TheNorthCydeRises

The only thing that matters is if the style of play we go with . . wins. How many "running teams" were in the playoffs and had success? This is a league in which defense, rebounding, and halfcourt execution wins championships. Phoenix, with all of the good to great players they have, and the best offensive system in the league, has never won a dang thing, let alone get to the NBA Finals. Take away JJ from the team last year, and we don't even get out of the Orlando series. People keep hoping for Josh and Al to reach their potential . . but what if they have? No one wants to accept that fact that maybe Josh and Al are no more than good complimentary pieces that will always have limitations as players. Josh can't consistently make a perimeter shot, or even create a perimeter shot for himself. And while Horford was the best OPEN midrange shooter in the league last year, his post game is garbage. If Horford doesn't fully commit to developing that post game, he'll always be a complimentary piece. Unless something drastically changes with the CBA, the history of this league has shown that guys with ridiculous contracts can and do get traded all the time, especially within the last 2 years of the end of the contract. Don't think for one minute that when JJ is making 25 mill in Year 5 of the deal, people who are looking to possibly get out from under longer contracts can and will deal with the Hawks. And if we happen get to Year 6 of JJ's deal with him making almost 25 million, that kind of expiring contract will be like a piece of gold to teams around the league. People are worried about the wrong things, when it comes to JJ's contract. There is little change that if JJ goes into decline, the Hawks will NOT be on the hook for the full 6 yrs - 120+ million. He'll be able to be traded quite easily, especially to championship caliber teams looking for a complimentary piece, and don't care if they get rid of 2 or 3 non-essential contracts. Those teams have historically overpaid that "missing piece", and gladly parted with fringe pieces that didn't get them to that next level.

But you're not getting MAX value for JJ, if you're simply blowing up the team. All you're doing is getting rid of his contract and trying to start over ( ala 1999 . . when we got rid of an aging Smitty and Mookie ). Getting maximum value for JJ would mean that we are getting back a player(s) that would make us better RIGHT NOW . . not clearing cap space for the POTENTIAL to get better, but sucking in the short term. We would become the Pistons, if we started to sell off everybody. Do you want that? This team for the past 4 years has been anything but a lousy product. And historically, the Hawks haven't been lousy either. Historically, this has always been a playoff team that showed signs of getting to that next level, but never did. And don't get me started again on Atlanta fans. The fact is that ATL is a lukewarm sports town at best that only supports superstar talents . . . not winning teams. If this team right now went into the tank, attendance would suffer significantly. Last year saw the Hawks draw the fewest people they have since 2006 - 07. No Ryan . . . what you want to do is kill the Hawks NOW . . and hope that we get better than we are now in the future. Instead of trading one of the PFs to try to make the current team better, you'd rather trade the one guy that usually determines if we win or lose during the playoffs. You'd rather fall out of contention for anything for 3 or 4 years and HOPE CP3 or Dwight will sign with a lottery team like us with cap space . . instead of with a team that can win a title if they go there. That's the fools gold of the "blow up theory". But like I said . . I hope you buy season tickets for the next 3 - 4 years as we go back to winning 17 - 21 home games, and struggle to win 35 games on the total season. Fans then will have a legit excuse to not show up to games and let fans of opposing teams take over our arena.

We were NOT a top 10 team in the league last year . . we just happened to play fairly well in the playoffs. Alll 8 west teams were better than us last year, along with the 4 top seeds in the East. That trade, if anything, balances us out. It may or may not make us better. I take it that Marvin is traded in that rumor? Otherwise, he'd still have to be the starting SF. With that roster, the starting lineup would have to be this. PG - Nelson G - Hinrich F - Johnson PF - Horford C - Haywood Offensively, that's definitely an upgrade. Defensively it would be up to Horford how good the unit is. We would need more than Teague, Anderson and Zaza off the bench. One more quality bench player ( preferably a deadeye shooter or shot creator ) would be needed. And Teague couldn't afford to have lapses as a scorer. If that team was better offensively, and a better rebounding team, that squad could be better than what we currently have now. Any injuries to JJ would be a killer though, because we'd have no SF on the roster. So the guy to be added to the bench would have to be a SF that is better than Damien. I need to view the other thread to see what the rumor actually is. That lineup, if anything, still holds us where we are as a potential 45 - 50 win, top 5 seed in the East.

My question is . . . If people are so frustrated with the Hawks and their inability to get past the 2nd round, that they want to see the team blown up . . . will those same people buy season tickets for the next 3 - 4 years while this team is rebuilding, and support the Hawks? I already know the answer to that. And LOL @ the people worrying about the state of the Hawks in 3 to 5 years. If we get rid of JJ and basically get nothing in return, you BETTER worry about the Hawks in the next 1 - 3 years. Because if this team becomes a lottery team, the people of ATL will NOT support them while they retool. And if that happens, what if rumors to move the team OUT of ATL start to surface. LOL . . so while people are worried about the impact of a JJ contract 2 - 4 years from now, they might be rooting for the Seattle Hawks, if ownership blows it up, fans stop coming, and the ASG sells the team to the highest bidder.

On that point, is the problem Vince . . or just horrible decision making by Otis Smith? It was CLEAR that Turk was in decline with the way he played in Phoenix. Otis makes the trade for him and Jason Richardson, thinking the sum of both of them could do more for the team, than Vince could do singluarly. I mean, Otis basically blew up a top 4 seed in his quest to get to the title. Some fans may like that, but he did it stupidly. Vince did everything he was supposed to do in Orlando, except get them to the NBA Finals. Hedo hasn't played well in 3 years. Then Otis trades the only backup center to Howard on the team. The fault lies with the Orlando management, not with Vince. When you actually do the research yoruself, and not rely on the article writer, this is what it shows Record of the Suns with DUDLEY as a starter: 5 - 10 Record of the Suns with CARTER as the starter: 22 - 19 The article was written in one of two bad weeks he had as a Sun. A typical "should we change the chemistry of the lineup because we are losing" type article. But as those youtube clips showed after that day, Vince was solid more than he was garbage. They needed Vince to be a star, seeing that they had let Amare go, and others on the team outside of Nash couldn't get it done on a consistent basis.

STILL only posting Phoenix games. And let's clear up something about Phoenix. If Phoenix picked up the team option on Carter's last year on his contract, they'd have to pay him 18 million dollars. Them not wanting to bring back Vince has NOTHING to do with his play in Phoenix. It's just that because they're not a championship caliber team, it makes no sense to pay Vince 18 million. I would almost bet they'd bring him back for 5 million though. Especially now, since Nash would be the only guy making 10+ million on the team. Eddie . . that's why Crank, despite what he says, doesn't watch the league. Watching the league means that you do more than catch a few Hawk games on SportSouth, ESPN, or TNT. Watching the league means that you'll actually watch games in which you have no vested interest in. Maybe it'll be on NBATV. Maybe it'll be on one of the live streaming game sites. Maybe it'll be on youtube when people post chunks of games, not just highlights. Watching the league means that you actually pay attention to the league. You pay attention to the strengths and weaknesses of teams and players. That way, when a team burst on the scene like Memphis, you're not shocked at what they do . . because you've actually seen them play. It's the same type of argument that people had against Monta Eliis and how he wouldn't help the Hawks. They believe silly ish, because they actually don't watch the league. Visual evidence can be there right in front of their eyes, and they still won't believe it, because of silly beliefs about the player. Rationalize because Monta can't stop anybody on defense, that he wouldn't be a good fit . . . despite Monta having the ability to play at a much higher level than a guy like Jamal . . and more consistently. And people think I hate Jamal. I don't hate Jamal. I hate the way he plays sometimes and how he makes his own self an inefficient player unnecessarily. What I have acknowledged though, is that Jamal is one of the only shot creators we have on this team. And that production from him is usually vital for the Hawks to win. But if he's ice cold, he should be nailed to the bench . . even if it means extending Marvin's minutes. That's always been my stance on Jamal. Seriously . . . could this guy come off the bench for the Hawks and help us? Could he START at the 3 in place of Marvin, and help us? His paltry 36% 3 point shooting would've placed him ahead of JJ, Jamal, Josh Smith and Marvin. With Vince being a career 37% 3 point shooter, could he actually up that percentage to around 40%. Could he still average 17.9 points per 36 minutes ( which was better than Jamal's 16.9 and Marvin's 13 points per 36 minute numbers. Garbage? Pape Sy is garbage. Vince is an aging Hall of Famer that is transitioning his game from an explosive scorer, to a timely shooter who can make open jumpers. No way the Hawks spend 3 - 5 mill on a player like that though, and go into luxury tax land. That's not what we do. What we do is scavenge through dumpsters, and come back up with players like Sundiata Gaines . . simply because he has Georgia ties.

Eddie . . . ask Crank who would be a better starting SF for the Hawks . . . Marvin or Vince? And watch him LIE. See Eddie . . I can keep doing the youtube posts, and try to watch him rationalize how this dude is done. And notice that I'm ONLY posting games in which he'd played in Phoenix this year. Vince's stats aren't great. They're pretty average. But what the videos are showing, is that the guy still possesses a scorer's mentality, and has the ability to post a very good game every now and then. Even elite level type games. It's the same type of thing that Jamal gives us at times, but from the SF position. A position of NEED on this team. Nope . . . he'd rather rationalize that because Vince is 35 years old, that he can't ball. That guys like Pape Sy and Damien Wilkins would be better options for the Hawks, simply because the Hawks can pay them the bare minimum, instead of paying Vince 3 - 5 million for a one or two year stay in ATL. Vince isn't a superstar anymore, so he's garbage in his eyes. But the videos say otherwise. Still posting ONLY Phoenix games . . . not games from 2003. And the thing that is standing out in all of these games, is that Vince basically plays within himself. He's not trying to do a lot of extra stuff. He's either catching and shooting the 3 ( and knocking them down ), or posting up on occasion, or taking people off the dribble to create for others. Those attributes alone are worth 3 - 5 million for the next year or two. But nope. Crank would rather hope the Hawks find some "diamond in the rough" with the 48th pick, and hope a G-Tech player like Iman Schumpert can be the next Mario West/Royal Ivey combined, and be a "great" spot minute defender for us. Still ONLY posting Phoenix games. Guys like Crank would try to belittle me, you, Vol4ever, and anybody else who dare oppose his opinion that Vince is done, when people who REALLY watch the league, know better. None of us are expecting the superstar version of Vince. But if Vince gave us more at the SF position than Marvin, and gave us streaky Jamal Crawford like production from that spot, the Hawks would be a MUCH BETTER team. Despite being a "mummy", Vince simply knows how to play the game. He's not going to be great every night. But he'll be solid enough not to hurt you on a nightly basis.

This thread proves that some of you simply don't watch the league. Vince had a better year as an "old man" at 34, than both Jamal Crawford and Marvin Williams. He's still good enough to be a starting 3 in this league, and definitely good enough to be a quality 6th man. Like people say, he'll probably go to Chicago, and become Derrick Rose's "Ron Harper", making that team even more potent ( especially if Thibs can get him to play better defense ). The only thing in decline about Vince, is his athleticism. Lucky for Vince, athleticism wasn't the only part of his game. He's a borderline Hall of Fame player that still has the ability to play at a high level at times. Forget what he always did to us . . . look at what he did a mere 3 months ago vs a team that made it to the Western Conference Finals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnl3SqeQZWA Then he did this the next game Tell Marvin to do that on consecutive games. Hell . . tell Jamal or JJ to do this on consecutive games. Please start watching the league folks.

Would that be a BAD thing? I mean . . . people don't believe this team can advance further as currently constructed anyway. So you make a trade or two to change the mix, to see if it makes us better. And Sund would be gone, along with Drew. If the right people were brought in, that wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Here's a question . . . . who had a better playoff series? - Hinrich vs Orlando - Teague vs Chicago The question is relevant because whose to say that Teague may have done the same thing vs the Magic that he did vs Chicago, and helped us beat them? This entire team was looking like garbage going into the playoffs ( including Hinrich ), but once the playoffs began, people stepped up. Hinrich did his job and was good on both ends of the floor. So he gets credit for that. The question then would be, if Hinrich wasn't here, could Teague have done the same thing? Or the more important question . . would Drew trust Teague to play extended minutes, if Bibby continued to struggle? The real issue is this though. With a max contract on the payroll ( JJ ), and two other sizeable contracts along with it ( Smith and Horford ), the rest of the team will have to be made up of lower level type contracts. Because of that, the Hawks MUST get maximum value out of the rest of the guys on the roster. The reason why you keep a few young players on the payroll, is that they may be able to play ABOVE what they are being paid for a few years. If Teague can consistently do what he did in that Chicago series, his value to the team will skyrocket. He'll be a player being paid 2 mill a year, that would be playing at a 5 - 8 million dollar level if he were to hit the market. In Washington, a guy like Jordan C. is poised to be one of their main guys, despite only making a little under 4.5 million for the next 3 years. If the kid becomes a more consistent shooter, he'd easily increase his value to the Wiz. When you look across the league, you'll see how some of these other playoff teams benefited from a guy playing well above what he was paid: - Rose: 5.6 million ( league MVP ) - Barea: 1.8 million ( a big key for Dallas in the playoffs ) - Lawson: 1.6 million ( and he'll make a little over 4 million for the next 2 years ) - Holiday: 1.6 million ( developing into a nice starting PG ) - George Hill: 1.2 million ( solid PG behind Parker ) - Blair: 900K ( although he didn't play much in the playoffs, he is a top notch rebounder ) - Meeks: 760K ( 3 point specialist for Philly ) Honestly, we should have Teague, Jordan, and the 2010 and 2011 1st round picks as the developmental support group for the "core". And if only 2 of those guys would be able to play above their contract, it could help us tremendously. Instead, it's Teague and Teague only that has a chance to do it, while we'll bring in a plethora of vet minimum scrubs who may not even play up to that low of a standard.

LOL . . you think? Yeah, we'd still have a dead man walking on the team in Bibby. But by the start of next season, hopefully Drew would've sent Bibby to the bench and play the role of backup PG/designated 3 point shooter, and finally give Teague a shot at starting. Most important though, this would be our lineup going into the summer PG - Teague G - Johnson F - Marvin PF - Smith C - Horford C - Zaza G - Jordan G - Bibby PF - Kenneth Faried ( 1st round pick ) . . rebounding machine who can block shots . . an upgrade over Josh Powell So we'd have a potential scorer off the bench in Jordan, who could help replace what Jamal gave us, and a chance to draft a PF like Faried who can hit the boards from the 4 spot, despite being undersized. Now you're looking at filling 4 spots at veteran minimum salary or 50% below MLE prices, to complete the roster. - add a Nazr Mohammed? . . I'd go for that . . might have to give him more than the vet minimum though. - bring Damien Wilkins back? . . . against it, but we could do worse - add a 3rd PG in Earl Watson? . . . he can at least play a little defense - bring back Jason Collins? . . . if just to play against Dwight, I'm not against that either. Bench 6th - Jordan 7th - Zaza 8th - Nazr 9th - Bibby/Watson ( whomever is better ) 10th - Faried Collins, Wilkins, Bibby/Watson Minutes breakdown PG - Teague ( 34 ) - Bibby/Watson ( 14 ) G - Johnson ( 26 ) - Jordan ( 22 ) F - Marvin ( 26 ) - Johnson ( 10 ) - Smith ( 12 ) PF - Smith ( 24 ) - Horford ( 18 ) - Faried ( 6 ) C - Horford ( 18 ) - Zaza ( 15 ) - Nazr ( 15 ) It's not a championship squad, but hey, it's not like we're looking any better than this going into the summer. And it's the reality of our situation going into the offseason, barring a major trade. We just don't have the free agent money to do anything significant. If a young guy like Jordan isn't quite ready, just put Wilkins in the lineup and halve Jordan's minutes. Or increase Joe's minutes at the 2, which would cause an increase of Marvin's minutes at the 3. Either way, at least you'd have 3 young guys in the lineup that could possibly help you in the long run, along with the "core" of the team.

It has nothing to do with him being a pessimist. He's just being REAL. Even Joe Johnson doesn't come to ATL, had the Hawks not found a loophole in the system, and frontloaded JJ's contract in that 1st year, so that he would get all of his salary increases in year 1 of that deal. JJ was paid 20 million in his first year in ATL ( Base salary of 12 million + the contract escalation bonuses of 8 million ). He went from being paid 2.36 million dollars to 20 million. Even if he had decided to go back to Phoenix for the same contract, Phoenix couldn't pay him that extra 8 million that Atlanta could. That's probably one of the top 3 reasons why he chose Atlanta in 2005. And the money again was the reason why he stayed in Atlanta in 2010. Don't be fooled by anything else. The facts are that only 2 other major free agents have come to ATL in the past 30 years, other than Joe Johnson. - Nique was traded for - Mookie was traded for - Steve Smith was traded for - Glenn Robinson was traded for - Shareef Abdur Rahim was traded for - Joe basically forced a trade to Atlanta by asking them not to match ATL's offer sheet - Bibby was traded for - Jamal was traded for - Hinrich was traded for Only Dikembe Mutumbo in his prime and an aging Moses Malone willingly came to Atlanta. And our best draft picks during that time were Jason Terry, Josh Smith, and Al Horford. And even with those 3 signings for free agents, we had ample cap space to afford them. This year, that's not the case. That's your history of the franchise for the past 30 years. And with the statement about Shaq, you turn around and answer your own question. Shaq not only wanted more money to come to ATL, he didn't respect ATL's team or their organization at all. Then again, the ASG never aggressively went after Shaq anyway. The fact is that even when we did have the money to afford somebody, people turned us down left and right. When we were shopping for a starting caliber PG in 2006 to replace Lue, we couldn't get ANYBODY here. Cassell turned us down. We had to settle for Speedy Claxton . . and we all know how that turned out. It's simply the reality of the situation here in Atlanta. For some reason, despite the nightlife that the city is famous for, free agents just aren't beating down the door to come to Atlanta. And with our financial situation this year, it's more important than ever for Sund and the ASG to get the maximum out of the low level guys they bring in. Maybe one of those guys will develop into a quality rotation player that can help us. So unless we trade somebody, we're not getting anybody.

You watch those clips, and you realize just how tough Doc Rivers was back in the day. Right after that clip of the MIA - ATL fight, there's Doc again involved in a fight vs Phoenix and Kevin Johnson. Doc didn't take crap off of anybody. He tried to rip KJ's head off, but Barkley saved him. When people talk about why rivalries don't exist today like they did back in the day, the fighting is actually one of the reasons why. You can't even push and shove people anymore without getting thrown out of the game. And God forbid you did like what Doc and Oakley did back in 1988. That is an automatic 1 game suspension in today's NBA. But back then, they got double technicals and STILL didn't get ejected.

Here is the original game footage with play by play of that Miami - Atlanta fight in the 1994 playoffs http://youtu.be/rj3Kn_3eyyk?t=3m8s

Time to really do some homework for some of you.Still some good, starter quality young guys left on the board, along with some starter quality vets who aren't over the hill yet. I was surprised that guys like JR Smith and Darren Collison lasted as long as they did. And it's a young guy still left on the board that would've been a no-brainer 6th or 7th round pick a year or two ago. I wonder who will take him?Oh . . . and Marvin is still sitting by his phone, waiting on one of you GMs to take him. I'll say he HAS to go by Round 10, but we'll see. Maybe Diesel will take him with one of his next 2 picks.

At least dlpin is keeping it real on this topic. Dwight is the same dude that has had snide remarks about the Hawks for a year or two now. He doesn't respect a single soul on this team as a basketball player ( and that probably includes Josh Smith ). If Dwight had EVER talked about playing with the Hawks when he tossed out those list of teams he would go to, that would be one thing. But this season, he even went as far as saying that he hated to lose to the Hawks. Why? Because he thought we were inferior to him and the Magic. But now, because he and Smith are friends, he's going to come to Atlanta just to play with Smith and try to win the Hawks an NBA title? Nope . . not buying it.

This is Dwight Howard we're talking about folks. To get him, we'd have to trade Horford AND Smith. Or at the very minimum, one Horford/Smith + Teague. And even that isn't enough. There would be teams throwing out everybody to get Dwight. Gotta come better than a Horford + a filler trade, to get Dwight.

Sad . . and possibly angry, depending on who replaced him. I remembr when we got rid of Smitty and Mookie . . and essentially replaced them with JR Rider. I was pissed. That is like trading JJ for Ron Artest. If the right people aren't brought in, the departure of JJ would mean the end of playoff basketball. I've gotten used to rooting for this team during playoff time, and I don't want it to stop now. Now if the right person(s) were brought in to replace JJ, and it made us better, the transition to forget him will be much easier . . much like how most of us did with Josh Childress. Next to Nique, JJ is my favorite Hawk of all time. So initially, it would be sad.

I'm just wondering where Marvin will go in this draft. If it's 13 rounds, surely he will be selected . . . right?Who will have the guts to take Marvin?

. Bradley is truly one of the worst writers I've ever seen at a newspaper. Some of us bloggers can write better and more well thought out articles than him. LOL @ blaming JJ, and not the city coming out to watch the Thrashers, for its demise in ATL. People act like JJ is making 25 million a year already. Fact is, he hasn't made over 18 mill a year in his 6 years in Atlanta. This year will be the 1st year he cracks 18 mill. Incompetent management and ownership is to blame for both the Hawks and Thrashers not achieving the desired goals that the fans seek. The JJ deal actually saved the Hawks. I guess Bradley and the rest of the peole forget that we were a complete laughingstock before JJ came here. People may have grown tired of JJ after 6 years, but Bradley is a DAMN FOOL if he believes that JJ ( directly or indirectly ) caused the Thrashers to be out of Atlanta. Incompetent ownership/management + a dispassionate hockey fan base in ATL is the reason why there is no hockey in ATL. And had the same ownership/management group made the correct pick in the 2005 nba draft, we may be talking about the Hawks only piece to compete for a title,

The only way we can do that is to hope we get lucky in the draft and get a guy that someone completely overlooked. Otherwise, you have to trade one or two major assets in order to get that superstar. The Hawks gambled that we could go far with the core that we have. It's not a failure yet, but if they're not going to build around JJ, they have to put better players around the "core" to make them ALL better. Hawk fans have been literally screaming for a PG and a C since Mookie and then Deke left Atlanta. 10+ years, and we still don't have both assets. Hopefully what we saw out of Teague wasn't a mirage, and that he can at least become a viable scoring PG that can come in and get us 11 - 13 ppg. I think he'll benefit greatly if Jamal isn't brought back, so that he can have the ball in his hands, even if he isn't the starter. But the elephant in the room is still acquiring that center. If we can get a legit center, maybe this core can get it done collectively. If not, someone has to go. And that decision, in my opinion, needs to be made this summer. If you don't get that center that can help you, trade one of our main assets to see if you can get one ( or multiple players ). The other problem is that the organization hasn't properly built a team to accent all of JJ's abilities. He could easily average 6+ assists a game if he were surrounded by better perimeter shooters and a guy down on the block who could score down low. JJ is an All-Star who shows flashes of superstardom once every blue moon. The trick is to see if you can get him to play like a superstar more often, by putting him in the best position to get the job done. Like in this game . . .

vs Chicago Joe Johnson: 118 points Jamal Crawford: 62 points

Maybe when the mods see it, it won't be. But the JC talk was getting out of control. They had to do something. This thread is simply a JT appreciation post.

Terry is no "Robin". That was an Aquaman performance. Oh, and much love to the hometown boy Shawn Marion, who will undoubtedly get the front page of tomorrow's sports paper in Clarksville, TN. Nice to see someone I personally know get a ring too.

If that's what a "Robin" looks like, that was a hell of a performance tonight. He carried the Mavs when Dirk couldn't hit the side of a barn. Big time performance from him. It's nice to see someone that I've once rooted for, win like that. At least one player that used to play a significant role for us, won a title.

It's not that he changed the subject. He can take the argument in any way he wants to. The million dollar question is . . if the team was constructed better, could a guy like JJ be more efficient of a player? Him doing what he did simply showed that JJ isn't ( by his standard ) an elite player. But nobody defending JJ has made that argument. The argument most of us have made, is that the team constructed around JJ doesn't maximize all he can do, and that the team depends heavily on him to play at a superstar level, just to win games at times. JJ had a down year this year. Everybody knows that. Don't bring up the injury, because that' s not an excuse ( even though it was obvious that the injury affected his 3 point shooting for most of the year ). But in the previous years he's been in Atlanta, he's been one of the best guards in the league and arguably a top 20 player over the totality of the last 6 years. It's interesting that few people want to acknowledge that if you took some of the ballhandling responsibilities away and put a low post scorer on this team, that his offensively efficiency may improve. But when you bring these things up, it's making excuses for JJ, instead of stating what is real. And on the flip side, if you told other guys around the league that they had to assume a Kobe/Lebron/Wade like role on a team with no PG and no low post scorer, that would be changing the issue. Is it inconceivable for a PG the caliber of Devin Harris could make JJ a better player by getting him the ball in the right spots, without JJ having to do all of that dribbling just to get his shot off? Is it inconceivable for a PF or C the caliber of an Al Jefferson, who you can throw the ball down to in the post and watch him create offense for himself, possibly even at a level of go-to guy at the end of games? And if you combined all 3 . . how good could a team like that be, if you had defensive minded role players, a few long range shooters to bring off the bench, and one or two big men who don't mind banging on the boards. JJ could still be the main guy, but he'd have 2 other players on the team who could create their own offense and possibly close out the game. And it would be hard for any team to double team one of those 3 guys, for fear of leaving one of them open. And even if you took some of our other players, there's no how good a guy like Josh Smith would be playing alongside a PG even the caliber of a Jose Calderon who could get him the ball in the right spots. Or a frontline consisting of Brook Lopez and Al Horford. Let Brook handle the offense around the rim, while Horford could roam from the baseline out to the top of the key. It's not the "core" talent is bad, it's the player combinations. With these combinations of players, we MUST get out in transition and score baskets. Playing fast is a must. But to do that, we have to be a lot better defensively. Without the transition points, the flaws and limited skills of guys get exposed.