“I don’t roll with that"

[EazyRoc]

I understand where you're coming from and to an extent I agree, but I also can potentially see where Josh was coming from. It's one thing to say "we didn't execute the play well" or "we didn't play to our strengths". But, to purposely play small ball with a view to outscoring the opponent, and then turn and call your team "soft" because they couldn't physically contend is foolishness. So if Josh refused to acknowledge that he or the team didn't execute well in certain situations, I would totally agree with the assessment. But that wasn't the main thing that cost them the game. It was the coaches continual desire to handicap his own team by rendering them physically overmatched and then calling them soft when they couldn't overcome it. So I think Josh was right in disagreeing and the way the entire game unfolded supports that.

Bingo.

[BrazilianHawk]

Do we have any footage of Josh's airballing FTs and 3s as a kid? That would be too funny.

[Jody23]

In my opinion Smoove sees himself as a SF who is doing extra work by helping out inside much more than normal SFs do - blocking shots and dominating inside on occasion - but he sees himself as a SF (which maybe he should be - he is 6-8). He probably feels like he is being played out of position much of the time.

Al Horford probably sees himself as a PF who is being forced to do yoeman's work inside due to the Hawks' inability to get a solid center. He sees himself doing much more for the team than may be expected - without a decent center on the team (which is probably fair since he is 6-9 and 1/2 and almost everybody says he should be playing PF). He probably feels like he is being played out of position much of the time.

Now honestly - is it really these two guys who are the problem (one who has been an all-star and one who many think had earned that honor but missed out only because of fan voting/numbers) or is it ownership/management's fault for not getting us a decent quality center?

I think it is a conundrum.

I don't know if many here remember, but when Marvin was drafted, Billy Knight was spewing this nonsense about both Josh and Marvin being just "forwards" to avoid the fact that neither were really PFs. At the time, Josh wasn't exactly happy about having to play the PF position, so I think you're points are correct.