TheNorthCydeRises

Actually the opposite happens. Drew matches up HIS lineup according to what his opponent has, not to create mismatches for himself. If Drew would fully commit to the big lineup, we could have a starting lineup advantage vs 75% of the teams we play against. And we can keep a legit offensive rebounder in the game in Zaza. As bad of an outside shooter Josh Smith can be at times, Anthony Tolliver is much worse. So why is that dude even playing? And don't even get me started on the Ivan situation. Drew gets props for drawing up plays after timeouts. He is very good at that. His lineups? Nah. All of these multiple lineups we throw at teams isn't worth jack when we play the good teams. No cohesion at times. And bench players don't have a full grasp if they're even going to get minutes or not.

Yeah, that's the way I took his answer. Had he'd been in Philly ( a place where he's played before ) and some Philly reporter asked him that, he may have said something like "Well I'm familiar with the Sixers organization and Philadelphia. They are a class organization. So anything is possible".

So will the Hawks have to overpay to retain Kyle Korver? If we have to overpay to retain our OWN free agents, what does that say about the other free agents out there?

LOL . . I mean, seriously. Doesn't this sound just like Hawks fans talking about Josh Smith? http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ah89ZCrOlY

And keep in mind that these videos were made before the 2012 season. So Part 4 of the video has to include this: Cowboys vs Redskins - last game of the season - to win the division and get into the playoffs http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPHWeTjHPVE

I think the best comparison for Josh . . . is Tony Romo. When you look at Romo's numbers and stats, he's a better QB than even Troy Aikman. But when you watch Romo actually play, and some of the mistakes he makes in critical situations, it creates a love-hate relationship with the guy. Romo doesn't make the typical type turnovers. He makes game changing turnovers that lose games. And that's what Smith does with his shot selection and his careless ball handling at times. Like Romo, he simply needs to stop trying to do everything all the time, and just make the RIGHT PLAY. Here's a great series of videos about Tony Romo. You tell me that you couldn't substitute Josh Smith in all of these vids, wth his highlights and lowlights, and it would be accurate. He's about the only other guy in sports more polarizing than Josh Smith. Well, him and Alex Rodriguez. Cowboy fans feel torn about Romo, the same way Hawks fans feel torn about Josh Smith. Part 1: http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZCr13lp8PE Part 2: http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rOup-mLOHY Part 3: http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KTl47g9CPU

I would be very nice if we can win these next 2 or 3 road games. Because in March, this schedule is about to ratchet up BIG TIME - LA Lakers ( 2 games ) - Denver - Boston ( 2 games ) - Brooklyn ( 2 games ) - Milwaukee ( 2 games ) - Indiana - Toronto ( who is vastly improved since getting Rudy Gay ) - Dallas If we can win these next 3 games, that would push us to 34 - 23, and give us a little cushion in case we do falter in March. I just don't want to see them pull out a game in Milwaukee, only to give games back to Detroit and Utah. As to how far this team can go . . . 2nd round. If we're a 4/5 seed, we're not beating Miami because for at least one of those home games, it's going to be a home game for them. Matter of fact, the only playoff series the Hawks have won without having home court advantage in recent years, is the 2011 series vs Orlando. And we'd had Orlando's number all year that year. So we need to play a 2nd round team that we have consistently beaten, if we want to have a chance to advance to the EC Finals. I'm sure that people may want to play Brooklyn in the 2nd round, if it came to that . . . for obvious reasons.

I've been wanting him to start since the beginning of the season. If he turns into Dell Curry, that would be great for the Hawks. Curry was good enough to have absolute monster games when he got hot.

SMH. Please stop. You say you didn't watch the game, so why don't you believe what he told you? Josh was actually 5 - 18 FG in that game, but hit a huge 3 pointer with time running down on the shot clock to bring us within 1 point. Before that point, he was damn near doing everything possible to lose that game for us. Josh's defense down the stretch was big in securing the win. But don't act like a player missing 13 shots, but only making 6 of them, is even close to comparable to a player missing 11 shots, but making 11. You went to school. You're not dumb. So please stop acting like it. I don't agree with the title of the thread, but maybe the title should be this: If you constantly defend Josh's play, even when he's obviously doing things to hurt the team . . you're more of a Josh Smith fan than you are a Hawks fan. Until that dude stops trying to do things he has no business doing, he's going to be despised by some. Had we lost that game last night, the "hate" he'd be receiving right now would be unbelievable. - Props to Horford for being steady all game, and being big time at the end. He looked like a legit All-Star last night. - Props to Teague being aggressive all game and running the offense - Props to Smith's defense at the end and his work on the boards in the 2nd half - Props to Zaza's great work on the offensive boards in the 2nd quarter, because we were on the verge of getting blown out - And special props to Devin Harris, who provided offense in both the 2nd and 4th quarters when we were behind.

We all are fans of "Good Josh" . . . the Josh that is our defensive anchor and does a great job moving the ball and setting up others. We're not a fan of "Bad Josh" . . . the freewheeling, careless offensive player who tries to do too much. The 3 he made isn't as big as his rebounding, defense, and shot alterations in that 4th quarter. I've been wearing the dude's jersey all day, even if he does disgust me at critical times. I'm a supporter of him when he plays his role. I'm not a supporter of his when he thinks he's Lebron James. And stop watching porn. Hippos deep throating each other? WTF?

The REAL Harlem Shake http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd9jI7bvSLQ Once again, the real Harlem Shake . . keep your eye on the kid dancing http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=uywzoTbaGjc LOL . . whatever these kids are doing these days isn't the Harlem Shake. More like the Calhoun Shake.

So this team isn't soft? I mean, even the coach called them soft, and he sees them every day. The Hawks have always been soft. LOL @ soft teams cannot come from 27 down and beat a team. Yes they can, if they have talent. But the overall makeup of the team ( i.e. the core ) says that if they even get 15 down in a game, all you have to do is keep banging them around and be physical, and they'll fold. Saying that the Hawks are better than the Lakers and Celtics means nothing when it comes to the Hawks. And I hate to break this to some of you, but this will be the only year in which we have this much room under the cap. If we re-sign Smith, it will be for a minimum of 4 years. If we match an offer sheet for Jeff Teague, it will be for a minimum of 3 years. If we sign your boy Kyle Korver, it will be for a multiple year deal. And Horford will have 2 years left on his current deal. And Lou Williams is still locked up for another 3 years. Ferry doesn't have 2 - 3 years to start to get this right. He has to get this right THIS SUMMER. Because even if he doesn't bring back any of our free agents, he has to replace them with the right type of guys that can see this team progress past the level we are today. God forbid that Ferry re-signs Smith, but can't secure another significant piece here this summer. That would mean that the same important pieces of the team will indeed be back next year. This fan base will lose their minds, because they know it won't lead to progressing toward a championship. Barkley used to say all the time that Joe Johnson can't be the best player on your team, if you wanted to win a championship. The same rings true about Josh Smith.

Toward the end of his Hawks tenure, I used to call him "Mookie Sellout". Because his shot selection at times was worst than Josh Smith's. Dude would take just head scratching, WTF type 3's at times.

I still marvel at the game I saw down in Memphis, and the defensive job that Josh Smith did on Rudy Gay. The Hawks defense was as good that night, as I've seen in tin 3 years. The sad thing is that Josh will get overlooked once again for Defensive Player of the Year or for that 1st team All-Defensive selection. People get way to enamored with block shots and steals, when they ought to be looking at how certain players can flat out shut people down from scoring. Josh's defense on most SFs has been nothing less than stellar this season. But the media stays fixated on Ibaka and Lebron so they'll get 1st team All-Defense selections. Actually, Durant has been outstanding defensively this year, so he might get the nod over Ibaka. The key for Josh making the leap to being a great defender, is his rebounding. Like it or not, rebounding is a part of defense, because it officially ends your opponent's possession. On a smallish team like ours, we need need more double-doubles from Josh and Al, and less 5 or 6 rebound games.

Zaza didn't do much tonight, but I wish Drew would just stick with the starting lineup he went with tonight. Just start the game BIG and see if we can use that to our advantage. Then bring in the speed and the sharpshooters to accelerate the game. Very good all around game by most everyone who played tonight. Deshawn and Kyle must've switched bodies before the game. SMH @ Isaiah Thomas. When I picked him up on my fantasy team earlier in the year, he didn't do jack. Tonight, he looked like the ORIGINAL Isaiah Thomas.

And that's because he was playing with scrubs. He was literally the best player the Wiz had on the floor at times. No way can Jordan Crawford be the best player you have out on the floor. That's like having a lineup in which Ivan Johnson is our best player out on the floor. If the lineup fails, it doesn't mean that Ivan himself is a scrub. It probably means that Ivan was playing with a bunch of scrubs that made him look a whole lot worse. Jordan's line tonight 15 minutes 10 points 3 rebounds 2 assists 4 - 9 FG 2 - 5 3FG Boston ( without KG and with Pierce only scoring 8 points ), scored 113 points tonight in a rout over the Suns Celtics guards ( Bradley, Lee, Terry, Crawford and Terrence Williams ) shot a collective 20 - 42 FG . . . 6 - 15 3FG . . . for 53 points and dished out 12 assists.

Josh and Al averaging close to 10 boards means nothing, when we need one or both of them to average 12 boards . . . especially if the coach isn't going to play other frontline players. The same way we needed JJ to be a 25 ppg scorer at times, is the same way we need Smith and Horford to elevate their games to star and even superstar level on a more consistent basis when the games count. In that 2011 playoff year, the Hawks were 6 - 0 when JJ scored 20 points or more in a game. They were 0 - 6 when he scored less than 20 points. So you're tryng to tell me that the Hawks lived and died with JJ, when most of you didn't even think he was the best player on the team? If that's the case, where was everyone else when we lost? JJ was a reason why we lost that series, despite him averaging almost 20 ppg and shooting 49% FG and 50% 3FG. We needed him to do MORE offensively. We needed him to shoot more. But he didn't even average 16 FGA that series, which limited his impact on games. But the reason why we needed him to do more ( other than the complete sellout effort of Jamal Crawford in the final 5 games of that series ) is because our frontline was getting punked left and right by Boozer, Noah, and Gibson. Smith got his 16 ppg and 9 rebs . . but he shot 39% FG. Horford averaged 11 points and 9 rebounds . . and shot 45% FG. On a team that had only Zaza behind them on the frontline, they had to do more too . . . but they didn't. And they were horrible with their shooting, which cost us. Meanwhile, Boozer and Gibson were having their way with us. That was my point in my original post. If people are going to dog JJ for not showing up in those playoff losses, that's fine. But you better call out the other "stars" of the team as well, that didn't or couldn't elevate their games. And understand that when the Hawks DID win playoff games, he was one of the major reasons why we were winning, if not THE reason. It's crazy. As much as the kid takes a beating on these boards at times, you can honestly say that Jeff Teague has shown up in more playoff games and played well in them, than Josh Smith or Al Horford. He's really the only Hawk in the past The entire team is soft. And they always have been soft. Smith is soft. Horford is soft. JJ was soft when he was here. Teague is soft ( mentally ). The toughest guys on the team are Zaza and Ivan, and the dumb coach won't play them consistent enough so that they can impact the game the right ways. I never said that any of those guys weren't talented. Talent can win you games. But when the going gets tough, the Hawks almost always fold. That's why it was difficult as hell for them to even win playoff road games vs teams they were better than. Hell, they folded Wednesday night vs Miami. The Heat shot 78% FG in that 4th quarter, and our soft players and soft coach could do nothing about it. People say this team doesn't have an "identity". But we do. Our identity is that we have a bunch of athletic SOFT players. And when you punch them in the mouth, we're going to whine and cry and fold up the tent. To change that identity, you have to change out the very players that the identity fits. The Dallas Mavericks ( a talented team ) was like that for YEARS. All the talent in the world, but ultra soft. And the other top level teams knew it.

At least that's what you HOPE will happen. The fact is that JJ doesn't have to be Superman on a nightly basis in Brooklyn. After having his great night vs the Bucks on Tuesday, he played horribly on Wednesday. But because he plays on a better TEAM, they were still able to pull out the victory. And that's the difference between JJ in Brooklyn and JJ in Atlanta. Because in Atlanta, if JJ didn't win the game, we weren't winning the vast majority of the time. People like you discount what JJ did in the playoffs. Our "shrinking violet" as you coined him. Well what did the OTHER guys on the team do to win playoff games when JJ was off? Where was the monster games or game winning plays from Josh Smith or Al Horford or Jamal Crawford or anybody else to help us win a game, when JJ was struggling? Where was Smith and Horford 2 years ago vs Chicago, when the Bulls basically tried to shut down both JJ and Jamal ( who both torched the Bulls in Game 1 ). They did ball in at least one game . . . Game 4 . . . when all 3 of them played well. The most memorable playoff wins in this franchise recent history ALL center around JJ either playing great offensive basketball, or the entire TEAM playing great defensive basketball. You won't find a single other game in which you can say that Josh Smith had a monster game and led us to victory in the playoffs. Game 4 of the Chicago series in 2011 is the closest game that you'll get to that. Like the OP said, even last year, when Josh was getting praise for putting up volume numbers, it was JJ who was making the game winning and deciding plays at the end. I do disagree with the OP when he says that the problem is not the 4/5 position. That's a big part of the problem. It's a problem because both Al and Josh love to shoot jumpers, and don't like to bang inside for tough points and rebounds. If just one of them would commit to doing that, we'd be better off as a team. But Josh shoots waaaay too many perimeter jumpshots. On a team full of jumpshot gunners, we need our PF in the paint battling for rebounds. But he doesn't. It's a major reason why we get punked vs physical teams, and why our own coach has called our team SOFT . . . . ( even though he coaches SOFT ). So the only solution to this, is to play Josh at SF, and find a PF or C who will actually not leave that 12 feet and in area around the basket, so that they can get offensive rebounds and give us extra possessions. That's why people liked a Smith for Gortat deal. Gortat isn't going to drift out to 20 feet to shoot the ball. He isn't going to act like he's the PG and bring the ball up the court. He isn't going to randomly jack up 3 pointers. No. He's going to play like a BIG MAN and do BIG MAN things. I'll say this again. Golden State had to make this decision, when they broke up the Monta Ellis / Stephen Curry backcourt. Thsoe two were exciting and very good together . . but it didn't maximize the potential of the team. One of them had to go so that the TEAM can be better balanced and be able to compete vs any team. So they chose the more inefficient player in Monta, and kept Stephen. And the result has been GREAT for the Warriors this year. As this season progresses, Horford and Smith will finally prove if they can play with each other and help the team win, or if one of them has to go for the sake of the team as a whole. This schedule gets tough starting on Saturday . . with a 7 game road trip, and then with a plethora of playoff level teams the rest of the way. If the team excels during this stretch, and can sustain it in the playoffs, Smith and Horford would have made a case to stay with each other. If the team crashes and burns, and gets bounced in the 1st round of the playoffs ( which will happen if they crashed and burned ), then we have to make a change. Maybe the team will be somewhere in the middle, where they don't lose ground, and possibly play Brooklyn or Chicago as a 5th or 6th seed. At that point, the jury will be out again on the duo to see if they can win that series.

Jamal Crawford ATL Assist % - 16.9 Jordan Crawford 2013 WAS Assist % - 26.1 Keep in mind that I was one of the ones from the first time I saw him in summer league, who thought that Jordan was actually better as a PLAYMAKER guard, than a SHOOTING guard. I was one of the ones who even said that he was a better playmaking guard than Jeff Teague, and wanted Jordan to have a shot as the backup PG, instead of the Jamal Crawford scoring guard off the bench role. If Jeff had Jordan's confidence, Jeff may be a top 10 PG in the league. Drew disagreed, and only saw Jordan as a SG. So he goes to Washington and pretty much proved that he can function in the playmaker role, especially in the absence of John Wall. If he didn't had to concentrate on both being a top option type scorer an playmaker, he would be much more efficient as a player. Jordan is the prototypical combo guard who has bad shot selection, because he settles for too many 3's. But just watch how Doc uses the kid in Boston. Boston is pretty much devoid of having a true PG, but they have been somewhat successful in the absence of Rondo because the ball movement overall is much better ( even though they've lost 3 of their last 4 games ). Jason Terry plays best OFF the ball where he can play his catch and shoot game. So what Doc will do, is instruct Jordan to be more of a playmaker/scorer, than a Barbosa type volume scorer with that 2nd unit. And if Jordan is hot offensively, Doc may give him the green light to see if he can put up points. Instead of playing on a bad team with a bunch of young kids trying to prove themselves, Jordan now goes to a veteran team who will hold him accountable for everything he does on the court, along with a coach who will do the same thing. They will not let him be as wild as he was in Washington. Isn't that the theory that most people have about Josh Smith? That if he played on a team full of vets, and had stronger coaching, that he'd be a better player? Boston has nothing to lose by trading for Jordan. If he fails, people will just say . . "oh well, he's nothing but a gunner anyway." But if he succeeds, people are going to hail Danny Ainge as being a dang genius. Success for Jordan in Boston would be . . 25 minutes 10 ppg 4.5 asst 44% FG 35% 3FG Making a few huge shots to help them win games, due to his ability to create his own offense . . or having a few high scoring games. Failure would be playing horribly, and seeing himself being buried on the bench once again. Jordan's high points this year - #10 in the league in points per play via ISO scoring . . . 0.99 . . . and shooting 46% in ISO situations - Shooting 41% both as a 3 point Spot Up shooter and when shooting 3's in Transition - Shooting 51% eFG and has a 17.1 PER as a PG ( per 48 minutes of production ) - Holding opposing PG's to 38% eFG shooting and a 9.5 PER ( per 48 minutes of production ) Per 36 minute production 18.1 points ( on 16.2 shots ) 5.0 assists 4.3 rebounds We'll see how "garbage" this kid is, when he actually play with other people who can ball. It did wonders for Jamal Crawford's career. Let's see if it will help Jordan as well.

Diesel . . . the "newness" of Ferry hasn't worn off yet. He still has to get credit for flipping your boy Marvin into Devin Harris and basically using the JJ trade in order to sign Lou Williams and Kyle Korver. Now granted, those moves haven't made us better on the floor, but it does set us up better financially for the future. And for fans, that's about all we have to hold onto. But we'll see what people think of him once he hits free agency this summer. The REAL legacy of Ferry will probably come in what to do with Josh Smith, and with the coach next year. Will he re-sign Josh Smith to a long term deal that basically keeps him the face of the franchise? Will he think that Drew deserves another 3 years, or will he go out and get his own guy? And if he goes out and gets his own guy, will that coach be able to take whatever team Ferry constructs to the next level? He's not Rick Sund, but he's no Daryl Morey either.

LOL. This is sad.We have to find some glimmer of hope in a scrub big man, just to make us feel that all of this drama wasn't for nothing.Life as a Hawks fan I guess.

Yes . . . sometimes 2 hours after the deadline. The only thing that has to happen, is for the deal to be submitted to the league office.

It'll be interesting to see how the rest of this season plays out. Josh is a professional, so he'll probably play out the rest of the year with no problem. But he's going to play the way HE wants to play from now on. The fans booing or cheering for the other team isn't going to mean anything to him anymore. The fans moaning when he takes a 3 won't phase him either ( not that it was phasing him in the first place ). Josh will go to Houston, if they can't get Dwight . . and turn the Rockets into a legit playoff team, with Harden as the superstar . . Lin as the PG . . and Smith as the highlight dunker and defender. Teague and Horford better develop quickly . . along with Jenkins.

Colin . . you're not dumb. It's funny that some of the same people who are dogging Jordan right now, are the same people who were loving Jordan's "foster cousin" . . . Jamal Crawford. Jordan improved this year. But as soon as Wall came back, he became expendable with Wall and their top draft pick Bradley Beal in the mix. If it's any team that can get the most out of Jordan, it'll be Boston. Look for Doc to use Jordan as a backup PG type of player, instead of a volume shooter. He can pass the ball, and that was underutilized in Washington. Jordan is what he is . . . a guy who thinks he's better than what he is, but a guy who definitely has talent. If the right coach can reign in his shot selection, and turn him into more of a playmaker, he'll be in this league for the next 10 years. All I know is that with the revolving door with our backup guards, Jordan should still be here, as an option to put in a game in place of, or with Teague.

It'll be interesting to see how the Hawks handle Teague when the summer comes. But if Josh is traded, I really want to see how the kid responds to Josh not being here, and if that will help or hurt his game. LOL @ had to import his own "swag coach".