Back in da House!

exodus · November 27, 2006

*crowd applauds wildly*

Thank you, thank you. So without further ado....

It was pretty funny watching so many people here freak after the Philly game. here is what I said on another board;

Quote:

This game doesn't bother me that much. The offense was horrible. They couldn't shoot or take care of the ball at all.

However the defense was much better than i was used to seeing last year. They played with good effort and the Sixers didn't get the layup drill that we saw so often last year. Ultimately i think a better defense will make this team much better than last year's.

Last year the offense completely sucked in November, then got cranked up in Dec and was pretty good the rest of the year. Hopefully it won't take so long to get going this year, but missing Marvin definitely hurts. His ability to beat his man off the dribble consistently can get the hawks some easy points when the jumpers aren't falling.

philly game

Now for some thoughts on the players;

Marvin being out obviously hurts. Personally i thought his absense would be felt more defensively. During the second half of last season I felt he was the best wing defender on the roster.

Speedy sure makes a huge difference on defense. The first few games it was as obvious as a kick in the teeth. Then went he went down the defense suffered badly.

Offensively he has been a joke but I think once he gets healthy he will do fine. He did light us up for 29 last year (no great feat obviously).

JJ has been the man. Don't know what else to say except he needs some help.

Smith has been a disappointment so far obviously but it is early. He was taking way too many threes and not driving enough. However the last few games he stopped taking 3s and started driving more and the results were mixed. He just doesn't have much game off the dribble.

I think if he can accept his limitations and be content to be a complementary scorer then he will do fine. However I think he views himself as a primary scorer and he doesn't have the necesary skills for that.

More bothersome has been some things I have seen on defense. One game he blocked out well defensively but most of the time he has done a poor job. That play against Miami where he let Walker follow up his missed 3 from the baseline really pissed me off.

Which brings me to Shelden. Last year I saw him do something I have hardly ever seen. He was guarding his man under the basket and someone was wide open for a J on the baseline. Shelden ran out at him even though he has no chance to get there. No way could he pressure the shot even if the guy shot it underhanded.

After the guy shot Shelden kept running at him and i was like WTF. I thought Shelden was going to drill him. Then a funny thing happened. Shelden turned around, spread out and boxed the guy out AT THE 3 PT LINE.

That is the type of thing that doesn't show up in the stats but contributes to wins.

I told you guys last summer that Shelden had a legit shot but few believed. Now he is shooting about 90% from the line and hit a 3 last night. After starting the season 1-10 he is shooting 50% from the field now. Give him 30+ minutes and i think he could average a double double.

I have also noticed Shelden screaming out instructions on defense when someone misses their rotations. I think he makes a big difference and frankly i think he should be getting more minutes with Marvin out.

I still can't get on the Zaza bandwagon. Sorry. i know his stats look good but it seems like he has to be spoon fed his points. When he goes 1 on 1 it seems like he just dives into someone hoping for a foul and throws up a prayer. He travels a lot and picks up a lot of offensive fouls. And he is averaging only 7 rebounds per game to go along with his lame defense. Not impressed.

Bozeman pretty much blows. I have to side with JohnnyBravo here. I think the Hawks might be better off just playing Salim and letting JJ run the point.

Wright....not impressed although he is certainly an upgrade to what the Hawks had last year.

Childress is needed on offense because he gets a lot of easy buckets when the defense collapses on other people. He knows how to get open and may be the best finisher close the the basket on the team. I am not a huge fan of his but he definitely fits here.

How about Solomon Jones the other night? Watching him reminded me of something i noticed last summer. Look at this comparison between him and Tyrus Thomas;

Solomon 6'8.5" w/o shoes, 224 pounds, standing reach 9'1"

Tyrus 6'7.5" w/o shoes, 217 pounds, standing reach 9'

Vertical jump

Solomon 39"

Tyrus 39.5

lane agility test

Solomon 11.27

Tyrus 11.36

3/4 court sprint

Solomon 3.3

Tyrus 3.2

Interesting.

My boy Lue has played well overall but has definitely been too selfish at times. Last game he had 5 turnovers in the first half which was a joke. Remember that this is a contract year for him so my guess is that he may be looking to shoot more than he would normally to build up his stats. In his position I can't exactly blame him but it may be frustrating to watch sometimes.

When the Hawks get Marvin back and Speedy gets healthy i think they will be a better than average defensive team, but the Zaza/Wright combo at center is lame and will have to be addressed at some point.

I did notice a few of you lobbying for my return so I just want to say thanks.

jerrywest · November 27, 2006

Welcome back Ex.

Missed your comments.

Peoriabird · November 27, 2006