What we got and what we Need

[andycard69]

PG - JJ / Salim - I dont include Ivey here b/c I think that if he is resigned he will be DL list material. I think that we will likely sign a B/U PG like Lue or someone of similar capicity. I think that Salim will be a John Starks kind of player who comes off the bench to shoot and to give energy.

SG - Chill / Delk- I think that he will do very well this year and be a leader on the floor and an all around contributer. We will need a BU here Im thinking someone like D Johnson or Wallace would fit in nicely. Delk should be traded for whatever we can get for him which should be something since he is a good B/U with an ending contract.

SF - Smoove / Marvin - Smoove will be the man here until Al is traded. Marvin I expect to be brought along in the same manner Smoove and Chill were last year you play what you earn. I think whoever is signed as a B/U for SG should also be albe to play SF as I'm not sure Marvin will quite be ready for full time prime time this year.

PF - Al - I think that this will be Smmoves position as soon as BK can find a good deal. I think that Al will be traded for a C and it will allow Zaza to B/U both C and PF. If we could sign another young guy with promise then we will be good.

C- Zaza / Collier - HELP! Zaza could one day turn out to be a good and serviceable C but right now he just isnt ready to be the man but a good B/U. Coller should just be sent packing. I think that we will have to trade Al for a C and then adjust from there.

Right now we have 9 players under contract and a few holes. We need to sign a PG, SG/SF, PF and trade for a C of these only the C and needs to be of starters calaber. We have three tradeable assets in Al, Delk, and Collier since all are in the last year of their contracts I would like to think that the Hawks have their core going foward at every position except C. If Al can get us a good C and Marvin can make an impact this year we should be able to double our wins from last year. Playoffs might be a little too much to hope for but hey look at the Bulls last year.

[chillzatl]

You left him out and I believe he will come before both Salim and Royal. Expect him to be signed in the near future.

[andycard69]

I put him in there as someone we need to sign but I know that LAL are intrested in him but I hope we get him.

[chillzatl]

this was about two weeks or so ago. But it was considered a done deal. He was out buying gifts for family members as a result..expensive gifts. I don't think he would go that far without knowing he was signed somewhere.

[swolehawk2]

Lue was ballin' at the end of the year....would like to see him back...

[NickJYD]

Its always good to have a 5 foot shooting guard in the mix. I'd be fine with Lue back as our backup PG as long as we arent paying too much.

[Nicholasp27]

we don't need a sg/sf

we have jj/chill/salim/delk/smoove/marvin for those 2 positions

if marvin isn't ready for primetime, then chill can play some sf to spell smoove and jj can slide over to the 2 (he is used to playing 40mpg anyway) and then salim/other pg can play the point

we could use a backup pg (please not lue...get someone who has a chance to be decent one day, or else just use jj/salim/ivey and let them all grow at that position)...but the biggest thing is another big...especially important is ability to play center and ability to rebound/defend

ivey/donta may go to nbdl this year just to get them needed pt...i see both as being VERY GOOD backups for many years in the nba...ivey is a strong defender and our team played MUCH better with him than lue last year, another reason to not get lue...we have ivey who does better for the team, plus jj/salim and even delk if needed cause of injuries

but center, we have zaza and...don't say collier...we need a big if we wanna win 30 games like people predict

[Blunt91]

I disagree the team played better with Ivey as the point and not Lue. Don't try to give me stats to back up your opinion. The only reason we might have had less turnovers is because Ivey doesn't hold the ball after coming across half court. Lue holds the ball longer, either looking to score for himself or trying to drive to the hold and kick it out to the open man. The only thing Ivey does well as a point is help keep the ball moving so the team can find the open man.

[Nicholasp27]

more than just turnovers

defense, etc

plus, lue's stats were inflated because he would either shoot or pass...if he passed, the other player would either shoot it or pass back to lue...thus lue got points or assists

when ivey is out there, he passes to guys that are in position to pass to someone else, which is better than what lue does, but doesn't show up in the stats because ivey doesn't get the assist when he passes it to chill who passes to smoove who scores

he's also the highest +/- player on ending team

now, i know about the passing because i watched the games, but how do the stats back me up?

a) ivey has less assists per minute than lue (5.6 vs 8.3 per48)

therefore, if ivey is doing these multiple player passes moer, then the overall team assists when he's on the floor should be as high or higher than when lue is...

well, when ivey is on the floor, 57% are assisted

when lue is on the floor, it's 52%

5% difference even tho lue gets more assists than ivey!

that right there shows that ivey gets the team passing the ball more than lue does

BOTTOM LINE: Ivey DISTRIBUTES and Lue PASSES

ivey is better for us on offense (except scoring, but we have jj/chill/smoove/salim/marvin/al for that) and MUCH better for us on defense

plus, he has a CHANCE to improve to a good player in the future, while lue is at the peak looking down the hill in his career

[andycard69]

Lue got his rep in the NBA by being the guy who could shut down the other teams PG. Lue is a much better passer and PG than Ivey. At this point Ivey is headed for the NBADL or Europe likely b/c even on a bad team he couldnt produce I mean Donta isnt NBA material and he averaged an asst in 11 min should he run the point? Lue is an established NBA PG while he isnt really good enough to start he is a very good BU. JJ will play most min at PG but he will need to be spelled do you want a lost in the headlights player like Ivey or a vet who knows how to play in the NBA?

[Blunt91]

I still would like another PG(other than Salim)who is able to push the ball on the fastbreak.

[mrhonline]

Quote:

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Lue got his rep in the NBA by being the guy who could shut down the other teams PG.

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Lue was one of the worst defenders at PG in the NBA last year according to Rosenbaum's stats...

He got that reputation from the AI series, but I don't think he can guard bigger guards at all.

[Nicholasp27]

another example of how players get a rep that just lasts for years and years later for no reason

he does a good job guarding AI...yes..AI...cause he is his height

did u not watch the games last year? did u not see the pgs just jumpshoot right over lue 123432423 times? did u not see how our TEAM defense was much more intense and much better when ivey was on than when lue was?

and again, didn't u read my post? my point wasn't that ivey passes...my point was that assists are not all that matters, thus the donta comment has nothing to do with my argument...my argument is that when ivey runs the point, the TEAM'S assists go up 5% even tho ivey gets half the assists of lue...because ivey DISTRIBUTES and gets good team ball movement (ideal for players like chill/smoove/marvin/salim) while lue just passes to a guy who is covered, who then passes back to lue or takes the guy on and shoots

lue is a sg in a pg's body

[Nicholasp27]

that's fine, blunt

i'm all for getting another pg that can push the ball up the court...but i have a few requirements for any pg we sign

a) he must be young and have room for improvement so he's not just a bandaid but a piece of our future

b) he must distribute the ball, not just play monkey in the middle passing back and forth with players

c) he must be able to defend all pgs, not just mini-mes like ai

again, remember, Ivey has a +8.4 +/-...he affects our team defense, he gets the team passing more, etc...his per is 13/5/5...i think if he had been a highly rated first rounder, we'd be talking about him being a future starter in the nba, but since he didn't have any hype, he's nbdl/euro material

if jack has a +8.4 affect on his team and puts up a per of 13/5/5 while helping the team defense and upping the team's assisted shots %, he'd be considered on track and even ahead of expectations for a rookie

[herschel4heisman]

I've always found the idea that Lue locked down Iverson in the finals laughable. This urban legend stems from Game 1 of the finals when Lue played very good defense for the 2nd half of Game(after Iverson scored 30 pts in the 1st half) but that's about it. Iverson lit hit him up for 7 OT points.

Iverson then went on to average 33 points for the remaining 4 games. So Lue is not lock down Iverson. He played very good defense for 2 quarters but for some reason those 2 quarters have led to the absurd idea that Lue ia great defensive player.

[DominiqueWilkins]

Quote:

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You left him out and I believe he will come before both Salim and Royal. Expect him to be signed in the near future.

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I'll be suprised, if Tyronn Lue resigns with the Hawks, because I see other teams, and contenders having interest in him.

[chillzatl]

but he's one of the guys that I'm privy to information on. I was told that he has signed a contract and is spending money accordingly. If it were anyone besides the hawks, it would have been announced already and he would be removed from the Hawks roster. I would also have very specific information that he signed with someone else. So I would assume that he agreed to terms, in principle, with the Hawks and is just waiting to sign the papers to make it official.

[ATL_BALLER]

I know you cannot reveal your source, but I'm curious - how are you so close to the Hawks situation?

[Blunt91]

Bottom line is Royal Ivey equals boring basketball when he is in the game. I almost fell asleep a few times when he was in the game trying to play the point. The pointguard you are looking for will only be found in the draft and not free Agency.

[chillzatl]

I'm not close to the Hawks situation specifically. JJ happens to be a client for my significant others company. They handle financial matters for athletes and entertainers specifically and they work very closely with the top agents in the business. They refer players to agents and vice versa. So they have a very close relationship with those agents and it's in their best interest to know everything that's going on with their clients.

I'm afforded the luxury of being able to funnel questions to people that know what's going on, especially when it comes to their own clients. Though they often know what's going on in sports period, as it is their business to know. One of their guys routinely finds his name listed on the 10 most powerful people in sports list. So their info is usually pretty accurate, as it comes from the highest level and it's not in their interest to deal in rumors.