TheNorthCydeRises

We would almost have to win out, while Orlando loses to every good team they have remaining. They still have games @ Altanta, Dallas, and San Antonio . . . and home games vs Denver and Memphis. The only other above .500 team that they play, is a game @ Cleveland ( but it's the 3rd to the last game of the year . . a game in which LeBron probably won't play the entire way ) The rest of their schedule are against these below .500 teams . . . @ Philly, @ Indiana . . . . vs Minnesota, Washington, New York, and Philly Indy, Philly and Washington may be in unofficial "tank" mode, to try to secure as many ping pong balls as possible. Those teams may play "hard" at home, but they'll lay completely down on the road. If we went 11 - 2, to give us a 56 - 26 record, Orlando would have to go 6 - 6, to give them a 55 - 27 record . . for us to win the division. If we tie, they win the division . . because they would've beaten us 3 - 1 during the season. While we blew games we shoud've one, Orlando have pulled games out of their butts, and won them ( Lakers and @ Miami a few nights ago ). Even though we're 11 - 4 in our last 15 games . . the 4 games we did lose, we had late leads in all of them. And that doesn't even count the game at Golden St, that we had the huge lead in, but lost it. So that's 11 - 5 in our last 16. Orlando has gone 13 - 3 in their last 16 games. That's pretty much the difference.

It's like I've been saying all year . . . the Hawks are mentally tough. They may go through a 2 or 3 game lull in which they don't play right. But for the most part, this team has been mentally tough all year. I don't know why people keep doubting this team the way they do. They're not Cleveland . . but they're a damn good team.

Of course. Can't ever make it look like Woody actually did something intelligent. That would go against the "Woody is an idiot" thought process shared by most fans.

That's because he doesn't want the offense swerving all off the road, crashing into people, and getting unnecessary tickets.

Very interesting convo, calling this the "geekification of sports". That's a good way to describe all of these stats that are used to evaluate what the plaers are doing on the court. Mark Cuban ( 24:40 ) - "Every team has the legendary story about the guys who can't remember plays. You think it'd be one of the most simplest things in the world to remember a play coming out of a huddle . . after a timeout. You'd be shocked how ofter it happens where the guys don't remember the plays."

Good Lord nbasuperstar . . . I thought you were an "NBA Scout". We all like Horford. Well . . . most of us. But there is no way in the world that you can compare Horford to Malone. If you took this argument outside of Hawksquawk and into a neutral basketball blog/board, they'd laugh you off of it. Karl Malone was one of the best players in NBA history when he got the ball around the rim. Karl Malone could also effectively create his own shot from 15 feet on in. Even without Stockton getting him easy looks, he'd easily average 20 ppg because of his ability to create and make shots, and his ability to draw contact and get to the free throw line. The right comparison is Carlos Boozer, even though Horford isn't on Boozer's level yet offensively. Could he get there? Definitely. But he has to show the ability to create AND MAKE shots in the post. Right now, that's his weakness as an offensive player. This is Boozer explaining how to play in the low and high post. Now you tell me if Horford can do all of this yet. As for Karl Malone . . . lol . . . stop. Dominant offensive player . . dominant defensive player (especially as a defensive rebounder ) . . could kill you in the low post . . could kill you in the high post . . could kill you by filling the wing on the fast break. Horford can't do all of this man.

Crawford played great? JJ ended up shooting better than he did. Craw was 5 - 18 ( missed 10 of his last 13 shots ). But you're right about the frontcourt. Their rebounding was huge ( other than the one extra possession they gave up late in the game ). That's what they're going to have to do in the playoffs, especially against the bigger frontlines. Marvin grabbed 6 offensive boards tonight ( 14 total ). Being that "energy guy" is how he could really help our team in the postseason. I just wished he'd embrace that role on a nightly basis.

Nice explanation of the final play. http://www.nba.com/video/games/hawks/2010/03/19/0020901020_cha_atl_recap.nba/

JJ: A- Smoove: A- Crawford: B+ Horford: B+ Bibby: C Mario: C- Evans: C- Marvin: D+ Teague: D+ Joe Smith: D+ Zaza: D- Collins: n/a Morris: n/a Woody: B

But you saw the impact of JJ not being there last night . . . not offensively, but defensively. If JJ plays, Marvin may not have even been in the game. And Crawford wouldn't been the one guarding Turkoglu, when Hedo went to the hole on Jamal and got fouled.

I agree. People need to be looking at JJ and Crawford as a DUO . . not as individuals competing against each other. I don't know why some in the fan base think that we'd be better off without one or the other. We're the #3 backcourt in the league because of what those 2 can do TOGETHER. And when Bibby's game is on, we're that much more dangerous.

Bad analogy. JJ is the value piece in a sign and trade. He definitely isn't the computer that you're reduced to selling for $200 on Craigslist, because people are willing to pay top dollar for that computer . . . or trade lesser computers ( or accessories ) for the high grade computer. JJ is more like a fully loaded computer that you put on eBay, and letting people bid on the computer to get the most money you can get. Then you go out and buy a newer, but cheaper computer with a little less bells and whistles. It's not as good as your old computer, but it'll do. And you might have a little money left over, due to the fact that you sold your old computer at a higher price. The computer comparison is awkward. A car analogy would probably be better - you're paying on a luxury car that's still worth a lot of money and is in great demand, but you want to get out from under the car payments, because they're just too high - you talk to the dealer, and he puts you in a "lesser" car ( money wise ), reducing your monthly payments. You're still in a decent car, but it's not a luxury car. Like Crawful said, NY, nor any other team, don't have to give us anything to sign JJ ( if they have the cap room ). A sign and trade for JJ would involve a team who has a player/players that they want to get rid of ( whether it be for declining play or simply getting out from under his contract ). So a team most likely willing to do a sign and trade for JJ, will be a team that otherwise didn't have the cap room to get him.

LOL @ blasting Marvin ( and deservedly so, because he played like crap ) . . . but Smoove went 5 - 15 FG last night and went 4 - 8 from the line. Smoove did enough positive things last night to not be totally blamed for the loss, but he definitely had a hand in that loss last night. A BIG hand. When Bargnani caught that ball at the 3 point line, and Smoove just turned his back to him to guard his man down low, I think this entire fan base was like WTF is Smoove doing? We get a stop on that play, and we really have a chance to close out the game. Instead, Bargnani drains the 3, and cuts the lead to 4.

#15 UCSB over Kansas St #13 Siena over Purdue #13 Murray St over Vandy #12 Utah St over Texas A&M #11 Minnesota over Xavier #10 Georgia Tech over Oklahoma St #10 Missouri over Clemson #9 Florida St over Gonzaga #9 Louisville over California #9 No Iowa over UNLV

The 31 points we gave up is the problem. Go look at all of the games we've lost like this. It's the defense and lack of transition basket opportunities in the 4th,that are killing us.

You guys are going to lose your minds about this Teague thing. Be honest with yourselves. Is this dude a baller or not? That's all you have to ask yourselves. Forget potential . . or development. Honestly ask yourself if he's a baller. How many times we as a fan base have to go through this about a player who just isn't that good? - Salim - Shelden - Acie - Teague? Some of you act like it's Woody's fault that the guy is currently shooting 37% FG. Like it's Woody's fault that he can't make a lay-up in traffic . . or make a wide open 18 footer . . or gets lost on defense when his man doesn't have the ball. I admit that I fell for the okey-doke with Salim and Acie. I refuse to do that again.

It is what it is. Unfortunately, I was damn near on the money. Some of you simply need to take the blinders off when concerning Teague, and look at how he actually plays. Not how he could potentially play. The dude isn't ready folks. So it's no need to rush his development. After years of going through this with Shelden, Acie, Salim, and to a certain extent Marvin, it's time for all of us to stop talking about the potential of a player who simply can't consistently produce. Having said that, I hope Woody gives Teague a chance to redeem himself tomorrow night. But I'd completely understand if he didn't.

Teague will play 18 minutes tonight . . . so under. LOL @ Woody throwing everyone a curve, and going with the Bibby - Teague combo. The "I can always sub early" line was claSsic. That's exactly what he'll do, if we struggle early. I say Teague goes 2 - 6 FG . . . 2 - 2 FT . . . 6 pts - 3 asst - 2 rebs - 1 stl - 1 to . . . in 18 min

Craw's "meal ticket" is himself. It's just that with JJ on the floor, he's not going to see nearly the double teams that JJ does. JJ, and not Crawford, is the guy that is most likely to get into the paint and take a shot, so opposing teams pay more attention to JJ. When they do that, it enables Crawford to go one on one on most occasions.

Considering that the guy is the primary scorer, and averages a little less than 5 assists per game, one assist a game to Crawford is actually right on target. And that assist is predicated on Jamal making the shot.

You guys thinking this game is going to be a walk in the park . . . think again. This team has been very competitive lately. 2 pt loss @ OKC 6 pt loss @ MEM 8 pt loss @ HOU 9 pt loss @ DAL beat BOS by 8 beat NYK by 20 I'd be shocked if we won by more than 15,to be honest.

I'm not scared of either team. But if I had to rank who I'd rather NOT see. . . 1) Miami 2) Charlotte 3) Milwaukee 4) Toronto 5) Chicago

This is also a by-product of the ISO-JOE. When JJ is doing all of that dribbling and sizing his man up, he's surveying the court at the same time. If the double team comes, he's usually passing to an open shooter.

Just gonna do an eye test from the play-by-play to see how many of JJ's assists have gone to whomever. I'll guess without even looking, that JJ has 6 assists to Crawford since the break. Bibby: 16 ( 9 threes ) Smoove: 15 Crawford: 15 ( 10 threes ) Horford: 7 Marvin: 7 Evans: 3 Zaza: 2 Teague: 1 LOL @ 6 . . . so much for JJ not passing to Crawford. I knew he was passing to Crawford lately, but not that much. And I didn't realize that he's assisted on all of those three's by Crawford. JJ always passes to Bibby for open shots. And I knew he passed to Smoove a lot. He passes to Marvin quite a bit too. Marvin just doesn't make the shot.

Superstar . . . I'm going to have to agree with Diesel on this one. The teams of the early to mid 90s were VERY strong teams, especially when you talk about the top 10 - 12 teams. * The Portland teams of the early 90s were some of the best teams of the era. To be honest, they had no business losing to the Bulls back in 92 in that NBA Final and shoud've beaten the Lakers the year before in the Western Conference Finals. Instead of 2 out of 3 appearances in the Finals, that Portland team should've reached the Finals from 90 - 92 . . and at least won one title. That team was much more talented than the Bulls in 92. * The ONLY thing that kept the Cavs from being a dominant team in the 90s, were injury. The Ron Harper injury KILLED that team right when they were ready to take over where Detroit had left off. Cleveland could've very well been the Bulls, if it wasn't for the Harper, and then the Mark Price injury. And they still bounced back and challenged the Bulls after Price got back on track. The Terrell Brandon led Cavs were nowhere near the caliber of a team than the Mark Price led Cavaliers. * LOL @ dissing the Sonics. WHAT??? As great as Smoove has the potential to be, he can't hold a candle to Shawn Kemp. Kemp was everything Smoove SHOULD be right now, plus Kemp could hit the midrange jumper at a higher rate than Smoove. Gary Payton back then would be the #1 PG in the league today, because of his all-around game. Maybe only Paul would be better. In a 6 year span in the 90s, the Sonics never lost more than 27 games in a season. They flat out choked in 94, when Denver beat them in the first round, but maybe had the best team in NBA history that didn't win a title back in 1996, when they won 64 games but got beat by arguably the greatest team of all time . . the 96 Bulls team that won 72 games. * The Knicks under Pat Riley was THE toughest defensive team of the early - mid 90s, finishing 2nd - 1st - 1st - and 1st in defense for 4 consecutive years. They were the reason why Stern had to change up the rules going into the 2000s, so so that offenses could have more freedom to operate. Defensively, the Knicks would flat out lock you up and bully you while doing it. If you didn't have guys who could create their own shot, you were NOT beating the Knicks. * From 1988 - 1998, the Jazz won 50 games a season all but one year. From 1992 - 98, the Jazz made it to 2 consecutive NBA Finals and 3 Western Conference Finals 5 out of 7 years. Winning out in Utah was virtually IMPOSSIBLE back in those days. Utah was arguably THE team of the decade in the West, even if they never won a title. You obviously didn't pay attention to Utah, if you don't think that they couldn't make it in today's SOFTER NBA. * And how DARE YOU diss the great Hakeem Olajuwon and the Rockets. Seriously. The current Orlando Magic team plays EXACTLY like Houston did back in the mid 90s . . with the exception that Howard couldn't carry Olajuwon's jock strap. Olajuwon would flat out murder Howard in a head to head battle. In those days, Hakeem was arguably the best offensive AND defensive player in the league. With the Rockets, once again, you're talking about a team that won 2 titles, and made the the Western Conference Finals in 3 out of 4 years. Even those fringe teams like Indiana, Phoenix, and Orlando ( for 2 years with Shaq ), were very impressive teams during the decade. ************** The fact is . . . winning 50 games back in the 90s was kind of a huge accomplishment, seeing the level of talent amongst the top 10 - 12 teams in the league. I'm sorry man. If you look at the current playoff teams, and sent some of then back to the 90s, these would be the only teams that would even have a possibility to make it to an East or West Final - Cleveland ( and they would be nowhere near as dominant as they are now . . maybe a 48 - 52 win team ) - LA Lakers ( they could play in any era and win 50+ games ) - Orlando ( without a tough PF, they may be no more than a 50 win team as well, partially because centers back then could guard Dwight one on one ) That's it. A lot of those West teams today, are way too of a finesse team to survive back in the 90s. And the teams in the East simply aren't fundamentally sound enough to The current Utah Jazz would get ran off the floor if they went up against the Jazz teams of the 90s. No way the current Atlanta team could beat the defensive minded, much physical Knick teams of the 90s. They would punk us every time. Denver wouldn't match up at all against the Sonic teams of the 90s.