Atlanta Hawks: Dwight Howard not feeling his hometown Hawks (and more notes)
Orlando–Well, so much for my theory that the Hawks could have let J.J. walk, pared down the rest of their payroll and then made a run at Dwight in 2012.
It sounds as if the Hometown Hawks aren’t good enough for Dwight. This is where I imagine my blog people, normally inclined to agree with Dwight on this matter, find your inner Hawk fandom and tell Dwight to STHU. Unless he really wants to come home and play for the Hawks, in which case, never mind.
Anyway, here are some next-day notes that didn’t make the cut for print . . .
- Stan Van Gundy said the Hawks have identified Redick and Ryan Anderson as mismatches: “Clearly they are going to go at Ryan every time and go at J.J. virtually every time. We have got to be prepared to deal with those kind of things because those two guys help our offense and help give us a lot more space on the floor. So we need to play those guys at the offensive end and we need to find some ways to help them at the defensive end.”
- Van Gundy and Magic GM Otis Smith both called out Turkoglu for looking to pass more than score off screens. “When he got 17 assists he turned into a point guard, pass first and shoot second,” Smith said. “He has to do it the other way around if you have the ability to score the ball, which he does.”
- Translation: Turkoglu should be able to score on Smoove, and if he’s not, then he’s not really providing anything out there.
- Smith said it’s going to take more than just a half a season for Arenas’ game to fit with the Magic, if it can at all: “I’m not sure. My thing with him now is he has to take care of the basketball, make open shots and defend his man.”
- As might be expected from a coach with a defense-first mentality, the Magic didn’t spend much time going over their offense despite the Dwight-Jameer-or-nothing Game 1. “People focused on we only had two guys score but the bigger problem is we had 18 turnovers,” Van Gundy said. “If we can get that down to 10 or 12—every turnover is worth a little bit more than a point–then you cut six turnovers and you are [adding] about eight points.”
- More Van Gundy on defense: “Where they really hurt us–and this is how they play– is perimeter pull-up jump shots. They only had eight layups in the game. Johnson, Crawford, Hinrich all hit pull-ups and obviously Horford gets his pick-and-pop jumpers. Our focus has been on protecting the paint but they are not really looking to get to the rim a whole lot.”
- Translation: Expect the Magic to make the Hawks put the ball on the floor and drive into the land of Dwight iN Game 2. There was a time when I would have said the Hawks couldn’t adjust and pull off such a plan but I saw enough in Game 1 to make me think that maybe they can.
- And, yes, that is one of those statements I may later regret because is there another team that can make you look stupid faster whenever you praise or criticism them?
- Van Gundy on the value of size: “When I was first working with Bob McAdoo in Miami, and Bob had been one of the great shooting big men in the league, and he always said playing against smaller guys always gave him tremendous confidence. Because at the end of the day no matter how hard they played he knew he could always get his shot over the top. All he had to do was concentrate on making it. He didn’t have to adjust, he didn’t have to rush. That’s where the size gives them an advantage. They can just raise up. What we have got to do is do a better job of taking away their space to get the pull ups. We have got to get our help to them a little bit earlier and try to keep them out on the perimeter a little bit.”
- I can tell you from my days covering the Heat that McAdoo can still stroke Js. I saw him take cash in shooting games from more than one naive rookie.
- Van Gundy on the Hawks: “It’s not just that they don’t double team. They switch a lot of the time, they stay home. They are using their size to contest shots. They are going to basically play their defense one-on-one and they want their offense one-on-one. We made a couple of mistakes where they ran some good things and got stuff open but not many. It was basically: ‘At the end of the play we are going one-on-one.”
- More Van Gundy: “Jameer comes on his pick-and-rolls and they don’t really rotate over. Dwight’s guy is just trying to get back to him and Hinrich has got to do the best job he can–or Joe Johnson or whoever–getting over the picks and play Jameer. They will help out of the corner a little bit but that guy is pretty much on his own. The other [Magic] players aren’t open and it limits your chances to move the ball so we have got to find some way to get into some ball movement and get other people involved because we don’t want it to be played just as a one-on-one game.”
- It’s weird to hear the Magic talking about they need to share the ball when their All-NBA center was scary-efficient scoring machine. But doesn’t it kind of make sense at the same time?
- L.D. on Orlando’s Dwight-or-nothing offense: “He was just manhandling us. They just kept posting and, to be honest, I might have done the same thing. You go with what’s working. He was very efficient in his post-ups. With that being said, it does create a problem with the other guys [with] are they being involved enough. My concern is not Dwight. My concern is the other guys.”
- J.J. on timing his shots around the rim to avoid Dwight: “I try to get a good feel. I don’t know what they are going to do change up, but I know when I get to the basket, if the dump off is not there, I know he is coming trying to block my shots. I am just trying to get my shot off quick or get it up high enough where he can’t get it, or if he does get it then it’s a goal tending.”
- Hinrich on getting in Jameer’s grill without getting whistled: “You have to be careful and be smart about your fouls. I just want to be aggressive. It seems when you are not so aggressive that’s when you get cheap fouls. Just be aggressive and try to play tough defensively and we did a pretty good job.”
- L.D. on the core: “We are not that young team anymore. Having some experience under our belt, I think it is important going into any playoff season. One thing when you look at this team, it’s a little different than it’s been in the past. When teams make runs on us on the road you don’t see that sense of panic like you have in the past.”
- AJC wise guy Jeff Schultz on L.D.
- L.D. on Twin vs. Dwight: “The things we need him to do against Dwight, he’s doing it. He is going to foul him at times, give up positioning at times. He’s going to get dunked on at times. The most important thing is to try to make him earn anything and when he does that he’s done his job.”
- L.D. on No Twin vs. Dwight: “We didn’t play Jason last year. The reality is Jason is our best big defender. It’s one of the reasons why when I got the job, I was adamant that we re-signed Jason. I had Jason when I was in New Jersey and I’ve always looked at him as a guy who knows how to defend down low. At the end of the day when you look at the stat shot not be impressed but as a coach I watch the tape and I see the little things that he does away from the basketball.”
- L.D. on if he’s content that staying home and letting Dwight get his is a winning strategy: “I’m not content but I may not have any choice. We don’t know how we will defend him come Tuesday night. All we know is what we have done in the past has worked and sometimes it hasn’t worked. Do we deviate from it? I’m not sure right now.”
- L.D. said players lobbied him to abandon the Dwight Defense as he kept thrashing all of Atlanta’s big men. A key moment came when Arenas made a corner 3 on a broken defensive assignment in the second quarter.
- “We defended it how we did last year,” L.D. said. “I saw a little bit of–I won’t say panic—but our guys thought it was time to make an adjustment, which I clearly did not think it was time because it was a one- or two-point ball game at the time. I’ve got my main three big guys on the bench with two fouls. As long as we kept it close I was going to continue to just play him head’s up as much as we could. I called timeout to reiterate, ‘That is not the game plan, we not not going to start opening up that game plan.’ I saw a little temptation might have been there but I was not going to do it at that time.”
- Twin on that play: “We only had one mistake where we came on the double team and didn’t rotate. That was in the second quarter and L.D. quickly let us know that wasn’t the game plan.”
- J.J. is all for sticking with the Dwight Defense: “If we can win, we will definitely keep it the same way. Hopefully he slows down throughout the series. As perimeters we pretty much have to stay home on their shooters because if their shooters are making shots they are going to be tough to beat.”
- Al sounds as if he’s with it, too: “They are such a dangerous team they can make threes and score inside. We have to be able to live with one of them. For us we are trying to do our best job and not give them any clean looks from the 3-point line. The 3-point line is the biggest equalizer, so that’s our biggest focus.”
- Van Gundy on Atlanta’s 3-point D: “Not that we got a lot of them but we had better looks last night than during the regular season [vs. the Hawks]. We missed six or seven corner threes. I don’t have an answer for that. They are not going to come off Ryan on anything, which is fine because that just opens up more space.”
- J.J. said he came out looking to test Redick after he missed so much time with an injury: “Going right at him. For a guy who hasn’t played for 17 games obviously it is going to be a little difficult early. So we just wanted to try and come out and take advantage of that.”
- Some media types keep asking the Hawks about last year’s playoffs and the Hawks keep shrugging off the questions. Said Al: “I kept telling people we left last year with last year, at least I did. When you start dwelling on the past and revenge and things like that, that’s when you get caught up and they can be in your head. The first game of this regular season [at Orlando], that’s when we were able to put it behind us.”
Michael Cunningham, Hawks beat
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170 comments Add your comment
Wabe
April 17th, 2011
11:13 pm
Truthfully, I’m rooting for Boston over those Knicks. Not because I like the C’s one bit, I can’t stand the C’s.
But, if the Hawks were to advance, I’d rather get the Bulls than the Heat. Don’t know why, because the Bulls pretty much owned the Hawks throughout the regular season. I still think we’d be better off against the Bulls should we advance past this round.
Melvin
April 17th, 2011
11:14 pm
My goodness, who is the coach for the Magic? Van Gundy or Otis Smith? The Magic are in disarray and trying to use last year playoffs to intimidate the Hawks this year. Not going to work…. Lets Go Hawks.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 17th, 2011
11:36 pm
“Refs helped Boston with the phantom foul against Anthony and no call offensive foul on Paul P in crunch time!!!
I see what your doing Mr Stern, clear as night and day…Your league is rigged!!!!!!!”
Why would Stern fix it so that the team from the largest media market doesn’t win?
Najeh Davenpoop
April 17th, 2011
11:37 pm
This Nuggets-Thunder series is living up to the hype so far. It’s too bad one of these teams has to go home in the first round.
Slimjr
April 17th, 2011
11:46 pm
The skill set of the OKC/Denver teams is simply amazing!
Melvin
April 17th, 2011
11:47 pm
Uh oh….
Alex Kennedy: Magic fan in tunnel: “It’s just one win, it doesn’t mean anything.” Jeff Teague: “All we needed was one, baby!”
Slimjr
April 17th, 2011
11:50 pm
Kevin is going off now..In his zone now…He’ll get 40 sumthin tonight after a slow start….
His mid range 10-15 foot jumpers are surreal….
brigadierjerry
April 17th, 2011
11:54 pm
Refs helped Boston with the phantom foul against Anthony and no call offensive foul on Paul P in crunch time!!!
I see what your doing Mr Stern, clear as night and day…Your league is rigged!!!!!!!
slimjr yes that was a terrible no call on the pick of tony douglas for the allen 3 and the flop on pierce
northcyde
April 17th, 2011
11:55 pm
Everytime you think Denver might die . . they come back to life. This is a very good game.
Slimjr
April 17th, 2011
11:55 pm
NENE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poster Child……………………Pick and roll for Dunks!!!
Slimjr
April 18th, 2011
12:01 am
ALLSTAR AL ARE YOU WATCHING NENE PUT ON A CLINIC ON HOW YOU COME OFF SETTING PICKS AND ROLLING TO THE BASKETS FOR THUNDER DUNKS..OH THATS RIGHT TOO SLOW OF FOOT TO DUPLICATE…ALSO YOU TEAMMATES NEED COACHING UP TO HIT YOU WITH THE RIGHT PASS….
northcyde
April 18th, 2011
12:06 am
The OKC crowd sounds like the Sacramento crowd back in the early 90s when the Kings were good.
And Slimjr . . I agree. If Al had that to his offensive arsenal, to go along with the pick and pop jumper, he would be dangerous. Nene simply plays like a center, and I think that’s the difference.
Slimjr
April 18th, 2011
12:07 am
no bucket??? SEE HOW THE REFS ON PURPOSE DONT CALL OUT OFFENSIVE INTERFERENCE ON OKC AT HOME! THAT WAS AN OBVIOUS CALL…
I GET YA STERN………
Slimjr
April 18th, 2011
12:09 am
NENE IS MUCH BETTER THAN AL!
NENE SHOULD BE AN ALLSTAR????????????????????
northcyde
April 18th, 2011
12:09 am
Early 2000s . . . not early 90s
Slimjr
April 18th, 2011
12:16 am
MR STERN THATS TWO STRAIGHT PLAYOFFS GAMES TONIGHT ON TNT WHERE YOUR REFS HELPED IMPACT THE OUTCOME OF TWO HUGE PLAYOFF GAMES!!!!!
MAYBE THE ALLEGATION PUT FORTH BY THE YOUR FORMER REF SENT TO JAIL MAY HAVE SOME MERIT?? HE STATED YOU GUYS INFLUENCED OUT COMES OF GAMES ESPECIALLY IN THE PLAYOFFS….SOMETHIN LOOKS FISHY ON MY LCD SCREEN….
Sleepy
April 18th, 2011
12:20 am
You guys need to leave Stern alone before he decides to turn his attention towards our matchup. Weve already been banished to nbatv dont make it worse .
drmaryb (*_-)
April 18th, 2011
1:30 am
Stayed in School!
“drmaryb, the fact you address me on every single blog means you must be magically infatuated or just have a lot of time on your hands. I feel bad for someone so obsessed with herself that she has to incessantly post useless garbage about celebrities when she allegedly is some Doctor.
- JeJe -
______________________
JeJe if you met me you would be magically infatuated with me too.
If you want to feel sorry for me, do it because I did stay in school 22 years straight. I had no life for a very long time. I left High School and went straight to the pros, (that’s 10 years of under graduate and graduate school combined). I only borrowed $258K for graduate school alone. Feel sorry for me because of how much I owe the
D.O.E. – LOL -
But, hey man I didn’t do all that so I could work 65 hrs/week for the man? I did it because I have passion for my craft and I get to set my own hours to 25/week and make what I owe them people every 6 months. I also have an incredible staff of professional that work for my
LLC, so I also provide employment for families.
I’m into HIRING people not FIRING them.
_______________
But, you know what? I really do enjoy reading your posts.
You bring fun, excitement and you really add something valuable to the conversation. I really admire your thick skin and you can take all my knuckle rubs to the head that I give you.
You’re like my sparring partner in a boxing match. Sometimes you beat me and sometimes I beat you. You know I fight hard and dirty right?
I hit below the belt, I chuck garbage cans, folding chairs, head butt and I got a shank in my boots. At the end of the day, I love me some JeJe!
If you stopped blogging, I would be very sad.
In essence, you let me be me. I think you are a good man.
________________
And, that is the realist ISH I ever posted.
Buddy Grizzard
April 18th, 2011
1:38 am
Correct Najeh, it’s only because the Hawks outscored the Magic with KH on the floor that LD could keep JC1 in the game.
drmaryb (*_-)
April 18th, 2011
1:53 am
Sunday Dinner!
MC!
Boy you out did yourself today! You serving SOUL FOOD now?
We got chitterlings and collard greens on the table …. Mmmm Good.
You put yo foot off in them greens!
Aye JeJe! Please pass the hot sauce and biscuits.
_____________________
Seriously great blog today. Play Offs has a tendency to upgrade everybody’s game – the bloggers on fire this week end. I’m gonna chew on MC’s juicy rib-tips and enjoy reading all the comments. I’ll chime in tomorrow sometime, if I’m not too busy with my report writing.
G-Nite fellas.
Larry
April 18th, 2011
7:04 am
Dwight Howard…just another fake “Christian Soldier” that can’t write or speak intelligently and sports an illegitimate child on his resume.
drmaryb (*_-)
April 18th, 2011
7:31 am
Observation!
Much like that mis-interpretation of Mr. Johnson’s famous quote in the Magic series last season, I just don’t see where Dwight said Atlanta can take him off their list of possible destinations in impending
UFA 2012.
I read between the lines, twice. I just don’t see it.
And, already the country biscuit head fan is roasting this man. The personal attack on Dwight is not necessary. You don’t know one thing about the birth of that man’ love child, nor it’s legitimacy status.
Who are you? One of those ignorant Tea Party – Birthers?
O'Brien
April 18th, 2011
7:34 am
Will the real Kirk Hinrich please stand up? We’re gonna have a problem here…
O'Brien
April 18th, 2011
7:36 am
my 2 favorite teams to watch out West are Denver and OKC. I was disappointed that they had to play each other in the first round. There was a bad call in that game too. Shouldnt that have been offensive interference on Perkins?
Knicks had a great chance to win that game. But they went away from Amare, and Carmelo struggled. 5-18 from the field (including some bad shots), and 5 turnovers.
And talk about players not being smart. Dude was 2-7 from 3. Game is on the line, less than 10 seconds to go, and what does he do? Throw up a contested 3. SMH.
MsDee
April 18th, 2011
8:11 am
@O’Brien,
I have a friend who is just a big of a Knicks fans as I am a Hawks fan and I was just telling him Carmelo struggled that game just as bad as Joe Has been struggling all season, but WHAT DO the HC do??? They give the last shot to that SUPERSTAR that has been struggling all games instead of the player who was aggressive in the game about 3 possessions prior to that play (Amare) or instead of the player who just hit a HUGE 3per (Doulgas) just seconds ago. Horford or Josh could have been the stars of the game but who will the HC go to in crunch time??? Joe Johnson, just b/c he is our so called SUPERSTAR!!
But not knocking on Joe as of late cause someone has awaken the dead in him..HE’S ALIVE!!
MsDee
April 18th, 2011
8:19 am
For some strange reason, Carmelo is no different than Joe when it comes to the level of ’superstar’. The Lebron’s, Wade’s, and Kobe’s of the game would have pulled up for that 3per but ONLY if they could have made enough contact to draw the foul. The Carmelo’s and Joe Johnson’s of the game would have tried to make the BIG SHOT WINNER instead of drawing the contact or becoming a decor just to hit Amare/Horford or Douglas/Josh for the easy basket, esp, if they were the ones with the HOT HANDS!! SUPERSTARS make the RIGHT decision and the RIGHT time, no matter if that decision was a shot or the perfect pass for the game winner and/or AND1 play!! Case-in-point..That perfect pass to Kyle Korver from the SUPASTAR he is, DERRICK ROSE!!
phil
April 18th, 2011
8:44 am
Well, I said they would sweep us in 4…i was dead wrong about that and kudos to the boys for stepping up for once….problem is, need three more just like it.
We’ll see….
Grandad
April 18th, 2011
9:02 am
superiorblogman
I will keep you in my prayers.
[They're my prayers & I can have you in them if I wish]
As I told you once before, I’m willing to meet and talk.
[debate, argue, fistfight, discuss the greatest game on earth,?]
I’m sorry for your troubles.
You have lived 33 years.
[same as Jesus]
Live for today…”make today your masterpiece”.
Make every day count.
” If you have a chance to help others and you don’t
then you are wasting your time here on earth.”
— Roberto Clemente —
” It’s only when we truly know and understand
that we have a limited time on earth
and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up,
we will then begin to live each day to the fullest,
as if it was the only one we had ”
— Elisabeth Kubler-Ross —
#thebalkan
April 18th, 2011
9:04 am
Dwight is sponsored by adidas. In his newest commercial he represents Atlanta. Check 5 seconds into it…the Atlanta Hawks’ own philips arena is shown. If he really hates losing to us and the Hawks “aren’t good enough for Dwight”, maybe adidas should modify the commercial…which apparently they did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfoAOP6gVc4
LET’S GO HAWKS!!!
Grandad
April 18th, 2011
9:08 am
superiorblogman
Suggested reading = anything by:
*['Elisabeth Kubler-Ross']
Check out her works, it may help.
(she is no longer with us)
Grandad
April 18th, 2011
9:17 am
Slimjr
I know you love Nene, as do I.
However, we cannot trade Josh or Al for him.
Nene doesn’t rebound well enough. (only 7 per)
I would like to see him teamed with Josh and Al,
but we cannot afford to give up [any] rebounding whatsoever.
Please…I’m not debating… just saying…
we need to add not subtract rebounding.
Kaman will be available at a lesser price.
bailer
April 18th, 2011
9:22 am
most of the tiime i just read but i have to say drmaryr, you are one stupid dumb ars. some one threw you a penny and now you think you are hot s–t.
D man
April 18th, 2011
9:37 am
I’m not a believer yet. Still the same ole Hawks to me. If they win again, maybe I get a little excited. While watching the other night, I kept waiting for them to fold and they kept up the intensity. BUT, I’ve seen this before way too many times to get excited yet. MAKE ME A BELIEVER HAWKS!!!
JeJe
April 18th, 2011
9:41 am
FIRE LD.
doc
April 18th, 2011
9:43 am
dmb it is early to bed early to rise not late to bed early to rise. dont use up your jing too quickly dear. heh heh
Slimjr
April 18th, 2011
10:05 am
Good idea Grandad, to add NENE to the Hawks without subtracting AL and Josh would be spectacular!!! What a performance he put on last night on TNT..
Scottie make it so.. AYE Captain!!
Carmelo=Ewing,
BYC
April 18th, 2011
10:26 am
Good game by the Hawks. It’s scary that we are getting most of our points from the perimeter. At some point the hot jumpshooting streak is going to go cold and I hope we can make the adjustments, drive hard, and pick up fouls on dwight.
tremaine
April 18th, 2011
10:29 am
If the hawks win this series I guess everybody will be satisfied. SAD!!!
KevinM
April 18th, 2011
10:30 am
I agree with others..this blog has become playoff intensive. Its show up or go home time!
The Hawks stepped up big time and the Magic truly can’t believe they’re in this position. Is there doubt? I think so, but all it does is now we have their full attention. The question is, can we duplicate what we have just accomplished? It doesn’t matter, home or away, LD’s guys play this team well either locale.
Now, all it takes is for Turk, JRich or Gil to start dropping in buckets and this series will change significantly.
What LD’s guy’s have to avoid is their inconsistent ways of 2010-11. Continue to go at these guys and force them to make a play.
Right now, no one is talking about this series; the Lakers, OKC, and the Spurs losing is gathering much more attention. We have to go up 3-0 to get any national discussion. Everyone will say what’s wrong with the Magic instead of stating that LD has figured out how to beat this team.
So far, like the Boston series in ‘07, the one thing Game 1 did is secure LD of another season. I would prefer that not have happened, but since its all but written in stone, we’re going to have to deal with this group for another season now. That’s the bad thing about what happened this past weekend.
Jumping the gun abit here I know, but it’s just frustrating to watch this team sometimes play to its potential, and not ‘consistentcy’.
Rev in Tampa
April 18th, 2011
10:31 am
In the spirit of team rivalry I’ve been trying to start up the rumor, as if I am a Magic fan, on the Magic Blog that Dwight is headed to Atlanta next year (hometown, friendship with Josh, AAU teammates, etc.). The sad thing is that they have so few postings on their site that I have to keep nurturing it along slowly. I even refered them to this blog since MC was mentioning it. They do not even like the suggestion. They keep telling me to just shut up. It sounds like they are in denial about Dwight leaving at all.
I will say that the quaility and knowledge of the Hawks fans exceeds Magic fans by leaps and bounds. If you want to feel even better about our blog community then go to the Magic blog on the Olrando Sentinel for a quality comparison.
Also it looks like Harry the Hawk was over there punking the Magic fans.
I’ve been waiting to post on here so that I would not be found out too easily by the Orlando “fans”.
JeJe
April 18th, 2011
10:31 am
I don’t understand how people want to keep the core but add a PG and Center
Good luck with that
KevinM
April 18th, 2011
10:32 am
Slimjr, the Hawks I am sure are one of those teams that is claiming huge revenue issues. No way they add any significant player next year, and Nene has no reason to come to Atlanta. Might as well ask for Dwight at this point.
Astro Joe
April 18th, 2011
10:41 am
I think we should trade the players from our team who don;t play well in the playoffs for the guys on other teams who ARE playing well in the playoffs. Or better yet, keep our core group of players and trade for guys as good as our core players but do so by only using those non-core players. Any of the above should be super-easy to accomplish, as other teams would value our non-core players at least as much as their core players. Let’s trade Zaza & Magnum Rolle straight up for Nene and Ty Lawson.
newkid
April 18th, 2011
10:48 am
@MC, couldn’t one put D12’s comments down to a desire to view the ‘home team’ as desparately in need of his services? Couldn’t losing to the ‘home team’ weaken his sense of the team’s overwhelming need for his services, and lessen the extent to which his arrival will be seen as a saving grace? Couldn’t Dwight be just a tad envious of the manner in which LBJ’s ‘home team’ fans pined for his re-signing before ‘the announcement’, and thought how wonderful it would be to have that sort of adulation from a 6+ million metro area that barely even knew his name before he was drafted by the Orlando Majic? If he and his team consistently beat up on the Hawks, and he finally decides to relent by bringing his talents to Atlanta, doesn’t that (fame) do for a young man’s ego what no amount of money can? Sheould we be just a little careful with a rush to judgement?
JeJe
April 18th, 2011
10:58 am
This reminds me a lot of the Miami series 2 years ago.
We dominated them in Rd 1 then we got killed in game 2 (I was at both games).
LD has to be ready for the adjustments and anticipate them. I’d let Dwight get his because he is due to miss most of his FTs the next game. Just don’t let Turk or J-Rich get it going and hope Redick doesn’t feel good enough to go off either
bigdave
April 18th, 2011
11:28 am
“its my hometown team” .. doesnt sound to me like he’s too good..
if you ask me he’s reppin pretty hard..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfoAOP6gVc4
Michael Cunningham
April 18th, 2011
11:28 am
@doc: “mc, dwight aint coming here anymore than kobe will end up in philly. anyway he isnt even a draw in his home town as good as he is and being a native. nope not going to happen. he has never uttered even the slightest of hints that i can remember he wanted to come here. move on folks.”
the Hawks with Dwight most definitely would be a draw, not because he’s a hometown guy but because he’s the best center of his generation.
Buddy Grizzard
April 18th, 2011
11:35 am
KevinM
April 18th, 2011
10:32 am
“No way they add any significant player next year, and Nene has no reason to come to Atlanta. Might as well ask for Dwight at this point.”
If you follow the labor negotiations, what they’re working toward now is a means to transition into a by-team hard cap while honoring and not rolling back current contracts for teams that will be way over the cap once a new, lower cap is instituted.
So we’ve got Joe, who if he continues to play as he did in game one will increase his trade value exponentially. If he ends the season on fire, teams no longer see him as an under-performing player still owed $100m over 5 years. That superstar contract can then be traded for another one.
Michael Cunningham
April 18th, 2011
11:37 am
@newkid: “@MC, Couldn’t losing to the ‘home team’ weaken his sense of the team’s overwhelming need for his services, and lessen the extent to which his arrival will be seen as a saving grace? Couldn’t Dwight be just a tad envious of the manner in which LBJ’s ‘home team’ fans pined for his re-signing before ‘the announcement’, and thought how wonderful it would be to have that sort of adulation from a 6+ million metro area that barely even knew his name before he was drafted by the Orlando Majic? If he and his team consistently beat up on the Hawks, and he finally decides to relent by bringing his talents to Atlanta, doesn’t that (fame) do for a young man’s ego what no amount of money can? Sheould we be just a little careful with a rush to judgement?”
that’s a lot to digest. Dwight is already famous and i doubt he needs the adulation of his hometown fans for his ego. if you believe the speculation, he needs Hollywood to boost his “brand” which seems to be the main consideration for most of the players of his generation. that’s not a judgment–we are all selfish to varying degrees–it’s just the way it is.
JeJe
April 18th, 2011
11:37 am
YAGA!