TheNorthCydeRises

J-Rich smelling blood right now.

JJ with 3 positive plays to start the quarter. Stat line: 26 - 7 - 4 Pretty good for a 2nd option.

Quote: Smoove already with 5 blocks, hopefully he can get 10 again. Something has changed with him and Joe. They both came to play tonight. Marvin still continues to impress me just wish Woody would leave him in while he's hot. Maybe both of them read the Hawksquawk boards for the past few days . . lol. Nice to see both guys playing well at the same time though.

Quote: Quote: Our momentum is dying with Lue out there. how can a rookie that many of us thought was really a SG, myself included, be a better PG than TLue who has been in the league for years? T-Lue is like kryptonite to this team. It's unbelievable. It's amazing how well this team is playing, yet, when he hits the floor, he posts a -3 rating.

ZaZa with 3 steals? Smoove taking just about everything to the basket, even making hook shots? Acie with 4 assists already? JJ with 6 FT's shot and made already? 11 assists on only 14 made shots? Shooting 70% for the quarter while holding the Cats to 35%? LOL . . yep. Somebody replaced the Hawks with the ET version.

Quote: I just don't see AI making us a contender. He is an inefficient player, it is not like we are talking about a 7' Kevin Garnett. Sure AI would bring out the crowds and make some money for the franchise but at 32 he is not a guy I look to trade for in order to have a 1 or 2 year window of maxing out as a 2nd round playoff team. I see Iverson's body breaking down and him losing a step next season and definately so by the 2009-2010 season. Let me stop right here. An inefficient player? A guy who is averaging almost 26 ppg, over 8 assists, and is shooting over 45% FG, and gets to the line almost 9 times a game, is an "inefficient player"? If JJ were doing that right now, 90% of Hawksquawk would be touting him as an MVP candidate . . with the exception of maybe Hotlanta and a few others who think JJ is still a 2nd option. And this is the Eastern Conference. It's not like we're in the West or something. In the East, you might only need 2 star players to get to the NBA Finals. The Wizards were the #1 team in the East last January, before Jamison went down. LeBron got to the NBA Finals with a rag-tag bunch of role players around him. And those teams to me are nothing special. After not even sniffing the playoffs for 8 years, I'd definitely take 2 consecutive seasons of getting to th EC Semifinals. As far as Iverson's body breaking down, that guy keeps himself in great shape. He gets hurt because he plays so hard. But in Denver, he can scale it back a little, because he knows that he has a potent scorer he can give the ball to. He doesn't have to be the entire offense for 40 minutes a night, like he did in Philly. He can pick and choose his spots in Denver. And the same would be the case if teamed with JJ and Horford here. Quote: I think the window of oppurtunity is too small to give away both a 21 and 22 year old 6'9'' talent for a 32 year old 6'1'' guy. To me the risk of giving up too early on Smith or Marvin outweighs the rewards AI brings. That's exactly what Chicago thinks about Deng and Gordon, when they didn't pull the trigger on the Gasol trade, or when the Kobe talks broke down. They're valuing their young talent tremendously. When you do that, you BETTER BE RIGHT. Smith's struggles this year, has sent most of this fan base into a tailspin, because they were expecting him to be the breakout player, not Marvin. Quote: That is just my opinion. Heck, all Philly could get for AI was a 30 year old Andre Miller and 2 lotto protected first rounders, so the NBA market place seems to agree with me. I think the NBA values their young talent the vast majority of the time. Then they get mad when Ainge pulls a coup like he did in Boston. The fact that Minny took on all of those young players and expiring contracts, proves that a team like the Hawks could've possibly landed Garnett . . if it had the guts to let go of some of its young talent. Boston took a huge risk, and it's paying off big time for them. If either one of the Big 3 gets hurt, especially Garnett, it becomes a disaster. But when you haven't won in a long while, I can understand them taking that risk. I don't mind us at all playing it safe with the youngsters. Just believe that an all-star caliber player, teamed with JJ, gets us to the playoffs. Even if its a guy like a Jason Kidd or even a Vince Carter.

Quote: Quote: I think the team with Iverson would win 3 to 5 more games then theteam with Marvin and Smith for THIS SEASON. Those extra few wins would probably get us in the playoffs with a chance to advance to the 2nd round.........but nothing is guaranteed. So yes, in 2007-08 the team with AI would probably win a few more games. However, by the 2008-2009 season I see the squad that keep Marvin andSmoove being the better alternative in the # of wins produced. Law will ready to by the point by then and Marvin and Smoove will be better then they are today. By 2009-2010, the team with Marvin and Smith is ready to take off. Who in the hell wants to wait til 2009-2010 for a team to take off? JB . . ask Hawksquawk to explain why AI is currently having his best year assist wise, while also shooting almost a career high right now, if he's on the decline? While I would agonize over giving up Marvin and Smith for AI, it's a move that teams do to instantly better themselves. It's this same line of thinking that has Chicago believing that Deng + Gordon >> Kobe . . which is BS in my opinion. If you team Kobe with Kirk Hinrich . . and you still have Nocioni and Thomas on the team, the Bulls are going to be MORE than OK. JJ becomes a souped-up Scottie Pippen, if he got AI here. He'd play a lot more of the 3 at times, which would increase his impact as a rebounder. He'd get a lot more open looks and one-on-one coverage. But the key would be Horford. Could Horford really develop at the 4, with an AI - JJ backcourt? Iverson would get that kid a lot of easy looks on the offensive end of the court.

Quote: Quote: Quote: AI - ya, lets trade Smoove snd Marvin for AI. When AI is retiring the guys we traded would just be entering the prime of the their careers while we was 3 first round playoff exits to show for it before another rebuild after Iverson. This is exactly what I was referring to in my Boston example. The folks in Boston could give a rat's ass whether or not Al Jefferson or Gerald Green will become Allstars....All they know that they are 6-0, the stadium is rocking and they have their big 3. Who gives a crap about 5 years from now...odds are that neither Jefferson nor Green will retire with their current team. Do you think that Miami regrets trading Caron and Lamar for Shaq? How can you relate 7 footers like Garnette and (Shaq of 2004 ) to a 32 year old 6'1'' Allen Iverson. Iverson's game and body are not holding much longer. As soon as he looses a step he is done. His decline will happen overnight. Bottom line is that a 32 year old Allen Iverson does not give a team the same chance at a title that a Garnette or 2004 model Shaq would give a team. Now if you were to throw in names Tyson Chandler (a young big who would actually fill a need) you may be on to someting. If you truely think Marvin, Smith and cap fillers for a 32 year old Iverson is a good deal you have problems with reality or you are a Nuggets fan in disguise. The Nuggest would do that deal over, and over, and over again. Go run your deal by some Nuggets boards and see how fast they sign up and see how fast they think you are one of them....meaning your a Nuggets fan. Good lord Coach. An AI - JJ backcourt INSTANTLY becomes the best backcourt in the league. While I agree that it's a little too early to trade anybody, you're telling me you wouldn't roll with this team? THIS WILL NEVER HAPPEN . . but say your hypothetical trade involves giving up Marvin, Smoove, Speedy, and Lue . . for Iverson ( which actually works by the way ). Granted, if I were them, I'd be asking for Law as well. But I would do everything in my power to hold onto Acie. This is your Hawks team. AI JJ Chill Horford ZaZa Law AJ Salim West Shelden Solomon Wright Apparantely, a lot of people on this site believe that JJ is a 2nd option anyway, so a guy like AI would be the perfect compliment to him. No more double teams for JJ, when AI is in the game beside him. On this team, the core of the bench ( Law, Shelden, West, and possibly Salim and Solomon ) would have increased roles, and would have to come up big each night. Well, at least one or two would have to give us solid play every night. I don't know what Iverson some of you have been watching, but he's becoming a BETTER PLAYER, not one that is in decline. He's been able to take better shots and become a better playmaker, since teaming up with an all-star talent like Melo. And the same would happen if he teamed up with JJ. Shoot, you could even throw out this starting lineup, if a guy like Mario West was used strictly as a defensive stopper, much in the way that Trenton Hassell, Bruce Bowen, and Ira Newble are used: AI West JJ Horford ZaZa The formula for winning championships in this league, has almost always been . . . have 2 guys who are playing at all-star level, and at least one other guy who plays like an all-star sporadically. Almost every team, with the exception of the Houston Rockets of the mid-90s, and maybe the first few Bulls championship teams of 91 & 92, have had this element on their championship teams. So we'd have all-stars in JJ and AI. And what happens if Horford develops rapidly because of the presence of AI? There's your 3rd guy right there. He'd be the key for this really working here. There is no guarantee that either Smith nor Marvin become all-star talents. They will become good to very good players, but maybe not all-star talents. If they do, that's great for us if we keep them. But we'd still potentially have an even more potent "Big 3" in place with JJ - AI - and Horford. Plus we'd still have a guy like Law as a backup PG? LOL @ not wanting AI, because you don't want to give up Smith and Marvin. AI is an impact player. If this deal was on the table for AI, I would tak a LONG, HARD LOOK AT IT. A serious one. AI in Atlanta would make the Hawks ticket a pretty hard one to get. And no . . the Nugget fans wouldn't take Smith and Marvin for AI, because they already have Melo, who can play both the 3 and the 4. Melo and Nene >> Smith and Marvin. It's a reason why they traded the PG that a lot of people on this board wanted, in Andre Miller, for Allen Iverson. They wanted an IMPACT GUY, not just a solid PG.

LOL @ ZaZa being on the ballot, and has played a total of 1 game, and MIGHT NOT START when he does get back into the flow of things. They couldn't wait until Christmas to list the names?

Quote: I think you make some good points about REBOUNDING.. BUT BUT BUT... you have to look at the nature of those games. IN those Losses, we were not trying to run every possession. In fact, our team had broken down into the bunch of individual that they are and we started putting up long shots. I guarantee that if you compare the FG% with those rebound numbers, you will find that we shot lousy in those situations. Those one shots lead to easy rebounds when nobody is playing inside. Oh the bad shooting definitely is a factor in the rebounding disparity. But you can't ignore the 2nd chance points that we've given up in those games either. I think the 2nd chance points in the Washington game was in favor of the Wiz 23 - 6. Against Jersey, I think that number was 12 - 4 in favor of Jersey. We held both Jersey and Washington to around 43% shooting, while we shot around 39%. Defensively, we played well enough to win both games. But because we didn't execute on offense, and because we got killed on the boards, we lost both games. Those one shots lead to easy rebounds when nobody is playing inside. And that's exactly right by you. That's a characteristic of teams that try to play fast. It's the reason why a great uptempo team like Phoenix will tend to let you back into a game, if they go through just a 2 - 3 minute cold spell. If you miss that shot, and no one is there to rebound the ball, you've basically wasted a possession. If you make the shot, all is well. The same elements that we were there to beat Phoenix and Dallas, were the same reasons why we lost against Jersey and Washington. Even if we didn't play fast the entire game, when we did try to play fast, we weren't efficient in doing so. Quote: The other problem with your take is that you don't consider personnel. I think most of our team is built to run. However, I don't think our coach can teach it. Running requires discipline.. and if it's not defense, Woody can't demand discipline... especially not the discipline of an up-tempo team. We have found that JJ and JSmoove and Lue are too undisciplined right now. Marvin and CHillz would work beautifully because they have a desire to move without the ball and to actually work for scores. That's at the root of up-tempo... The other two factors are conditioning and rebounding. I think Horf can be that rebounder... and I know we're conditioned. So it gets back to discipline and teaching.. I think Woody has confused getting the ball up the court in a hurry with uptempo... That's far too scatter brained.. You have to master, filling lanes, outlet passes, and overall trust... We lack that. Because we have not been coached to do that! I agree. So if Woody can't properly teach it, and the players aren't disiplined enough to run the way they should, we should pretty much stop it altogether. The exception to the rule should be when we get a stop on the defensive end AND if we have the right people with the ball when starting the push upcourt. So do you suggest that we not run when JJ and Smoove are out on the court, but run with a group like Law - Salim - Chill - Marvin ( at the 4 ) - Horford? Could that group be an efficient running team? What we're doing here, is like Nellie out in Golden St. trying to teach his team how to be a lockdown defensive ballclub. He obviously can't teach it properly, because his teams have never been good or even average defensive ballclubs. If we're not stressing to get the rock in Law's hands to start the push upcourt, I just think that we shouldn't even be trying to play uptempo at all. No good fast break or uptempo team has their SF or PF's leading the break or pushing the ball themselves. Watch the Charlotte game tonight. If we give up more than 15 2nd chance points, we'll probably lose tonight. Defense and rebounding win games. We don't need any below average rebounding games from Smoove or Marvin tonight.

Quote: Actually, that is not true, JJ shoots a bunch of forced jump shots early in the clock. Smoove forces things early in the clock...Marvin & Chillz usally get there points in the flow of the offense. They always talk about sharing the ball, but they usually play a different way. JJ does this a lot, not sure why, maybe he doesn't trust the play call, but if you pay attention to the nummber of times JJ brings the ball up dribbles 7 or 8 times and shoots a fadeaway jump shot, you may be suprised. It starts with him, if your star is selfish is bogs down how well the team shares the ball. It is almost like we have too many guys with something to prove and they are going about it the wrong way. How is the guy that leads this team in assists, "selfish?"

Quote: You still haven't realized what I'm saying. OF COURSE we need to rebound and play better D, there is no question about that. My point is that our halfcourt offense is downright abhorrent. There is no reason AT ALL to abandon an uptempo scheme. Again, I'm not saying push the ball at all costs, but do NOT abandon it like you are trying to say. I understand perfectly what you're saying. What I'm saying is that playing uptempo isn't the reason why we're going to win games. We have to run in spots. When we're only getting like 10 - 15 fast break points a game, it's not like we have some potent running game that's workiing. If anything, trying to play faster is increasing the turnovers and the inefficiency of this team. To me, it has never been about the offense. It's always been about the defense, especially the defense and rebounding of the frontline. Smith gets most of his points in the half court offense. Marvin gets almost all of his points in the half court offense. So does JJ. So where does running give us this great advantage? . . or even a decent one? It doesn't. We were supposed to run . . AND . . shoot more three's this season. LOL . . we can't do either one of those things well right now. What we're doing, is like the Falcons did when they tried to instill the West Coast offense with Vick at the helm. Yeah, it might be in his best interest, and the team's best interest for him to learn that offense. LOL . . but if he still has trouble completing passes, you end up hurting the overall production of the team. We're on the same page Atlas. But I would rather for this team to run less, in order to be under more control. That doesn't mean walk the ball up the floor. But it does mean getting the ball in the right people's hands, in the right places on the court.

Quote: This doesn't mean we shouldn't run, it just means we need to rebound better. Obviously we need to rebound much better to avoid 2nd chances, but this doesn't mean we don't need to run on offense. I, for one, do NOT want to see us walking it up the court because we know what happens then. I can understand not trying to push it on a made bucket when the defense is all the way back, because we can't have an advantage there. But, if given the opportunity we need to run absolutely as much as possible, and that DOES come as a result of better rebounding. So in the 2 games that we won, what was the main element that led to victory? Running and scoring fast, or playing defense and rebounding? Like I said . . I'm not against running. But if we're going to try to run every time a guy misses a basket, by passing to one of the forwards instead of giving it to the guards, then the running is pretty much useless. Chill and Smoove may be our best to finishers on the break, yet, they're the main guys trying to run the break . . only to get stuck out on no-man's land once they get into the frontcourt. LOL . . then we have to set up and run the 1/2 court offense anyway. I think Woody wants us to "play faster", not necessarily run. There is a difference in that. But even with "playing faster", the PG needs the ball, not the forwards. This "commitment to run or play faster", is actually doing us more harm right now, than good. It'll only be good when we actually start to do it RIGHT.

Quote: Having team strength in the areas of defense and rebounding, while the main weakness is lack of half court offensive effeciency is exactly why we should be running. Am I my missing something ? The reason we won our 2 games is b/c we pushed the tempo. In order to push the temppo you have to rebound missed shots and play defense to force mossed shots. Coach . . look at those two wins again. It's not like pushing the tempo won both of those games though. I was at the Dallas game. And while the Hawks did play a little faster ( mainly because Dallas was jacking up a lot of quick shots ), the reason why we won was because of outstanding defense in the 1/2 court, and good execution on the offensive end. And it was the rebounding of both Shelden and Smith that were huge in that game. It had nothing to do with pushing the tempo, especially when the game was on the line in the 4th quarter. For the most part, we held Dallas to one shot and done. Smoove and JJ did an outstanding job in defending Dirk that game. When you play fast, you have to also be under control. You can't be throwing the ball all over the place, or running into people drawing offensive fouls, just for the sake of playing fast. And if the PG isn't bringing the ball up when playing fast, we're never under control. If we're not going to do it "the right way", we don't need to be doing it at all, because it becomes counterproductive. And if we're to play fast, we have to have people out on the floor that can shoot the basketball. JJ is a shooter. Marvin is a shooter. Lue is a shooter. Salim is a shooter. That's pretty much it. And JJ is off. Lue is WAY off. And Salim can't even get into the game for the most part. The Hawks are at their best offensively, when they're properly sharing the ball in the 1/2 court offense . . not when they're running. I don't think playing fast has helped Josh Smith AT ALL. It's hurt his game. The same may go for JJ. The vast majority of the teams in this league that make the playoffs, make it because they can DEFEND and REBOUND the basketball. Not because they make a commitment to running. I'd much rather play like Detroit, than Phoenix. Detroit can adjust their style, and play any way they want to.

. . . and only run when they get STOPS on the defensive end. So that means that they really need to concentrate on being a better DEFENSIVE and REBOUNDING TEAM. Don't believe me? Well check this out. In the 2 wins: DALLAS: 79 shot attempts ( -1 differential ) 31 free throws ( +6 differential ) 52 rebounds ( +14 differential ) 15 turnovers ( - 2 differential ) 11 fast break points ( -2 differenital ) PHOENIX: 90 shot attempts ( +4 differential ) 23 free throws ( +6 differential ) 56 rebounds ( +16 differential ) 16 turnovers ( -2 differential ) 14 fast break points ( -6 differential ) In the 4 losses: DETROIT: ( a game we should've won ) 72 shots attempts ( -9 differential ) 26 free throws ( +5 differential ) 41 rebounds ( +4 differential ) 19 turnovers ( -5 differential ) 8 fast break points ( -12 differential ) NEW JERSEY: 68 shot attempts ( -10 differential ) 32 free throws ( +12 differential ) 35 rebounds ( -10 differential ) 19 turnovers ( -2 differential ) 13 fast break points ( +5 differential ) BOSTON: 70 shot attempts ( +3 differential ) 25 free throws ( even differential ) 29 rebounds ( -10 differential ) 19 turnovers ( -1 differential ) 19 fast break points ( +9 differential ) WASHINGTON: 77 shot attempts ( - 11 differential ) 35 free throws ( +10 differential ) 41 rebounds ( -12 differential ) 11 turnovers ( +1 differential ) 20 fast break points ( +6 differential ) And look at the fast break points in those final 3 games. We've actually gotten more fast break points than our opponent in those games, but it didn't matter one bit. Not when you're getting outrebounded the way we were in each of those games. When I partially blamed Josh Smith for the loss against Washington, this is the reason why? Versus Dallas, Phoenix and Detroit, Smoove averaged 10.3 rebounds in those games. Versus New Jersey, Boston, and Washington, Smoove averaged 5.3 rebounds Same thing goes for Marvin Williams in those games. 7.7 rebounds vs DAL, DET, and PHX. 4.7 rebounds vs NJ, BOS, and WAS ( note: he got 12 rebounds against Washington, but only 2 TOTAL vs NJ and BOS. ) Even Horford, who has grabbed 10 rebounds or more in all but 2 games, just grabbed 7 rebounds vs Boston and New Jersey. If Smith or Williams are on the outside, and a shot is taken and missed, it's easy for him to crash the boards. If Smith or Williams is on the outside, and a shot is taken and missed either from the post or via penetration, one or both of them can't get to the ball in time, which leads to 2nd chance rebounds and points. See, what most of you don't understand, is that we look good against the running teams, ONLY if those running teams are missing a ton of jumpshots. And our length as a basketball team, has a lot to do with them missing those jumpers. It's easy to hold those types of teams to one shot and done. Which brings me to Joe Johnson. The exact same thing that applies to Smith and his rebounding, applies to JJ and his shooting. To me, he's always been a rhythm type shooter. When he tries to go too fast with his offense, his shot will tend to be off. When Diesel cites that JJ will be a spot-up shooter in a traditional uptempo offense, he's exactly right. The problem with that, is that he's our best all-around offensive player period, whether it be with the jumper of if we put him on the block. And if we have our forwards racing the ball upcourt, with their heads down and not up, playing uptempo is pretty useless. JJ has to make a point to take good shots, but be aggressive at the same time. When the J isn't falling, he needs to be looking to draw contact, to get to the line. So here's what's happening. - Hawks get a rebound, and throw an outlet pass out of bounds because they're trying to go too fast. This happens maybe 2 - 4 times a game. - Hawks get a rebound, and one of the forwards race the ball upcourt, sometimes going all the way to the basket. If he misses, the possession is lost. If he gets fouled or makes the shot, it's a good thing. If he turns it over, it's a bad thing. - Hawks get a rebound, and walk the ball upcourt. Then, because the 1/2 court execution isn't there, the ball goes into JJ's hands, and he forces up a shot while doubled. - Shot on the inside goes up, and the opponent has 3 people to our 2 around the basket. Horford or Smoove either grabs a tough rebound, or the other team gets the rebound and puts the ball right back in the hole. I'm not against running. I'm against running just for the hell of it. I don't want this team to run, if one of our forwards takes it upon himself to race the ball up the court just to be doing it. If the PG can't do it, I don't want anybody doing it. We might be "built to run", but not when the PG isn't even controlling the break. So if that's the case, we might as well not run in the first place. We're not Phoenix nor Golden St, so we should stop pretending like we are. We're acutally "built to defend and rebound". But I think, as a team, we don't have the heart to do it on a nightly basis. The reason for that, is because the Hawks are A SOFT TEAM . . from JJ to Smoove, all the way down to the end of the bench. So we have to either get a great defensive effort or a great offensive effort from 2 or more players a night. Execution on both ends is the key. Not running.

LOL . . I was just about to post how Redd is shooting 41% himself. Bosh at 42% . . very low for him. Vince at 39%. Kidd at 35%. Grant Hill at 36%. J-Rich at 36%. Arenas at 35%. Gordon at 35%. Hinrich at 32%. That's a pretty good list of players. And you'd have to assume that every single one of these guys will pick up the pace shooting wise, as the season progresses. LOL . . maybe they need to go back to the "new" ball. LOL . . meanwhile, JT is shooting 57% and 54% from three . and Al Harrington is shooting 57% as well. JJ complaining about not having any help, is pretty much normal for a star player who is in a losing situation. Paul Pierce did exactly that, before Ainge pulled the trigger to bring 2 all-star caliber players to help him out. And we all know about Kobe. I'm much more worried about other people and their shooting on this team, than JJ's. Good shooters like him usually don't stay in a slump for long. But it would be nice for us to get the old JJ back for a while. If he gets back to his old self, we won't lose much this year.

Quote: Quote: Quote: Seriously it is like everyone forgot the last two seasons. Haven't forgotten anything. Sure he's playing poorly. Surely, given the law of averages, he'll bounce back to form. That being said, JJ at his finest never had the ability to take over games the way a Kobe, LeBron, Arenas, Billups, Kidd, Nash, Parker, Wade, etc can. For a team that, over the past few years, continually loses a lot of close games, there's a glaring need for that "killer instinct." Joe doesn't have it and never has. He's a great all-around player and I love having him on the team, but he's lacking on some of the intangibles to be that #1 guy. Here are a few highlights from last season 11-11 Seattle ( loss ) - JJ makes lay-up to put us up 1. Ray Allen makes lay-up with 2 seconds left to put them up 1. 11-14 Bucks (loss)- This was the memorable duel between JJ and Redd. JJ scored 6 pts in the final 2:24 but they lost when Redd hit a shot and got bailed out by the refs, getting the foul call. He made the ft and the Hawks lost by 1. JJ finished with 29 pts on 10-18 shooting. 12-6 Nuggets - JJ had 9 pts and 3 assists in the fourth quarter comeback at Denver. A double-teamed JJ finds Shelden in the paint, who makes a good move to get fouled. Shelden hits the 2 FTs and we win the game. JJ didn't get an assist, but his ability to find Shelden essentially won the game for us. He finished with 27 pts on 9-18. 1-12 Pistons - JJ had 10 pts in the 4th and also the assist on the game winning basket by Smith. He finished with 34 pts on 13-17 shooting. 1-26 Orlando- Orlando had a 14 pt lead at halftime after the Hawks only scored 12 pts in the second quarter. Then JJ went off for 26 pts in the second half, finishing with 39 on 14-23 shooting . He scored 7 of the last 8 pts for the Hawks. 1-29 Orlando - JJ scored 22 of his 34 pts in the second half to scorch Orlando again, shooting 12-24. 2-4 Nets - JJ scored 25 pts in the second half and OT, including the Hawks last basket in regulation, setting up Lue's OT heroics. He finished with 37 pts on 12-23 shooting, 4-6 from 3 and 9-10 from the line. JJ started that game shooting 2-8. 2-7 Warriors - JJ became the playmaker against the Warriors, getting 8 assists in the second half finishing with 11 for the game along with 21 pts and only 1 turnover. 2-9 Suns- Johnson scored 17 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter. JJ sank a pair of late 3-pointers, one in a decisive 8-0 run. 2-14 Clippers - JJ hits a floater with 19 seconds left to put the Hawks up by 2. Then he hits 4 straight fts to ice it. He was 4-8 from the ft line before hitting 4 straight at the end. And this year Against Dallas JJ had 6 pts and an assist in the last 2 minutes to ice the game, finishing 12-22 from the field. Against Detroit JJ started 1-5. But he scored 17 pts in the second half and hit back to back 3s with a minute left to pull the Hawks within one. He finished 9-17 from the field. Hmmmm . . this post looks familiar . . .

Quote: that's exactly what I've been saying all along. Law isn't being given the chance to run the show. given the opportunity, he can do it... spot on with your post imo. my post about this I missed that thread. And you're EXACTLY RIGHT !! If Law isn't ready to assume the PG role, you might as well give Salim and Chill heavy minutes opposite JJ. Law could get Smoove his MAX deal, if he'd just trust the guy. And JJ wouldn't have to do so much if he'd do the same. I think the Detroit meltdown that Law had, put a bad taste in Woody's and some of the player's mouths. But Law will have to be trusted, if this team is going to get to the next level. BTW, Houston's PGs are Rafer Alston ( aka Skip to my Lou . . from the And1 Streetball tour ), one of the worst shooting PGs in the league . . and Mike James, a shoot-first type PG. Skip will almost always be out on the floor when T-Mac is out of the game, so that he'll become the main facilitator in the offense. Mike will almost always play alongside T-Mac, to give Tracy an extra shooter to pass the ball out to when doubled. You're right on the money though Oken. This is an issue that Woody, JJ, and Smoove need to work out so that they can maximize the effectiveness of Law at the PG spot.

While Calderon would definitely be a good fit here, there's no way in hell Toronto makes a deal like that. He's too important to what they do in Toronto. Plus, he keeps T.J. from playing ridiculous minutes, to keep him somewhat healthy. I think part of the problem here in ATL is two-fold. 1) Woody doesn't trust Law to take over the PG duties full time, thus, he won't give him control over the offense. And 2) I don't think the players trust Law to handle those duties, especially Smoove and JJ. This isn't because they're selfish ballplayers. It's because they're probably so used to playing without a decent PG, that it's a hard habit for them to break. But they need to break it because they both might become more efficent on the offense end. Smoove definitely will. JJ, probably will, but he's missing shots that he normally makes, so I don't know. All of the good PG's around this league basically control the offense, even if they have better players or better scorers around them. When the shot clock runs down, either JJ or Law should have the ball, and let them make the decision on what to do with it. Marvin should be looking for an outlet pass, Smoove should be crashing hard toward the glass, and Horford should either be setting a pick for the ballhandler or boxing his man out to be in position for hte shot. In summer league, this was exactly what Law was doing. And while this is not the summer, the PG principles remain. Law needs more control of the ball and more freedom to make the decisons on the court. If JJ is going to continue to be the main playmaker in the half court offense, you might as well do what Cleveland does, and put a shooter out on the floor, instead of a PG. Might as well go with a JJ - Salim or a JJ - Chill backcourt, if JJ is going to be the primary distributor in this offense.

Quote: Agreed. Woody sucks. My main thing is, our personnel dictates that we play up-tempo. We'd be a dangerous team if we did it. I think even Woody knows that (judging from preseason comments), he just hasnt had the wherewithall to implement anything (lack of a capable PG does make it hard tho). The bottom line is, under the style we HAVE to play to be effective, we ABSOLUTELY need a playmaker. Especially b/c our wings (minus JJ) aren't good at creating for themselves. There just so happens to be an available pg who provides everything we need up in Toronto. I think he should be running the show for the next long, long time. Knowing Colangelo tho, he knows what he has and will be very reluctant to pull the trigger without fleecing us. so who do you suggest we trade to get Calderon here . . that Toronto could ALSO use?

Quote: You're unbelievable. Josh have 23 pts on only 12 shots. You're blaming him for the lost because he doesn't have 14 rebs a game? NO . . he gets some of the blame because he didn't help secure the boards. I expect 9 rebounds from smoove . . not 4. Just like i expect jj to shoot 45% FG.

Quote: Lol, he means they're playing the game in atlanta LOL . . damn. My bad.

Well, they didn't do it again today, partially because they didn't defend well at all. Woody is just going to have to give the keys of the car to Law, and let him see if he can control / dictate the tempo.

Quote: Quote: Sure Northclyde you are absolutely right... just curious...how old are you? I'm old enough to know how the NBA game is won and lost. I've been a Hawks fan ever since 1985. The Hawks of the mid-90s wolud've NEVER lost a game like this, because Kevin Willis would've taken care of the boards and not allowed all of those offensive rebounds by the Wiz, and Smitty would've taken much better shots, if he were cold from the outside. Smitty would've gone straight to the post, instead of continuously jacking up 3's. LOL @ how old I am.

Like it or not, we need players doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing. JJ taking 11 threes in a game, when he's ice cold, isn't smart basketball at all. Josh Smith only grabbing 4 rebounds in a game, will almost always doom us . . especially if JJ is 8 - 24. Smoove's problem is that he's almost always hanging out by the 3 point line when a shot is taken. He's our best rebounder, but he's 23 feet away from the basket? This is either something that Woody needs to correct with Josh, or Josh needs to correct with himself. He has a total of 9 offensive rebounds this season. Childress has 15, and Horford leads us with 18. We lost this game on 2nd chance points and got outrebounded by 12. That correlates directly to JJ missing a ton of shots, and Smoove not taking care of the boards. Sorry to bring that to light.