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This Team Has Heart!

sinctybldh

By sinctybldh
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exodus Newbie

exodus

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Give JJ and Salim credit for the comeback. Salim hates losing and he finally got the ball enough to take matters into his own hands tonight. For those of you who want to keep Salim on the bench, why? This team looked awful for 3 quarters tonight until Salim finally started going off. It was obvious something had to give and that something was Salim becoming a focal point of the offense instead of just a complementary player.

It is very simple. You put players in the role that best suits their abilities.

Why do you think this team is averaging 6 pts less than last year even though they added JJ, Zaza, Marvin and Salim? The reason is that they have a shooting guard playing the point.

Lue played very well offensively as the full time pg last year, averaging 13.5 ppg with a 3.27 assist/to ratio, shooting 46%, 36% from 3. Those percentages were hurt because he didn't shoot that well his first few weeks. His weakness was D.

The reason Lue has been struggling this year is that basically he has been playing the 2 with JJ handling the ball most of the time. Again they aren't using their players properly.

JJ should NEVER play the point. he should play sg where he is most effective. Lue should start at pg with Salim backing him up. Salim won't be able to have strong finishes if he is already tired out by the 4th quarter.

Not many players want the burden of taking the big shots but Salim obviously does. They should use him accordingly. That said he still needs to be getting more minutes in quarters 1-3 than he has been.

Keep in mind that Salim wouldn't be able to get off so easily in the first quarters playing against fresh starters.

They can draft a pg next year but until then Lue should be the starter.

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TheNorthCydeRises Grand Master

TheNorthCydeRises

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Doesn't matter who it is against....Salim plays the same every night he will make mistakes but he gives effort...combine his shooting ability with his ability to get to the rim...he has good vision...add that with his chip and some good coaching and Salim can be special. He is more talented than Gordon in my opinon.

I agree with his cousin Damon when he said Salim is the second best player on this team...but the team doesn't know it yet.

I knew this type of game was coming from Salim. I just didn't know when. But I'm glad that it came tonight, because if this game would've stayed a blowout, it had the potential to be a devestating loss to this franchise, to the fan base, and to anybody else who even remotely supports the Hawks.

I can see the headlines in the AJC sports section now:

"Hawks get stung by the Hornets"

"Paul proves why he was the right choice for the Hawks"

"Johnson a no-show in 2nd half, as Hawks lose by 31"

Instead, this fan base will be a buzz about Salim "bleepin" Stoudamire and his 24 point, 4th quarter performance.

What would've been really disturbing about this loss, is that Joe only took 3 shots from like then 4 minute mark of the 2nd quarter, to the 2 minute mark of the 4th quarter. In actuality, Joe should've been the one taking all of those shots to try to get us back in the game, not Salim. But I guess that's not Joe's makeup. He may be our best player, but it very well may be Salim that ends up being the leader of the bunch.

When you have a guy like Al and Smoove, who think they are 50% shooters from 15 feet and out, and a guy like Childress who looks shellshocked on offense these days, this team has NO CHOICE but to give Salim not only a starting position, but also 30 - 35 minutes a game and 15 - 20 shots a game. This team may have to give Salim that many shots, so that he can have an impact on the game. You just can't put him in for 6 - 7 minutes at a time, and see if he hits his first 2 or 3 shots. That Ben Gordon stuff isn't going to work here, because we don't have any decent outside shooters except JJ.

Smoove had a nice all-around game too . . when he wasn't taking that mid-range jumper.

But this team has to try to let JJ and Salim play together as much as possible. Maybe that'll be the tandem that can get us going and produce some wins.

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TheNorthCydeRises Grand Master

TheNorthCydeRises

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Give JJ and Salim credit for the comeback. Salim hates losing and he finally got the ball enough to take matters into his own hands tonight. For those of you who want to keep Salim on the bench, why? This team looked awful for 3 quarters tonight until Salim finally started going off. It was obvious something had to give and that something was Salim becoming a focal point of the offense instead of just a complementary player.

It is very simple. You put players in the role that best suits their abilities.

Why do you think this team is averaging 6 pts less than last year even though they added JJ, Zaza, Marvin and Salim? The reason is that they have a shooting guard playing the point.

Lue played very well offensively as the full time pg last year, averaging 13.5 ppg with a 3.27 assist/to ratio, shooting 46%, 36% from 3. Those percentages were hurt because he didn't shoot that well his first few weeks. His weakness was D.

The reason Lue has been struggling this year is that basically he has been playing the 2 with JJ handling the ball most of the time. Again they aren't using their players properly.

JJ should NEVER play the point. he should play sg where he is most effective. Lue should start at pg with Salim backing him up. Salim won't be able to have strong finishes if he is already tired out by the 4th quarter.

Not many players want the burden of taking the big shots but Salim obviously does. They should use him accordingly. That said he still needs to be getting more minutes in quarters 1-3 than he has been.

Keep in mind that Salim wouldn't be able to get off so easily in the first quarters playing against fresh starters.

They can draft a pg next year but until then Lue should be the starter.

I'm surprised at you exodus. You made such a good argument the past few days against Childress and Harrington . . yet . . you want Lue in the lineup over Salim?

The same reasons why you wouldn't mind Chill or Al being on the bench, are the same reasons why Lue should STAY on the bench. Lue is not only horrible on defense, he can't run the team like the PG we all want, because he doesn't have a high, or even average basketball IQ.

Salim is not going to get tired at the end of games if he starts. Ish, he's been playing like this all of his life. The kid could easily handle heavy minutes in the NBA, seeing that he played heavy minutes in college.

WE don't need him for bench energy . . we need him for starter energy. Maybe this is the guy that will keep JJ from going through those lulls like he's been doing.

Yes, we don't have a PG. We all know that. So Woodson is just going to have to play the best guys available that will help us win games. And if that means that guys like Lue, Childress, and even Al have to sit the bench for long stretches, then so be it.

The thing I like most about Salim, is that he's not afraid to fluck up. I think that's part of JJ's problem right now and that's definitely Childress' problem. Al and Smoove have the same mentality as Salim, but they just don't have the ability to come through in the clutch like he does.

Thank God for Salim. Because I was on the verge of being pizzed off the entire weekend . . . until my Bengals beat the Colts.
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TheNorthCydeRises Grand Master

TheNorthCydeRises

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Why do you think this team is averaging 6 pts less than last year even though they added JJ, Zaza, Marvin and Salim? The reason is that they have a shooting guard playing the point.

Ummmm . . no. The reason is because Childress' point production has fallen off by about that much and Smoove is shooting like 35% FG. That's the reason.

It's not like Lue was getting those guys a bunch of fantastic looks at the basket either. And Lue is a shoot first type player, much like Salim. Lue did have a good year last year, especially after Walker left. He became one of the main scoring options on the team.

The difference though, is that Salim has the ability to take over a game at any point and hit big shots. You're right, he's definitely a finisher. But he's also a starter as well. He could begin a 10 - 0 run by the Hawks if given the time, to extend leads . . instead of starting a 10 - 0 run to get us back in a game.

The definition of insanity is "doing the same things over and over again, but expecting a different result". Starting Lue would be insanity because it's not like he's made himself, or anybody else on the floor with him this year, a better player.

STarting Salim is totally rational, because it gives the Hawks a different look and a potential #1 type option to play with the starters. He could make JJ's life as a scorer much easier, because teams would have to respect Salim when he's on the court.

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exodus Newbie

exodus

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Childress and Smith had much easier looks last year at least in part because they had a real pg. Also they added Zaza, JJ, Marvin and Salim so how can their point total go down with those additions?

At least Lue is moving around when he dribbles. JJ just stands relatively still which makes him easy to guard. Lue knows how to play the point and JJ doesn't.

Salim is averaging more turnovers than assists and you want him to start at pg? Did you guys not watch Paul tonight? You need a pg who can create and Lue can do that. He was shooting a lot last year because the Hawks were lacking scoring. He did what was needed and still had an assist/to ratio of 3.27. The reason he has been shooting this year is because he has been playing the 2 probably for the first time in his life.

Lue is the only player on the team qualified to be the starting pg.

Also keep in mind that it hasn't been the first half that has been killing the Hawks it has been the second half. Salim should be used to maximize his abilities, which means jump starting the offense when it bogs down and hitting shots at money time. He should be the backup pg until he can prove that he has the playmaking abilities to be the full time pg. He will be able to score more effectively against the backups and late in the game when the starters are tired.

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WPG Newbie

WPG

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Glad to see all the love for our boy from you guys. You heard so much about JJ Redick last year being "the best shooter in college basketball," but all along, it was Salim... and that's statistically proven. Now I'm glad there's another city of believers in Salim. A little known fact is that Salim was extremely close to breaking Steve Kerr's 3-point percentage for a season school record.

Quote:

Salim won't be able to have strong finishes if he is already tired out by the 4th quarter.

Exodus... I tend to disagree with you. Salim is used to 35+ minutes a night when he was at Arizona. Thanks to Ndudi, Arizona has been extremely thin the last two years, so it has required a lot more of Salim.

I do agree with you though that Salim shouldn't be a starting PG UNLESS the Hawks adapt a style of play where the assists DON'T come from that position. Salim needs to be a PG, but a "shoot first" type. I don't know if that means implementing a "point forward" into the mix, but Salim can't constantly be expected to play the two and man up with other SG's in the L that have four for five inches on him.

In closing... you guys got a special one. I know that his junior year, his attitude was perceived to be questionable at best... but there were major chemistry issues between he (well, the entire team) and Andre Igoudala. Once AI found out he was a lottery pick, it was time to play for the draft and not for the team.

I look forward to seeing what Salim will do for your team.

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mudderfudder77 Newbie

mudderfudder77

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Doesn't matter who it is against....Salim plays the same every night he will make mistakes but he gives effort...combine his shooting ability with his ability to get to the rim...he has good vision...add that with his chip and some good coaching and Salim can be special.

He is more talented than Gordon in my opinon.

I agree with his cousin Damon when he said Salim is the second best player on this team...but the team doesn't know it yet.

He seems to be struggling with his role on the team, his numbers have decreased every month.

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