TheNorthCydeRises

Too many options? LOLGuys like Stevenson, Tolliver and Petro would never see the light of day on a good team. Morrow might not either. The same may go for Ivan, although Ivan's overall raw talent trumps the 4 guys I named.Drew simply needs to decide on a rotation, and stick with it. Stop acting like all of these guys deserve playing time.Meanwhile, the guys that probably DO deserve to at least get some game looks ( Jenkins and Scott ), can't get any, because we're too busy playing veteran scrubs.

Nique is our Tommy Heinson.So that means that no matter how terrible people "think" he is, he has earned the right to be respected. Nique represents the ONLY face of the franchise that most people would even recognize from this organization. So if it came down to having Nique ( a legend ) or Ferrell ( a benchwarmer ) to do the games, I'd rather keep the legend around.

Ivan more than proved himself last year, and should be receiving more time in this season. Even Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller knew this back in January. Listen to their comments carefully, even at the end.

"Size" in the fact that he's not a PG masquerading as a SG.

Showcasing Tolliver? To whom? The Bakersfield Jam ( our D-League affiliate )?Maybe Tolliver is an All-NBA practice player. But during the game, it's OBVIOUS who the better talented player is. And what good is Tolliver's "range", if he shoots Josh Smith like from 3 point range ( 23% ).Having said that, campster has the only feesible explanation as to why Tolliver plays over Ivan, other than the fact that Drew simply does not like or trust Ivan.As for Korver, he's not the issue. The issue is why isn't Jenkins ( a SG with size ) not getting any playing time? I would bet money that he's a better all around player than both Stevenson ( who is playing well ) and Morrow. Jenkins is the potential future, not those other two dudes.

No we wouldn't. Portland is a talented, but inconsistent young team with absolutely no bench. We usually take care of those types of teams, even if we struggle a little with them ( like we did tonight ). It's the mediocre to good teams we tend to lose to more than we beat. And that pattern hasn't changed much this year.

He would also be a more erratic scorer. A guy that you couldn't count on, on a nightly basis or even every 3 games. His fluctuations would be even greater. This year, Jordan is currently shooting 67% from 16 - 23 FT . . and 33% from 3 point range ( 50% eFG ). Problem is, he's only taking 1.2 shots per game from long 2, and 4.2 from 3 point range. He, like a lot of players, settle too much for a wide open shot that they can't consistently knock down, instead of working for a higher percentage shot that they can make.

Smoove shoots the long 2 at :03Smash looks to embarrass his opponent at :12http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmSVT3OcLOcThe problem is that we see way more plays like :03 than we do like plays at :12Josh needs to kill Smoove. . and let Smash live.

J-Smash is the name I always liked ( coined by a blogger on the AJC ). But he can't be "Smash" until he starts to relentlessly attack the rim. I refuse to call him "Smoove". I just refer to him by the name his mama gave him.I still hold out that he'll play like the guy below in the video. But the difference between the two is that at :18 in the video, Josh would set his feet and shoot a 3, while the other guy would do what you're about to see.

Pressure of being "the man".JJ's demeanor almost made him seem to not even worry about it, whether he played good or bad. He had the same face.But tonight, you could see the pressure of trying to be the star weighing on Josh, while Lebron was just methodically being efficient, and was the crowd favorite.It's nights like these that will have fans turning on Josh. And if the fans turn on him, why should he stick around?

Ivan doesn't hang out there. He's always 20 feet and in. Horford doesn't do that when he's playing PF. He's normally at the same distance as Ivan, and maybe even a step closer. Only guys who think they can shoot from out there do that. I think Josh is feeling the pressure of being "the man". He just needs to let the game come to him. Last year he could get away with it, because JJ could somewhat bail him out when he's playing bad, or he'd defer to JJ altogether. But now that he's the marquee guy, he's trying to live up to that. Big crowd at Philips tonight, with Josh as "the man". He simply couldn't handle the pressure. He tried to do too much. And Battier shut him down.

Yeah. One can ball. And one can't.

If Josh plays the 3, I want him to have the mindset he had tonight. Don't jack up a lot of shots. Look to score inside. And make plays for other people.I have no problem with him playing like Andre Iguodala. If he does that more often, he'll have better numbers across the board ( even if his scoring is down ) and he WILL make the All-Star team if this team is at playoff level.A 15 point - 9 rebound - 6 assist Josh Smith that shoots 52% FG . . . is better than a 19 point - 9 rebound - 3 assist Josh Smith that shoots 44% FG

3 - 16 FG . . . 19% FG2 - 8 3FG . . . 25% 3FG- Hasn't shot a FT- 7 total rebounds in 52 minutes of play ( at the PF position )- Has more fouls ( 4 ) than FG makes ( 3 )- 5.5 ppg . . 4.8 rebs . . per 36 minutesMaybe he's in a "funk". Or maybe he's just horrible.It's just 3 games though. And he's a shooter. So maybe he'll shoot his way out of this.Hopefully, this thread will have the same effect it had on Korver, and Tolliver will have a good game vs the Heat.

Last night's tempo was the slowest of the year. Playing fast isn't going to win us games. Playing defense and playing to our strengths on the offense end will though.

Korver was 0 - 3 from 3 point range in the game, and 1 - 11 overall from 3 on the season at the time this thread was started. He was 1 - 6 from three going into that 4th quarter. Had Indiana not gone into an epic funk ( like we did in that 3rd quarter ), they win going away, and those 2 threes Korver made at the end don't mean jack.I will agree that Korver's defense has been solid, especially in that zone. But the fact is that our "shooter" is 4 - 16 from 3 on the season ( and he still went 3 - 9 from 3 last night ). Props to him for making big shots at the end of the game last night to bring us back in the game. Let's see if he can start making some shots, or if his "funk" will continue. History says that his shooting will improve.

You're saying it right Cwell. If a 1st round pick gets sent to the D-League, something has gone horribly wrong, or the team is so stacked that they just can't find minutes for the kid. That's not the case in Atlanta. What we do, is waste minutes on veteran guys who we KNOW aren't going to any get better than what they've already shown in their career. And for the most part, all of those guys have been one year rentals. So instead of a guy like Ivan Johnson getting a set amount of minutes to prove that he can be an impact rotation player on a nightly basis, he has to play behind a guy like Anthony Tolliver . . a guy who is on his 5th team in 5 years, and someone who will NOT be here next year. And instead of John Jenkins being given a chance to see if his skill as a sharpshooter can translate to the NBA, he has to watch guys like Anthony Morrow, Kyle Korver, and Deshawn Stevenson get the call ahead of him. None of those guys are probably on this team next year either. And none of them may be a better shooter either. Jenkins, because he won't get a chance to play, won't get a chance to shine like Isaiah Thomas ( of Sacramento ) did last year, despite being the LAST player picked in the 2011 draft. And he has no chance to be Norris Cole of Miami, who dropped 20 points on Boston in his 2nd game of his career, and developed an almost cult like following amongst their fans ( they called him the "Cole Train" . . . as in "Soul Train" ) Jenkins can't even get Jimmer Fredette type minutes, to see if his shooting translates to the NBA level. If this is truly a "transition year", the Hawks need to stop throwing out guys that aren't vital to our future. But because Drew is a "lame duck" coach this year, he's going to play guys in which he feels can win him the most games. And if there's one thing about Drew, is that his evaluation of rookie talent early on in their careers is poor at best. It's almost unbelievable to see that an injury to a limited PG like Hinrich was the thing that finally gave Teague his chance. Had Hinrich not got hurt, and Teague not performed the way he did in that Chicago series, Teague still may not have been the starter going into the 2011 - 12 season. I'm with you Cwell. I'd much rather see if guys like Ivan and Jenkins can play well over their heads, than to see vet players not be able to take their game to the next level, because we already know their limitations.

111 games 1425 minutes ( 12.8 min per game ) 7 total starts ( actually started in Game 3 of his rookie year, before getting hurt in Game 8 ) I wouldn't call that "developing Acie" or playing him too much. He proved that he just couldn't play in this league though, because he couldn't shoot, or finish at the rim.

I agree. But it puts us far closer to being a championship team, than the current squad we have now.

The Magic made an EC Finals and an NBA Finals. Instead, you'd forego that, and continue to be the Atlanta Hawks, a franchise who has NEVER made it out of the 2nd round since they've been in ATL.

You better check the lineups of the past 30 or so NBA Champions, if you don't believe that you need an All-Star lineup to win. We can't make that trade now, but say the Lakers simply decide that their team just isn't good enough depth wise to win a title as constructed. And instead of keeping Dwight Howard, they want to add depth to their team. So at the trade deadline, here's the deal Horford + Teague + Morrow + 2014 1st round pick . . . for Dwight ( if he agrees to extend with the Hawks ) Here is the Lakers lineup: PG - Nash G - Kobe F - Metta PF - Gasol C - Horford With Teague being the 6th man, and getting the green light to play like Lou Williams, and Morrow being the sharpshooter off the bench that they need. Here is the Hawks lineup: PG - Harris G - Jenkins ( who I still say is the best shooter on the team and should be starting ) F - Stevenson PF - Smith C - Howard With Lou playing his 6th man role, with Zaza, Ivan, and Korver coming off the bench. People wouldn't make that deal for the Hawks? We'd have a top 5 player, and Josh Smith might play even better with Dwight beside him. We'd still have 2 good PGs, the sharpshooter in Korver, the defensive player in Stevenson, and Zaza and Ivan to bring off the bench. ( of course the Lakers would never make that trade, because they understand the value of a superstar ).

So you wouldn't trade Teague and Horford to the Lakers, for Dwight Howard? Just remember what the rebuilding objective is here . . . to win a championship. And to win a championship, you do need a superstar here. Most of us fell in love with our young players over the years, when we honestly should've tried to trade one or two of them for a higher quality player. When the opportunity arises, you can't be afraid to let go of "fan favorites", if it means that you're going to get a better player in return.

I am not against keeping Josh on this team. He is unquestionably the defensive rock of this team. He's the energy guy that every team needs. He is a very good all-around talent.But people around him ( and his fans ) keep telling him that if he just develops a jumpshot, he'd be a superstar.It's never going to happen folks. He's not all of a sudden going to develop an automatic 18 foot Jumpshot like Chris Webber had in his prime. It just isn't going to happen.What he can do, is become the best transition finisher in the game next to Lebron James. What he can do, is start letting people like Teague lead fast breaks and lead the halfcourt offense, in which he looks to get Josh easy looks from 10 feet and in. What he can do, is start crashing the offensive boards and try to get offensive rebound putbacks ( like Al did last night ), instead of drifting out toward the 3 point line looking for an open jumpshot.But he has to be WILLING to do ALL of that. That's the only way he's ever going to be an efficient offensive player.Josh definitely has value across the league. And I truly believe a team like Cleveland will break the bank to bring him in, alongside Kyrie Irving. But for the Hawks, that price tag can't be so high, that we're paying him a salary in which he feels he has to be "All-NBA", when he doesn't have All-NBA offensive talent.People will consistently complain about Josh until he completely plays to his strengths.Like everyone else, it was just nice to see Teague have complete control of the team, with everyone else taking the type of shots that they are known to make. And it was nice to see the guy who shoots the highest percentage on the team, finally get a good number of touches.

Horford looked a whole lot like Al Jefferson last night, when he has a good game with a limited amount of FTs. It's games like last night in which I keep saying that at some point, Horford is going to start becoming extremely vocal about how he is used. If Josh continues to be a high volume low FG% shooter, and all of these guards and "shooters" get their shots, there's going to be a problem if Horford's usage isn't increasing. Josh's usage has to come down, as well as Lou's ( who shoudn't be looking to shoot everytime he touches the ball ).

hahahahaha Funniest post of the season so far.