Atlanta Hawks: J.J. to Teague: ‘Don’t defer to me’
Hawks want Teague to push the pace.
The pickup games at Philips in advance of training camp are loosely organized affairs. The Hawks’ full squad hasn’t been on the floor yet. The stakes are low and the comp isn’t what Teague will see once the ball tips for real.
But J.J. was out there with Teague this week, and already he’s pushing Teague to stop being Rook’, taking a backseat to the vets, and start being the guy who’s ready to be the starting point guard.
“‘Play your game. Don’t just defer to me a lot.’ ” Teague said J.J. told him the other day on the court. “When he said that, that helped me a lot. I’m going to be a lot more aggressive.”
That message already had been delivered by L.D. and his assistants. But it’s one thing to hear it from the coaches, another to hear it from the All-Star guard who for a while now has been the guy everyone defers to on this team.
“That’s his next step,” J.J. said. “When he is out on the court, he has to be the leader. He is the guy who makes us run as a team. When he gets in the game, he has to be aggressive, he has to get guys in the right spot, he has to talk more.”
Teague said other teammates have told him the same things, so he plans to go into camp with an aggressive mindset. He’s also changed his body, staying in Atlanta this summer and hitting the weight room. He said he’s up to 186 after being listed at 180 last season.
“I think my legs are a lot stronger,” he said. “That’s what I’ve really been working on. For defensive purposes [because] I was coming out of my stance a lot.”
Teague also has been working on his jump shot with assistant Lester Conner in an effort to shore up a weakness in his game.
“That is really going to help me out there,” he said. “I’ve been making a lot of threes.”
It’s no secret Teague’s development is key for the Hawks. L.D. wants the Hawks to play offense at a faster pace–Teague is among players who have been running on the track at Georgia Tech, something the Hawks did last summer “but not like this,” he said. L.D. also wants the Hawks to play more straight-up D, and Teague probably is the Hawks guard best able to keep his man in front of him.
Both of L.D.’s goals would seem to be more attainable with Teague playing significantly more than the 10.1 minutes per game he logged in 2009-10. This is Teague’s chance to establish himself with the Hawks and show that he’s at least a bona fide rotation guy, if not a starter, on a good team
He said he understands what’s at stake.
“If you want to play in this league, when you get the opportunity you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Teague said. “I think what gives me an advantage is we have a lot of good players here who are going to help me along the way. We’ve got Bibby, who is a veteran point guard. He has been helping me since Day One. I know he is still going to play, but just to get an opportunity to play [more] is great.”
J.J. said Teague’s teammates have his back.
“I think he is going to be good,” J.J. said. “Last year was a learning experience. The point guard position is the toughest position to come into the league and try to play. He had his ups and downs last year, but this year I think he will be a lot better.”
MC
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208 comments Add your comment
Hmmm
September 17th, 2010
1:52 pm
FIRST!!!
Geoff
September 17th, 2010
1:56 pm
second
Hmmm
September 17th, 2010
1:58 pm
Yes Teague, Take over. Good Post MC.
I can’t wait to see him JC2 and Pape Sy in some preseason action.
Mr. Phil
September 17th, 2010
2:00 pm
{should have been} First
terrell
September 17th, 2010
2:16 pm
Beat out Bibby in camp, and make us all BELIEVERS.
Show me state
September 17th, 2010
2:16 pm
Great article MC and JJ was just telling the truth about Teague stepping up…this team goes as far as the point guard takes them and dats the same with the other 29 teams…
MC…there’s a rumor dat the Hawks may be the sleeper team about getting Dampier according to yahoo…i personally don’t see it happening but what’s ur take on it?
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-dampierfreeagency091710
theZaZaguy
September 17th, 2010
2:20 pm
I already have my chant ready for Pape Sy, which rhymes with Francky. Vas-y Pape Sy c’est bon, Vas-y Pape Sy c’est bon bon bon, It comes from a very popular french pop song “Fruit de la passion”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bONeCoik1Ts
O'Brien
September 17th, 2010
2:29 pm
And that’s exactly what we need. Players pushing each other, helping each other to get better. I am looking forward to training camp.
From the previous blog;
Marvin is 6′9″, 240 lbs, with a 7′3″ wing span. Plus he has shown a smooth jump shot at times.
He has talent and potential, but I don’t knowif he has the mental fortitude needed to be an all star caliber player, or even a lock down defender.
However, I am a hawks fan first and foremost, so I will root for Marvin, and hope with LD’s help, Maybe this is the year we see Marvin put it all together.
However, I am not holding my breath.
cp
September 17th, 2010
2:37 pm
I love what I’m reading. He has put in work in the weight room, working on that jumper, and running track. I think Teague will be very solid this year. We don’t need to score a lot of points. We need him to run the team, play solid defense, and keep the turnovers down. I think he will be fine. I’m more concerned with the scrub bigs we have. I hope guys like Al and Josh stay healthy. We cant afford to have either one of those guys go down because the guys behind them are very ehhhh..
O’Brien all great points about Marvin. He just does not have that fire or attitude to become a better player. Its like you said on the last blog, he is fine with taking a back seat to everyone. He needs to step it up this year. He has to hit those open jumpers, play better d, and rebound the ball better. I’m like you and wont hold my breath but we really need him to do those things.
Hmmm
September 17th, 2010
2:39 pm
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2010/09/14/hang-time-podcast-episode-24/
^Marvin speaks on Sekou’s NBA.com Blog. He talks about his struggles this past season, why he thinks they happend, and how he’s going to change that.
Ramon
September 17th, 2010
2:40 pm
If the Hawks sign Dampier, they will be trading Zaza.
Those are huge words for Teague coming from JJ.
MC, have Josh or Joe came in smaller than their size last season? I think both of them lost a lot of quickness by trying to bulk up.
The Real JC
September 17th, 2010
3:03 pm
“Don’t just defer to me a lot?” That’s still kind of a mixed message. What’s “a lot?” When should he defer and when shouldn’t he? If you want Teague to run the offense with confidence, say something absolute, like “don’t defer to me.” Period.
Coach D
September 17th, 2010
3:15 pm
Let’s just hope these are not just words from the players. If Teague steps up, it could a little more interesting year.
Michael Cunningham
September 17th, 2010
3:33 pm
@ Show me state: “MC…there’s a rumor dat the Hawks may be the sleeper team about getting Dampier according to yahoo…i personally don’t see it happening but what’s ur take on it?”
i’ve seen that a couple places. it doesn’t match what i’ve heard and doesn’t really make sense after adding Etan, but i guess you never know.
Michael Cunningham
September 17th, 2010
3:35 pm
@ Ramon: “MC, have Josh or Joe came in smaller than their size last season? I think both of them lost a lot of quickness by trying to bulk up.”
not sure, only saw them briefly the other day. they weren’t obviously smaller.
LyonsJimmy
September 17th, 2010
3:38 pm
16th…
northcyde
September 17th, 2010
3:41 pm
[ @ the Real JC . . . JJ told Teague the right thing. That was one of my complaints with Teague last year. He would come down the court, and just pass it off to Jamal, and run and hide. There were times last year in which had he kept the ball and looked to create on his own, that the 2nd team would've been better off on offense.
Teague didn't even completely run the show at Wake Forest, so expecting him to take complete control of the Hawks this year, is an unreasonable request.
What isn't unreasonable, is telling Teague to be more aggressive and having him pick his spots to score the basketball. And if he happens to grab a defensive rebound, use his speed to push the ball up the court and score that way if need be.
JJ is the go to guy and 3rd team All-NBA player. You definitely don't take the ball completely out of his hands. But you can lessen the burden on him, by having Teague handle some of the leadership responsibilities.
It's like I was telling Grandad a few weeks ago, JJ is the one guy on the team I'm not worried about, when it comes to wanting to do what Drew needs done. He'll convey to the players whatever the coach says.
If people remember, JJ did the exact same thing with Jamal Crawford, when Crawford was unsure about stepping on toes coming to his new team. After Jamal played tenative in the season opener vs Indiana, JJ basically told Jamal to play his game and do what he does best. And Jamal responded just like Teague did, saying that it was good that JJ told him that.
Let's hope that Teague responds similar to how Jamal responded to JJ's "vote of confidence". ]
J.J.Count Da Money
September 17th, 2010
4:23 pm
LOL!!! J.J. justs wants to lay back and count his money and put all the responsibility on Teague.
Teague is J.J.’s out this year
ryan
September 17th, 2010
4:29 pm
Dampier will be like Shaq wants to be a champion before he hangs them up so its the Heat to loose .
UGA
September 17th, 2010
4:34 pm
MC:
Which Crawford was in the gym the other day? Jordan or Jamal? Thanks
Macaroni Tony
September 17th, 2010
4:43 pm
@UGA i was thinking the same thing. @MC I would like to know the same way.
I Heart Atlanta
September 17th, 2010
4:49 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaF69v6DT_I
Season Preview
terrell
September 17th, 2010
4:56 pm
MC, is Etan healthy? Seen him? talked to him?
theZaZaguy
September 17th, 2010
4:56 pm
If we trade ZaZa then what would I call myself?
Swingman912
September 17th, 2010
4:57 pm
Teague’s quickness , and athleticism should spell trouble for opposing defenses. Those are his strong suits, so if his jumper gets to a point where you have to consistantly defend it, he’ll become dangerous………….CHUUUUUUCH
Najeh Davenpoop
September 17th, 2010
5:23 pm
This is real leadership from Joe Johnson. Boost the young guy’s confidence and put him in a position to take more of a leadership role on the court himself. Nice to see.
I Heart Atlanta
September 17th, 2010
5:31 pm
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/clubhouse_relatednews.aspx?sport=NBA&majteam=ATL
Say’s were leader fo Dampier, Wouldn’t be mad if we signed him, but as a starter……really??
Prison Mike
September 17th, 2010
5:49 pm
Uh yeah Damp will have 13 million wiped off just like that. His agent should be fired if he took just 1.2 million while the hawks should pay 3.5 to 5 million, something respectable.
Zsa Zsa has no trade value, someone please tell what GMs are offering him, even rumors.
Big Ray
September 17th, 2010
6:36 pm
A few things I see from this:
1) …and this might be the most important thing. JJ showing some otherwise not-so-often seen leadership. Him encouraging Crawford last year was a good thing. Him encouraging Teague is also a good thing.
This is what a team captain is supposed to do. He doesn’t have to be loud about it. Sometimes the words whispered in the ear are every bit as effective as the barking on the court. Having said that, Teague may have to learn to bark on the court himself, as the point guard.
Anyway, this is good to see from JJ.
2) JJ seems ready to relinquish some of his role as the lead guard on the court. For those who were concerned about him having the ball taken out of his hands some, under Larry Drew’s scheme, that should quiet your doubts. JJ knows Teague has some attack skills of his own, and that they can be used to his (and JJ’s) advantage. That, my friends, is what you call basketball IQ. JJ knows not getting in the way of what Teague can do will only help him (and the team), and he’s not going to be selfish by demanding the rock be in his hands all the time, as soon as he crosses the half court line.
Besides, you know he’s probably ready to go back to attacking, instead of sizing things up, facilitating/initiating the offense, then attacking. Where did you think all that ball-pounding came from?
3) Teague finally has said he’s going to be aggressive. Good, because nobody on this team can match him in speed. And guess what? Not many around the league can, either. No, he’s not the fastest guy in the league, but he’s one of the fastest we’ve seen on this squad in some time.
When he did show some aggression, he was a blur. The Pistons found that out the hard way a few times. The dude can get a defensive rebound and beat the entire team to the other end of the floor. Yes, he’s that fast. Remember the dunk against Lamar Odom and the Lakers? It happened because of his SPEED, pure and simple.
And don’t let him get a steal at the top of the key. Forget it. You can foul him if you can catch him.
Well, glad to hear that he was working with one of our coaches, and that he realizes what he needs to do to become better defensively. Between working on that and his jumper, he’s on the right path. I don’t expect a world-beater anytime soon. I do expect a guy who will give opposing teams absolute fits for at least 20 mpg, every game, and who won’t hang his head and sulk/mope/hide when he makes a mistake.
And I hope his veteran team captain and teammates don’t let him do that, either.
Get it done, kid. Get it done.
Big Ray
September 17th, 2010
6:37 pm
Najeh ,
My bad. You beat me to it on the leadership convo…
tjhook
September 17th, 2010
6:49 pm
Jeff Teague in the open court is a sight to see. Don’t know how Drew will use him over the duration of a game.
Big Ray
September 17th, 2010
6:52 pm
Dampier is going to Houston or Miami. Why would the Hawks pursue him? They made their play, signing the great Cheeseburger, then a guy who very well could have retired last year.
If we sign Dampier, the ASG (and Sund) gets a break from me for at least a month and a half. Heh…don’t get yer hopes up…
jason
September 17th, 2010
6:59 pm
I already know jt os goin to be clutch for us. his defensive presence,his good ball-handling skills, and speed, look out here comes a bright knew point guard
Najeh Davenpoop
September 17th, 2010
7:13 pm
“Say’s were leader fo Dampier, Wouldn’t be mad if we signed him, but as a starter……really??”
Rotoworld is a fantasy site. Don’t take their basketball analysis at face value. They probably just see Dampier as a more valuable fantasy commodity than Marvin and assume that he would push Marvin to the bench. I think if the Hawks are actually interested in Dampier, they are going to sign him to supplant Zaza as the first big man off the bench.
Blast
September 17th, 2010
7:15 pm
Good stuff coming out of Hawks camp. Any improvement in Teague’s shooting and aggressiveness would be a major plus.
Welcome to the fold, Pape Sy. Your gamble paid off.
Just want to take a moment to give the Atlanta Dream big time props for the 2010 season. Even though they lost 0-3 to the Storm, the WNBA’s best team, I love the way the Dream hung in there and battled to the end. Making the finals can only add much needed experience to the team. They will learn from it and get better. Of course the refs cheated at every turn, but what’s new? I’m proud of the team. The Atlanta Dream is still going to be the best team in the East next year, and Iziane Castro Marques was the Dream’s finals MVP.
Now let’s see what the Hawks can do.
drmaryb (*_*)
September 17th, 2010
7:39 pm
NorthCyde said this:
“JJ is the go to guy and 3rd team All-NBA player. You definitely don’t take the ball completely out of his hands. But you can lessen the burden on him, by having Teague handle some of the leadership responsibilities.”
You stole the words out of my mouth, in response to the
blogger who said should completely take the ball out of Joe’s
hands.
Never That ! Sir, Never That!
drmaryb (*_*)
September 17th, 2010
8:03 pm
Najeh
I posted the exact same comment yesterday about the
Center rotation with Dampieer:
Al Horford (PF/C)
Eric Dampier (or start)
Zsa Zsa (PF/C)
Etan Thomas (PF/C)
I for one, am NOT satisfied with the current center rotations at all.
Which begs an answer to the question:
Why did we sign Collins so early in the process?
Ken S. replied to me that Collins has a high ball IQ.
With all due respect Ken S., I don’t give a damn about Collin’s
IQ, if he shows up fat and slow to a winning, play-off bound
new ball club! I personally would want to prove myself to the
new guys and show some pride.
I got 3M reasons why the ASKG should nibble at the L. T. to
get Dampieer in here. He is at best comparable to Perkins
of Boston. He should get some rebounds, make some stick backs
and, bother some people. Move Marvin to the bench and Josh
T
To
to the SF against certain teams.
Just do it! Buy Out Collins contract with some of that 3M,
carry 14 and be done with it. I would offer 2 years 12M right
outa’ the gate.
I Heart Atlanta
September 17th, 2010
8:15 pm
I’m a taker
Michael Cunningham
September 17th, 2010
8:34 pm
@UGA: “Which Crawford was in the gym the other day? Jordan or Jamal? Thanks”
Jordan
Michael Cunningham
September 17th, 2010
8:35 pm
@terrell: “MC, is Etan healthy? Seen him? talked to him?”
haven’t seen or talked to him since the day he signed. he’s not in town yet. he said back then his health is fine.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 17th, 2010
8:51 pm
“Ken S. replied to me that Collins has a high ball IQ.
With all due respect Ken S., I don’t give a damn about Collin’s
IQ, if he shows up fat and slow to a winning, play-off bound
new ball club!”
LMAO… Exactly. Basketball IQ don’t mean sh-t when you have no skills and no athleticism. There are plenty of people on this blog who have high basketball IQs, but I don’t want any of us to play center for the Hawks.
I Heart Atlanta
September 17th, 2010
8:51 pm
Ok Lets meet at your moms house, ummm on April Fools
northcyde
September 17th, 2010
9:00 pm
LOL @ drmaryb . . . but . . but . . but Collins wasn’t “used right”, according to Gearon, Jr. Collins’ claim to fame last year, was defending Shaq pretty good on 2 possessions, and drawing a foul against Howard that wasn’t called.
oooooooo
I feel you on our rotation at center. If those are the guys we’re rolling with, ZAZA must show up on a nightly basis.
richbrave
September 17th, 2010
9:01 pm
BRAVES 6 METS 4 top of the seventh, sports fans.
KevinM
September 17th, 2010
9:24 pm
The best chance to improve the perimeter defense is with Teague. I also hope he has been putting up a 1000 jumpers a day as well. He is going to be left open until he proves he’s consistent.
Opponents won’t give him the lane first and foremost; he has to know the ins and outs of this new motion offense.
So Damp is being considered by Sund? Hmm, some people have said its not a factor.
I say he gives us length and he’s better than Zaza, so bring him in.
I still say Bibby is the starter and Teague is this year’s Ty Lawson game tempo changer.
KevinM
September 17th, 2010
9:28 pm
I’m also eager to hear more about Teague’s lil brother as well…..heading to Kentucky after this season in Indianapolis….would like to see how they compare?
cp
September 17th, 2010
10:00 pm
Good post drmaryb . I didn’t like the Collins signing last year and I hated it even more this year. He averages more fouls than rebounds. We had that before with Lo Wright ( r.i.p.) and I don’t want anything similar to that again. Collins doesn’t rebound, cant block shots, shoots a terrible percentage from the field. The only thing he does well is being a nice guy. I don’t care about all that I want a productive big off the bench and he is not it.
cp
September 17th, 2010
10:01 pm
KevinM they are not similar from what Ive seen. They have some good clips of him on youtube you should check out.
N.D.T.K.A
September 17th, 2010
11:42 pm
Now this is what we have been waiting on! Glad to hear J.J. encourage Teague to take over the team and be more aggressive at the point. Teague is going to be the key to the Hawks taking the next step. Quickness and athleticism for this kid is very good.
Dampier is a true center. Not likely he comes to ATL over the Heat. Hawks did wine and dine Damp a few years back before he signed his big deal with Dallas. Damp is not a world beater but would be good for rebounding, put backs,and especially defense. And of course, I will take him because he went to my alma mater Miss. State.
Thanks for the update MC. Any word on what Marvin, Josh, and Al have been doing in the summer to improve their game?
JeJe
September 17th, 2010
11:51 pm
Why do ppl think Horford has not had a physical big to bang against in practice? ZaZa is that big. He’s obviously physical and annoys players. He even injured J’Oneal in that series in 2009 LOL
Sara
September 17th, 2010
11:59 pm
Good hear J.J. saying something to push his teammates. Hopefully he’ll act more of leader this season.
truthspitter
September 18th, 2010
12:53 am
How stupid was it to take Jordan Crawford in the draft? We have 5 capable guards: Bibby, Teague, Mo, Joe, and Jamal. We still have no 7ft guys on the team. Someone tell me why we didn’t take Hassan Whiteside again? Furthermore, we only have 1 legit sized SF, Marvin, who happens to be one sorry son of a u know what. Someone tell me why we did not just keep Damion James again? This franchise and a lot of fans that refuse to acknowledge the fact that Sund is just as bad or worse than Knight are blinded. Someone explain to me why we can wait 6 years atleast for a #2 overall pick to grow but we can’t draft a guy in the 2nd rd such as Hassan Whiteside with lottery talent and give him 3 years to grow? I just can’t get over how stupid that was. Teague would have been a lottery pick if he had went back to college last year, there were no PG’s taking in the lottery other than Wall, Teague would have been a lottery pick. Whiteside slipped in this years draft, if he had went back to college he would be a lottery pick this year. That was so stupid, how many chances do you get to draft 2 lottery pick type talents when you are already a playoff team? The ASG and that “Dumb Sund of a GM” suck goatballs.
SteveW
September 18th, 2010
1:13 am
Truth – I think the Hawks wanted a few vets in the locker room, not another project big like Solomon (Hasan is taller and a better shot blocker). Somehow the Hawks determined Orton from KY was the big they liked in this draft late, and ORL snagged him at 29. Trust me, I wanted Whiteside also, but you asked for the Hawks rational, and that’s it. Vet experience and locker room presence, and not another Rook’, who may not contribute for 2 or 3 years.
I know Smoove was giving Woody fits as late as ‘08-’09 with his tantrums and immaturity. I think they felt that Joe Smith and Collins kept him in check a little maybe. This year Etan, Josh Powell and Collier may do the same. Smoove has a history of being volatile too say the least, and I’m sure they wanted a vet in Hasan’s spot. Also, even though Hasan is a shot blocker, his “body on body” D is no where near mature enough to handle the big boys of the NBA yet.
Big Ray
September 18th, 2010
2:48 am
Zzzzzzzz…..
truthspitter
September 18th, 2010
3:25 am
Steve: All of that is hogwash when you are waiting now for 6 years atleast for the #2 pick in the draft. 2nd rd picks are not guaranteed contracts they could have just cut him. Truthfully, they could have drafted Whiteside and Crawford. It makes no sense and that rational does not help
Hawks Fan In New Orleans
September 18th, 2010
3:53 am
Its great to see JJ utilize his leadership skills. Maybe the ’silent assassin’ can shed that persona this season.
JEWELL ROLLEN
September 18th, 2010
6:19 am
HOW COULD WORKING WITH LESTER (NO JUMPER) CONNER HELP TEAGE?
KevinM
September 18th, 2010
7:19 am
Steve, where did u get that insight? I was waiting for Sund to draft Orton with their 24th pick.
I am convinced that
Sund had no clue what
Joe was doing despite what others say and we screwed up with draft by acquiring a guy that was 1nd round projected.
So now to save face, Jamal will end up being the lamb
Damien James would have been a much better fit here so Marvin had to put forth effort more often.
As my bosses say, “Oh well. It is what it is!”
KevinM
September 18th, 2010
7:25 am
JC2 – 2nd round projected and a marginal 1st….so we have a guaranteed 5 yr contract with few min available while we try to peddle the 6MOY to save face.
The moves this team makes over and over just puzzle you.
How can anyone see these guys as basketball experts?
Sund’s ranking as a GM should convince you.
dap01
September 18th, 2010
7:46 am
SteveW: You give the ASG and Sund too much credit. Cheap and minimum were the driving thoughts this summer. There was nothing else.
Heck, why would we want a 7 footer to develop? Wouldn’t we rather have a bunch of PF’s?
drmaryb (*_*)
September 18th, 2010
8:41 am
More or Less!
JJ tells Teague! “Don’t Defer to Me.”
Only in America can you get paid more for doing less.
Having said that, sometimes More is Less and Less is More.
Let’s Go Teague!
JoJo the Godfather
September 18th, 2010
9:43 am
Would anyone here trade Marvin Williams & Mo Evans to Charlotte for Boris Diaw?…We take back a shorter contract (getting ready for the Dwight Howard sweepstakes in the summer of 2012)…Can Diaw start at SF?…Not a great shooter, but a talented passer and ball handler, and arguably a better defender than Marvin.
JeJe
September 18th, 2010
10:04 am
Lol @ JJ being a leader this year. He’s been here for 5 years and done nothing leadership-wise
Dear Truthspitter
September 18th, 2010
10:18 am
Mo and Bibby will be traded, JC2 is a Beast.
That is all.
Dear SteveW
September 18th, 2010
10:19 am
I think you meant Collins. Collier (R.I.P) Hasn’t been around since 2005.
Dear JoJo
September 18th, 2010
10:21 am
Marvin > Diaw
I don’t care what anyone says. I don’t want none of Diaw. I don’t care If woody was a factor or not. To me, he sucks. Good percentasge player but not an impact player. I’d to it for Mo and Bibby though.
Ken Strickland
September 18th, 2010
11:00 am
DRMARYB-you have me confused with someone else, because I’ve never made mention of JCollins’ basketball IQ. I have never even thought of him in terms of his basketball IQ.
NORTHCYDE-excellent points.
BIG RAY-excellent points as well.
Here’s the way I see the Hawks panning out, or improving:
1-returning the top 10 players from last yrs 53 win, 2nd rd playoff roster certainly won’t make us any worse than we were last yr.
2-Increasing the speed, quickness, athleticism, penetrating ability, and overall DEF, by starting or featuring PG JTeague.
3-Improving our DEF rebounding and interior DEF by abandoning the switching DEF, which placed our frontline players our of proper rebounding and DEF position.
4-Increasing our OFF rebounding and interior scoring by having a structured OFF that lets everyone know where he and his teammates should be at any given time, rather than just clearing out, watching and waiting.
5-Committing to an uptempo style of OFF that won’t be abandoned as the season wears on.
6-Getting consistent production, while continually developing young players like JTeague, JPowell and JoCrawford, rather than making excuses for consistently ignoring them.
7-Having a HC that’s not too insecure and/or egotistical to make changes and adjustments, or even recognize and admit the need to do so.
8-Before JJ resigned, LDrew stated his OFF system will be designed to reduce double teams on JJ, and place he and his teammates in better position to get easier shots, without depending on one on one skills.
9-LDrew has stated his intent to force other teams to matchup to what we do best, rather than trying to matchup to what they do best. Considering how he’s constructed his roster, it appears he seriously intends to do just that.
10-He will use the regular season to develop and expand his bench, especially his younger and less experienced players, and prepare the team for the playoffs. That will be a far cry from the previous habit of running 6 primary players into the ground during the regular season, only to see those same 6 players struggle during the playoffs due to exhaustion and frustration.
11-We know the team will start the season without any player having personal issues with the HC, at least not any that might create problems down the road, like last yr when the team became so frustrated and disgusted with Woodson they rebelled and simply quit.
12-The fact that AHorford, JSmith, MWilliams, JPowell and JTeague haven’t reach their potential, means this team can and will improve as a result of their individual improvement. We’ve certainly seen that happen over the last 3yrs.
13-In 08/09, the Hawks started the season with something to prove. They wanted to prove that the 7gms series against the eventual NBA Champion Celtics wasn’t a fluke, and that they were a legitimate playoff team, which they did. This yr, these same Hawks will have some of that same motivation. They want to prove:
1-they can compete eand defeat the Magic, Bulls, Celtics, Bucks and Heat.
2-that the players weren’t the problem last yr, but rather a system of the problem.
3-that Sund and the ASG were correct in keeping the core together and replacing MWoodson, especially with LDrew.
With most, if not all, of these factors manafesting themselves, how can this yrs Atlanta Hawks not be much improved over last yrs team, even without any major player additions? How many of you remember me being ridiculed the last 2 off seasons for saying the Hawks will improve based solely on the improvement of its individual players, or ORGANIC IMPROVEMENT? And here we are again, with fans that still are still DOUBTING THOMAS’, because they just can’t grasp the concept. I guess it’s just like the old addage, IF YOU CAN’T ATTACK OR COMPREHEND THE MESSAGE, YOU TRY AND ATTACK OR DISCREDIT THE MESSENGER.
Grandad
September 18th, 2010
11:24 am
Ken S -&- Mary Ellen:
That was me…I poasted that J-Cheese had a high B-ball IQ.
[I read that info somewhere, maybe DraftXpress}
Grandad
September 18th, 2010
11:25 am
*poasted ??? with an [a] ? rhymes with toasted!
Grandad
September 18th, 2010
11:36 am
From last eve:
To all who are having anxiety about not drafting H.Whiteside:
Two facts:
(1) Not a true 7 ftr.
-&-
(2) In the words of the late ‘Barney Fife’ – “He a nut” !
i_am_soulstar
September 18th, 2010
11:49 am
I’m wit it, JJ’s telling Teague to do his thing, getting him in the mindset that he needs to be in to run a successful NBA team
Najeh Davenpoop
September 18th, 2010
11:51 am
“The fact that AHorford, JSmith, MWilliams, JPowell and JTeague haven’t reach their potential”
LMAO… the idea of Josh Powell even having “potential” to reach is jokes. What is his potential, shooting 40% in a season?
drmaryb (*_*)
September 18th, 2010
11:54 am
My Bad!
I misquoted Ken Strickland.
It was Grand-Daddy who told me that Collins has a high
Basketball IQ, when he said:
“Mary Ellen:
September 14th, 2010
12:45 am
I’m searchin’ for another Big also.
Like I have anything to do with it?
But, Dampier just doesn’t fit.
You need to think about Bigs that can stretch the floor.
Also Bigs that are exceptional passers, as they will need
to be above avg in that area to fit LD’s offense.
Another quality that LD seems to value is basketball IQ.
Believe it or not Cheeseburger has a very high Bb-IQ.
[Same for J.Powell & Etan]”
Sorry Ken Strickland.
I’ll make it up to you!
-smiles-
Geemack
September 18th, 2010
11:56 am
No matter what the Hawks do they have set the course for the franchise for the next few seasons. They are at best the 4th best team in the Eastern Conference behind Miami, Boston, & Orlando.
There are no 4th teir centers in the league that can help that, Eric Dampier included.
LeBron James may be one of the smartest players in the history of basketball. He was smart enough to realize that to win a title in the NBA you need a big 3 combo. This is something the Hawks still have not figured out.
50 wins and a 2nd round exit will be a good season. Lets get ready Hawks fans.
wordsmithtom
September 18th, 2010
12:05 pm
Ken S, great post. Organic growth.
Hope all listened to Marvin’s interview with Sekou. He admitted his inconsistent play last year, and thought some of it was being on the perimeter too much and not driving to the basket drawing fouls. Coach wanted him outside shooting 3’s, when a layup+1 does the same thing and puts pressure on the defence.
On an old point, the frequently used ISO JJ….perhaps that had to do with the need for a point guard to do the playmaking late in games but Bibby was too spent to provide this and Woody didn’t trust Rook to do it. Give it to JJ and let him run down the clock looking for either his shot or a pass. In effect, this turned JJ into a defacto point guard, something we’ve already seen just isn’t his best position. If Teague can play enough minutes to change up the tempo, he will not only give other teams a different kind of look, but he’ll give Bibby rest. Bibby can still pop those 3’s, protects the ball well, and draws respect on offence. He’s just looked old and tired last year, especially in the second half of season.
lewis
September 18th, 2010
12:12 pm
Mike Bibby will never be good again.
Geemack
September 18th, 2010
12:17 pm
Enter your comments here
wordsmithtom
September 18th, 2010
12:22 pm
Bibby does not have to be the same player he was 3 years ago. He just has to give 20 minutes of ball protection, vet leadership and 3 ball he can still provide. The more time Teague can take from him the better…there will still be need for that backup role, even if Bibby still “starts”. Bibby can still hit the 3 ball like Steve Kerr used to. That’s still “good”.
Oh, and as far as being 4th in east, don’t tell that to the Hawks. They think they match up well with Boston and Miami. Orlando, they have to change the tempo and make them adjust to what Hawks do well. Run Orlando until their tongues hang out and let Superman get his. He will anyway, so don’t let their wings beat us.
wordsmithtom
September 18th, 2010
12:25 pm
Playing a deeper bench during the regular season will let starters have fresher legs to run come playoffs. Play the bench early, then play them hard down the stretch. Just like Boston did. Left their starters fresh for the playoffs. Paid off well.
Geemack
September 18th, 2010
12:35 pm
wordsmithtom & Strickland
Organic growth is good when it happens (JSmoove & Horford), but even when there is organic growth you still have to add player to put your team in position to win a title.
I think the aprroach the Hawks have taken put a lot of pressure on LD.
The Hawks will improve base on the philosphy’s of LD alone, if they follow them?
However the guys we were chasing Boston, Orlando, & LeBron’s team all got better in talent along with an already winning formula.
The Truth
September 18th, 2010
1:34 pm
Q & A
Q: Is the Hawks a better team then last year?
A: Well, with respect to what? For the core including Jamal, I say probably not because I still say a disgruntle Jamal will eventually show its ugly head. Replicating his 18 PPG will not be easy even with our roster additions. For the bench, I say HELL yes, but that’s not saying much. Why, because upgrading guys like RandMo, Mario, and Joe Smith should have been a very easy feat to accomplish. For the Coach, (on the surface) I say probably yes relatively speaking for a variety reasons but mainly, I like what I see from LD’s coaching philosophy compared to Woody’s. Here’s justification:
As I watched the Seattle Storm beat the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA finals, it brought back painful memories (again) of what I disliked about Woody’s heavy ISO offensive and all switching defense. Being a very neutral observer of the Dream since I hadn’t followed them during the regular season, I saw some striking similarities with their ISO offense and switching defense compared to the Hawks. Even some of their players played like the Hawk players; just replace JJ with Angel McCoughtry and Jamal with Iziane Castro and you got very similar teams. In general, the individual success or failure of the Dream usually rides on the shoulders of these players and that showed in the playoff as well. In contrast, the Storm executing their motion offense and (straight-up) lock-down defense reminded me of LD’s approach and what he’s trying to accomplish with the Hawks. It was a heavy dose of slashing, dashing for lay-ups, pick and roll, pick and pop. In the playoff match-up against the Dream, this team maintained a consistent balance attack regardless of any inconsistency from individual players. Their game play execution was like a machine. So in a fantasy match-up between a team coached by Woody against a team coached by LD could be illustrated in the playoff series between the Seattle Storm and the Atlanta Dream (as an analog).
Geemack
September 18th, 2010
1:35 pm
wordsmithtom
Miami is better suited to run the ball like the Hawks. However with 3 of the top 15 players in the NBA they will be better at it.
I agree the Hawks could close the gap between them and Orlando with some the adjustment LD plan to make, but outrunning the Magic don’t give the Hawks an advantage.
The only team they Hawks have an advantage on when they run is Boston, but that won’t in a 7 game series win the game slow down.
Ken Strickland
September 18th, 2010
1:36 pm
GEEMACK-You don’t necessarily have to add players to get better, it depends on the teams circumstances. Nor will adding a talented player(s) automatically make you better, at least on the court. Remember last yr when most of our GLASS HALF EMPTY fans were whining because they felt Boston solidified their superiority over us by signing RWallace and NRobinson? Remember the yr before that when some of these same fans felt Philly elevated themselves above us when they signed EBrand?
Fans often get all excited and up in the air about teams adding players, without factoring in what the team lost. While the Bulls added 2 new starters, no one has even mentioned the loss of OFF/DEF production of the 2 starters that will be replaced. I remember how the Nuggets were also convinced that adding players would give them a much better chance of becoming NBA champions. So, with that idea in mind, the Nuggets traded for C MCamby, who became the DEF player of the yr, and PG AIverson, who definitely provided some serious scoring, but no DEF.
I also rememberr the Suns thinking the same thing when they acquired Shaq, and in both cases, the teams got worse, not better. They got better immediately after getting rid of the key players they added. In fact, the Suns got much better by utilizing what was already on their bench, and so did the Nuggets. CHEMISTRY, ADAPTABILITY, AND THE ABILITY TO FUNCTION AS A TEAM(TEAM WORK)ARE FACTORS THAT ARE AS IMPORTANT IN THE OVERALL SUCCESS OF A TEAM, IF NOT MORE SO, AS INDIVIDUAL TALENT.
NAJEH-you just can’t help yourself can you my friend? You were so motivated by your negative approach to everything, you couldn’t help but issue a challenge. Although I mentioned improvement from the ORGANIC GROWTH of 4 players(AHorford, JSmith, JTeague and JPowell), you conveniently singled out JPowell, as if your NEGATIVE OPINION of him automatically applies to the other 3, and validates your position, while invalidating mine.
dirtyo11
September 18th, 2010
1:41 pm
This is a sports blog page, you guys sound like lil elementary school kids, saying I’m first, who cares who is first. Teague is a young PG give him time and he will be a real good PG in the league. The Hawks gotta make a big trade this year in order to be a force in the playoffs.
truthspitter
September 18th, 2010
3:28 pm
there are some stupid people on this site, from people post spam over and over to people stating ignorance claiming that there statements are facts. Hassan Whiteside is taller than any player on the Hawks current roster.
Ramon
September 18th, 2010
4:05 pm
@truthspitter, So was Shawn Bradley, height doesn’t mean talent. Whiteside on this team, may would be the 3rd or 4th weakest player on this team. Howard gets people by his power, not by his height.
MC, I guess you’re in the big league now. You have someone devoting their entire Saturday to sit around thinking and posting about you, lol. Do you get a raise for that? lol
vava74
September 18th, 2010
4:12 pm
Hassan Whiteside weights 227lbs.
For the moment he is just a Solomon Jones with more upside.
Also, height is not the most important factor. Hardly.
Ben Wallace is 6′9 and was a brutally effective defensive C.
Roy Hibbert is 7′2 and 278lbs and Horford eats him alive every time the play each other.
Playing effectively at the C slot far from being just a matter of height and size.
Johnson To Teague: Don't Defer to Me a Lot
September 18th, 2010
4:54 pm
[...] he said that, that helped me a lot. I’m going to be a lot more aggressive.” Atlanta Hawks: J.J. to Teague: ‘Don’t defer to me’ | Atlanta Hawks Rajon Rondo – Dwyane Wade – Damion James – Serge Ibaka – Dwight Howard LeBryan Nash – Kenneth [...]
drmaryb (*_*)
September 18th, 2010
6:37 pm
Bump That Fool!
On a Blackberry at high speed scroll, it takes 15 mins to scroll
past ALL of T.S. – Bull Sh!t!
MC,
Yall need to go down to the Court House and file a civil lawsuit
for harassment and a criminal lawsuit for stalking and interfering
with commercial business. There may be some other violations,
so throw the book at this damned fool and let’s see his punk
azz in person. Just, give me 5 mins to straighten’ this idiot out -
I know people who don’t use violence or cause bodily harm!
He probably 4′11″ packing a rice noodle with bi-focals!
Geez! What ever yall” doing? NewsFlash! It ain’t working!
Later, I’ll be on Blu-Ray’s Blog exclusively until further notice.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 18th, 2010
8:43 pm
Would it be that hard to just impose a length limit on posts? Other sites do this, like ESPN and Yahoo. They don’t allow posts over like 1500 characters. I think we could all deal with that.
JSS
September 18th, 2010
9:14 pm
Interesting, you can’t say it lacks consistency…
JSS
September 18th, 2010
9:30 pm
The Yahoo’s and ESPN’s of the world have truly scalable and dedicated servers. Limiting characters is cute when you have 10s of million users on daily basis. AJC does not have anything approaching that. The problem is one of moderation, least not one of what is being said. I don’t blame Cunningham, he’s a reporter, that what he needs to be doing…
Scott Rosenberg said it best: “Show me a newspaper website without a comments host or moderation plan and I’ll show you a nasty flamepit that no unenforceable “use your real name” policy can save. Telling Web users “Use your real name” isn’t bad in itself, but it won’t get you very far if your site has already degenerated into nasty mayhem. The Web has no identity system, and though the FBI can track you down if the provocation is dire enough, and if you get editors mad enough they can track you down, too, most media companies aren’t going to waste the time and money. So you’ll stand there demanding “real names,” and your trolls will ignore you or make up names, and your more thoughtful potential contributors will survey your site and think, “You want me to use my real name in this cesspool? No thanks.”
http://www.wordyard.com/2010/04/13/newspaper-comments-forget-anonymity-the-problem-is-management/
Your Daddy
September 18th, 2010
9:56 pm
The poor spammer on here really needs to get a life or at least find something meaningful to occupy his time. Poor guy, he must be bored out of his mind…
Good Read for TS
September 18th, 2010
10:14 pm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/295321/the_mind_of_a_troll.html
A law suit is coming against TS
September 18th, 2010
10:33 pm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/aug/22/google-lawsuit-internet-paul-harris
Roy
September 18th, 2010
10:46 pm
@A law suit is coming against TS
That is good to know. Some of these clowns, or “trolls” as people like to call them, do not realize the seriousness of harassment. Just because they are hiding behind fake identities doesn’t make the hate crimes any less severe.
JSS
September 18th, 2010
11:07 pm
Suing a portal is not suing a person, the courts have been pretty clear once a case like this gets to them…This isn’t the UK were these type of suits have legs. This is not like a Shirley Sherrod…
JSS
September 18th, 2010
11:08 pm
“where”
Ken Strickland
September 19th, 2010
10:14 am
TO CREATE AN OBSESSION WITH A SPORTS WRITER, WHO DOESN’T EVEN KNOW OR CARE WHAT HE THINKS, IS LIVING PROOF THAT THIS CLOWN IS TRUELY ONE SICK AND DERANGED PIECE OF MEAT!!! I’M CERTAIN THERE IS A MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTION OR 3 OUT THERE THAT WOULD GLADLY MAKE ROOM FOR A MENTAL CASE LIKE THIS. YOU KNOW, FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES. THIS FOOL WOULD CERTAINLY MAKE A GREAT STUDY FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN STUDYING THE DEVISTATING EFFECTS OF SEVERE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
Freshfromatl
September 19th, 2010
10:34 am
Damn…this dude is unreal with this sh*t SMDH!! Somebody please snipe him and take him out of his misery!!!!!!!
Melvin
September 19th, 2010
11:27 am
Hoopshype 2010-11 Hawks preview…
http://hoopshype.com/previews/2010_11/atlanta.htm
richbrave
September 19th, 2010
11:34 am
KEN S:
‘Sup man? How are the HAWKS shaping up this year? WIZ about the same IMHO.
BTW, I asked on D. LED’s blog but got no answer. How’s my main man EL SID doing. Any good. Almost never get to see the FALCONS for some reason.
richbrave
September 19th, 2010
11:40 am
DAMM, can the AJC limit comments to a certain length? What’s up with this juvy posting? What a dweeb.
kids are funny
September 19th, 2010
11:41 am
someone needs a girlfriend i see!!! what a loser.
I know someone who is lonely!
September 19th, 2010
11:49 am
Hey buddy, how ya doing? Cry at night a lot? Friends a none? Rub your little peter raw nightly? Get picked on in school? Ever get shoved in a locker? Get laughed at everyday? Really need attention? Yeah i would of never guessed it
northcyde
September 19th, 2010
1:51 pm
[ I think it's hilarious that a spammer can take complete control of the blog, but 4 of the last 6 times I've tried to post something, it didn't even go through.
smh
Trolls are like Puff Daddy . . . they "can't stop, won't stop"
I don't believe that T-S is the only person creativg havoc on the board though. The quick solution would be to designate multiple people to have limited moderator powers ( i.e.- the ability to delete posts that didn't comply with the terms of service ).
People better be careful though. The AJC could very easily just shut the entire thing down, and prevent NO ONE to post.
drmaryb (*_*)
September 19th, 2010
3:51 pm
NorthCyde
I’ve been posting under my actual name for 4 years now.
I never blogged before this, so I wasn’t savvy enough to use
a monicker.
But, I doubt very seriously if there are two people in the universe
who would post like this idiot. You, can tell from the context that
it could only be one person. IDK of anyone else who was announced
as banned, going back to Sekou’s Blog on here.
All the comments are the same re: Horford exclusively as usual.
If this guy didn’t post 5 pages at a time and attack the beat writer
so viciously? There would be no discord or banning.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion and freedom of speech.
But, this goes way beyond what is reasonable and acceptable
behavior. This is a violation of personal enjoyment, harassment, stalking and
amounts to disturbing the peace.
Saad!
Val
September 19th, 2010
5:44 pm
I just finished taking a look at the early pieces of the season preview on HoopsHype. Wow. Talk about getting no respect, it’s like the Hawks are continually ignored and underrated no matter how impressive they are. Sometimes, it really appears as those the writers of these “projections” are just jumping on the media bandwagon.
Teams which have proved virtually nothing as of this date are undeniably going to be projected above the Hawks (e.g. Heat, Bulls). The Celtics have done virtually nothing to improve aside from upgrading at the center position offensively by acquiring Jermaine O’neal, other than that they have only become older and lost defensive weapons on the perimeter and interior, not to mention lost their defensive mastermind on the sideline, yet they are projected to win more games than they did last year. Seriously, where is the real logic behind these predictions?
It’s almost a guarantee that these predictions will place miami at the top of the eastern conference, when they have yet to display their ability to play together at all. What really had me shocked and made these predictions a complete joke is the fact that the Knicks are projected to win only 1 less game than the Hawks. You’ve got to be kidding me. The knicks have been borderline terrible for years now, and they did little to improve this off-season, aside from acquiring Amare Stoudamire, at the expense of losing David Lee, their only truly reliable player. Not to mention, these guys are not even taking into consideration that Amare may have tough time adjusting to not having steve nash, who is responsible for a large amount of Amare’s offensive production. Raymon Felton is no where near the assist man that Nash is. Amare, although he will have more opportunities on his new team, may have inferior numbers, considering he will have to basically create most of his own offense and teams will always focus on him, first and foremost, rather than a plethora of offensive players, as in Phoenix. I’m just completely blown away by this prediction. It seems insane to me.
I get little information out of these predictions, other than getting an inside look at how lowly the Hawks are viewed by the media. It is very, very disappointing, to say the least.
Dave
September 19th, 2010
5:58 pm
I know it’s a blog but, aren’t people that write for a newspaper supposed to use a person’s full name the first time it’s mentioned, rather than just Teague, J.J., L.D.? You did mess up using the assistant coach’s full name.
Then too, isn’t there a story in the J.J. player guy telling another player what he’s supposed to do rather than the coach? And wouldn’t a comment from the L.D. coach guy about a player calling the shots be in order?
Just sayin’.
Ken Strickland
September 19th, 2010
7:01 pm
RICHBRAVE-Whats up my friend? The Hawks will be just fine, although a lot of our more negative minded fans, who seem to focus on the GLASS HALF EMPTY approach, think the Hawks have fallen behind Boston, Miami, Chicago and Milwaukee. As far as LSidbury is concerned, he’s doing an excellent job.
Trying to convince some of these negative minded thinkers that just because a team like the Bulls have added more talent(and lost some as well), it doesn’t automatically mean they’ve become better than the Hawks, who finished 12 gms ahead of them last yr. They focus on the Hawks bring back virtually the same team, and how the other teams have added players. And they seem to have it ingrained in their brains that the Hawks will be the only team that can possibly be affected by the so called improvement of these other teams.
The Hawks finished as the 3rd seed last yr, ahead of the Bulls, Celtics, Milwaukee and Miami. Common sense tells me that if they’ve actually improved enough to surpass the Hawks, wouldn’t each team pose a problem for each other, and every other team, as well as the Hawks?
Give Me The Rock » Blog Archive » Sunday Links
September 19th, 2010
8:52 pm
[...] the state of Mike Bibby’s corpse, it’s no surprise that Joe Johnson is giving Jeff Teague pep talks. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Teague end the season as the Hawks starting point guard. [...]
drmaryb (*_*)
September 20th, 2010
8:32 am
NorthCyde
Remember, this blog was actually shut down by the AJC
until MC returned from vacation to moderate it.
That was fuel for the troll, and actually led to the supposed
lifetime ban. Anyway, NorthCyde let’s all stop feeding the
animal. that is the ultimate compliment to a loser like that!
Let’s continue to talk Hawks all the time and stay on topic.
Gotta’ go pay some bills.
lewis
September 20th, 2010
8:45 am
hoopshype.com “hawks: regression likely”
Macaroni Tony
September 20th, 2010
8:45 am
Training camp is around the corner, I can’t wait until we can talk some basketball and stop this crazy stuff on this blog. This one guy have shut down our blog. I have been reading and posting on this blog I think in 03 or 04 and I haven’t seen the dumbness before.
Macaroni Tony
September 20th, 2010
8:51 am
@Lewis I read that article on yesterday, and I one thing that I would like to know so we’re going to drop nine games and who is going to beat us. I have seen other teams (they are good on paper) did pick up some players but they are going to have to stay healthy and have good chemistry. I think we’ll be good this year.
Michael Cunningham
September 20th, 2010
10:28 am
Sorry TS infiltrated the blog. Technical issues prevented me from getting the emails alerting me to his return.
Michael Cunningham
September 20th, 2010
10:31 am
@Dave: “I know it’s a blog but, aren’t people that write for a newspaper supposed to use a person’s full name the first time it’s mentioned, rather than just Teague, J.J., L.D.? You did mess up using the assistant coach’s full name.
Then too, isn’t there a story in the J.J. player guy telling another player what he’s supposed to do rather than the coach? And wouldn’t a comment from the L.D. coach guy about a player calling the shots be in order?”
for the newspaper, yes. the tone of the blog is more conversational. different audiences.
as i mentioned in the post, the coaches have told Teague the same things. but from Teague’s comments, it clearly meant more to him coming from Johnson. this isn’t a “player calling the shots” but rather Johnson reinforcing what coaches have told Teague.
Macaroni Tony
September 20th, 2010
10:47 am
I hope this T.S. can go some place else, on a blackberry it takes me like 10 minutes to scroll down.
KevinM
September 20th, 2010
11:01 am
Hoopshype preview on the Hawks:
http://hoopshype.com/previews/2010_11/atlanta.htm
More strengths than weaknesses, but like many others here, project Bibby as the starter.
5 guys on this team pointed out for weaknesses: JJ, Smoove, Marvin, Bibby, Zaza (no surprise there).
No complaints about JC1, so his trade value must be good.
Projection of 9 less wins is probably accurate.
Spare me the motion offense comments. We were 3rd last year in offensive efficiency, which is humorous as well.
Simply put, it has to be about the defense this year. No more switching isn’t the answer. More onball pressure is.
KevinM
September 20th, 2010
11:11 am
MC, explain how Denver can get under the cap by trading Melo. They are open to it now and are interested in getting back to the cap limit in salaries.
Is that kind of deal possible for a team that is at 83M? Can they get under the cap by moving the 17M Anthony is due?
BTW, JR Smith is at 6M as well. Perhaps Kenyon Martin’s 16M is on the way out as well….
JoJo the Godfather
September 20th, 2010
11:30 am
KevinM…It can be done, but will be very difficult…Some teams, like Cleveland, are sitting on large traded player exceptions…I believe they have one for $14.5M…Cleveland could try to deal direct or get involved as a 3rd team…I believe Phoenix & Toronto have sizeable exceptions as well…Did the Bulls take one back for Hinrich?…Hawks have the Childress exception…I also think Minnesota might still be under the cap…Not sure about other teams.
ASHCAN.
September 20th, 2010
12:08 pm
If teague developes a jump shot,he will be one of thr top PG.But until then he is not a true threat.
JeJe
September 20th, 2010
12:08 pm
SMOOVE, MARVIN, PICKS, CASH FOR MELO
SMOOVE, MARVIN, PICKS, CASH FOR MELO
SMOOVE, MARVIN, PICKS, CASH FOR MELO
SMOOVE, MARVIN, PICKS, CASH FOR MELO
Fundamentals
September 20th, 2010
1:25 pm
Val – you can’t sell crap in the media unless you go with the flow. They’ve always devalued our Hawks and we always prove them wrong. Last year they didn’t think we’d even get home court. Much less the 3rd seed. They had us down for 8th in a regressing year.
I’m glad to see the East bolster it’s strength. Should make everyone push harder to be better. We’ll be alright. Just gotta let the season play out. Once it’s over and we’ve got a seed we’ve gotta make it happen, regardless of whether it’s a 2nd seed or 8th seed.
We hold the keys to our destiny, not the media or lack of a signing!
Rufus1
September 20th, 2010
1:49 pm
“Regression like”…That is BS.
They did not provide ONE legit reason why we would regress.
I just think these writers want teams like the BUlls and Knicks to be better because, they are better stories or eithers fans of those teams.(most of the writers were Jordan or Bulls fans growing up, so I understand their bias)
I go on different blogs having to reminds the Bulls fans and writers, how HORRIBLE a defender Boozer is and that and how the Hawks owns his BUTT. I remind them that his is INJURY PRONE. I remind them, that a great bench can’t start with the name Kyle Korver. I remind them that Boozer, Korver, Thibs, and the Bulls team combined were 1-9 against the Hawks last year.
I have to remind Bucks fans that Bogut was healthy when they lost during the season. I remind them that we took Boston to 7 games in our 1st year in the playoffs…But we still lost.
I remind the Blazers fans we own them also.(2-0)
Celtic fans compliment the Hawks a lot…They have more faith in us than the Hawks fans. They tell Bulls fans that they won’t be better than the Hawks…Wow.
I just think some of the ATL sports fans have LOW SELF-ESTEEM about their sports teams and it come out in their writings.
Hawks will win 55 games
drmaryb (*_*)
September 20th, 2010
2:06 pm
Macaroni Tony
Amen Bruh! I takes me 15 mins to scroll down on mine.
No Fun doing that, when time is so precious!
On a good note, I was forced to complete other tasks.
-smile-
northcyde
September 20th, 2010
2:12 pm
( smh ) . . . Another post that I typed doesn’t show up.
Wow.
All I said, is that the 44 win prediction by hoopshype.com was B.S., and explained why. It wasn’t even a long post.
LOL . . looks like I need to stop typing stuff on this PDA. Can’t be wastng 5 – 10 minutes typing on my phone, just for ish to not show up. Back to being full time on Hawksquawk I guess
The Truth
September 20th, 2010
2:34 pm
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/david_aldridge/09/20/morning-tip/
Al Horford and Joakim Noah both entered the league at the same time, with Horford being taken six spots before Noah and generally accepted as the higher-pedigree player with greater upside than Noah. With Horford up for a possible $82 million extension, do you expect Noah to be given a similar extension to Horford? I don’t expect that, however I’d argue that perhaps he should be up for something quite similar.
Which young center has a bigger upside: Joakim Noah (left) or Al Horford?
Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty ImagesAt the face of the discussion it could be argued that Noah is just as valuable, if not more so for the Bulls (although with the addition of Boozer, who knows in future). Their production is very similar, although Noah appears to be the more productive player per minute, obviously reflecting his ‘energy-guy’ role. But Noah would appear to be increasing his level of play during the playoffs significantly. Both appear to bring intangibles to their teams, in terms of leadership ability …
If you were a GM, which of these players would you take if you had to pay them both $60 million over 6 years? I would take Horford likely for his trade potential down the track, but a part of me thinks Noah is a bigger game-changer if you wanted to win now.
An excellent question/comparison, Steve, and it makes me think there’s a weekly “Who Ya Got?” feature that I could incorporate into the Tip this coming season that would pick between two players of equal age/skill. In this case I think I’d take Noah, but not by much. Al is clearly a better offensive player now and always will be, but I think Noah is a better defender and probably will be the better rebounder over time. And it’s the teams with outstanding interior defense that win in the playoffs. That extra inch or two Noah has over Al makes a difference, too. Please, Hawks fans, do not send me e-mails about how I’m “dissing” Horford. I’m not. It’s a choice. Someone else will, and does, think Horford will be better than Noah.
KevinM
September 20th, 2010
3:07 pm
Horford or Noah?
Horford would be my choice and the Bulls would have selected him too if they had the option at the time.
Noah is a glue guy, and any offense is a bonus from him. Al is solid on both ends but not the defender that Noah is. He is better suited IMO away from the basket a bit more on offense.. He is a good face basket player and the Hawks would be better suited with a bigger man in the middle, which of course lots of teams need.
Horford will be paid more than Noah when the time comes as well. Sund is going to open the vault just like he did with JJ. If he doesn’t, watch Al test the market and Sund will have to pay up anyway.
There was a reason Florida was able to go back-2-back and turn back UCLA and Ohio State. They had a bigger back line than either team.
Same thing has to happen for the Hawks. They need more productive height, not just a 4 headed monster height. You have to get production out of the position.
Still needing help at the 1 and hopefully Damp will consider us but I know that Sund isn’t going to get into any kind of bidding war.
KevinM
September 20th, 2010
3:13 pm
JoJo the Godfather
September 20th, 2010
11:30 am
“KevinM…It can be done, but will be very difficult”
I agree JoJo, but you just answered my question leading into thinking would Sund even make a call to show Melo interest.
Quite possibly, Melo comes East and heads up another teams’ chances at a Top 4 playoff slot.
I still think the Hawks have the most assets to offer, but if they’re rebuilding, they will not want to deal with a playoff contending team.
Where’s Chris Wallace when you need him? We need to pull a fast one over the new Denver’s GM’s eyes like Kupchak did with potential former Hawk Gasol.
I’m still waiting to cash in on that Childress exception, something lots of teams have right now.
Hoops
September 20th, 2010
3:18 pm
I am anticipating a Melo to Knicks trade. The Nuggetts are going to look to cut some salary if that happens. The Hawks trade of the day:
Crawford for Billups. The trade will work on the ESPN Trade Machine.
GeeMack
September 20th, 2010
3:24 pm
Fundamentals
I think the play of the Hawks gives the media plenty of ammonition to devalue them.
When was the last time a number 3 seed in the playoffs set a record of getting blown out?
No competative spirit at all, just show up and allow the Magic to walk all over them.
If the Hawks showed any fight the last 2 years in the 2nd round they would be more attractive to the national media.
drmaryb (*_*)
September 20th, 2010
3:36 pm
We play like Dallas Mavericks in the play offs!
Can, someone explain why Dallas flops each year, with great PG, PF and serviceable center.
JoJo the Godfather
September 20th, 2010
4:15 pm
I think Dallas flops because they’re a jump-shooting team and shooters sometimes go cold, especially in the playoffs when defenders are playing with more effort and the refs are allowing a little more contact…My personal opinion is that you’ve got to be able to score inside, rebound, and get to the free throw line to win in the playoffs…Hawks have the same problem as we rely so heavily on Joe, Jamal, Josh & Al scoring around the basket…When Dwight Howard steps in the game, we immediately become a jump-shooting team because we’re afraid on getting shots blocked.
JoJo the Godfather
September 20th, 2010
4:34 pm
…of course its also team defense…both the Hawks & Dallas are known as being soft teams…athletic? yes…intimidating? no.
This is one of the reasons why I’ve been waivering on the need for Dampier after initially being all for it…He’s better than Collins & Thomas, but he’s more of the same…No real change to the dynamic of the team.
How did Grandad’s fav Ajinca look on the French team?
ant banks
September 20th, 2010
4:57 pm
KEN STRICK, DR. MARYB, JOJO, THE TRUFF, ET AL,
i am real curious how spoelstra thing is goin’ to work out in miami. you have given a relatively young (in coaching experience) the careers of 3 superstars and potential hof to coach. i don’t see lebron respectin’ or listenin’ to this guy when the stakes get high.
DO Y’ALL THINK THAT RILEY WILL COME OFF HIS PERCH AGAIN?
ant banks
September 20th, 2010
4:57 pm
KEN STRICK, DR. MARYB, JOJO, THE TRUFF, ET AL,
i am real curious how spoelstra thing is goin’ to work out in miami. you have given a relatively young (in coaching experience) the careers of 3 superstars and potential hof to coach. i don’t see lebron respectin’ or listenin’ to this guy when the stakes get high.
DO Y’ALL THINK THAT RILEY WILL COME OFF HIS PERCH AGAIN?
ant banks
September 20th, 2010
4:59 pm
even with all of the talent, i am not sold on miami. they will need a guy to manage these egos and i am not sure that spoelstra can do that.
Rufus1
September 20th, 2010
5:33 pm
Interior Defense not Scoring
Our perimeter defense is bad because we Doubled every big in the post last year.
Boston’s perimeter defense was great because they did not need to double D12. We need a bodies like Damp and Etan, so we don’t have to double D12. Boston provide last year the D12 can’t carry them to a Title.
We have one player in the east that has caused a complete break down of our team….D12, so lets stop everybody else and take our chances.
northcyde
September 20th, 2010
5:39 pm
Yeah Atlanta . . . got planes landing on I-85 in Dekalb Co.? I know the rush hour commuters are like . . “WTF? Traffic isn’t bad enough, so a plane has to block most of the interstate”?
LOL . . I wonder if they had the interstate blocked off before the plane landed? Or did it try to land with cars driving on it. If that’s the case, that must’ve been a hell of a scene.
JSS
September 20th, 2010
5:44 pm
@ DMB…
Because they’ve never had an defensive desire or identity, simple as that…
JSS
September 20th, 2010
5:46 pm
Well that is 3rd time Northcyde… Twice on 85, once on 400… Always the same, stuck on the Interstate!
hawkfan335
September 20th, 2010
5:53 pm
MC, Yahoo Sports is reporting that the Hawks are a darkhorse to land Erick Dampier. What are the
chances of that occuring?
Thanks.
truthspitter
September 20th, 2010
6:00 pm
Thanks for getting that idiot spammer out of here. I don’t like Teague much as a player and would be open to trading him. I don’t like Carmelo much either but I would love to have Nene.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2fvjw2p
Zaza
Bibby
Jamal Crawford
First Rd pick
To Denver for
Nene
JR Smith
Balkman
Works with trade machine and they are spending the same amount over the lives of the deals plus Denver gets a 1st rd pick.
New lineup:
Teague/JR Smith/Jordan Craw
Joe/Jr Smith/ Jordan Craw/ Mo Evans
Smoove/Marvin/Pape
Horford/Powell
Nene/Horford/Thomas/Collins
I would then sign Earl Watson as a backup since he is still out there, maybe even look into Allen Iverson, there are options.
northcyde
September 20th, 2010
6:03 pm
LOL @ JSS . . . that’s incredible.
And you’re right about both the Hawks and Mavs not having a defensive identity, which sees them being knocked out easily in the early rounds of the playoffs.
As for the Mavs, they’ll never win with their tallest player shooting jumpers, and not banging on the inside.
KevinM
September 20th, 2010
6:04 pm
DrMary asked why Dallas flops all the time….well perhaps they have had their share of misfortune.
They have at least seen teh NBA finals and are not afraid to make changes whether good or bad.
Oh yeah, they don’t limit themselves with the cap.
Plus, they have the Lakers to deal with year in year out just to get to the Finals. We don’t have that road block.
O'Brien
September 20th, 2010
6:09 pm
I’m sure northcyde will have something to say about this.
It is being reported by Marc Stein and Chad Ford that the front runner to get Carmelo is…..The Nets. They also say he is willing to sign an extension with the Nets.
Nets would offer Derrick Favors, Troy Murphy, Kris Humphries, and future picks.
That’s interesting to me. How come Outlaw would not be included?
But if the Nets get Carmelo, along with Brook Lopez, Devin Harris and Jordan Farmar, they have a good young team with room to grow. Especially since the owner will not be afraid of going into luxury tax.
Fundamentals
September 20th, 2010
6:16 pm
Nets would defininitely benefit and the Nuggets would have a bunch of cheap young talent. Would they do it? Time will tell.
Fundamentals
September 20th, 2010
6:17 pm
Ajinca is a project for sure, but he might make Sy feel more at home. Dallas has both French C prospects. They claim they were going to deal one Sept 15th? I aked for Ajinca or Steisma or some of the other project 7′ players last Feb with no response.
Fundamentals
September 20th, 2010
6:19 pm
Melo wants a deal before the CBA lockout. Is he worth it? He hasn’t proven to be more than a 1st rounder in a luxury tax Denver roster but we think he’ll save the world. I’d say if you could get him to play like he’s an Olympian, yes. If he plays like a Nugget, no!
O'Brien
September 20th, 2010
6:50 pm
Fundamentals,
The Russian Owner will be willing to spend luxury tax money. So if he gets Melo, he can try to build a team around him. Would they be championship worthy? No.
But if you are a fan of the Nets, and they pull off this move, you have to be excited about the ownership willing to make moves.
Their owner has said his goal is to win an NBA championship in 5 years. Will it happen? Probably not. but I like his goal.
What is the ASG’s goal? To remain a top 4 seed, and close the gap on the big 3, without going into luxury tax.
ryan
September 20th, 2010
6:51 pm
Nets are front runners to land Mello there willing to part way with top pick Derick Favors and Troy Murphy . The Hawks are not even in discussion for Mello .
JSS
September 20th, 2010
6:52 pm
@ Northcyde
Peachtree-Dekalb Airport approach pattern plus building two major interchanges on said approach equal mess/ disaster waiting to happen.
Ramon
September 20th, 2010
6:55 pm
Fundamentals, Melo has made it past the 1st round a few times in the West. Melo fell victim to San Antonio and LA in the playoffs. Denver losing in the playoffs had more to do with their roster make up more than Melo. Melo hasn’t played with anyone as good as Pau Gasol, as Kobe has. Melo is better than Pierce in my book, and worth the money. But on the right roster that’s full of defenders.
Ramon
September 20th, 2010
7:00 pm
O’Brien, ASG goal is to not lose as much money as they put in the team, lol. Otherwise, they’d be doing what they could to get Chauncey Billups.
KevinM
September 20th, 2010
7:06 pm
Atlanta would be a good fit for Melo and not many here agree.
That would round out this roster to where we could match up easier with the big clubs.
If you could bring him in and only have to move 2 starters and draft picks? You gotta inquire at the mininum…..let the cap numbers speak for themselves.
Denver getting Marvin/JC1 and draft picks might not be enough though. Marvin and JC1 account for 17M this year (max contract).
We’re talking about someone Joe can play with and defer to if necessary. Team them with Al and Smoove, this board would blow up!
MC, please tell me that we are a consideration?
KevinM
September 20th, 2010
7:09 pm
The Nets offer of Favors, Murphy, Humphries and a future 1st just doesn’t make sense if Denver bites on that.
There is more to offer here should we have the interest.
ryan
September 20th, 2010
7:12 pm
I agree KevinM the Hawks have the pieces to offer for Mello and the music industry i wish the cheap ASG had the guts to pull the trade .
O'Brien
September 20th, 2010
7:37 pm
The Nuggets would also get Favors from the Nets. Favors is young, and has upside.
Why would the Nuggets want Marvin? And JC1 would be a duplicate of JR Smith. The Nuggets would prefer frontcourt help, because Birdman, Kenyon Martin, and Nene are dinged up.
ryan
September 20th, 2010
8:26 pm
I just don’t why you give up on guy like Favors who turn out to be superstar .
drmaryb (*_*)
September 20th, 2010
9:00 pm
Perched in Waiting!
ant banks made this comment and asked a dynamite question:
“i am real curious how spoelstra thing is goin’ to work out in miami. you have given a relatively young (in coaching experience) the careers of 3 superstars and potential hof to coach. i don’t see lebron respectin’ or listenin’ to this guy when the stakes get high.
DO Y’ALL THINK THAT RILEY WILL COME OFF HIS PERCH AGAIN?”
OH YEAH!
The Tiger never changes his stripes!
I got two words to answer that – Stan Van Gundy!
Now DWayne has already stated he wants Spolestra to Coach
“The So. Beach Boys”. Maybe, that has lot to do with personalities.
Spolestra is a nice guy and they will run him outa’ the Arena
very soon. Here comes “Riles” with those 3-A-Day suicide practices
and his Lion – Tamer Whip!
But, yes, Pat Riley will micro-manage those practices, team plane
and player rotations from his high perch. The minute they get
outa’ control (and they will), Riley will run to the rescue and
take them to Championship.
Remember how Shaq left in discord? He wrote in a written
article that he was a grown man and didn’t take well to Riley’s
heavy handed practice sessions and demands.
Talent alone will not win the elusive Obrien Trophy!
That takes team and character – not characters.
ABTSteves
September 20th, 2010
10:46 pm
Excuse the shameless plug but, you may want to check out our podcast interview with Ernie Johnson. It starts around minute 17 of the show. Braves talk to start. Hawks and LeBron talk at around minute 37. You can listen here. Thanks.
KevinM
September 20th, 2010
11:01 pm
I don’t think the Nuggets have a huge need with their big men.
They have already stated they want to move JR Smith.
They are on the last year of the Kenyon Martin contract.
For them to take on Murphy’s and Humphries? That is just junk for a team. I don’t want either on my roster at any cost. So its basically Favors ( a position not big in need ) and a future draft pick (which will probably be lottery protected).
Me being the Nuggets GM (i can’t remember that guy’s name!), I am calling Sund and begging him to make me an offer. I can get a better value out of Marvin and perhaps JC2 and next year’s #1 if they dont’ want Jamal. Hey, give them a backup in Zaza for some depth too.
There are way too many scenarios for this not to be a consideration. For the ASG not to inquire would prove they have no intereest in becoming elite.
Wah wah, it just costs too much!
They should have never gotten into the NBA business because they are basically a stagehand watching the main event from behind the curtain.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 21st, 2010
12:19 am
“For them to take on Murphy’s and Humphries? That is just junk for a team. I don’t want either on my roster at any cost. So its basically Favors ( a position not big in need ) and a future draft pick (which will probably be lottery protected).”
Favors has more upside than anyone the Hawks can give Denver. He gets talked about like he could be a defensively improved version of Amare, and he’s only 19. Maybe the Hawks can give Denver 2 good players, but they can’t give them one player whose upside equals Favors.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 21st, 2010
12:20 am
And with the Nets being willing to offer Favors, you can throw those already far-fetched Crawford+Marvin+picks scenario out the window. It will take at least Smoove or Al to get Melo in a Hawks uniform.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 21st, 2010
12:23 am
“Zaza
Bibby
Jamal Crawford
First Rd pick
To Denver for
Nene
JR Smith
Balkman”
If the Nuggets do trade Melo, this could be one of those rare trades proposed on the Hawks blog that actually has a chance of happening, and it would definitely benefit the Hawks. It would be a bit of a risk to have Teague as the only true point guard on the roster, but I think the risk would be worth the potential reward.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 21st, 2010
12:25 am
“both the Hawks & Dallas are known as being soft teams…athletic? yes…intimidating? no.
This is one of the reasons why I’ve been waivering on the need for Dampier after initially being all for it…He’s better than Collins & Thomas, but he’s more of the same…No real change to the dynamic of the team.”
A fair point, but considering that Collins, Powell, and Zaza are neither athletic nor intimidating, I’d rather have a guy who is athletic and somewhat skilled even if he’s not going to change the team’s defensive identity. It’s not like there are a ton of better options available at this point.
MsDee
September 21st, 2010
12:26 am
Who says that Sund isn’t or haven’t been trying to make offers to these top players wanting out of their current teams?? Only Joe Johnson has been a (some what supa-star) who decided to join us. We have to 1st prove to ourselves that we are worthy of some top players to come our way. YES, we won 53 games last season & YES we finished 3rd in the REGULAR SEASON, but we stunk it up in the playoffs. No one will respect us having games like that, and I will forever blame Woodson cause he NEVER and I mean NEVER MADE ANY ADJUSTMENTS!! Everyone and their grandma knew the Hawks switched at every position on DEF and only had ONE go-to OFFense and that was ISO JOE, but he never changed or at least tried to fool the opponent, why oh why??
Let’s not be too quick to blame Sund for not being able to land top players here after last season performance. Maybe his name isnt being mention like other GM’s are because maybe the agents of the players IMMEDIATELY returns Sund’s message with a, “WE ARE NOT INTERESTED, BUT THANKS THO”!
Najeh Davenpoop
September 21st, 2010
12:27 am
“Horford or Noah?”
Interesting you should bring that up — Slam Online is currently doing their rankings of the top 50 NBA players. They have Horford at #45 and Noah at #44.
The Truth
September 21st, 2010
1:56 am
Has anyone checked-out the Hawks Roster with the addition of Pape Sy? He’s listed as a F-G instead of a G-F. This may not be a big deal but some has suggested (including MC) that he “projects as a point guard for the Hawks”. If that is the plan, then he should be listed as a G-F. As a F-G listing, then logic would suggest he’s backing up Marvin (if he ever saw playing time). Furthermore, since PG is the hardest position to master, it would seem seasoning him for a future PG would only make his learning curve even longer. With such an ambitious goal (if true), conceivably, his 1-yr. contract with the Hawks will likely be over before he becomes useful to the team. I don’t understand why there isn’t a team option in his contract. His 1-yr deal doesn’t actually inspire confidence in the Hawks plans for him.
Big Ray
September 21st, 2010
2:02 am
Horford vs. Noah.
Tough call. You really can’t get this one in a vaccum. Noah IS the better defender and rebounder. Horford is the better guy on offense. Both have leadership skills, though I say Horford has the advantage there.
They are right that the extra couple of inches Noah has, gives him an advantage. It’s true.
The Hawks fan in me says Horford is a better player.
The NBA basketball fan in me says Noah is a better ideal fit at center.
My brain says “Why didn’t Billy Knight try to trade up and take Noah after grabbing Horford?”
vava74
September 21st, 2010
2:39 am
Horford OWNED Noah last year.
It’s a no contest for me.
I like Noah a lot, but I prefer Al.
truthspitter
September 21st, 2010
2:58 am
Big Ray
September 21st, 2010
2:02 am
Horford vs. Noah.
Tough call. You really can’t get this one in a vaccum. Noah IS the better defender and rebounder. Horford is the better guy on offense. Both have leadership skills, though I say Horford has the advantage there.
They are right that the extra couple of inches Noah has, gives him an advantage. It’s true.
The Hawks fan in me says Horford is a better player.
The NBA basketball fan in me says Noah is a better ideal fit at center.
My brain says “Why didn’t Billy Knight try to trade up and take Noah after grabbing Horford?”
I agree Big Ray the Hawks have a long history of being less than creative and just bad with draft moves. Most people forget that we were the original owners of Pau Gasol also. Unless we trade Jamal in which I am not really so happy about, other than the fact that we need to make a move and he is best option, they would have made another bad pick with Jordan Crawford. #11 pick that was wasted on Acie could have been used to move up 2 spots to get Noah, probably would have only taken something like a future #1 pick, but I guess they were still filling Sheldon Williams or were they? Seems like if they were they would have never drafted Al. The Hawks are just ran bad. That’s all
Najeh Davenpoop
September 21st, 2010
3:30 am
“The Hawks fan in me says Horford is a better player.
The NBA basketball fan in me says Noah is a better ideal fit at center. ”
I agree with this. Horford is a better player, but Noah would be a better fit for the Hawks.
vava74
September 21st, 2010
4:19 am
Everyone should reserve judgment until Al plays a full season below the basket instead of running around trying to cover perimeter players with the switching D.
Noah is a great intangibles guy but Al is on the verge of taking the next step forward.
I know that it is usually meaningless, however, I differ somewhat: Al’s performance in the All Star game was MEANINGFUL for me and showed that he belonged there, specially when comparing how Lee looked that he did not belong.
Given the ball on a more “loose” environment Al’s athleticism in the paint shined. I think LD’s new offense will bring the best out of Al with him easily breaking loose of slower Cs for easy baskets over and over.
Al already has passable tools as a low post scorer but when he starts to benefit from the ball movement which LD’s offense should bring we will see him dunking on everyone.
The same applies to Josh: with more space and ball rotation teams will need to replace their rims after they play us.
The least athletic guy in our projected starting 5 and the only guy who is not a menace to rims’ integrity will be JJ who will have plenty of space to use his floaters and long distance dialing when defenses are rattled by our athletic play and are scrambling trying to cover our dunking bigs.
Even Marvin will have slashing cameos at will.
MsDee
September 21st, 2010
4:21 am
I wouldnt trade HORFORD for nothing in the world!! Horford CAN become a better rebounder/defender..Noah will ONLY be a great rebounder/defender.
Big Ray
September 21st, 2010
5:56 am
Hey, I ain’t talkin’ about trading guys.
Vava ,
You do make some good points.
KevinM
September 21st, 2010
6:58 am
“Najeh Davenpoop
September 21st, 2010
12:20 am
“And with the Nets being willing to offer Favors, you can throw those already far-fetched Crawford+Marvin+picks scenario out the window. It will take at least Smoove or Al to get Melo in a Hawks uniform.”
Makes sense on both points….Favors is looked at as the better prospect. But Smoove’s contract is a good one too long term. You are going to get your money’s worth. Its a shame he can’t play the 3 right now. He would have to be our defensive stopper.
What would Denver accept? Well, that new GM has to get something for Melo, and taking Favors and a #1 might be enough. I just think there is more here to offer, but I am willing to see the core broken up immediately to make this happen:
Smoove / Marvin / JC2 / #1 next year or after
Melo
I don’t swap JC1 for JR Smith though, because I just think JC1 brings more to the team than Smith would. JC1 can play some point, something Smith can’t do.
We then go out and get Damp to shore up the interior position for defense as we should have the numbers to do that.
You don’t get a crack at an elite player often in this league, and we have seen what this group can do. They win despite themselves, but fall short when it matters most.
Denver is in a bad position to be picky. I don’t think they can start the season with Melo on the team.
wordsmithtom
September 21st, 2010
8:06 am
If you’re going to swap Smith, you better get a life insurance policy and a true C. Melo is a stud, but the locals would treat this GM like he was Frankentstein.
Your package of Smith, Marvin, JC2, + future # says=we don’t think this core can get over the hump. Considering Smith/Marvin are 24year olds with upside, and JC2 a sleeper, you’re proposing a lot for a malcontent who might not even sign a long term deal in the ATL.
I’d do this on a fantasy league…in the real NBA. No way, no how.
jason
September 21st, 2010
8:10 am
LD needs to go into training camp and look on starting teague or jamal. Jamal needs to work on defense while teague needs to improve his jumper stop turning things over
wordsmithtom
September 21st, 2010
8:29 am
Smith + JC1 for Noah. That I’d consider. Ditto Pau Gasol, while we’re in lala land. Marvin + #1 for Melo, sure. But Smith….PLEASE, not with Monopoly money.
KevinM
September 21st, 2010
9:03 am
wordsmithtom, I have been known to say that this core is not good enough. That’s obvious. The question is whether Sund wants to ‘realistically’ go for a division crown this year or better?
The current core, young or not, is not getting you there. Marvin is what, 24? He has probably 6-8 years left in the league if he can stay healthy. Smoove, 25, is the Hawk I thought we had to keep the past 2-3 years when he was entertaining other offers. Now? We need to thin out our PF slot;
it should be either Smoove or Al and find that length needed for defense. I like Thabeet for defense and Al for offense if I had more choices.
So Smoove can be seen as a candidate in a Melo raffle. You have to give up Marvin in this scenario because he isn’t coming off the bench and there won’t be enough minutes at the SF.
When you look at the Denver roster, I don’t think they can add those 2 to Al Harrington. We have seen that in the past. It doesn’t do much for the Nugget fan base to have that rotation.
So really, what could Denver use that Sund has? It would have to be more scoring.
So possibly JC1 and Marvin but that won’t be enough. That is why I suggested Smoove as more talent headed their way. They would consider Al for sure IMO. I always considered Al as close of a version to Tim Duncan as you will find in the league.
I like the trifecta of Joe/Melo/Al better than Joe/Melo/Smoove. That gets you competing with everyone then.
JC2 is just young unproven talent. You don’t see many rookies get traded a couple of weeks into training camp, but there just aren’t going to be minutes for him with Joe and JC1 in front of him. He’s not a PG at this level and he’s a smaller SG.
You know it doesn’t make sense to consider if Melo doesn’t sign long term. That is so far from the real issue right now and that is will Sund even investigate the opportunity.
I don’t think the proposals above are as much as you would like to think. We value our talent more than the entire league does. You have to give up something to get something. Again, I would like to see Damp come into the fold should there be this opportunity.
wordsmithtom
September 21st, 2010
9:19 am
Kevin, I admit to you it’s obvious this core is not good enough. To management, and to many others, this is not so obvious. Many think the coaching decisions that wore the core down at the end of the year had more to do with a team going from world beaters last fall to lagging. Witness the Celtics before playoffs. Their bench played while starters rested. They lost games; games Woody would have not lost. All that switching and predictable ISO ill used this core.
I repeat: Smith for a C would rebalance power forward excess. Horf practically untouchable. And Melo’s potential not to sign long term means more than you admit. This is a business. You don’t give up prime real estate for other real estate with potential toxic waste cite in the basement.
JC1 + MW + #1 pick at max.
But, I rather like the cats we have if LD can walk the talk. I’m betting he can.
ICECOLD
September 21st, 2010
9:20 am
How bout we trade
Marvin Williams ( starting small forward )
Jamal Crawford , expiring contract
Zaza pachulia
And next years first round pick
We get
Carmelo Anthony
Jamal gets to leave, melo goes to a championship caliber team, Marvin gets a fresh new start and could be the go to guy for denv3r , we finally get rid of zaza … and we wouldn’t need our next years first round pick any way.. and Denver still could be a decent team with three new peaces that they can use.. especially Jamal Crawford.. then they can extend him or trade him next year for a great young player..
The hawks gets to shed three expensive contracts , and then they could extend al horford right now, and extend Carmelo right now and get Eric damper … then we can truly compete with the heat for a title… and the starting would be
Jeff teague
Joe Johnson
Carmelo Anthony
Josh smith
Al horford
Off the bench
Mike bibby
Jordan Crawford
Mo evens
Josh Powell
Dampier / etan Thomas
Perfect bench and perfect starting five….
Yeah its a dream, but it could happen… make Atlanta believers again. Seriously
vava74
September 21st, 2010
9:24 am
niremetal was very vocal earlier in the summer voicing his opinion that in order for us to take that extra step forward we need another 20ppg starter to go along JJ and his preference was for a low post threat, namely, one of the available PFs (Boozer, Nowitski, Bosh, Amar’e, …).
that would allow us to have a good mix between inside and outside game.
I tend to agree to that theoretical concept, however, I am hopeful that the new offense will allow our bigs to be more productive.
virtually all of our major players are above average passers, including Al who is a competent and alert passer with good hands, Josh who is a very good passer, although he tends to be too carried away, Marvin is average+ passer (does not usually compromise and has decent hands on the receiving end), JJ is a good passer and Teague has shown that although he may not be yet cut out to be a full time PG, he has shown that his passing can be precise and spectacular (last year he had too all star bounce passes on the break that clearly prove that).
consequently, although we don’t have a sure thing 20ppg down low, we may have this coming year a pair of guys able to bring 17/18 ppg in Al and Josh.
bringing ‘Melo would bring a sure thing 25ppg to the perimeter but how would he mesh with JJ? could we manage to have two dominant perimeter players?
my guess is that we would not be productive with ‘Melo, specially if we had to give Josh in return.
that is a no go for me since we would lose his help defense and his dynamic play which are game changers.
most occasions in which the Hawks broke the game loose we had either Jamal going hot or Josh blocking and poaching the lanes getting steals for dunks energizing crowd and the crew or both, whilst JJ kept us with an even keel with his usually unspectacular steadiness.
people got understandably pessimistic and with a very low self esteem after the ORL beating but we should not forget that last year we a pretty spectacular stretch in the beginning of the year that made us look and feel world beaters.
we have that potential, we simply lacked a game plan and miss used our personnel to face quick point guards and to attack zone defenses.
to aggravate that, Woody’s complete inability to prepare the Hawks to beat and be competitive against ORL early on and then in the playoffs created a ghost where it does not exist and which has even crept into the Hawks’ players minds:
ORL can be beaten regardless of how well Howard plays. Our problem was in the perimeter from where every single scrub wearing a Magic jersey was shooting threes at will and sinking them.
FORGET ABOUT HOWARD, CONCENTRATE ABOUT GOOD AND FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND PLAYING BASKETBALL.
Astro Joe
September 21st, 2010
9:34 am
When comparing players, I think health is an important variable (IMO, more important than a 2 inch difference in height). Give me a healthy B+ player over an A- player who will almost certainly miss 6+ games a season.
dap01
September 21st, 2010
10:03 am
Anyone: Hoopshype Rumors today spoke of ATL being one of the teams that Dampier is considering. Do you think that ATL is making a serious attempt to get Dampier? Could the salary spent on Dampier be funded by the money save in another deal (JC1)?
drmaryb (*_*)
September 21st, 2010
10:03 am
Cake Mix!
Were The Hawks ever really in the mix? I think not!
From rotoworld.com:
“
Erick Dampier-C-Bobcats
Sep. 20 – 8:47 pm et


Erick Dampier met with Houston coach Rick Adelman and worked out for the Rockets on Monday, as he chooses between the Rockets and Heat.
Apparently the Hawks are no longer in the mix, which isn’t surprising. The Rockets are reportedly offering a two-year, $4 million deal, while the Heat can only do $1.4 million. On a side note, Rockets are said to be making their push for Carmelo Anthony, but the same can be said about almost every team in the league.”
drmaryb (*_*)
September 21st, 2010
10:07 am
dap01
That should answer your question.
The ASKG should offer more that 2 years @ 4M and gitter’ done!
But, then these are The Seven Dwarfs we’re talking about – right?
smh
GeeMack
September 21st, 2010
11:33 am
wordsmithtom
JC1 + MW + #1 pick at max
I would be willing to let Josh and JC1 walk to get Melo, but only if Melo signs the 3 year extension to stay with the Hawks.
A combination of Al/JJ/Melo gives you the foundation for a championship team…a Big 3.
vava74
September 21st, 2010
11:35 am
drmaryb,
Dampier is 35 and last year he was injured for an extended period.
he averaged 1 POINT PER GAME in the playoffs to go with 6,6 rebounds in 23 minutes of game play.
we are not talking about the end of the world if we don’t make a move for him.
I believe that he is clearly sliding and that his next stop will probably be a disappointment.
I was all for signing him, however, that was before we signed Ethan who is younger, more athletic and an equally impressive physical enforcer down low (albeit shorter) if not more.
Rev in Tampa
September 21st, 2010
11:38 am
Vava, thank you for your 9:24am post. Cogently reasoned and it adds a fresh persepective to the conversation.
The Hawks, indeed, are a very good passing team. This, coupled with their athleticism, should make Drew’s motion offense exceedingly effective.
Ken Strickland
September 21st, 2010
12:08 pm
DRMARYB-Houston is willing to over pay for Dampier because they’re looking for a center with recent starting experience to team with Yao Ming. They’ve already indicated their intent to limit his mins, and they was to protect themselves against his potential re-injury.
It makes little sense for us to invest that much money for a backup center, especially since we’re already 4 deep at the position. The motion OFF will make every player a potential inside scorer. Under LDrew, everything our players, and we as fans, have become accustomed, accepted, complained about and/or experienced is about to change. So, the players will have training camp and preseason to be instructed on what changes will take place, and we as fans need to change and adjust our approach or way of viewing things as well.
Stop with this BS about us needing to sign this player or that player to stop DWIGHT HOWARD. Hell, DHoward didn’t beat us, the ORLANDO MAGIC DID. During the 1st rd of last yrs playoffs, the Bobcats did such an excellent job of limiting DHoward and his effectiveness, he whined and complained throughout the playoffs about the officiating.
They reduced him to being little more than a minor factor, yet were still swept in 4gms. I love LDrew’s approach. He’s about to impliment a style of play and philosophy that fits our talent perfectly. As I’ve said before, THE ATLANTA HWWKS, AND IT’S FANS, ARE ABOUT TO EXPERIENCE A TOTAL TEAM APPROACH TO PLAYING BASKETBALL. This will be something we haven’t seen or experienced in at least a decade or more.
JoJo the Godfather
September 21st, 2010
12:20 pm
I say we help New Jersey get Melo…Send Jamal, Bibby & a 1st round pick to NJ for Devin Harris, Damion James & Kris Humphries…Nets then turn around and trade Crawford, Murphy, Favors & 2 first round picks (ours & theirs) for Melo & JR Smith…Then everyone will be happy…We dump Bibby, get back James, and have a second up tempo PG to run this offense…Nets get Melo & Bibby…Nugs get Favors, 2 1st rounders, and 2 large expiring contracts to ride out or flip for more assets.
KevinM
September 21st, 2010
12:27 pm
A big three in Atlanta? Exactly, GeeMack! Now that looks good heading into a training camp.
Can you imagine the buzz in Atlanta if we were able to pull that kind of a deal off.
I guarantee the TV games would be rescheduled, knocking Denver out of numerous opportunities.
The pieces are here to make an offer; what would Denver accept?
Now Rev or Big Ray, need your knowledge here………
Please explain the difference in LD’s system and the system that Eddie Jordan brought to some success in Washington and a train wreck 1 season in Philly?
A link to some of the Philly ongoings and as easily as it wouldn’t happen to the core, it could just as easily happen: I wouldn’t expect any discourse out of Joe and Al, but the rest of the core? Quite possibly.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/366504-why-sixers-coach-eddie-jordan-never-had-a-chance-in-philly
The Princeton offense has to have a real playmaker and a high IQ on the court. Well, some here pine for Lou Williams take a look at this article. You might think otherwise the next time.
Things fell apart very quickly in Philly, and just because the ASG (and did Sund really agree with them here?) promoted the lieutenant, it sure doesn’t mean success is a given. Because the Princeton offense is now here in town….and who has run it before? Hmmmm, let me think…oh yes, Bibby.
You have to show the success with this offense before you can annoint it as a fit with this roster. I am all for supporting him once the games start (like we have a choice anyway), but it doesn’t mean I agreed with the selection nor the way he is ‘attempting’ to differentiate himself with Woody. Why didn’t he have any input the previous 6 years?
I still don’t buy the product as it is today, and I don’t see the faith given to LD with a sure league minimum contract. Opportunities to improve should not be overlooked. The personnel this offseason has not changed enough to annoint them anything more than 3rd in their own division.
drmaryb (*_*)
September 21st, 2010
12:37 pm
VaVa74
Based on your comments, then, I guess we should pass
on Damp. Oh well, I was fun to explore that while it lasted.
Ditto with Rev on the very nice post at 924 AM, we certainly
have good passers on this team at all 5 positions. Josh is
an exciting passer who makes it look fun to do as well.
Even Zsa Zsa has flashed some nice behind the back passes.
LOL.
Ken S.
Baby, you have gotten me excited to see the new pentangle
offense. It sounds intricate to me, so, how long do you think
before the players pick it up and become fluid?
I recall MJ being very impressed that Rodman picked up
The Tex Winter Triangle in just one team practice.
He labeled Dennis as extremely intelligent for that.
On the other hand, it was duly reported last season by Ron Artest
and others how Ron struggled mightily to pick it up. It took
a lot longer for his light bulb to come on. At any rate,
Al said, “I will go to battle with what I’ve got!”
So, Let’s Go!
drmaryb (*_*)
September 21st, 2010
12:59 pm
Vava74
I would also rather have 25 pts inside the paint with And-1’s
than 25 pts on the perimeter (I.e. Melo) however, Melo does
score well inside. If we did have Joe and Melo on the perimeter
they wouldn’t be scoring 25 points each night, there is only
one ball in this game. They would both need to do what
The Celtics did with Allen and Pierce. Share the ball, forget
about individual stats and adapt to the TEAM system.
That is also what will have to happen in So. Beach.
Like Ken S. has been preaching, All the other teams have
similar challenges to absorb all the changes, perhaps the Hawks
will have the easier challenge, because of familiarity of the players
on this roster. These guys really do like each other and that
should never be undervalued. Never.
Rev in Tampa
September 21st, 2010
1:02 pm
Kevin M, I read the bleacherreport article that you posted. The article actually supported the points that vava74 posted and I co-signed earlier this morning. Here is the relevant selection from the bleacherreport:
Yes, as well-documented, the Princeton offense was a non-starter in Philly from the beginning. Long story short , the Princeton is a passing-heavy, high-basketball IQ offense that requires all five guys on the court to be able to pass effectively and knock down an open shot if necessary. The Princeton often requires two major players to run successfully: a pass-first point guard and a big man who can do anything he’s asked to do… But the architect of the Princeton O, Pete Carril, confessed that he believed the Sixers needed a playmaking point guard to have a chance running his complicated read-and-react offense. So, the lack of a pass-first point guard was the first nail in the Princeton offense’s coffin. But here’s something that’s been less talked about: The lack of an all-purpose big man. For all the jokes Elton Brand wants to make about Marreese Speights’ lack of passing acumen, it’s not like Brand is lighting it up with dimes this season. He’s dished out 91 assists in 68 games, for a whopping average of 1.4 apg. (his career average is 2.5 apg).
The Hawks are a very good passing team. They led the NBA in fewest turnovers. Many will point to the iso-offense, but all of us on this blog have witnessed the high-energy Hawks team that ran the court and displayed their athleticism in transition. The Hawks are a very good passing team even when not in the iso-mode.
The Hawks are a very efficient shooting team. Joe & Jamal are exceptional shooters, but everyone can hit an open jumper (when taken within their range).
The Princeton offense requires a pass-first point guard. This very blog-post from Cunningham confirms that Teague is a pass-first point guard. And, as you pointed out in your posting, Bibby has already run the Princeton.
The Princeton offense requires a big man who can do anything he is asked to do. The knock against Horford is that he is so versatile that he does not specialize as the stationary 7’ big body in the paint.
The real reason why the Princeton did not work in Philly comes in the last sentence of the article: “And get ready for the Sixers’ new coach next season; it’ll be their seventh new coach in seven years.”
drmaryb (*_*)
September 21st, 2010
1:19 pm
Rev
Great Job! Thanks for posting the keys of that article on here.
Nice read.
Fundamentals
September 21st, 2010
2:30 pm
Preseason is just around the corner. The Melo drama should keep things buzzing for a while. Props to Houston for tyring to stay in the mix on all fronts. No word on Crawford here or extending Al, but I imagine we’ll start hearing something around Thanksgiving.
Preseason should tell us right away what everyone has been up to this summer. I’m praying for a hungry, mobile Bibby, Marvin busting 3’s, Smoove with a midrange jumper and Etan ready to knock ZaZa on his butt to inspire him. These are the keys to getting out of the gate.
Rufus1
September 21st, 2010
2:40 pm
KevinM
That article has given me more confidence the system will work in the ATL….Plus Rev’s break down of our team.
Plus the Sixers were a BUNCH of iso players running a pass first system…The Hawks were the exact opposite.(maybe the Sixers should hired Woody)
I think in this system Josh’s pts may go down but his ast will improve, because he is our best passer.
GO HAWKS
Ramon
September 21st, 2010
3:27 pm
Why does people always suggest trading Josh, but not Al? If one HAD to be traded, why not keep the better PF and the best defensive player on the team? Horford is not the best PF on this team. And although he’s solid and consistent, he’s not really that much of a game changer. While I am one who believes that Horford and Smoove should be kept together as long as possible. I would much rather see Horford traded over Smoove. I just don’t see what Horford brings that can’t be replaced. If you play 36 min a game you should be able to average 13 and 10 at the center position. I just don’t see any opposing coaches wondering “How are we going to minimize Horford’s impact on this game?”
The Truth
September 21st, 2010
3:47 pm
Marvin Visits Sekou and Lang on the Hangtime Podcast.
As I listened to the entire Podcast on Marvin, I was impressed with him “giving back” but I didn’t get the impression he did anything specific during the off-season toward improving his game. His off-season focus was apparently on his community projects (including his ATL fundraiser: Strike the R-word) and pursuing his degree at UNC. However, he did share his desires for the upcoming season:
Marvin Williams joined Sekou Smith and Lang Whittaker on NBA.com’s Hangtime Podcast and sounded excited about getting started this season. You can listen to the entire podcast HERE. Some of Marvin’s thoughts are included below.
On the state of his game at this stage in his career:
“I feel like, the year I averaged 15 I really got to the foul line a lot. I shot a ton of free throws. I think last year I kind of got away from that. I have to get back to attacking that basket. Once I get back to attacking the basket it will open things up for my mid-range jump shot and my three-point shot.”
On the team continuing to increase the Hawks win total:
“We have to make that jump man. We have to be committed. We have to buy into what coach Drew wants us to do, and we have to do it early. Everybody has to put their trust in him, which they will.”
jay dubu
September 21st, 2010
3:50 pm
Enter your comments here
jay dubu
September 21st, 2010
3:52 pm
JT running the break with Josh on the wing. I can see it now…as Steve from the Hawks radio broadcast says, “Would you like to be in my poster?!”
Grandad
September 21st, 2010
4:02 pm
Co-Sign Ken Strickland @ 12:08 pm,
-&-
ponderin’ the *Rev + kevinM
*[article on princeton off]
This is the reason I’ve been preachifying about
the Hawks needing a:
“stretch [4-5], high B-ball IQ, & accomplished passer”.
To fit LD’s system – (look it up).
*G-dad’s addendum:
plus a [long] defensive presence to defend the rim.
Rufus1 *Co-Sign*
I agree + LD even said Josh will play the *[5] on occasion.
*[offensively]
Due to his ability to see the floor, pass out of double teams,
but most importantly his unselfishness!
Grandad
September 21st, 2010
4:20 pm
Ramon –
“Why [do] people always suggest trading Josh, but not Al?”
Ramon – I don’t wish to trade either Josh or Al.
But, in an attempt to answer your query;
Al is seen as more valuable to the franchise.
People value intangibles, such as leadership & maturity.
Therefore Al has done a much better job of presenting
himself as a professional in that regard.
Ramon
September 21st, 2010
5:12 pm
Grandad, I understand the leadership tangibles. However, many times it seem as if Josh is the best teammate on the team. He’s the one always encouraging the bench and other teammates. He’s the one always sprinting across the court to help a teammate who just fell down. In fact, I think its his leadership abilities that lead him to continually engage in arguments with Woody, and the backcourt. When it was obvious that the back court were getting out of hand with their shot distribution, it would be Josh who was demanding they go back to the game plan. And the way some of us got mad at Woody, for his shortcomings and spoke about it, were the same way Josh would speak his opinion, but he never did it in the media no matter what. My main issue with Josh is if he can stop arguing with the referees so much, and increase his free throw percentage. He would easily be the best player on this team.