Why interior D is so important

[exodus]

for the Hawks to be true title contenders; Wade and Lebron.

Unless Cleveland and Miami are really dumb these two will be in the Eastern Conference for a long time. Both of these guys are at their best taking the ball to the basket. In order for the Hawks to become contenders they will have to be able to slow these two down.

You can talk all day about Harringtons scoring ability but he can't slow down even average players near the rim so he certainly won't even be a speed bump for Wade or Lebron.

You can talk about Zaza's rebounding, the fact that he is young and can improve but it doesn't matter. He can't play significant minutes for the Hawks if the Hawks are going to be legit contenders because he is a weak defender.

Every Hawks big needs to be a good defender for the Hawks to have a chance at a title, otherwise Wade and Lebron will just shred the D to ribbons. It is doubtful the Hawks will ever have anyone who can score like those two so they have to counter with D.

Detroits interior D is the big reason that it took Jordan a long time to win his first title. They made it very tough for Jordan to score consistently going to the basket. That is what the Hawks will have to do. And now is the time to start building that team.

Nobody will stop Wade and Lebron entirely but they have to be able to slow them down. That is why Al and Zaza will have to go.

[Packfill]

Because no team has won a championship in 20+ years without at least one excellent interior defender.

That doesn't mean every big man must be a great defender, just means you need at least one or two. For example, Al, Smoove and defensive center would work.

[Packfill]

It took Jordan a long time to win a title because he needed some help - so it wasn't until Pippen and Grant had a little seasoning that he really had a legitimate chance to win.

[Traceman]

is our frontcourt of the future. Hopefully, Zaza will eventually be the backup PF/C he was brought here to be. If Al stays as our starting PF, we would need to get a Center who could provide a lot of rebounding and shotblocking (or at least take up a ton of space in the lane).

[exodus]

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It took Jordan a long time to win a title because he needed some help - so it wasn't until Pippen and Grant had a little seasoning that he really had a legitimate chance to win.

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It was always Detroit that stopped them. Even in the regular season Detroit got the best of them.

Jordan was eventually going to win anyway but Detroit D definitely slowed him down.

[exodus]

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For example, Al, Smoove and defensive center would work.

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No it won't. The Hawks can't afford to have someone who is such a defensive liability on the court as Al. How is he going to guard Lebron? And if you put him at the four he can't guard anyone.

[exodus]

The Hawks need 3 guys who can D up in the interior. Right now they have one. Al can't be part of the equation because he is just too weak defensively. Same with Zaza.

[Traceman]

Name a team other than Detroit who has 3 EXCELLENT interior defenders in the entire NBA. You really think Al wouldn't be okay playing beside Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace? Come on! Heck, he was fine playing alongside O'Neal and Artest or Foster and O'Neal in Indy.

Wade and LeBron are both great penetrators but our struggles against Miami have FAR more to do with Shaq than D Wade. We simply have no answer for Shaq AT ALL and that allows D Wade to go one on one and he's one of the best at that.

As for LeBron, can he please make the playoffs before we restructure our whole team around stopping him? Besides, he got his 39/10/6 against us earlier this year but WE WON THE GAME and I'm quite Al's 20/5/3 helped us win it.

The bottom line is that you are trying to make an argument that we cannot be successful with Al as a starter on our team REGARDLESS of who we put around him and that is PREPOSTEROUS!

[exodus]

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Name a team other than Detroit who has 3 EXCELLENT interior defenders in the entire NBA.

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I didn't say they all have to be excellent but they can't have someone playing significant minutes who sucks.

Let's see you and EDS think that all the Hawks have to do is add one defensive center and that will improve the Hawks interior D from one of the worst in the league to one of the best.

Does this defensive beast have a name? Or are you just dreaming?

[exodus]

SA has Duncan and Horry who are both very strong interior defenders. They also have Rasho who is better than most, certainly way better than Zaza.

[Diesel]

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Detroits interior D is the big reason that it took Jordan a long time to win his first title. They made it very tough for Jordan to score consistently going to the basket. That is what the Hawks will have to do. And now is the time to start building that team.

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Detroit didn't have one great interior defensive player. Lambeer was about as sorry as they come. Salley was serviceable. Rodman was a Sf and very good. Edwards was serviceable.

What they did have was very good coaching.

You say Your own argument just lit you up. Had you really not been History ignorant you would know that Detroit never tried to stop Jordan. In fact, they would let Jordan go for 82 if he wanted to.. But the Jordan rules stated that they would stop everybody else and cause anomosity between Jordan and his teammates.. That's great coaching... And it worked...

[Lascar78]

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Lambeer was about as sorry as they come.

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this is absurd

[Packfill]

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Name a team other than Detroit who has 3 EXCELLENT interior defenders in the entire NBA.

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I didn't say they all have to be excellent but they can't have someone playing significant minutes who sucks.

Let's see you and EDS think that all the Hawks have to do is add one defensive center and that will improve the Hawks interior D from one of the worst in the league to one of the best.

Does this defensive beast have a name? Or are you just dreaming?

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They would also need to add a point guard that plays defense and a coach who can, well, coach. But yes, those three things and the there is no reason the Hawks can't be an average to above average defensive team.

[Traceman]

I'm sure that the first thing D Wade or LeBron thinks when they enter the lane against SA is where is Rasho?

Come on! As for Zaza, again, his role will eventually be that of a backup PF/C. No one is suggesting that he and Al together would be a long term solution.

[exodus]

Man you are clueless as usual. Their whole defense was designed to funnel Jordan into the middle where Salley, Rodman and co could collape on him. that was their game plan, the famous Jodan Rules. They never gave him squat.

[Diesel]

No. He was nothing more than Koncak plus 20 lbs. His best defense was those 5 fouls he was given. He would foul the hell out of his man during the first few possessions and hope it left a lasting impression.

[exodus]

So you think Zaza is better on D that Rasho or Nazr? Is that what you are trying to say?

The reality is that both of those guys are way better on D than Zaza, and they are both backups.

[Lascar78]

Of course he fouled hard and tried to intimidate, but he was not "as sorry as they come" as a defender other than that. He was a good defender and an amazing defensive rebounder.

[Diesel]

You are the clueless one Mr. Wikipedia. Try watching the games next time. They funnell Jordan to foul him.. But they usually let him get his points and they stopped Pipp and Grant. This caused so much turmoil that Pipp got the infamous headache everytime he had to see the Pistons.

[exodus]

The only reason Salley and Rodman were in the league is because of their defense but to you they were servicable? Rodman was a SF? lol