TheNorthCydeRises

Wow . . . I might have to disown the Hawks, if we acquired Arenas. It's bad enough that I would have to root for Crawford. Now I'd have to root for ARENAS TOO? Nah . . . couldn't do it. All of those bad shots would drive me crazy. Arenas is the Anti-Point. He only looks to get other people involved when HIS SHOT is falling. If it isn't, he's going to continue to shoot, until it is. At least when JJ is cold, he'll throttle the shots down and pass it more. Arenas? He'll shoot more . . . and shoot you right out of the game. I'd rather root for the dang Grizzlies full time, than to root for Arenas in a Hawks uniform.

Really? A cash-strapped ownership group, that knows that if they can't retain JJ, that we have virtually no shot of improving in the 2010 - 11 season, may opt to SAVE MONEY, in order to re-sign both Horford and Crawford. We don't have any leverage vs teams like the Knicks and the Bulls, because they have no problem whatsoever going over the luxury tax to field a real good team. Those fan bases come out to see their teams, win or lose. Put a good team out on the floor, and they'll become rabid fan bases. That's why the Clippers are even in play now. Put Lebron in LA, and he becomes something that Kobe is reluctant to be . . . Mr. Hollywood. Wade too, if he wanted it. Some of you are acting like JJ can be sign and traded to anybody. He's unrestricted. And it's JJ who has final say-so in a sign and trade, not us. JJ is more likely to listen to his new team, and what they want to give us, than the Hawks, and what we want back for JJ. We're not in the driver's seat. We're in the trunk, with our arms and legs tied up, with duct tape covering our mouths.

Exactly. The other thing they're forgetting is that a guy like Lebron doesn't HAVE to take a max deal either. He makes a ton of money off of endorsements. He could EASILY do like Jordan did, and not take a MAX contract, so that his team could go our and add other quality guys to the roster. Stick Lebron in New York City, corporations and ad agencies will be swarming this dude. His endorsements could easily increase tens of millions of dollars, if he plays with the Knicks. So if you're Lebron, and you really want to entice Even though the KNICKS can sign multiple max deals without a sign and trade . . they still may try to do one . . and use EDDY CURRY's expiring contract as the bait. I can see Sund now, talking about how he acquired a center and a PG for JJ, by signing Chris Duhon and acquiring Eddy Curry. Sund would be like . . . "Chris is a good PG in this league. He must be good, seeing that he did a number on us. We couldn't stop him because he's lighing quick and can shoot the basketball. Chris will help us" "And Eddy? Eddy just needs a 'new voice' to motivate him. He gives us bulk and size in the middle to help on defense and rebounding. He's on the last year of his contract, and he'll have something to prove. Eddy will help us."

Exactly. The other thing they're forgetting is that a guy like Lebron doesn't HAVE to take a max deal either. He makes a ton of money off of endorsements. He could EASILY do like Jordan did, and not take a MAX contract, so that his team could go our and add other quality guys to the roster. Stick Lebron in New York City, corporations and ad agencies will be swarming this dude. His endorsements could easily increase tens of millions of dollars, if he plays with the Knicks. So if you're Lebron, and you really want to entice Even though the KNICKS can sign multiple max deals without a sign and trade . . they still may try to do one . . and use EDDY CURRY's expiring contract as the bait. I can see Sund now, talking about how he acquired a center and a PG for JJ, by signing Chris Duhon and acquiring Eddy Curry. Sund would be like . . . "Chris is a good PG in this league. He must be good, seeing that he did a number on us. We couldn't stop him because he's lighing quick and can shoot the basketball. Chris will help us" "And Eddy? Eddy just needs a 'new voice' to motivate him. He gives us bulk and size in the middle to help on defense and rebounding. He's on the last year of his contract, and he'll have something to prove. Eddy will help us."

You obviously didn't see his Twitter account last summer.

If these were lottery picks we're talking about, then maybe they'd do it. But because these are low 1st round picks in discussion, there really isn't a need for them to do it. I don't think the Hawks would trade a 26 and a 32, just to get a 24, if the situation were reversed. OKC will accumulate as many good players as they can, build on it, then maybe make a big move in a trade ( maybe 2 - 3 yrs from now )

LOL Nine . . . very few people will admit to this. Watch though. If we happen to get off to a slow start, the fans won't blame the new coach, they'll blame THE PLAYERS. You'll see players being trashed on here left and right, and it won't be just Marvin. It'll be our newly crowned leaders of the team ( if we lose JJ ). But because Coach will be new, he'll get a partial pass, even if he's not up to the task. The worst case scenario for the Hawks, would be for Woody to get hired somewhere else, and actually do a good job, while we struggled. Then, everybody will be all over the organization ( everybody, as in the national media ), wondering why the Hawks fired a coach who improved the team in 5 consecutive seasons.

Smith is the box office draw. They'll never trade Smith. When Gearon called him "the closest thing to Lebron we have in the league", that lets you all you need to know about how they feel about Smoove. So you might as well replace Smith with Horford, when talking about dealing one of those guys.

Everybody runs ISO in that situation at the end of the game. Wilborn isn't saying anything groundbreaking. Never does.

Smoove and Horford have to start playing tougher. In the regular season, it's not much of an issue because those two are usually the best PF and C in that particular game. There are enough mediocre to bad teams across this league that we'll have an advantage. The Playoffs are a different story. In in the Playoffs, you have to play tough, both mentally and physically. That's where the problem is. The Hawks, as a whole, are a soft basketball team. We just don't really see that, until the playoffs roll around. And while Horford and Smith are good players, then tend to look soft at times during the postseason. As does JJ . . and Marvin . . and the rest of the squad.

Sund and the ASG know who they want. Tommy T wasn't on their radar, so they're not worried about him. Casey will probably be the Hawks next coach.

What fans don't realize, is that we were one of the worst defensive teams in the playoffs. And a lot of that has to do with the personnel of the team, and with the scheme we were running, to try to hide the personnel flaws. If we lose JJ, this team is going to be in scramble mode to find another perimeter defender ( or multiple defenders ), to try to keep us from not becoming an even worse defensive team. People think Teague is the defensive answer at the point. But I was seeing Teague getting driven past by JJ Redick of all people. He's a better defender than Bibby, but he's nowhere near a good defender yet. Hopefully with more playing time, he'll get better. I just hope that 2 years from now, people aren't wishing that Woody was still at the helm.

Both the Cavaliers and the Hawks ( front office and fans ) overrate their talent as being better than what they are. So when they don't reach expectations, the easiest thing to do is fire the coach. In Cleveland's case, the worst thing they did, was NOT acquire Amare Stoudemire when they had the chance, and instead went with Jamison. And to think that JJ Hickson was one of the minor sticking points in why Cleveland didn't make that deal, is mindboggling. And we all know what is up with the Hawks. Our star player isn't a superstar, while everybody around that star player has the "potential" to be a superstar, according to fans and ownership ( which is false ). So when they also come up short, the easiest thing to do is blame the coach. But like with the Cavs, the Hawks could've made a big time push to get a guy like Andre Miller to solidify the PG spot . . but didn't do it. They would've had to renounce some contracts to do it, and it would've been a risk to do it. But it could've been done.

And what has always baffled me, is that the people that don't like Women's basketball, always have a negative comment to say about it. Instead of just ignoring it altogether, they always have something negative to say. Jim Rome is real bad about this. I would listen to his show, and he'd always have a bad comment about the WNBA or women's basketball. But like I said. The people that watch women's basketball, especially when you talk about men, are usually the types that can watch just about any level of basketball ( from youth basketball to the NBA level ), and get some enjoyment out of it. It's not a coincidence that you frequently see NBA players attend WNBA games during the offseason.

GM . . you have to be a true lover of basketball in general, to watch the WNBA. A lot of people that watch the NBA are strictly NBA fans, and don't necessarily watch all levels of basketball. To me, the women play much harder than the men do. If people appreciate basketball played with "effort", then they should definitely check out the WNBA or even women's basketball on the college level. I don't know what caused Chamique Holdsclaw to all of a sudden want to leave the Dream. ( she's always been a troubled person though ). But it's good to see the rest of the Dream step up and not lose a beat. If the Hawks lose JJ, hopefully our guys can answer the bell like the Dream did.

JJ is comparable to both Ellis and Kobe Bryant, when it comes to shot locations. More comparable to Ellis in the number of attempts he has in a certain area ( outside of getting directly to the rim ). More comparable to Bryant when it comes to actual shooting percentages from each area.

He became Public Enemy #1 when he turned down the 4yr extension. The comments after Game 3 just simply gave them a legit reason to make him the enemy. And if he leaves, he would probably care less if he was hated in Atlanta or not. The Hawks should't just accept any sign and trade though. Getting a player back just to be getting one back, isn't the way to go either. If we can't get a good starter quality player back at the very least, then it probably is best to let him walk.

Of course, this will now be a blurb on all of the sports media outlets by Monday, citing that "sources" say that JJ isn't likely to return to the Hawks. When in fact, their "source" is actually frankthetank's post ( whether valid or invalid ). The worse case scenario for JJ if he wants to win a championship, ( and for the league ), is for Lebron and Wade to team up in Miami or New York. It's pretty much been assumed that Wade and Lebron are going to be paired with another good free agent when this is all said and done. And Bosh and JJ have been the 2 most mentioned to be paired with Lebron or Wade. But if the "superpowers" team up, then all of these other clubs will have to re-evaulate who they'll spend their money on, and how much. For JJ, he could be left out of the loop in Chicago, if they go after Bosh. He can then go to the Knicks. And while he'll possibly have more money, he also possibly have a weaker squad than he had in Atlanta. But I don't think it would shock anybody if he didn't return to ATL.

JTB . . . exactly. Just adding a big man to the mix isn't enough to trade either Horford or Smith. It has to be a guy with talent, if he's going to be a starter. If not, then you keep both Horford and Smith, and see if you can find a guy who can play at least 20 minutes a night. And if it helps balance out the team, then start him, but let the Smith - Horford combo finish games. Teams like San Antonio ( Nesterovic ), Minnesota ( Ervin "not Magic" Johnson ), and even the current LA Lakers ( Bynum ) all used big centers that they initially started in games, only to bring a more talented PF off the bench to play alongisde their other talented power forward. But the size issue IS an issue. A major issue. Like gsuteke said, the elite teams all have size and bulk on their frontlines. And most of those guys are better than your average "stiff" center. And the problem with our frontline is that they have to play tough every game. Horford plays tough, but is still overmatched at center vs the better centers in the league. Smoove plays tough when he wants, but he doesn't like to mix it up at times. For the Horford - Smoove combo to reach maximum potential, they have to play bigger and tougher. If they don't, then they'll only be a good duo instead of a great one.

I wish it were that easy of an answer. Fact is, we have a good, but not great team. And you can find a lot of flaws with this squad individually and chemistry wise. Changing coaches doesn't change our size issues nor our inability to make open jumpshots. Those are player/personnel issues. I don't want this team broken up either. But if we can find players who will have the ability to make us a more well-rounded team, then I am open for guys to be moved.

Ummmm . . . Mike Bibby perhaps? Jamal Crawford? The fact that he has to play 2 positions on offense and guard 3 positions on defense throughout the course of a game? Let's be real about this situation. We couldn't rely on Bibby and Crawford to even slow down people at times. And with them in the game, that meant that most of the time, Marvin was out of the game. So JJ had to match up with the best offensive player if he played PG, SG, or SF. At least when we had Flip here, he could at least stay with the PG, while JJ played SG, and Marvin played SF. This year, we had no chance to even do that. JJ was trying to guard people much quicker than him, while Smoove and Horford was left to try to defend that player once he got past either JJ, and especially Bibby and Crawford. Asking JJ to slow down lightning quick players like Stephen Curry illustrates just how bad our PG defensive situation is. Hell . . in that game @ Golden St, he had to guard Curry and Ellis, AND he played a little PF offensively in that game. He was asked to score the points offensively when Crawford and Smoove started to sell us out in that 4th quarter, plus stop Curry. Not even Wade and Kobe are asked to do all of that in a game.

I wouldn't say that's the absolute worse thing. The worse thing would be to trade him for a bad, but expensive player. Like Emeka Okafor. But you're basically right. I'm all for re-signing JJ ( even overpaying him to a certain extent ). But if we can't get him to re-sign, we need to get something of good quality in a sign and trade that will help us. And not a backup player. It has to be a starter quality player that can help us. Otherwise, they should let him walk and take their chances via the draft and free agency in 2011.

Bret's thinking is flawed in so many areas. He cites that his defense is down, but he also knows ( and says ) that JJ was asked to guard PGs, as well as SGs and SFs. Even a guy like Kobe isn't asked to guard PGs on a nightly basis ( although he does step up to the plate and do it sometimes ) JJ is getting paid moreso off of what he's worth NOW, than what he's going to be worth 5 or 6 years from now. If we have a "window of opportunity" to win anything, it's not going to be based off of what this team will look like 5 years from now, it's going to be based off of what this team looks like in the next 1 - 3 years. People have to stop looking at the fact that JJ won't be worth 18 - 20 million when he goes into year 5 of his deal, as basis on not to re-sign him. At that time, his salary number could become an asset to a team either looking to add a veteran piece to a championship squad, or to a team looking to obtain major cap room. At the very worst, if ATL gets a legitimate PG in here, you're looking at JJ playing a Vince Carter type role in year 4 or 5 in which he may not be the focus point of the offense anymore, but still is the #2 or #3 option on the squad that has the ability to be the #1 guy at any give time. Bret correctly cited that JJ is taking less long jumpers and operating more in that 10 foot range ( with the floater ). Well, this also indicates that he may be transitioning his game to more of a SF role, and less of a SG role. I've always compared JJ to a slightly less talented version of Paul Pierce. To me, they play almost the exact same game, with the exception of Pierce being able to draw a lot more fouls. But they're both versatile players than can do a lot of things. And I don't think it's a coincidence that with the addition of Rajon Rondo to take the ball handling duties away from Pierce, that Pierce over the last 3 years has become a more efficient shooter across the board, especially from 3 point range. He gets A LOT of spot-up looks from 3 these days. All in all, we pretty much have to re-sign dude, or risk taking a step back. While Horford has improved, the jury is out BIG TIME if he can become a legit go-to scorer. The same goes for Josh Smith. Without a PG here, someone is still going to have to step up and be able to score off of their own created shot. Not having JJ or a replacement go-to scorer is far worse than overpaying the guy.

Now you're talking. No way they'd take a Marvin + Bibby, with each having multiple years on their deal. But if they're really that disgruntled with Iggy, give them Jamal ( whose contract also expires ) and we'll take him. The downside to this will come up when Horford is due his extension or gets an offer sheet. Re-signing both JJ and Al + plus adding Iggy, would surely put us in luxury tax land. But if we want to seriously bring Iggy aboard, you have to make a serious offer. And this would be it.

I definitely agree with this. I know I wouldn't trade Smoove nor Horford for any of those current centers/p. forwards that may be replaced by a lottery pick big man. And the center that we do possibly get, probably won't be good enough to justify sending Horford or Smoove to the bench. I can't wait to see some of these combine numbers. I want to see how Jarvis Varnado out of Mississippi St measured out. That's the guy I want to replace Joe Smith at PF, if a good center with size isn't around.