TheNorthCydeRises

I know all about the story man. Nique wanted something ridiculous! like a 3yr - 21 mill extension ( which was pretty big money back then ). And I know all about the BS agreement between the Hawks and Manning, and the promise od a pretty lucrative deal at the end of the season. But it was a completely idiotic move by Babcock to make, and the fans and everybody in the national media knew it. We were the NUMBER ONE team in the East at the time of that trade. Nique, while erratic, was still capable of exploding on people at any given time. And the team around him knew how to work around Nique's erratic play. SEATTLE was the elite team that year, and we led the group of teams right behind them. The trade took any legit shot at a title away from us. Danny Manning didn't have it in him to be the lead dog on this team. With Nique being in the last year of his deal, and with him being on arguably the best Hawk team of his life, don't you think that dude would've gone all out to win a title that year? With no Jordan around, the East was WIDE OPEN. So if you as me whether I would've gambled on Nique trying to lead us to the NBA Finals . . . . or losing him and Manning, to later sign Dikembe ( who never got past the 2nd round ) . . . . the answer is easy. I'm gambling on the guy who was then STILL considered to be a superstar player . . Dominique. That verbal agreement had as much backbone as the verbal agreement Danny Ferry made with Boozer. That agreement by him may have very well cost Cleveland a few NBA titles. A Lebron - Boozer combo the last 5 years would've been a load to handle. So when it comes to JJ this year, there's no way in heck that you move him, in fear of getting nothing back. Because the pieces you may get back won't take you any further than what we already are in the first place. Starpower wins titles, not a collection of complimentary players. That's why the good team we beat last night, has virtually no shot at winning anything this year. They simply don't have the guy who can carry them when things go bad. LOL . . . they do, but they refuse to play him. If we trade JJ, we dang well better get a guy at, or above his level, no matter what the position the guy we bring in plays.

If people would just stop being so judgemental about this team on a game by game basis, you'll be able to appreciate what the Hawks are doing this season a little more. We're not going to lose to every good team and we're not going to beat every bad team. People just simply need to keep their eye on the big picture, when it comes to this team. Don't jump off the bandwagon if the struggle for a week. And don't act like we're an NBA Finals contender because we won a road game. Just let this thing play out, and enjoy the season . . . regardless of what happens.

Glad you mentioned Smoove. I was waiting on someone to say that about his passing. I remember about 3 or 4 years ago in a game vs Phoenix, that Eddie Johnson ( then the TV color guy of the Suns ), had did a 2nd quarter swap with Smitty for about 10 minutes. Smitty went over to the Phoenix FSN broadcast. Eddie specifically said even back then that Smoove reminded him more of Lamar Odom than anybody else, because of his ballhandling and passing ability. I think that may be Smoove's offensive value as a player in the future. I don't think he'll ever be a 20 ppg scorer, but he could be a 6 assist a game guy. At his peak, I could see him averaging 18 ppg - 9 rebs - 6 assists . . . as a PF. Those are Scotty Pippen/Kevin Garnett-esque numbers. Woody would have to really trust him with the ball in his hands though. If we continue to not find the PG of the future of this team, I could one day see Smoove being the leading assist guy on this team.

That's a cool looking chart though. Not quite sure if PER should correlate with Usage %. But that's a cool looking chart. The only thing to keep in mind, is that Horford sees over 60% of his shots assisted. He's not nearly as good at creating his own offense, as he is receiving passes that lead directly to layups or open jumpers. He probably should be used more. I know Woody likes to play Marvin with the 2nd unit, but if you wanted to get Horford potentially more touches, maybe he should be playing with the 2nd unit ( either at center or at PF ). This does mean that Horford needs to be subbed out first, to give him the breather toward the end of the 1st quarter. Then bring Horford back in with the 2nd group. Teague Crawford Evans Joe Smith Horford Maybe with that group, Crawford may be more willing to pass the ball to Horford, than to take most of the shots himself.

Defense was a big problem in that game as well. The Knicks were already shooting over 50% from 3, even before Nate went off. And you can't let Wilson Chandler, of all people, have a career type game against you. JJ and Crawford were a pitiful 14 - 42 FG that game though ( JJ: 12 - 30 . . Crawford: 2 - 12 ), so your point is definintely valid. Still, other people need to stop harping over bad losses, like they really mean a lot to the overall season. Since that Knick debacle, the Hawks have won 7 out of 10 games. Hawks just simply need to be more consistent defensively against the Knicks. In that first game we lost to them at home, they shot 58%. Smoove's ejection in that game didn't help either.

I remember that return game. It was reminiscent of the Michael Vick homecoming this year when the Eagles played the Falcons. Except that the crowd cheered much more loudly for Nique. And I knew we were in trouble that year when Manning didn't respond to Nique coming back to ATL at all. Nique scored 36 in that game. Manning scored 6. I mean, the dude didn't even attempt to elevate his game, to let the fans know that the trade was allright. If we do trade JJ, and don't get the right players back in return, we're still screwed ( possibly even more ). Any center we bring in here will directly affect the chemistry of this team, unless we run everything through Horford, and try to turn him into a 20 ppg scorer. I'm not sure he has that in him yet. Bringing in a center slides Josh Smith to SF. That's a disaster waiting to happen. With our record being what it is right now, the Hawks MUST play this thing out. No way they can blink like Babcock did, and trade the guy that your entire offense is based around ( for better or for worse . . according to what people think about the offense ), simply for complimentary players. No team has ever won doing a move like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo-TvGBaNYE

You won't see the AJC write about that though. They need to write an article on "Bandwagon Fandom". Then again, those are the same writers that don't mind take as shot at the Hawks at all. Schultz's article on how the Hawks choked against Cleveland is still on the main Hawks page on http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks That was almost a month ago. They even have a hockey article by Mark Bradley in the Hawks section. It's really sad. It shows how much that hometown paper, and some of the people in Atlanta, care about the Hawks. People say that the Hawks should do more promotion outside of ATL. But it's sad when Georgia's biggest newspaper don't give the Hawks the credit that they're due. 65% of the fans that go to Hawk games are real Hawks fans. The other 35% go to the game either to see the other team, or because it's the "social thing to do".

That was the situation with Nique back in 1994. Nique averaged 20 shots a game when he was with the Hawks that season ( 23 shots a game when he went to the Clippers ). The same fear of losing Nique for nothing, was the prevailing thought going around during that time with Babcock. Pete didn't want to pay Nique what he was reportedly asking for, and didn't want to lose Nique for nothing. And reportedly, Lenny didn't like the fact that Nique looked to shoot a lot, while slacking on defense. While I do blame Pete, Lenny probably had a lot to do with Nique being traded as well. Basketball-reference.com has an interesting stat called Usage %, that they use to measure the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor. In 1994, Nique had a Usage % of 32%. When Nique went out to LA, his usage virtually remained unchanged at 31.9% ( Nique had a career Usage % of 30.3% ) Manning had a Usage % with the Clippers of 28.2%, seeing that he was the primary scoring option for the Clips. But when he came to Atlanta, his usage % dropped dramatically to 23.0%. What was happening, was that Manning wasn't trying to be the same player he was in LA. He was being the great "team guy", instead of the LEAD GUY. He was deferring to Kevin Willis on offense. Willis was good, but nowhere near ready to be the lead guy for the Hawks, especially in the playoffs. Manning's ppg dropped dramatically, from almost 24 ppg with the Clips to almost 16 ppg with us. But he was the "team guy" that the Hawks didn't have with Nique here. Everybody else got more looks with Nique gone, but it didn't make us a better team. And that ish was evident when the playoffs came. With us being the #1 team in the conference at the time . . . and with Atlanta never winning a championship . . . and most important . . . WITH JORDAN OUT OF THE LEAGUE . . Pete should've rolled the dice with Nique, to see if that squad was good enough to bring us a championship. When he traded a bonafide #1 scorer, for a good team player who didn't really want to be the #1 scorer, he effectively killed any chance of us winning a title. These are the Usage %s for the Hawks for the 08 - 09 season and the 09 - 10 season: ( top 10 players ) Joe Johnson: 26.6 . . . . . . . 26.6 Josh Smith: 22.6 . . . . . . . . 21.7 Mike Bibby: 20.6 . . . . . . . . . 16.0 Marvin Williams: 18.2 . . . . . 16.2 Al Horford: 16.4 . . . . . . . . . . 16.7 Flip/Crawford: 24.3 . . . . . . . 24.9 Zaza Pachulia: 16.3 . . . . . . 17.3 Mo Evans: 14.2 . . . . . . . . . . 14.7 Solo/Joe Smith: 11.8 . . . . . 17.6 Acie/Teague: 16.3 . . . . . . . . 20.1 JJ's usage remains unchanged from last year. Perception is sometimes not reality. But the addition of Crawford has definitely affected the usage of Marvin and Bibby, and somewhat affected Josh Smith. With Crawford being the 2nd ( or 1a ) scoring option at times, it takes shots away from Smoove, which indirectly affects Smoove's usage a little. Crawford has a similar usage % as Flip, but he's playing 6 minutes more a game than Flip did. And the guys he takes minutes from, are Bibby and Marvin. So he directly affects their usage %. The bench usage % are a little misleading, due to the fact that they get to play in a lot more blowouts this year, than in year's past. Interesting to see that Teague's usage % is significantly higher than Acie's. But if it's anybody who should probably be used more, it's Horford. But I don't see Horford sulking or not getting back on defense because of a JJ or Crawford shot attempt. Still, as Horford improves as a low post ( in the paint ) scorer, his usage should go up. But if anybody should be mad at not being used as much, it's Bibby and Marvin. When Crawford was brought in here, we all knew that this could happen. So for the guys not being used as much, it's up to them to know their roles and do the other things to help us win games. And from what I see, they're doing just that. Just for comparison sake, here is JJ's usage% in 2010, compared to the other lead players around the league. Wade: 35.2% Melo: 34.0% Lebron: 33.9% Kobe: 33.6% Durant: 32.0% Arenas: 31.7% Ellis: 29.8% Dirk: 29.2% Granger: 28.9% Bosh: 28.4% Harrington: 27.7% Roy: 27.6% Kaman: 27.4% Jennings: 27.4% S. Jackson: 27.4% Stuckey: 27.2% Carter: 27.1% Duncan: 27.1% Rose: 27.0% Johnson: 26.6% Evans: 26.1% Boozer: 25.2% Brooks: 25.1% Randolph: 24.5% Jefferson: 24.8% Harris: 24.8% Stoudamire: 24.7% Paul: 23.1% Pierce: 22.8% Iguodala: 21.9% The bottom line is that every team needs a LEAD GUY. JJ's usage, compared to some of those other guys, is comparatively less than most lead guys in this league. But he's the one that some call "selfish"? With the ball being in his hands as much as it is, he defers a lot more than most guys do, who are put in that same situation.

He gets more hustle blocks from behind than anybody I've ever seen. If he's at half court, and the player with the ball is at the free throw line, he has the closing speed to still get to the ball and block it. Lebron has improved a lot in that area, and his blocks are spectacular. But like BusBoy said . . . Josh Smith was the one who started doing that.

But if he signed up for an agreement that saw his donation for that particular night, determined by his point total, wouldn't that give some validity to the Haiti argument? It's not like he was trying to score all he could all game. On those fast breaks that JJ had, he could've kept the ball and scored himself. But he gave the ball up to a streaking Smoove or Horford, and let them finish the play. He only took 12 shots going into the 4th quarter. Even for JJ, that's a low number. When we were up 17 with 5 min to go ( and still had only taken 12 shots ), he may have simply said to himself, "let me score a little bit more, so that I can give more to the Haitian relief effort". But the fan base wants to believe something more "conspiracy theorish" when it comes to JJ for some reason. Him turning down that extension has really rubbed some of the fans the wrong way I see. Almost like some of them are trying to run him out of town.

So who do you trade him for? It's See . . .I don't know about most people, but I'm old enough how everything went down during the Dominique trade back in 1994. The same rumblings you're hearing about JJ right now, were said about Nique. If the internet existed back then, the way it does today, people would be blasting Nique about his "selfish" play and his 43% FG shooting. I guess those same people would want him traded, in fear that his contract would hamper the future of the current Hawks. So Babcock traded him for a young All-Star caliber forward in Danny Manning. A supposed more versatile, better "team player" than Nique. We all know how that turned out. We lose our best ISO player, and replace him with a "team player". And it cost us big time once the playoffs came around. And Manning didn't play bad in the playoffs either. He just couldn't flip that switch, and go into potential superstar mode when it counted the most. As much as people hate ISO Joe, it's going to make all the difference in the world when we get into those playoff grinds. When Boston and Cleveland rachet up their defense, and the officials keep their whistles in their pockets, it's going to be ISO Joe and ISO Crawford that win games for us. Even if they pass the ball while playing ISO, that's going to be the difference. The playoffs are a much different animal than the regular season. So who do you trade him for?

As my boy Ochocinco says . . Child Please. 90% of the things you type about JJ is overwhelmingly negative. Just like the people who always take shots at Marvin, Bibby, and Smoove. There's no balance in what haters say about a particular player. When they don't like a dude, every negative thing a player does is blown up. Now if you want to accuse the people on the flip side of doing the same thing, go right ahead. But at least we're not constantly trying to tear a player down. As far as JJ, his emotion on the sidelines isn't a concern to me. Being a rah-rah guy isn't indication of a guys passion and talent in this league. And I've personally spoken about JJ's "softness" as a player, when it comes to looking to draw contact going to the hole. If he could get to the FT line at least 6 times a game, he would definitely be considered a premier playerin this league. But if you're looking for me to complain about JJ, and his shot selection in a 3 minute stretch in a game that was a blow out. You can "forgetaboutit". That dude played a great game up until that point. But the people who don't particulary like JJ wll focus on the 3 minute chuckfest in a blowout, instead of 19 pts and 7 dimes he had in the first 3.5 quarters. To each his own though.

It's amazing how the rest of the league and the national writers think so highly of this team. It's nice to see. And we deserve it.

Glad someone brought up the head to head battle. When you see them head to head, there's no comparison. Plus, I wonder how many games Lee has played in which the Knicks were getting blown out, to pad his stats a little? Lee is a nice player though. He could start at PF on a lot of teams around the league. Personally though, I think the East will take 5 reserve forwards and 2 reserve guards, seeing that Bosh can play center ( even though he's less of a center than Al is ). Center: Bosh Forwards: Pierce - Smoove - Granger - G. Wallace Guards: JJ - Rondo If Horford or Lee ( or Lopez ) makes it, Granger or Smoove will get the shaft.

Keep telling the truth to these guys JJB. They just don't realize that the type of mindset that JJ is playing with this season, is exactly the type of mindset he's going to have to play with in the playoffs. Last year in the Miami series, I criticized him for being too MUCH of a team player. In the playoffs, team play is great, but you need guys who are willing and able to take over a game, in order to pull out a victory. That's why you tend to see amazing performances in the playoffs from star players. JJ can't be taking 13 - 15 shots a game, and expect us to beat a Boston or Orlando in the playoffs. Games are called MUCH TIGHTER in the playoffs, than they are duing the regular season. So Horford and Smoove may not get half the calls that they're getting during the season. When that happens, you need to have shotmakers on your team that can overcome that BS. That's the beauty of having BOTH JJ and Crawford on this squad this year. They possess the ability and the mentality to take AND MAKE extremely difficult shots. In the previous 2 seasons' I don't think JJ had the mentality of taking 20 - 25 shots in a playoff game, in order for us to win. No, he was deferring to guys like Flip way too much in the playoffs last year. This year, I LOVE his mindset, especially against the "big teams". He's stepping up to the challenge of being the big time player against those opponents. His performances on the road vs Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, and Portland is exactly what we're going to need from him come playoff time. And if he's off, He now has another guy in Crawford that has the ability to do the same thing. You just have a segment in this fan base that either doesn't appreciate what JJ does for this team, or they just don't watch the rest of the NBA enough to see how other star players play.

That's the big difference for me this year . . how we're playing on the road. We've played some great games on the road this year. Even a few of the losses were great games. I want to watch the road games more than the home games this year.

It just shows you how high that dude gets up. That's a ground floor angle by the camera, but that's still ridiculous. You toss it anywhere near the rim, and he can go get it.

LOL . . . that sounds about right.

I think our losses will be to the Rockets and the Magic. I can't give them the Magic game in Orlando, until they prove that they can get over whatever psychological barrier that's preventing them from even being close in the 4th quarter vs the Magic. Brooks is a bad, bad, bad matchup for Bibby and Crawford on the defensive end, and I think that may be the difference. The one advantage that we definitely need to try to exploit, is the Horford vs Hayes matchup. Chuck is a good defender, but he's only like 6-6 . . and Adleman has him starting at center. Just pound on his azz to start the game, and see if we can build an early lead. I think Smoove was in foul trouble all game in the game vs Houston in November, which enabled Marvin to step up big time. I know he had 20 something points that game. If we run the table leading up to the Magic game, I give us a better shot at beating them. I do expect at least 3 wins during this 5 game stretch. I'd love to sweep the Texas teams, because there's no telling how long it's been since we've done it. But if I had to choose which games to win, it'll be against San Antonio, Boston, and Orlando. I'd be disappointed a little, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them win only 2 games. The OKC game at their place will be tough as well.

I LOL all the time, because the ish is funny with this fan base. People will be talking about how JJ is so great, if he goes 12 - 19 FG vs Houston on Monday night. But people are disgusted at a 3 minute display from JJ last night, where he was trying to get points to raise extra money for some Haitians. Not you though, because you'd trade him for Adam Morrison if you had the chance. Your hate of JJ is consistent, whether he plays sorry or plays great. Nah . . . I'm just appreciative of the dude who helped bring us out of the depths of Hell as a basketball franchise. I'm not jaded to the fact that he isn't Kobe or Wade, so I hope and wish for an upgrade ( that isn't out there ). Some of ya'll would trade the dude, then whine and complain when we'd win 40 games next year, and blame Woody, Crawford, Smoove, Horford and Sund for not winning. I saw what Golden St did with Jason Richardson and Baron Davis, when they played around with them. They messed up a great thing in Oakland, now they're back being bottom feeders. Messed around and would rather pay a bum like Biendrins 10+ million, instead of giving their star players what they're worth to the team, in fear of overpaying for them. But it's typical of this fan base. They've turned on Bibby, Marvin and now they're starting to turn on JJ. Crawford will be next. And then Horford, if he signs a big money offer sheet in 2011.

LOL . . . it's amazing how many people are extra critical of JJ these days. And you didn't see this until he turned down the 4yr - 60 mill deal. Every star player in the league ( who is a major scorer ), plays exactly like JJ. Every one of them. There's not a guy in the top 20 in scoring that hasn't been criticized for his "selfishness" at times. Funny though, nothing dramatic was said about Crawford's 0 - 6 4th quarter performance on Monday afternoon. JJ was the reason why we got out to the big lead in the first place. LOL . . some of the shots he took in the 1st quarter, were much more difficult than he took in the 4th. But I didn't know about the Haiti thing. When you look at the type of shots he took in that 4th quarter, and the frequency he took them ( he took three 3-pointers in a 3 minute span ), the Haiti thing actually does make sense. Like I said last night . . it looked more like he was trying to reach a certain number, than trying to outdo Crawford. The 3-point shot he took with like 20 seconds left on the shot clock is NOT a shot that he takes . . . ever. We were up 17 with 5 minutes to go when he took that shot, so maybe he thought he had a little more leeway to take those types of shots and score more points . . . to raise money. That would be ironic as hell. The fan base assuming that he was being selfish for his own reasons ( or because he was jealous of Crawford ) . . . but it turned out that he was actually trying to do a "selfless act" in trying to raise more money for the Haitian relief efforts. Points last night from some of the guys who participated in this: Derrick Rose - 32pts ( who was excellent last night ) Paul Gasol - 20 pts Joe Johnson - 19 pts Tyreke Evans - 19 pts Antwan Jamison - 8 pts

Don't get ridiculous now. If Crawford didn't have JJ, he'd be forcing up a ton of shots and everybody would be complaining about his shot selection . . . just like in Jamal's previous 8 seasons in the NBA. This team would definitely fall off if you remove JJ from the equation here. If he ( JJ ) makes one of those tough close shots and one of those wide open 3's, he's 9 - 17 FG for 24 points. No one would be complaining if he made the shots. But he does have to calm it down when he's ice cold from the outside. Crawford hasn't been lighting it up lately when he's the focal point of the offense with the 2nd unit. But when he plays alongside JJ, he gets more open looks. Come playoff time, we're going to need both of them to come up big. And if one happens to be struggling, the other is there to pick up the scoring slack. Most good playoff teams have at least 2 guys who are capable of carring the load. As long as JJ and Jamal ( and the rest of the fans ) understand that, this isn't a long term problem.

Looked like to me that he was trying to get one more basket to get 20 points on the night. With the lead like it was, it was almost like he was teling himself . . . "I got to get 20 . . I got to get 20" Two of those shots in the 4th, he should always take, because those were "his" shots. The shots he normally makes. I don't necessarily have a problem with his shot selection. He's the shooter and the tough shot maker on the team, so he has the green light at all times. But after starting 5 - 6 FG, he was already 2 for his last 6 going into the quarter. with each miss, he just got colder. He ended up missng 9 of his last 11 shots. People want to pit JJ vs Jamal for some reason. This is JJ's team. Everybody knows this. But with him taking 5 shots in a 4 minute span, it looked more like he was trying to get 20 points, than trying to compete with Crawford I agree though, that he should've gone for 10 assists, before going for 20 points. He played a damn good game tonight though, minus that 4 minute stretch. NOTE: He's made 2 of his last 14 threes. If you add the Phoenix game, he's 3 for his last 21 from three. He just needs to lay off the 3-ball for a while, if he misses his first 2 attempts from three.

In other words, the offense isn't pretty, but it turns out to be efficient, because the scheme is low-risk. Kind of like watching Navy's offense in football. You know the formation, you know what they're going to run. And you know the 2 people who will get most of the carries. Question is . . . can you stop it? Most teams that they play . . . can't. So when that offenseis clicking on all cylinders, it's a beautiful thing to watch. LOL . . you probaly won't agree with the analogy though.