41 games in

[frosgrim]

And we still have only a glimpse at what this team can be. Maybe they are a good team, maybe they aren't. One thing is for certain, they are inconsistent. Injuries, poor FA management and questionable coaching moves have hurt the team.

On the bright side, Josh Smith is really evolving into a fantastic player. Gone are the bad decisions that plagued him in the early part of this season. His jumper is looking better. His handles even seem to be improving. He still makes those boneheaded plays, but its down to one or two a game instead of three or four.

Josh Childress is also showing that he belongs in the NBA. He still needs to work on strength and that jump shot, but overall he looks good. I don't like him running the point so much as it takes away from what he does best, but he is the best point we have now that Speedy is shelved.

Speaking of Speedy, poor choice it appears. Too fragile. When he's healthy he helps, but when he's out it really negatively affects the team.

As it stands we at 15 and 26. We need 20 wins in the last 41 games to reach what most posters thought this team would reach this year, 35 wins +/- 3 wins. So, who is on board for this prediction still?

I for one think they can do it, IF, and that is a HUGE IF, everyone that is healthy today, stays healthy for the rest of the season.

The next question is, does 35 get us into the playoffs. It is looking like it just might. The East is simply HORRIBLE.

[exodus]

Early in the year everyone was screaming about Smith shooting too many 3s, but I wasn't that worried about it. I think Woody gave him the green light so that Smith would see for himself that 3 point shooting isn't the way he can best help the team.

Since the beginning of December he is averaging about 2 three pt attempts per game or less than half of what he was averaging the first few weeks of the season. Of course he still isn't hitting them but oh well.

On the positive side his jumper from a couple of steps inside the line has been improving and that will really help open up opportunities to drive, especially when playing the 4.

[DJlaysitup]

I thought Speedy was a dumb pickup...now I'm changing my mind. MW/Salim/Speedy could get us a center (salaries-wise)

Not a great one but a competitve one.

[KB21]

Josh Childress has really opened my eyes this season. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him play the few times I have actually gotten to watch the Hawks play. Josh is just such a cerebral player that has better athleticism than anyone wants to give him credit for. Currently, he is the best on the team at moving without the basketball. He's a very efficient scorer who is one of the better rebounding and defensive perimeter players in the league. People like to complain about his jump shot, but it's only because his shot is ugly. Josh is shooting 53.3% from the field, 41.9% from the arc, and 82.4% from the free throw line. He's showing that his shooting from last year was not a fluke. That's what makes him so efficient, IMO. He doesn't take very many shots that he cannot hit. He's only taken 31 three pointers on the year, but he has hit 41% of those. 82games.com says that 65% of his shots come on the inside, so we know that Josh understands that he needs to take the ball to the hole. Also from 82games.com, Josh is assisted on only 44% of the times he shoots on the inside. That gets me to the conclusion I've come to about Josh based on his last two years. He'd be an 18+ PPG scorer with his ability to get himself open and move without the ball if he had a point guard that could set him up. At one point, I really wanted to deny that we really needed that and felt that Josh was simply the type of player that is better coming off the bench. I am no longer denying that fact now. I don't want to rehash this subject because it has been beaten to death, but there's no doubt in my mind that Josh Childress would be putting up even better numbers if the Hawks had drafted Chris Paul or Deron Williams instead of Marvin Williams. For the life of me, I don't understand why some think that drafting Josh Childress was such a horrible mistake.

I am also enjoying watching Josh Smith play. When he wants to, he can dominate the game on both ends of the floor. I like to watch him when he is in that mindset. I believe he had that mindset last night. He was taking the ball to the hole, giving great help defense when needed, and was really harassing the ball handler on the perimeter. Picking JJ Redick's pocket in that game last night was one of the best plays in the game.

I really like that this team has no quit in them. There was a span in December where I felt this team was about to give up, but they haven't done that. They have won 5 of their last 8 and are .500 in their last 10. Getting the Josh and Josh back seems to have sparked this run. Will it continue? I certainly hope so.

Will they finish the the last 41 games of the season with a 20-21 record? I don't know. I think it is definitely possible, and it is possible that they could do even better than that. There are a lot of inconsistencies that may keep them from doing that. I think this brings up a legitimate discussion though. If the Hawks do finish the season that strong and get to between 35-40 wins, does Mike Woodson keep his job?

[DJlaysitup]

I could care less if Woody keeps his job...but your post was well stated KB. IMO Josh Smith is the heart and soul of this team - along with JC. JJ is awesome at shooting and also works like the devil.

MW and Salim and our other trash should be traded for a center.

Keep Ivey.

[frosgrim]

A finish of 35 wins should NOT be enough for Woody to keep his job. His job is finished. He was the sacrificial lamb while we were in the bottom of the rebuild. We need a coach that can actually teach offense and get guys moving without the ball. There is simply too much standing around on offense. Second, there is no creativity in the offense. The defense is better, but still not spectacular. A new coach will also energize the fan base. The city really needs something to rally around. Adleman would be the perfect guy for the team and the city. Again we have the specter of Darth to contend with though, so I doubt any decent coach will come here until the legal situation is clarified.

In regards to Childress, I agree he is the smartest player on the team. He will flourish in a creative offensive system that lets him slash. Him playing point also reduces what he can do.

[jezmund]

Any chance we can grab that Phoenix assistant (Iavaroni?) before Toronto gets him? Please tell me how Toronto has had so much more success this year than us? You can't tell me they have more talent and I have a hard time believing that Sam Mitchell is much better than Woody. I think it is all in the culture and attitude. Their GM is good and the ownership wants to win.

[DJlaysitup]

We have the tools (except at center) we need an artisan.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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Early in the year everyone was screaming about Smith shooting too many 3s, but I wasn't that worried about it. I think Woody gave him the green light so that Smith would see for himself that 3 point shooting isn't the way he can best help the team.

Since the beginning of December he is averaging about 2 three pt attempts per game or less than half of what he was averaging the first few weeks of the season. Of course he still isn't hitting them but oh well.

On the positive side his jumper from a couple of steps inside the line has been improving and that will really help open up opportunities to drive, especially when playing the 4.

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Interesting point about maybe Woody was letting him take all those 3's, to prove to him that he isn't a Rasheed Wallace type player. LOL . . I was at that Seattle game in which he and JJ took all of those 3's. I think JJ was 3 - 14, while Smoove was 3 - 10 . . and he hit 2 of those in OT. It was the type of game in which he just got caught up in the pace of the game, and was taking every open shot available.

But since that time, Woody has really cracked the whip on the kid, and almost forced him to take open shots that are 18 feet and in . . and most importantly, take the ball to the hole. No one will give Woody credit for Smoove's in-season offensive transformation, but that's what happened.

In the offseason, I'd love to see him work on his post game, even work with a former center like Olajuwon, like Dwight Howard did. Develop a legit low post game, along with that 15 - 18 foot jumper. If he does that, and work on his handles, he's going to be a very dangerous player next year.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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A finish of 35 wins should NOT be enough for Woody to keep his job. His job is finished. He was the sacrificial lamb while we were in the bottom of the rebuild. We need a coach that can actually teach offense and get guys moving without the ball. There is simply too much standing around on offense. Second, there is no creativity in the offense. The defense is better, but still not spectacular. A new coach will also energize the fan base. The city really needs something to rally around. Adleman would be the perfect guy for the team and the city. Again we have the specter of Darth to contend with though, so I doubt any decent coach will come here until the legal situation is clarified.

In regards to Childress, I agree he is the smartest player on the team. He will flourish in a creative offensive system that lets him slash. Him playing point also reduces what he can do.

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Frog, when this team was scoring 102 . . 95 . . 104 . . 111 . . 112 . . and 101 points ( the point totals in 6 of our first 7 games ), there was nothing wrong with us offensively. Ironically, it wasn't until Chill went down, that the offense started to stagnate a little, because he was a big contributor off the bench.

So instead of scoring over 100 points a game, we dropped down to around 95 - 98 points a game. Instead of Lue and Chill being the main guys off the bench, it was Lue and Salim, which hurt us defensively. Conversely, our opponent point totals started to go up. And we started to lose a little more games than we were winning.

Marvin comes back, and we hoped that he could pick up where Chill left off, but he wasn't ready to take on that role yet, so we suffered a little more. We were still afloat, but you could see us sinking a bit.

But it wasn't until Lue went down, the guy who we could count on to provide a consistent scoring punch during stretches of games, that this team really went into a funk offensively. When he went down, we were asking . . no . . we were BEGGING someone to step up and be that 2nd or 3rd scorer. Smoove stepped his game up, but the others didn't. ZaZa especially started to slip in mid-December.

The death blow came when Smoove went out. So now we're without Lue, Smoove, and Childress . . 3 key guys to everything we do as a team . . . and asking Salim, Ivey, Shelden, and Marvin to step up and provide what they contributed to the offense. Speedy actually stepped his game up during this time, but the offense was struggling big time without Smoove, Chill and Lue out of the loop.

You guys talk how coaching is such a factor to where we are as a team right now. LOL . . no team could survive having 3 of its top 5 players out of the lineup for a significant stretch.

**********

So what's starting to happen now?

- Chill comes back, and we immeadiately get better defensively, but not offensively, even though Chill came back playing good basketball. The others weren't stepping up at all on offense, and it was starting to take its toll on JJ.

- Smoove comes back early, and it immeadiately impacts the team offensively and defensively. Why? Because Smoove was important to our halfcourt offense. He was also the guy who would be most likely to finish on the fast break. And I don't even have to say to what he meant to us on defense.

Here's a Smoove stat for you Frog. In the 8 games that Smoove missed, the Hawks went 1 - 7, and only scored more than 82 points in 2 of those games.

Since his return, the Hawks are 5 - 3, and have scored 82 or more points in 7 of those 8 games.

If and when Lue's jumper returns to form, it's a good bet that the Hawks offense will be right back to where it was at the beginning of the season. And if we can get Speedy back, without losing anybody else, the Hawks defense will be even better.

When a team goes through injuries, I don't care who you are, you're going to struggle. Just ask Pat Riley . . who used his "aching knees" to get out of the Miami job for a while. LOL . . and the Heat still can't get back on track, even thoug the Diesel is back. Injuries will KILL YOU as a team.

35 wins may not keep Woody's job. 40 wins will definitely keep his job, because we're probably in the playoffs if we reach that mark.

And the improvements that Smoove and Chill have made, have to be credited, in some part, to the offensive roles that the coach that you despise have put them in. Woody has to get some of the credit for their development. Players don't develop on their own in this league, especially not during the season.

[DJlaysitup]

Woody is the man NorthC....LOL. Woody is an idiot. We have 3 players doing it on their own. JJ - JS - and to a lesser degree JC.

The Wood man is clueless.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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Woody is the man NorthC....LOL. Woody is an idiot. We have 3 players doing it on their own. JJ - JS - and to a lesser degree JC.

The Wood man is clueless.

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DJ, you're the clueless one, if you truly believe that.

Players don't get markedly better during the season, unless the coach has something to do with it. Players usually work on their games in the offseason, but the coaches put them in the right situations to maximize their talents.

JJ didn't develop on his own in Phoenix. Nor did Diaw. Nor did any of those former scrub players, who are now great complimentary players in Phoenix.

Boozer was a good PF in Cleveland. Sloan has turned him into a mini-Karl Malone.

Shoot, even JJ has developed his game more in Atlanta. Most people, including Hawks fans, thought that JJ could NEVER play at this level. Even though it was out of necessity, Woody pretty much put the ball in his hands last year, and let him be a Paul Pierce-like playmaker for this team. Now, he's becoming that dangerous 2-guard that very few of you thought he could turn into.

And understand this DJ. We run a lot of the offense that they ran in Detroit, when they were winning titles a few years back. A lot of in-screens. A lot of pick-and-pop type plays. The Hawk coaches aren't clueless, but they do need a certain amount of talent to execute what they want to do.

Woody isn't the man DJ. He's just not the Hawks anti-christ. And if we're able to make a legit run at the playoffs, he has to get a lot of the credit if we do, along with our young players.

[KB21]

I'm not on the get rid of Woody bandwagon just yet, but I'm open to discussing the possibility of making a coaching change in the offseason. With that said, if a coaching change is made, the offensive structure of the team is the least of my concerns. I want someone that can get this team to play consistent defense. That's the only way this team is going to push through and get into the playoff picture.

That's why I would look into coaches like Mike Fratello, Paul Silas, and Del Harris.....coaches that have strong defensive backgrounds. I don't believe in the theory that just because you stress defense that you are going to be a plodding team offensively.

Two things though:

1. I absolutely hate the idea of hiring a retread head coach.

2. It makes no sense to fire a first time head coach and then replace him with a first time head coach.

Now, when you look at the situation at hand, if a coaching change is made, the Hawks have to get an experienced head coach that is basically a retread.

The one guy that I will not hesitate to support for this job is Eric Musselman, and there is some talk that he might get fired in Sacramento after this season. I believe that Eric Musselman is a very strong young head coach in the league, and he would be my top choice to replace Woody if that decision has to be made.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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I'm not on the get rid of Woody bandwagon just yet, but I'm open to discussing the possibility of making a coaching change in the offseason. With that said, if a coaching change is made, the offensive structure of the team is the least of my concerns. I want someone that can get this team to play consistent defense. That's the only way this team is going to push through and get into the playoff picture.

That's why I would look into coaches like Mike Fratello, Paul Silas, and Del Harris.....coaches that have strong defensive backgrounds. I don't believe in the theory that just because you stress defense that you are going to be a plodding team offensively.

Two things though:

1. I absolutely hate the idea of hiring a retread head coach.

2. It makes no sense to fire a first time head coach and then replace him with a first time head coach.

Now, when you look at the situation at hand, if a coaching change is made, the Hawks have to get an experienced head coach that is basically a retread.

The one guy that I will not hesitate to support for this job is Eric Musselman, and there is some talk that he might get fired in Sacramento after this season. I believe that Eric Musselman is a very strong young head coach in the league, and he would be my top choice to replace Woody if that decision has to be made.

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I agree KB. And don't get me wrong about Woody. If we could find an upgrade to him, I wouldn't be against letting him go. But these guys on this board act like he's the sole reason why the Hawks don't win, instead of blaiming what really ails this team: injuries and youth

But you just don't fire a coach, just to be firing him.

The way the T-Wolves let go of Casey, may come back to bite them in the butt. That team had won 10 of their last 13 games, before we came in there and destroyed them. Then they lose to Detroit in OT, and road games at Phoenix and Utah, and the guy gets fired?

LOL . . now the team can't even beat Portland and Seattle on the road.

People talk about our GM and ownership. But Kevin McHale has to be the most idiotic GM on the planet. BK looks like Jerry West, compared to him.

- The Joe Smith "under the table deal", which costs them a boatload of money and three 1st round picks

- Signing Wally Szczerbiak and Troy Hudson to HUGE deals. Wally was the T-Wolves version of Harrington, a decent, but one-dimensional scoring forward. Troy Hudson is a notch below Tyronn Lue, but got a big deal from McHale after his stellar "4-game" performance against the Lakers in a 1st round match. Now, Hudson is buried on the bench . . making over 25 million for the next 4 years.

- Signing Cassell and Spreewell, which were great things, but refusing to pay them after they got the Wolves to the WCF. That seemed to distract Spree, and have him play horrible that whole year. And Cassell struggled with injuries off and on the entire season. That pretty much killed the Wolves "window of opportunity" in one year.

- The Sam Cassell trade AND a 1st round pick . . for Marko Jaric. This is arguably the worst trade this young century. McHale thought that Cassell was washed up, because he stayed hurt too much, so he traded for Jaric because he was "supposedly" a better passing and defensive PG. LOL . . but Jaric can't hit the side of a barn, and his defense and playmaking ability was vastly overrated.

- Now, he lets go of an average coach who probably had the T-Wolves right where they should've been, because he and the fan base thought that the Wolves should be better. But with only an interim assistant coach to step in, the Wolves might be worse off.

BK >>>> McHale

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Damn . . if I'm not mistaken, that Jaric deal was a sign and trade. Now, the Wolves are stuck with Jaric's deal, which will pay him 34 million over the next 5 years

[Packfill]

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Josh Childress has really opened my eyes this season. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him play the few times I have actually gotten to watch the Hawks play. Josh is just such a cerebral player that has better athleticism than anyone wants to give him credit for. Currently, he is the best on the team at moving without the basketball. He's a very efficient scorer who is one of the better rebounding and defensive perimeter players in the league. People like to complain about his jump shot, but it's only because his shot is ugly. Josh is shooting 53.3% from the field, 41.9% from the arc, and 82.4% from the free throw line. He's showing that his shooting from last year was not a fluke. That's what makes him so efficient, IMO. He doesn't take very many shots that he cannot hit. He's only taken 31 three pointers on the year, but he has hit 41% of those. 82games.com says that 65% of his shots come on the inside, so we know that Josh understands that he needs to take the ball to the hole. Also from 82games.com, Josh is assisted on only 44% of the times he shoots on the inside. That gets me to the conclusion I've come to about Josh based on his last two years. He'd be an 18+ PPG scorer with his ability to get himself open and move without the ball if he had a point guard that could set him up. At one point, I really wanted to deny that we really needed that and felt that Josh was simply the type of player that is better coming off the bench. I am no longer denying that fact now. I don't want to rehash this subject because it has been beaten to death, but there's no doubt in my mind that Josh Childress would be putting up even better numbers if the Hawks had drafted Chris Paul or Deron Williams instead of Marvin Williams. For the life of me, I don't understand why some think that drafting Josh Childress was such a horrible mistake.

I am also enjoying watching Josh Smith play. When he wants to, he can dominate the game on both ends of the floor. I like to watch him when he is in that mindset. I believe he had that mindset last night. He was taking the ball to the hole, giving great help defense when needed, and was really harassing the ball handler on the perimeter. Picking JJ Redick's pocket in that game last night was one of the best plays in the game.

I really like that this team has no quit in them. There was a span in December where I felt this team was about to give up, but they haven't done that. They have won 5 of their last 8 and are .500 in their last 10. Getting the Josh and Josh back seems to have sparked this run. Will it continue? I certainly hope so.

Will they finish the the last 41 games of the season with a 20-21 record? I don't know. I think it is definitely possible, and it is possible that they could do even better than that. There are a lot of inconsistencies that may keep them from doing that. I think this brings up a legitimate discussion though. If the Hawks do finish the season that strong and get to between 35-40 wins, does Mike Woodson keep his job?

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Finally seen the light? Took you long enough.

[Guest Walter]

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I don't want to rehash this subject because it has been beaten to death, but there's no doubt in my mind that Josh Childress would be putting up even better numbers if the Hawks had drafted Chris Paul or Deron Williams instead of Marvin Williams. For the life of me, I don't understand why some think that drafting Josh Childress was such a horrible mistake.

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...wrong. "Not wanting to rehash this subject" is a tuck-tail way of saying it, but I think you need to step up and admit it. YOU were wrong about MW. You were first right about Roy and SW saying you loved and hated each respectively for the Hawks, then reversing your decision to mimic BK's. You were WRONG there too. You were wrong about Woody. You were wrong about BK. These are all facts. Until you admit it directly, you ARE wrong.

It's insulting how you could go from "Hawksquawk is ignorant and needs my enlightenment" attitude to "we'll let's not begin to discuss how it was I who was 100% wrong". Lame.

W

[exodus]

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I don't want to rehash this subject because it has been beaten to death, but there's no doubt in my mind that Josh Childress would be putting up even better numbers if the Hawks had drafted Chris Paul or Deron Williams instead of Marvin Williams.

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These quotes look familiar?

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The only thing dumb would have been to pass on Marvin Williams. It would have been similar to taking Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan.

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click

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There are a few fans on here that only want to be right, and they will damn every move BK makes in an attempt to make themselves look right.

The player I wanted in the draft last year, we got. I wanted Marvin Williams

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click

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You and the rest of the Chris Paul Nut Huggers will realize it wasn't a mistake in 2-3 years time, when Marvin Williams is the superstar player that comes from this draft.

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click

[Guest Walter]

nonsense? Now he "doesn't want to rehash this subject", the subject being his utter ignorance and being wrong 100% of the time (JJ a Pg, MW a potential superstar and worth more than a franchise-Pg, SW being a good pick, JS being a Sg...WTF?!?).

You could also pull up KB's post this summer about how he thought BK had not made a single mistake. An inerrant GM. Just luny KB must be to try to sell that BS and now come back and not want to reshash the subject of his support of BK's incompetence when it was him not only defending it but denying it.

W

[exodus]

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Because if it weren't for me and a select few on this board, you guys would never see legitimate posts and intelligent thoughts.

I post because you guys need me to post, not because I need to see what you say.

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jesup