Is there any doubt now that we need a defensive

[Peoriabird]

4/5 player from this draft. For those of you who continue to think that we should draft someone 6'3" or smaller, It should be clear to you now. Unless you think that Marcus Williams could have held Gerald Wallace to his season average of 15 ppg. Maybe he could have cut down on all of those layup shot by the Bobcats.

Repeat after me board....There is nothing wrong with having big people on your team that can play defense.

[warcore]

its true.

I'm just hoping that the ping pong balls finally bounce our way and give us #1 pick....which we can trade down for two others and hopefully get Noah and Williams.

But yea, bottomline-we must use our first pick on a big.

[Weez]

Noah's own coach said that he needed to stay in college for at least another year, that while no one is ever quite, 'ready for the pros, for the 82 game season in addition to all of the pressures that it brings,' and Noah (nor anyone else on Florida) is 'ready' in his estimation...

[warcore]

yea....that coach can shove it

[Plainview1981]

They gave up 125 points to Charlotte because of lack of effort and heart... Well, it's a big part of the reason. The current Hawks remind me of the Clippers team a few years ago when the Kandi man was a free agent and he and the team was just padding

stats.

That appears to be what this team is doing.

[Plainview1981]

Darko is starting to play really well for Orlando. Wonder what BIlly Knight did to get him. Oh, I forgot, he's not 6'9 and can't jump high! Another rule I think is that if you're going to a white player on the team you have to be near talentless.

If we could count on Belkin not being another Sterling, I'd root for him to gain control of the team so he would fire Billy and Woody. Or atleast strip them of their positions.

[exodus]

All of the "bigs" at the top of the draft are weaker than Smoove. Tyrus Thomas isn't tall enough to play center. Aldridge and especially Noah are both lightweights.

If they Hawks have a chance to draft Aldridge they probably will. The only other "big" that I like is Thomas but he is too similar to Smoove.

[thesheedera]

Weez, did he say his IS or is NOT ready??? Your post seems to contradict iteself.

Billy Donovan isn't exactly unbiased in this thing. He gains a lot by having Noah return. If says he needs to return it means nothing to me. If he admits that Noah should go pro, it says a LOT to me.

I agree, we have top get a defensive big man. Will this be more easily accomplished in the draft, a trade, or free agency?

If we had a defensive stopper at the 1, JJ wouldn't have to guard other point guards so he could focus on the other teams lead scorer, we'd be more affective at stopping penetrations, and we'd be better all around.

We need both, we need both badly.

[Peoriabird]

Quote:

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All of the "bigs" at the top of the draft are weaker than Smoove. Tyrus Thomas isn't tall enough to play center. Aldridge and especially Noah are both lightweights.

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I guess you think that they are not as good as what you have already which I strongly disagree. And that the solution is to draft small without addressing the problem at all?

[exodus]

The Hawks have two holes in their lineup. Both need to be addressed. It doesn't matter which one is addressed first.

Right now they need a defensive center and a guard to play next to JJ. If they draft a big then they will still need a defensive center and a guard to play next to JJ.

[Lascar78]

Quote:

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Noah's own coach said that he needed to stay in college for at least another year, that while no one is ever quite, 'ready for the pros, for the 82 game season in addition to all of the pressures that it brings,' and Noah (nor anyone else on Florida) is 'ready' in his estimation...

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college coaches always want their players to stay.

Noah is ready. He won't dominate on day 1 but he's ready

[AHF]

IMO, we need to draft a young big and then sign someone in FA who can add toughness in the post. Something like drafting Noah and signing Nene.

[Lascar78]

I couldn't agree more. Personally I hope we draft a defensive big, and that we get one tough big, and one veteran PG through free agency / trading Al

[gsuteke]

Quote:

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Quote:

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Noah's own coach said that he needed to stay in college for at least another year, that while no one is ever quite, 'ready for the pros, for the 82 game season in addition to all of the pressures that it brings,' and Noah (nor anyone else on Florida) is 'ready' in his estimation...

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college coaches always want their players to stay.

Noah is ready. He won't dominate on day 1 but he's ready

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this shows how truly bad this situation has gotten. we are rooting for a flash in the pan sophomore who could or could not be playing the basketball of his life for a short period of time right now to declare for the draft so he can be our savior next year?

i'm not saying you are wrong for wanting Noah, i'm just saying it has truly gotten ugly to be a Hawks' fan right now.

125..... sheezzzz

[exodus]

So you want to bring in two bigs which would mean that Zaza's minutes would probably be cut in half?

I am ok with that but I just want to be clear. i think Zaza is a major problem for the Hawks.

Quote:

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i'm not saying you are wrong for wanting Noah, i'm just saying it has truly gotten ugly to be a Hawks' fan right now.

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Noah is averaging 6.8 boards and two blocks in the powerhouse SEC..... zzzzzzz

[Lascar78]

I think both Lue and Zaza will be great backups. There is no doubt in my mind that we still need a starting center and point guard. I have no problem cutting Zaza's minutes. He's been great for us, but he can't play D. He might improve, but as of today he's not an NBA starting caliber center

[Southern_Bred]

Zaza's minutes need to be cut in half. If we get Nene and Aldridge in the off-season, I'll be a happy man. If Zaza cannot 6ft and under players from hitting layup after layup right in his grill, then he should not play many minutes on the court.

[Diesel]

First...

Our guards were being BURNED by Felton and Knight. I think this was the primary problem. I think the other stuff was the secondary result of this original problem. Felton blew by Ivey and Chillz.

I'm not saying that we don't need a defensive 4/5..We do, but we also need a PG who can stop the opposing PG and make him pick up his dribble.

The secondary problem I believe was more a problem of scheme than Personnell.

GWallace was killing us because our scheme had Smoove fronting Wallace. Inevitably, Smoove would lose Wallace in the mix and Wallace would score on alley opps. Al came over and did a better job of playing man to man on Wallace but that left the door open again for Felton and Knight to rush the lane.

Most of Charlotte's points came on layups... This was embarrassing. When we stopped one thing, it opened the door for another.

I think the only time when we did stop both is when Esteban was on the floor. Not because he's a great defensive player.. but because he reacts to everything. He gave hard fouls that helped slow down the layup line.

Schemewise, we did absolutely nothing to force them to shoot outside.

Hell, we could have gone to a 2-3 matchup zone and had better results than what we were doing.

[Johnnybravo4]

You could have had 3 Ben Wallaces and 2 Bruce Bowens on our squad last night and we would have given up just as many points. Like I have been saying all year our scheme is bad. We had Josh guarding G. Wallace on the high post with nobody behind him. Al Harrington gives the worst help defense I have ever seen. Then Woodson in his genius doesn't go to zone until the last minute of the game. I am telling you Woodson has got to go.

[Diesel]

Hell, Help defense didn't matter... With Smoove fronting Wallace, as soon as the eye contact was made, those points was either made on the dunk or made on the dunk & 1...

Didn't that happen to Marvin.. Wallace beat him on the dunk and one... Oh.. no that was on the break away..