What combination to use ??

[Gray Mule]

Hawks have some veteran players.

Hawks have some green rookies.

The veterans bring experience / knowhow to the game.

Rookies bring youthful enthusiasm / energy to the game.

Lennie W. was famous for not giving his veteran players

enough bench time, preferring the vets over the youth.

We don't have the luxury of that now, but we see two

Hawks, Harrington and Walker getting an abundance of

minutes and the Hawks fade in the end.

We miss our rookie P.G. who is on I.R. Diaw, with his

reluctance to shoot or drive and score, has found his

way to the end of the bench and getting few minutes or

D.N.P. - Coaches decision.

Another rookie, coming off the I.R. list gets very little

floor time.

Seems that we need to find some combinations that gives

Harrington and Walker more time on the bench to stay fresh

for the end of the game. They can't carry us when they

have used up all their energy.

We usually see the veterans on the floor to close out

the games, which we loose. Where is the energy? Where

is the youthful exuberance? It is on the bench, watching

as we go down again. We don't want their rookie mistakes

to cost us the game? Right. I know this. But something

is wrong with this picture. We are loosing as it is.

Run these rookies until their tongues hang out in the

third quarter and early forth quarter. Meanwhile, the

veterans have rested, refilled their gas tank and are

ready to carry us home.

We may crash and burn with all this youth on the floor?

So what? It ain't like we're winning with things the

way that they are now.

This won't work? You have a better idea? Let's hear it.

Go Hawks !!!!!!!!!!

[jrlocke]

I think Al and Antoine need there minutes cut a little bit. They need to have energy to play defense and sometimes it just looks like they are gassed. I would run Josh Smith at the PF spot more....he has been effective defensivly and I think that will be his natural position.

I think our best lineup is our starters of Anderson Chill Al Antoine and Collier. Our biggest problem has been third quarters....no energy....thats when the rookies need to show up and our vets need to come out and play hard.

Down the stretch you go with the hot hand. When Ivey had those 3-4 game run when he was hitting shots he was playing down the stretch. I think Woodsons rotations have been alright....when you are coaching a team of new players it is tough to gauge who works with who and for how long.

jr

[Jester]

Alas! The answer, I think. If you consider your comments, you're blaming the coach(es) for how the team is playing and why the team may not be winning more games. Like I said, I had a conversation with a friend a day or so ago and I told him that I blamed the coach(es) for our failures and he said how can you blame the coach(es) when the players do not play (up to their potential) and I said because the best coach(es) in NBA history has found ways to make players in their team play up to their potential. This has been lacking for too many darn years with our Hawks. I read about this fan from Las Vegas (a fan since 1985 or so) who says the team is rebuilding, it will take a few years - enough! That's almost 20 years of waiting. I am extremely disappointed and I do not want to wait another 3 or 5 years for "the team" to finally be put together. We can and should do better than that. This city has waited long enough for "the team" and I say let's get the right coach(es) if that's what it takes. I've been in this board off and on since 1996 and I say enough is enough. Something has to give. With new ownership, we thought that was the answer. What gives????????? peace 10-4.

[Nicholasp27]

yes, al/toine need to get about 5mpg less or so, so they can be more rested in the end of the game...smooth has done well with his minutes, so let him come in to relieve al or toine for 15mpg...let chill play sf with al or toine at pf for another 10-15mpg...

i'd do something like:

pg: ka(20),ivey(20), delk (8)

sg: chill(15),barry(15),diaw(10),delk(8)

sf: al(30),chill(11), smooth(7)

pf: toine(30),mccoy(10), smooth(8)

c: drob(25), collier(20), mccoy(3)

start ka/chill/al/toine/drob

end ivey/chill/al/toine/drob

[Dakin]

no true point, no true center, and no shooting gaurds who can shoot (unless you count delk). It doesn't matter what combination Woodson uses this team is going to keep struggling.

[Gray Mule]

A loss is a loss is a loss ------

But, this time we got the game to overtime.

Things are getting better / slowly, but improving.

We didn't expect to be the N.B.A. champions this season,

but a few wins here and there would be so nice.

We had some exciting moments. Played a hard game.

Still, another W. slipped away. Maybe, next time - -

Go Hawks !!!

[Sage11]

Well the obvious answer is the best combination that gives us a chance for winning. Right now we don't know which combination will give us the best chance of winning because we have rookies in development. To me that is not an excuse but the wild card. I cannot say that I am all that upset with what Coach is doing presently. Granted, no one on this board hates to lose as much as I do. I consider not competing for the rings and banner as a "losing" season. Nevertheless, rookies must be developed to see what they will consistently give you night in and night out. To develop they MUST have playing time. Those who have been given time and still struggle to produce should be given pink slips and replaced with the best available player.

Now having said all of that I think we should continue to develop the rookies, yet I don't think it is our rookies that are losing the games for us. Our backcourt has been shaky, Anderson has been disappointing at best to me. Harrington is yet to be the consistent producer he promised to be in pre season. More often than not he has struggled to find his game and has forced things a bit. Walker, well his struggles as well as success has been well documented by other posters. To me both have yet to realize their potential as a dangerous tandem. I believe that as go these two, so goes the team until others are ABLE to contribute consistently. Moreover we are not getting consistent and productive play from the center spot either. So if we were to point fingers and place blame, there is plenty to go around.

Nevertheless, I have seen some very encouraging signs, especially with the development of some of the rookies, but we are far from being what some think we should be at this stage.

Wisdom demands more patience, even if it is painful to watch along the way.

Therefore, the rookies must play along side the vets, all must have minutes if this team will ever become the competitor we all want it to be. If not we can shipwreck this whole exercise by demanding a 50 win season now, overpay some gold digger we think that will get us to the playoffs and make it into the first round and be eliminated. We have been there and done that.

[Nicholasp27]

so far our best team has ivey at point, chill or barry at sg, and al/toine/drob in the frontcourt...those 5somes have outscored their opps every time they've been on the court...

[jrlocke]

I think it is hard to judge what lineup has doing well considering how much garbage time the hawks have played this year....

I think this team is versitale and 12 deep....12 deep because 1-8 are not so good but still 12 deep. So Woodson has alot of options over the course of a game. I would like to see veterens play with vets and the youngins play together. I still think Kenny and Jon should start with Collier and if they are not producing give them the quick yank....let the kids play together so they learn how to play with each other and for the simple fact that they bring energy.

I see this team with starters as a half court team and the second group as a race horse team.....at least thats how I would coach it

[Packfill]

I am with Nicholas, I think the best unit is Ivey, Childress, Harrington, Walker and Drob.

[Nicholasp27]

ivey hasn't been out there during garbage time...if u watched those games, u'll see he came in quickly after KA sucked and the game turned around then and he played in meaningful minutes...chill also hasn't played much garbage time, as he's been starting the past 4 or 5 games...drobs also doesn't just play in garbage time...nor does barry...

so the stats on those 5somes are real, not just garbage time stats...