TheNorthCydeRises

More passing

Ask and you shall receive.

Korver - 46 Teague - 41 Millsap - 32 Horford - 21

Marvin at #65 ... the 2nd highest ranked player from the Knight/Sund era. Only drama now is if Horford will be ranked above Millsap, and in the top 20.

The snub list is impressive. http://www.si.com/nba/2016/09/12/derrick-rose-tony-parker-snubs-nba-top-100-players

Bazemore - 90 Korver - 70 Dwight - 34 Looks like Dennis will be out of the top 100, unless they have him in the top 30, which hasn't been released yet. This link will update on its own. http://www.si.com/nba/2016/09/12/nba-top-100-player-rankings

Too much drinking ... or hanging out with too many strippers. Either way, you gotta drink that water man.

Pentagon South is catchy. All about defense.

The "Pass n Shoot"

Happy belated birthday GM. Reaching 80 is a great milestone for any human to reach. You're the most interesting Hawk fan in the world. Announcer: "He once made a half court shot, sitting on the floor, with his back to the basket" "Younger women love him so much, they instantly become his daughters" "Bad free throw shooters MAKE their free throws, when he's in the arena" Gray Mule: "I don't watch the NBA often. But when I do, I prefer the Atlanta Hawks" "Stay fanatical Hawks fans"

It'll end up being Jack, though it should be Korver.

OK .. this made me LOL forreal.

No way should a guy that can dominate at times like Howard, accept a Tyson Chandler role. We don't have any offensive "alpha dogs" on this team. He definitely needs a volume share of post touches, seeing how we have very few shot creators.p pe0

A lot of people don't value rebounding and rim protection. And while Horford's shooting will be missed somewhat, it's not like he aggressively looked for his shot say, like a Chris Bosh does. And Horford gets to the line even less than Joe Johnson did. The Hawks were 22nd in Offensive Rating last year. This, despite Teague and Korver both shooting 40% from 3, and Mike Scott shooting 39%. The rest of the squad were average to below average 3 point shooters. Combine that with the lack of a shot creator and offensive rebounding, it led to the Hawks scoring less than 100 points in 34 games. We were 9 - 25 in those games. Ironically, this team was 20 - 0 when scoring 112 pts or more in a game. Because Horford was out on the perimeter waiting on a shot, only Millsap was normally in position to grab an offensive rebound. There will be no such issue with Howard. But like others have pointed out, the biggest difference will come playoff time. He actually raises his level of play in the postseason, while Horford's production normally drops. Here's a prediction. Dwight will take 100 shots from outside 10 ft this year ... and will shoot 40% on those shots. Bud will not be content with just throwing the ball to Dwight in the post. He will give Dwight the opportunity to take 15 foot jumpers off of the pick and roll. Not at the rate that Horford took them, but he will get his chances every now and then. To put this into perspective, I'll list the last 6 regular seasons for Dwight from 10 feet and out. 2016: 11 att - 22% FG 2015: 5 att - 40% FG 2014: 25 att - 24% FG 2013: 40 att - 23% FG 2012: 18 att - 17% FG 2011: 125 att - 38% FG When you first glance at these numbers, you'd probably say ... "Northcyde, you're crazy. Why even waste time giving him midrange shots, when he's perennially a sub 30% FG shooter?" I'll post these numbers again, but I'll also put his FT% in parenthesis for that season. 2016: 11 att - 22% FG - ( 49% ) 2015: 5 att - 40% FG - ( 53% ) 2014: 25 att - 24% FG - ( 55% ) 2013: 40 att - 23% FG - ( 49% ) 2012: 18 att - 17% FG - ( 49% ) 2011: 125 att - 38% FG - ( 60% ) Here's a thought. Let Dwight take 1 - 2 midrange shots a game, just to keep a regular shooting rhythm going from that area, outside of just going to the FT line. If he's allowed to take a few jumpers in the rhythm of the offense, it should help his FT%. Bud isn't stupid. He isn't going to go away from the strengths of Dwight. But he will attempt to make him a more versatile offensive player.

Sorry. Bench is ranked #22, not #20.

But you won't like the lineup ranked at #7. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/ranking-all-30-nba-starting-lineups-hint-warriors-are-pretty-good/ Hawks rookies aren't factored into their bench rankings. http://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/ranking-all-30-nba-benches-a-non-playoff-team-secures-top-spot/ So I guess by these 2 rankings, a former Hawk will be on the most improved team in the league, seeing that they have a top 5 starting lineup and bench.

Good idea, if you all want to go that route. I know Anthony Davis was looked at as being the next big thing. And he had a great year "stat wise". But his win score significantly dipped from 14.0 to 7.2. Plus he only played in 61 games. Meanwhile, a guy like CJ McCollum, who gets increased playing time in a "rebuilding year" for Portland, saw his win score increase from 1.8 to 6.0. So whomever picked CJ in last year's draft, potentially got a significant player to his/her team. OK, that's all. Continue.

((( "TIME OUT" ))) Media question: Has an analysis ever been done to see who actually came up with the best team in the season following the summer Dynasty draft? Who had the best team in the 2015 Dynasty Draft? Don't quite know the best way to do it. Maybe by adding the total win shares of each player? lt would be cool to track just which one of you guys and gals are on the right track with your picks. Just a thought ((( TIME IN )))

Taking Cleveland to 6 games in the ECF would definitely be "breaking through". There should be no championship expectations with this team at this moment. So losing to arguably a top 5 great of all time in 6 games in the ECF, should be beyond expectations.

Why Brooklyn?

No surprise. I place more value in big men playing like big men, not guards.

I have no problem starting Prince, and playing him 20 - 24 min/gm. This puts him on the floor with better players and keeps him out of a role of "instant offense shooter/scorer" off the bench. Korver or Thabo will finish games, even if Prince starts.

Hawks big men FT shooting: Dwight - 49% Splitter - 81% Humphries - 71% Tavares - 71% ( D-League ) "I will show Dwight how to shoot. Don't worry."

What if neither of you are idiots?