Packfill

If that is the case maybe you better change your signature to include a point guard in the starting line-up.

Always seems like the Hawks play their best when Woodson is under the most pressure. I don't get it. Nice win though. Maybe this means Woodson will be a great playoff coach.

It's not like it could hurt!

Maybe they were talking to the guys in Detroit about how to play defense. We know they didn't learn it from our coach.

Well to be honest diesel, your theory - which Exodus is simply turning into a poll to show how ridiculous it is - has been discussed too much already.

or maybe they were just slow to react. too small a sample set, but if they do learn to avoid going for the fake it is a good thing.

It is a pipe dream to think we are getting all that in the off-season. The team had the exact same needs coming into this past season and the only thing BK did about it was sign another shooting guard (JJ), draft another small forward (Marvin), draft still another shooting guard (Salim) and sign a solid back-up bigman to fill a starting role (Zaza). So to sum up, team went into '05 off-season needing a starting caliber point guard and big man and came away with neither. So excuse me if I think it is crazy that BK will now somehow be able to obtain two starting caliber centers and a starting caliber point guard - especially after he already traded away two future first round draft picks and gave out a max contract.

The interesting question is this: Who is a better player - Joe Johnson or Chris Paul. Paul gets his team more wins, so he seems more valuable to me.

Quote: Quote: So how come Rondo doesn't take it to the basket? All he does is swing it around the perimeter. Two reasons: (1) his outside shot is bad enough that defenders sag off of him which makes it harder to drive; (2) UK's offense has been so bad this year and has had so little movement that teams just collapse on him when he drives and he has been told not to force it. Quote: I have watched 3 Kentucky games and haven't seen him drive successfully one time. lol You haven't watched much UK basketball if you haven't seen him drive successfully one time. Quote: However I have seen him get routinely pushed around trying to guard the opposing pgs of unranked teams. Oh, never mind you must have seen a lot of his games. Or maybe not. Rondo has actually underacheived defensively this year in part because he doesn't have the defensive support he had last year with Chuck Hayes and Kelenna Azubuike. He hasn't been able to pick as many passes off in the lanes, although he still has a great touch stealing the ball. Despite what I would consider overrated D from him this season, he has not gotten routinely pushed around by any stretch of the imagination. This is not good. If his shot is bad enough they can sag off him in college things won't get much better in the pros. And if he has a problem with the cat's stagnant offense, what will he do when he comes to Atlanta with out stagnant offense? Isn't the point guard supposed to help prevent stagnant offense? And he is overrated on D because he doesn't have the support he had last year? What support will he have here in the pros where the opponents are bigger, faster and more experienced - and he would be coming to a terrible defensive team?

Pryz is o.k. but my concern is that his history in Atlanta will actually work against us as far as him wanting to sign here. There has to be some reason he choose Portland and potentially limited playing time and Atlanta and potentially infinite playing time. Family? Money? Direction of the team? I don't know, but if he likes the West Coast to be closer to his family/home then our chances of signing him will remain slim to none.

The Big Dog trade was definitely the nail in the coffin for Babcock. Let's hope that the JJ trade doesn't turn out as bad as the Big Dog trade or the Lorenzen Wright trade.

Quote: keep in mind that Shaq hasn't won and won't win a title without Kobe either. Shaq, over the last three years, is the most overrated player in the history of sports. Shaq has unquestionably slipped. If dedicated himself to conditioning and dropped 30+ pounds to restore his stamina, durability and mobility it might be a different story.

Quote: from a talent perspective- i always thought they were pretty even (just a matter of preference), but the thing that set them apart is that DRIVE. Kobe, call him selfish or watnot, has that look on his face that says "im going to win, whether or not u help me" but McGrady doesnt seem to try as hard day in and day out. however, after all is said and done- i think VINCE CARTER can do anythin he wants offensively and match Kobe. he just doesnt care, and rather just put up his typical 20-something points with ease and collect his paycheck (not this year, but his career overall). seems to me, someone wants to prove to the world that they can WIN w/o shaq! as of right now though, definitely- KOBE is the best player in the world. hands down! and if u guys dont see it now, hes going to prove it to the rest of the world in the olympics. somebody wants to be MJ! ---------------------------------------------------- *EDIT* - isint there a part of us thats sayin "D@MN, raptors... thats a close one... good thing it wasnt against us!" I agree, Kobe is the "best" right now but he is such a little b!tch that his chances of winning a championship without Shaq are slim to none. If I could pick any player in the league to build a franchise around I don't think I would have Kobe in my top ten just because he appears to be so difficult to work with.

Quote: He's 6'9", 230 lbs right now. There is no reason to think that he won't be one of the new breed of NBA centers in the Amare Stoudemire/Dwight Howard mold. He's also up to 5th on Chad Ford's draft board at this time. Just to add, Tyrus leads the SEC in rebounding, blocked shots, and field goal percentage. His overall numbers on the year have him shooting 62% from the floor, 13.8 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 3.87 BPG, and he only plays 26.5 MPG. His numbers in SEC competition are 13 PPG, 11.3 RPG, and 5 BPG. No one would be able to get a shot off with Thomas and Smith in the paint. So he is exactly like a player we already have. Gotcha.

Quote: How about firing BK and Woody and plan on not being in the lottery in 07.. Obviously that is the preferred route, but if they stay it is an omission that the franchise is headed for lotteryville in 2007.

Just wondering since the '06 draft is not looking great, maybe the Hawks should start making plans with the 2007 draft in mind so they can land a true franchise talent like Oden. Sure does suck when your team sucks at the wrong time. This is why Kiki and others are better GMs then BK, they plan it so they suck in a year when an LBJ is available.

How is he different then Smoove?

Quote: So now we want a 6'8" center? Good god. If you think about it, it fits perfectly with BK's philosophy of only drafting 6'8" players in the first round.

Quote: So, what's going to be said about the next coach when he comes in, inherits this young team, and doesn't win immediately? Pretty much the same sh!t. It was said about Terry Stotts. No one on this board, with the exception of a few others and myself, was willing to give Terry Stotts the chance to build upon what he did from February on at the end of the 2003-2004 season. The very same sh!t that is being said about Mike Woodson was being said about Terry Stotts, and Lon Kruger before him. Now look at Terry Stotts. If Atlanta fires Mike Woodson, and he gets an opportunity elsewhere, I believe he will do well and the Atlanta fans will only continue to gripe about their coaching like they know anything about coaching to begin with. And that doesn't even begin to go into the idiot fans that believe Billy Knight should have already put a championship team on the floor. I think the criticism of Woodson is deserved. Heck, it is not like Bulls fans are nostalgic over the Tim Floyd era. Oh, Tim Floyd had a secon chance and he blew that too. Woodson is on the same level. Stotts at least showed he could coach up a bunch of misfits.

the sad thing is that Sheldon Williams, regardless of who scored on him, is still better then any post defender currently on the Hawks roster.

Quote: Al should be let go. Yes, he's "the leader" in the lockerroom. Yes, he's arguably our best player on offense. But NO, he does not make the team better. He is our worst defender next to Lue, and he takes shots away from our younger guys. Bad defense from a veteran player will breed bad defense from younger guys who look at Al and say, "Well, I guess it's okay not to play defense since Al doesn't." We need to cut bait, get what we can for Al, and play for next year. If that is the case then the place to start is with the coach, who is disinterested in making defense a priority for the team. That is the thing, I could understand a young team having difficulty scoring, have difficulty with consistency, etc. But lack of effort on defense? And dude, we are already playing for next year, if not two years down the line.

That doesn't help the teams interior defense, and it would be asking an awful lot of the guy to be as good as Dirk.

If they can get a legit starting caliber talent at center or point that they can begin developing this season I say go for it.

Quote: if you want to bash Marvins game or lack of production then fine but your height argument is weak. Saying Marvin does not have a competitive advantage because of his height is not bashing his game. Why is it a weak argument? He is basically the same size as his competitors, what is there to argue? This is crazy.

Are we talking height or reach now? Because I thought you were talking height?