TheNorthCydeRises

Well Truth, you will always have something to complain about as a fan then, if you take that approach. You'll literally drive yourself crazy, if you expect the Hawks to play at the highest level possible every night. This team is good, but we won't know just how good, until around January or February. People keep talking about the Nets like they're a scrub team. Last I checked, they've won 6 of their last 8, including a win vs a good Utah team IN UTAH last night. And Devin Harris absolutely destroyed Deron, dropping 34 on his azz. Like us, they couldn't stop his penetration either. Don't look now, but Harris is averaging almost 23.5 ppg with a little over 6 assists. LOL @ him getting to the line over 11 times a game. That's insane. That's 2nd in the league behind only Dwight Howard. He's getting to the line more than Wade. And the 3 games he missed, the Nets lost. The Nets could very well have the same record as we do, if he wasn't out. But I guess since Utah didn't have Boozer in the lineup last night, they can't use that as an "excuse" for losing. Or better yet, since Utah couldn't stop Harris, that Jerry Sloan lost that game for them. LOL . . damn that. When you lose a key player on your squad, you're going to struggle at times. Truth, the NBA season is a long, long one. There's no way the Hawks can bring that type of intensity in every game the entire season. Anybody who has ever played an organized sport before, knows what I'm talking about. I still want to see how many people thought we'd be 10 - 6 at the end of November, before the season started. With Smoove out, I could care less how we're winning games. Just as long as we win them.

Peoria, I'm the same cat that said that we'd win 45 - 50 games back in the summer. I'm also the same one that had confidence in Marvin, when others doubted him big time. But this November schedule, along with the Texas road trip in December, looked to be very difficult before the season started. My hope was that we'd stay somewhere close to .500, then make our run in mid-December. LOL . . . don't spin this into "I'm a better fan than any of you", because I didn't even say or imply that. I just try to be somewhat of a realist about the situation. Ish . . if anything, I've been accused on this board for overhyping this team the last 3 years, more than anything else. All I'm saying is that this fan base should be estatic that the Hawks are 10 - 6, with Smoove ( the player that about 50% of our fan base thinks is our most important player ), out for the last 12 games. It's obvious that while the Hawks can survive offensively without Smoove, the defense has been severely hampered with his absence. I didn't see anybody on this board predicting a 6 - 0 start, or a 10 win November. So we should all be delighted at the position we're in right now, and not necessarily complaining about games the Hawks lost during a brutal stretch of playing 9 games in 14 nights. My hope is that we take care of business next week to go 12 - 6, before we play those Texas games + Miami. Then we get 11 of our next 14 games at home against pretty decent competition. After that, we'll see where we stand as a team.

Zaza went out of the game at his usual time in the 3rd. We fell behind because Kapono and Graham started making shots at the end of the 3rd, beginning of the 4th. Once we got down by 10, the Hawks had to shift into offensive mode. Woody went with a group that has been doing it all year since Smoove went down ( Bibby, Evans, JJ, Marvin, Horford ). Of that 5, who do you take out to put Zaza in? Especially considering the fact that the big run we made to close the 1st half and take the lead, came when Zaza was out of the game, and this group was on the floor ( Bibby, Evans, JJ, Marvin, and Solo ). We were down 8 in the first half, with a little under 5 minutes to go in the half. Zaza goes out, Solo comes in, and we promptly go on a 19 - 7 run to lead by 4 at halftime. Solo actually had all of his 6 points in that stretch. Zaza's rebounding in the first half kept us from getting blown out, but it didn't get us back into the game. We were getting 2nd shots, but not converting off of them anyway. The offensive group Woody went with to close the 1st half, got us back into that game, and briefly got us the lead. Of course, Woody won't get any credit for that grouping. If anything, complain about Woody not possibly going with Solo, instead of Zaza. But even with that, you're not going to opt to put Solo in over Horford.

I agree. Flip is the new Salim, and Woody did right by keeping ZaZa out of the game when we needed some offense in the 4th. Flip is more explosive offensively, because he will go to the hole, but he's more turnover prone that Salim ever was. Zaza shooting 32% FG as a center is a straight up travesty.

Unacceptable? - We lose to Boston on a great shot by Pierce. - We 2 games to Jersey in which Devin Harris shreds our defense. Something he wouldn't have done if he had to worry about Smoove patrolling the lane. In the game in ATL, Vince played like a superstar, scoring 26 of his 30 points in the 2nd half. - We lose to Indy on a night where Horford gets hurt, and Rasho Nesterovic played like a top 5 center in the league. - We lose to Cleveland on a night where we come out lethargic as hell, and on a night were JJ was hurting and only scored 4 points. - And last night, we shoot horribly from the outside in the 2nd half, and Bosh damn near puts up a triple-double. And some of these losses were unacceptable? With 5 of them being on the road? Come on now. From the OKC game on the 9th, to the Cleveland game on the 22nd, the Hawks played 9 games ( with 4 back-to-backs ), in a 14 day span. I've NEVER seen an NBA schedule like that in a 2 week span. Never. Yet, some of these losses were "unacceptable"? Ish, we're probably lucky we've only lost 6 games this month, even if we were healthy.

Frank, the sports fans in ATL don't ever want you to say anything bad about Atlanta being a "bandwagon" sports town. To them, this town is just fine as a sports city. They do have some valid points regarding all of the people who are not from ATL, who now make that city their home. A lot of those out of towners have loyalties to other sports teams, and don't cheer/root for the Hawks, Falcons, Braves, or Thrashers, unless they're putting a tremendous winning product on the floor. Before the season, I seriously didn't know if this team could finish the month above .500, with all of the back to backs this month ( 4 ), the amount of road games ( 10 ), and the amount of games vs playoff teams from last year we had to play ( 9 ). Personally, once tonight's game is over, I would've been satisfied with a 7 - 9 record going into December. Then I was hoping we could survive the Texas road trip starting next Saturday, then make the run at the end of the month with all of those home games in a row. Instead, we're 9 - 6 ( without our best shot blocker and energy player in the lineup: Smoove ), and we've won 4 road games already, after only winning 12 all year last year. We're #5 in the conference, and we're 1 game back of Orlando for the top spot in the division. The bad thing about our fan base sometimes, is that they're used to being in a "gloom and doom" mode. It's natural for fans to complain. I've always understood that. But when you're used to bytching and complaining about your favorite team, it's easy to revert back to that mode when you play 2 weeks worth of bad to mediocre basketball.

I think the key for Marvin, when Smith comes back, is to really be aggressive when he's out on the floor with some or all of that 2nd unit ( Acie, Flip, Evans, Zaza ). Woody's rotation right now, is actually the same as it was last year ( although people whined and complained about it then ). He pulls Marvin midway or around the 4 - 5 minute mark in the 1st and 3rd quarters ( regardless of how he is playing ), and inserts him back into the game toward the end of the quarter. Woody likes to give JJ his rest in that 3 - 6 minute period between end 1st - start 2nd qtrs and end 3rd - start 4th qtrs. Marvin is usually in the game when JJ is out. So if he can really look for his offense during those times, it'll help this team. And his overall output will stay somewhat the same. The problem with that, may be Flip, who has suddenly become very Salim-esque. ( 38% FG - 34% 3FG . . with a TON of turnovers in a short span ). Flip has the green light with that 2nd unit to take every shot he wants. If he continues to struggle, that green light needs to go to Marvin.

Exactly. I don't overlook this game . . ever. I tried my best to be down there tonight, but ish just keep preventing me from hitting the road. Now I gotta settle for seeing the Vols massacre Middle Tennessee St tonight in Murfreesboro . . . and I'll have to buy tickets on the street just to see that, because the game is sold out. SMH. If that falls through, surely a sports bar in Murfreesboro will show the Hawks game? LOL . . yeah right.

Right on the money D. Without JJ, people like Marvin, Flip, Evans, Horford, and especially Smith, wouldn't be able to go at people one on one. None of those guys probably have ever faced a consistent double team in their entire NBA careers. Imagine the turnovers a guy like Marvin or Smith would have, if they faced a constant double team every night? JJ accounts for more than 35 ppg every night ( when you count points + assists ). Plus he usually guards the toughest 2 or 3 on the other team. Plus he's our best distributor. Plus he's the guy on the team that can take and make difficult shots, even while being doubled. Even Bibby, with his offensive prowess at times, can't do that. Take JJ away for an 82 game season, and this team doesn't survive at all. Maybe 30 wins, at best. And that's if guys like Smith, Horford, Marvin, and Acie all play up to their potential. Josh is DEFINITELY the defensive glue of the team though. No denying that. His presence takes a potentially average team, and turns it to a potentially good team. We could survive without Smith. But we might just be simply mediocre, unless Horford became a monster at the 4 spot, and ZaZa played better D at the 5.

I was watching Kwame last night handle Gasol and Bynum, and thought . . . "damn, it sure would be nice having him on this squad". But that means that we'd probably be without Flip, who has been a very pleasant surprise so far. But I think I would definitely trade Flip for Kwame, just to have a little bulk in the middle to at least try to stop somebody.

To be honest Hot . . . they only had one bad quarter. When you give up 42 points in the 4th quarter, you deserve to lose. And we STILL were one stop away from possibly tying the game with about 2 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, after Al cut it to 3 with thsoe FTs. Ish, if you told me before the season that the Hawks would be 6 - 2 . . . even 6 - 3 ( if we lose tonight ), after 8 or 9 games, I'd be happy as hell. LOL @ me trying to explain this. Da hell am I thinking?

LOL . . . exactly. Welcome back.

Jake was exactly the guy I was thinking of. When he was in Phoenix, he was a solid guy for spot defense and rebounding. Surely he's better than Randolph, who doesn't even look like he's trying sometimes. Morris was pretty good at Kentucky. I don't know wtf is up with him on the pro level. Most of Tubby's good college players, even if they didn't gel as a team in the NCAA tournament, turn out to be decent to serviceable pros. ( Jamal Magloire, Tayshawn Prince, Chuck Hayes, Kelenna Azubuike, Keith Bogans, Rajon Rondo, etc )

People have said that Marvin's potential was James Worthy or T-Mac. After watching him last year, I said Glen Rice ( if he develops the 3 ), with a touch of Josh Howard. With him looking like a legit 3-point threat this year, he needs to develop the midrange pull-up jumper while going to the hole going into next season. If he can add that, to his standstill midrange and 3 point jumper, he's going to be a very efficient offensive player in the years to come.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/powerranking He's going to act like the biggest Hawk fan ever, if we keep winning, and his "formula" keeps us near the top. That's what he gets for overvaluing Chill, like he was the most vital piece to our team.

Damn. First Obama wins . . . now this? Amazing.

I have always believed that even if by some horrible circumstance that we didn't re-sign Smith over the summer, that the Hawks would still be just fine. Why? Because it would've given Horford a chance to play PF 75% - 80% of the time, and probably make Marvin a bigger part of the offense. However long Smith is out, it will be interesting to see what kind of offensive numbers both Horford and Marvin put up. I don't think it was a coincidence last night to see the offense pretty much not miss a beat with Smith gone. If Smith is gone for the next 3 weeks, I'll project these numbers for Hoford and Marvin. Horford: 16 ppg . . 11 rebs . . 53% FG Marvin 16 ppg . . 7 rebs . . 47% FG . . 38% 3FG Horford will be the big beneficiary offensively, with Smith being out.

Whoa . . . what the hell? I guess a win over a fully stocked Hornets team at home, can sway anybody. The defense has been stellar. We're looking like a great "team" defensive team so far this year.

2 games into the season, and nothing changes.' Here's the real crazy thing about this thread. To start the 4th quarter, I believe this is the squad we had out on the floor. PG - Law G - Lil Flip G - Evans F - Smith C - Zaza When we made the 4th qtr run: PG - Bibby G - Lil Flip G - JJ F - Smith C - Zaza The "big" lineup actually didn't play well at all last night. WE need Smith on the inside as much as possible, in order to be a defensive deterrent. Now am I against playing the big lineup in stretches? No. But to use that as our primary lineup? Yeah . . . totally against it.

He does make those shots. And what's crazy, is that the guy throwing him the ball most of the time out there, is JJ. As bad as Smoove was playing for about 2.5 quarters last night, he really played like an all-star caliber player in the 4th quarter. As far as him making jumpers during crunch time, I think he concentrates more when the game is on the line. And one thing I've always said about Smith and his shot. If he does make a jumper, it's most likely because he's shooting from the top of the key area. Last year, he was 8 - 16 from 3 point range, when he shot a three from the top of the key area ( according to nba.com/hotspots ). If he's on the wing, he tends to miss shots badly. But I guess because he has the backboard to judge the shot with, that he can make the straight on jumper a little more frequently.

15 points ( 5 - 11 FG . . . 1 - 3 3FG . . . 4 - 4 FT ) 7 rebounds 2 assists 2 steals

The play that impressed me the most last night, was when he went to the hole and dunked it with two hands in traffic. He NEVER does that. If he start being that aggressive all the time, the sky is the limit for the kid. Great game for him. He played very under control last night. I don't mind a few long jumpers, if they're coming late in the shot clock or if he is at the top of the key wide open. If he does hit an outside shot, it usually comes when he has a straight on look at the basket. Maybe the backboard helps him gauge the shot better, when he has a straight on look.

PG - Bibby ( 24 min ) . . Law ( 20 min ) . . Murray ( 4 min ) G - JJ ( 36 min ) . . . Murray ( 12 min ) F - Williams ( 30 min ) . . Evans ( 18 min ) PF - Smith ( 34 min ) . . Horford ( 8 min ) . . Solo/Hunter ( 6 min ) C - Horford ( 26 min ) . . Zaza ( 22 min ) minutes breakdown by player: JJ - 36 Smith - 34 Horford - 34 Williams - 30 Bibby - 24 Zaza - 22 Law - 20 Evans - 18 Murray - 16 Solo/Hunter - 6 The big thing about this, are Bibby's minutes. He won't be happy at all playing 24 minutes a game. But if Acie and Flip are playing anywhere near how they're playing this preseason, you can't keep them off the floor, in order to play Bibby. But in those 24 minutes, Bibby has to be hella aggressive offensively. Just make your open shots. Zaza being able to play 20+ minutes would be huge as well. Marvin's time will depend on how well he plays, along with how well Evans plays. If Evans struggles a bit, Marvin will see his minutes increase dramatically. It'll be real nice if our bench is good enough to play a total of 82 minutes a night ( roughly 34% of the minutes each game ). It may not sound like much, but it would be huge for this team to get solid bench production like that.

Yeah . . . but he scored those 9 points in the 4th quarter . . in a 2 minute span. That's what Bibby does. He's a streaky/volume scorer. Acie is playing very well in the preseason. Shooting 52% FG . . 60% 3FG . . and has over a 2 to 1 turnover ratio ( would like to see that at 3 to 1 ). Let's just hope this is the version of Law that we'll see once the season starts. But Bibby is the vet, and he'll get the benefit of the doubt for now. But if he stinks it up, he'll quickly find himself splitting time in a 3-headed PG situation, with Law and Murray. It'll be much like what Woody was doing back last November, when he would start AJ . . play Law in the middle . . and let Lue finish games. But Law and Murray are positioning themselves right now, to possibly see time at the 2, and give JJ additional rest.

That's a fair observation. But you also have to be fair on why we couldn't do some of those things: - Limiting JJ's minutes is all well and good. But whenever he went out of the game, the offense went to hell in a handbasket. JJ had to play heavy minutes in order for this team to stay afloat. - LOL . . boxing out is definitely a part of rebounding. I have to place the blame for this on the players. Smith and Williams are notorious about not properly blocking out, while Horford does it all the time. - They didn't play uptempo all the time, because of the shaky PG situation. Lue would dribble holes into the ground, while uptempo for AJ was jogging the ball up the court. Once we got Bibby, it was amazing how much more comfortable this team looked, when they tried to play faster. I think the difference now for Woody, is that he actually has a team where he can coach both "conventionally" and "unconventionally", if he wants to. When your best post up player is also your best perimeter player, it's not too much you can do. And I agree with Dolfan. I loved when JJ and Horford ran that 2-man game with great success. That's an element we hadn't had here, since Harrington was down on the block. If Horford can become a nightly threat in the post, that opens the game up for everybody, and make us much more dangerous.