players FG% vs. Reef and Big Dog

[Guest]

Alright from March 2nd-end of of season

opposing SF's shot 54.1% againest Big Dog

opposing PF's shot 46.8% againest Shareef

opposing PG's shot 35.4% againest JT

opposing players shot 42.8% againest Ira Newble

I took into account which SG/SF was the better of the

two againest Newble because as we know Newble guarded

the best of the two.

[Guest]

Didn't Big Dog struggle with a knee injury the second half of

the season?He was playing good defense until about the middle

of March then he started playing real poorly on defense.

Well in November guys shot 46.8% againest Big Dog...Still

not great...but better than 54%.

I think Big Dog had a knee injury the second half of the year.

[chillzatl]

JT sure did a good job of holding his men to a very low %. hmm

[Admin]

I had him on my fantasy team so I kept some pretty close tabs on him and he missed about 20+ games I believe which was very frustrating, but man when he played I could ALWAYS depend on him. You never saw a 5 pt game from him. I am still just so stoked that we have him on our team. Good job collecting those stats by the way.

[Guest]

I think JT's is the most impressive because if you go look

you will see he held alot of quality PG's to low numbers.Only

a about twice in that span did he really get lit up and one was

Stephon Marbury in which if I remember correctly was about the

only one that played decent that night we beat the Suns in

Atlanta.

Shareef had alot of 4-7,3-4, and alot of others like that brought

up the percentage.

But JT simply shutdown ALOT of good players.They took alot of

shots againest him.Alot of 3-15 and 2 for 7's.

[kelston827]

Great stats ARR.

That alone tells us how valuable the switch of JT to PG can be to this team. As a SG, JT can score and use his quickness to break down his man at will, but his defense would cost us any advantages his offense brought.

But as a PG, JT is a pretty good (not great) defender, with decent SPG and a willingness to work to get better at it. That, to me, is JT's greatest asset. The guy wants to win, and he's willing to work and do what it takes to get there.

I'm not as down on our team defense as alot of people are. It's not top-5 or nothing, but I think JT, DJ and Theo can hold their own.

I just wish the season was closer. I can honestly say that I'm excited about every one of our starters:

JT -- Put up all-star numbers last year, finally a full-year at PG

DJ -- Won the spot with defense, this year shows versatility

BigDawg -- 20 points, 6 boards every night..no more, no less

SAR -- Will have best season yet thanks to arrival of BigDawg

Theo -- The KEY. A season without him is a season with Nazr

IMO, Boston, New Jersey and New Orleans are the only teams in the East that compete with us.

[Traceman]

have very similar talent, it's going to come down to which teams can gel the quickest, which teams can stay healthy and which teams can play together for the entire season. If Grant Hill is healthy, Orlando is going to be good. If Zo can stay healthy, Miami will be back in the thick of things. If Isiah can coach, Indy has as much talent as any team in the EC. Vince Carter might come back from his injury with a vengeance and if he does, Toronto is a threat to make some noise. If McDyess is 100%, NY is a threat to do some damage. Milwaukee should rebound from their poor perfomance last year and they still have a lot of talent. Honestly, Cleveland is the only team in the EC that would shock me if that made the playoffs. Every other team has a shot. It should be a fun season.

[Guest]

Trace, I agree yet disagree. If you're talking regular season, Orlando has shown they'll be a force, as will Toronto with a healthy Carter, Mil with a decent all-round and their addition by subtraction. Indy IS the most talented athletic team top to bottom and got some experience last year for their youth squad...Zeek's the big question there (and maybe Tinsley's confidence).

However, NY remains a jumbled mess, even with McDyess who I like a lot. Miami has some parts but is relying heavily on Butler and I never like to depend on a rookie in this day and age.

But Orlando is in trouble come the slowed play of the playoffs. They couldn't rebound last year (McGrady led the team, excluding Hill) and don't look to be a bit better this year, worse if anything. That's our biggest advantage - an inside presence. It totally depends on Theo's health, but have a tremendous edge with the fire power at 1-3-4 and defensive minded 2 and 5.

NJ has upgraded tremendously for this reason. I think you'll see Deke's minutes decreased throughout the year so he'll have something in the tank for the playoff run. With the exception of Indy, and possibly Miami, most other teams are thin in the middle and rely on smaller players to grab the boards.

Please let Theo be healthy - we've paid our injury dues, much like the 00-01 Nets.

[Traceman]

Also, I agree with you that the playoffs could cause some problems for Orlando because of their inability to rebound but I won't be surprised to see them move Mike Miller for a big man at the All Star break if Hill is healthy. In addition, Hill is a very good rebounder for a SF so he will help a lot on the boards.

You are right to point out that all those teams have questions but so do we. I am confident in JT's ability to run this team but apparently, most people outside this forum (and many on it) don't share my confidence. I am confident that DJ and/or DG will more than hold their own at SG but many people think that SG is a big question mark on this team. Big Dog looks like he will fit like a glove on paper but will it play out like that? Can Theo stay healthy? Is Lon an NBA head coach? I think Reef is pretty much the only consensus sure thing we have right now.

All that being said, I am VERY optimistic about this team and I think everything will fall into place for us but the point I'm trying to make is that we have question marks just like those teams you named. I can't wait for the season to start so we can start showing the world what the Hawks are all about!

[Guest]

Agreed. The Hawks definitely have their question marks as well, and I think you mentioned most of them. The biggest difference between ours and most other's is that we have the pieces in place (some might argue that JT doesn't conform to this statement. We're depending on health and chemistry, not on a player/coach's ability to patch holes or a rookie to step up as a full-time starter.