Hawks stand pat at trade deadline, now look to Ilgauskas

Bring on Big Z and we could drop Cheeseburger Collins. However, the Hawks have no chance at Big Z and they know it, so why not make that statement.

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I would love it if Big Z was brought on. I am willing to pay higher season ticket prices to pay for him.

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Even if we got this guy, Woodson would only use him for about 5mins a game.

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Ain’t no way the Big Z puppet will leave Cleveland if he was bought out in DC.

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Enter your comments here

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Make this happen Sund. Joe Smith, Big Z, Al, ZaZa & Jason Collins would be an impressive frontline vs. anybody

-REEpeal it for Roe!!!!

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Would be nice, but he’s going back to Cleveland. Only way that we get him is by overpaying him.

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Wishful thinking! Why in the world would he come here? All he’s ever known is Cleveland. On paper, the Cavs chances of winning a title have dramatically increased with yesterday’s trade. Not to mention they still have this dude on the roster named LBJ. Ugh! I hate these school yard moves. First we get Mario West to fill a roster space and now we’re talking of adding Big Z. The last thing we need is someone slowing us down even further. Yeah we need size but jeez is this the answer?

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@ Matt the Brave

Which we can. The Hawks have most of their MLE. Teams like Cleveland, Dallas and Denver don’t.

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Man, this is confusin’. So Washington trades fer tha feller. Then, they pay him a bunch of money to go back and play fer Clevelan’? Thet don’t make no sense.

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If we get big Z,then i would say the hawks can make it to the eastern conference finals.Thats if he’s used right because right now the way it stands,the magics,celtics with lil robinson added(he give the hawks fits everytime they play him),and definately not cleveland.Now lets see who miami gets.

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Seems like there should be a rule that a player traded away from a team can resign immediately with the team that just traded him.

That type of scenario could be awfully dangerous when used in devious ways (i.e. – before the trade, it’s already worked out that the player is being bought out & has already agreed to free agent terms with the previous team).

Oh well, with that numb nuts commissioner Stern in control, forget any common sense being applied.

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Big Z will make no difference in how the Hawks fair against Cle or Orl. Wait….didn’t Big Z play last year when Orlando dusted the Cavs in the ECF? Dwight Howard is the same center that dusted Big Z, Verijo, & Joe Smith, and were taking about having 2/3rds of that combo in the Atl with out LBJ.

Oh yeah that really gives us a chance to beat Cle. & Orl!

The Hawks need one thing to be able to beat those 2 teams….play with some passion.

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The chances of us getting Z is very slim as I think he will return to Cleveland. But I hope he is mad about them trading him and comes to the Atl. I would love it.

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Big Z coming to ATL? Sund is playing us like a horn

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Nope – don’t worry about big man, run 3 guards JJ, Bibby, Crawford with Smith and Al Hortford. This will cause matchup problems for everyone in the east now. Also teams can’t focus on JJ with Crawford in lineup.

Keep team the same, Once they pull there big man Al and Josh will eat them up. M. Williams less time and give JT-0 some playing time.

Freak them out, play fast. Hit J Smith on breaks

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Grandad

You already know the answer to the question of Big Z’s chances of joining the Hawks.

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Find Ian Thomsen (si.com columnist) interview link below (sorry for earlier problem).

http://www.790thezone.com/instantreplay/Episodes.aspx?PID=1348

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Seems like this could be the Spirit’s chance to show they WANT to win!

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Astro,

The Hawks said they would make an exception for Big Z to be added. Not that they are willing/looking to add another player.

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P.S. – Eligible players must be signed before Mar. 1st evidently.

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0% chance Ilgauskas ends up in ATL. Actually -0%. He is re-signing in CLE. He is a good friend of Cavs GM Danny Ferry. Ferry would not trade him with out knowing that Z would be coming back. Plus he has no reason to leave. This has been very carefully orchestrated for months. There is no “mix” of teams. These teams might be delusional, like you, but I assure you its not happening.

Grandad do the math. Playoffs don’t start until the end of April. We are in February. 30 days from now is only Mid-March. There will be at least a dozen or so games left when Z returns.

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* would be much ‘actiVity’

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Hawks shooting blanks…

While everyone else improves their team, the Hawks leave their Viagra at home. They aren’t going to do anything, they cant do anything, they’re impotent! Moreover, ATL isnt the type of team where a guy is going to fall to them after a buyout. They still want to get paid, so to think Z or Gooden is going to come to ATL for minimum wage is a wet dream.

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YES RICK SUND BRING HIN HERE PERFECT FIT.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!

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Yea we can forget about Big Z. He will be going back to the Cavs as soon as he can. I like the idea of adding Etan or Battie but do they give us anything more than Joe Smith at this point?

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STARTER BIBBY, JOE, JOSH, HORFORD, BIG Z.
BENCH JAMAL, MOE, MARVIN, JOE SMITH, ZAZA.
RESERVE TEAGUE, WEST.
STREET CLOTHES MORRIS, COLLINS.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!

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WOW ZAZA AND BIG Z FROM RUSSIA, RICK SUND TELL ZAZA 2 CALL BIG Z AND LET HIM NO HE WILL STARTE.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!

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ant banks,

Good question..I guess go after Wade..Wade would love to have Josh, Al & Crawford on his team..he would want to do what Joe couldnt do..take us to the finals!!

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Marvin is certainly having a down year compared to what he did last year (when he was actually quite good) but he has not been NEARLY as bad as many of you make him out to be. The biggest reason for his signigicant dip in production is that he is getting fewer opportunities due to the OUTSTANDING performance of Jamal. This is CLEAR when you look at his PER and particularly, his usage rate. Currently, his usage rate is the lowest it has been in his entire CAREER, including his rookie season.

Still, in this DOWN year, he sits at 20th in the NBA among SFs in PER and his PER is higher than these players, many of whom so many of you want to trade him for:

Hedo Turkoglu
Ron Artest
Shane Battier
Travor Ariza
Ryan Gomes
Richard Jefferson
Josh Howard
Al Thornton
Tayshaun Prince
Matt Barnes
Mike Dunleavy
John Salmons
Yi Jianlian
Andres Nocioni
Boris Diaw

He’s only slightly behind Caron Butler. (Marvin’s PER is 13.22 and Butler’s is 13.48.)

Marvin’s PER was 16.4 last year which would put him at #11 in the NBA among SFs right now. If he can get back to that level of production, which I have no doubt that he can, I think that would be great for our team and that is more production than we would get from most of the proposals that have popped up on this board.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics?position=sf

In addition, note that JJ and Jamal are 5th and 6th respectively in PER among all SGs; Smoove is 5th among all PFs (and some of you want to move him to SF – yeah right!); and Al is 12th among Centers. That is OUTSTANDING. In addition, all 4 are having the best years of their CAREERS with regard to PER at the same time. That is incredible!

As for Bibby, he is currently 44th among PGs which is WAY off where he was last year. If he was producing at the same level as last year, he would be 20th among PGs. Like Marvin, some of his decline in production has been due to Jamal’s GREAT play as his uasge rate is also the lowest it has been in his entire career. I think it is pretty obvious that Bibby is slowing down but the arrival of Crawford and his play more than make up for Bibby. Bibby can just focus on providing a steady hand and veteran leadership.

Finally, another thing that gives me hope about Marvin is that Josh had a bad season by his standards last year after signing the new deal. Then this season, he is having his best season BY FAR. His PER is almost 5 points higher this year than it was last year (22.00 this year vs 17.28 last year). That is an astronomical jump and clearly illustrates just how much he has improved. No reason whatsoever Marvin can’t get back to where he was last year and I think he can be even better than that.

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I am guessing that based on the non-activity, Sund is content with Joe Smith contributing for our playoff run. I remember the courtship was long and drawn out and he hasn’t provided much to us during the season so far.
Well, we have JSmith, Morris and Collins. Can we just play the hack-a-Shaq rules and the hack-a-Howard rules for the playoffs this year? Sounds like that will be our best shot at ’stealing’ a road playoff game.
And I know, the cart before the horse, because we have to get to the playoffs first and worry about the matchups once we get there, but it looks obvious it will take 2 career playoff series to make progress with this current roster.

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Big z!!!!!!!!
GO HAWKS!!!!

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I hate it when y’all get yourselves worked up in a frenzy over a specific player and then when the football is pulled out from you…

Oh well. Enjoy the fantasy.

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Big Z would fit in perfectly here. I’m worried about how Woody would use him if Sund pulled the trigger to get him here. Z is a big that can stretch opposing defenses with his perimeter game but, Woody has proven to say one thing (”We finally have a bench that I trust to play more”, “I need to give our guys on the bench more minutes”) and do another (Work our starters to death, Continue to stunt the growth of Jeff Teague and failure to develop the bench players by not trusting them with minutes, and playing “Woody Ball” using the “Iso Joe” offense in the fourth quarter.

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Astro,

Did you actually reference the Hawks in the same sentence with the Yankees and Red Sox? Comeon, you are talking about to the BASG here… You know, the fiancially challenge ownership group.

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How much money can the Hawks offer him that is an important question. If the Hawks are under the cap and the other teams pursuing him are well over the cap an extra million might entice him to head down here. Dallas can only offer $1.3 million what can the Hawks offer?

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Games against the Magic, starting 5

1. Bibby
2. Johnson
3. Smoove <- Yes, I put Smoove there :p
4. Horford
5. Big Z

I would throw all the double and triple teams at Howard with these guys on the floor.

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I already said this on the previous blog but I will repeat:

Ziggy MORE THAN HINTED that he will be retiring at the end of the season.

At this stage of his career he couldn’t care less about minutes or dollars.

It is pretty obvious that he will resign with the Cavs where he his at home and barring a Lebron’s injury he stands a better chance to win a ring.

As for all the nonsense with absurd hypotetical trades and signings if JJ walks, please read the regulations, check the bare facts and use something called “brain” before posting more nonsense.

Also, PER, +- and Efficiency stats are ONLY stats and not gospel.

It’s impossible to have all players in the roster improving their stars at the same time. The only stat that matters is the win-loss total and for the moment we are sitting pretty, coming from where we came. Let’s keep cool and hope for further growth until the end of the season.

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CCYF:

MR. Cunningham explained it nicely.
As far as doing arithmatic, I caan do that too.
I was asking a question.
As Mr. ‘C’ brought to our attn., perhaps your reading skills are worse than my math skills.
Under the premis with which my querie was posed, Mr. Ilgauskas would not have been eligible for the play-offs if he were not signed by 3/1/10, which could not be accomplished if he had to wait 30 days to sign. However, that is evidently not the case as Mr. Cunningham so
eloquently answered to our collective curiosity.
I will readily admit that arithmatic is not my long suit.
Please refrain from asking me to do the math in the future and I will not ask you to comprehend an admitted complex paragraph such as the aforementioned rambling concerning Zydrunas’ potential play-off entitlement and or admissibility.
Thanks and have a nice day !

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I have no idea why the post showed up twice, buut thee 2 a’s in caan are juust pooor tyyping skiils..

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MC,

The Hawks can offer up to $3M more than the Cavs to nab Ilgauskas. Any chance the Spirit would be willing to commit up to $4.5M to get him?

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Here’s my preferred NBA analyst’s view on the trades:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/breaking-down-every-nba-trade-021810

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Astro Joe

Finally got to the link – thanks. Liked the Woody interview also.

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We all know Ilkgausas would fit Woodson’s love for jumpshooters, but can you imagine he and Bibby teaming up to defend the pick and roll? Orlando took advantage of his inability to defend it and defeated Cleveland in the playoffs, while everyone takes advantage of Bibby’s inability to defend anything. However, BIBBY LOVERS do like to pretend otherwise and go silent about Bibby whenever DEF is mentioned. However, unlike Bibby he can contribute in other ways, because he’ll block a few shots, rebound and score consistently.

We really do need a Big that Woody will play. JCollins is too one dimensional, he can’t seem to figure out how and when to use JSmith, and he apparently doesn’t like RMorris and is giving him the WOODY TREATMENT. Otherwise, how do you explain Woodson’s preference for dressing a 6′5″ OFF challenged player over a 6′11″ OFF gifted player?

The Hawks are the equivilent of a modern sports car that’s been designed and built for high speed travel and handling, but it’s being powered by a 4 cylinder engine.

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Fixed,Fixed, Fixed game over. Don;t believe me just ask King James.

The fans of the other 28 teams be dam, Lakers excluded.
Dam, dam,dammmmmmm!

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Next summer is when we worry about JJ, his contract and what it means to our options. I would like to judge Marvin next year at this time. I don’t know if you have noticed but his FG% is up to .442. In his last 20 games he has come back. If he can carry the same type of play going forward he could make a big difference in the playoffs. I do not worry about his point averages. I think we could agree that Al should get more shots. I like the fact Marvin is like Chills in the fact they shoot when open or drive and get fouls. They play within themselves. Marvin is not hurting this team. Would it be nice for him to be more aggressive? Sure. But only when the guards and the big’s are having an off night. He needs to pick his spots.

To give Woody credit, he did cut Marvin’s minutes when he was in a shooting slump. His minutes are going up now that he is shooting better. Same with Bibby, he is in a semi slump but when he gets it back his minutes will go up.

Al has played so well that ZaZa minutes are down. ZaZa just has a little rust and a recent injury. He will be fine.

At the end of the day I see no changes to the team till summer. We still have upside with no changes.

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I’m watching the Nuggets @ CLE.

Game more or less tied in the first quarter:

Shaq catches the rock in the low post, rotates baseline pushing Nene with left elbow and lays it in. 2 points, no charge.

Following possession: Nene catches a ‘Melo airball, jumps for the lay up, is projected more than a foot to the side by Shaq, misses the lay up, no call. Shaq gets the rebound.

Another day at the office…

Shortly after:

Charge by JJ Hickson converted into +1…

By the way, the TNT’ color commentary team was “complaining” about the log jam at the PF position:

JJ Hickson, Varejão and Jamison. AT NO STAGE they made reference to Varejão being Shaq’s replacement, a clear indication that in their eyes, Ziggy is still a Cavalier who is only on leave…

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Ken Strickland

Jamal should play more PG and drop Bibby to 20 minutes till he gets his shot back. Run Bibby for 5 minutes and if we are getting killed defensively try Teague for 5 and if that fails, bring in Jamal. Even Evans can play the point. Not many teams pressure the ball any more and it’s mainly just a hand off to JJ and Jamal.

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I can’t imagine a scenario where Big Z would come to the Hawks, or any other team for that matter, over staying with the team that he’s been with for the last 12 years. Of course acquiring him would only help, and I’m all for it if it’s a realistic possibility, but right now I don’t think it is.

Drew Gooden, on the other hand, is a realistic acquisition which the Hawks should make if/when he gets bought out.

By the way, the Grizzlies traded only a second-round pick for Ronnie Brewer, a 6′7″ former lottery pick G-F who defends well and is efficient offensively. Brewer makes $2.7 million this year and is due a qualifying offer next year, which a team can refuse to exercise if they wish. If the Hawks had traded for him, he would have essentially replaced Mo Evans in the rotation, and would have provided a much needed extra swingman defender off the bench. The fact that the Hawks didn’t make such a deal either tells me that Rick Sund is not creative or that $2.7 million is too much for the ASG to add to the payroll, and neither idea makes me feel very good.

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Look at the ESPN PER. Among the non-suspended 20+ minutes per game players in the East, Hawks have 4 of the top 13 players. (Don’t count Artest/Nazr/Speight)

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics?league=east&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fnba%2fhollinger%2fstatistics%3fleague%3deast

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PER is an insanely overrated stat, just like everything else John Hollinger comes up with in his evil lair. Using purely statistics to analyze a team sport is idiotic. I can’t even count how many times Hollinger has written a column with the basic premise of “my stats say one thing, but common sense and observation say something totally different, but here’s why my stats are right anyway”. He makes for interesting reading, the same way a car crash makes for interesting viewing, but using him to back up your arguments is not a great idea.

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ASTRO JOE-Was your response an attempt to imply Bibby isn’t a liability when it comes to defending pick and rolls? I’m sure you know it takes 2 players minimum to successfully defend a good pick and roll. If one doesn’t get the job done the effort generally fails. So, whether Mo Williams did his job doesn’t matter if Ilgouskas didn’t do his. At any rate, we all saw the end result in last yrs playoffs.

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Carmelo needs to step it up!

Allowing Z to be traded, then sign back with the team that traded him is a loophole in the system that Stern needs to fix. That is called ‘tampering!’

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http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-most-miserable-cities-2010

Interesting read about Cleveland. Maybe we see why LeBron might want to leave and Cleveland is desperate to keep him.

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MC and the blog:
Are the Hawx tough enough to contend with teams such as Orlando and Cleveland in the playoffs? The path to the NBA Finals will likely run through both towns. Does ATL have what it takes to conquer these foes? Judging by the regular season matchups, I’d (relucantly) say no. Do the Hawx need a Kevin Willis-esque enforcer? (2 years ago, Zaza bowed up to KG, but has he lost that fire and intensity?)

Go Hawx!! Beat ‘em or beat em up!

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Hawks may need to keep an eye on the Bobcats. They may buyout one of their big men Nazr, Chandler, Thomas, Diop, and Alexis.

The Spurs have traded Theo Ratliff to Charlotte, source tells Y! Sports.

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I agree with Kevin. Big Z’s ability to stretch the floor would keep Howard out of the paint, which would open up the lane for guys like JJ and Jamal. It seems we’ve resorted to jumpshots when playing Orlando because Howard alters everything we try to do inside. Big Z’s ability to hit the 3 could be the answer we’re looking for against Orlando.

As much sense as it makes, at this point, I highly doubt Big Z ends up anywhere but Cleveland.

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If Nuggets moved the ball better, they could find open shooters like Smith, Chauncey, Carmelo and what not for the open shot.

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Najeh,

I find it hard to believe that Sund could not find a way to trade a draft pick for a player that could help us this season. We dont know if JJ will resign, so it would have been good to show him that we are constantly trying to improve the team.

I will play devil’s advocate on here, because I dont see how Big Z would be a big help to us (unless ZaZa or Horford gets injured). He’s not very tough, and he’s light.

And where would he get minutes? And does anyone have confidence that Woody would utilize him correctly (ie, draw Howard out). Plus that didnt work against the Magic last playoff series.

I guess what I’m wondering is maybe Sund is saying he is interested in Big Z because he knows he wont come here, but at least Sund will look good in the eyes of the fans and players.

Traceman,

I’m surprised Rod from CP hasn’t picked up on this. You said Marvin was quite good last year. Thats not true. His defense was good, but he averaged 14 points and 6 rebs per game in 35 minutes. Sure, he had a couple good games when Joe was out, but overall, he still had his disappearing moments.

I agree that last year he was playing better than he is this year, but I dont think he was “quite good” last year. That being said, this is only year 1 of his contract, and he’s only 23. So he has time to turn it around, and the Hawks need for him to turn it around.

If not, he will lose his spot as a “core player”.

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Ken Strickland:

Is it just me. I seem to have noticed quite a bit of improvement in Jamal’s defense as this year has unfolded.
Also I’ve noticed when we trap, even with all the switching, that as a whole, our defense looks much better. Perhaps we should credit this in large part to everyone seeming to understand where they are supposed to be, when switches are to occur, etc. In other words experience and repitition.

On another note – Teaguer seems to be playing without spirit and enthusiasm. When he arrived, he was brimming with confidence and
eagerness. Now he doesn’t even push the ball, he defers to other guards and scoots down the floor, spots up and watches the game.

As for those who think that ZI will slow down our running game…Wdsn slows us down more than ZI ever could. Also do you not think that J.Collins does the same thing but brings less to the table? Besides, ZI can keep up with Bibby, when is the last time you saw Bibby push the break?

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Did Boston really get N8 Robinson?

Go Hawx…blah, blah, blah… (ya’ll know the tag line by now).

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Melvin:

I’m not trying to get anything started, but Rudy Gay is basically a clone of Marvin. Size, length, Marvin shoots the ‘3′ a little better,
RG finishes stronger resuting in higher fg%, MW better ft, reb./asst./
bl./ a wash. RG more min. RG more points. RG would score less on this team.
On another note…I’ve said before…Stern’s an attorney. As far as I know; NO b-ball background. HGe sees NBA as entertainment not competition. Results = Pro wrestling. ‘LeBron’s a clown !

O’Brien:

Trades – We could have made a trade.
Makes more sense to wait until summer.
Players like Marv[BYC]. I believe June 30 is magic date.
Players like ZI don’t cost us an assey.
One player I wish we could have acquired; Mason from SA.

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I’m just pissed that Sund seems to have a reactionary strategy while the other teams (both play-off-bound and lottery) are initiating the action and being creative. Go back during preseason, management paraded all those players into camp to only find Hunter who got cut 2 months later. When Hunter was cut for Mario I knew management was clueless as to their game-plan and playoff acquisition strategy. Now management wants us to believe they are salivating for Big Z if he is available. Then what the hell was acquiring Collins was all about when he has rarely played? If he was that much of a bust, then why didn’t he get cut also? Perhaps Woody is to blame for that but it begs the question. What is Sund involvement and influence in these matters? Is he just a fly on the wall? I think Sund was pressured by the media to pretend to be involved in trading activity to give the appearance that he is doing his job. We call this CYA. I heard comments such as “Big Z is the exception to the rules”; ON REALLY!! One minute it’s not possible for the Hawks to do anything (as a rule) as previously been stated, then out of the blue, it is now possible. If Big Z agent is actually flirting with the Hawks, it’s only for negotiation leverage to re-sign with Cleveland. So in that case, it’s a win-win for Sund and Big Z’s agent. Sund will pacify the Hawks Fans with a brave effort (but come up short) and Big Z will get a better offer from Cleveland. THAT IS REALLY THE BIGGER PICTURE.

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The officiating in this Cavs-Nuggets game is simply atrocious and bias to say the least.

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DBL=Sybil – I saw you on the other blog. Al @ the ‘3′. That was funny.
Horford off the bench, c’mon. Did you ever see the “Gong Show” on TV.
You’re like one of the contestants…too bad you can’t get the hook on this blog. ‘Course I might get it too.

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Grandad,

Its obivious that you need to watch a few Grizzly game. If you think Marvin and Rudy are similiar players…. I guess that why Rudy is gonna get a near max deal and Marvin end up with 40 mil deal?

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I don’t understand why all 5 starters can’t average at least 18 points and everyone on the bench at least 10. Sure, that would equal 140 points per game, but if we had an offensive coordinator, I don’t see why that wouldn’t be possible. (He said sarcastically before retiring for the night).

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Najeh/O’Brien/etc,

The reason the Grizzlies were able to trade for Brewer was because the Grizzlies are actually under the cap. The Hawks are ~$10M over cap. We simply cannot trade for a player without matching salaries, and since the whole purpose of the Jazz’s trade was to shed payroll, we were not a feasible trade partner. Because we are over the cap, we simply are not allowed to trade just a draft pick for a player.

Get off it people. The Hawks are well over the cap, have no expiring contracts except JJ and the minimum salary guys, our biggest theoretically expendable contract is a BYC player (Marvin), and no other trade chips that other teams would be interested in (hint: Bibby) or we could afford to part with (hint: Smoove, Horford).

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niremetal

Several trades have been offered that went through the trade machine. It is nice that you have an opinion but that does not mean your judgement is better than another. This round of trade talks are done. The next is the discussion of players that are bought out and if we should pick up some help.

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yo KevinA,
naw,keep crawfish away from the PG position..;please!!
yes he does make some nice passes but he also forces more that turn into turnovers as well..he never feeds teague the ball or let teague set up,but he is the first to go teague after the ball is brought up and screams for the ball..
teague needs to man up and run the dang offense,and let crawfish stick to his SG duties..
just get open jamaal and then let jteague pass u the ball for a jumper or a drive to da hoop mane!!

and i don’t know what yall have been seeing with bibbs..talking about a slump,lol…
the man is injured..he has not recovered from his injury at all..he hops,limps,skips,and ish..he is still hurt and he and woody,and it looks like i too,are the only ones who know it…

and,Sund did not make a trade for 2 reasons..yes he wants the core of the team to stay together..
but,he also has made a statement and letting woody know that this is his team..this is who he is gonna ride all da way to da finals if he is good enuff to get us there..its all on woody to develope his bench and his rook!! and he is doing niether..SUCKA!!

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I thought of the perfect fit for us, just in time of the playoffs.

Let’s just go back in a time machine and offer Marvin for Dominique.

It’s as feasible as 99% of the deals mentioned over here!

Don’t people realize that it takes 2 basic things to pull a trade:

1. obbey to the NBA rules on salaries;
2. have a willing team on the other aide to accept what we offer.

We had no attractive expiring contracts to start with nor expendable talent.

Unless you consider any of JSmoove, Al, JJ, Crawford and Teague expendable, there weren’t any tradeable players.

Zaza and Bibby just signed deals, Marvin is BYC, Mo has a player option @2,5 million and the rest are not interesting enough and their contracts are for the minimum salary.

Teams are sheding payroll and the best we could get would a second round pick for any of our end of bench players and that would only happen IF the involved team was reeeeally desperate to take out just 1mill approx from their cap.

Finally, as nire mentioned, we don’t have cap space to accept any contracts.

Is it that difficult to keep this in mind, specially after MC explaining all this already???

One final note: Mike James will be available. I know that he is old, shot happy and over the hill but maybe he could be of some use as a safety net in case we lose anyone from our back court to injury. It seems that CLE are also interested.

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Don’t you people get it? Niremetal is my top employee and he knows what he is tawking about. Shut up your stupid trade and budget ideas and just blog like he says you should.

Suckers.

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Hey everybody, think about it. Most likely he will not sign with Cleveland – and this is why I say that. After the buy out, Cleveland can’t sign him until 30 days, but any other team can sign him right away. If he is bought out within the next few days, he would not be elgible for the playoffs if he signs with Cleveland because of the 30 day wait. I’m pretty sure he wants to be in the playoffs this year. So I think he signs with one of the playoff contenders, like for instance Atlanta or Dallas…plus he knows that he would play more with other teams…hey what do you think?

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I 100% guarantee without a shadow of doubt or possible reservation that Z will be back in Cleveland. There is no chance he could possibly end up anywhere else especially the Hawks(period). He loves bron-bron too much.

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nire,

One trade idea I had was for CDR (2nd round pick from 2 years ago) and Josh Boone from the Nets. Nets have a bunch of SF, and they have Brook Lopez, Tonie Battie at C, and Humphries and Yi listed at PF.

CDR could be our defensive SF off the bench (he is not much of a shooter, but Mo has been missing his corner 3 anyway), and Boone could provide spot minutes at PF and Center.

I dont know if these players would be the answer, but I thought they could be worth a look, and they would give us options, and they’re still young, so maybe Woody could work his magic lol. Mo Evans and a 2nd round pick for Josh Boone and CDR. Would the Nets go for it, I dont know.

I just find it hard to believe that Sund could not have gotten creative enough to find a trading partner so that we could give Woody more options off the bench.

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OB,

The same reasons why you covet Boone and CDR can be used by the Nets to keep them.

They are young and appear to be at least “serviceable”. Why would they take a G/F combo who is creeping in to his declining years?

Also, as fas as I understand from nire’s analysis, we have cap issues which prevent us from taking more salary than we are giving away, so, unless you believe that Boone and CDR’s combined wages are only 2,5 million, it seems a no go…

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Micheal Cunningham,

At this point, the only chance I see for the Hawks to have a chance to get to the Eastern Conference Finals or to possibly get to the Finals, is to go after Big Z. This is an opportunity that the Hawks can not pass on. I say offer him a 2 year deal and sell him on the fact that this makes the Hawks serious contenders!

With Big Z on the perimeter knocking down J’s, Shaq, DH, and KG would be pulled away from the basket enough to allow Al and Josh to work inside vs. PF instead of centers. I don’t know if Big Z will bite or not, but we have to go after him hard!!! This could be the Hawks chance to steal a legit center for 2 years!!!

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Grandad,

We will revisit the Rudy Gay debate in the summer once he sign his new contract.

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It’s a wrap. The King has spoken. I will expect Big Z to be back in Cleveland. The puppet commerical must continue to be played…

LeBron: “I’m OK with the trade, I’m not OK with losing Z. I’m OK with the guy that is coming in.” – Brian Windhorst Cavs beat writer

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Najeh, Also with the Jazz being over the cap even though Brewer just made 2.7 million it cost the Jazz 5.4 million. Once you are over the luxry cap the tax is dollar for dollar. Their intentions was to dump salary. Even though the trade worked in the trade machine it wouldn’t have been a realistic trade for the Jazz as it wouldn’t have saved them any money.

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The Truth, if there are 30 houses in the neighborhood and you have one of the 8 nicest, should you be ashamed? Especially if you are paying about 25% less for your top 8 has vs. the other 7. You may not win the “House of the Year” award, but there are at least 24 other homeowners who wish they had your house (and several of those 24 homeowners pay more for their double-wide than you do for your McMansion). I think it all depends on your perspective.

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I’m with most in that Z will go back to Cleveland. Daniel makes a good point in that we have an opportunity to drive their price up. Our contract situation is pretty tight, but we do have an opportunity to keep all our core pieces for several years. Adding 1-2 more key defensive players off waivers would be nice. We’ll see what happens. Glad to see the ASG willing to pursue a 14th player.

Funny how many cull Hawks were delt to new homes. Where are folks ranting about how great AC & Royal were? Seems they can’t find a niche and thus weren’t necessarily “killed” by Woodson. Seems the talent just wasn’t there to begin with.

The name Theo Ratliff still makes me sick. Hopefully he’ll do as much for the Bobcats as he did here to help mess up things.

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Get ‘em Melvin!!

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AJ

The answer to your delightful question is NO, I’m not ashamed. In fact, I’m probably still bragging (to the homies) about the deal I stole. But if I’ve never lived in such luxury before (coming from the hood), I might have over looked the other nuisances of home ownership such as paying property taxes. I hope this is not the plight of the Hawk Ownership but action really does speak much louder than words.

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The Truth,

The Hawks management is doing exactly what the Pistons, Heat, Cavs, and Magic did before their respective Finals runs – maintaining a budget within ~$5M of the cap, but not going over. People keep forgetting that – with the exception of the Knicks, Lakers, and Celtics (ie the three teams that have massive revenues even when their teams suck), no team has gone into the luxury tax until AFTER they made a run to at least the conference finals. For all of Cuban’s flamboyance, the Mavs didn’t pay the tax in ‘02-03 (though the tax system was different back then). The Pistons didn’t in ‘03-’04. The Heat didn’t in ‘05-’06. The Cavs didn’t in ‘06-’07. The Magic didn’t in ‘08-09. The Blazers didn’t pay the luxury tax between 2004 (the end of the ‘Sheed era) and last year, and only paid it last year because of the Darius Miles fiasco (remember how their President threatened to sue any team that signed Darius Miles, since Miles playing would mean that his contract would be re-activated, putting the Blazers into the tax?). This year, the Blazers aren’t paying the tax – on the contrary, the Hawks’ payroll is ~$8M more than the Blazers’.

Does that “shed some light” on why your analogy is a load of crap? None of our neighbors paid the higher taxes either until they got an unexpected promotion to Senior Vice President and a corresponding raise.

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The owners of the Hawks and other NBA teams are all very, very rich men. But you don’t stay rich for long if you spend money you don’t have. Like the Mavs, Pistons, Heat, Cavs, Magic, and all other non-Lakers/Knicks/Celts teams since the luxury tax era began (yes, even the Blazers, the team with the richest owner in the NBA), the Hawks will have to make an unexpectedly deep playoff run before they can afford to go into luxury tax territory.

If the Hawks are “cheap,” then 27 of 30 NBA owners are cheap.

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Daniel

I said before, you shut the Cavs up by beating them.

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niremetal

If my analogy smells like crap to you, then your Google recalls smell even worst. Your volume of information said very little and is really pointless. This statement: “None of our neighbors paid the higher taxes either until they got an unexpected promotion to Senior Vice President and a corresponding raise.” is a good example. In this section of the neighborhood I am referring to, THESE PEOPLE DON’T WORK, THEY ARE ALL MILLIONAIRES!!

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Guys,

Say what you want, but the Hawks have a much better chance against the Cavs with Big Z against Shaq while Horford/Josh work against Varejao/Jamison. Remember that Shaq has to stretch his defense to guard Big Z. That opens up the lane. Can we beat them with Big Z? I don’t know. But I sure think we have a better shot with him than without!!!

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I say we go after T-Mac when the Knicks cut him. That would help our bench out so much him and Jamal leading the second unit would be awesome! I dont know if were able 2 add two players but if we could get him and Z we would be in a real good position but this is wishful thinking probaly will not happen.

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The Truth, I think we will find out this summer. I, too, have my doubts. nire has consistently provided evidence of how the ASG’s funding has been fairly consistent with like teams. And he has also suggested that at some point, many of the owners “stepped out on faith” and wrote that next big check. My guess is we will learn if the ASG will do that this summer. More than likely, we will find out in these upcoming playoffs how far this particular core can go. Hopefully, they will bring back Joe AND figure out a way to upgrade their bench. And if they choose to upgrade the coach, obviously that should happen this summer too. I’ll beat on the ASG if they don’t pursue a bought out vet in the next few weeks, but I truly have no issues about sitting out the trade deadline. This summer, we’ll find out if they are ready to finally finish the basement and upgrade the kitchen cabinets.

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GeeMack,

I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Z. You have to knock down shots when you get them. I just think that Al & Josh playing PF will get the benefit of drawing their 5 man out.

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MC –

Hawks haven’t used MLE yet.

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AJ

Agreed the summer will be an interesting show and tell. But also the current drama movie the Hawks are staring in entitled “A Race For The Title” is not too shabby either.

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Ilgauskas found it hard to watch Cleveland play the Nuggets on television from home on Thursday evening.

“This is my team,” he said. “I’m going to be mad, but not so mad that I wouldn’t come back. I understand it’s a business. This is my home. No matter what happens in the future, that will never change.”

Read more: http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/64880/20100219/ilgauskas_hopes_wizards_let_him_go_home/#ixzz0g0BtDgei

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I meant “their way”

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AJ,

I am looking forward to the summer as well. First and foremost, because we need to get JJ resigned. But with about 6 teams having major cap space, I am looking forward to see who (if anybody) changes teams.

Ken, vava,

And thats one concern about the Hawks on defense. We have only 1 philosohy, with very little adjustment. Switch everything everytime every game, and double Dwight Howard. To be fair though, once in a blue moon Woody change it up and goes zone.

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To the point about the defensive coaching philosophy, I actually think the switching defense overall plays to our strength as a team, our bigs are undersized but more athletic. I would change a couple of stratedgies against Clevland and Orlando. Against the Magic, I would NOT double Howard, make him work, but let him get his, and on the offensive end get him involved in as many pick and rolls as possible. With Clevland, I would double Lebron ONLY off of their guards and keep in on Shaq or Hickson.

Finally, to stir up a little controversy here. Gee, Ken you guys are talking about good coaching. Do you guys really think Mike Brown and Stan Van Gundy are better coaches than Woodson? I am not saying Woody is better than those guys, but I don’t think he is worse. Ken, try to not say that Woodson is the worst of those three, I dare you.

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Daniel

Against the Magic, I would NOT double Howard, make him work, but let him get his

I agree with the no double. We went that direction with Collins last game and then quit. We should have fouled out Collins and then let Rando do his thing.

At some point I would like to see Josh front Howard and have Al ready to help. Josh could make it hard for Howard to get the ball.

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I also dont like the fronting, because if the ball gets lobbed over, we will be trying to recover, and the Magic do a good job of ball movement (against us), which keeps us scrambling.

Still, just about every blogger (and ‘Nique) think that we should play Howard straight up, but Woody insists on doubling him (sometimes the double comes quick, and sometimes it comes late).

So what does Woody see that we dont see?

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Daniel

It’s probably 7 or 8 coaches in the league that are clearly better coaches than Woody, and those 2 are not in the discussion.

If you give Woody the teams those guys have, you’ll get the same results.

IMO coaching is not the biggest problem with the Hawks…it’s personnel.

Some of the suggestion Ken Strickland made makes alot of sense ( Half court pressure, PG double teams, occassional zones, along with the switching defense) this will keep the offenses guessing.

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Grandad,

Make sure when you watch the games you put on your glasses. If you really think that Marvin and Rudy Gay are the same, then you do need to get your eyes checked. Think about it this way, if you put Marvin on the Grizzlies, and put Rudy on the Hawks, the Hawks would be much better, and the Grizzlies would be much worse. If Rudy Gay was guarded by much smaller guys(6′4 and 6′5) like Marvin is, he would take advantage of it. If Rudy was left wide open like Marvin is he would be able to shoot a higher percentage than Marvin does. All your points about stats are irrelevant because Rudy draws the other teams best defender, or a double team, and teams don’t even worry about Marvin. Watching the game last nite Doug Collins explained that in the playoffs, if you have a guy on the floor who is not an offensive threat, teams won’t guard him. That is Marvin. I look at Rudy as a younger version of Joe Johnson with a little more explosion. Joe is a better shooter. Rudy is an eagle and Marvin is a duck. After watching at home with Marvin Williams before the Clippers game, I realize that Marvin’s dad and his cousin are probably on here defending him all the time. After reading thru these post I realize that TRACEMAN is his father, KEVIN A is his cousin and you might be his GRANDAD. TRACEMAN with all this nonsense about his PER average is very funny. If you have any knowledge of the game, and you watch what you see and not what you believe, you realize that he is just not a good player. He is serviceable at best. Almost any other 3 in the league could come to Atlanta, and give us what Marvin does. He gets less shots because he can not hit the ones he gets. He is the only player on the Hawks besides maybe Bibby, who gets WIDE OPEN looks. He can’t dribble, he can’t finish, he gets his shots blocked by players much smaller than him, he is a a jump shooter who can’t hit wide open jump shots. He can’t defend 3’s and you think he is a 4. So you think he could check the Garnett’s, Boozer’s, Bosh’s, and Dirk’s of the world. Come on GRANDAD, wake up or stop taking that medicine that makes you hallucinate.

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Grandad,

I too believe that Marvin is more of a PF than SF but this team already have the PF’s spot well covered. However, other than height, thats the only similiar attribute that Rudy and Marvin share. Rudy is a better ball handler, creater, finisher and passer than Marvin and his defense is very underrated. Keep in mind, that most of Rudy shots are contested where as Marvin is generally open for those baseline and corner 3 shots. Also, I respect your views. You made a good reference to their stats but let me add that stats doesn’t tell the whole story. Thats why I said his contract this summer, will be an indicatin on how their(Griz) and other GMs consider what he brings to the court. I’m not calling Rudy a superstar but he’s a borderline all-star out west only b/c he’s competing against Melo and Durant at the SF spots.

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MARVIN SUCKS

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Melvin:

Under the circumstances [Wdsn], unfortunately, Marv has more value to us as a trade chip (next summer) than as a player.

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Grandad,

You may be right… This summer will be interesting in Hawksland. JJ pending FA. Will this be the summer we finally resolve Chills situation. Are we going to make any moves to bring in new personnel. And are we going to resign Woody? Yep, Hawks have some critical decisions to make.

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Rudy Gay is clearly a better scorer than Marvin. He has a #1/2 scorer’s mentality and has been groomed to think that his contribution to his team’s success will mostly come by scoring. If memory serves me correctly, he grabbed less than 3 boards in the most recent game against the Hawks. He, like many other young SFs, is still learning how to consistently rebound the ball. I can’t speak to his defense, he blocks shots but that’s not an indicator of defensive skill. He will clearly make more money than Marvin because scoring is highly valued in this league.

Marvin came into the league on a team that featured veteran offensive players like Harrington and Joe. He also deferred to guys like Chill and Josh. He never left the arena thinking “I have to score for this team to be successful”. I’ve said ad nauseum that he must improve converting the few shot attempts he gets each night. Lately, he has been doing better on the boards and his defense is picking up again.

But just like Ronnie Brewer and Kevin Martin are asked to do different things for their teams, so are Marvin and Rudy.

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Rod- I totally disagree with your assessment that the Hawks are not athletic, particularly the front court. We agree on Josh, Al is very athletic, balance, power and speed. Have you seen the way he brings the ball up the court? ZaZa is athletic for a 7 footer, and I know it won’t matter what I say about Marvin but he is athletic.

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R.f.C.P.

Just to get this straight:
I an no relation to Marv.
Although, I would be proud if he were my grandson!
Also, I have sat on the court at more basketball games (well over 1000)than you will ever watch on TV.
So, Marv on the Griz, makes them worse, so then, they would not make the play-offs and have a losing record?
Lets see:
Currently Mem. = 1 game Above .500, 11th in West, -1 pt dif., hmmmmm.
Now Mem. has improved over last yr. = [Zach Randolph] I agree.
As stated above…we don’t need another slasher/finisher in the lineup
here as we already have Josh. I much prefer Josh. Where would you put Rudy in our lineup (already undersized). Once again I prefer Josh.
Rudy can’t shoot! You say Rudy draws the other teams best defender,
or gets doubled; what about Zach and Mayo – chopped liver?
I agree he is smoother than Marv and finishes stronger. conceded.
Another point, you mentioned my statement about Marv as a high post [4]
and noted that he couldn’t guard KG, etc. Where a player lines up on offense has not one thing to do with who he guards on ‘D’. Your point is moot. Not to mention all the switching we do anyway.
Now! You are so blinded by your prejudice against Marv that you will not open your mind and see any quality this young man has that may or may not be outstanding.
Sir, my experience, (in basketball) qualifies me to make certain analysis’. Please accept this as truth.
I’m not attacking you, but I am qualified to make assessments on
players skill and their relative value.
Marvin is a good kid!

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O’Brien:

What would Rudy’s nimbers be here; with the 3 J’s and Al?
For the money…his nimbers would not be enough to justify the expenditure.
Marv is a proven:
*Great teammate = chemistry
*Above avg. defender (perhaps even Good on ball defender)
*Better shooter *** No Question (Marv having off yr.,everybody has one)
*Good contract (already in place)

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Daniel

I was with you until you wrote “ZaZa is athletic for a 7 footer”. Zaza is about as athelitic as Master P was graceful on Dancing with the Stars.

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Grandad,

While you are a little older than me, I would still challenge you as to how many sporting events basketball related that you have been to. I have had season tickets to the Hawks for 6 years now, have had season tickets to another pro sports team when I lived there, plus had season tickets to the Hawks (All pretty good seats also) growing up in Atlanta. Along with playing against some of the many guys we sit up and argue about all day, plus knowing a lot of the players personally because of my job (entertainent), I do feel like I am just as qualified to speak as you. I have had conversations with guys in the league and trust me Marvin is only highly regarded as a basketball player in Atlanta on this blog. Notice no other team made any offer to him in the offseason. On your points, Marvin being a great teamate means nothing. Rasheed Wallace was a great teamate to his team. So was Dennis Rodman. Marvin by no means is an above average defender. I don’t think that Marvin is a better shooter. Marvin can’t shoot with a hand in his face, Rudy can. If you actually think that if Rudy Gay was on the Hawks, he would average 10ppg, then you are crazy. He would probably be our 2nd or 3rd best player. If you show your teammates that you can play, they will pass it to you when you are open. Him being a good kid or giving to the salvation army, or being the double dutch champion in Seattle means nothing. I would rather have a malcontent like Stephen Jackson, who the other team has to prepare for than a nice guy like Marvin on my team. So if he could not guard the 4’s I named and you say that would not matter, would ne be able to score on them? He can’t score on guys 5 inches shorter than him. Your constant support of this guy and absurb statements concerning him really lead me to believe that you are related to him.

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Rod, I have said ad naseum that his performance is down this year. His shooting percentage should improve as well as his rebounding. But no one should expect his scoring average to improve unless they are willing to say exactly which player will be shooting less and passing more. What frustrates me is the belief that on a team with 6 players averaging 24+ minutes, that someone will NOT be the 5th (or 6th) scoring option. I’m fairly certain that there is a 5th/6th scoring option on each and every team. Again, yes, his shooting percentage needs to improve to last season’s form… but unless the thought is that he needs to take shots away from Jamal, Joe, Al or Josh… I have no idea how anyone could expect him to suddenly put up points comparable to a 1-3 scoring option-type player.

And I’m guessing that the rebound rate per minute is pretty even between Marvin and Gay.

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Astro Joe,

Here we go round in circles again. answer this question for me. Why would Joe, Josh, Bibby, Jamal or Horford pass more to a guy who has proved he can’t deliver? Why would Woodson design plays for a guy who proved he can’t score? That’s the point. He had every opportunity to prove he could become higher in the pecking order and he failed. He was above Al in the pecking order last year. Jamal was not here. He should be moving up in the pecking order not down. I know you will say it does not matter, but out of all of our best players, not Joe Smith, he is the highest drafted player. Why is he going backwards?

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From ajc.com,

“Atlanta Spirit co-owner Steve Belkin has until next Thursday to pay $2 million or else he risks losing his stake in the partnership, Montgomery County Circuit Court documents say.”

I can’t wait for the ownership situation to be resolved.

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I wish Michael Jordan’s ownership team would come bid on the Hawks.

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Rod from College Park

We will find out how good of a bargain Gay is when he gets his first big contract. But if you want to talk bargain lets talk Carl Landry. He is younger, a better rebounder, shoots a better FG% and cheaper. The kid is a stud. I would love to have him as a Hawk over Marvin or Gay. Next year at this time we can judge Marvin better considering his age and the back injury he went through. His contract this year precludes a trade as you well know. Besides if you go far enough back into the posts you would find I liked Chills as a better fit although I wanted to keep both. We got Jamal instead. Which worked out better than I had ever imagined.

There is much debate as to how we can improve the team. You choose Marvin as your huckleberry and others choose getting a more traditional big. My personal huckleberry is a better PG. I like many, thought Bibby would have a better year. West was a waste. Multiple 10 day contracts with D League PG’s should have resulted in a better result. The fact is, Sund chose not to make any more moves and I do not see any more coming till summer.

I was not defending Marvin as much as I was pointing our he has shot much better the last 20 games. As Astro said, volume is not as important when Marvin is the 5th option. If we have an injury this may change and we will see if Marvin will step up. Until then he just needs to defend. As hot and as good as JJ and Jamal have shot, I still want more touches for Al and Josh. The better the balance the better chance we have to win if someone is cold or god forbid injury.

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Rod from College Park

Why would Joe, Josh, Bibby, Jamal or Horford pass more to a guy who has proved he can’t deliver?

For one thing he has a better career FG% than JJ or Jamal. Since his back injury he has struggled but the last 20 games his shooting % is back to normal. I am not sure how you can put Bibby in a group who cannot pass to Marvin because he cannot finish when clearly he finishes better than Bibby. The other guys? Sure I give you that. They are having career years and are playing at a higher level. I would have no problem running Marvin more plays at the expense of option 6 on down. In fact I would encourage it in the remainder of the season. We need Marvin cooking for the playoffs.

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Kevin A,

Don’t hold you breath waiting on Marvin to cook. His playoff averages are much worse.

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To be honest I want to see Dallas beat Orlando much more than our roster. Our roster is set.
Blazers over Boston? – a stretch but could happen.

Last game against the guards had problems but Josh and Al went off. I think we will need our guards tonight.

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Ok guys, lets talk about the Suns while we wait for the game blog.

The Hawks did a decent job on Nash last time (points wise), although he had a bunch of assists. What do we expect tonight?

Will Teague get some PT when Phoenix play their backup PG?

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Marvin could do what Gay does if he is giving the shots.he can drive and he can shoot..he is the total package but he is only the 4 option..at best..Do u people watch the game…Marvin only takes 8 or 9 shots a game…he plays his role and is never out of control….we are a guard oriented team…Marvin is not the problem….josh and Al need more shots anyway

rod,
I never hear u talk bad about Joe…But u can clearly see when he gets the ball the offense usually stop moving…Big games he doesnt show up…some team will regret paying him max money….we also have a very small frontcourt with Al at 6ft8 and josh smith maybe 6ft7 and im streching it..we have big men but your coach refuses to use his talent…..

oh yeah Has Marvin had a doggy style session with your girl ?

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Let’s put it this way, If Nash was our PG JJ and Jamal would be pissed. he controls the offense. Al, Marvin and Josh would be happy. He has the skill to feed the ball to who ever he wants. At the same time all of our career highs by all of the players would probally go up in efficiency. If we were the Lakers money we could trade Bibby and lick our lips.

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MC

Is it possible to have a game thread one hr before game time?

I like the way you post information while leaving the chat alone. You will get it yet.

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O’Brien,

I’ll play! I would like to see the Hawks give Teague some more minutes. I think he has a bright future, but he needs to build his confidence. The only way to do that is to put him on the floor. There is no doubt that he is very athletic!

Do you think the Hawks will go hard after Big Z?

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For Marvin lovers/haters, he is on feature on FSS right now.

Yup, KevinA. That is a stretch, one can only hope

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niremetal

I agree with you

The difference Nash would make is there would be no 8-22. If JJ was cold he would look for other options. Our team is good but we need that leadership.

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Wow, same blog?

Chat during half-time. Hawks win by 5 tonight!

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R.f.C.P.

I didn’t say I just attended games.
Basketball has been my profession for over 30 years.
I am most qualified to evaluate basketball skill level.
[retired prematurely,health]
You mentioned Rodman, how ironic, my all-time favorite player for
the exact reasons mentioned:
*Great defender
*Great rebounder (true size/ 6-6)
*Great teammate
*Great passer
*7 pts. per.
*Crazy as heck
*He would start on any team I ever coached
*Winner
*5 Rings
Rebounding – (Marv 5.1/29 min.)(Rudy 5.9/39 min.)
I never said Rudy was a bad player…just that for us, Marv is a
better value.
Ill-logical – said it best; “if we go after Rudy it would be to replace Joe.”
Melvin – I didn’t say we couldn’t use a slasher…just that anyone we acquire as a perimeter player needs to be able to shoot. Rudy can’t shoot. That’s where I disagree with Ill-logical, I don’t think Rudy will ever be Joe. He never lived up to his enormous potential in college and I don’t see him as a franchise player now. Joe is just a
shade under the top echelon players.
Back to Rod – have an open mind.
I try to only take a point of view if it can be justified and sustainable. At the same time one must keep an open mind at all times,
otherwise a person can never adapt.
Second to last point, I respect your background, whatever it may be.
Now – lastly – my forefathers were quite a mixture: Scotch,Irish,German,
Cherokee. I doubt I’m kin to Marv. But according to KS I could be kin to
him. I would be most proud to claim either one.

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KevinA,

That’s what a leader does.

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What is funny is Bibby and Marvin are the most self reglated players on the team. The rest really need a good PG. One of the reasons I liked Chills. Another self regulated player.

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found the game blog. right on time

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Rod From College Park- Lol well I do read the ajc and these blogs on the daily and I cant help but notice all you do is talk about marvin like he is the problem with our team..What do you have against him anyway? What do you expect out of a 5th option? Like why is he the only thing you talk about on here?

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[...] Michael Cunningham reported that the Hawks are expected to be among the suitors for former Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Ilgauskas was traded to Washington in the Antawn Jamison trade and is expected to be bought out by the Wizards. While it is widely assmued that Ilgauskas will return to Cleveland once the 30 day waiting period has expired. However, it also appears that teams like Dallas, Denver, and perhaps Atlanta are going to bid for his services. I want to caution that in the Cunningham post he doesn’t actually say that management said that we would be interested, just that we are expected to be interested. That is two very different things. It makes a ton of sense for the Hawks. Ilgauskas is a legit 7 footer with a ton of experience and of course if we got him it would prevent him from going back to Cleveland. The Hawks have carried the league minimum 13 players all season. [...]

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