TheNorthCydeRises

Great point. I still don't get the Teague love affair though. He is no doubt the most athletic PG we've had here since Speedy. But just because he can dunk when having a clear path to the basket, or chase people down and block a shot, doesn't mean that he's ready to assume a role like Collison has. How about Teague actually doing some point guard-like things, like being able to get to the rim in traffic and finish, or make an 18 foot jumper? Guys like Collison and Lawson were much better PGs than Teague was in college. I do think that if something happened to Bibby, which forced Woody to think about starting Teague, that he wouldn't be as bad as he looks right now. With more time, he'd be able to make more plays. Unfortunately, with more time, he'd also make more mistakes. If we were 16 - 30, there would be no doubt that Teague would be our starting PG here. But it's hard to overlook the fact that even in limited time, he's shooting 35% FG. LOL . . you can't have that out of your PG, on any level of basketball. Woody is doing right by letting that dude learn on the sideline. If Bibby keeps playing inconsistent ball though, Woody's hand may be forced anyway.

He's not getting better looks. He's making tougher shots. I've never seen JJ take and make tough shots like he's been doing this year. And this article was OBVIOUSLY written before the Orlando game, seeing that there's no mention of that game. JJ played exactly how people wanted him to play in Orlando, and the team flat out didn't step up AT ALL. The offensive strength of this team is having JJ with the ball in his hands, and either shooting or creating for others. His assists are down because Bibby, and especially Marvin, aren't making jumpers. 18.4 shots per game, considering that he only gets to the FT line maybe twice a game ( 4 FTs ), means that he's only actually shooting the ball maybe 20 times a game. His usage rate is less than the vast majority of lead guys around the league. People want the offense to change, so that our less skilled players get more shots? Even if they got better looks, they still may not make the shot, unless it's at point blank range. I guess people want JJ to play like JJ Redick, instead of Kobe. The dude is one of the most skilled 2-guards in the league with the ball in his hands, yet, people want him to be a catch and shoot guy. It's amazing that people have a problem with our captain, simply because he's looking to SCORE the basketball to help us win games, instead of trusting some of his teammates who don't make open shots. God forbid that he takes the mindset of the other stars in the league.

Yep . .. they're not worried at all about those two guys. The only time you'll ever see the Magic double team somebody, is if JJ has the ball. When the Hawks threw it down low for Horford or Smoove to create a shot, they didn't rotate anybody toward those guys. If a rotation did come, it comes at the last minute via Howard challenging the shot at the rim. The Hawks are simply going to have to outshoot this team, while hoping that the Magic isn't anywhere near their 3-point production average. Woody should just give JJ and Jamal the ball, and see if they can be the high volume type scorers to lead us to victory. Horford and definitely Smoove should never take a jumper against the Magic. Most of their concentration should be on grabbing as many rebounds on both ends of the floor as possible. When Bibby was making those early shots, it helped us build that early lead. So we're just going to have to make our open jumpers. The mentality of this team isn't to drive to the basket to look for contact. Your observation of JJ and Crawford's FT production, and how it compares to Maggette's FT production, is right on point. So to make up for that, they're either going to have to take a lot of shots, or make a lot of threes. Either way, the ball should be in their hands on most possessions, with them looking to shoot the ball. They can try to share the ball early. But if the complimentary players aren't getting it done, the star players need to completely dominate the ball.

I was watching the Boston - LA game today, and Los Angeles looked like it was being coached by Woody in that 4th quarter. ISO Kobe . . . ISO Artest. . . . I even saw an ISO Shannon Brown.

Blah blah blah Hot. He's just as deserving as Stan Van Gundy. The Magic own us, just like we own the Celtics. Both Orlando and Atlanta are good squads. Good, not great.

LOL . . . how fitting that it would be "Dad" that seals the game for the Magic. Detroit down 3 with the ball to tie . . . and Anthony "Dad" Johnson steals the ball. Hits 2 FTs. Magic win by 5. Oh well . . . Woody and the Hawks should've taken care of business last night. But I think it's funny that a former Hawk prevents him from being coach of the East All-Stars. Van Gundy probably won't play Horford at all . . . maybe 4 minutes. JJ will be lucky to get 10 minutes.

Halftime: Orlando 48 - Detroit 45 Orlando was winning by 15 early, but Detroit closed out the 2nd quarter with a 9 - 0 run to cut it to 3. Dwight Howard only has 6 points on 3 - 6 shooting. He also only has 6 rebounds. Maybe the Hawks should be looking to acquire a guy like Ben Wallace at the trade deadline as a backup center. Wonder if they'd take a couple of 2nd round picks for him? Would the Hawks give up a future 1st round pick for a guy like that? I doubt it.

Exactly. But around here, when JJ attempts 5 or 6 shots in a quarter, he's being "selfish". Miller took 31 shots in that game. JJ has taken 30 shots only 6 times in his Hawk career ( 3 times this year ). Hawks are 2 - 4 when he takes 30+ shots.

We weren't a championship caliber team before the season started, but we're closer to being that right now. We're a solid playoff contender. Funny how that isn't all of a sudden good enough for people anymore. The problem is, this group hasn't gotten a chance to play in the playoffs yet ( with Crawford ), to see just how good they can be. If we make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, this season is NOT a failure. It'll prove that this current core just may be "championship material" if they can get that far in the playoffs. But people want to tweak the lineup, before they play one playoff game, which is kind of crazy. When you look at our core players, these are the state of those players games: JJ - about the same, if not a little bit better of a scorer now, than he has been the past 3 years Crawford - a lot better than he has at any point in his career Smoove - has improved his post up game against average defenders, and is back to stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis Horford - improved midrange jumpshooting over the past two seasons and is a little better defensively. Marvin - becoming more erratic with his jumpshooting, about the same defensively, still too inactive of a player. Bibby - less serviceable than a year ago, and is becoming somewhat unreliable on both ends of the floor Zaza - nowhere near as consistent of a player off the bench as he was a year ago Mo - 3 point shot is more erratic and he's less reliable defensively, So your solution, is to keep all of our inconsistent players around, but get rid of our BEST PLAYER? The one guy who can literally put this team on his back and carry us to victory? This is the flawed thinking in full display around here about this team. JJ isn't keeping us from winning a title. It's the guys around him that's doing it. For us to win a title, JJ will have to play at an All-NBA level. But the people around him will have to play at a much, much higher level than what they're playing at right now. There are no young centers to trade JJ for. Clippers aren't giving up Kaman. That would be silly of them to do. Memphis sure in the heck isn't giving up Marc Gasol. He helps anchor that team offensively. Lakers aren't trading Bynum, unless it's for another all-star Forward/Center. The "young center" that people seek, just doesn't exist, or isn't going to be available. If anything, the Hawks are destined to get a backup center that can at least play a little defense, to try to neutralize the big men that seem to give us a ton of trouble. Keep this in mind. When the Celtics made the move that they were going to acquire people to win an NBA title, they didn't get rid of Paul Pierce ( their best, but much maligned player at the time ). No . . . they got rid of all of their young talent and inconsistent talent. They knew that without Pierce, a title was not possible. Just keep all of this in mind when you come of with all of those trade scenarios for JJ. Star players win championships . . . not complimentary guys. And because of that, people should NEVER talk about the Hawks and "Championship" in the same sentence, until our star players play like superstars, and our young guys play like star players on a nightly basis. In the meantime, simply enjoy the fact that the Hawks are 30 - 16, and in the hunt for a division title and possibly a top 3 seed, instead of worrying about whether we can win a title with this group. That is a loooooong way away.

When I watched that game last night, it became apparent to me that the only way this team is going to beat the Magic, is if our star players look to completely take over the game offensively. And if that means that JJ and Crawford have to jack up 45 - 50 shots combined to lead us to victory, then so be it. As much as people hate the ISO offense that we run here with JJ, it was effective last night in getting people quality shots. JJ not only got his points, he got guys a ton of open looks on the perimeter. JJ finished with 7 assists, but he could've easily had 12 - 13 assists, had people made just half of the open jumpshots that they missed last night. 4 of JJ's assists were 3-pointers. JJ played exactly the way people want him to play around here, and we still got handled because his teammates missed open shot after open shot. I see the thread about Marvin not being aggressive after that first quarter. Well . . . that was because he was he was 2 - 8 FG in that first quarter. With the limited touches that he gets in the first place, he really has to be 4 - 8 FG to justify him continuing to try to score. He simply missed too many shots to justify keep feeding him the ball. The Hawks were 3 - 14 FG with shots within 10 feet ( that aren't right at the rim ). In that area, Horford and Smith were a combined 1 - 7 FG. Almost every shot taken in that area was due to an ISO play called for Horford or Smoove. But they're so worried about Howard coming from the other side to challenge their shot, that they never get the type of look they need. So it's my contention that for us to beat the Magic, Horford and Smith should concentrate more on offensive rebounds to score, and simply let JJ and Crawford do as much damage on the offensive end as they possibly can. He and Crawford are the only guys on this team that can create AND MAKE tough shots. So in a game like that, they need to be the primary scoring options ( even more than usual ). Keep Smoove and Horford around that rim, to challenge Howard for defensive rebounds and possibly get offensive putbacks, or even draw fouls. Honestly folks, this was the same thing going on in the San Antonio game, with Duncan dominating, and our frontcourt disappearing, Smith and Horford HAVE to be set up on offense, in order for them to be efficient halfcourt offensive players. When asked to create their own shot, they can't make a decent percentage of those looks. Teams do not double team Smith and Horford, because of this. When the double doesn't come, they're forced to create their own shot, something that is not their strength. And because they're the primary rebounders on the team, a missed shot by them usually ends with the other team getting the defensive rebound. In that same area within 10 feet in which we were 3 - 14 FG in the Orlando game, we were 4 - 12 FG in the San Antonio game. In that game, Smith and Horford were 0 - 5 FG. Two games vs 2 of the best big men in the league, and Smith and Horford were a combined 1 - 12 FG from within 10 feet. The one thing about this team, is that outside of Smith ( sometimes ), we're not going to draw a ton of fouls and be able to stop runs by getting to the FT line. And we know that Smith doesn't get the calls even when he gets hit sometimes. So while people may not like it, we're better off just trying to "ugly" the game up vs Orlando, and let JJ be a heavy volume shooter. If he misses, he just misses. But if he misses, we may have a better chance at getting offensive rebounds off of his misses. But when JJ is doubled, our perimeter guys ( Bibby, Marvin, Crawford, Mo ) MUST hit open shots. You can't miss open shots and expect to beat the Magic, because Howard is normally not going to give you a 2nd chance on that possession. JJ just needs to try to go into SUPERSTAR MODE against Orlando. Don't worry about being called "selfish" or not a "team player". Just do what you have to do to win the game. If guys aren't going to make open shots, then I'd much rather see JJ take a tough shots ( because he can make those shots ),

I agree. You play JJ straight up man to man, and he's going to kill you. Trap him or play zone, and you have a better shot at containing him. The only way JJ goes off for 40, is if he hits about 7 threes tonight. He's more likely to get 10 assists against the Magic, than 40 points. I'll take a 22 point - 10 assist game from him tonight, because that's equal to going for 40 ( from a point production standpoint ).

Like you said, it's all in fun. I'm just making sure that you, and the other people who like to routinely take shots at JJ, understand what that dude's game is about. Glad to see that you're coming around to him.

It really depends on what we do in the playoffs. I don't see any team offering him that type of money, if he isn't performing at a high level in the playoffs. The better he plays, the higher the offer. And if he plays great, and gets us deep into the playoffs, the Hawks should definitely consider paying him superstar type money. But he's not getting a contract like that yet. 5yrs - 80 to 90 million is probably what he'll be looking at right now ( depending on the teams that think they desperately need him ). If Chicago wants that superstar backcourt, then they may go all out for JJ. The Hawks owners simply have to be willing to do what they have to do to keep the core together. Everybody else is expendible. Also, if these owners are committed to not spending a lot of money in this economy, that may affect things as well. But it doesn't help at all that the Hawks are 17th in attendance . . . and the Bulls are 7th.

Which is why you should appreciate the game of Joe Johnson all the more, because he NEVER does that ( even though he probably should on occasion ). JJ would rather take and make a difficult shot, or pass to an open teammate, than get a "cheap" trip to the line when he knows that he doesn't have a good shot to take.

The problem is . . . there isn't an equally talented player out there that can replace JJ, that isn't a star player somewhere else. If you trade JJ for 2 complimentary players, that doesn't help us in the long run. Matter of fact, that may hurt us in the long run because of the money added to the books for average or slightly above average players. We'll definitely suffer if we lost JJ for nothing. But what the potential killer could be right now, are the contracts of Bibby, Zaza and Marvin. You're talking about over 16 million being made between those 3 guys. The better move for the Hawks, would be to move one of those guys, and bring back expiring contracts. Right now though, competing for a division and then an Eastern Conference crown, should be most important. You trade JJ for a couple of mediocre players, just because you're afraid to lose him for nothing, and you pretty much do more harm than good, in achieving that goal. We can't be afraid to keep our core ( JJ, Smove, Horford, Crawford ) in tact, and let this thing ride out. It'll also help if the fans would actually act like that they like Joe Johnson. I hope he doesn't read the message boards and blogs, because the criticizm that he receives amongst Hawk fans could turn him sour toward the bandwagon fan base to begin with. And I hope people aren't in his ear talking about all of the press Crawford gets, taking away a little bit of his shine. Personally, people should be looking at them as a DUO, instead of a JJ vs Jamal type situation. The fan base needs to create a name for both JJ and Jamal, that people can roll with, so that they'll be looked at as a duo.

It was easy to overlook Jamal's game, because he was a highly inefficient shooter. He was a career 40% FG shooter before he came here, which is horrible. The ultimate "streak shooter" in this league. Even last here when he scored 50 in Charlotte, he scored 6 points the previous night against the Hawks. Jamal is normally streaky as hell. This year, he's a much more consistent player, partially because he's playing alongside another guy that the opposing team fears. He doesn't have to do all the scoring, like with past teams. He merely has to do his job as the primary option when playing with the 2nd team, and as the #2 or sometimes the #1b scorer alongside JJ. The difference this year, is that Jamal is reaching his ppg average by scoring 17, 22, 25, and 16 points . . . instead of reaching his ppg aveage by scoring 27, 11, 34 and 8 points. It's a similar ppg average, but his consistency in reaching his average just about every game, is the major difference.

Woody/Hawks control their own destiny now.. Beat BOS and ORL and he coaches the East All-Stars. LOL . . . I want to see this happen so bad. It would be the icing on the cake for Woody.

Those grades are pretty much on target for everybody. It's pretty much been a dream season for the Hawks up to this point. And there's still a lot of room for improvement ( that's the scary part ). Great 1st half of the season. Hopefully we'll be right there for one of the 2 top spots once the playoffs come around.

First off, congrats to AL. He's been working hard all year, and has improved as an undersized center. As for Josh, his numbers fell off a little in December ( partially due to those blowouts ). He still should've made the team though. I was afraid that Horford would get shut out, if the coaches considered Bosh to be a C. Since they didn't, Horford gained the advantage and Smoove got snubbed. I'll take a slightly different angle on this though. I wonder why the Hawks organization didn't make more of a push to hype our guys up nationally. In this technological age where everyone is on Twitter or youtube, the Hawks should've at least produced 4 minute highlight packages for JJ, Horford, Smoove, and Crawford . . . and put those vids on Youtube or something. Also, I wonder if the coaches REALLY VOTE. I wonder if they give their All-Star ballots to assistant coaches or front office personnel, and let them figure out who will be the reserves. I know in college, the head coach may let the athletic director fill out his top 25 ballot ( seeing that it's no way the head coach can keep up with everybody elses team ). So I wonder if some of these NBA coaches aren't doing the same thing? Too bad about Smoove though. His athletic ability is tailor-made for an All-Star game. He'd really get to increase his star power if he played in that game.

The blatant disrespect of Joe Johnson by a few of you in this fan base, is laughable. To even suggest that we don't need him next year, means that you're satisfied with winning 40 - 45 games next year. Last night's game illustrated why you need a Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford on the team, taking a lot of shots if need be. It's because they're the only two who can create AND make their own shot.. Smith and Horford are good offensively when they have someone else setting them up for layups and/or open jumpers. JJ and Crawford don't need setting up. They can get their points regardless. In other words, they take and make "star" type shots. If you don't have players with the ability to do that, you're not going to reach your potential as a team.

That's the name that always pops up, whenever a team needs a backup PG. He would be the right one here. A guy that can defend the position and be somewhat of a playmaker and scorer at the same time.

Be nice to have Speedy right now . . . even a 65% Speedy.

I'm not going to disagree with that much. He has definitely had his monents in the playoffs, but nothing superstar worthy ( other than Game 4 vs Boston and Game7 vs Miami ) He's playing better than he played last year, even if his stats are similar. That dude is starting to have monster type games on the road, a sign that he is mentally prepared when we go on the road. That's why I'm looking forward to his performances in this year's playoffs. He's a more aggressive and assertive player this year. I don't expect any disappearing acts from him in the playoffs. Which is why you don't trade JJ for a bunch of complimentary players, because they don't add any starpower to the team either. So we might as well roll with what we have right now. JJ averaged a little over 15 shots a game in the playoffs last year. Don't expect that at all this year. His mindset this year is to try to carry the team offensively, not defer to others all the time. You'll think otherwise, as expected.

What I would've done, is let Nique play out the end of his deal, and make my offer depending on how far he led us in the playoffs at year's end. Despite Nique's demands, that guy was going to still play hard for the Hawks. And I felt that Babcock not only owed it to him, but to Hawk fans, to keep that squad together the entire year to see if they could make a run at a ring. It was our best shot at a title, outside of the Celtics series in '88. And he was more worried about getting something in return for Nique, than actually trying to bolster the bench to make us a stronger team to win a ring. I would've simply played "chicken" with Nique, banking that the rest of the league wouldn't think he was worth near as much as he and his agent thought he was. He was an aging star player. And the league back then were investing most of their money in the 1st round picks. When the Clips decided not to re-sign Nique, he got a real dose of reality around the league about his worth. But if we lost him for nothing . . . oh well. We just retool the team and build around Mookie. ( something we ended up doing anyway ). But my offer to him, iif we at least made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, would've been 2 yrs at 10 million. If we got to the Finals or won a title, I may have given him the 3/21 deal . . or negotiated less years but more money per year. What Nique sign for in Boston? Something like 11 mill for 3 years? He didn't want to take that, but he had to. The market quickly let him know that teams weren't going to pay him that much

What I would've done, is let Nique play out the end of his deal, and make my offer depending on how far he led us in the playoffs at year's end. Despite Nique's demands, that guy was going to still play hard for the Hawks. And I felt that Babcock not only owed it to him, but to Hawk fans, to keep that squad together the entire year to see if they could make a run at a ring. It was our best, and so far only shot at a title. And he was more worried about getting something in return for Nique, than actually trying to bolster the bench to make us a stronger team to win a ring. I would've simply played "chicken" with Nique, banking that the rest of the league wouldn't think he was worth near as much as he and his agent thought he was. He was an aging star player. And the league back then were investing most of their money in the 1st round picks. When the Clips decided not to re-sign Nique, he got a real dose of reality around the league about his worth. But if we lost him for nothing . . . oh well. We just retool the team and build around Mookie. ( something we ended up doing anyway ). But my offer to him, iif we at least made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, would've been 2 yrs at 10 million. If we got to the Finals or won a title, I may have given him the 3/21 deal . . or negotiated less years but more per year. What Nique sign for in Boston? Something like 11 mill for 3 years? He didn't want to take that, but he had to. The market quickly let him know that teams weren't going to pay him that much