JJ 2nd hand quote

[DJlaysitup]

Anybody catch Bernie on the radio this morning? It was mostly hockey stuff but I did hear a guy call in about JChill and where he would fit in with all of our other similar talent. Bernie said he would be JJ's primary backup. A bit later Bernie mentioned that JJ had said this team is very talented and JJ expects 42 wins THIS year.

I guess players need to be optimistic (and maybe he knows something I don't) - but that's a pretty bold prediction!

[CBAreject]

Great. Seems like a reasonable prediction, though still a tad optimistic. I hope he's right.

[Diesel]

I think there is talent on the team. I hope that they can win 40 games... However, to do it, One of the young players have to step up as a dependable Second scorer.

Honestly, last year's team was capable of winning 40 games... They just never could put it together. I do like the fact that we got over the 2 win in a row hump.

However, I think that offensively losing Al will have a bigger effect than Defensively losing Al does... UNLESS one of the young guys become dependable as a second option.

[Packfill]

Youth and defensive intensity are the main hurdles for this team if they want to win 42 games.

[thesheedera]

So much depends on Al's departure. Only time will tell if Al was an integral part of the foundation and that by removing him from the base the entire structure will suffer, or if he was a big part of the wrong puzzle that just didn't fit, and threw off the mojo of JJ and the rest of the team.

I like Al's game a lot, but I don't think he was the best guy to have as a second option on a bad team. I see him as a great #3 or #4 guy on a GREAT team. Once he got the ball with the Hawks, the offense stopped. Often he scored or got to the line, but it just made things herky jerky.

It was impossible for me to tell if that was because

A) that's his game, and the only way he's effective, and it hurts teammates when he tries to be "the man"...

or...

B) we had no other dependable options and no playmaker making the offense work, and the team and coaching staff needed Al to think "score" every time he got the ball, otherwise we would have lost half the games we won.

Probably somewhere in between.

I love JJ's game and his willingness to share, and I see the same kind of willingness from guys like Josh Smith, who you might expect to be a ball hog due to his highlight filled kind of game. But Josh shares, Childress shares, Marvin does to. I don't like the way Lue distributes, I think he's a one dimensional pick and roll guy, or a spot up jump shooter, but he's not selfish. Zaza's a bit of a black hole, but I'm more comfortable with a center being a black hole than a 3/4 type player. They need to get the ball, be aggressive, put pressure on the other big men. Hopefully Zaza will learn to pass out of double teams.

The optimistic part of me thinks that Al's departure will have a positive affect on the flow of the team on both sides of the floor, and in the lockerroom.

Its possible that JJ feels even better about the team with Al gone. This is unquestionably JJ's team now, he doesn't have to share the spotlight with Al, and he can claim the role of the team leader. I have o reason to think Al was anything but a positive influence on the other players, but for some reason I feel like JJ held back a bit last year out of respect to Al being a returning Hawk.

Or, JJ's just running his mouth, who knows.

Sorry for the rambling thoughts, haven't been posting much, but I can't wait for the season to start.

[WraithSentinel]

JJ must be reading the MSG Boards. I think the majority of Hawks fans agree this team should win no less than 35 games. 40 wins can be realistic if the team can stay healthy and Woodson define the roles of the players early on.