I caught the tail end of Bernie on 680thefan......

[TheDude]

True pf's or not, they are better players than shelden right now even if they are out of position, they are still better...best team on the court needs to be the motto..

[Diesel]

The voice of reason has swung to the darkside to agree that there is redundancy in our lineup.

However, that stated, I don't think having depth is bad. It's only bad when you consider we missed out on Paul.

[Diesel]

I wouldn't be surprised if JSmoove said that he was not a PF!

I have heard rumblings of this in Smoove before. He has worked hard to develop a 3s skillset while not working on post up moves at all.

If that is the case, Management has no choice but to let them duke it out for the Sf spot.

[swolehawk2]

They also said JJ would play the 1.

[deester11]

I highly doubt that IF Shelden starts the majority of the game won't see Marvin/Smoove in at the same time. The line up that gives up the best chance includes them both along with JJ and Speedy.

[DJlaysitup]

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...Olowakandi, Lazy Lo, or Scott Pollard.

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Well if what has been posted is true - that Bernie and the interviewers seemed to agree that our new (rumored) pickup might start in front of ZZ - that kind of rules out Pollard IMO.

[Packfill]

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They also said JJ would play the 1.

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Excellent point. You really have to take everything Hawks management says with a gain of salt.

[AHF]

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The voice of reason has swung to the darkside to agree that there is redundancy in our lineup.

However, that stated, I don't think having depth is bad. It's only bad when you consider we missed out on Paul.

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I have a problem if Marvin and Josh can't play in the frontcourt together because, in my estimation, they are clearly two of the three best players on our team. It is OK to have Jordan and Drexler together if you play them both at 2/3 positions. It is not OK to have a team with needs and to have Dwight Howard backing up Amare Stoudemire. You need to go twin towers if you have those guys.

[KingLouie]

I couldn't agree more. Just put your best players on the floor together and let them learn to play together and adapt as needed.

[Diesel]

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They also said JJ would play the 1.

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So at this point, you're hoping that Shelden can't play PF effectively right?

That's what you're saying.

[Diesel]

But if neither Drexler nor Jordan wants to play Sf and Pippen shows up, what then?

[Guest]

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Bernie has went back on his last interview when he stated they were dealing with another team for a "Big"; now he saying they have an verbal agreement with a big. So he has to talking about a FA now. You're right when you break that down to Olowakandi or LW. My hopes are they do not sign them to long term and tie up our CAP with either one of them.

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I definitely think this means that we were going after Magloire and BK fudged that up.

I don't think too much should be put into Bernie's words. He already lied about acquiring a big from another team, even though the way he worded it you could argue that he didn't. But don't be naive, common sense will tell you he lied. So I wonder how strong this "verbal agreement" is? Probably not very.

[DJlaysitup]

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I couldn't agree more. Just put your best players on the floor together and let them learn to play together and adapt as needed.

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That's ridiculous. What if you have 3 quality pgs like Portland did last year? Play em all at the same time? Just sticking favorites out there and hoping won't work.

[AHF]

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But if neither Drexler nor Jordan wants to play Sf and Pippen shows up, what then?

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If neither Drexler nor Jordan is willing to play sf and you can't play them as combo guards that is a problem in and of itself. If Pippen shows up then you have a problem and probably need to make a trade of Drexler or Jordan once you determine that Pippen is going to be a standout SF. You simply need to be able to use the players in some fashion together or would be better off trading Drexler for McHale, etc. to make the best use of your talent.

[Diesel]

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If Pippen shows up then you have a problem and probably need to make a trade of Drexler or Jordan once you determine that Pippen is going to be a standout SF

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80% of Hawksquawk is hoping that Shelden doesn't turn out to be a good PF. If he turns out to be a strong rebounder, good defender & shootblocker... then that would mean that we truly have redundancy at the Sf.

I think Bernie's statement today may have hurt somebody because they truly believe we drafted Shelden to be a BU or to play C...

I don't know why there is this blindness when it comes to the truth about Marvin and Smoove... However, I think it will be somewhat rectified this year.

[swolehawk2]

I am hoping he will be an allstar, but he is not now, and I have my doubts that he will be more productive, when the season starts, than Smoove.

[DrReality]

I would imagine that MW and JS would be on the court together in late first quarter or second. Which provides the chance to play up temp ball. That would be exciting with Salim and Lo at the 5. They could get up and down the court.

From what we saw in the summer league, Shelden does not appear to be ready to step into a start's role. He could fool us.

[gutz]

How in the world can they start a rookie like Sheldon right away next year. You can't have Smoove on the bench period to start a game especially after the way he played the second half of last year. I think we can all agree on that. Now to Marvin I still don't see how you start him out on the bench after he straight dominated the SL and won MVP. Sheldon looked like crap and isn't ready to start the 1st game of the season for sure. I want him to succeed no doubt but he isn't better right now that Smoove or Marvin to be starting over for sure. Smoove can play the 4 so I don't know what people are talking about. The guy blocks 3.5 shots a game in the paint. Marvin is a 3 for sure but I think Smoove is bigger and stronger to play 4 if he has to. we have to have them both on the court starting period!

[craigo667]

It does not matter who starts. If you bring Marvin off the bench and he still plays 30-35 minutes, then who cares if he is not in the game for the tip. That is all starting is, lining up for the tip and playing the first couple minutes. I am not even sure that "redundancy" is an actual basketball term. I think that the "depth" that we will have is quality and that is a key to making the playoffs. Teams that can go 8-10 deep can wear down the other team. Coming off the bench does not make a player trash, the bench players are as important to winning as the starting 5. Noone wins games with five players. Dallas was in the Finals last year, they have always been stacked 1-12 and they continiue to add players to bring off the bench, with complete disregard for this "redundancy" you keep talking about.

[Popeye]

Exatcly, I think Woody will start Shelden because he is a better defensive player than Smoove and Marvin at 4.

Woody wants to start the game with good defense, one and only reason Ivey was starting over Lue last year and not because he is a better player.

Am i right??