No knee jerk reaction but......

[MoonKnight]

Diaw should be replaced in the starting lineup. After his first points (I think the first points of the game) Diaw again disappeared and passed up numerous open looks which damaged the flow of the O. During the few times Diaw handled the point position he hung on to the ball too long and dribbled into trouble. Can Childress really do this much worse?

Another solid game from Ivey who may eventually push Anderson hard for minutes. Even with the halftime lead I knew we were in trouble when we were relying on Drobs out of this world shooting and little else. Cleveland simply turned up the D and we wilted when Drob's shot stopped falling. I wish Woodson would have played the two Joshs more b/c we had no real chance of winning this game by the middle of the second half. That first win will not be this week.

Did anyone notice Wilkins and Spirit the Hawk before the game? Wilkins looked about as comfortable with Spirit as Diaw does with an open jumper.

[capstone21]

Clevland adjusted for hte second half however we did not.

[BritishKnights]

Ivey looks much better than Kenny, he is able to knock down some shots and he is obviously a better defender, i dont see any reason why they shouldnt make him the starting point guard at this point, the most frustrating thing with Diaw is that whne he does shoot, it looks pretty good, and it looks like he could possibly get to the rim if he tried...

[tmac13]

Like MoonKnight said, the only reason we were leading was a very fortunate half by Drob. I honestly don't see how we will ever actually win a game with our interior defense. It is the worst I can ever remember..I bet we have set a record for the most layups allowed in a 4 game stretch..In my opinion we should end the illusion of competing. Send Anderson and Willis to the IR, sign whatever young center and point guard we can find(Rashard Wright,etc..) and go completely with the kids..If we are gonna lose, lets lose watching the kids, I don't need to see anymore of Willis and Anderson.

[Wretch]

Quote:

---

If we are gonna lose,

lets lose watching the kids

, I don't need to see anymore of Willis and Anderson.

---

It's what I was saying from the jump. The future belongs to the young guys. I don't care how bad they play, they need to be on the court in meaningful situations. It's what lottery teams do.

[thescout10]

Looking at the box scores seeing Diaw consistently get minutes but can't score even 10 pts a game it is time for the hawks to allow someone else playing and develop.I know Diaw is young but he has no offenseive game and unless you have 3 big scorers with a passing point guard a team just can't afford to have a player not score.I seriously hope the hawks trade diaw.I don't see this happening till middle of season in trade deadline.Diaw might not make alot but remember he is taking playing time away from the other players.Childress,unless he is so far behind in practice play him more or let J Smooth play.These 2 players need to develop and can't on the bench.Diaw just won't cut it get something while you can if possible.

[Diesel]

Not the 2 Joshs but RoYAL Ivey and Yabba Dabba Drobjnek. For a minute there, Drob had us on his back and was carrying the offensive load. I agree, Ivey does look better than Anderson. Defensively he was giving McInnis Fits. Offensively, he was giving McInnis Fits.

I also liked Big Al's play early on, but later, I noticed that he always Shoots. Walker is not the black hole that people claim but Al is. However, Big Al gets to the FT line. He just needs to hit them!

I think Walker's game was controlled. He played Pick and roll well and he was taking Tractor off the dribble very well from the perimeter. They talk about how many threes walker attempts but he honestly looked to exploit his man. He'd come off the pick and if Tractor were not on him, he'd take the open Jumper, when Tractor came up, he'd fly past him. Walker is such a good threat.

I think I'm going to have a problem with Woodson's rotation... Neither of the Josh's played Much. Collier came back and played BU PF. He was not so effective. I would have much rather seen J-Smooth out there.

[chillzatl]

2 shots? TWO FREAKING SHOTS? Give me a break. This is the NBA. Diaw needs to ride the pine. Hell give his spot to Smith. I know they play different positions. But could smith really be any worse?

Diaw just can't shoot the ball. He knows it, Billy Knight knows it and we know it. How long before every other team in the league figures it out and he becomes Ira Newbill with an even worse shot?

[macdaddy]

Diaw is looking rough but man is Anderson stinking up the place. He's shooting 24% and is 1 for 15 in the last 2 games. Woodson definitely needs a quicker hook for Diaw and Anderson.

[Lascar78]

I think in every game we start off ok and as soon as Diaw goes to the bench we give up a 5 to 10 point spurt. Sure he doesn't shoot enough yet but he makes up for it in other areas. Childress sure as hell isn't ready, smith can't play SG, and barry is a good guy to have off the bench.

However I do agree that sadly enough, ivey should be starting over kenny anderson. I'd rather have boris not taking shots than kenny shooting .001

[Iman]

Hmm, finally a slight pro-Diaw comment. I would trade Diaw if a good deal came up but otherwise I like him as a role player/point forward. Our future plans seem to be to be an athletic defensive oriented team and that's exactly what Diaw brings. I'd soon move Kenny Anderson down the bench and have Ivey as our primary true point and play most other minutes without a true point, using Delk, Diaw, Barry, etc.

Another positive or the Cleveland game was that we did a much better job in the middle, I even liked the few big lineups we played. We couldnt stop some offensive rebounding but I noticed we did what I hoped, started going for the ball/fouling instead of allowing the easy layup.

[macdaddy]

We do need to look at the postives and one positive is that we look a little better every game. Last year's team looked great one night and then horrible the next 2 until the big exodus. Remember the Heat had a horrible start like this and ended up pulling it together. Granted they had more talent but we still have a lot more games to go.

[MoonKnight]

I am impressed with Ivey's fearless play. Most rookie point guards are going to play with some hesitation but Ivey shows none of that. It is hard to believe that he played alot of two guard in college because he looks very comfortable running the team. I agree with the posters that want Bell and Ivey fighting for the point guard position. Both of these guys are hungry and with skills. Sadly, KA has very slow feet on D and no elevation on his jumper (he can still dribble with the best of them).

I don't retract any of my thoughts on Diaw. The more I think about it the more I want him coming off the pine. With KA and the center of the moment starting we are getting no O from those starting spots whatsoever (we are not getting really any D either). We must at least have a threat of scoring from the 2 spot. I don't want Barry starting but we may soon need him. Before we start Barry give JChill a chance. I don't believe he will pass on an open look and will give us similar D to Diaw. Did anyone else notice Woodson imploring Diaw to shoot during a timeout? How may more times does he need to be instructed to shoot an open jumper?

[Lascar78]

Did you also see him telling Walker not to shoot quick 3s? Are we benching him too?