TheNorthCydeRises

You guys are funny though. Like some of you don't remember this game. He was one of the main reasons why Miami kicked our butts twice this season. And he had a monster game vs Golden State in which he was the main reason why they won. This dude isn't a scrub, and could easily crack the Hawks rotation.

Thanks for showing me a NBA website that I didn't knew existed.

That means that you don't want any potential types. Bring guys in that have decent skill and a feel for the game.

If the Hawks do go into rebuilding mode, the fan base needs to lay off of Dennis during this period. If he turns into a top 10 PG, but has no help, the patience level with him needs to be high. Hopefully the S-Man will choose wisely in the draft, and pass on those "potential" guys and take guys that can help us from day 1.

As the other resident Syracuse fan, I agree with your assessment of Dion, and would rather have THj over him. Having said that, if it were a way to sign them BOTH without breaking the bank, I'd be all for that. Dion could be on the verge of becoming a more consistent offensive threat, much like Jordan Crawford showed this year. Dion isn't as creative of a shot maker as Jordan, but he can knock down shots in spot up situations and off the dribble. Dion can also function as a playmaker from the SG spot. He can handle and pass the ball well enough to pull it off. Put it like this. If we could spend 14 mill total and lock them BOTH up, I wouldn't be against it. If we could get away with a Bembry - Hardaway Jr - Waiters 3-guard attack off the bench, that might be interesting.

I'm in Tennessee, and I get hella compliments from kids/teens when I wear my black Teague jersey and my red Millsap jersey. The new jerseys are definitely a hit with people 25 and under. And all of the newer t-shirts are much better than the old ones. All the Hawks need to do now, is bust out in these joints. Blind everybody.

Put some of these out there, and Bud could do strength training like that.

I mean, dang. Back when Josh Smith was perceived to be good, the pipe dream around here was to get him to "recruit" Dwight Howard. So if it were the Hawks who were able to sign both Smith and Howard to discounted deals in the summer of 2013, while also keeping Joe Johnson around, would Hawks fans been whining and complaining if we threw this team out on the floor in the 2013 season? PG - Teague G - Johnson F - Smith F - Horford C - Howard Maybe that squad isn't good enough to win anything. But what if it were? Would Hawks fans be complaining how guys who wanted to play with each other, took less money to do it, in order to win?

Here's the hilarious thing. Fans ( especially Atlanta Hawks fans ) always want their "star" player to take less money on a mega deal, so that more money is available to sign other good role players. But when a true superstar player like Durant may do this, in order to keep the Warriors together, he's now "circumventing the system and the rules". Can't have it both ways folks. The new NBA salary structure assumed that superstar players would all take MAX dollars over teaming up with each other for less money. But when you're NBA legacy is on the line, and you're Kevin Durant, would you give up 30 - 60 million to win a few championships? Especially when you're only 28 years old now and have already made 100 million in your career? As for Lebron . . . he told EVERYBODY back in January that the Cavs needed more. That they needed "a f-cking playmaker". That they're "top heavy". The following clip is right after they lost to the Pelicans in January . . . without Anthony Davis. Kyrie scored 49 points in this game. Lebron had 26 pts - 10 rebs - 12 assists . . but played 44 minutes. Even Love chipped in for 22 points. But they got eaten alive on defense. The Cavs afterwards, would then add Kyle Korver and Deron Williams. But both of these players can't bring consistent offense and were below average defensive players. For the Cavs to have a shot in these Finals, the role players would have to play damn near perfect games. But even that wasn't enough. Kyle misses a wide open potential game clinching 3, which led to Durant knocking down a 3 at the other end to give Golden State the lead. The main issue with Cleveland in this series, is that they need some young energy off the bench that could come in, play tenacious defense, and make a few timely buckets on the offensive end to take all of the scoring pressure off of Lebron and Kyrie. Ironically, if they had our two young wings ( Prince and Bembry ), I think they could help the Cavs tremendously. And the loss of Dellavedova was MUCH BIGGER than what people realized. This series has actually given me more respect for Lebron James, because he's giving it his all. But even he knows that it is not enough. And he told everybody this 5 months ago, despite all of the "experts" trying to clown him for wanting the "best players". Only Shaq defended Lebron.

He's live on set in Cleveland. He's basically just giving his analysis on the NBA Finals. No questions about his current status or about the Hawks. He's very good on camera. Picked Cleveland to win tonight. Said the key to slowing down Curry is to pressure him at all times. At the same time, he says that they're very tough to guard. Indicated that Durant is almost "7-1" . . lol. Gave props to Durant for improving his defense when asked the question who is better . . . Lebron or Durant. When pressured to give an answer by Kellerman ( who said if the fate of the world depended on him choosing the best basketball player ), he took HIMSELF . . . LMAO. He said that if you can't bet on yourself, who can you bet on? But they did lock him down on an answer. He took Durant as the best player in the game right now. He did give Lebron props for being "this era's Michael Jordan". Brief, but entertaining segment.

I used to be one of those Dwight haters. But after watching him this season, he definitely gets a bad rap. The dude does his job pretty well on offense and defense. Could he do more of the intangible things a lot better? Yes. On one hand, people say that he's not a superstar player, which he isn't. But when he doesn't put up a great stat line, they rip him on how overrated he is. He's supposed to set screens for people who can't finish at the rim. He's supposed to pass the ball out to people who can't make jumpers. He's supposed to pop out on guards on the pick and roll, when our own guards can't fight through screens. Guards: OK Dwight, I'm going to shoot this ball. And when I miss, you can score by grabbing the rebound. Dwight: Really? How about passing me the ball when I'm 3 feet from the basket, so that I can lay it in or dunk it? Guards: But I don't know how to feed the post. Dwight, don't be difficult man. Just rebound my misses, and everything will be fine. Oh, and cover for me when I can't fight through a screen. Dwight: Yeah, whatever man.

Not only am I watching . . I'm doing the unthinkable. I'm rooting for the Cavs to win. First off, it will be good for Kyle. He deserves a ring. Hopefully he can get red hot in a few of these games. Second, someone needs to prove that the Golden State team is invincible. If it enhances Lebron's legacy by beating them, so be it. I was about to say . . . what poll?

My bad. Wrong clip. It was this game vs Houston at home. Watch the crowd.

One of the most exciting Hawk plays this season was this I'm leaving work early today so I can be in Nashville tonight. That city is on FIRE. Honestly, all of Middle Tennessee is on fire for that Predators team. When Black people start wearing hockey jerseys and watching the games, you know the bandwagon effect has taken place. It helps that P.K. Subban is the unofficial face of the franchise too, because he has that swagger to him and is funny as hell. Everybody loves that dude in Tennessee. And I think he likes the minimal amount of pressure in Nashville, compared to Montreal, which is basically the equivalent of Celtics in the NBA. It may as well be New Year's Eve in Nashville today. Country concert right outside the arena. News media all over the place. Police blocking off roads. Thousands downtown RIGHT NOW as I type this ( 4 pm . . . 3 hrs before the game ). And if the Preds win, the atmosphere is going to be electric afterwards. I want to be a part of that, even if they don't end up winning it all. It wasn't even that hype for the Tennessee Titans, when they went to the Super Bowl back in 2000. And that was fun as well. Speaking of P.K., that's why I kind of wish Bud just stop trying to control Dennis, and let him do what he does. Like it or not, he is ( or should be ) the face of the team now. He's the one that is the main cheerleader when he's on the bench ( even more than Baze ). He's the guy willing to take on the burden of being "the man". He's the guy that from Day One, has never been timid or scared ( unlike our last point guard ). The gold car. The flashy style. Dennis, for all intents and purposes, IS ATLANTA. Time to start promoting him as such. Maybe the city will get behind him and make at least the home games fun again.

Chris . . . you had a good great career. - 11x All-Star - 2x NBA Champion - Made over 166 million dollars - And you had one of the greatest rebounds and assists in NBA history - AND you're coming home to this every night. You did good man. RETIRE.

He and Dennis played a few minutes, but not enough to register.

So why is it ridiculous to say that McHale wouldn't have been just as great on the Jazz, as Malone was? They had 2 different games individually. But with Stockton's ability, would he look to score more, or try to make McHale even better? Stockton was a robot physically, who never got hurt. He only missed about 4 games in his first 13 or 14 seasons. Bird was pretty durable until 1989. In that season, McHale still put up 22 pts - 8 rebs and shot 55% FG.

I'm saying that McHale's greatness was not dependent on Bird's presence, because McHale did most of his work in the low post. If 1/4 of Malone's greatness was due to the pick and roll, would he have been just as great as a Celtic? Would Bird sacrifice some of his game to make Malone just as great? Bird may have done just that.

Yeah I saw what you typed. Unfortunately, I also remember this game as a kid. In the late 80s, It wasn't Bird and the rest of the guys. It was the McHale and Bird show. He was a lethal scorer during this time. Look at all of the attention he's getting in this game vs the Hawks, back in 1987, Double or triple teams didn't matter. You put McHale on the Jazz, maybe Stockton gets to showcase how good of a scoring PG he actually was, instead of a passing one. Because as good as Malone was, you could easily say that he wouldn't be as great, if he were on Boston and not playing with Stockton. Malone had good post moves, but he lived off the pick and roll / pick and pop with Stockton.

LOL . . . if ya'll say so. McHale was a MONSTER in the post. I'm not saying that McHale is equal or better than Karl Malone. But it's close . . . DAMN close. McHale was literally unstoppable in the post.

Good post. One of the things people never consider when talking about "building championship level" teams, is that not many people are going to shell out $40 - $200 a game to see a bad product during a bottom out type of rebuild. Only your die hards and people with a large amount of disposable income with nothing to do, are going to be at most games ( until a superstar comes to town ). With all of that young talent, the T-Wolves were 29th in attendance this season. The Hawks losing a ton of home games this year, made that ticket somewhat undesirable, which is why we finished 26th in attendance. Yes, the goal for teams SHOULD be to win a championship. But all of these teams are chasing titles. Some, if not most of them, are also worried about the bottom line. And if they can't put a good or entertaining enough product out on the floor, people will not come to see them. Bud has to let the kids play. He finally took the leash off of Prince. It's time to do it with Bembry too. Give him the minutes and let's see what he and Prince as a tandem can do. Hardaway Jr was definitely entertaining to watch at times this year, especially when he got hot. And maybe Dennis can add some "hot dog" to his game, to make the crowd go "oooooooooo". Atlanta loved the Jamal Crawford crossovers and the Josh Smith transition dunks. So I agree. If you aren't chasing titles, at least put an enjoyable product out on the floor.

And yet, Iggy shot better from three than every wing on the Hawks. ( 36% ). That's sad.

Hawks NBA efficiency rank by position; POINT GUARD: 28th - ( 21st offensive . . 28th defensive ) . . . that's Dennis being slightly above average for most of the year ( in a PG heavy league ), and Delaney being garbage on both ends of the floor. Despite being 13th in the league in point production ( 23.3 per game ), the point guards still lost the efficiency battle ( -4.6 ). We need a quality backup PG in the worst way . . or Dennis needs to be "Playoff Dennis" during the regular season. SHOOTING GUARD: 18th - ( 17th offensvie - 20th defensive ) . . . Still below average, but Hardaway Jr balling for most of the year, and Baze somewhat stabilizing offensively after the All-Star break, helped us be out of the bottom 10. SMALL FORWARD: 14th - ( 15th offensive - 6th defensive ) . . . When Thabo was healthy, he was still a guy who could limit the production of the other guy. Prince's emergence as a decent backup, then starter, helped elevate this group to average status. The defensive numbers are promising. ) POWER FORWARD: 16th - ( 11th offensive - 26th defensive ) . . . Millsap was one of the top 10 PFs in the league last season, but we didn't have an adequate backup to him. Humphries is listed as his backup, and he barely played. The low defensive efficiency on that side of the ball is alarming, but not surprising. Millsap can't guard everybody, and the defense definitely fell off of a cliff when he left the game. CENTER: 4th - ( 12th offensive - 2nd defensive ). . . This is the Dwight Effect. Despite the reduction of the role of centers, you still can't let your opponent get the best of you. The ability to wipe out the production from the opposing center, was huge on a team that routinely lost their matchup at other positions. BACKCOURT: 25th - ( 20th offensive - 24th defensive ) FRONTCOURT: 8th - ( 13th offensive - 4th defensive ) STARTERS: 19th - ( 17th offense - 17th defense ) BENCH: 18th - ( 21st offense - 6th defense ) OVERALL: 19th - ( 2nd worst amongst all playoff teams. Only Portland was worse )

Ummm, I don't know about all of this. When Dwight is producing in points and on the boards, the Hawks are a much better team, than when he isn't. http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/atlanta-hawks/players/dwight-howard/profile/17/1/6 That link compares what Dwight does against the opposing center, if both guys play at least 25 minutes a game. When he won his matchup, the Hawks were 23 - 13 ( regular season and playoffs ). When he didn't, the Hawks were 4 - 12. Millsap had the same effect on the team: Hawks were 24 - 10 when he won his matchup vs the other PF . . . 9 - 18 when he didn't. http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/atlanta-hawks/players/paul-millsap/profile/17/1/10 Same thing with Schröder: Hawks were 20 - 8 when he won his matchup . . . 14 - 25 when he didn't. ( Note: With Dennis being our main guy, he can't lose his matchup that often. He has to flip that W/L in the matchup. I believe he will do it next season. ) http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/atlanta-hawks/players/dennis-Schröder/profile/17/1/13 With Bazemore, the Hawks were a coin flip to win/lose the game when he and his opponent played 25+ minutes: Hawks were 7 - 6 when he won his matchup . . . 12 - 13 when he didn't. http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/atlanta-hawks/players/kent-bazemore/profile/17/1/1 The problem with the Hawks last year, is that these guys didn't win their individual matchups nearly enough. The Hawks win percentage is great when Dwight won his matchup. But when he only won the matchup 36 times, it didn't have the overall effect that it should have. What it DOES mean, is what I said all season. Dwight's presence on the team kept the Hawks from being much worse than what they could've been. Honestly though, we need Paul and/or Dennis winning their individual matchups in at least 50 games. And having the Hawks win at least 35 or 40 of those games, if people are looking for Dwight's role to be reduced. He was much more important to this team, than people give him credit for.