Improvement. What Diesel Wants....

[Diesel]

ON the day that the Glen Robinson trade went down. I was Happy. I said... "No More Trades of the Day" because we are complete. Well, I'm not backing up on my statement but there are still some things that we need to do. We shouldn't be happy with just being better than we were. We should look to be the best we can be. SO, I have thought of several areas and possible remedies for our problems.

Ball Handling

We sorely need better ball handling. The way that our Backcourt is set up now, our best ballhandlers are: Email, DD, JT, Dion, and DJ. IN that order. Yet we plan to start JT and DJ. We could really use a better option. Even if we started JT/Email, ballhandling wise, we would be OK. For everything that Grob brings us, the one thing that he doesn't is a good ballhandler and a good passer. We will miss out on Toni playing that role.

Remedy

I suggest that we look to trade for a 2 that is a good player and ballhandler. Off the top of my head, there's Brent Barry from Seattle. He's a good ball handler and passer. Seattle wants to play Des Mason more so they may be willing to part with him for Cheap.

ONe trade is CC/Email/Glover to Seattle for Barry. That looks good to us but won't work for them. They need Glover less than they need a hole in the head. Even though he would provide them with Cash next season, they don't need him. CC? It would take a good sells person to make this deal go. The selling point is that you save 2 million dollars next yr while getting good usable players this yr. (The Baker trade tells us that Seattle is going for Duncan or ONeal next yr).

Another is Nazr for Barry. Again. Another good looking trade. They get a guy who can play PF and BU C. A position that they really need filled. This is a good possibility.

Another player whoose name has floated out there is Doug Christie. My question is why would Sactown trade him? He's the star of their defense. We would have an easier time getting Bobby Jackson. BUT if we were to make an offer...

Again, Nazr for Christie is what we're talking.

A third guy to think about: Jon Barry. In Detroit, they have run into a good problem. They have too many good 2s and 3s. Tayshun Prince might become their SF of the future now. What that really means is that Barry might be expendable for help in the frontcourt. Again...

Nazr for Barry?

In this case, I don't know if Barry is worthy. BUT Detroit would probably do this deal. They were our competition to get Nazr last yr.

A Fourth guy... Micheal Dickerson. Yes, MD is probably very available in Memphis. He handles the ball well and can score. He and JT can bring back UA days to Atlanta. The question is what would memphis go for in trade for Dickerson.

Don't look now but how about:

Hendu/1st for Dickerson. IF I didn't believe it could happen, I would have said it. The truth of the matter is that Detroit will take Memphis' pick this coming draft. Memphis has a slew of young talent but they lack those vet players that can make a difference. They are also shallow in the frontcourt. The 1st rounder would probably make them give up Dickerson who they have lost interest in anyway.

Another possiblity:

Hendu/DJ to Memphis for Dickerson/Swift.

That's one to fumble around.

Defense

We need to improve our defense. I am a believer that we can do well with Good team defense if we have the points behind us. However, we have to first get the good team defense. Can Lon teach it? Will our players do it? Can JT defend the PG? Will Big Dog make an effort on the perimeter?

A bunch of folks say, well let's bring Newble back?

That's a possibility... However, if he is not being reasonable in his contract dispute then the hell with him. Here's a plan.

If we were to make a trade of Nazr, I would look into bringing in Willis and Oakley? Willis because we need a 7'0 who can play the game. Oakley because this team lacks the tough attitude required to go places. If not Oakley, I would trade for Dale Davis.

Salary Cap

Even if we don't have many problems otherwise, I believe that the Salary Cap will be a problem Next yr and the yr after. We can all believe that this team will stay together, however, I KNOW if we don't make the playoffs, there will be some major retooling. Somebody will have to go. First off, here's the reason.

1. With the money back gaurantee, Atlanta stands to be the laughing stock of the league if we don't make good on it.

2. AOL/TW is a Business and they are out to make MONEY. Steve Case just robbed Investors of 475 million dollars this past yr. His bottom line is what have you done with the money that I have invested. Wins are paramount.

3. Atlana has never been a loyal sports town. with Turner out of power, there's no protection for Babcock, Kruger, and Kasten. Hate to say it but by december if we are not winning, Kruger will be gone.

[Traceman]

You said: "Hate to say it but by december if we are not winning, Kruger will be gone."

You HATE to say it? Please! You DELIGHT in saying it! You have been wishing for Lon to be fired since he was hired!

That being said, I don't think we need to go out seeking any more deals. I'd like to see us sign Ira and get ready for training camp. I like the good feelings surrounding this team and I don't want to see anyone traded who might upset that chemistry.

We don't need to trade Nazr for a ballhandler. We need Nazr as a backup Center. If we trade Nazr for Barry, Christie or Dickerson and Theo gets hurt, we're done. We MIGHT still make the playoffs but we won't get past the first round. Are you ready to declare that Theo will be healthy now after you have been trying to trade him since he got here because of his health issues? My how times have changed! Even if we sign K Willis to backup Theo, he is not going to be as effective as Nazr over an entire season. Willis is in great shape but he went to highschool with Methuzalah. I can't see depending on him for 36+ minutes per night at Center. Nazr is a quality backup Center and there are not many out there. He could start for half the teams in the NBA. If Theo goes down we will lose a lot, but Nazr is good enough that the season won't be lost.

IF (and that's a big if) ballhandling in the backcourt does indeed prove to be an issue, we can make a move after the season starts but as things stand now, I'd rather give DJ and DG a chance to prove that they can be effective as our starting SG.

Don't get me wrong, if we could get Dickerson, Barry or Chrisite for Hendu, I'd do it. I'd also give up Nazr for Christie (though I doubt SAC would being that they are about to sign Clark). I could even understand giving up Nazr for Barry. I just think we out to go forth with what we have.

[tmac]

I can hear the ranting start...when Lon starts Email over DJ or DG..But as the team stands now, that may be our most likely scenario..I agree with another poster below that according to matchups teams with good, quick, defensive backcourts are gonna give a JT/DJ backcourt fits..because they are both below average for their positions as ballhandlers and we have no other help in our starting five.

[chillzatl]

Your ranking of our ballhandlers is inconclusive at best. Early last season I would have definitely put E.Davis above JT. Now I would not. You have nothing to base a comparison of JT vs. E.Davis on at this point. JT is a much more controlled and smarter player than he was when E.Davis was able to play. I remember one of your biggest complaints early last year about JT and his ballhandling was that when he brought the ball upcourt, he would always allow himself to get trapped and picked by opposing defenses. That all but disappeared late in the season, once he got some real experience at it.

You should also put your favoritism aside and wait until we see just how good DD is before you rank him above a guy who had one of the better Ast/TO ratio's among players at his position.

The point i'm trying to make isn't about JT being better than anyone. It's that we need to see what we have before we start looking to make even more changes. None of us knows what we have at this point. We have so many players that either haven't shown what they are capable of doing on this team due to injuries or have shown the ability to make great improvement at a given position that it's just foolish for any of us to assume that we know what this team is or is not going to be capable of. The only thing that we know was that what we ended the season with had VERY good chemistry. Shuffling players before we get a chance to see what they can do and how they may or may not have improved is begging to ruin that chemistry. It's like trading an apple that you have never tasted for another apple that you've sampled before. How do you know that first apple isn't sweeter than the other until you give it a try?

[Traceman]

The team looks pretty damn good to me as constructed. I think we have a nice mix of young and veteran players. I would like to see what the guys we have can do before we make any additional moves.

[Sage11]

I can not agree to trading a quality back-up/starting center for Barry. If we trade Nazar we have a potential big hole at center if Theo goes down. I do not see such a trade working in our favor presently. I agree with Traceman and Chill---- lets run with the dogs we got; I believe we can do more than just bark this year.

[JTFan31]

As of right now I like how the team is setup. We have a great mix of young and veteran players, it probably goes half an half.

I was looking at the option that maybe E-mail maybe starting, but then again I analyze it a bit, and I aint no analyst or anything, but I used some common sense. If we start JT and Email in the back court, is basically doing the same thing as last year. We will find ourselves again watching E-mail setting up plays for JT, we dont want that guys. If that happens then JT will be labeled again a SG and a failure at point. We actually want JT as our official starting PG, so he can prove everyone wrong that he is an allstar PG in this league. More and more as I think about that backcourt I hate it, we need to lok at our future and E-mail is not in our future plans, not even close, in the other hadn DJ is and DJ is ready to start.

DJ has a long frame with some muscle and weight added and he can disrupt any 2 guard's shots in this league with his wing span, he can block shots, run the floor, and play great D. DJ is ready to be the starting 2 guard in this league and if we have E-mail starting that will only devastate DJ's confidence.

Analyzing our lineup, we probably have the best lineup in the East and one of the top starting lineups in the league, no BS. I dont like sounding bias, but on paper we have a top notch and championship caliber starting 5.

[chillzatl]

The mention of E.Davis or Ira starting at SG was ONLY done as a backup plan. Becuase we really have to consider that. DJ CAN distrupt players and CAN cause matchup problems. But will he? That's the reality. He's never done it on the pro level. He played OK defense last year, at best. He wasn't a stopper by any means. He was probably 60% the defender that Ira was. That's not going to get it done. If he steps it up this year then we'll be fine. Because the reality of it is that DJ is now the 4th option, maybe even 5th. He's not going to get a lot of things ran for him. He's going to have to thrive as an opportunity scorer and key defender if he is going to have any success this year.