TheNorthCydeRises

On a team full of "broken shots", there's no reason why Bembry shouldn't be playing.

Had Korver not been traded, Taurean Prince would still be lagging on the bench with Bembry. Instead, he got increased minutes and eventually became the starter. And he played well enough in the final few weeks of the season + the playoffs, to give us some hope for him next season. Korver was looked upon to be a key scoring cog in the Hawks offense. That is NOT his role in Cleveland. In Cleveland, he's simply a 20 min/gm spot up shooter. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Except that in the playoff game that we did win, where everyone was on the same page ( and he got touches ), he put up 16 and 15. Moose didn't give coach a reason to play him, yet, he was in the game in the 4th quarter during crunch time in a few of those games. Hardaway played worse than Flip Murray in the 2009 playoffs, yet, he was in the game in the 4th. But Dwight gets the blame, and gets benched, because guards can't fight through picks in the pick and roll, and can't make their jumpshots? I'm not a huge Dwight fan, but I completely understand why he was pissed.

LOL. The only reason why I'm over the series loss, was because Wall played like a superstar in Game 6. I'm OK with a superstar effort beating us. I wouldn't have been OK if Wall was playing like garbage, but we lost because of Bud's peculiar rotations.

Well Millsap isn't coming back on a 3 year deal. He'll do himself and his family a disservice to give up tens of millions of dollars, just so that the Hawks can save some of their cap space . . . and STILL maybe not be in contention to win a championship. So it's bye-bye Millsap, if we don't pay him close to the max for at least 4 years. 4 to 5 years from now, Millsap could easily have the same impact on a basketball game, that Zach Randolph had in Memphis this season ( at age 35 ). 14 ppg - 8 rebs, in just 25 minutes of play, and still the 3rd best player on the team. If he's 3rd fiddle in the offense behind Schröder and Prince, that means Dennis and Taurean are All-Star, or borderline All-Star players.

Unfortunately . . . Dwight is RIGHT. It's not even about Dwight being a focal point. It's about him being able to have an impact on a game. even at the end. When you're giving crunch time minutes to Moose and running out Bazemore at the 3 ( a position he's ALWAYS struggled in ), but Dwight is sitting on the bench, that's cause for concern. The fan base has questioned Bud's rotations all year. We've questioned why the rookies, who seem like they do have some talent, weren't getting much burn. So when Dwight ( the highest paid player on the team, I may add ), can't get run in the 4th quarter, I'd be pissed too. Dwight was, and still is, a top 10 center in the NBA. The fact that the Hawks couldn't find a way to have him on the floor in the 4th quarter during the playoffs, is mind boggling. I'm a Bud supporter, but he has to take the brunt of the blame for how this season went, and how players were used. If your precious "system" doesn't fit the player ( or the team, for that matter ), tweak the system to get the most out of your players. Game 4 should've been the blueprint for how this team should play. But somehow, we weren't able to duplicate that gameplan.

Honestly, I could care less. Both teams are equally hated in my opinion. And then you have Cleveland. So what now? Root for Toronto to get to the NBA Finals? At this point, I'm kind of hoping for Cleveland vs Golden State III. It'll be good for the league to see those 2 teams battle for the title again. After that, maybe the new blood can take over, or at least knock one of them off of the mountaintop.

We all knew what Howard was when we first got him. He wasn't the Dwight of 2009. For a guy who is literally the #4 or #5 option in the offense, he did his job. And honestly, he has a reason to voice his displeasure on the lack of touches he gets, seeing all of the bricks the other guys get to throw up. Dwight's usage % in the regular season was 19.2%. During the playoffs, that dipped considerably to 14.9%. Despite his faults, Dwight is still a top 10 center in the NBA. The Hawks offense is built around shooting, even though most of these guys can't shoot. Even you have said this in the past, and I agree with you.

That was 20 years ago though. It just proves that both of us are getting old, to remember Nick Anderson. I hope that's not Timmy Jr's fate . . . to be the next Nick Anderson. Then again, Nick did have about 5 decent years in the NBA. He just wasn't big time in the playoffs,

Option 1: 30 Mill-sap He had one of the best playoff performances I've seen from a Hawk in a while. While I hesitate giving him the Max for 5 years, I wouldn't be all up in arms if they did. Guys like him age slowly on the court, because his game isn't based on athleticism ( think Joe Johnson, Zack Randolph, Paul Pierce, etc ) and he'll be at least a high quality #2 or #3 guy on the last year of that contract. He may even be the 6th man in year 5, that could provide timely offense in 25 min/gm, and be out on the floor at the close of games. Next year though may be his best season yet. He has at least 2 - 3 more high quality seasons in him. And that's what you're ultimately paying for. Option 2: If you can win a title, ENTERTAIN I think the Blake Griffin era is done in Los Angeles. Of course, the Clippers may look to bring him back, from a ticket selling standpoint, but they've won about the same as the Joe Johnson era teams, come playoff time. And they only got 6 years together before they broke that core up. For the Hawks though, a Blake Griffin signing immediately pays dividends at the box office, as people will come out to see Blake. His issue is health, as he's missed a whopping 83 regular season games in the past 3 years. So is he even durable enough to be paid like a top 10 player? Option 3: The NEW Korver JJ Redick will probably resign with the Clippers, seeing that they can offer him the most money. If the Hawks decide that Hardaway Jr isn't worth something like a 3 yr - 45 million deal, maybe a sharpshooter like JJ Redick is, especially in Bud's offense. And maybe JJ wants to finish his career with a team closer to home ( Cookeville, TN ). JJ would fit in well with the Hawks, as a sharpshooter at the 2, or a main gun off the bench. Option 4: Get the "point"? The lack of a quality backup PG really killed the Hawks this season. And with the love of "small ball" in today's NBA, teams are routinely throwing out 3 guard combinations, sometimes with 2 PGs on the floor at the same time. So maybe the Hawks opt to spend 10 - 18 mill a year on a good outside shooting PG who can function as a combo guard. Darren Collison, Patty Mills and yes . . JEFF TEAGUE . . comes to mind. Of course, the small guards are defensive liabilities, but they can be offensive strengths. Option 5: Olemrac Ynohtna In the event that the Hawks bring back Millsap, they still need to add another scorer to the team. Preferably a guy who can get his own shot at any time and be a deadly spot up shooter from 3. That guy is STILL Carmelo Anthony, no matter how much fans hate him. Maybe the Hawks could dangle Dwight Howard in front of the Knicks, to keep Porzingis out of the 5 spot ( even though that's probably what Krispy Kreme should be playing, but he's not tough enough ). And since Melo "loves them strippers", what better place to come, than the ATL. He's basically been evicted from NYC anyway.

You live in Houston, right? So you forgot the run to the Western Conference Finals that the Rockets made a few years back . . with Dwight on the team? Dwight averaged 13.7 ppg - 12,7 rebs during the season, and shot a career high 63% FG. He was not the problem for the Hawks. In fact, up until the playoffs, he was a definite bright spot. He gets a bad rap for his teams not performing well in the regular season or playoffs, when he's not the main reason why the team underperformed. This season, the Rockets are a very fun team to watch. But it wasn't just the departure of Dwight that saw them get better. They added a new coach that loves to play uptempo, 4 new main rotation players ( Gordon, Nene, Anderson, and Lou Williams ), and gave their superstar player even MORE responsibility. Had we gotten even average play from our wings ( namely Bazemore and pre-injury Sefolosha ), the Hawks would've been a 50 win team, and may still be playing right now. Hardaway had one of the worst shooting playoff performances I've seen from a main rotation guy in a long time. All we needed from him is to be average, and maybe we win one of those games in Washington. And Baze . . . . smh. He's the bad version of Josh Smith, in a guard's body. When you look at the reasons why the Hawks didn't reach their goals this year, Dwight might be #5 on that list. He definitely isn't one of the top 3 reasons why we underachieved. And I'm not a huge Dwight Howard fan. I just think people place a lot of blame on him for things that aren't his fault. Is it his fault that our guards can't properly feed post guys?

I'm surprised someone hasn't mentioned that, until you just did. It's not like the Hawks have this stellar history in the draft. Even the "Great One", Danny Ferry, only hit on one player ( Dennis ). The rest were scrubs at best or flat out busts.

LMAO @ "or brought Pero back". Seriously? Even with Pero's "vaunted" screen game, his screens only work if the wings make shots.

Dwight did everything that was expected of him this season. He had a very good regular season, in my opinion. He had a poor playoffs, even though he did average 8 ppg - 11 rebs and shot 50% FG. With the rest of the big men on the team playing like hot garbage, we needed at least "regular season Dwight" to show up. While I wouldn't be against giving Ilyasova another run next season, Moose HAS to go. Too weak to defend strong 4s or regular sized 5s. And pretty much useless offensively because the only thing he can do is take spot up jumpers ( which he can't make consistently ). But the only people that came to play in this series was Millsap and Schröder, who both played like top 15 level NBA players this series. They both were fantastic. Prince showed flashes of what the future for him could be like, so I'm excited about him. He should be groomed to take on a big role in the offense next season, regardless of what we do. Good contribution for Calderon as well, who was crucial in Game 3.

You'll appreciate this

I thought I was crazy when I first heard that. I was like . . "who in the hell is doing all of that counting throughout the game?"

LMAO!! I had to push the like button on this comment.

So if we played better than yesterday, you don't think that we can win? That's basically what you're saying. Either that, or you don't think we can play any better. This is an even series. In fact, the point differential in this series favors the Hawks slightly by +8. The trend has seen each game in Washington become closer, - They had to hold us off in Game 1, with the Hawks being only 5 points down with 2 minutes to go. - They had to hold us off in Game 2, with the Hawks being only 3 points down, with under 2 minutes to go, until the infamous Bazemore turnover - And they had to hold us off in Game 5, with the Hawks being only 2 points down with 1 minute to go. Wall was 1 - 7 on his midrange shots, until he hit that jumper to put them up 4. The Hawks KNOW that they can beat Washington. Bud just has to have the right personnel grouping in the game, and they need to execute a little better down the stretch. This series is going exactly like how a 4 - 5 matchup should go. Hawks should win Game 6 similar to how they won Game 3, because the Hawks will play with desperation and the Wiz will relax, because they know that they have a guaranteed Game 7 at home. The Wiz BETTER win the next game, and close out the series in 6, because I personally don't believe they could handle the pressure of a Game 7 at home, especially if the game is close in the 4th, like the previous 3 have been.

Dwight was clearly being held by Gortat on that play. Even Bob pointed that out during the broadcast.

Just don't fire the honeys

Yes, they did

Another HOF resume building performance tonight. No Gordon Hayward. Clippers up 7 with Jamal Crawford cooking. And the old man steps up AGAIN. 28 points. 5 rebounds. 5 assists. Straight ISO in the 4th quarter ( giving the middle finger to "ball movement" ). Made ALL of the right plays. Scored 11 straight points. Then dished 3 assists for another 9 points, when the Clippers tried to double him. He was literally responsible for 22 of the Jazz' last 26 points in the game. And all in a span of about 7 minutes. Just took the life out of the Clips. Incredible performance by Old Man Joe.

It's Sunday night, so the team at Strokers or PinUps need to be on their A game tonight. Then again, maybe the Gold Room has something going on tonight. This is from 2 years ago.

It's Sunday night, so the team at Strokers or PinUps need to be on their A game tonight.

It's crazy that only a few of us aren't shocked at the Game 3 outcome. I saw this coming a mile away. The Wiz act like they blew the Hawks out in the 2 losses. They were lucky to escape with 2 wins. And of course their role players played bad on the road. Most role players do. These are NOT the Cavs we're playing. It's the freaking Washington Wizards. Remember that the next time a select few of you start tossing dirt on the Hawks grave.