TheNorthCydeRises

While it doesn't surprise me that this hasn't been brought up yet, seeing how half of the fan base is fickle about JJ and doubt his status as a "star", there is a possibility that he could start in the All-Star game. Iverson was voted in as a starter. His absence leaves a void at the other guard spot. If Woody were coaching, there would be no doubt that JJ would start alongside D-Wade. I haven't seen where Van Gundy has named who will replace AI as a starter, but the only guard choices are JJ, Rondo, and Rose. If you determine it by who got the most votes and most exciting- Rose If you determine it by who is the best pure PG - Rondo If you determine it by who is the best overall guard and senority - JJ So if Van Gundy hasn't named a starter yet, it will be interesting to see if he goes with the 4-time All-Star as a starter, instead of the first timers.

* JJ misses 14 shots ( 10 in a row ) * The bench without Crawford looked like a high school team, including everyone's favorite son * Horford commits 6 turnovers * Bibby couldn't hit an outside shot * And the Hawks defense last night made Dequan Cook look like Reggie Miller Yet . . . . the focus is on Marvin? . . . . LOL

JJ gets the most shots because he can score in the most ways . . . without anyone having to feed the ball to them. When Crawford arrived, I think everyone knew that the complimentary guys were going to get less shot attempts, mainly because Crawford has the same skill set as JJ, from a scoring standpoint. Bibby probably got overpaid. So did Zaza. The deal Marvin got was about right on target. Smoove doesn't make 11 million if not for the Memphis offer. Could any of those other guys gotten better deals, had they been able to take 18 shots a game like JJ? Of course. But the "fairness doctrine" doesn't apply here. No matter what they, or the fan base believes, they're not more talented of a basketball player than Joe Johnson is. The guy is regarded around the league as a top 20 player at least. So he'll get paid top 20 player like money, even if he doesn't get MAX dollars. As far as teke's comments about the Hawks being the 4 seed without JJ, and with Crawford, people have to keep this in mind. As great of an offensive talent that Crawford is, the one thing that kept him from making megabucks, was his wild inconsistency as a player. Being the #2 or sometimes 1a guy to JJ, has helped him tremendously. He doesn't have the pressure of having to be the high volume offensive machine and distributor for 35 - 40 minutes a game. He basically only has to concentrate on scoring. So the question may not be if we can or cannot win a championship with Joe Johnson. The question may be, regardless of if Joe Johnson is here or not, can we win a championship with Horford at C, and Smoove at PF?

That was some of everything tonight. After the 1st quarter, things started to progressively go downhill. ISO-Joe was ice cold after that hot start. I think he was like 3 for his last 14 FG. I know he missed 7 in a row. Just a horrible shooting night from him The 2nd unit . . smh . . . people need to stop about our "great bench" Marvin started out OK, bit finished weak Horford was doing his best Zaza imitation, with the turnovers. Bibby couldn't get an open 3 to drop late. Smoove was the only bright spot tonight overall. What's most disaoppointing, is that it was their 2nd unit who basically beat us, not Wade. We have to find a way to get to the FT line, when we're not making shots.

We're 11th in the league, because the switching defense gives every team fits, except Orlando and probably the Lakers. When played right, it's a beautiful thing to watch. But defensive rebounding is a vital part of playing defense. The defensive rebound ends the offensive possession, and prevents 2nd chance opportunities, which can kill teams. In our case, a defensive rebound not grabbed by us vs Orlando, either leads to a high percentage close range shot by Howard, a wide open 3, or a foul. But if we grab a defensive rebound, we can then take off toward the other end to try to get a quick score. That's why you have to mention defense first, because the defense fuels our offense, especially in Smoove's case. I think the problem that comes up with Woody and the offense, is that a lot of you place more emphasis on system and play calling, regardless of the talent you have on the team, or what they can do offensively. All of those things you listed about our starting 5 and defense, I can turn right back around on offense. * undersized C who has a nice 14 - 18 foot face-up jumper, but isn't a polished back to the basket scorer * undersized PF who can get to the rim and draw fouls, but becomes highly inefficient when looking to score outside of 5 feet away from the basket * SF whose aggressiveness comes and goes frequently, along with his jumpshot . * SG who can score from anywhere, but over dribbles at times and struggles to draw fouls to make his game more efficient * PG who is basically a spot up jumpshooter, and can't create his own shot if guarded And yet, we're 4th in offense. Why? Because we don't turn the ball over much, our transition game, our offensive rebounding, and by letting our two most talented scorers touch the ball as much as possible . . which is why the team doesn't turn the ball over much and why our athletic guys are in position for offensive rebounds. It's not creative or flashy ( unless we're out in transition ). But it actually plays to our strengths as a basketball team. Ball movement is good when people are converting. Calling plays for people is good, when they convert. But if the complimentary players have trouble making shots, the people who can create AND make their own shots, need the ball in their hands. And if the complimentary players have to take a reduced role in the offense sometimes, in order for us to get back into a game or win it, then so be it.

I didn't say he sucks at coaching defense. I believe we're 11th or 12th in defense. What I did say, is that being 4th in offense is less of a concern, than being 11th in defense. Therefore, the focus should be on defense, not offense. We need to be a top 7 defense, if we're seriously going to make a run at an East title. It kills you to not to admit that Woody is SMARTER than you, doesn't it? He's smarter than, me, and everybody else on here. He's SMARTER, because he kniows his personnel, and what they can and cannot do. This fan base has been flat out wrong in a number of things, that Woody has been proven right in. One of the smartest things Woody has ever done, was coaching our Forwards to grab a defensive rebound and push it up the floor . . and even try to score if it's open. Their ability to do that, creates mini-fast breaks in which quick scores can come about. Not only can they take it all the way to the hole ( like Marvin did last night ), they also create spot up 3 point opportunities for our shooters. Smoove routinely grabs a rebound, drives toward the lane . . . and if JJ's man has been forced to try to keep Smoove going all the way to the hole, Smoove just kicks it out to JJ for an open 3 But of course, Woody is smarter than you, so you don't even realize that this is one of the main reasons why we're near the top at creating fast break points. And no one has said to play ISO basketball all game. It's just that myself, and a few others, realize that ISO-Joe is actually a strength to this team, and not a detriment. ISO-Joe puts the ball into one of the best ISO players in the NBA, and lets him make the decision with the basketball. JJ can either take his man one on one, or pass and find the open man. As JJ said back in December, "it's easy basketball." Contrary to popular belief, ISO basketball creates assists too. Woody is just SMARTER than you Dsinner. At 33 - 17, it's time for you to admit that.

A "win padder"? Seriously? Win padding? LOL . . what does that mean? That you PURPOSELY try to win, to make yourself look good? So is Utah "win padding"? People need to understand that when you're just about a lock to make the playoffs, the ONLY THING that matters, is playoff seeding. We're not a developing team anymore. That is no longer the priority here. We're a team fighting for playoff seeding. So "win padding" is exactly what we need to do. We need that #2 seed, seeing that it is definitely within our reach now. If the Cavs slip up in the 2nd round like they did last year, and we have the #2 seed . . . guess who has home court advantage in the Eastern Conf Finals? WE DO!!!! Just because a fan favorite isn't getting as much PT as people want, it shouldn't take their eyes off the bigger goal. We should win as many games as possible. Go get that #2 seed By Any Means Necessary.

Dsinner . . I agree. But here's the point that Rome26 is making. You have to be able to convert the play, in order to get an assist. Which is a higher % shot? A 10 - 15 foot JJ midrange shot in the lane, that may be contested . . . or a 21 foot jumper by Marvin, a jumper in which he's wide open most of the time? JJ midrange: 49% Marvin 21 footer: 35% That's pretty much what happened in the Orlando game. JJ was passing the ball all over the place, but people were missing jumper after jumper. So if JJ kept the ball, and took a 12 footer in the lane, the likelihood of him making that shot, is greater than those other guys getting open looks from 20 feet. Rome26 . . . I totally agree with you. JJ isn't selfish at all. They just don't want him taking 20 shots a game for some reason. I guess coachx was expecting him to do what he did against Charlotte, when he started jacking up shots when the game was pretty much over. People should know by now though, that JJ isn't like that. More and more, it truly does look like he did that ONLY to add to his contribution to Haiti via his point total that night.

(( perplexed look )) The more wins we get, the better chance we have at winning the division. And if we win the division, we could possibly have the #2 seed and home court advantage in the 2nd round. Yet, people are more worried about the playing time of the bench and Teague, than winning every game we possibly can? I don't get it. This is the same bench that immeadiately came into last night's game, and fell behind. We do not have a good 2nd unit outside of Crawford. We just don't. The bench, when inserted into a game as a unit, has routinely gotten outplayed all year. Teague hasn't proven to be an offensive asset or a defensive stopper. He's made a few real good hustle plays, but that's it. He can't guard a vet PG like Jameer. Don't be surprised if he doesn't get ANY playing time during the playoffs. With every game of the playoffs having either a day or two ( or sometimes 3 days in the First round ) between them, coaches will routinely shorten their rosters. It is more important that Zaza and Evans give us quality spot minutes, than Teague. And because he's a big, Joe Smith may be called upon as well. Teague is the 10th man. Jamal can play the 1. Jamal will have to play 30+ minutes in the playoffs. JJ will play close to 40. Even if Teague plays, he's not going to play enough minutes to match up with Nelson, to affect how the Magic play us. I just don't get all of this Teague talk, when Jamal can effectively play the 1 and the 2. And from what I've seen, Teague is not a defensive stopper. It is what it is folks.

My position is that he isn't ready to play a quality backup role in the NBA. His athleticism is impressive, but everything else about his game is below average at best. I remember watching Acie Law in 2007 on opening night vs Dallas. Then I watched Teague vs Indiana on opening night. From a PG standpoint, I was more impressed with Acie. But Acie hardly made an impact on a game at all. And he couldn't finish at the rim or consistently hit a midrange jumpshot. I think deep down, everybody knows that Teague is a HUGE QUESTIONMARK. It is very worrisome to me that he's a PG that can't finish in traffic, and may have a shot release that will prevent him from even being a mediocre shooter in this league. To me, he's a more athletic version of Acie with even less of a shot. And that's not good. I haven't given up on him as a PG prospect. But I'm not expecting him to become some decent PG anytime soon either. I hope the kid proves me wrong.

You post everything . . . except his shooting percentage. I wonder why? If anybody wants to know why the kid doesn't play a lot, all they have to do is pull up the HAWKS - 2009 - 10 SEASON - JEFF TEAGUE . . . . . on this website: http://www.nba.com/hotspots

You would think our fans, out of anybody, wouldn't believe some crap like that. Then again, most of them don't like JJ anyway, and will find any excuse to rip the guy. I'm glad you saw straight through all of that crap in the article. This is a part of NBA life, when you're a good team that has a major free agent. if Smoove was in his last year as a Hawk, these same writers would swear up and down that the "so-called" rift between Smoove and Woody is the reason why Smoove would be available in the summer. Don't believe the propaganda and hype folks.

Interesting read. http://www.csnchicago.com/pages/blog_runningwiththebulls

Zaza is out . . . JJ is probable ( which means that he made the trip ). Unless you've seen something else to say otherwise?

The problem with this thread, is that the focus is sitll on the offensive side of the basketball, when the reason we don't win games most of the time, is because of the defense. But no one has addressed the defense one time in this thread, as a reason why we're either overachieving or underachieving. The 111.4 offensive rating that we now possess, is currently the 4th best in Atlanta Hawk history Only the 1988 - 1990 Hawks with Nique, Moses, and Doc, and the 1986 - 87 Hawks in which Nique almost averaged 30 ppg and won 57 games ( a franchise record ), are the only teams more offensively efficient than this year's version of the Atlanta Hawks. Defensively, the 106.2 rating they currently have right now, ranks 20th all time. Lenny's 1998 - 99 team ranks first. Dominique's/Manning's 1993 - 94 team ranks 7th. The Mookie - Dikembe ball hawking team of 1996 - 97 ranks 8th. But this current group ranks 20th. With the lesser teams we have coming up on the schedule, we do have a chance to improve that defensive rating. And by that same token, we have a chance to improve the offensive rating for the same reason. Before it is all said and done, this could very well be the most offensively efficient Atlanta Hawk team in history. The 113 offensive rating that the 1988 - 89 team posted, is well within reach of this team, if we take care of business against these lesser teams. The entire fan base knows that Horford ( and especially Smith ) are more efficient players when they're able to beat their opponent down the floor during transition. The strength of their games is NOT halfcourt offense, because they're not good at creating and making shots. Against the big frontlines, their offensive inefficiencies are exposed even more. I think it just kills some of you that Woody is actually playing the "safe" route offensively, instead of "experimenting" on trying to develop Josh Smith and Al Horford as go-to like offensive weapons. We would no doubt sacrifice a few games off of that win total, if he did that. And people would be having a fit if we were 28 - 21, and only a few games ahead of Toronto. Iso-JJ and Iso-Crawford is the safe way out. * It limits turnovers. * It puts the offensive decision making in JJ's hands, whether it be from a scoring or passing standpoint. * It enables Crawford to do what he does best, without worrying about also being a playmaking guard. * And it enables your most explosive offensive weapons to potentially take over a game. That's been the case in just about every big win we've had this season. When the running game gets going, that's when Horford and Smith look like very good offensive players. If anything, you could see a transition in this offense in which Josh Smith handles the ball more, and creates for others. This may increase turnovers, because Smoove still likes to force passes a little. But it would give you an different look to the offense, as we saw in the Bulls game. Developing Smith as a point forward type, may be the way to go, before we try to force Smith and Horford to be more efficient halfcourt players. LOL . . this argument is almost like criticizing a wishbone offense for not being able to pass the ball, when the real problem with them is that their defense is highly schizophrenic.

We don't win 3 of those Boston games without JJ We don't beat Portland twice without JJ We don't beat Dallas in Dallas without JJ We squandered huge games by JJ vs Chicago, OK City, San Antonio, Cleveland, and the Lakers ( games in which Smoove didn't play near how he should play ) Josh Smith is the complimentary player that makes this team a cohesive unit, a great one at times. But there is no question that Joe Johnson is the MVP of this team. When push comes to shove, Joe Johnson is the one that is going to be asked to score the tough points down the stretch AND guard the best perimeter player on the other team to keep him from scoring.

This team has played a much harder schedule so far this year, than we had last year at this time. * We've played Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando 9 times this year . . . compared to 7 last year * We've already played 4 games against the Lakers, Portland and Utah this year . . . last year, we hadn't played any of those teams yet * For the rest of the season, we have 10 games vs teams over .500 ( although Charlotte, Chicago, Miami and Milwaukee are close to .500 - 8 games vs those teams ) . . . . last year, we were looking at 16 games vs teams over .500 ( 10 against the Western Conference eventual playoff teams ) The fact is that if this team can start taking care of business against the sub .500 teams that we're going to play on the road, the Hawks are going to position themselves to make a big time run in the standings,especially in March. 18 of our last 33 are on the road, but only 4 of those games are currently vs teams with a winning record. 10 - 8 is a realistic road record for this team ( if they still haven't solved winning consistently on the road ), but we could be as good as 12 - 6 or 13 - 5. At home, you're looking at 6 of the 15 games being against teams with a winning record. Considering that one of those games is the last game of the season vs Cleveland, you're really talking about 5 games vs winning records. A 10 - 5 or 11 - 4 at home record isn't out of the realm of possibility. If this team can go 13 - 5 on the road . . . and 10 - 5 at home . . . that's 23 - 10 over the next 33 games. That'll put us at 55 - 27. At no time last year, were the Hawks 15 games over .500 This team is significantly ahead of the pace that they were at last year, due to the teams that we've already played, and have yet to play.

OK . . I predicted that they would reschedule the game for Wednesday March 10th. Good for us because we still get a 2 day rest. But it forces Washington to play on 3 consecutive nights ( 4 out of 5 nights ). They must have something going on at the Verizon Center on that Wednesday night.

Blah, blah, blah Hot. Go ahead and change your tune, after you had no confidence whatsoever in this team to start the season. At least the majority of fans on this board thought the Hawks would win somewhere between 50 and 55 games before the season started. But go ahead and do you. Flip-flop, and change your tune . . and act you fully expected us to be 32 - 17 right now . . lol. The fact is, every team in the league has good wins and bad losses. You can go through just about every team in the league, and do what you're doing with the Hawks. Cleveland has the best record in the league, but they've lost to Toronto, Chicago, Washington ( in a blowout ), Charlotte ( twice ), and Memphis. But I guess they they're underachieving as well, because they have some bad losses. It's all blah, blah, blah. The Hawks are 32 - 17, their best record in 13 years. The Hawks have won 11 of their last 16 games. The Hawks are tied for 3rd in the East, and are only 1.5 games behind Orlando for the division lead. And still, you'd rather complain about the Hawks, than be happy that we're in the position we're in right now. LOL . . we've come to expect that from you though.

LOL . . . if we have underachieved, what is our record supposed to be? 34 - 15? 37 - 13? 39 - 10? LOL . . . some of you need to stop. If someone would've told me before the season that the Hawks would have a shot to win their 33rd game out of 50 games, I would've been like . . . Damn, we'd be having a great season !!! Some players are playing below expectations, while others are playing above what we expected. We've lost some games we definitely should've won, and won games we definitely should've lost. This is why I LOL all the time on this board. Because no matter how well or bad this team does, people will always say that "if Woody would do this . . or if Woody wasn't here . . . blah, blah, blah,blah, blah" I told everyone this board that if Jamal Crawford shot 45% FG, that you better give Woody a chunk of the credit for that. No other coach has gotten him to be that efficient of a shooter, for an entire season. So if Jamal keeps playing at this level, give Woody his due in knowing exactly how to use Jamal. Could it be the other way around? Could it be the fact that Jamal gets to almost solely concentrate in being a scorer, that has elevated his game? Shoot, Woody has even elevated Jamal's defensive game somewhat. As for Bibby, he has to be the starter, or at the very least, be on the floor when JJ or Crawford is playing. Putting Bibby out there with the 2nd unit would force Bibby to create his own shot, instead of playing off the ball, waiting for a pass. He plays very well off of JJ, so he should continue to play alongside him. As for Marvin, he's been playing with the 2nd unit off and on, the entire year. And he's still struggled to score consistently. Move Marvin to the bench and elevate Evans is a decent idea . . IF . . . Marvin is struggling mightily and is actually hurting the starting 5 with his presence. At that point, moving Marvin to the bench should be used to gain some of his confidence back. But even then, you don't cut his minutes to give to an inefficient Evans. You play them both the same amount of minutes ( edit: that they're playing now ). You're just merely switching up when they play.

Just another way to diss Marvin and Woody I see. Hotlanta is on record of saying that this team wouldn't win more games than they did last year. Underachieving? Yeah right. * swept Boston * swept Portland when they were full strength * won 2 of 3 in Texas * had win streaks of 7 and 6 games * haven't had more than a 4 game losing streak * home record is one of the best in the league * Josh Smith having arguably his best all-around season ever, and shooting over 50% FG for the first time ever. * Al Horford making the All-Star team, and shooting a career high in FG% * Jamal Crawford, a career 40% FG shooter, is shooting 46% ( anything over 44% would be a career high for a season ) * Joe Johnson taking over games with his scoring, especially on the road - and is shooting the best he's shot in Atlanta since having Al Harrington as a teammate. * winning games despite the below average play of the complimentary bench players: Zaza, Mo, Joe Smith, and Teague * viewed by most around the league as a borderline elite team * has turned the Big 3 in the East, into the Big 4 Underachieving? No way. Marvin and Bibby may be playing below expections, but JJ, Josh, Al, and Crawford are dang near playing at All-Star levels. This team, including the coach, has so far gone beyond expectations this season. If anything, they're OVERACHIEVED . . . if only slightly. But they're definitely not underachieving.

Nope . . . it's not properly recognizing the hot hand and/or the mismatch, that I'm pointing out. When KG hits 3 shots in 2 1/2 minutes, and he doesn't get another shot in the quarter, something is wrong. Some of the shots the Celtics missed were wide open shots, despite the fact that they took a few quick shots. I watched that game. It's not like they were missing challenged shots. It's just that they couldn't make wide open shots. Notice that KG got about 6 or 7 shots in that 4th quarter. That should've been happening in the first place. They went to the guy who could make shots and get them back into the game. In that 4th quarter, after their bench stabilized things a little, the guy who was making shots and creating for others, were Rondo and KG. Yet, Ray Allen was still jacking up shots ( wide open shots ) even though he was ice cold, and Pierce barely touched the ball in good scoring situations. Not good basketball. Not smart basketball. If Vince Carter hits 3 early shots in a row, no way is he going shotless for the rest of the quarter. The Celtics lost that game in the 3rd, simply because the right people weren't shooting the ball, whether it be through ball movement, or through isolation offense. They had full control of that game, and lost it stupidly.

2nd half shooting with 1 minute to go: KG : 5 - 8 Ray Allen: 1 - 7 Pierce: 2 - 5 Rondo: 2 - 5 KG is 5 - 8. . . Allen, Pierce, and Rondo are 5 - 17 LOL . . now you tell me? Who should be getting the dang ball?

@ MVP . . . you beat me to this post. I was just about to start a topic about this @ wfhawksfan . . . EXACTLY . . right after he said that, the Magic started DESTOYING the Celtics. People may hate our ISO basketball at times. But if JJ was 3 - 3 in the 3rd quarter, we're still going to him the rest of the quarter. We're not going to be moving the ball all around just to get other people the ball. After going 0 - 5 in the first half, KG hit 3 shots very early in that quarter, and didn't take another shot the rest of the quarter. That's exactly when the Magic made their run. Meanwhile in that quarter . . . Allen was 0 - 4 Rondo was 1 - 3 Pierce was 0 - 2 You see why this team has a ton of turnovers. Even the play Allen made when he was driving to the hole at the 4 minute mark, where he drives to the hole, but throws the ball away trying to hit Pierce out by the 3 point line, is a prime example of why they commit so many turnovers. Ball movement is great. But if you got guys who are missing left and right, and the guy who has it going isn't getting the ball ( KG . . who at the 3 minute mark, is 5 - 8 FG in the 2nd half ), then your offense is going to struggle regardless.

You guys keep taking about Moses being on the decline and being a black hole. Yeah, he was on the decline . . . if you compare him to what he did over HIS career. But that dude was still a dominant center that made the All-Star team that year. Moses is still the best offensive rebounder I've ever seen. I remember some games in which Moses was virtually unstoppable that year. But he did have some games in which he was off. Still, when you look back on this guys game log from that year, you have to be impressed of what he was able to do. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonmo01/gamelog/1989/