TheNorthCydeRises

Quote: "Usually" "fatal flaws" aren't conditional. "Usually" a team that tanks is an awful team with no talent or over-the-hill talent who owns the rights to and has no conditions on their pick and who has ownership who will spend to improve. We're not that bad of a team, our talent isn't over-the-hill, we don't own our own pick unless it's top 3, and our ownership situation is the worst in professional sports. There is nothing "usual" about our situation as if what usually happens means jack. Teams don't "usually" have their best player injured and win the draft lottery, but I guess SA should have given the GD pick away or "traded everybody" because it wasn't "usual" how they came about it. Get real. As "usual", you don't get it. Your entire argument on this, is based on the prospect of getting Oden. Without Oden, your entire plan of action puts this team in more harm, than good. LOL . . you're the same guy that tried to sell this board on the advantages of acquiring Saer Sene over Shelden Williams. But say we don't get Oden, but obtain one of the top 3 picks. If we get Durant, we either have to trade one of the current kids we have now, or possibly even trade Durant to get something that we need. It would be counter-productive to either Chill/Marvin/or Shelden, to then add Durant to the squad. One or two of those guys would have to go, for Durant to have an immeadiate impact off the bench, or as a starter. If we get Noah, we could keep him. But he may or may not can play center in the NBA. He's a PF by nature, just like Shelden is. ( 6 - 11 . . 230 . . which is essentially the same size as Solomon Jones . . 6 - 10 . . 230 ). It's conceivable that ZaZa would still start over Noah next year, with Noah coming off the bench as a light center, much like Solomon is now. So the only way this works out to our best advantage, is if Oden were GUARANTEED TO US. And you said it yourself, we're not "that bad" of a team. And you already know that we're at least a top 10 team in the East, when healthy. So the ONLY way we're a top 3 pick in this draft, is if 1) people still keep getting hurt . . 2) we don't make the playoffs but somehow get lucky wiht the ping-pong balls . . or 3) the GM completely shuts one or more of our key players down ( JJ, Smoove, Chill, etc ), citing some injury . . which would cause some suspicion about whether we're keeping these guys out on purpose, to obtain that top pick. The fact is that this team, if they can get healthy, could very well make a run to put themselves in a position to make the playoffs THIS YEAR. And even if they don't make it, they could set themselves up for next year to be a really good team. While you use the San Antonio example of 1997, I'll use the Orlando of 2005 - 06 example, as what can happen when a young team comes together at the end of a season. ************** January 22nd 2006 . . the Magic were a 18 - 22 ballclub. Then, the bottom fell out of their season. An injury to Jameer Nelson, which didn't seem like a big deal at first, turned out to be the killer for the Magic's season. They had won 3 games after his initial injury but ended up losing 11 of their next 12 games, which led to the trading of Steve Francis. They were 19 - 33 at that point, so maybe they were doing just what you suggest the Hawks do this season, and "tanking", by dealing their "best" player in Francis. They deal Francis, and they still lose 4 of their next 5 games. Jameer comes back, and they lose the first 3 games that he plays. In all, the Magic went from a team 4 games from .500 ( 18 - 22 ), to a team that freefell all the way to a 20 - 40 ballclub within a 6 week span. That's losing 18 out of 20 games. If you were the Magic GM, you'd probably root for that team to "tank" the rest of the season, get a top 3 pick that would land you a Tyus Thomas or a LaMarcus Aldridge to play alongside D-Howard. Or even get a Brandon Roy to put in the backcourt with Nelson. Just don't win any games, or at the very least, don't get out of that top 3. So what do the Magic do? They KEEP FIGHTING. They say "we're not this bad of a team, and we're going to prove it." That team then wins 16 of their next 20 games and put themselves in position to obtain an outside playoff spot. There is jubilation in Orlando because they saw a team that looked dead in the water with Francis, to a team that scraps and claws in every game under Nelson and Howard. The fans completely fall in love with that team. Even if the playoffs were an outside shot, they're enjoying how hard this team is playing now. They finish the year 36 - 46 . . miss out on the playoffs . . and miss out on obtaining a top flight player in the draft. But they build something more important than picking up a top draft pick. THEY BUILD TEAM CHEMISTRY So what does that team do in 06 - 07? They start the season by winning 15 of their first 19 games. And this time, when the injuries start to hit ( Turkoglu, Nelson ( for a few games ), and Hill ( for a few games ), they're able to survive and overcome their absence. So that Magic team, that should've "tanked", by your estimation . . is now sitting at 22 - 15 and is the current #2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Now THAT'S how you build a damn winner. You play with the talent you have, tweak it, and develop the type of team chemistry that leads to victories.

Salim plays better when we play fast. Even in the past 2 - 3 weeks, when the offense has been struggling, Salim has played fast. It's just that he's settled for all of those long jumpers. I know when I jumper wasn't falling, my coaches used to tell me, and the rest of the guards, to set up "one step closer to the basket". So for Salim, he shouldn't worry about knocking down a 3-ball. He was a 50% shooter from 3 in college. Some of those were from NBA range, but a lot of those were from 21 feet and in. So that's where I'd tell Salim to set up . . right inside the 3 point line. He might turn into a more efficient shooter if he did that. Don't shoot from 25 feet . . shoot from 20 feet.

Quote: I don't know if you want odds, I'm not going to make any up. I think that the odds of this core ever succeeding together is better if they start learning how to hit big shots and grind wins out together. I think that if this team disintegrates this year and they all hate each other and the city, even if we do get lucky and get Oden, we would not be that much better off than if they rallied and won 30 something wins this year and contend for the playoffs. I don't know if Joe would still want to be here, he might ask to leave before too long. We might have to start over. If we rally and keep this team, and just add the Indy pick (PG), we wouldn't have as much talent, but we'd have something to build on. On the other hand, if you tank and miss out on Oden, you've destroyed everything. You'd basically have to blow the team up and start all over. Morale would be destroyed. I'm not willing to gamble with flat out bad odds, when the results would be absolutely disastrous if we miss out. Lascar, please save this, and post this quote EVERY DAY if you have to on this board. These guys have no idea how losing wears on a player. They think that fans have it worse. No one has it worse than the players that actually play the game. As a Bengals fan, I saw a guy like Takeo Spikes have absolutely NO CONFIDENCE whatsoever in the Bengals organization, after they hired Marvin Lewis. Marvin desperately tried to convince Takeo that they could turn things around, but Takeo was tired of the losing, and left. The same happened wtih Corey Dillon, but we had enough talent to replace Dillon, in Rudi Johnson. At least Dillon got lucky, and was able to be dealt to the Patriots, and win a Super Bowl. But 4 years later, Takeo is still losing with the Bills, while the Bengals haven't had a sub .500 season since Marvin arrived, and have made the playoffs once ( should've been twice, this year ). TKO doesn't regret his decision, so he says. But I can understand why he left, and didn't want to wait on a young Bengals team to get to that next level. The exact same thing could happen to a Josh Childress or to a Josh Smith . . or both, if you tell them that you're not trying to win this year, just so you can have a chance to get a center to help you next year. Most athletes aren't wired to just "give up". And when you play 1/2 speed, that's when you can get hurt forreal.

Oden played well against my Vols today, even though we should've won that dang game. Can't knock Oden for scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. LOL . . but I think I can. This is Tennessee's starting frontline: - Duke Crews ( 6 - 7 . . 233 lb freshman, who essentially plays center for the Vols ) - Dane Bradshaw ( 6 - 4 . . 205 lb senior, the heart and soul of our ballclub. He's essentially our version of "Randy Foye" last year at Villanova. Dane is listed as a guard, but he guards Power Forwards on the defense end ) - the other 3 starters are 6 - 2. frontline players off the bench: - Wayne Chism ( 6 - 9 . . 245 lb freshman . . . our "bruiser" who sees time at center ) - Ryan Childress ( 6 - 9 . . 238 lb sophomore . . our version of Raef LaFrentz . . he can shoot jumpers Crews and Chism had the pleasure of guarding Oden most of the game. LOL . . on thing is for sure. Oden won't see any 6 - 7 centers guarding him in the NBA. Great game by the kid regardless.

LOL . . great posts Lascar. CBA's and Walter's fatal flaw in their "tank" theory, is that they truly believe that if this team just shuts it down, that everything will be OK either this year or the next, if we get an Oden, Durant, or a Noah at the center. The reality is that when teams usually obtain that high of a pick in the draft, they usually get rid of all of their players from the previous year, and completely rebuilds the team around the pick. So when those 2 talk about "tanking a season", you're essentially telling guys like Smith, Johnson, Childress, and Williams to not develop any chemistry with each other this year, and not win any games. And you're essentially telling each of those guys to not improve their overall games. And if you're telling them that, why not just trade them all away? The question is . . how do you tell 4 players that talented to "hold back", and not try to win, when it was obvious that they were very capable of winning games earlier in the season? As horrible as people say this team is, they forget that the Hawks had 5 games in which they lost by 5 points or less in November alone. Two of those losses were at the buzzer, on consecutive nights. Another loss happened after thsoe two buzzer losses, in which D-Wade hits an impossible 3 pointer to tie a game and eventually lead the Heat to a 5 point win. That's a 7 - 1 start if the Hawks hold on ( without Marvin and with Speedy less than 80% ), from a team that is supposed to be so horrible and so far away from contending for anything. The multiple injuries and the recent play of these guys, have duped 90% of the Hawk fans on this board into believing that this team couldn't possibly win 35 games this season, so why even try? ( By the way, the #8 seed will probably be had by a team with 35 - 40 wins ) And according to them, our GM has done such a bad job, that we don't have enough talent already to not only be a competitive team, but make the playoffs as well. This board is funny like that. The GM is horrible, but we have enough talented players that are appealing to other teams, so that we can get better players here. And the coach is horrible, but we won a game last night without BOTH of our PGs and without our ONLY low post threat against the best team in the East, who were only missing Billups. And since injuries can't be used as an excuse for the Hawks, it shouldn't be used as an excuse for teams like the Pistons and Clippers, when they're missing one of their top players. ( Billups and Cassell ) LOL . . but when we beat teams like that who are hurting, it's always "oh, but so-and-so didn't play tonight. That's the only reasonw why they won." It's those kinds of contradictions in beliefs that have me laughing at this board all of the time. It also questions me to even believe that 1/2 of you guys even know anything about basketball. Most of you know ABOUT the game. Most of you definitely have knowlege of basketball history. But at least 1/2 of you know very little about the interworkings of the game and the mentality it takes to play at a high level night in and night out. Then you see comments in other threads last night like . . "wow . . who kidnapped the Hawks?" "why doesn't this team play like this all the time?" "they're playing with so much energy tonight". . . . when, if they actually LOOKED at was going wrong with this team the past 2 weeks, they'd see that our horrible play directly coincided with the absence of Josh Smith, on both ends of the floor. I pointed out right after Christmas, that the Hawks hadn't even broke the 82 point barrier in the 4 games that Smith had missed. And that was mainly due to the fact that he's one of the main ballhandlers in the high post offense that Woody runs in the half court set. Most of Josh's assists go directly to shooters who are wide open. Most of the time, it's JJ. Other times, it's a guy like Salim or Childress. And the one thing I always criticized Josh for ( grabbing a rebound and immeadiately pushing the ball to the frontcourt, which sometimes leads to dumb turnovers ), was actually the type of thing that this offense was missing. That little thing he was doing, was getting us set up in the halfcourt offense much faster, than what we've seen in the past 2 weeks. And it helped to get us in a rhythm. But people on this board are so convinced that our problems start with . . . 1. coaching 2. management 3. players not caring or giving up . . . that they completely overlook the obvious causes of inconsistent play in any sport . . 1. youth, 2. inexperience, and 3. INJURIES So Lascar, let them believe what they want to believe. For the FIRST TIME THIS SEASON, Williams, Childress, and Smith were able to contribute to the Hawks in the same game, and even be out on the floor at the same time. And for the first time, Shelden was able to go up against then 2nd wave of PFs on another team, instead of a starting PF. Combined, those 4 guys had this stat line: 47 points 30 rebounds 14 assists 5 steals 5 blocks Most importantly, look at the lineup that was on the floor in the 4th quarter. G - JJ G - Chill F - Marvin F - Smoove F - Shelden ( until he fouled out with a mintue to go ) That's BK's dream lineup right there. By the way, Marvin, as Ice Cube would say, "damn near got a triple-double". I'd still like for Marvin to come off the bench, especially seeing the success that Shelden had against non-starters. But I'll give him props for bringing his A-game last night, and raising his overall season average to a C-.

lol you might want to look at our next 15 games or so. if this team plays 500 ball, they're back in the playoff hunt.

if you're the heat, hornets, bucks, nuggets, blazers, nets, and celtics, injuries are a legit excuse.. if you're the hawks, you can't use that excuse.. typical squawkers.

i don't know if you guys are either frustrated to the point of delusion, or you truly believe that this team really wants to lose. a team that has given up doesn't bring a player back a two weeks early. and of course, woody gets no credit for this win. typical for this board.

hawk, what is our record if everyone was somewhat healthy the entire season?

and some of you guys tried to act like the injuries weren't the major problem with this team'...... lol. that's why i refuse to be a follower of the masses mm this board. this is a 500 team when healthy.

this board is just in shock over that hornet loss. i am too. so this swing in opinion is somewhat expected. don't be shocked if we win tonight. a team can sometimes rally the troops and play inspired basketball the next game. pro sports is funny like that.

well you won't see me switch and jump on the tank bandwagon. tanking destroys confidence, not make our situation better.

Quote: Hornets are not more banged up than the Hawks. JJ is hurt. That trumps any injury the Hornets have. Josh Smith is greater than any injury to that team as well. Josh SMith was the most underrated player on this team and now it's showing.

Quote: Just be honest. How old are you? Woody is not a bad coach? I would not have respected myself if I had read any further. What world do you live in? There is no excuse for anyone who thinks Woody is a good coach. There is no evidence to back it up. None. So stop lying to yourself and the rest of us. Troy, just because I said that he wasn't a bad coach, doesn't mean that he's a good coach. I'll never say that Woody is a good coach. Coaching wise, I'll give Woody a C to C-. I've seen far worst coaches than Woody in my lifetime.

Walter, I posted the thread Tuesday, because you guys were overreacting about a road game in which JJ was sick. The Pacers were heavy favorites over us, and we still had people out. The Indy game was a game we probably don't win anyway. But we at least gave a good effort for about 30 minutes in that game. But we couldn't make shots, and then the defense completely failed us from the mid-3rd quarter on. A loss like that doesn't concern me, against a team over .500 I've never been "pro-Woody". I just didn't think he was the main reason for the demise of the Hawks, like most of you think he is. And Woody isn't a horrible coach. If he were a bad coach, we wouldn't have started the season 4 - 1 . . had a good shot to be 6 - 1 . . and were right around .500 at the end of November. Bad coaches don't have teams playing that well at the start of seasons. While you, and others still complained about the team, I didn't see you, or anybody else, talking about "tanking the season" back on December 6th, when we pulled out the miracle win @ Denver, and we were an 8 - 9 ballclub. Even with Woody's "shortcomings", this team was competitive on a nightly basis, had the 8th seed in the East, and had everybody believing that we might have a shot at this after all. So, in essence, we were OK. I refuse to be the hypocrite on this site, and act like the injuries didn't have a HUGE effect to how this season has turned out. I've always given Woody the benefit of the doubt, even if the rest of you had always given up on him. But he, and the team, were obviously doing something right at the beginning of the year. A healthy Hawks team wouldn't be 10 - 23 right now. You know it and I know it, and the rest of the people on this site know it. We would realistically be around a .500 ballclub ( 15 - 18 . . 16 - 17 ). My opinion has changed about Woody, because I see now that he coaches one way, and hasn't effectively adjusted how he coaches this team, to compensate for the injuries. I don't like how he's handling Marvin. I don't like how he's not adjusted the offense, to better suit JJ and get him better looks. Smoove was a big part of the halfcourt offense, because he would handle the ball in the high post. Without Smoove, this offense has been totally stagnant. He could've easily inserted Chill in the starting lineup, and probably kept this ship somewhat afloat. But he kept Marvin in the starting lineup, and it's hurt the team. I put that all on Woody . . unless he's being told by management to start Marvin, no matter what. Outside of the injuries, this team would've been OK, even with Woody at coach. He had a system that fit the skills of the players he was giving heavy minutes to in the beginning of the season. But when injuries hit, you have to be able to adjust. And he hasn't. Woody is a victim of circumstance, in regards to the injuries. But he hasn't tried to switch things up to compensate for them. And frankly, if he can't put Marvin in the right situations to maximize his ability, the he's not the right guy for Marvin, which makes him the wrong guy for the Hawks in general. You complain about the talent, the coach, the GM, and everybody else. Fact is, everybody isn't at fault here. This team is young, and now we're hurting bad. And just like the Hornets, we would've been OK, if everybody was healthy. Woody probably isn't going to be shown the door anytime soon, so I want to see him switch things up to spark this team. Not keep things the same. If he doesn't pull Marvin out of that starting lineup, that'll tell me a lot about Woody and his stubborness. Starting with the Clipper game, 3 - 3 over the next 6 games is what I said the Hawks need to be, to stabilize this team somewhat, until Smoove possibly gets back next week. We're 1 - 2 right now, with games vs Detroit, vs Boston, and @ Minnesota coming up. After suffering the worst loss of the season, we're truly going to see what kind of heart and effort this team has. We'll probably lose against the Pistons ( but give a better effort ). Boston and Minnesota are winnable games, if the Hawks play their best. We'll see how everything turns out.

Quote: Your ZaZa deal is hilarious. So, you don't think we could get Marcus Williams for Pachulia? Rod Thorn would send a Falcon Jet to Atlanta right now if we offered that deal. First, bigs like Z are a hot commodity in the league, the reason why most people didn't like the Ford for Charlie V. deal. When you get a big that can score and rebounds OK, and is 22, you keep him. Second, Marcus Williams isn't proving to be that good. He averages 6.7 points per game, a lousy 2.9 assists, and has almost as many turnovers per game as assists (1.67). Plus, Marcus is one of the worst defenders on the planet. This dude can't stop anybody off the dribble and has no desire to improve his defense. Z is ONE year older than Marcus and light years ahead in development. Oh, and Marcus shoots 39% from the field. You act like Z is some stiff amd Williams some great PG. That isn't the case. Rod Thron would pull the trigger on that deal all day, every day. Even BK isn't that stupid. And saying a Josh Boone MIGHT be a fit for Z???? Lunacy. Yeah, lets take an unproven rookie coming off surgery for our guy is 22 and averages 12/8. Josh Boone will NEVER average 12/8. Come on man, you can do better than this stuff. Marcus Williams is a Hawk if Z is offered for him. After Thorn gets done laughing, that deal happens. LOL @ pete . . I never said that at all. But I think you overvalue ZaZa. He's played pretty good this year for us. But like the rest of the people on here, he shouldn't be a starting center. To me, he's a lot like Ty Lue. A good, one-dimensional player to bring off the bench. But when he starts, you may get some good, but you'll probably get some bad too. I only brought up names like Boone and Adams, for the sole fact that they could be brought in to be role players for this team. Much like those Haywood and Hayes rumors floating around the other day. We fans value our talent, more than the rest of the league does. If ZaZa was seen as a good player in this league, I'm sure the Hawks would get some interesting offers for him, especially from borderline playoff or championship contender type teams. As yourself this Pete. What team could ZaZa legitimately start on, either at center or power forward? And which one of those teams would could make a legit deal for him? Don't be surprised if you can't find too many.

LOL @ Mule. I agree with your sarcasm. If that is what they're doing, I'm not happy at all. Why even watch the rest of the season, if people feel that the Hawks have "given up" already? I don't think that for one minute. But they have definitely lost their way and their confidence. Woody has to change things up, or it's time to move him also. I have faith in God, and I truly believe that there is a reason for all of this . . ( and not to bring Oden to the Hawks ). Everytime I watch the Hawks, the T.I. song "Motivation" goes through my head.

And let me make this clear. All of you who are suggesting that we move certain players, may be doing this team more harm than good. These are still young players that need time to develop their NBA games. Trading away the young talent, for againg veterans who may or may not improve us, isn't the way to go. The Chicago Bulls made this mistake, when they essentially let Elton Brand, Brad Miller, and Ron Artest go way too soon. They traded all of those guys for draft picks or to get who they thought would be an impact player, in Jalen Rose. You can even add my boy Trenton Hassell to that mix, seeing that he's turned into one of the leagues top 10 defensive guards. Those moves essentially stunted the Bulls growth for a total of 6 years, before their new talent was able to develop. Marvin is signed through 2010. It is in our best interest to keep him around, even if he doesn't turn out to be anything special. He'll, at the worst, be a decent player in a few years, much like Al Harrington was during his stay at Indiana. The last thing we want to do, is trade him away, and end up talking about him being a star in some other system, like some of you talk about Diaw now. Marvin is in his 2nd year. A decision about moving him shouldn't be made until the trade deadline in year 4. Smoove, right now, is untouchable. In fact, if he comes back and plays well the rest of the season, the Hawks should seriously think about locking this guy up in the offseason with a big contract ( 5 years - 55 million ). Make sure he's a Hawk for the next 6 years at least. To me, Childress is also untouchable right now. He's a guy that this team needs. He's our version of Andres Nocioni right now. Our young Tayshawn Prince. The people who think teams are going to trade a good PG or a good center for either Marvin or Chill, are fooling themselves. A guy like Jamal Magloire is NOT good. If he was, he'd be the undisputed starting center in Portland, and logging major minutes. We can keep these 3 together, and still acquire the pieces we need in the future, without breaking up this core and completely starting over. ZaZa is expendible. A team needing a decent scoring center ( New Jersey ) might consider dealing with us. LOL . . no, we're not going to somehow get Marcus Williams out of that deal, but we may could get a Josh Boone or a Hassan Adams, guys who could help us defensively. Salim is expendible, no doubt on this. But talk about moving Smoove, Marvin or Chill, should be null and void right now. But moving the coach . . that's a different story.

LOL . . but this time, it's justified. The loss at Indiana with a sick JJ didn't bother me much, because I saw the team put forth some effort in the 1st half. The offensive rebounds the Pacers got all game, killed them. Stuff like that can be fixed. Teams lose bad road games like that all the time ( see the Lakers last night, with Kobe going to the locker room well before the game was over ) But like the rest of you, last night was UNACCEPTABLE, no matter who was out for us. People usually lose their jobs afer a loss like that. That was essentially the Hornets 2nd unit that ran us off the floor last night. And we couldn't do anything about that. That's also a team that has lost more than we have in the past 20 games, and we made them look like the Pistons. On the road is one thing. But you can't play like that in front of your home fans, even if it were only 10,000 there ( probably less in actual attendance ). It is a shame that all of these injuries have derailed this team like a bomb on a railroad track. That is still the main reason why we're in this situation. But a loss like the one we had last night has to have some reprocussions to it. Either you fire the coach, or the coach has to completely shake up this lineup to put some people on notice. But most important, I think the coach needs to seriously rethink what he's telling this team to do on offense. We have so many people out, that it may be best to do what Diesel has been suggesting, and just let these guys run. Forget the set offense in which we wait 17 - 20 seconds to shoot the ball. Just let them run, and the first person who has a good look at the basket, take it. That's what Memphis has done, since they fired Fratello. And it's made them a much better basketball team, and a more entertaining team to watch. When I look at this team now, the people who have earned the right to be in the starting lineup, are JJ, Shelden, Speedy and Childress. It's time to sit Marvin and bring him off the bench. If Woody is still the coach, and this isn't done Friday, I just wonder where Woody's head is at. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result. If Marvin can't get it going, you can't keep putting him in that starting lineup. Even if Dijon takes some of his playing time, then so be it. Maybe that will light a fire under young Marvin. Woody is not a bad coach . . . he's just a stubborn one. That's the conclusion I came to last night. I still don't have a problem with his substitutions. I don't have a problem with his defensive gameplans. But he's set in his ways, especially when it comes to offensive philosophy, much like Larry Brown was with the Knicks last year. And if your way doesn't maximize the talents of your players, then they might not be the problem. Maybe Marvin will blossom under some other coach. But Woody has to put him in positions to be successful. And right now, he's just not doing that for Marvin. Instead of adjusting his coaching philosophy to fit the talents of his players, he wants them to adjust to him, and play the way he wants them to play. You know . . . "play the right way" Rick Majerus called Marvin "James Worthy with a jumpshot". Well, those of us who are old enough to remember how Worthy played, know that Worthy was a tremendous open court player, who later turned into a pretty good 15 feet and in player. Maybe Marvin is an open court player that needs to be in a running system, in order for his talents to be maximized. LOL . . but if we don't run, even after made baskets, Marvin won't be James Worthy with a jumpshot. He'll be James Posey with an inconsistent jumpshot. How does Michael Jackson say it . . . "I'm looking at the Man in the Mirror." I think it's time for a few Hawks, and the coach, to do just that.

coach, i think marvin is feeling the pressure to live up to his 2nd pick status. it may be a mistake by not only the fans, but also by the organization, to expect him to be a key offensive guy right now. he needs time, maybe even a full year, to develop his off. game. they sat smoove and chill down at different points last year. they might have to do the same with marvin.

fan base has no choice but to stay patient with the kids. no team is going to trade erm any of these kids except smoove. these is no magic bullet to this.

start childress. marvin is having problems just staying on the floor because he's pressing too hard. start childress and let marvin work against the 2nd team.

facts from last night's game: 1) jj was sick, and he played like it. when your star player takes only 8 shots, you're gonna lose bad on most nights. 2) this team played great defense last night, but they could'nt secure def. rebs. that has been a huge problem since smoove has been out. 3) this team is trying hard to take the ball to the basket, but they can't finish. as much as all of us want this team to take the ball to the hole, they just aren't good at it.

we'll have 20 wins by the all-star break.

my bad pete. i apologize. lol, i'm not part of the woody fan club. i just get tired of people who have no idea how to manage a b-ball game, calling woody an idiot. youth and inexperience in these new roles for the players, have 30% to do with our problems. injuries - 45%........ coaching - 25%. this team hasn't even had a chance to fully play with each other yet. no. of games our projected starters have played with each other: zero '..... and that even includes the preseason.