Packfill

Quote: I second your regrets becuase I know that if we had picked paul, we would have 5-6 wins right now, if not a few more. I still think we would have gone after JJ and I still think we would have gotten Salim and Zaza. That said, I have nothing against marvin. The guy has a lot of talent and I think he will be an excellent player in this league. It's just disappointing to not be any better at this point than we were last year, despite dropping 70 large on JJ and picking up an excellent player in Zaza. But I an patient, I know what it takes to put together a winning team in the NBA. We can still reach our goal (25+ wins) and if we do that, I will be happy with the season. Perfectly stated.

Quote: The other players are on the same team, and they have less experience. Yet they are shot 44% the last two games which is fine. And still you haven't addressed it. You keep talking about players not on the team in your desparate search for excuses. Allen Iverson usually shoots a lower percentage then Kyle Korver and Andre Igoudala - does that mean he should not be taking the shots? The shooting percentages, in my opinion, are ridiculously low because of the lack of a point guard. Zaza has the same issue - a center shooting less then 45% from the floor is unacceptable.

Quote: We aren't going to draft a Pointguard with a top 5pick. None of those guys Gibson,Rondo or Brewer are worth being drafted that high. Futhermore I never said a top 10pick for Josh Smit. If we could get a 15thpick for him that would be fine a dandy. Josh Smith has no post up game and therefore will NEVER BE A POWERFORWARD!!! I disagree in that I HOPE the Hawks use a top 5 pick on a point guard. There does not seem to be any big men worth a top five pick, so outside of Rudy Gay (whom we already have four of) there is no one else. Maybe Aldridge, but no one else.

Quote: Quote: He could get injured I guess. Have you watched any NO games? I have. Paul does a good job running the offense but is struggling trying to shoot over taller players. He is shooting 42% even though he is a very good shooter and rarely forces shots. Frye is shooting 50% and in fact has scored 20 in 5 of the past 7 games. If Frye keeps getting big minutes he is at least an even money bet against Paul to win the ROY. 42% for a rookie guard is pretty good. I wish JJ hit 42% of his shots. Heck, is Salim hitting 42% of his shots?

Quote: we are winning 27 games this year What are the powerball numbers?

Quote: don't trade smoove he could become a perfect compliment to zaza if he plays pf the two of them could get 18-20 rebounds per game zaza will grow defensively, and when he messes up, smoove will be close in to help with weakside blocks we could have 2 double-double machines at our 4/5 spot with smoove marvin is a perfect sf...his moves, his shot, his quickness jj is a perfect sg that can also play pg rondo is a true pg chill and slim are great 6/7th men i still believe ivey can become one of the top backup pgs in the league rondo/ivey jj/slim marvin/chill smoove/? zaza/? Aren't Al and Zaza already averaging 18 boards a game combined? And please don't confuse the fact that Smoove can block shots with him being a good defender. Obviously he has some potential to be a good defensive player based on his athletic abilities alone, but until he learns about hard work, toughness, positioning and team play he will remain a below average defender. But I agree, don't trade him for another draft pick. Just pick the best point guard available - Rondo, Gibson, whomever.

No way the Knicks trade Frye for Al. Even Issiah is not that bad. I am sure he would love to unload Crawford, Richardson, James or one of the his other high price busts, but the Hawks would be foolish to make such a trade.

I give BK and the Hawks through next off-season to right the ship. If they do not make legitimate efforts to put a winning team on the court beginning next season, I think the front office and coaching staff should be fired. Realistically, the "core" of the team - JJ, Smoove, Childress, Zaza, Marvin, Salim and maybe Al should have enough experience after this year to compete. Yes they will still be young, but the front office should bring in a veteran or two who can get this team moving in the right direction.

I am not disagreeing, the one-on-one crap has to stop. But I do place a considerable amount of the blame on the coaching staff and front office for not putting the team together the right way.

Quote: The Hawks moved the ball for the entire game against Boston. A good pg isn't an antidote to selfishness. So you think it is player selfishness rather then bad coaching or bad team construction?

Quote: JJ's shooting percentage problem is obvious. He is having to take lower percentage shots because he is more of a focus of the offense. He is a good shooter, but is still getting comfortable with his new role. I don't know the answer, but that begs the question: Did the same thing happen to T-Mac when he left Vince and Toronto; Redd when Allen left Milwaukee?

No way to Crawford, he is exactly the type of selfish chucker the Hawks do not need. I wouldn't mind acquiring Claxton, but I would not give up much to get him.

Quote: Quote: we settle for the one on one play with everybody watching... You got the cause and effect mixed up. JJ and Al are going one on one strictly out of their own selfishness. Since they aren't moving the ball, the defense doesn't have to rotate and their drives are easy to cut off. What they don't realize is that they are simply making themselves look bad. As their shooting percentages continue to drop maybe they will realize that it is in their best interests to play team ball. Diesel is right on this one, a good floor general will help create offensive opportunities with ball movement. That, or the coach should have a system in place that requires more ball movement.

Because this team is a bunch of bricklayers. Horrible in the second half last night. How does JJ go from a 40% 3 point shooter to a 20% 3 point shooter in one season? Salim is supposed to be one of the best shooters to enter the league in years and he was clunking them from long range. Hopefully the Hawks core players can survive this season, develop some modicum of chemistry and experience, and then the front office can go about correcting the severe roster deficiencies in the off-season. If BK does not acquire a quality point guard in the off-season he should be fired.

I think it is because there are quite a few people who do not agree with the experts. Most of these Chad Ford like "experts" and many GM's are unfortunately overly infatuated with things like "length," "potential," "athleticism," "youth," and "projectibility." Problem is none of these things wins games - mostly because basketball is a team game.

If you believe what the GM says then you could argue that JJ was brought in to provide leadership and direction both on (as point guard and playmaker) and off the court (playoff experience).

He is soft and has a big contract. I would pass on him.

Quote: Chances are, Chris Paul is as good as he will ever be right now, and I personaly didn't want to use the second pick in the draft on a poor man's Kenny Anderson just because the team needed a point guard. BS on Paul being as good as he ever will be now. Remember, he came out after his sophmore year, so it is not like he is fully matured as a player. The question three years from now will not be whether Marvin is the better player, but will be which player from this draft makes his team better. Who knows who that will be - could be Marvin, could be Paul, could be Bogut, could be Frye. I rather have a guy that averages 10 points per game but can lead a team to 55+ wins a season then a guy that scores 25 but can't get a team into the playoffs.

Quote: Quote: Jay's Agent said right before the preseason it would be around January or February before he is 100%healthy. Miami & the raptors were the last to have interest but moved on after they found out he wasn't ready. On a sidenote note I remember Jay William's parents saying right before he was drafted that they hope he wouldn't end up on a bad team like the Hawks. We were a 34win team at that time. man, if they called out the hawks by name like that, he can take his kellen-winslow-idiot-self elsewhere and kiss my a$$. typical arrogance of a duke grad because as we all know, duke sucks. but if they didn't say those words, he was a hell of a PG before his injury and could do wonders with jj, salim, marvin, etc. playing alongside. What do you mean typical arrogance of a Duke grad? Their B-Ball players? Are Grant Hill, Elton Brand, Loul Deng and Shane Battier arrogant? They seem like ideal teammates to me. Or is it their grads as a whole?

He may want to sign with a contender, but no contender - or any other team in the NBA really - can offer him the opportunity that the Hawks can: A legitimate chance to be a starting point guard this season. What other team is as berefted of talent at the point guard position as the Hawks?

Why not? Discuss.

Again, the stats do not really matter. It is high school, there are hundreds of guys in high school who average 25/10 a year but will never sniff the NBA let alone D-1 hoops.

Does it matter? For what it is worth Al played for a pretty big time high school program, not sure the same is true for Marvin.

Quote: Spree has been and always will be a cancer. He is all about "ME", and should have had his ass kicked out of the league years ago. Agreed. He has absolutely no value to the Hawks.

Quote: I talked to some Bulls fans about possibly trading a No 1 pick for Hinrich and they weren't interested. I am not surprised. Hinrich has more value the JJ.