Wow! I "just" discovered the root of our problems...

[BrazilianHawk]

First off, in order to avoid being labeled a hater, names won't be posted. Let's just call the players in this example "Player L", "Player S" and "Player T".

Hawks had a great 1st half, and a big lead at the end on the 2nd quarter.

Then in the second, well I don't need to mention what (or who) happened.

I find amazing some of us really think that the player that decided to be the focus of all attention in the second half and couldn't do SHIT right is our best player. Some even think he deserves a max contract!!! And JJ was the albatross. Right.

The guy just ate at least half the shots L and T should take in the second half, AND FOR WHAT? Just to play "look at me I'm an all-star" and have the Hawks become the laughing stock of the night.

Not to mention the turnovers.

Gotta go. Smells like cancer.

GTFO PLAYER S.

Trade this clown ASAP.

Edited January 6, 2013 by BrazilianHawk

[Vol4ever]

I have said all along this guy is a cancer, he has an extreme attitude and as long as he is more than a Complimentary player, we will not be a contender.

[ATLHawks3]

Josh...

[Wretch]

I'm not going to call him a cancer and I'm not going to hate on him. Facts are just facts. He is not a good shooter, but last year there are only a handful of players that took more shots. Consider that more than a third of his shots are coming from outside the paint and he shoots more "long 2's" than anyone else...

I've been saying this for YEARS. People have been wanting him to be this elite, scoring, All-Star, leader... But he does not have that kind of game. He can't dribble, he is not a good shooter, and he takes a lot of awful shots. As long as we allow him to believe that he should be shooting the ball...we will struggle to get ahead of the pack.

It's just not smart basketball and it's terrible that we've allowed him to develop that way.

[Wurider05]

Apparemntly he didn't like Lou Williams being the man. I am telling you guys Smoove and his camp think that they traded JJ so he could be the man on the team.

[tbhawksfan]

His camp can go with him

[MaceCase]

To be fair, the Celtics pressured the hell out of our guards in the second half and took Kyle out the game by force feeding Pierce. They seem to design their defense to funnel the ball into Player S but he doesn't do the team any favors by rotating out behind the perimeter as the pressure release against this patented "player S zone". Given player S' career worth of sub 40% shooting against this team and their coach being quoted as saying "we're in trouble if player S hits his jumpers" during last year's playoffs.....I think it should dawn on them that those desperation/delusion jumpers/ forced behind the back spin hooks.......are by their design not his.

[yungsta]

It is absurd the amount of freedom smoove gets. He gets superstar treatment from LD. He is never held accountable for his constant bad decision making. The only time he gets benched when he is hurt or ask to be benched

I remember the pistons games in atlanta when we were blowing a 20 point lead and smoove was airballing long jumper after jumper and kept taking them and LD did not do a damn thing! The only thing LD did was after the game he went over the tape with him and said that he thought he settled alittle too much. WTF kind of coaching is that?

Honestly if Ferry resigns him. I have no hope for this franchise. There is no reason to resign him. We already Horford who is a PF making 12 mil a year for the next 3 seasons. We way more other things that needs to be addressed. We need much better wings players, we need more size on our frontcourt, we need better production from the point guard position.

If ferry really wants to change the culture the first thing he needs to do is get rid of all of our low IQ players.

Apparemntly he didn't like Lou Williams being the man. I am telling you guys Smoove and his camp think that they traded JJ so he could be the man on the team.

I wont be surprised if this was true. He would NEVER have this kind of freedom anywhere else. Imagine him doing this in boston doc rivers and KG would check the shit out of him. Imagine him under poppavich. A coach who is not afraid he bench a player ASAP and give you an ear full if you do any kind of boneheaded play. Smoove would probably never leave the bench and whine about wanting a trade.

[gurpilo]

It's not only the atrocius offense he showed yesterday but also the disastrous defense he and Horford made, Celtics scored at the paint with high percentages and outrebounded us.

The only bright spot from yesterday's game was Teague and of course Lou, great game by Williams.

[ryandauwalker]

I don't remember Josh getting this freedom earlier in the year... Maybe Drew is getting soft with all of our success.

[ATLscrubLove]

The root of the problem ( at least last night ) wasn't just on Smoove. We got out-rebounded by about 20 I believe by one of the league's worst rebounding teams... 30th to be exact. That is inexcusable. Not to mention the fact that the NBA refs only give calls to big market teams or teams with actual stars. The league is fixed, only wants the big market teams to win. It just seems to me our Hawks can't get calls to go our way anywhere ( EVEN AT HOME ).

[BrazilianHawk]

yes, of course we were outrebounded: 44-36

Simple math, Player S missed 14 field goals, Hawks had 8 offensive boards, so Player S gave the Celtics 6 possessions while wasting ours. That is, 6 at the very least. Considering he had 6 more turnovers... you do the math.

The guy is sinking our ship.

[AHawks89]

I would like to see how this team plays without Smoove for the whole season. We already saw what happened when Al went out for the season - nothing.

I think we would win a few games here and there, but when reality kicks in.. we would go on a losing streak without Josh as our defense would collapse too. All the stuff he brings to the table will be very well missed. You don't know what you have until you lose it.

Edited January 6, 2013 by AHawks89

[ATLscrubLove]

yes, of course we were outrebounded: 44-36

Simple math, Player S missed 14 field goals, Hawks had 8 offensive boards, so Player S gave the Celtics 6 possessions while wasting ours. That is, 6 at the very least. Considering he had 6 more turnovers... you do the math.

The guy is sinking our ship.

Can't argue there.

[effjee14]

He had a bad game. Okay. Let's move on. No one on our team is great enough not to have atrocious games, its just going to happen to everyone of our players multiple times

[BrazilianHawk]

I would like to see how this team plays without Smoove for the whole season. We already saw what happened when Al went out for the season - nothing.

I think we would win a few games here and there, but when reality kicks in.. we would go on a losing streak without Josh as our defense would collapse too. All the stuff he brings to the table will be very well missed. You don't know what you have until you lose it.

Nine years, I think we all know pretty well what he's capable of.

He can make the difference in a game. Problem is he chooses to make a difference showcasing himself in detriment of the team.

I sware, I wish we would be an all-star this time. It's always the same thing. The ASG approaches, he decides to play hero ball. Maybe if he was called once he would stop playing like this.

Edited January 6, 2013 by BrazilianHawk

[AHawks89]

Nine years, I think we all know pretty well what he

That he whats? Takes bad shots? Yeah..

I would love to see where this team would be without Smoove. Remember when your boy Al went down last season? Nothing happened. I guess that means we should just ship him away too because all we did is win without him until playoffs (when he came back)

Lose Josh, and you lose A LOT of his skills that the team needs, and most likely lose a lot of games as well. When we do lose Josh this season, I think it will show and people will actually appreciate what he has done for this team. I mean, how many times do you see people bitching about every little thing he does wrong, instead of complimenting at all the stuff a lot of people can't do in the NBA? Hell, typical Atlanta fans - we have a guy that's been in the top 10 in MVP voting, but yet we can't even appreciate that. Atlanta fans do not deserve a championship.

Edited January 6, 2013 by AHawks89

[Jody23]

That he whats? Takes bad shots? Yeah.. I would love to see where this team would be without Smoove. Remember when your boy Al went down last season? Nothing happened. I guess that means we should just ship him away too because all we did is win without him until playoffs (when he came back) Lose Josh, and you lose A LOT of his skills that the team needs, and most likely lose a lot of games as well. When we do lose Josh this season, I think it will show and people will actually appreciate what he has done for this team. I mean, how many times do you see people bitching about every little thing he does wrong, instead of complimenting at all the stuff a lot of people can't do in the NBA? Hell, typical Atlanta fans - we have a guy that's been in the top 10 in MVP voting, but yet we can't even appreciate that. Atlanta fans do not deserve a championship.

There has been a few times this year (Thunder, 1st half of Clippers game and Pacers) where the Hawks have played very well and won without him. Even though they came up short in Detroit, they played much better without him. To assume the Hawks would have some epic meltdown without him doesn't seem to be at all accurate. Truth is, Josh is important to this team. But he's not nearly as important as he and many others think he is. Actually, he's no more important than Horford. The problem is, he tries to do too much and that makes him detrimental to the team when he plays that way. You want to cite the Hawks survival last year without Horford as some kind of evidence that Josh is more important. What you don't mention is that ZaZa was and is good enough to start for some teams and Joe Johnson had an all star year last year. So that Hawks team wasn't totally devoid of talent and there survival without Horford wasn't solely due to some extraordinary play on Josh's part.

[AHawks89]

Makes no sense to me. So we're taking sample sizes from this year? We played extremely well without Al last year. Josh can take over games on either side of the floor when he plays to his strengths, and even if he isn't, he's putting pressure on the opponents offense. When Josh is out of the game, it's telling the guards to drive right to the basket and score easily. Like I said, neither of us know what the team would play like without Josh if he went out like Horford. That's why I wish sometimes, just to shut people up, that he would sit out just to show people what they're really missing. He is much more needed than Al. Al can make some efficient shots (Well, used to be able too), and that's about it. Smoove can do it all, mainly being the anchor on defense.

I say we sit him for the rest of the year, to see if Al and others can carry the team. We can win easily without him, right?

Edited January 7, 2013 by AHawks89

[effjee14]

The root of the hawks problems is the same problem 22 other teams have. We lack a top 10 player. Until we get one we should at least enjoy the fact that we've had a winning team for the last 6 seasons. We could be bobcats or warrior fans. I dislike some of the shots josh takes but I enjoy watching all the other things he does.