TheNorthCydeRises

LMAO @ the title above my non-pic. I went from the Hall of Fame . . . to Jordan's #1 fan. HILARIOUS. Jordan should be our starting 2 guard these days . . . or at least the 'gunner' off the bench. Drew gave up on him way too early. Jordan will play in this league 10+ years.

That's probably true. But I was forced to root for Jamal Crawford for 2 years. Please don't make me root for that punk PAUL PIERCE.

Possible snubs EAST: Holliday WEST: Harden

PREDICTION EAST Irving Holliday JJ Noah Lopez Pierce George ( I had Bosh in this spot, then Deron . . now I think it's George ) Sleeper pick: Carlos Boozer WEST Westbrook Harden Parker Curry Lee Duncan Randolph Sleeper pick: (( straining to say this )) . . . . Jamal Crawford

JJ will make it. Horford slight chance. Suspension killed Josh.

It's almost like they're trying to tank the winnable games, in order to keep this losing trend going. Ivan is a fouling machine. It may not be in our best interest to start him. He should definitely play 25 minutes tonight though. Matchups definitely not favorable for the Hawks tonight PG: Teague vs Kemba G: Jenkins vs Henderson F: Korver vs Kidd-Gilchrist PF: Smith vs Warrick C: Ivan vs Biyombo

Jordan with the game winner vs Portland last night. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiGEGkFf9Bk

That's what I said though. Once he opted back in, he lost control of where he wanted to go. If he had become a UFA, he would've had a lot more control. Total control. But last summer, he left his fate in the hands of Orlando management. They didn't like the Brooklyn deal, so they brokered that 4 team deal that involved Dwight.

I didn't forget that at all. He exercised that option in 2011. He didn't get traded until 2012. Once he exercised that option, he lost all control over where he could go. And even though Brooklyn did all of that, it was STILL up to Orlando to pull the trigger. And they didn't. Dwight had no control over whether he could go to Brooklyn last summer. Well if that's the case, what would happen to Drew if we acquired both Smith and Howard?

If the Hawks were really serious about obtaining Dwight, they would've traded both Al Horford and Josh Smith for Dwight. From what I saw last year, Ferry offered nothing more than a bunch of 1st round picks for Dwight. Trading Horford or Smith or both was never in the mix. So to me, that means that Ferry didn't seriously go after the guy. It'll be easier for a team to get him this summer, because you're dealing directly with HIM, and not the Orlando Magic ( who had all of the control last year ). Laker fans want Gasol traded. But no team is going to give them something significant for Gasol ( unless they're a playoff level team that needs a big man ). What they CAN get, are a bunch of decent players for Howard, still have their alpha dog in Kobe, and see if Gasol can get out of his funk ( which was caused by that idiot D'Antoni playing him on the outside instead of in the paint ). To me, D'Antoni is the problem. His system is garbage. It was a total failure in New York, which is why he got canned. He had no idea how to use Melo and Amare. And D'Antoni does a lot like Drew, in which he asks soft and weak defensive players, to play "tougher" and better defense. So now D'Antoni is running Kobe into the ground, asking him to be the defensive stopper, as well as the offensive go-to guy. And now people wonder why Kobe's shooting has been off lately? Phil Jackson is probably somewhere laughing his azz off. Jerry Buss ( Lakers owner ) let his ego get in the way, when Phil basically asked for the house, in order to coach the Lakers. They thought D'Antoni would be a better alternative. He isn't. The Lakers were/will actually be better off with letting Bernie Bickerstaff finish the year.

Dwight had NO CONTROL over where he wanted to go. It was the Orlando Magic who didn't like the deal for Dwight. They weren't a believer in Lopez ( although they look stupid as hell now for not taking the Brooklyn deal ). If Orlando wanted to, they could've traded him to the Bobcats last year. What Orlando TRIED to do, is not only get the best deal possible for themselves, but to trade Howard to a place where he wanted to go. The Hawks have never been on that list, and Orlando was reportedly on record as saying that they would not trade Howard within the division. Once again, Dwight techincally has NO CONTROL on where he wants to go as of right now. If a team wanted him just for a one year rental, and the Lakers were willing to deal with them, he could be traded to that team right now.

You can believe that. Or you can believe this. http://www.netsdaily.com/2013/1/22/3903578/report-nets-still-looking-to-make-a-run-at-dwight-howard Everything is RUMOR during this time of year, to try to gague the trade waters. And it's conceivable that you'll have people flat out making up stuff, just to see if it would stick. Just like with the Memphis trade rumors involving Rudy Gay. That organization was NOT going to break up that core, when they're posting the best record in franchise history. They would do everything, but that. It would truly have to be a last resort type of thing, to see Memphis break up their core, before they could see how far this group could go. Now after this season is over, they may be broken up. But not now.

Honestly, if Dwight went to Dallas, that puts in play a possible Josh Smith to DALLAS scenario, because the only people who would be under contract in Dallas, are Dirk ( 22.71 mill ), Vince Carter ( 3.18 mill ), Jared Cunningham ( 1.21 mill ) and Jae Crowder ( 0.79 mill ). If they acquired Dwight before the trade deadline, they would almost assuredly get rid of Vince and Cunningham for an expiring contract. That would open up enough to re-sign Dwight, and go after one other player, which could possibly be Josh Smith. They really need to keep Collison in the mix though, to run the team. But if Cuban can be a believer in a Howard - Dirk - Smith trio, his ego would have him go right after Josh. And Josh may take a gamble and sign a 1 year deal in Dallas, then turn around and sign that mega-deal in the summer of 2014. LOL . . a Howard trade to Dallas could EASILY backfire on the Hawks, and see Josh leave US.

Some of you still believe in pipe dreams. Do any of you even watch the rest of the league and know who the players are? This is a PLOY by Magic to bring in MORE TALENT to the Lakers. NOT to help the Mavs and especially the Hawks From Jody: "This is the beginning of the mind games. Is Magic sincerely trying to help the Mavericks? Does he desire any one on the Maverick's roster in a trade? The answer to both questions is likely no" Jody, let me ask you this. If you're the Los Angeles Lakers, and your team is struggling big time WITH Dwight Howard. And your other post man in Pau Gasol has been relegated to secondary status. And Nash is still trying to get back to where he was last year, let alone at an All-Star level. And you have one of the worst benches in the league. Does keeping Dwight REALLY help the Lakers in the short term? Remember, this is a Laker franchise that is all about winning NOW, and they have that mentality every year. If they truly think that Dwight does not fit with the team ( although I think they need a legit coach that knows how to handle those players ), then they may look to pull the trigger on a trade that will bring them assets. See, what the rest of you do not understand, is that there is such of a thing as addition by subtraction, even if it means giving up a significant player. When Magic says that the Mavs should "give away the farm" to get Dwight, he's really saying ( give us 3 or 4 of your rotation players that D'Antoni can use, so that we can become a strong TEAM once again . . and YOU can have that pipe dream of signing Dwight ) It has nothing to do with Dwight and Atlanta. Magic simply threw out our name . . and Brooklyn's . . because those are the 2 teams that have been rumored to want to bring Dwight in. But keep in mind that Dwight has only said that he'd play for one of those teams . . . BROOKLYN . . . and not ATLANTA. And yes, if these trade rumors to Atlanta are to be taken seriously, he NEEDS to say that he is at least looking at us to come here. Until that day comes, you have to assume that he DOES NOT want to come here. And his silence would be just another instance in which the Hawks are used by a player to get what he wants from some other team. If the Mavs offered the Lakers Shawn Marion ( SF ), OJ Mayo ( G ), Chris Kaman ( C ), and Rodrigue Beaubois ( PG ) for Dwight Howard, I would almost bet the house that the Lakers . . a franchise who is ALWAYS in win now mode . . . would jump at that. Why? Because if the Lakers did that, this would be their team. PG - Nash G - Kobe F - World Peace PF - Marion C - Gasol 6th - Mayo 7th - Kaman 8th - Jamison 9th - Beubois 10th - Hill Why would they do this? Because these are the very type of players in which Mike D'Antoni can get the most out of. It's obvious that he doesn't have a clue as to what to do with Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol. So this trade opens everything up for him, and would get the Lakers right back on track by bringing in a bunch of decent players to solidify their depth. This has nothing to do with the Hawks folks. It's definitely mind games by Magic, to see if Cuban would be willing to send him legit talent to help the Lakers, in order for Cuban to get his big fish in Dwight. And Cuban's ego would make him believe that if he got Dwight, he could lure other talent to Dallas and help them get back in the mix in the West.

I told you that Memphis was not about to break up that team, before they let this team take it all the way through this season. All of those rumors going around about them trading one of their stars, just to get under the Luxury Tax was just that . . . rumors. They were not going to break up the core of that team. Here's what they did do though Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby, Marreesse Speights, AND a protected 1st round pick in 2015 . . . . for Jon Leuer and a 6.4 million trade exception. That's an absolute HORRIBLE trade, from a personnel standpoint. That would be like us trading Zaza, Ivan, John Jenkins, and a pick . . . for Chris Singleton. But that trade keeps them under the Luxury Tax for this year AND keeps their core group together. But that trade exception may come in handy in a few weeks, if some team wants to unload a player to get under the tax. They also only have 11 players, so they must sign 2 free agents sometime in the next 24 hours. With the success the Hawks had in bringing back a guy like Jannero Pargo, don't be surprised if Memphis signs 2 guys that could be much better than the bench fillers they gave up . . at a much cheaper price. Two of those being rumored in Memphis, is Delonte West and Sasha Vujacic, guys who would help them from a shooting standpoint, and possibly even a vet forward like a Kenyon Martin.

Maybe somebody like this guy? Is there a 2013 version of him in the NBA on some roster? Funny how he's a part of our organization now. http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvwCFpGOsF8

Damn Atlanta. Offense literally died in that 2nd half. And couldn't stop the Niners when it counted. Tough loss today.

Andrew Bynum is the wild card in the East. If Philly can get him back after the All-Star break, all bets are off on if they can get that 8th seed. They're 5 games behind us, with still over 1/2 of the season left to play. This schedule for us will get increasingly difficult with very few "breaks" vs bad teams. Those stretch of games starting with the road trip around the All-Star break could literally make or break us. In the meantime, this is the Hawks theme song http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A

That's why I loved what Houston did in the James Harden deal. He's still learning how to play as "the man", because these days he's either outstandingly great, or horrific. But he has Superstar caliber talent, if he can become a little more consistent. They rolled the dice big time, and got the player they wanted. That move probably accelerated their rebuild by about 3 years. And they're still going to have the cap room to potentially add a big time player to pair with Harden. People here even poo-pooed on making a play for Carmelo Anthony a few years back. But Melo would've definitely brought the fans out, and at least put us on a path of possibly getting to that next level. At some point, Ferry is going to have to target a player, and aggressively go after him with everything we got, just to change the perception that we're not going to sit idly by and let the entire NBA bypass us. Honestly, I think we missed that chance 2 years ago when the Dwight Howard drama first began. I would've given them any 2 out of JJ, Smith, and Horford for Dwight Howard. Even if they wanted Horford and Smith, I'm still giving them Dwight. Even with Dwight having that player option going into last year, I'm still doing that deal. The one thing about staying mediocre is that it does keep the fans somewhat interested. The minute we turn bad, Philips Arena will turn into a ghost town, with even MORE bandwagon fans in the arena every time their favorite team or player comes to ATL.

If not for anything, but to bring his wife back to ATL http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mbj2e-zunY

LOL . . . did you call that or what? Hopefully Devin isn't hurt for a significant period. Time to call up Anthony Johnson. Surely he can give Drew 12 minutes a game as the backup PG. But Ferry will probably call up his boy Cardell "Squeaky" Johnson

Josh took a total of 1 jumpshot outside of 10 feet tonight. The result? 8 - 15 FG 5 - 8 FT 21 points It's not that hard Josh. This is what you should do every night. Live in the paint, and things will work out for you.

LOL . . yep. And we can still have Devin play with the starters AND run the 2nd unit. All we have to do is what we should be doing with Josh - Al - Zaza in the frontcourt. They should start, but neither Zaza nor Horford should be out of the game at the same time. The same goes for the PG position in Devin and Teague.

I kind of figured that when I saw it. I thought it was his achilles first, but it turned out to be the knee. NOW Like I said yesterday . . . trade Josh to Dallas for Shawn Marion and Vince Carter ( who had a HUGE night last night ). I'd rather have Mayo, but Cuban probably wouldn't give him up. He might go for Shawn and Vince for Josh though. Shawn gives us the defensive minded PF who can still rebound at a high rate, and a guy who plays around the rim. Watching Shawn play would be a big shock for Hawks fans, because 70% of his shots come from 10 feet and in. And you let Vince Carter assume Lou's role as the 6th man off the bench, in which he's been doing already in Dallas. And unlike a lot of guys on this team, he's savvy enough to be able to create AND make his own shot. PG - Teague G - Harris F - Marion PF - Horford C - Zaza 6th - Carter 7th - Korver 8th - Ivan 9th - Jenkins 10th - Petro/Scott That's what you call BALANCE folks ( although we could use a backup center now who could at least rebound or defend ) Roll with that squad, and see what happens. And pass Smith to Cuban, so that he can have that pipe dream of drawing Dwight to Dallas. He'll have a better chance of landing Dwight with Smith in Dallas ( because he also still has Dirk ), than we would have of landing Dwight with Smith in Atlanta ( when all we would have is Al Horford ). Carter expires at the end of the season. Marion has a Player Option at the end of the season. If neither wants to come back, that opens up even more cap room for the summer. Pull the trigger Danny.

He's not a great shooter in the paint either. These are his shots from 3 - 9 feet. Shots that are not at the rim http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/plus/shooting.cgi?player_id=smithjo03&year_id=2013&shot_distance=3-10 He only makes 34.4% of his shots from that range. That's a tough range, because most shots in this range are either floaters, or contested post up plays. Here's something to judge Josh Smith's offensive game on. Let's look at what the average PF who plays at least 30 min/game will shoot from the various ranges . . . and compare that to what Josh shoots. So this comparison is basically what the starting PFs in this league shoot. AT RIM PF average: 67.1% Smith avg: 75.4% 3 - 9 FEET PF average: 42.4% Smith avg: 34.4% 10 - 15 FEET PF average: 42.5% Smith avg: 20.6% 16 - 23 FEET PF average: 39.7% Smith avg: 26.7% 3 POINT PF average: 33.7% ( eFG% = 50.5% ) Smith avg: 31.2% ( eFG% = 46.8% ) So outside of finishing at the rim, he does everything offensively below what the average starting PF is shooting. Even if you change the criteria to what the average SF who plays 30+ minutes a game shoots, he'd still be below the average production in every area except shots at the rim. So what happens if Smith starts to lose some of his athletic ability in 2 - 3 years? What shot or offensive move is he going to rely on?