TheNorthCydeRises

While I'm not surprised that he's still the coach right now, I will admit that the first thing I checked was to see if he was STILL the coach.

He's going to bench Teague, so it doesn't matter what he says anyway. We all know the guy that he talks negatively about the most. The guy that he talks about playing with more energy. So it's Teague who is about to get the blame.And I think Danny Ferry may want to see that too, seeing that it was HE that brought in 2 smallish guards to add to the team. Two guards who could legitimately take Teague's spot, if they choose not to match an offer sheet this summer, when Teague hits free agency.I never saw Teague as a "leader type PG", but I did think he was developing into a pretty good scoring type of PG. But if he can't score, Drew definitely isn't going to keep him in the game because of his defense ( which also has been lacking lately, but better than Lou's defense ).

Funny how everyone believes that Teague is going to be the casualty in the "lineup shake".PG - HarrisG - LouF - SmithPF - HorfordC - Zazais my guess.Teague gets demoted to 6th man, and his minutes will be determined by how successful Harris and Lou are.Ivan gets sent back to the doghouse, seeing that he only played 5 minutes last night6th - Teague7th - Korver8th - Tolliver9th - Jenkins10th - Scott

Hawks simply need to make a decision between Horford and Smith, as to who to move forward with. I've long said that the Hawks are/were in the same situation that Golden State was in, with Curry and Ellis. They were 2 great guards who were outstanding at times. But the fact that you had to play both guys at least 35 minutes a game to maximize what they could do, also hurt that team. Why? Because Monta was much too small to guard taller and stronger 2 guards in the league. And Golden State didn't have the type of frontline behind them that could correct defensive breakdowns. So the Warriors organization decides to trade Monta Ellis, much to the dismay of fans. Remember this last year, when Chris Mullin's number was retired, and the Warriors owner came out to speak? The fans were pissed that their fan favorite was gone. But guess what? The Warriors organizations was RIGHT !! They moved the great scoring, but somewhat inefficient playing Monta Ellis, who was also a defensive liability . . . and gave complete control to Steph Curry. And how did they replace Monta? They didn't. They simply gave guys like Klay Thompson an expanded role, and added Jarrett Jack ( a starting caliber combo guard ) to play the dual role that Monta did ( on a smaller, but more efficient scale ). The result of that has seen Golden State post a 23 - 13 record . . and a #5 seed in the West. And all of this without the guy that they traded Monta for, in Andrew Bogut. Curry has been outstanding. Thompson has turned into one of the better 3 point shooters in the league. And adding Jarrett Jack has proved to be a much better defensive option to play alongside Curry, when the Warriors do play small. The Hawks proved last year that they could survive without Al Horford in the mix. Yes, we may have needed him come playoff time, but we weren't falling off of a cliff without him either. And the same will hold true if Josh Smith weren't on this team, if it came to that. The fact is that the type of shots that Josh takes, can be replaced by players who can and will shoot a higher percentage on those shots. At that point, the thing we need to replace concerning Josh, is his defense. Maybe one guy can't do that. Maybe it will take 2 guys to do it. But it can be done. And I still say that the same way we saw Josh's overall numbers improved without Horford here, that you'd see the same thing if Josh weren't here and Horford had to assume a much bigger responsibility. You'd also see Ivan's numbers improve ( as they always do ) when he gets extended minutes. And you'd see Jeff Teague handling the ball much more in transition situations, making him more effective. Contrary to what Josh Smith fans believe, this team will NOT fall off a cliff without Josh Smith in the mix. That's not to devalue his importance to this team. But he can be replaced. It may not be a popular move, but he can be replaced. The same goes for Al Horford. It's just that if you keep Smith, we'd need a center that is more apt to playing around the rim much more than Horford. We probably need that anyway. The Hawks just can't continue forward with both of these guys basically taking the same types of shots, then act like we need more "energy" when neither of them are in position to rebound the basketball.

Month of January stats so farJosh Smith17.0 ppg9.3 rebs4.9 asst2.7 blks1.3 stls45% FG25% 3FG43% FTAl Horford15.0 ppg8.3 rebs3.3 asst53% FG50% FTJoe Johnson20 ppg3.7 rebs3.5 asst47% FG49% 3FG86% FTDeron Williams19.5 ppg8.3 asst4.0 rebs47% FG48% 3FG100% FT ( has made 31 straight FTs in January )Brook Lopez18.5 ppg7.0 rebs1.5 blks1.0 stls50% FG79% FTJoakim Noah10.2 ppg11.2 rebs3.0 asst1.8 blks39% FG73% FTPaul George19.0 ppg10.7 rebs3.5 asst3.0 stls39% FG32% 3FG75% FTLuou Deng18.7 ppg4.5 rebs3.7 asst1.3 stls49% FG47% 3FG83% FTBrandon Jennings22.4 ppg3.3 rebs6.1 asst1.6 stls45% FG44% 3FG91% FT

It is bad . . real bad . . that Brooklyn is starting to play well right now.A few weeks ago, I said that neither Deron nor JJ deserved to be on that All-Star team, and that the coaches could conceivably vote for 8 frontcourt players to the team ( seeing that Lebron can conceivably play SG on an All-Star team ). Now, Brooklyn is red hot, and both JJ and Deron are playing well since Avery Johnson's firing.Meanwhile, the Hawks are struggling, and Smith and Horford aren't helping themselves one bit for a possible push for an All-Star berth. The back to back games vs the Nets this week could be critical for Smith and Horford to get an all-star berth.Here's how it stands right now in my eyes.FRONTCOURT STARTERSLebronMeloGarnett ( who shouldn't be here, but is always a fan favorite )FRONTCOURT PROBABLESBoshPierceBACKCOURT STARTERSWadeRondoBACKCOURT PROBABLESHolliday ( who really deserves to make this team )Irving ( who has been short of dynamite so far and really deserves to be a starter honestly )So to me, that's 9 spots already filled. You have 3 spots left ( regardless of position ), and these guys vying for those spots in my opinion- Smith- Horford- Deron- JJ- Lopez- Chandler- West- George- Noah- Deng- JenningsIf it's a stats/impact for the team type vote, the choices should be Deron, Smith, and Horford. But the Hawks schedule kind of hurts him here too, because we really haven't played all of the teams in the East yet. This means that Smith and Horford must play well vs those teams ( like Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and New York ).Surely Woody will give a sympathetic vote toward Smith and Horford. Not sure if PJ Carlesimo will, if Smith and Horford struggles vs them this week. Bottom line is that these guys have to play their way into this game. Nothing is going to be given to them, not with the changes in how frontcourt players are chosen.Smith, in my opinion, shot his way out of the game last year, and he's looking to do the same thing this year. He has to lay off the long ball, and do what he does best . . . impact the game on the defensive end, and be a monster as a transition scorer.

Good observation.He was 2 - 2 from 3 point range in that New Year's Eve loss vs Houston. If you add the New Orleans game to the list of games you posted, Josh is 7 - 28 from 3 point range in the last 7 games ( 25% ). So he's attempting 4 threes per game and just making 1. When he shoots a "timely 3 pointer", he's more likely to make the shot. But when he starts jacking them up just because he's open, that's when he gets in trouble.What may be worse than the 3's, is that he's also shooting 43% FT during that 7 game stretch as well.

Wretch . . . I have to disagree somewhat. While it may take luck to be in the position to get that superstar, it also takes aggressiveness and a GM that knows what the hell he's doing. If the Hawks would've gotten that #1 pick in 2007, who do we take? Greg Oden or Kevin Durant? As much as BK got ripped for not drafting for need by taking the potentially more talented Marvin Williams in 2005, I could easily see him passing on Durant in favor of Oden. That wouldn't be "luck", that would be a GM not identifying who a true superstar talent is. Oden was always hyped as a Bill Russel type of dominant defensive center who could give you timely offense. With JJ, Josh, Marvin, and then Childress still in the mix, there's no way we'd taken Durant over Oden. But that would've been the correct pick, if you're looking for a superstar. What Jerry West did in trading for Kobe was not luck. It was West KNOWING that Kobe was a potential superstar, despite his age, and doing everything possible to move into a position to draft him. http://dimemag.com/2010/02/jerry-west-talked-john-calipari-out-of-drafting-kobe/ What Pat Riley did to lure Lebron and Bosh to Miami was not Luck. It was a master plan. Everyone knew about the free agents that were about to hit the market in 2010. So Riley prepared the Heat for that moment, even having his superstar Wade plant the seeds of it as early as 2006, when they played each other on the USA National team. Then Riley stepped in himself and basically manipulated Lebron into coming to Miami. http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2010/07/inside_the_decision_miamis_cou.html People called me crazy 2 years ago, when I flat out said that I would trade ANY two of the three stars we had on our team ( JJ, Smith, Horford ) for Dwight Howard. To me, that's the type of move we had to do, in order to bring in a superstar. The minute Dwight started talking about "testing the free agent waters", that would've been the time I would've basically told Orlando to name whatever they wanted, and let's make a deal. I wouldn't have cared if Dwight was on the team just one year. Those are the risks that you have to take sometimes to get to that next level. Look what Houston did with the James Harden deal. Now I know a few people still don't believe this guy is a star, but he looks every bit of at least the 2nd coming of Tracy McGrady. And he's young. And he plays a dynamic style of basketball. And his look is marketable. Houston could've cared less about their young draft picks. They saw a chance to get a guy who they thought could be a superstar. And when OKC thought they were getting a decent deal out of it, the trade was done. And honestly, the same goes with Joe Johnson in Brooklyn. He's not a superstar, but the move enabled them to do the two other things they needed to do. 1) re-sign Deron Williams . . 2) make a long term commitment to another good player Brook Lopez. So now they have their version of the Big 3 . . . a version that "on paper" is much better than our former Big 3 that was a 2nd round team. Yeah, it may take a little luck. But it takes more smarts than luck. Look at Toronto. Ever since Bargnani went down, they've been one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference. That team is 10 - 4 without him . . . 4 - 18 with him. Now he has talent, but now is the prime moment to trade him. Trade him for young talent or even a wiley vet that can help that Raptor team even more. But the nature of GMs are to hang onto talent that they drafted, to see if they can get all they can out of him, before moving them. Sound familiar? People have been calling for the Hawks to deal some of their talent for better players for years. We gave JJ away for nothing but cap space, and hope that will be enough to entice a better player to come here. But as people in this thread have said, superstars are normally obtained either via a trade, or through the draft. We're not bad enough to draft a Kyrie Irving . . so will we use a trade to possibly get that superstar? Not if we value Josh Smith and Al Horford like THEY'RE the superstar talent.

The coach needs to be watching film, not the players. Watch to see who he needs to be playing, and where.

It happens because when the Hawks go small, it's not necessarily a good thing. Look at this link that lists the 5-man lineups that Stevenson is a part of, and tell me what you see. http://www.82games.com/1213/12ATL5.HTM#5man Specifically notice which position Stevenson is playing, and his corresponding +/- number. And you're not a "fool". You simply needed to dig more deeper.

And that's the big thing in all of this. Dwight has still not said that he wants to play in Atlanta. Yet, some of you still are holding onto some belief that he'd come here at season's end.All Dwight has to do is say . . "I want to come home to play for the Hawks. I want to play with my dude Josh Smith."Why hasn't he said this?

That means that we can't wait until the end of the season to make a trade for him though. We have to do that deal NOW . . . which will NOT happen . . because the Lakers are at least going to play this out for the rest of the season.So once again, do you really think Dwight is going to give up 25 million, just to play with Josh Smith and come to a city that he's NEVER said he wanted to come to?

The growth of Smith and Horford . . . along with Johnson's growth as the lead guy . . . is what brought this team out of the depths of hell ( not the promised land. Say it right, if you're going to say it.Heck, even Lebron or Kobe wouldn't have finished .500 with the 2005 - 06 team that JJ came to. And remember that JJ got hurt and missed the last 25 or so games in the 2006 - 07 campaign.Hate if you want to, but you can't deny what the dude did while he was here. Almost every playoff game we DID WIN, he played a significant part in that victory.

Hawks should definitely do this right. JJ is going to go down as one of the top 10 Hawks of all time, whether people like it or not. He spent 7 years here and represented the franchise well on and off the court. He wasn't a superstar, but he was a major reason why we became relevant again as a franchise. The people who wouldn't at least clap for him on his 1st return to ATL, or when a mini tribute video comes on ( which the Hawks should definitely do ), simply wouldn't clap for him out of spite. And remember, JJ NEVER asked to be traded. No matter what people think of the dude, this is STILL the best moment in Atlanta playoff history. Had Dominique pulled out the win @ Boston in 1988, this would be the best moment. But because Nique DIDN'T win that game, this is the best moment in franchise history. The moment that kept all of you as Hawk fans captivated and believing that we're building something great for the future. Listen to the arena. Listen to it. You may NEVER hear it like that EVER again. I don't care if some of you don't like the dude or not. Don't you EVER forget what he did for this franchise. This was the moment that gave ALL of us hope for the future. And we haven't been a bad team since.

What's going on in Brooklyn isn't a Batman and Robin situation. D-Will is "billed" as a Batman, but he hasn't been close to that all year. Lopez has arguably been the best player on that team.Brooklyn is more like The Avengers.Deron = Iron ManJJ = Captain AmericaLopez = ThorGerald Wallace = Nick Fury . . . ( Nets fans think Gerald is the true leader and heart and soul of the team )Reggie Evans = Hulk

LOL @ 4 - 25.That's Jamal Crawford or Josh Smith you're talking about . . . not Joe Johnson.

Do you people actually think that Dwight is going to give up 25 million dollars, just to play in Atlanta with his buddy?25 MILLION?Come on now.

Trade for James HardenOh wait . . .

The Celtics didn't get far enough?The won a NBA championship, got to a NBA Finals, an EC Finals, and 2 EC Semifinals in the 5 years they had KG and Allen. Last season was supposed to be their swan song, and they STILL came within 1 game of getting to their 3rd NBA Finals.The Celtics aren't in desperation mode for the future, because they're still playing for TODAY. Their Big 3 is still arguably the mentally toughest trio in the conference. And their the one team that truly doesn't care where they are seeded in the EC playoffs, because they don't need home court advantage to win a series.The funny thing is that Brooklyn is following the Celtics blueprint, by bringing in star talents that couldn't win by themselves, and hoping that they can collectively get it done. The difference is that Boston did it with future Hall of Famers, while Brooklyn is trying to do it with a collection of All-Star ( but non-Hall of Fame ) talent.

I agree that Ferry is talking about the core of the team and not the role players. Josh, Al, Jeff, Lou, and Korver are normally going to be the ones who determine if we win or lose on a nightly basis. Zaza and Ivan COULD be included in this group, but they don't play nearly enough to dramatically affect games one way or another ( on a nightly basis ). And guys like Harris, Morrow, and Stevenson stay hurt so much, that they can't be counted on one way or the other. Tolliver and Petro are non-factors. The rookies get a pass . . period.Where I disagree, is that Ferry is JUST talking about Josh with most of his statements. I think he's specifically talking about Josh, Al, and Teague . . and Zaza to an extent/Keep in mind that Korver and Lou are Ferry's choices to be on this team. I guess you could add John Jenkins and Mike Scott to that mix as well, seeing that he was hired a few days before the 2012 Draft. The guys that came over in the JJ trade are simply expendable fillers that will be gone by the trade deadline, or by season's end.But Horford, Smith, Teague, and Zaza are NOT his choices. They were chosen by someone else. So there isn't any emotional attachment to these guys.Look at it like this.Re-signing Smith, Teague and Zaza may take a total of 75 - 100 million over the next 3 - 4 years, with about 20 - 25 million a year being needed to pay just those 3 guys alone. Then he has to see if retaining any or all of these guys will have the Hawks in a position to at least challenge for an East title within the next 2 - 3 years. People talk about a 5 year plan, but the seeds of a championship caliber team have to be in place way before then.I think Ferry needs to decide these things, and in this particular order1) Can a Horford - Smith frontline challenge for an East title? ( If Yes, then you stay the course and move to Question #3. If no, go to Questions #2 and #2a )2) Do we need to pull the trigger on a Josh Smith trade right now, to get the type of impact player(s) we want?2a) Do we need to pull the trigger on an Al Horford trade right now, to get the type of impact players(s) we want?3) Can we get a decent player(s) for our expiring contracts before the trade deadline to help Al and Josh, or do we let them expire and make our move with cap room in the summer?4) Is Teague the PG of the future? ( If yes, move to Question #5. If no, move to Question #5a ).5a) How much do we pay to retain Teague?5b ) Who do we get to replace Teague and how do we going about doing it?6) Should we retain Zaza, and at what price?I think all of Ferry's major decisions not only have to do with Josh, but with the other guys who are either hitting the FA market, or guys that Ferry didn't pick himself.

Well . . I think it's time to see it sir. Brace yourself.

2010 - 11 season is correct.We lost 6 in a row to end the season, and everybody was convinced that Orlando was about to wipe the floor with us once again. Drew was questioning if the Hawks could "turn it on". The players say they could . . and they did . . and beat Orlando in that 1st round.

Sad day for Sacramento.NBA owners basically hold cities hostage, when they ask for a brand new arena ( to be paid for by the taxpayers ). So the people of the city have 2 choices . . . (1) say go (( bleep )) yourself and pay for your own arena . . or (2) bow down to the will of the owner, and give them whatever they want.Cities that choose (1) will almost always see their team move. Seattle did it 6 years ago, and you saw what happened to them. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they're probably dancing in the streets, while Sacramento gets to villify its current ownership and Seattle itself.We'll see if New Orleans will be the next team to possibly court another city about a possible move. Virginia Beach and Kansas City want a team too.Not going to celebrate for Seattle, when Sacramento loses their team. Good for those of you in the Seattle area though.

Sad day for Sacramento.NBA owners basically hold cities hostage, when they ask for a brand new arena ( to be paid for by the taxpayers ). So the people of the city have 2 choices . . . (1) say go (( bleep )) yourself and pay for your own arena . . or (2) bow down to the will of the owner, and give them whatever they want.Cities that choose (1) will almost always see their team move. Seattle did it 6 years ago, and you saw what happened to them. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they're probably dancing in the streets, while Sacramento gets to villify its current ownership and Seattle itself.We'll see if New Orleans will be the next team to possibly court another city about a possible move. Virginia Beach and Kansas City want a team too.Not going to celebrate for Seattle, when Sacramento loses their team. Good for those of you in the Seattle area though.

And your Rudy for Josh swap isn't as easy as an across the board trade of players.Adding Rudy to the Hawks would balance out the Hawks, because Zaza would move to C and Horford to PF. And Korver may even move to 2 guard or come off the bench ( where he probably should be ).Zaza + Horford + Rudy is a better rebounding frontline than Horford + Smith + Korver