TheNorthCydeRises

Wow . . . so now Carlos Boozer is the "anchor" of the Bulls . . and not the reigning Defensive Player of the Year - Joakim Noah? Come on Mace. You're slipping man. LOL . . and then you go on and on about Carlos Boozer, and how the numbers "fudge the truth", like you're making a valid point? The one thing that Al Jefferson has always been criticized for, was his defense on the pick and roll. It has been terrible over the years. But a huge part of that had to do with the absolutely terrible defensive guards that he's played with. People got mad at Al because he couldn't cover up their defensive ineptness. So he goes to Charlotte, and a coach finally puts the responsibility on his guards to fight through the PnR, while also keeping Al closer to the basket to defend both the rolling big man and the penetrating guard. And that same coach, along with Patrick Ewing, also challenged Jefferson to NOT be a defensive liability. And look what happens. The so-called defensive liability becomes a defensive strength . . . all because the coach put him in a position to succeed defensively . . and because Jefferson believed HIMSELF that he could become a defensive strength. So here's what I don't get from you, and everyone else who continue to down guys like Jefferson, Stevenson, or any other good player the Hawks flat out missed out on. Why don't YOU believe that Coach Bud could get the most out of a guy like Jefferson? Why don't YOU believe that Bud couldn't have found a way to turn a Jefferson - Horford lineup into the most formidable frontcourt duo in the league? I mean, if you don't believe that Bud couldn't have gotten the most out of that duo, it means that Steve Clifford is the better coach. Do you believe that? The problem with this organization right now is NOT the coach . . . it's the GM and/or ownership. He cannot continue to give Bud marginally talented players to work with, and not be called out on that. He cannot continue to have 10+ million in cap space, and not make the right roster moves to dramatically improve this team. It is unbelievable . . . un-freaking-believable . . . that the Charlotte Bobcats have made 2 major moves in 2 years that could set them up to make a legit run at a Southeast Division title, and a possible trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, by adding Jefferson and Stephenson . . while we're hoping that Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore will help get us to the same point. All I ask of the GM is to build the team right. BUILD THE DAMN THING RIGHT !!! After this season, you fans will be FORCED to hold the GMs feet to the fire . . . or I'll be forced to give him props for doing things right. It won't be ANY in-between. I hope he's right, and I'm wrong . . because I'm tired of giving Little League claps for teams who work hard, but aren't talented enough to get out of the 1st round, let alone the 2nd round.

Time to stop those lies about Jefferson. You're talking about a guy who made 3rd team All-NBA and a guy who was the anchor in the middle for the 4th best defense in the league last year. He's also one of the best defensive rebounders in the league. Can't lean on that "who could we get to play center" crutch. This entire fan base knows who. Just like this entire fan base will know who we could've gotten to play on the wing for us. Hint ... he's playing with the center that should be here. It is not our fault that the GM refused to place one of the best centers in the game beside Horford. He opted to put a very good PF in Millsap, alongside a guy who can be a very good PF in Horford. When this team is still an average defensive team, despite adding Thabo the Great and the Baze God, while getting killed on the boards, you'll see what the issues are once again.

Pacers were 16 - 14 after the All-Star break. Hawks were 13 - 18 after the All-Star break.

The question should be ... why are people against moving Horford to PF, and bringing in a legit starting quality center? We've done nothing but be a mediocre playoff team with Horford in the middle. So why not play him for an entire season at PF, with a true center alongside him, and see what happens. Asking Horford to play Center is like asking a young Joe. Johnson to be mini playmaking version of Lebron James, instead of simply asking him to be an elite scoring SG. Sure, he played the mini Lebron role well enough to make multiple All-Star teams. But how good could a young Joe Johnson been, if he had a good PG by his side that could make plays for HIM, instead of always he having to make plays for others? We'll never know because JJ didn't play with a very good PG while in ATL. The same goes for Horford at PF, playing alongside a very good center.

October can't get here fast enough. This season is going to be a true crossroads for this franchise.

Brooklyn 11th? Is that wishful thinking, so that the Hawks can get a lottery pick in a swap? Or do you have a very legit reason behind this? - they get back Lopez - the get a HUGE upgrade in coach, by replacing Kidd with Hollins - Deron finally has his surgery on his ankles Their 3 stars are arguably in, or close to their prime in their career. They got defenders and shooters all over that team. How are they going to completely fall off this season, after being the BEST team in the East after January 1st of last year?

I'll say it again. Teague isn't the problem with this squad. He's playing about as well as he can play. He outperforms his man on a nightly basis. Other people on the team need to step their games up though . . or Bud needs to keep them on the bench and out of games.

I consider myself a good "fantasy script" writer. But Diesel's scripts are always epic. Even threw in a German convo between Schro and Shelvin. I want that house though.

The people sleeping on Brooklyn . . and that includes the national media . . are crazy. Hollins will instantly make them a better defensive team, and they still have 3 above average offensive players who can carry the load at any given time. PG - Deron G - JJ F - Kirilenko PF - Garnett C - Lopez Or if they want more spacing, they'll start Teletovic instead of KG, and bring Garnett off the bench. JJ arguably played as well as he ever played, during the playoffs last year. Everybody is expecting them to fall off because they are "old". We'll see. I say that they win the Atlantic, though they'll be in a dogfight with Toronto all year.

Instead of 1 prediction . . . here's my 5 5) Bazemore will disappoint the fan base 4) Payne plays well enough to become the 3rd big off the bench, and makes All-Rookie 2nd team. 3) DeMarre Carroll makes good on his "African-American Kyle Korver" prediction, and shoots 40% from 3 point range. 2) The fan base will completely HATE Thabo Sefolosha by January 1) Horford suffers an injury ( out 2 - 3 weeks ) guarding a big center, prompting him to say that he doesn't want to play center full time anymore. He even hints at wanting a trade if the Hawks can't bring in a big guy to help him. So the Hawks react . . . by either trading Millsap for a center . . or trading Horford himself.

Kent Bazemore will extremely disappoint the fan base.

Yes ... it is going too far. Bazemore will be lucky to get 6 shots a game, let alone average double figure points. Honestly, if he could average 17 minutes, 7 ppg and shoot 46% FG, that would be great production from him.

1) Nothing stopped Marvin from developing his game on his own. I'm not a Marvin basher. But I accepted what Marvin was a long time ago. The facts are that the "scouts" touted Marvin to be "James Worthy with a jumpshot", when in fact Marvin had no outstanding skills whatsoever. He was solid all-around, but didn't have an outstanding strength to his game. And he wasn't even the go to guy in college. Scouts simply jumped the gun on Marvin's potential. Marvin is essentially a non clutch shooting version of Robert Horry. 2) The Bobkitties were a 21 win team before Jefferson got there. They increased their win total by 22 games last year, the 3rd biggest win increase in the league. To dismiss what that team did as nothing, is simply being a hater. A Jefferson - Horford frontline would've been a blessing to the Hawks. It would've enabled the Hawks to play a wide variety of ways on offense and defense. Most of all, you'd preserve Horford a little, when we faced bigger centers. The problem with adding Millsap over Jefferson, is that Millsap gives you more of what this team already has .... a PF. What we don't have, is adequate depth at center. With Jefferson at center, Horford could play both PF and C, enabling him to really expand his game. 3) Adding an MLE talent wouldn't help that Hawks team offensively, but people are now talking about Kent Bazemore being a 6th man type of scorer for this year's team? Hmmmmm. Let's see. We got Lou Williams for the MLE. And we used a 5 million dollar trade exception to get Korver, which is essentially an MLE type of payment. How dangerous would a JJ - Jamal - Korver outside shooting trio would have been? As much as people complained about JJ, he was NOT a ball hog. He was a very willing passer. He couldn't have averaged 5 assists in his career as a Hawk, if he weren't willing to pass. And here's something that people can never take away from Woody. The record of the Hawks improved in each of the 6 years that he was the coach. He just couldn't get us past the 2nd round. Trust and believe though .. we could've had far worse coaches here than Woody. At least Woody played to the strengths of the team, even if he was reluctant to make adjustments.

1) Passing on Paul & Deron to draft Marvin. That's easily the biggest one and will be one of the top misses in franchise history. While we may not have ever acquired Al Horford, a guy like Paul could've made JJ and Josh even better players. Even adding Deron would've given us a young and very good backcourt. 2) Not going after and signing Al Jefferson. With the opportunity to finally get a big, talented center to play alongside Al Horford, this should've been a no brainer. Instead, we let one of the best centers in the game go to a division foe, and saw that team immediately vault over us in the standings. If Charlotte, led by Jefferson, vaults into the top 4 and wins the Southeast Division, fans have to chalk that up as a MAJOR MISS. 3) The Hawks not "going for it" just one time, by adding an MLE level talent and paying the Luxury Tax. When you're a top 3 team in your conference, you have to at least shoot for a ring at least one time. The Hawks didn't do it. When you pay Joe Johnson all that money, and you don't add anybody else to help him, you get what you get. Probably could've used another quality big body or a small forward to bolster our bench. But we choose to roll with the minimum vet contracts of Hilton Armstrong and Josh Powell. Plus we started the season with Mo Evans on the team. Even a mid season trade for the "great" Kirk Hinrich wasn't enough. Those are my top 3.

As for the actual topic, I've checked in on this site at all times of day and night. Smartphones were the best thing that happened to sports forums. It enables to read and post on sites like these from anywhere and at any time.

Look at those names man. You're actually happy with that? Thabo and Bazemore were so good, that the Thunder organization and their fans couldn't wait to get him off their books. And while Bazemore became a Laker fan favorite on a bad team, the organization thought about as much about him as we do about Shelvin Mack. 2 marginal role players, but they're supposed to make us a much better team? This is why people constantly check this site these days. Even if they don't actively criticize the GM, they know good and well that those 2 acquisitions may not be enough to help us climb the East ladder of playoff teams. Hell ... they may make us worse.

No one is sold on us either, despite kind of liking us the past 2 seasons. Interesting to how he sees the East right now. 1) Chicago 2) Cleveland 3) Toronto 4) Washington 5) Indiana 6) Miami 7) Charlotte 8) Brooklyn 9) Atlanta 10) New York

I see teamrankings.com and Basketball-reference.com calculate Offensive and Defensive rating slightly different. B-ball reference was much kinder to us.

Actually in 2010, we were the #2 Offensively rated team in the NBA, mainly because we got a ton of offensive rebounds and we had an insanely low turnover rate. And the low turnover rate was the reason why the Knicks was so highly rated in 2012 - 13. ISO ball keeps the ball in the hands of the best offensive players, and relies on them to create and make shots.

I personally love the Black jersey, Black lettering, trimmed in white Hawks jersey I got last season. So if "Hotlanta" or "A-Town" replaced "Hawks" on the front of that jersey, that would be great. Even put the updated Pac logo on it somewhere. A sleeved jersey in this style would be very popular as well.

LOL . . I detect sarcasm. I think some of them really think that he's going to be an upgrade over Lou Williams. Maybe defensively, but definitely not offensively.

Bazemore is going to break some of your hearts.

If you want to deal in technicalities, that's fine. Bazemore WILL be signed. Mack and Scott have been issued qualifying offers. If they get no offers from other teams, they will be Hawks next season. Those 3 players make 13, unless someone goes after Mack and/or Scott.

I think we are done. 13 already signed on the roster. If we keep Muscala, that's 14. If other teams go after Mack and/or Scott, that could open up some roster spaces if we choose not to up our offer. Don't know if we'd carry 15 just for the sake of carrying 15. If we do pick up another guy, it will probably be another big man. So having said that, I think we're done.

Who's going to save the Nets? (( touching the side of your head like Mr. Spock )) REMEMBER . . . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-EAvaXiTgw