TheNorthCydeRises

I agree. We had Game 6 on our home floor with a chance to close them out, and just couldn't get it done at the end. And to be honest, that's the hope for this year. In JJ and Crawford, we have two guys that can literally take over stretches in a game. So in a situation on the road in Orlando or Cleveland in which we need to steal a game, those 2 could possibly make it happen for us. That's why I don't buy that a 2nd round matchup vs those two teams isn't as impossible as people think.

Scoring 20 ppg isn't the issue with Crawford. We know that he's talented enough to score 20 a game. It's if he could be an efficient player that scored 20 pgg, that is the question. With JJ, gone, Crawford would be the ONLY legit threat we'd have as a long range shooter, along with Bibby. If you add Hinrich, that would give you another shooter ( although he's having the worst shooting year of his career at barely over 40% FG ). Marvin would have to significantly elevate his game offensively for us to not feel a tremendous impact from losing JJ. One of the "luxuries" we have right now with Crawford, is that if he's cold in a game, we can take him out and go with Marvin ( as a defensive substitution ), and simply go with JJ's and Bibby's shotmaking, along with Smoove and Horford doing their thing on the interior. This is simply to prevent Crawford from completely shooting us out of a game, even if Marvin isn't an offensive upgrade. Take away JJ, and he's going to have to take 18 - 20 shots a game. This increases the chances of having him having those real horrible shooting games like he's had in the past. He's only taken more than 20 shots in a game one time this year. So while you may see those monster scoring games like he's had in the past, you'll also see an increase in those horrible games that he's known for. Crawford is shooting 45% FG right now. Without JJ here, I think it's no way he shoots 45%. He'd be doubled more and have more pressure on him to score the basketball.

Seeing that this team has had only one 4 game losing streak, and no other losing streak more than 2, I think they easily get at least 10 more wins. 11 wins is what I'd probably say. I am expecting them to lose at least once to Milwaukee though. They'll beat at least one of those top 3 teams ( Lakers, Cavs, Magic ) I said 52 before the season. They're right on pace for that.

After 65 games, these are the top 5 records in Atlanta Hawks history ( not counting St. Louis ): * 1993 - 94: 46 - 19 * 1986 - 87: 44 - 21 * 1996 - 97: 43 - 22 * 2009 - 10: 42 - 23 * 1985 - 86 . . 1987 - 88 . . 1997 - 98: 40 - 25 ( As most die hard Hawk fans should know, not ONE of those teams made it to the Eastern Conference Finals ) With a current .646 winning percentage, the Hawks are tracking to post the 4th best regular season record in Atlanta Hawk history ( not counting the St. Louis years ) The team the 2009 - 10 Hawks are probably most similar to, from a historical franchise perspective, are the 1987 - 88 Hawks, who finished the season 50 - 32. That Hawk team took the Celtics to 7 games in the East Semifinals, before losing in the Garden in that epic Nique vs Bird showdown. ********************* Team comparisons: 1987 - 88 Hawks: Offensive rating: 5th Defensive rating: 14th Pace: 21st out of 23 teams #4 seed ( lost tiebreaker with Chicago, who also finished with a 50 - 32 record ) Home record: 30 - 11 ( 73% ) . Road record: 20 - 21( 48% ) 2009 - 10 Hawks: Offensive rating: 3rd Defensive rating: 14th Pace: 27th out of 30 teams currently the #3 seed ( fighting off Boston for that seed ) Home record: 26 - 7 ( 78% ) Road record: 16 - 16 ( 50% ) ***************** The 1987 - 88 team struggled in the 1st round with a 42 - 40 Milwaukee squad, but did take care of them in Game 5 ( 1st round series back then only went to best of 5 ). Then they went on to face the top seeded Celtics, and battled them to the death. Just wanted to illustrate how special this season actually is, in case some of you don't realize this.

They threw him out of the game mighty quick though. The refs knew that if they got Zaza out of the game, that we virtually had no center, due to Horford's injury.

Also . . people talk about our playoff run of last year. This may have been the turning point of Game 3 of the Cavs series. I remember being in the stands seeing this, wondering WTF Zaza did to get thrown out. At worst, it should've been a no-call. Zaza was barely inside the semi-circle though. But he didn't foul (ironically) Joe Smith at all.

That play shows you just how bad defensively Detroit is. Zaza gave Charlie V a slight head fake, and Charlie was running out to him like he was JJ or somebody. Joe Smith was his man, and he just left him along the baseline to chase after a Zaza jumper? Great play by Zaza though. I wish this Zaza would return http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCAdaearhCk

LOL @ people pushing JJ out of Atlanta. Let this thing play out, and see what happens. The same people that said that JJ was a done deal, are the same folks who said that Amare was a lock to go to Cleveland. JJ doesn't dislike the city of Atlanta, that's for sure, so we'll see what happens. Outside of a 1st round collapse, or a 2nd round thrashing comparable to last year, I think the dude still opts to stay in ATL. If we reach the ECF, and the ASG is willing to pay whatever to retain JJ, I think he definintely stays.

You're reaching as well. Simply trying to find fault in a JJ/Smoove relationship for some crazy reason. If anything, this leads me to believe that JJ and Smoove's relationship, is more like the relationship that Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce used to have. Paul was the doer on the court who wouldn't get in people's faces, while Antoine was the "rah-rah" guy that would hype people up. Nothing wrong with that.

Good job Z. Those cats ARE lazy. As much as people are dissatisfied with the Hawks lately, we ARE having one of our best seasons in franchise history. You wouldn't know it from them though. It's like the blog last week about JJ going to NY. Schultz JUST did a blog on that around the All-Star break, so why does Bradley come back with one a few weeks later ( after he sees ESPN do a story on JJ and the Knicks )? I forget which one it was, but they even had a pic of a red #6 Hawks jersey . . . with JAMES on the back ( as in Lebron James ) . . . talking about "dare to dream" or some ish. Dream what? That Mario West will change his name to James? That Mike James gets signed by the Hawks, and pays Mario for his jersey number? Because that's the only way a JAMES is going to end up on a back of a jersey. That JAMES won't be Lebron, that's for sure. They're too lazy to even try to understad our cap situation.

LOL . . . you talk like Teague is Mookie Blaylock or something. Teams don't back off or fear that kid on the offensive end. They back off of him because he can't consistently make a jumper. They want him to take the 20 footer in the same way people back off Smoove, so that he can take a jumper. On defense, there's no doubt that Teague is better on the ball than Bibby. The problem arises when his man doesn't have the ball. His defensive awareness is pretty bad. Teague loses his man when he doesn't have the ball, because he's too busy watching the ball only, instead of watching his man AND the ball. But don't talk the rookie up like he's the 2nd coming of Mookie . .. or even Speedy. Seeing Woody's quote makes sense on maybe why he's so hard on Teague when he makes defensive mistakes. If Teague played better defense, there's no doubt that Woody may play him more. Honestly, that was part of what kept Acie off the floor . . . his below average defense.

This is so sad. So basically, people have conceded the division to Orlando, even though we're 2 losses behind them. Just give up and give them the division huh? We need to make up 2 games + beat Orlando head to head, which makes 3 games. No way you even think about conceding the division, until after the early April Cleveland game. If we can't catch them by then, maybe you start experimenting with different lineups then. But not before then. As for Woody trying to win 50? Oh no . . . what a selfish act from Woody, to try to win 50 games at the "expense" of the team. That even sounds ridiculous to say. So basically, people would rather limp into the playoffs, so that our starters can rest and our sorry bench players can "develop" in 6 weeks . . than to win 50+ games? Wow. I'm glad this team is mentally tough. They're not quitting anytime soon. Let this thing play out.

And Redd isn't their leading scorer anyway. In the games that he did play in this year, he only averaged 12 ppg. I guess people feel like Milwaukee needs to be mentioned, because we're the only team that has beaten them in the last 10 games. And they're 12 - 3 in their last 15 games.

That's the only thing keeping him from being an elite player. The key to JJ's game, because he doesn't draw a lot of fouls, is making the floater in the lane. When he's taking and making that shot, the high percentage that he shoots on that shot helps to reduce the impact his not getting to the line has. He's not going to plow or flop into people to draw contact, so he needs to take and make that floater. Once he does that, it opens up the rest of his game from the perimeter. But as far as having "that guy" in the mold of Kobe or Wade, we don't have "that guy" on our team.

Well Gray . . tell me who you going to trust on this team off the bench. And tell me how many minutes a night each of those "trusted" players should be playing?

LOL @ Diesel . . good lord man. Do you actually think the entire bench is going to be a factor come playoff time? Why would you even waste time giving sorry scrubs minutes, if they won't even play in the playoffs. The real question is . . . why don't people in this fan base watch how other playoff coaches manage their rosters? - Lakers have a set 8 man rotation, with a 9th man maybe getting spot miinutes - Orlando CAN go 10 deep, although they only usually go 9 deep. - Oklahoma City has a legit 9 deep rotation - Portland usually goes a legit 9 deep - Denver will go 8 deep, with the 9th man getting spot minutes - Boston goes 9 deep, with a 10th man getting spot minutes sometimes - Dallas goes with a set 8 man rotation, with hardly any variation - Phoenix goes 8 deep with a 9th man getting spot minutes. - Cleveland goes 9 deep, but routinely reduces the rotation to 8 in tight games. - Jazz will go 8 deep, with the 9th and/or 10th man getting spot minutes. You guys keep talking about . . "bench, bench, bench" . . when you KNOW that these bench guys are basically SORRY. What Woody needs to do, is simply go with 3 guys, with maybe a 4th guy getting spot minutes, and roll with that on a nightly basis. Don't worry about playing the entire bench, because they're not going to play in the playoffs anyway, unless it's an emergency situation. I could understand if we had ballers on the bench. I could understand that if outside of Crawford, we had Chill, Alan Henderson, Nazr Mohammed, and Craig Ehlo making up the rest of our bench. But we have scrubs. Even with the great play of Crawford, the bench ranks 26th in the league, the WORST amongst all current playoff teams. Yet, people want to see Smoove, Horford, and JJ's minutes cut, to develop the bench more. Doc Rivers is learning about playing his bench, especially in the 2nd halves of games. His sorry bench almost lost that game for him last night. If the scrubs don't get in a game . . Woody gets blamed. If the scrubs play bad . . Woody gets blamed for putting them, or leaving them in. If Woody takes a "hot man" out of a game, to put in the scrub in a timed substitution . . Woody gets blamed. The fan base would have a fit if we did what you said, especially when we're still in the thick of a division race. How about this Diesel . . Pick the 2 guys you want rolling with Crawford off the bench, and one more player to play spot minutes. That's more realistic than saying to try to play the entire bench to get them ready. Ready for what? To sit the pine in a 7-game series?

When they went to the zone, I guess Woody was putting in the lineup that would most likely be able to make shots against that zone. And our best 5-man lineup does consist of the Bibby-Crawford-Johnson trio. But if Bibby doesn't shoot, it kind of nullifies that lineup. Going into the 4th quarter, Marvin was 0 - 3 FG and 6 - 6 FT. So his major asset would've been his defense and rebounding in the 4th, if he wasn't going to shoot either. JJ and Smoove went the entire way in the 4th. I would guess though, that the 10 - 15 minute break clock situation had something to do with that. Technically, the got "actual rest", but not "game rest". If Joe Smith could go, that would really be the only thing I could question Woody on last night. At least put him back in the game to see if he can pick up where he left off. With Zaza and Evans being basically useless in the 2nd half, maybe you cut Zaza's minutes, get Smith back into the game, and give Horford a little less of a break. They gave us open shots in that game, and we didn't hit them. JJ can't miss 12 of 15 shots in a half, and us expect to win. If he even goes 6 - 15 instead of 3 - 15, we win that game.

It's like I say. You can read right between the lines when it comes to some of you fans and your "agendas". And it's a given that about 50% of this fan base doesn't like JJ. That ish is obvious. Always has been. LOL . . you didn't say jack about JJ all February, when he was killing folks . . but you wait until he gets "sick" to try to prove some point about him. Didn't say anything either 3 weeks ago, when JJ dropped 31 on the Warriors and was the only Hawk to show up in the 4th quarter of that game. LOL . . it is what it is though. So . . . what? You want to compare Curry, a PG . . to JJ, a SG/SF? OK. Let me ask you this. Do a lateral switch of Curry to the Hawks and JJ to the Warriors. Are we still a 40 - 22 team with a Curry - Bibby . . or a Curry - Crawford backcourt? How about Golden St., if you gave them an Ellis - Johnson bakcourt? Are they still a 17 - 45 squad? Now use all of your infinite basketball knowledge about the NBA, and tell me how Curry would positively and negatively affect the Hawks. I'll tell you what JJ would do for Golden St though. He'd instantly solve 60% of their perimeter defensive problem, seeing that the Curry - Ellis backcourt routinely gets TORCHED on a nightly basis because they're too small. He'd give them a legit go-to scorer to go to. And a go-to perimeter defender against 2s and 3s. Whether you like JJ or not, his biggest asset is that he's one of the most versatile players in the game. That's why the guys around the league respect that dude, even if Hawk fans don't. Curry is a baller. He's still young and is learning the game. And while right now he's not an overall better player than JJ at this moment, he very well could be in 2 years. You're not going to get me to diss him, because that dude balls. It's just that you, like a lot of people around here, take for granted what JJ brings to the table. He's struggling with his shot, just like how Crawford was 3 weeks ago. When the shot comes back, you'll go right back into hibernation.

And yet, had we'd lost to Golden St without JJ, the board would be lit up like a Christmas tree. If JJ was ill, I agree that he probably should've rested him, especially with a game tonight. But a loss last night would've sparked the usual spiral of hate against Woody and the team. Watch . . . if he DNPs tonight, people will be mad at the coach. Lose -lose situation.

In all my days in Tennessee, I've only met ONE Hawks fan in this state. And he was actually from Atlanta, visiting his folks. I think Volman lives in Chatt, and I think some other guy on here lives in Nashville. But we may be the only 3 Hawk fans in this entire state . . lol. And Lethal is right. If you lived in the Southeast, the Hawks were the only NBA team that you could see on TV on a regular basis, outside of the Knicks, when WWOR out of Jersey was a national cable channel and used to show Knick games. Back in the 80s, those were the two teams that you could actually watch just about any time in the week. Then WGN started showing Bulls games once they got real good. TBS and TNT were godsends for Hawk fans in the South, before TNT became part of the NBA national TV contract.

Yep . . . especially after just a mere 2 weeks ago, he goes 12 - 22 FG for 31 pts . . lol. Shooting wise, he definitely stunk it up. But guess what? His team leading 8 assists ( including what was essentially the game winner to Horford ), created 19 points. 10 od his own + 19 that came from assists = 29 created points by JJ tonight. When you're the captain of the team, you have to find ways to affect a game, when whatever you do well as a player, isn't going well for you. The alley-oop to Smoove on the fast break was sick.

I can't see the game, but I'm following on my phone. All I know, is that they better find a way to slow this damn game down, or we're going to be in a battle in the 4th Some people may find this style of play entertaining, but this crap is NOT CUTE if you're not going to play any defense. LOL @ JJ and Crawford being a combined 0 - 11 FG JJ can't buy a floater and Crawford can't buy a jumper. THANK GOD FOR BIBBY. I believe 3 of those 3s were assisted by JJ. That's a big reason why JJ has 6 assists now. 2nd half: Play some DEFENSE and slow the dang game down unless we have numbers.

I tell you what I'll do Diesel. Since I did this in a 5 year increment, I'll go back throughout the history of the NBA in 5 year increments, and see who all did this. I'll post the link so that you can view it for yourself. Since there is no record of anybody doing this before 1960, I'll start there. 1960 - 65: 5 players ( 4 in Hall of Fame ) http://tinyurl.com/ykb3rkb 1965 - 70: 15 players http://tinyurl.com/ydfw22s 1970 - 75: 11 players http://tinyurl.com/ya5xvxe 1975 - 80: 6 players http://tinyurl.com/y86wbdm 1980 - 85: 3 players ( one glaring omission, because he barely missed scoring 20 ppg . . can you guess before looking? ) http://tinyurl.com/yf2odeo 1985 - 90: 6 players http://tinyurl.com/yh48tcm 1990 - 95: 7 players ( one may be a surprise . . HINT: He's a former Hawk, but didn't play for us during this time ) http://tinyurl.com/yh5t7ld 1995 - 2000: 7 players http://tinyurl.com/ygv9fto 2000 - 05: 14 players ( yes . . . KG is in this group ) http://tinyurl.com/ykq6kso

Other than the obvious guy in Wade, Q isn't the one we need to worry about. It's Beasley and Haslem. They're the guys that have had good games against us this year. Both can score from midrange, which brings our guys out away from the basket. Contain them, and Wade basically has to be superhuman to beat us. Also, JJ has had 2 consecutive horrible games against them, after ripping that team for 30 points in November. He has to at least play mediocre against the Heat, not horrible.

He doesn't. He doesn't have the 4 assists per game yet to be put in this particular group. Durant is more of the pure scorer/rebounder type, in the mold of Dirk and Melo. Or if you were to go historical, more like Alex English, Dominique, and George Gervin. Still elite, just a different type of elite.