Atlanta Hawks: Hawks 91, Magic 81

first

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almost. good win tonite. who was that wearing #24 for the Hawks?

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FIRE RICK SUND

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And the Magic will be good once they get it figured out. You can’t have Arenas and Richardson (J) on the court with Dwight and not be good. But they’re going to have to trade Q Richardson or Reddick, and probably Duhon and get another big. Even when Anderson gets back, they don’t have another big unless Orton is impressing in practice or something. Malik’s never been much, and Bass is good, but I do think they’ll miss Gortat.

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What’s with LD’s comments about Collins? Disqualifies him as a defensive stopper and plays him down, just saying he can slow down Dwight.

Collins is THE ONLY reason this team has beaten Orlando twice as opposed to last year, so give him more props rather than treating him like some scrub who is useless otherwise.

Starting Collins may be the best thing this team does all year if it means rejuvenating Marvin off the bench.

I’m very interested to see how LD distributes minutes once Jamal returns because if Collins starts, the minutes can spread much better.

I also don’t like the idea of Horford and Smoove having to play the 3, 4, and 5 in different games. It’s too much adjusting, as they have stated. Just start a real center and slide them over

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This stuff about needing to bring energy, regardless (irregardless is not a word, by the way) of the game, is tired. We’ve heard this for years. This win, as nice and fun as it was, does not excuse yesterday’s debacle. Hawks have never had a problem (save the Boston game Thanksgiving week) getting up for big games at home. It’s the f’ing losses to Detroit and NJ that drive everyone nuts.

And, I get the Magic were just getting their team together tonight, but so what? No one ever makes excuses for the Hawks. No one. Two years ago, when they were swept by the Cavs, the Hawks were basically without 3 starters (Joe, Al, Marvin). Not one talking head ever mentioned that when stroking the Cavs. Now, had the shoe been on the other foot, and the Cavs had to play minus Lebron and two other stiffs on that team, you never would have heard the end of it. Classic double standard in the coverage. Michael, I see you’ve fallen into that trap tonight, too.

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I find that “first” thing that people put on these blogs so immature but i had to do it,lol..

Props goes out to twin and his play,but the question i have is why not play him even more against other teams?

Yea,i know that we only would need him to counter bigs issues from other teams,but why not let them prepare for us?Why not go back into the Josh at the 3,Al at the 2,and twin at the 1 more often??

And,i think its a mistake that orlando traded defense to get more scorers into the mix.

Defense wins championships..

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lol@emir..

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I was at the game tonight and YES, it was a great crowd!! Glad Marvin came off the bench, he played really well in the 4th and I think he will spread that type of game more into the 2nd and 3rd quarters as well as he continues to come off the bench. I LOVE Horford!! He played GREAT tonight against Dwight!! Lets keep it coming, Hawks!!

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Free Jordan Crawford

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RICK SUND=BILLY KNIGHT JR

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There’s no way Orlando can beat Boston, Miami, LAL, or SAS. And I really don’t think they can beat the Hawks now.

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*The verdict is in

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@Clyde,

Miami has had a pretty decent schedule thus far!! The Heat have played a total of 4 games amongst Utah and Dallas going 1-4..They lost 2 games so far to Boston and only won 1 game so far against Orl while Orl won the other..They havent played Spurs yet (not til in March both games), they haven’t played Lakers yet, & they havent played Chicago yet. They are no different than us Hawks right now when it comes to ‘playing top teams’. We lost to Boston twice so far like them, have gone 2-3 so far against Orl, 0-1 against Utah,Dallas, & Spurs so far. We STILL have an opportunity to split the series against those 3 teams whereas the Heat are threw with them(except the Spurs) this season.
So how can u say Miami and Boston automatically to the Finals??

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MsDee I know everything. Call me the Prophet

FIRE SUND

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The Magic can whine all they want, but they were at full strength, while the Hawks were missing Jamal Crawford. Honestly, Arenas was the only one who appeared to me to be blatantly out of sync. Everyone else seemed to be more or less on the same page.

I actually didn’t think the Magic’s offensive execution was a big reason for their loss. The offensive execution really seemed to suffer only when Arenas was running the point, and I’m pretty sure he was playing the 2 next to Nelson for the majority of his minutes on the floor. Rebounding and perimeter defense were much bigger reasons. The Hawks dominated the boards in this game — I know Dwight had close to 20, but the rest of the team combined for less than that — primarily because they did a great job boxing out. Magic players were missing jump shots because every shot was being contested. Collins (and even Zaza to a lesser extent) did a great job handling Howard one on one, and this allowed everyone else to contest the jump shots.

I can’t over-emphasize how well Collins played in this game. His contributions look pretty pedestrian in the box score, but the Hawks do not win this game without his physical, fundamentally sound play at center. He has done a total 180 from what he gave the Hawks last year.

Honestly, I don’t think a lot of these issues are going to go away for the Magic very easily. They got beat on the boards in large part because Dwight is their only real big man left, and Arenas isn’t exactly a pure point guard who is ever going to run the offense all that smoothly when he is in the game. Bottom line is that the Hawks just played a better game. I don’t think the Magic are going to be a serious title contender until they make another trade to get Dwight some more help down low.

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The only things I didn’t like:

Smoove played a great game defensively, blocking or altering a ton of shots, boxing out, crashing the boards, and initiating ball movement, but there were several possessions on which he was posted up on Turkoglu or Bass in the post and didn’t take advantage. I saw him try to spin towards his off hand at least two or three times when he could have probably gone to his lefty jump hook and had a decent chance of making it. He needs to quit trying to draw fouls and go to his bread and butter. Yeah, he has to develop the left hand, but save that for practice.

Bibby was getting schooled by Nelson, and if Nelson chose to take over the game he very easily could have. That’s one guy Bibby just can’t guard. They brought Teague in to check him for a while, but Teague was playing scared, and aside from a nice floater he didn’t really do much.

I really hope this is the last game Mo Evans plays more minutes than Damien Wilkins. The four minutes he played in this game may be the worst four minutes anyone has played in the league all year. He airballed a 3 and got burned by JJ Redick on two or three possessions in a row.

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“That fourth quarter was the textbook for how Marvin can help this team. The Magic used a small lineup for much of the period and Marvin collected five of their nine missed shots. He waited on the wings for the ball to swing to him and made open shots and also earned five free-throw attempts.”

Co-sign. He played solid, and Horford played great.

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Now its a matter of taking this win as a confidence builder and forming a string of consistent wins. That win one, lose one scenario wont help on any level. This was a great win by any measure. Hope this line-up stays. If Marvin can contribute off the bench then we may after all have a trading chip in Jamal. As JeJe has said COUNTLESS times, bring in a PG and we “may” actually have something going for us.

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@worldwide Clyde,

No U NEED TO OPEN YOUR EYES AND READ WHAT I POSTED! I NEVER SAID WE WILL WIN THE EAST! The east is the conference NOT the division, in case u didnt know. The division is Us, Orlando, Miami, Washington, & Charlotte..NOT THE WHOLE CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Here’s to pushing for second seed in the EAST and winning our DIVISION!

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I predicted a win yesterday, because that’s been the Hawks blue print for over 2 seasons. Follow up a bad loss, with a good win. And they’ll do it again and again.

I’m happy for the win. But I wish we could bring this type of effort every game.

One thing I didnt like. “It’s clear that Joe is going to play the same way whether he’s rusty or not. He forced a few shots and had five turnovers.” MC .

JJ needs to not force the issue. Let the game come to him. He took ad some bad shots last night, and he struggled from 3 again.

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yeah after leaving at 5:45 to get there for a 7:00 it kind of made me realize the necessity of these games being at 8 or at the very least 7:30. Its kind of stressful around there at 6:30. Also, it makes sense to start at 8 because when tip started, thousands were still eating cheaper food @ cnn center

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What’s up MC, yes the atmosphere was electric…last night…the wify and I enjoyed it…VERY ENTERTAINING GAME…GREAT WIN!!!

MsDee, you are right…Al was on it…BUT BIG SHOUT OUT TO COLLINS…for stepping UP and allowing LD to have A via able Big to go to…that’s been huge for AL.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The Magic are locks to win the East, now that they have Turkoglu back. LOL!!

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Who gives a crap about winning a “Division”???.This team is configured to have another major collapse in the playoffs if they reach.
Josh for Rudy Gay
Duck/Cash/two 1st round picks for DWILL!!!
RICK SUND=BILLY KNIGHT JR

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If we had started Collins on Brook Lopez every game this year, we’d have 2 more wins

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Well SVG’s post-game remarks were pretty much about how his new team had not learned any sets blah blah blah.

If ORL trades Redick or Q.Rich for a serviceable backup big, then that team is very thing at the backup wing position.

LD, IF THERE’S ONE THING YOU DO THE REST OF THE SEASON, GO BIG (NO HOMO) WITH THE STARTING LINEUP

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“Forget ASG and the luxury tax. Have you seen attendance? Why would they??”

Because this team has no players that fans want to come out to see. If we had Wade or LBJ, it’d be a different story.

Also, how do you type in italics or bold here? or something?

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Collins can’t ( or shouldn’t ) start every game, because he doesn’t rebound the ball well enough. It’s good to start him against teams that see the center being one of the top 2 or 3 scoring options. If he forces the center into a bad shot, Josh or Al ( or even Marvin ) can clear the offensive board.

But if it’s the other way around, and you have a situation in which Josh or Al is trying to defend a PF and force a tough shot, Collins is a lot less likely to clear the defensive boards.

Collins was ineffective in both the Boston and Detroit games. Games in which the Hawks needed Collins to do more rebounding than defending.

Drew is doing it right. As long as he realizes that Collins is only effective when he can hinder a scoring low post center, it’ll work out for the Hawks.

Keep in mind that Smith, while doing a lot of other things well, didn’t have the best offensive game in the world last night. Starting him at SF, especially against good defensive SFs, is not a good idea at all.

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And I got Detroit on the mind for some reason . . I meant to say San Antonio.

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“Collins can’t ( or shouldn’t ) start every game, because he doesn’t rebound the ball well enough. It’s good to start him against teams that see the center being one of the top 2 or 3 scoring options. If he forces the center into a bad shot, Josh or Al ( or even Marvin ) can clear the offensive board.

But if it’s the other way around, and you have a situation in which Josh or Al is trying to defend a PF and force a tough shot, Collins is a lot less likely to clear the defensive boards.”

It doesn’t matter if he can’ rebound.

We get beat up with our usual starting lineup. I’d even start ZaZa a few minutes if needed.

Having Marvin come off the bench would be a great thing for us, since we always talk about how much our bench sucks.

Starting a non-statistical 5 and leaving Bib and the other 3 out there is plenty of scoring for us.

Putting Horford against a Tyson Chandler or Bynum is not a good idea. And if Smoove continues to shoot [well], why not leave him at the 3?

We just can’t keep flipflopping back and forth and expecting Smoove and Al to have 2 defined positions each for this team. Horf said it was great Jason got to start at the 5 and put him at his natural position

I believe Horford’s rebounding is up too as a result of playing at the 4

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“Worldwide Clyde
December 21st, 2010
3:42 am

MsDee we don’t have a chance in hell to win the East”

You can’t talk East until you talk division and seeding……IMO a successful season for the Hawks this season is the 3rd seed. The Hawks will still finish 3rd in the division at best.

What have I learned from the season so far? LD is not nearly as stubbord as Woody and while it hasn’t really benefitted from it, at least its been proven that the talent is lacking on this team with the exception of the 2 and 4 slots.

IMO, more Teague, the 3 headed monster of Collins/Zaza/Thomas and less of Marvin, and things might turn up a bit.

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My only complaint about LD

He has yet to figure out, he needs to coach to Defense 1st…so either Twin or Teague should be starting or both. On every great team their is one player that spacializes in the defensive art.

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@northcyde

they don’t need him to do anything except be out there as an enforcer type. Just simply to battle with the other team’s center who is more often than not Taller and Bigger than Al Horford. This way Horford doesn’t pick up two fouls in the first quarter and has a consistent rhythm throughout the game.

Plus…as funny as this sounds…Jason Collins is a veteran and is experienced and hardnosed…he’s been to the Finals as a starter!! I repeat…he’s been to the Finals as a starter…TWICE. Those Nets teams were pretty stout on defense as well.

He will do all the little things (like sending a message when coming into the lane, boxing out, taking charges, not turning the ball over, hustling, talking on defense, etc). So if he puts up 4 rebs and 4 points then that’s fine with me especially if it frees up Smith & Horford.

Josh Smith & Al Horford will still do most of the rebounding work and Joe Johnson likes to rebound as well. Moving Marvin to the bench also moves his rebounding to the second unit. ZaZa and Powell aren’t great rebounders but Marvin can come in and help them with that on both ends. It also adds an offensive “threat” with some good size on defense to the second unit. round out with Teague,Crawford and Damien and we are rolling.

The odd man out is Mo Evans…but that’s how it should be anyway…messing us up in the offseason by exercising his player option (which we wouldve used on a useful player) like he was all that. Like I said before…I wouldn’t pay him 1 dollar to play basketball.

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That charge Collins took on Dwight last night was a pure brilliant vet move. ZaZa would have taken a charge there but would’ve been called for a foul somehow. Collins has that veteran blood.

We really match up well with ORL. ZaZa always annoys Dwight and we have a fresh set of bigs to throw at them. If we can contain their shooters, we could beat them in a series. My only fear is Jameer who can get on fire at times

START THE VETERAN COLLINS!!!!

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Yahoo has story saying Anthony going to Nets in a multi team trade. They say Devin Harris going somewhere…. Could anyone see Hawks giving JC1 for Harris and running Teague as the backup 2?

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I say that because we don’t run pick and roll offense here…so it is essential that the PG be able to shoot.

Devin Harris looks good on paper and may actually work…but if we give JC1…what will we do with Bibby? Where’s the perimeter shooting threat?

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I would love to see what this Hawks team looks like with:

A healthy JJ back in form
A healthy Jamal back in form with a positive outlook about his future
Josh Smith giving up his desire to play point forward
Bibby speeding up the offense which helps JJ finds his rhythms
Rejuvenated Marvin off the bench with more consistent offense
Teague discovering a jump shot full time
More Damien defense along with his past glory offense
More minutes for Etan for playoff preparation
LD finally finding the keys to closing out games
Mo Evan retiring early

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LD wont stick to this lineup. Please. Duck will be right back in the starting lineup. Hope I’m wrong, but I’ve seen this picture before.

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If we really want to make a run at Dwight in 2012, we need to at least have made the ECF and won a few games.

He and Smoove are as good buds in the NBA as you’ll see, so that helps. LBJ went to an okay Miami team, so I am sure Dwight would come here.

Jamal is expiring and Bibby expires after next season, so we could work out a trade.

Would you all rather have Smoove/Horf/Dwight or Joe/HorfDwight?

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And I’m glad to see LD finally talking about sending Sy to the D-League. I’m not sure why its taking so long for them to make up their minds about sending him down.

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Orlando is not the team they were last season.
Atlanta is.

FAIL!!!

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The Magic are all in. They win it all this season, or they’re toast. No way they can re-sign J Richardson under the new CBA coming out. Turkoglo – 31 – declining – signed for 4 more years at 10+m per year. Arenas, 29 – bad knee – declining – signed for 3 more years (after this) at 20 mil. per year. They better win it all this year, and they might. I still say, once they get it figured out, you can’t have Arenas, J Richardson, Jameer, and Dwight on the court and not do well.

And they are looking a little to the future. Earl Clark and Orton may be good in a couple of years. And Ryan Anderson has potential.

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I think JJ would have to go to get Dwight. No way the Hawks are trading Al, becoming the face of the franchise. He’s ASG’s type of player. Great character, hard worker etc. Josh would be the only reason Dwight would come here. So JJ would have to go.

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I think Sund wanted to keep Joe. He kept saying how Joe was a top 5 SG, how Smoove is a top 10 PF, Horf is a top 10 Center blah blah blah. He said if a SG is a top player like that, you have to dish him the money.

START COLLINS

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“They’ve been together for six years. We haven’t been together for six hours.”

- Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, on the different in comfort level between his team and the Hawks before Monday night’s game.

That pretty much sums it all up.

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http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2010/12/21/hang-time-podcast-episode-37/

Great info on the Hawks from MC. I think he comes in after the 15 minute mark or so (maybe 17)

Says that our guards all play 1 role and can’t run an offense+defend.
Jamal+Josh = most movable pieces

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Monta Ellis had 44 points last night

Can we PLEASE try get him? Trade Bibby + Marvin or Bibby + Jamal and get a package of players

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Lol the Orlando writer sounded nervous as hell about these trades

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The Sekou podcast with MC is funny and interesting..

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Josh/Al/Dwight…….anyone else drooling! How sick would that be…..someone tell me its possible……..even if you have to lie to me. Thanks

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I dont think there is anyway the Hawks get D12 when he becomes a free agent.

If he comes here, he would want to play with his buddy Josh, so Josh wouldn’t be a good trade candidate. And we would not move JJ (IMO), because Dwight needs him in the backcourt to create his own shot, and take pressure off.

So by default, Al would be the one to go (imo).

However, I think Al is a better fit in the front court with Dwight. With Dwight protecting the rim, we dont need Josh’s help defense as much. And Dwight would clog the lane, allowing Al to shoot his mid-range jumpers with more space (Al is a better shooter than Josh imo).

However, after this year (and maybe next), I can see the Hawks making some trades if this core gets nowhere again.

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O’Brien, don’t forget, Josh attacks the passing lane as good as any wing in the league. As I said in my ‘dream’ you have Paul pressuring the ball, Josh attacking the passing lanes, and D12 cleaning up. Also with two shot blockers, they help one another because once the shooter adjusts their shot, that leaves Josh or D12 available to reject the altered shot. Even if its not Paul. In 2 years Teague will be the starting PG.

Teague, Joe, SF, Josh, Howard. I don’t know a better defensive team than that line up in the league right now.

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O’Brien,

I missed last night’s game and the Nets game as well. And I couldn’t record either of them.

Was Horford banging? Where do we stand in the estimation of his attitude? I realize that he started at the 4 last night, but as we discussed, you can still bang at the 4 spot.

Thanks for keeping me informed.

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When this season is over the hawks should offer the gm and coaching job to doc rivers something they should have done several years ago. The ownership would be better off paying doc rivers intead of that stupid contract they gave Joe.

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Sautee,

Against Orlando, Al did not play much Center (Twin, ZaZa and Etan played most of the minutes). But I have no complaints about Al’s game last night.

He mixed in a couple post moves to go along with his jumpers, and he had double digit rebounds, 4 assists with no turnovers.

Against the Nets, he played more center, and did a good job guarding Brook Lopez (who went 5-15). And Al finished with a double double.

I think with Al, it’s all about his mindset.

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If the trades don’t work look for D12 to look to get out? The Hawks will actually have a decent team on the books when he becomes available? Horford, Al, Josh, Joe and D12 would be amazing!

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O’Brien, what is a flameout this season? If the Hawks win 1 or 2 games in the 2nd round of playoffs is that a flameout?

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Would the Magic be interested in ZaZa?

Definitely agree that I’ve enjoyed watching Twin. Etan didn’t look too bad the other night. Can he be relied on for more minutes? What’s the status of his health?

As for a flameout – we need to compete against whomever we meet. I don’t care if it’s 1st or 2nd round. Do your best, win or lose we can respect that. Quitting and/or melting down is what burned me up the last two years.

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great game last night, i love the guys in section 118, they were killing it with the kryptonite shirts!

no real minutes outside of marvin and the starting five, but a great home win.
what’s the scoop on mo evans though? i think he’s done, might as well release him and let JC2 take his 3 mins/game

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“I have nothing against Isaiah but he made a lot of comments about the Knicks in the old days. He’s a great player, just like (Charles) Barkley’s a great player, but he’s an a$$hole. My thing is, when Barkley played basketball, he didn’t practice, he wasn’t a leader, he wasn’t this or that, he just had natural talent so he got chosen to the Dream Team, All Star team because he had the talent and he was the franchise player on the team. Him criticizing all those other guys, he did the same thing when he was young. As soon as they do something wrong, he criticizes them, that’s wrong. He wasn’t real to the game. Let the guys speak out who are real to the game. He talks like a player and I will give him that, but for him to comment about this and being a professional, he wasn’t all that.”

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Northcyde,

You always talk about people back pedaling and apologizing, so you must admire a guy like Charles Oakley.

From sportsradiointerviews.com; On people in New York being mad at him for his comments about the Knicks:

“You know what? If they’re mad at me then they can be mad at me. I’m not going to apologize. I’m a grown man, I do grown things, they know how I roll, I’m gonna keep rolling the way I roll, they know me, I speak the truth, I’m about the truth, and I’m not a bull——-. Charles Oakley ”

I would love to have a guy like Oakley on our team. We need some toughness.

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Surprised no one here (other than MC) has mentioned that Josh Powell got a DNP CD tonight. The less minutes he plays, the better off the Hawks are. For anyone interested in why I believe this to be so, please see his adjusted +/- for this year and previous years. Guys who don’t rebound, are bad defenders who can’t defend the rim or pick and roll, have special affinities for missing layups, and who combine a high usage rate with being a TO machine should stay off the floor. If this happens, the Hawks will be better for it.

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Jeje . . if the Hawks go with that big lineup, ima tell you exactly what will happen in the 1st quarter. We’ll find ourselves in a situation in which the Hawks will be either right with, or behind by 4 or so points, before most of the subs come in.

Cleveland is experimenting themselves, by going with a 3 guard lineup, with Jamison startng at the 4 and Varejao at the 5.

Varejao will have little if any plays called for him, because he’s not a skilled offwnsive player. What he is though, is a scrappy rebounder on both ends of the floor.

None of Collins’ strength as a player will be on display tomorrow night. The matchup against Orlando is totally different from the one with Cleveland. The Cavs almost strictly shoot jumpers and are smallish on the frontline. And they depend on Varejao for rebounding.

Matchup Collins on Varejao, and we’re asking for problems from a rebounding standpoint, And that means that instead of doing what we did to Cleveland back in November ( scoring 40 pts and building a 13 pt lead ), that game may be very tight going into the 2nd quarter.

If I were coach, Collins would get a DNP in both the Cleveland and Golden St. games coming up. Our regular frontline of Horford – Smith – Williams is a much harder matchup for those opponents to defend.

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For maybe the first time ever, I’m in absolutely 100% total agreement with Mr. Strickland.

Collins is at best, a situational starter, like I’ve been describing . . against a scoring, back to the basket type center.

And as for Smith, I don’t like him at SF for extended periods of time, because he tends not to be a factor on the boards. The shot has improved enough for him to play spot minutes at the 3. But he’s only a mediocre player at the 3. He’s a borderline all-star at the 4.

Ken, the blog isn’t hypocritical . . . we’re more on the schizophrenic side.

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northcyde

Just because Big Jason does not get his share of rebounds
does not mean he is not effective on the boards.
You said:
“Matchup Collins on Varejao, and we’re asking for problems
from a rebounding standpoint”
My question to you is why?
Jason can Box Out (boxing out is a skill) allowing Al & Josh
to clean up the boards.
Jason is one of those players who affects the game yet does not
fill up the stat sheet.
Last game DH had 20 rebs, still BigJC had a +10 3rd highest (+/-).

He is the ultimate glue player.
He understands the offense, sets screens, hits an occasional
mid range stand still (not a jumper), plays Team defense,
leans on the opponents [5 man], takes charges, boxes out,
*bumps cutters *Reddick, quietly is an enforcer,
uses his fouls wisely, is a very intelligent player,
and is a great teammate!

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Slim rudy gay isn’t better than josh smith, are u on something? The only trade we need is for a good point a veteran at that, a leader and maybe a tough big. Ld needs to play jordan cause he’s a future star and get mo out of our rotation.

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Back in ‘09 some of us started to speculate that it was indeed plausible that Superman might even be eager to return to Atlanta. Not looking as much like wild speculation at this point, is it? Several things will make that more likely, but there’s plenty time for them to develop. One, the woes of the Magic must continue. Superman badly wants to hoist the O’Brien trophy multiple times before his career is done, and he’s not going to hang around Orlando simply to enjoy 80-degree weather in February. Two, the chump Sund has to put affordable pieces in place to complement Superman’s talents, all the way to the O’Brien trophy. Pulling stupid stunts like selling the 1st pick in the 2nd round of a pretty deep draft instead uncovering inexpensive gold nuggets won’t get it done. Haven’t seen anything that says this chump has the juice to get it done. Three, the chump Sund has to create a budgetary situation that allows Superman to get market rate for his talent here in Atlanta. In other words, don’t even think about non-sensical hometown discount. That means learning from the experiences of the Knicks and the Heat in the run-up to the summer of ‘10. Can’t stumble into the summer of ‘12 without having designed and executed a well thought out 2-yar plan to render the ‘12 budget suitable to comfortably take on D12.

Central to that plan has to be what to do about Joe. ASG can’t – or won’t – agree to ‘carry’ the weight of Joe’s mega-salary and keep the very affordable and blooming Horford, while pursuing Superman. Horford is an almost essential ingredient in Atlanta’s chase of multiple championships, so he must be an untouchable. Hawks might win an O’Brien with JJ and Howard, but likely to win multiple rings with Howard and Horford on the front line and someone more affordable at the SG.

What about Smoove? C’mon man.

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I have no doubt the ASG would clear room to sign DHoward if he became available. The problem is, AHorford’s outside scoring ability would make him a much better fit with DHoward than Smoove. However, his close friendship with Smoove would be a major reason for him signing with the Hawks if he decided to leave Orlando.

It’s been rumored that Dallas wants in on the CAnthony sweepstakes, which means they would definitely have to clear cap space. That could make SF CButler, who’ll be a FA after this season, and C BHeywood available. Would any of you trade happy fanatics consider trading JSmith and Zaza for CButler and BHeywood?

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Among the league leaders in 3-percentage, the Altanta Hawks boast two of the top 20. Care to guess who those two are?

3. Mike Bibby
18. …

Wait for it …

Josh Smith

Reading these blogs, who would have thought?

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@Ken: As much as (just about any) team would covet the Hawks’ J-Smoove, I am just not sure if that move fills a pressing need for Dallas (unless I am missing something). Also, I am not sure how much the combo of Butler/Heywood improves the Hawks, especially after you discount the loss of Josh. (As Hawks fans, at least as far as fans on this blog go, I think many of us are too quick to accentuate the negatives, especially with Josh (and Joe), leaving us with an inaccurate picture of his true value to this team.)

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Correction to 11:33 post – misplaced parenthesis

Should read:
*As much as (just about) any team …

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i wouldn’t give up Marvin for ‘Melo as a rental as part of a deal. Jamal, Mo’ (expiring contracts for the Nuggets), a 1st and a 2nd pick, yes. But Marvin I would keep unless ‘Melo agreed to the long term deal.

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I would gladly trade everyone on this team for Dwight Howard, who the Hawks might have had a chance to draft in ‘04 had it not been for Terry Stotts’ b-tch azz winning a bunch of meaningless games in March and April to take the Hawks out of contention for him.

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The Hawks may be as low as a 6 seed in the playoffs looking long term.
1) Celtics – surprised me to this point. Thought they would tank in the regular season again and then win the East like last year.
2) Heat – Signing Dampier really helped their season. Getting Miller back will also. Less wear and tear on Super Friends.
3) Magic – I still think they overtake the Bulls, especially with Noah out. But the Bulls are playing great.
4) Bulls – They’re stacked and young for the most part. Not great at SG however. And Noah’s out and Boozer’s injury prone, so they may have a tough time.
5) Knicks – I personally don’t think they can keep it up, but we’ll see. We coulda’ had Landry Fields, had 2 shots at him at 27 and 31 in the draft. Kids a nice a player.
6) Hawks – They may make it up to 3 seed if the Magic don’t jell, the Bulls have frontcourt injury problems and the Knicks fade. All 3 of those things are possible.

7 and 8 – Don’t care at this point.

If the above held, we would play the Magic in the 1st round. I would take the Magic, but not by much. And the Hawks would play better than last year, maybe win 2 or even 3 games.

Would that keep LD’s job? Would a 46-36 record keep LD’s job? I hope so. We may even go 48-34 but all that’s just guess work. That’s why they play the games.

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The Bulls won by 43 tonight with Taj Gibson and Noah missing. Wow!

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With Al and Collins and Zaza at the rack we are definitely a 6 maybe 7th seed and out in the first round. Drew is also a weak coach.

Last year was better than this one for the hawks.

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Woodson was and is Clearly a better coach than Drew. Thats why drew was the assistant. Hes not head coach material.

MICHAEL VICK MVP!

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Where is Pape Sy???

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Damn, the Hawks only have four more national TV appearances left this year, and none until late February.

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keep shooting 3’s Josh and watch your team get blown out again for the 3rd consecutive time in the playoffs

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Ok, Guys, crazy trade offer here.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2f3aqjs

Hawks get:
G. Wallace
N. Mohammed
S. Livingston

Nuggets get:
Z. Pachulia
Stephen Jackson
D. Augustin

Bobcats get:
N. Hilario
C. Billups
M. Evans
J. Teague

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Wanna see something funny?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_ogtc-rnd8&feature=related

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If the next blog reads” Hawks release Mo Evans, and LD plans on bringing Marvin off the bench for the remainder of the season”, it’ll be the merriest Christmas I’ve ever had.

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Orlando lost again last night, for the 8th time in 9 games. And their next 2 opponents are Spurs and Celtics. Yikes.

And they have dropped to 6th in the conference, 3rd in the division. I wonder if their fans are panicking.

it was not a bad pick,

Although Marvin defends his position well, one of the reasons why Josh starts is because our perimeter defense is horrible, and Josh helps to clean up some of the mistakes at the rim.

And I think moving Marvin to the bench is the better idea, because that way, he would get more touches. As a starter, there just isnt much touches available for him.

Ramon,

Livingston was available this offseason, but the Hawks didnt even bring him in for a workout.

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it was not a bad pick,

ZaZa should not start over Collins. ZaZa has a better offensive game, but if we are playing a big like Dwight, Twin does a better job of playing Dwight tough (straight up).

And if we have Al and Josh at the 4 and 3, we wont need that much scoring from the Center position.

As for Josh, under the right coach (like Popovich), I think he would have been an all star already.

He needs an established coach like that to get on him, and stay on him, because Josh’s biggest problem is Josh. As good as he is, and as good as he can be, he needs to stay focused at all times, and to play to his strengths more often.

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Shop Josh asap..
ZAZA= “The BIG STIFF”

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With the rumors that Andre Miller may be on the trading block, do you think Miller is someone that can improve the Hawks? He is a solid PG. Plus, If I am not mistaken, he has a team option for next year, so financially, it is not too risky of a move. I am just not sure if he really, truly would fill the Hawks’ specific needs.

And speaking of Portland players, I’ve been saying for over two weeks now that I think Portland would be willing to let Camby go for the right offer (and I don’t think the right offer would have to be that extreme). I would really like the Hawks to pick up Camby (or someone like Camby).

Possible trade:
Jamal Crawford
Zaza Pachulia
Mo Evans
1st round pick
FOR
Marcus Camby
Andre Miller

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Not saying I am convinced that this trade would help put us over the top, but it would be an interesting trade that could possibly help.

MARVIN FOR 6th MAN OF THE YEAR!!! (yeah, I am jumping on that bandwagon.)

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Josh is not a good enough shooter to play the 3?!

How many forwards (small or power) have a better 3-point shooting percentage than Josh? Five. That is all. [1. Bonner 6. Aminu 10. R. Jefferson 14. B. Cook 15. J. Jones 18. J. Smith]

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What to make of this Dallas wanting Melo badly rumor?

Dallas is the hottest team in the NBA [besides maybe Boston].

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? Or is Dallas unsure if its current roster could beat SAS in the earlier rounds or LAL in the WCF?

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@JeJe: Pryzbilla > Camby*? Or is that Camby > Pryzbilla*, but you are just not sure if Portland would go for that? I would also be real hesitant to give up Teague. But that is probably just me.

*Contexted to Hawks specific needs

Dallas always wants every player. lol.

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The Magic are now super deep at PG spot. I’m pretty sure they’re willing to give up Chris Duhon or Jason Williams to get a backup C. Just not sure if they’re willing to give one of those guys up to a division rival.

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If I was B.Roy, I’d sit the rest of the year and come back in 2011 fully healthy. This is what I think Yao should’ve done one of these years.

I also feel Sund should know PTL well, given its proximity to Seattle and being on the West Coast (he got Jamal from GSW).

Come on Sund! That #3 seed is ours for the taking.

And give us a healthy roster and I think we could do damn well against Miami in a 7 game series – however, like I said, if they start Ilgy and we are forced to start Collins, then Horford would have to guard Bosh, which wouldn’t work as well as having Smoove on him.

I brought up this point a few days ago. I think we are better off if Perkins gets healthy and we can put Horford on him so Smoove can match up on KG. If Shaq starts, then we have to start Collins and Smoove on KG would be better than Horford on Smoove, even if Smoove did well against Paul Pierce last Thurs…Just some ideas. More worried about Miami matchups in the front court if Ilgauskas does indeed start

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Way to go Hawks great win keep up the good team work , this Atlanta`s year for sports

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Starting Collins only make sense against one team, and that’s the Magic. As I said, it doesn’t make much sense with Boston, because KG is a bad matchup for Al. And bringing in Collins only slows up the game, that shouldn’t be slowed against them.

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Al’s numbers have been damn good at the 4 though.

What are people’s thoughts on Miami matchups? Horford on Ilgauskas (midrange shooter)?

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And I know Devin Harris has a lot to do with their competitive play agaainst us, but Lopez is just as much of a problem. Horford hardly ever has a good defensive game against that guy.

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Keep in mind starting Collins at the 5 is not _only_ about match ups at the 5, but also about match ups at the 4 and 3.

@JeJe: I have to admit that Camby’s contract is less than ideal, but that may help the deal work in the Hawks’ favor. That is, maybe that allows the deal to get done. If Portland is in rebuilding mode, it makes more sense for them to hold onto their expiring center contract and trade off their higher priced, not expiring contract center. I don’t think Camby’s contract makes it a deal breaker for the Hawks, though, as he only has one year past this year guaranteed (if I am not mistaken). Camby + Miller gives the Hawks a good two year window (this year and next) to make things work. If things look like they are not working by year’s end, Miller’s contract is not guaranteed for next year (again, if I am not mistaken), and I am sure Camby will become very tradeable next year (as long as injuries don’t hit him too hard).

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Mo, ZaZa and Etan for Gerald Wallace. That’d give us 1-2 slots for improving the team come Feb as well as helping on the boards and rebounds. Love Wallace’s knack for the boards.

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When you look @ trade scenarios, one must look @
the other teams motivation. Much like Ken Strickland,
I would love G.Wallace due to his tenacious defense.
However, the B-cats are wanting a bundle.
I’m not quite certain [Mo, Zaza, & Etan] equates a bundle.

Since MC will not whet our appetite;
I have taken it upon myself to scour the web for every rumor
possible. I have seen and or read so many that I cannot remember
where each & every one came from. therefore documentation will
be a problem sometimes. [Hey, I'm not a journalist].
My sources are varied, many, many, many newspapers as I read
voraciously. Most are speculation while others are just someone
throwing some garbage against the wall to see if it sticks.

So, Grandad’s trade “rumor” of the day!

To Memphis:
Jamal, JC2, ZaZa & Mo
To Hawks:
Zack Randolph & OJ Mayo

Don’t attack me I’m only a rumor monger.

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Guess our question for you, Grandad, would be like Memphis, can OJ effectively run the point? I’d venture that Zebo would more than replace ZaZa and hopefully we wouldn’t get burned by losing JC2.

Mo, like Joe, is pushing his body too quickly. He should’ve healed b/f limping back. We can use him, but not at the level he’s able to give us lately. Dude’s running ~70%, that’s just not enough.

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To Memphis:
Jamal, JC2, ZaZa & Mo
To Hawks:
Zack Randolph & OJ Mayo

That would be a very nice trade. But we’d have three very productive PFs. A 3 way or another trade would need to happen but, love the trade idea.

Horf

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Oh Man, Chicago beat down the 76′ers by 45 last night??? Have won 8 of 9…Not bad…Pretty good coaching out there too..Look out people..

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Duck/Cash/2-1st round picks for DWILL
Josh for Rudy Gay…

C’mon Rick Sund. Do something dude or it’s going get ugly for your squad…

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I don’t see a trade as a must. IF we can improve, so be it, but don’t freak out b/c other teams are in panic mode. Feb will offer some amazing opportunities to pick up some studs. Question is will ASG be able to drop players and sign new ones to solidify this roster? Will they go into the tax to make the jump?

I still say we need to find ways to improve the slots Mo, ZaZa and Etan reside.

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Great to have JJ back to bailout the “three stooges” again!! Hawks are are going to be in big trouble come Feb..Keep up the great work JJ!!

Sund=Knight

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League sources told FanHouse that the Bobcats and Portland have discussed a trade that would send beloved small forward Gerald Wallace to the Blazers with center DeSagana Diop and point guard D.J. Augustin in exchange for center Marcus Camby and point guard Andre Miller. And while the Blazers are exploring a litany of their own options and don’t appear eager to do the deal as of now, the discussion that is one of many being had by the Bobcats reveals plenty about the sort of the on-court changes Jordan has in mind for his club. FanHouse.com

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Looks like we jumped the gun on the Magic. That team is looking pretty good right now. They’re gonna be good when it’s all said and done. They’ll still be better than the Hawks, im afraid.

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More from hoopshype.com;

Adrian Wojnarowski: Charles Oakley has officially joined Paul Silas’ coaching staff with the Bobcats, league sources tell Y! Sports. Twitter .

I didnt know Oakley wanted into coaching.

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Excellent win…Visit sports for more.

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