazilianHawk]

When we lose, people say this is a transition season, this is not our real team, we should just wait for this and for that, among other things. I think they are usually right,BUTIf things are like they say, why just not to develop our rookies? LD is coaching for his job, but his job is not let the team fall apart as it fell apart against the Clippers. His job is make sure we at the very least try to have a capable rebounding squad and yet with Horford out he opts to play players who are known for bad defense and rebounding ahead of IVAN and Scott. JJ2 and Scott don't need starter's minutes, but c'mon. Just another pair of wasted picks?WHY Petro? Jesus Christ. Petro over Scott is a crime.This has to stop. We can't win with a coach like this.

Edited November 15, 2012 by BrazilianHawk

[macdaddy]

When we lose, people say this is a transition season, this is not our real team, we should just wait for this and for that, among other things. I think they are usually right, BUT If things are like they say, why just not to develop our rookies? LD is coaching for his job, but his job is not let the team fall apart as it fell apart against the Clippers. His job is make sure we at the very least try to have a capable rebounding squad and yet with Horford out he opts to play players who are known for bad defense and rebounding ahead of IVAN and Scott. JJ2 and Scott don't need starter's minutes, but c'mon. Just another pair of wasted picks? WHY Petro? Jesus Christ. Petro over Scott is a crime. This has to stop. We can't win with a coach like this.

I think our expectations for the first 10 games are a little high. Yeah its tough to watch us lose winnable games but since we have so many new guys to incorporate we all knew the first 20 games would be up and down. I don't think LD, Ferry, or the ownership view this as a throw away development season. I think the first half of the season is to find the keepers, make some trades and push to the playoffs. Hopefully surprise some people and build on that for next year.

[niremetal]

I think our expectations for the first 10 games are a little high. Yeah its tough to watch us lose winnable games but since we have so many new guys to incorporate we all knew the first 20 games would be up and down. I don't think LD, Ferry, or the ownership view this as a throw away development season. I think the first half of the season is to find the keepers, make some trades and push to the playoffs. Hopefully surprise some people and build on that for next year.

Bingo. Honestly, though, I just don't see this team as being good enough to surprise people for more than a few games at a time. Our team is just too easy to figure out. Leave Smoove open on the perimeter. Set screens to get Korver or Smoove on the ball. Crash the boards hard, because we never have more than one passable rebounder on the floor at any given time. I think we might hit a stretch where we play Nellieball on offense and throw a bunch of different looks at opposing teams to keep them off balance. But even if that happens, it won't take opposing coaches too long to figure out that any team can shred us from the perimeter (if Curry's shot had been on yesterday, we would have been blown out) and that we don't rebound well enough to be an effective transition team as long as the Hawks' opponents get back quickly after made baskets. I don't blame LD for not being able to make lemonade out of urine. And frankly, I don't see John Jenkins as having the tools to be even a rotation player for a decent team. Undersized good-but-not-great shooters with no foot speed and poor defensive skills rarely turn into memorable players. I frankly think this season is almost irrelevant because we don't have enough "players" to be competitive and don't have any prospects worth developing. I hope I'm wrong, though. Seriously.

[Gray Mule]

This is not about JJ2 getting a load of minutes. No. Not at all. This is aboutthose times when, for some unknown reason, all the Hawks shots refuse tofall. It's not one player on the floor. It's all the five, whoever they are. We'vewatched it, game after game. Five minutes with two points from the free throwline. That's all folks. Then, another two or three minutes with one basket onabout how many shots in that eight minutes that refused to fall, for what everreason? What to do? What to do?Finally, someone breaks thru and the spell is broken. But, our opponent has been scoring two or three points per minute. This can mean a fifteen to twentypoint swing.Why does this happen? Who knows. If someone knew this, they would fix theproblem. But, no one does anything. They all keep playing and hoping that thingswill improve.Check out JJ2's points per minute for this season. Sure, it's for only one game,which is all he's been allowed to enter. Against our opponent's bench. Garbagetime. But, those shots taken went down, didn't they? They didn't change the sizeof the ball or the basket. Simply, he shot and the shots went in.Can he do this on a consistent basis? Who knows? Not sitting on the bench. Maybethey wouldn't fall for him the next time. But, wouldn't it be nice to find out??GO HAWKS!!!

[Gray Mule]

Undersized? Slow of foot? And finally, Good-but-not-great shooter?Really? The best shooter in the draft. The best coming out of collegelast season, that's all. If he's THAT good, as everyone agrees thathe is, what would he have to do to qualify as a great shooter?He's the greatest / best available. His reputation? Quick release andone of the very best pure shooters, Works for me.

[niremetal]

Undersized? Slow of foot? And finally, Good-but-not-great shooter? Really? The best shooter in the draft. The best coming out of college last season, that's all. If he's THAT good, as everyone agrees that he is, what would he have to do to qualify as a great shooter? He's the greatest / best available. His reputation? Quick release and one of the very best pure shooters, Works for me.

Remember Salim Stoudamire? His reputation for perimeter shooting coming out of college was probably even better than Jenkins', in both consistency and (most important for the pros) range. The main difference is that Jenkins is 3 inches taller - which makes him merely "undersized" rather than "absurdly undersized" for a 2. And no one was praising Jenkins' athleticism before the draft. On the contrary, they were saying the combination of his short size and mediocre footspeed would make him a defensive liability. If that's changed, I've missed it. Sorry, but I don't see Jenkins' 3-point shooting as being so devastatingly good that I project much of a career for him.

[macdaddy]

Honestly i'm ready to see fewer guys playing rather than more. I think this team is better than we think. Harris hasn't shown me much and Tolliver I think will be sitting soon. Teague needs to be running this team, Josh needs to stay at PF.

[DrReality]

I kind of had a concern that ld would substitute like former Ga tech coach which was maddening. Rotations is one of his hardest jobs and Brick doesn't make it easier