TheNorthCydeRises

I honestly thought when Duncan was in the game at the end, that it was going to be HE that took the 3. I thought it was going to be something like this play for Kevin Love to beat the Clippers. It is curious that he would have both Duncan and Spiltter in the game, and Parker on the bench. Pop was coaching like PJ Carlesimo tonight. But that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about Lebron James. His statline looks great. 32 pts - 10 rebs - 11 asst. But he honestly could've gone for 45 or 50 points tonight, except for one thing. He kept passing up on 15 - 18 foot jumpers. Now I know people say that this is the worst shot in basketball. But when you have people literally sagging off of you, begging you to take that shot, it's a shot that you MUST TAKE and then MAKE. Not Lebron though. He just kept driving into the lane into traffic, turning the ball over or missing shots when he did get to the hole. The stats say he was just 3 - 12 FG on jumpers from 15 feet an out. And although he was 8 - 14 FG on his shots inside 15 feet, he literally had about 5 or 6 turnovers just trying to go to the hole. His reluctance, or inability to hit that midrange jumper almost cost them the championship. When Lebron is passing up that shot with people sagging off of him 5 - 6 feet, that's a big problem. One time late in the 4th, he even had Tony Parker on him trying to prevent him from driving, and instead of taking the 15 footer right over Tony, he just drove right into 3 people and lost the ball. Had Mario Chalmers not kept them close with some hot shooting, and Ray Allen not hit that 3 to send the game into OT, that would be the story right now . . . Lebron, and his reluctance to shoot the ball when he had the advantage. Had Jordan or Kobe been played like that, they may have went for 50 or 60 points tonight and still had about 6 or 7 assists. It'll be interesting to see if San Antonio can recover from this. They had the Heat dead in the water, and let them completely off the hook.

Northcyde is in . . . . but Explain to me the logic behind having a "dynasty draft", but leaving these players out . . - Ben McLemore - Nerlens Noel - Anthony Bennett - Steven Adams - Shabazz Muhammad Because if we do this next year, we're potentially leaving out - Andrew Wiggins - Jabari Parker - Julius Randle - James Young - Andrew Harrison - Wayne Selden If someone wants to take one of the kids coming off of their Freshman year in college, why not let them do so, if they were going to be eligible in the real NBA draft? Then at the end of the year, you could REALLY see if they took a potential superstar, or a bust.

That wasn't their strategy though. Boston's draft picks starting in 2004 2004 . . . Delonte West ( 24 ) and Tony Allen ( 25 ) Boston wins 45 games, but loses in Round 1. Robinson hurt his back, then broke his foot. There was no rushing back. He was injured.

No. I've said throughout this thread that Mayo should be signed AFTER we go over the salary cap, so that we can give him the 5+ million.

CSS is probably like . . WTF? Now we have to go back to running fishing shows in the morning. I wonder who they'll promote to replace them? Maybe they'll take the cheap way out, and just go with a simulcast of ESPN's Mike and Mike. I find it ironic that the station promote itself as "unfiltered sports talk radio", but turn around and fire the most popular hosts on the station for doing something "unfiltered". I love Nashville sports talk radio, because they've seem to have mastered all facets of it from an entertainment and intrigue standpoint. The two stations in the area do an outstanding job all throughout the year. They're so good, that I kid you not . . they just mentioned the hosts of Mayhem in the AM as I was typing this, and how someone in that studio should've said . . "isn't this a little silly and unnecessary"? The problem with big market sports talk radio, is that their shows seem to be more "host driven" than "caller driven". Nashville sticks with the "caller driven" radio format, and it makes for a better overall sports talk experience.

That's why I said to sign Mayo after we got over the Salary Cap. Say we get a salary breakdown like this PG - Teague ( 7 million ) G - F - Green ( 8.97 million ) PF - Horford ( 12 million ) C - Jefferson ( 12 million ) G - Lou ( 5.23 mill ) G - Jenkins ( 1.26 mill ) F - Ivan ( 2 mill ) . . . I'm all for giving him a 2 yr - 4 million deal, with a team option in year 2. F - Scott ( 0.79 mill ) #17 - ( 1.35 mill ) #18 - ( 1.28 mill ) 2 or 3 cap holds ( 1 - 1.5 million ) Roughly around 54 million Maybe we opt to sign a backup PG or a C with the money we still have left under the cap, if we don't draft one. Maybe we sign a defensive specialist at the G spot. Maybe we'll wait to re-sign Ivan, so that we can go over the cap a little. At that point, if the Hawks want to remain a playoff level team, maybe they'll use the entire MLE to get Mayo. Or maybe the goal is to stay under the salary cap, so that the ownership can save money and try to develop the young players. If this is the plan, I don't want them drafting for "need". I want them drafting the absolute best players available, regardless of position.

If we strike out on Paul and Howard, I'd do a sign and trade of Smith for Green in a heartbeat. That would instantly give the Hawks the SF that we need . . a guy who can put the ball on the floor and shoot the 3. We could do that, re-sign Teague, and still have enough money to give to a guy like Al Jefferson. And if available, and if we're over the salary cap, give OJ Mayo the full MLE. Each player's draft position is in parenthesis. PG - Teague ( 19 ) G - Mayo ( 3 ) F - Green ( 5 ) PF - Horford ( 3 ) C - Jefferson ( 10 ) Two shooters on the wing, who can also create their own shot. A low post center with great low post moves. A young PG still coming into his own. And a PF who can shoot the midrange jumper, run the floor, and function as the backup center. Add that with Lou Williams, Jenkins, Scott, and possibly Ivan, that's a squad I can roll with, if we strike out on the big prize.

That has more to do with how "bad" or "apathetic" the Atlanta fan base is, than it has to do with whatever small strides the Bobcats/Hornets have made last season, due to being a little more appealing. The Bobcats also outdrew us in 2011. And there's nothing about the morale of the Hawks fan base being "sky high", when it's probably only a few thousand of us who even follow the goings-on of the Hawks a daily basis. The rest of the city isn't even going to care, until we actually SIGN both Howard and Paul.

Good post. But here's the thing though. If the Hawks could surround Al Horford with the type of talent that turns us into a championship caliber team, and then see us win a title, Al Horford all of a sudden goes on that list. To me, you have to evaluate which method to get yourself in contention for a championship has been traditionally most successful . . . tanking/being bad for a high lottery pick, or acquiring a high lottery pick in free agency or via a trade? If you say it doesn't matter, that's cool. But then it comes to what the REAL thing is . . . acquiring Hall of Fame caliber talent. You can go back through that same list, and see how many Hall of Fame players were on those championship teams that were acquired via a trade or in free agency, regardless of where they were drafted. And you can see what the trend has been especially after the Jordan era. 1985 - Kareem 1986 - Dennis Johnson - Bill Walton ( although in a 6th man role ) 1987 - Kareem 1988 - Kareem 1989 - NONE 1990 - NONE 1991 - NONE 1992 - NONE 1993 - NONE 1994 - NONE 1995 - Drexler 1996 - Rodman 1997 - Rodman 1998 - Rodman 1999 - NONE 2000 - Shaq 2001 - Shaq 2002 - Shaq 2003 - NONE 2004 - NONE ( although Billups will probably get in ) 2005 - NONE 2006 - Shaq 2007 - NONE 2008 - Garnett - Allen 2009 - Gasol 2010 - Gasol 2011 - NONE 2012 - Lebron - Bosh ( who will get in, especially if he gets another ring ) 2013 - NONE . . . or Lebron - Bosh - Allen That list is honestly a testament of how great Tim Duncan is. He's literally been the only guy who has won multiple titles, without having to bring in one or more superstars to help him. He can at least been partially credited with the development of Parker and Ginobli. His high level of play ensured that they never had to worry about being the sole #1 option in the offense, taking stress off of those guys. Shaq had to team up with arguably 2 of the top 5 SGs in history ( Kobe and Wade ), in order to win his rings. Conversely, those same SGs couldn't win a ring without bringing someone else in. Kobe needed Gasol. Lebron couldn't win one by himself and had to take his talents to South Beach. And even though another superstar didn't play with Dirk, the Mavs did bring in 2 of the better defensive players of the past decade in Chandler and Marion. So whether it's through "tanking", trading, or free agency, the ultimate goal should be to acquire Hall of Fame caliber talent. And that's why the Hawks need to do anything they can possibly do, to bring both Howard and Paul to Atlanta.

I think they became a better regular season team without Rudy. But even Mike Conley admitted last week, that when San Antonio really made an effort to shut their bigs down ( specifically Zach Randolph ), that a guy who create his own shot and run the floor like Rudy Gay would've been beneficial to them in that series. What killed Memphis is that Tayshawn Prince and Tony Allen stopped making open shots. And because they are the type of players that really all that proficient in creating and making their own shot, they became less of a factor in that series. But when you opt to put in better shooters and guys who can create off the dribble, like a Quincy Pondexter and Jerryd Bayless, you gain offense but lose defense. That's what makes San Antonio as a team so good. Their shooters/slashers can also play defense.

This same thought process is the reason why it's probably in our best interest to NOT bring Josh back, regardless of who we get. Let Josh go, get a guy who can play center, and let's see what effect it has on Al Horford, who now will get a chance to play the bulk of his minutes at PF . . . and possibly get the ball a lot more.

Seatte did no such thing, because they DRAFTED Durant in 2007 and traded Allen in the SAME DRAFT in 2007, to get Green. Boston was the team trying to tank to get Oden, but only after it was obvious that they young team couldn't win when Pierce got hurt. Then they shut Pierce down for the last 10 - 15 or so games of the season. LOL @ referencing Ron Mercer, when his trade only brought back Danny Fortson, Eric Washington, Eric Williams, and a 1st round pick that turned out to be Kedrick Brown. And the most Antoine Walker brought back to them, was a bunch of expiring contracts and a 1st round pick ( Delonte West ). But Seattle definitely didn't tank to get Durant. Allen and Rashard Lewis fought injuries that year, before being shut down. And they traded them both AFTER they drafted Durant. San Antonio had won 56 games in 1996. Robinson had a back injury that put him out for almost the first 2 months of the season. He plays in about 10 games, then breaks his foot. Sean Elliott was an injury waiting to happen, and definitely not a guy who could be the #1 option. 37 year old Nique had to be the "go to guy", along with Vernon Maxwell. But by your logic, that team "tanked", when they were simply "bad". If you're going to try to chastise people, you at least need to get your facts straight, to back up your opinions. LOL . . so is every non-playoff team "tanking"? Because by your definition, that's exactly what they're doing.

Why are you guys ignoring the curcumstances that happened with all of those teams? Boston didn't tank. They were just a bad team that Paul Pierce couldn't get over the hump. They got lottery picks because they were bad. But instead of trying to build with them, they flipped them for Hall of Fame players who couldn't win by themselves either. San Antonio didn't tank. David Robinson got hurt. Sean Elliott got hurt. And Nique ended up being the leading scorer for that team. Hell, they had won a whopping 59 games the season before, but got bounced by Utah, the eventual WC Champion. The Mavs didn't tank for Dirk. They got Dirk in a trade, and Michael Finley was the man on that team in the early years. Detroit definitely didn't tank. The year before they drafted Grant Hill, they had Dumars, Isaiah, Allan Houston, and Sean Elliott on the team. they were just bad. Then they make the playoffs in 6 out of 8 years starting in 1996, before finally finding the right mix, and the right coach, to win a title. We need a clear and concrete definition of what "tanking" means.

OKC didn't tank. They were a team already in freefall for 2 years after winning 52 games. They won 35 then 31 games after that. They were 14th out of 15th in the West in that 31 win year, and the 5th worst team in the league. They simply got lucky in the draft, and got that 2nd spot, instead of the #5 spot. Ray Allen was traded on draft night. The Clippers didn't tank either. They went from a 47 win team in 2006 that made the playoffs. To a 40 win team in 2007 that barely missed it. If you remember, what did them in the following year, was Elton Brand got hurt and was lost for most of the year, and they only win 23 games. Then the following year, they messed around with trying to sign Brand for a cheaper deal, while also trying to sign Baron Davis, and Brand went for the money in Philly. Then Kaman goes down, and they only win 19 games due to basically having no one on the frontline who could stop anybody, despite having Zach Randolph for 1/2 the season. What those teams actually tried to do, was "stay in the middle" and continue to make the playoffs, and try to build on that. They had no intention to "tank" to get a high lottery pick. Circumstances just put them in a position to do it. That's why it's no surprise that the teams that almost purposely try to stay bad like Charlotte, Sacramento, and now Detroit, never seem to get themselves out of the depths of hell.

Well that settles it then. Ellis + Horford + Howard . . . will be our new Big 3. PG - Ellis G - Jenkins F - Shabazz Muhammad PF - Horford C - Howard

Well this is why you pretty much go all out to get Dwight here.

He's almost a JJ Redick clone offensively. He's actually pretty solid to be 6 - 4 ( at 215 lbs ), which is a little lighter than Dwyane Wade ( who is 220 lbs and 6 - 4 ).

Possible options on the frontline, if we don't convince Dwight to come here a) Re-sign Josh b) Sign Al Jefferson to at contract at least at Horford's level c) Try to convince Nikola Pekovic to come to ATL, and possibly overpay him to do it d) Keep Horford at center, and make a run at JJ Hickson and maybe a guy like Paul Millsap e) Keep Horford at center, but add multiple low cost players ( re-sign Ivan, sign Chris Kaman, sign Dejuan Blair, etc ) f) Move Horford to PF, but sign an offensive ( Andray Blatche ) and defensive ( Samuel Dalembert ) center Pick an option, or create your own.

The latest episode, featuring this year's teams. And this will be my last upload I know some of you guys are just Hawks fans, and not necessarily "hoop junkies" that follow all levels of basketball. But I personally could watch this stuff all day.

I'm jealous of these kids now. To think that the top players in the country have this to look forward to even after the high school games are over, is incredible. I could see this becoming so big, that they'll have to move it to a college arena. And then people will REALLY hate this.

So the players who are hurt by AAU outweigh the players that are helped by AAU? Because like I said, a lot of these kids will have no idea where they measure up, until the get out on the road and play the star HS players from around the country. I'm sure you won't like this, but I wish they had something like this when I was in high school.

(( tipsy . . but touching all of you on the side of the head like Mr. Spock in Star Trek II )) REMEMBER . . . And this was in a loss, because his teammates sucked, and JJ, Jamal, and Kirk Hinrich were just too good this game. This wasn't on Dwight at all though. He did all he could that game. Hawks gameplan and overall play was just better.

Congrats to Acie . . . 2 time Euroleague champion So do we bring him back to the Hawks to play the backup PG for us, because he's learned the "fundamentals" of International basketball?

True. But the goal of those players is not to play in Europe or China. A guy like Trajan Langdon ( former Duke star ) is an Euroleague basketball legend . . . and that dude was flat out garbage in the NBA. Yeah, he showed that he could make an open jumper, but he couldn't guard anybody on the NBA. And he couldn't create his own shot. But in the Euroleague, where you don't have high flying, freakish athletes who can shut you down defensively or blow past you with a simple dribble-drive, he turned into a superstar. For those of you who want to praise these International players, and think that going that route is the way to go, here is our very own ACIE LAW and JOSH POWELL playing on Josh Childress' old team Olympiakos, vs CSKA Moscow, with Sonny Weems, Sasha Khan, and our new assistant coach Quin Snyder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqoSGgTZHj4 It's a different game folks. And until the NBA goes to playing that style of basketball, the vast majority of Europe's best players shouldn't even set foot in the NBA. Mirza Teletovic up in Brooklyn was supposed to be their big man sharpshooter, and he was flat out garbage last season. The year before, he was hailed as "the best player in Europe". So the best player in Europe couldn't even find minutes on a Brooklyn squad desperate for outside shooting? The thing the Spurs have done, is find good International talent ( specifically at the guard positions ) who can put the ball on the floor and score off the dribble. Parker, Ginobli, Barbosa ( who they drafted then traded to Phoenix ), Dragic, and even Nando de Colo are all guys who can put the ball on the floor and go right to the rim. They're also good enough athletes to be able to take and make shots off the dribble and knock down open jumpers. But even Nando can't see any time in these playoffs

Then you got all of the other stuff that goes behind the scenes between AAU and High School coaches. THIS may be much more of a problem, than the actual kids themselves.