Packfill

The upshot of all the back court injuries is at least we got a chance to see what Ivey could do in an expanded role. Turns out, he is not so good. At least they were able to determine this so that they can move in a different direction next year.

No way Memphis trades Stoudamire for Lue. Stoudamire played well for them until injured. Lue is incapable of being anything more then a back-up. The Hawks would be lucky to get a second round pick for him in a trade.

Quote: I think Al is very talented in doing what he does best and that is score in the post and very short pull-up jumpers. Al's problem (Maybe coach Woodson's problem) is that he turns into a shooting guard in the clutch moments of games, which has cost us 6 to 8 wins this year. The end of games are like a scratched record, it keeps playing over and over again. I am not sure if this is a coaching issue or an Al issue, but giving Al the ball at the 3 point line for him to CREATE a shot during clutch time (late 4th quarter) is dumb basketball. This is not Al's game at all. Al is not a creative Shooting guard. JJ is the only one who should have the green light to do that. Al needs to setup down in the post area and do what he does well. Al gets the ball too far from the basket to be effective in crunch time!! I have seen him turn the ball over 3 to 4 straight times during crucial periods of the 4th quarter too too many times this year. The problem is I don't think it is Al's faught. He is either trying to do too much or coach Woodson is grossly misguiding what should happen at the end of games. Let me repeat however that Al is a talent when he goes to his strengths!! Those are some great points. He has strengths and obvious weaknesses as well, but the way people talk about him he is the devil incarnate. He is not a Steve Francis, Stephon Marbury or Ron Artest chemistry killer. I am at a loss as to why the coaching staff plays him at the 4 on defense when Smoove would likely be a better fit. Anyone know why?

Quote: Quote: Al is the 2nd best player on our team. Therefore we must get rid of him to get more playing time for a kid who hasn't proven anything. This team will likely do that and will likely have about the same record or worse next year (IMHO) You are right he hasn't proven anything, but Al has proven time and time again that he is not clutch so I'll take my chances with the new guy. Inevitably, if JJ, Marvin or Smoove don't improve to expectations then you and the rest of the crew will be hating them as well.

Outside of the true superstars do you expect someone to get 34 ponts a night? Again, I am not advocating that Al is a superstar or anything akin to that, just that he is a solid NBA player. 19/7/3 for a small forward who is the second offensive option on a team is not bad.

I don't understand most of you guys. You constantly hate on Al. Is Al a superstar? No. But, he is a very solid player. He plays hard, average 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists per game. Those are good numbers for a small forward! (and don't give me the crap about the power forward stuff, we know he is a small forward who is frequently placed at power forward by a bad coach). His numbers are substantially similar to JJ's (just revers rebounds and assists) who everyone loves. Yes his defense is less then stellar, but if the Hawks had a competent head coach he would place Al more on the perimeter on defense rather then matching him up inside with bigger players. Now, I am not advocating that he be resigned necessarily because of the glut of small forwards on the team, but he is a sold player who when used correctly can help a team win. No he does not deserve a max contract or really anything close to that, but for $7-9 million in todays NBA he is a nice player to have. Most of you have such a love/hate relationship with Hawks players. You love a guy initally based on potential then hate him if he doesn't become a "superstar." This has happened with JT, SAR, Antoine, Al, Alan Henderson, Lorenzen Wright, etc.

Quote: there is no logjam with marvin/chill smoove will be fulltime pf chill can get 30+ mpg at sg/sf marvin can get 30+ mpg at sf and maybe even play some backup pf as well chill gives us much needed depth and still gets to be 6th man for 30+mpg and be one of our leaders... we have al as our most valuable trade piece, plus we have a top 10 pick, plus we have andersen and maybe rmorris plus we have cap space we don't need to be hasty and lose chill/marvin at this early stage MAYBE in the future when we are tweaking our roster, but at this point we aren't tweaking, we're still building chemistry while looking for a starting pg and defensive, rebounding center If Josh Smith is a power forward why doesn't the team's coach use him at that position?

I beg to differ. Obviously a defensive oriented big man is a major need as well but they are needs 1.A and 1.B as far as I am concerned. The Hawks need both to become a complete team and to have any realistic chance of being successful when they eventually make it into the playoffs.

I think Foye will "play point guard" but more in the mode of a Luther Head or Steve Francis type, meaning he is not really a point guard but only plays one because of his height. As evidenced by last nights game and many other games over the past few seasons, the Hawks need someone who can bring the ball up the court against pressure defenses, direct the offense when things stagnant and generally lend a helping hand to JJ. I just have my doubts about another combo guard - the Hawks already have JJ, Lue and Salim to fill that role, why get another?

I have a soft spot for him to, but I do have some trepidation with respect to his coaching abilities. Certaintly an upgrade over Woody though.

Quote: We can get Randy Foye, who is basically Deron Williams with a better jump shot. Except Deron Williams is a point guard. But nice try.

I am not sure Rivers is as good a coach as his early results in Orlando seem to indicate. Celtics fans seem to be quite down on him. I don't watch Cs games though so I cannot independently verify.

You have to win to get respect, whether it is from the media, fans or other teams. Until the Hawks do that on a consistent and extended basis they will be looked down upon by the national media. Plain and simple. It shouldn't really upset anyone.

Stopping or slowing down dribble penetration by the opposing teams guards would also help the team tremendously at the defensive end.

Those are good numbers no doubt but Al's production is hard to ignore. If he is not with the team next year it may take a month or two before the young guys are able to fill in that loss of production. If that happens, then a slow start could derail the team's playoff aspirations. That said, I think the team should have making the playoffs as their baseline goal for next season. Anything less would be a failure.

If it is based on the coach's track record then Woodson is lucky he didn't finish last. It is a moral victory for him.

Easier said then done. Realistically one of those two positions should be filled by a veteran. I really think someone like Speedy Claxton would be a good pick-up. He is small and not particularly durable but we only need him for about 25 minutes a night to lend a steadying hand when the team is pressed and/or needs another ball handler. He played alot of meaningful 4th quarter minutes when he was with the Spurs, so he has performed in crunch time before. Big man is a real crap shoot as far as the draft goes, but unless they pull a Nene out of the free agent grab bag there is not much available that can provide a meaningul impact in the immediate future, particularly if the team plays itself out of the top of the lottery. There is no way the team is able to advance in the playoffs without doing something about its interior defense, so we will see.

Lets put things in perspective here, JJ is putting up great numbers on a below average team. He is putting up these numbers over a short stretch. Obviously his numbers over the last month or so are awesome but he needs to do it over a season or two before he can be labeled "elite." Until then, he is not in the same class as Kobe, Wade, Iverson, Pierce, Allen, etc. Right now you need to lump him in with guys like Rip, Richardson, Redd. He has the talent to be one of the best but lets not put the cart before the horse.

An even better question is if the Hawks had to choose between Smoove and Marvin, who do you take?

Don't most star players play 40 minutes per night?

We can't make him more aggressive. Either he develops that type of drive or he doesn't. The reason Jordan was the greatest was not just his skill and athletic ability, it was equally related to his drive to be the best. Time will tell whether Marvin can utilize his enormous talents to become a good/great player.

The USA definitely needed someone like Paul on the team. If Kidd is not going to be a part of the team it is hard to think of another American born point guard that would be more valuable to the next incarnation of the dream team.

Is anyone really questioning whether JJ is better then Diaw? I don't think so. At the same time it is funny to see people denigrate Diaw. He is a very good role player, why hate on him because of that? Yes he did not work out in Atlanta, but things happen. Chauncey Billups did not work out in Boston or Denver; Ben Wallace never hit it big until moving to Detroit; JJ wasn't a star until coming to the Hawks; etc. Sometimes it takes getting into the right environment for a player to fully develop. We should be happy for him - he is doing very well on a very good team.

Quote: Hawks Records: 99-00 28 wins 54 losses -Lenny Wilkins, Dikembe Mutombo 00-01 25 wins 57 losses - Dikembe Mutombo, Theo Ratliff, Toni Kukoc Jason Terry 01-02 33 wins 49 losses - Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Glenn Robinson 02-03 35 wins 47 losses - Terry Stotts, Glenn Robinson 03-04 25 wins 54 losses - Shareef Abdur-Rahim 04-05 13 wins 69 losses - Al Harrington, Antoine Walker These are records for the past couple of years. These are some of the players and coaches that were one these teams. Some of these players are well known players to more than just Hawks fans. These guys include veterans, a legendary coach and players who currently plays for teams with championship aspirations like Miami and Dallas. 05-06 19-37 This is our current record. We are on pace to match the performance of those teams with all those vets and we have a bunch of guys who are for the most part still potential. The most wins those guys could achieve was 35. It will be tough for us this year to get that but not inconceivable. This team is almost as good right now as any of those and our best player in Joe Johnson hasn't even reached his potential. So to answer you question no I don't get the feeling we will never be good, in fact I think it is almost impossible for us not to be good. P.S. Those guys were guaranteeing(sp) playoff appearances and were not better than this year's team, and this year's squad is not even complete. Again, I don't think people are questioning whether the Hawks will compete for the playoffs with a .500 record. Realistically 40 wins should be the teams goal even without any off-season additions. A team with half way decent chemistry should win 40 games. The question is does this team have what it takes to win 50 or 60 games and challenge for a championship? The answer there is that it is too early to tell. But without better defensive effort/talent it is hard to believe the team can achieve success in the playoffs. As such, BK needs to make some moves - hopefully this off-season - to address the teams limitations and get them to the next level.

Quote: The Hawks just won 3 of 4 and you make a post like this? wtf I think it is a legitimate question. Sure the Hawks have won a few games and are playing better then they have in quite some time, but the real issue is whether this team is built to succeed in the playoffs. Given the teams shortage of defense you could argue that the team is missing a few pieces before it can be anything more then a playoff pretender. On the up side, the success of teams like Phoenix and Dallas - which are not know as tough defensive teams - does provide hope that the Hawks can succeed even with their current personnel limitations. This summer will answer a number of questions about the long-term outlook of the team. It is really too early to judge because we do not know what this team will look like going into next season because of free agency and the draft.