Atlanta Hawks: Rockets 95, Hawks 84

16 point 3rd quarter, that stuff is just maddening!!!

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Happy New year’s MC, but like I said on the other blog two things working against the hawks officiating and the Rockets themselves.

It didn’t help that LD didn’t realize when to sub the right people in he still seems to have a problem with that.

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I like that T-Mac seems mad and not settling. Josh played horribly. Al needed more offense ran through him and to not get schooled by Scola. JJ’s night wasn’t horrible but that shouldnt be all you can say for 20 million. JT0 never got aggressive. Makes me wonder if LD got on to him for scoring too many points. LOL. Willie Green and Pargo looked better. Vlad Rad didn’t add much to the game. The “Core” needs to be held accountable. He pulled Teague for not being aggressive but then lets Josh play like crap and Joe too…

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The reserves were making a comeback..^^^^

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I guess hoping and praying was not enough. I do not want to be a Josh Smith basher but damn, he lied and will truly hurt us this year. He still has no basketball IQ and continues to play stupid. The coach better bench him this year because he will truly hurt this team.

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@ doc

not saying the starting line-up probably except Marvin played badly cause they did I was disappointed to watch them, but LD so far again seems to be in over his head not making the right subs and taking people out at the wrong time.

Like if Josh is taking those retarded J’s you sit him.

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“so where were the core front line of marvin, josh and al. i know where they usually are pizzing in their pants against bigger front lines. same ole, same ole. ”

Yes.. 6 years later? Huh? Exposed once again this Core front line….Jettison the core Gearon!

D12,D12,D12……Help!

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McGrady is getting paid vet minum and JJ is getting paid 24 million and tmac ids out performing him. sad

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I’m sure after jt’s great last game ld lectured him about the game wasn’t all about scoring ld is out to destroy jt & is one hell of a dumb coach.

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the rockets just played harder and made there open shots. nothing more nothing less people. hortfard needs to be traded while his value is high, but only if it is an upgrade or for a high draft pick. josh needs to stop shooting jump shots if he is going to miss them, its no problem if he makes them.

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2012 team vs 2011 team – you pick ‘em. from what I saw and heard tonight, this team doesn’t make the playoffs this year or limps in with some help. .500 team so far. Gotta say though that I’m pleasantly surprised by Teague’s play so far.

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“Josh Smith had another erratic offensive night. There were missed Js, wayward drives to the basket, strong scores at the rim and eight-free throw attempts (but he only made four).”

DAMN SHAME SMH

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Why did Drew keep Josh on the floor so much? The guy was melting down and Drew did nothing! Terrible coaching and a typical flat Hawks effort. This team is going nowhere past the second round (if its lucky). They need to either trade Josh or fire LD. Or even both!

Sometimes this team plays so dumb I can’t believe it. One pass long jumpshot offense will never win games but that was their major offense for a lot of the night. Just bemusing!!!!!!

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Why don’t these recaps have any mention of L.D.’s mistakes or questionable decision making? We are quick to point out what the players do wrong, but our pathetic coach fails to ever admit to doing anything wrong himself. How about asking why he continues to harm the team by taking his players out of the game due to his perception of “foul trouble”. Subbing in Jason Collins due to the fact that Zaza Pachulia had 2 fouls in the second quarter is just plain unacceptable. The backup center, let me repeat that BACKUP CENTER, had 2 fouls. A guy who isn’t going to play more than around 20 minutes on most nights anyway was subbed out for a guy who had nothing positive to contribute in this game. Larry Drew needs to learn the strengths and weaknesses of his personnel. Can someone ask him why he has so much trouble understanding that his subbing hurts the team more than “foul trouble”? Does Drew even understand what foul trouble is the way other coaches around the league do?

How about asking Drew why he continues to keep guys like Josh in the game when they are hurting the team more than helping. It was very clear early on that Josh was not contributing in a positive fashion to the game. Where is the accountability? Also, why was Marvin subbed out early and why did he play so few minutes? How about asking about that? Marvin was actually playing well at the start when no one else was, and was he rewarded at all for that? No. Does L.D. just play favorites and have personal problems with certain players?

What kind of message does that send to someone like Marvin? It’s basically like the coach telling him “Well, Marvin, you’re playing pretty good, but I’d rather Josh score the points than you. He’s been garbage out there in this quarter, but you know what? I like him better, so have a seat.” If Larry Drew wants locker room problems, he should keep it up. I wouldn’t doubt that everyone on the team other than Joe, Josh, and guys on minimum scale contracts who might not have options asked to be traded or signed elsewhere if L.D. were hired long term.

Also, L.D. talked a lot last year about wanting to play inside more and not “settling” for jump shots. Well, if that’s the case, why was Josh shooting so many jumpers without consequence? Also, if you want inside play, why go away from the one player who was actually playing well inside? Al has actually looked pretty good in the post so far this season. In 1 vs. 1 opportunities, he has been producing, and tonight, on all of his attempts inside, other than the one where he spun around for a fadeaway shot, I think he either scored or was fouled. Why not milk that advantage until houston adjusts? What is L.D.’s excuse for that? Joe and Josh weren’t getting enough shots, so we need Al and Marvin to stop touching the ball to give them more shots?

Here’s another question to ask L.D. How do you expect your players to listen to you when you preach one thing and then do the opposite during games? Or how about this: How do you expect players to play hard for you when they know that they won’t be rewarded for good play, meanwhile the favorites won’t ever be penalized regardless of badly they play. The bench on most teams is a great motivator since guys on the bench want to play well so that they will earn more playing time. That won’t work here in Atlanta since Drew doesn’t award playing time based upon performance. He seemingly awards it based upon personal relationships and preference. We are always talking about how guys didn’t play hard enough after a loss. Well, even though guys should be playing hard simply because they are being paid to do so, most of these players don’t seem to think that way, and Drew’s flawed way of running things is giving them no incentive to want to play hard for him.

How about we start looking at the big picture and questioning the man in charge of the team on the court? Mike Woodson was no hall of fame coach, and he couldn’t even get a head coaching job in the NBA after leaving atlanta, yet he led the team to 53 wins. If Drew can’t even do what Woodson did in the regular season, is he really the right guy for the job. Yes, we got embarrassed in the playoffs under woodson against the Magic due to bad coaching, and the Hawks defeated orlando last year under Drew. Drew did one thing well there, he made the decision not to double dwight Howard. Congratulations, Drew, you did one thing well. Now, how about correcting the infinitely-long list of mistakes?

Is Atlanta just decent right now because we have made the most of our talent and simply can’t go further with the current roster, or are we just not utilizing the talent we have and that’s why the team looks so stagnant? I have to believe it’s the latter, and tonight was a great example of how a coach fails to utilize his personnel in ways in which they will succeed. Good coaches like Popovich put their players in position to succeed, whereas Drew puts them in positions that take away from their success. Al is playing well in the post and the ball is never given to him down low after he does so, or a different play is called. Marvin is playing well and he gets benched. Those are just a few of the examples. I don’t know why more people aren’t recognizing these problems and calling them out.

It’s one thing for an inexperienced coach to make mistakes and learn from them and coach better as a result, it’s something entirely different when a coach continues to make the same mistakes over and over and fails to acknowledge them or correct them in the future. Someone who does the latter shouldn’t be in a position to coach a team, since that shows you he/she is incapable of making adjustments, and good coaches know that the game is all about maximizing talent and making the correct adjustments to get the most out of your team.

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We aren’t even scoring many easy baskets at all with our lack of playmaking. As an example, look at Al’s scoring right now. In the past, he scored a significant portion of his points off of plays that were assisted (pick-and-pops, dunks, etc.). Now, he’s having to score the majority of his points in isolation (post-ups). He’s doing a pretty solid job of that, but that just goes to show you that there is a lack of playmaking on the roster.

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he as zero interst about off the ball defense. he would rather someone beat him so he can block a shot.

all this time and he never developed.

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Agree with everything Great Gastby said. LD has terrible man management!

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I really wish Najeh or Ken or someone of their stature, on this blog, could lead a really honest discussion on the asset/liability issue of Josh and the Hawks. Being completely candid, the issue of race, IMO, permeates every post on JS and prevents any real and meaningful discussion on how he affects the Hawks. To my eye, JS is definately the straw that stirs the Hawks, positively or negatively. I read and hear white people overreact to Josh’s penchant to, seemingly, want to make the extremely difficult pass or shot or dunk without any thought to the risk/reward of said decision. Some white people seem to be stuck in a permanent “Hoosiers/1950’s version of basketball” where the ball is passed a minimum of “4 times” before a shot occurs. And NO CHANCES are ever taken. And some Black people seem to over emphasize the sports center highlight shot/pass/steal/dunk that JS made the previous game while conveniently forgetting the 3 or 4 chances he took that went bad to get that great highlight. Yes these are generalizations and certainly not all white or black people think alike in their assesment of JS, but it does tend to send fans to the nearest corner of their own stereotypical thinking on the matter. All I’m saying is “can the Hawks win a title with JS playing his game” the same way he did 2 or 3 yrs ago ? IMO, his judgement on risk/reward, when it comes time to decide on making a difficult pass/going for a risky steal, taking the jump shot instead of driving to the basket has not improved. And, in discussing JS and his huge impact on the Hawks title chances, why does it, too often, cause people to lose objectivity and subjectively run to their respective corner to over-defend him or over-indict him. I think his play, good or bad, has more impact on the Hawks than any other player, and if that’s the case, then he should be traded (he has a reasonable contract from the point of salary and length, and due to his age and “potential upside” would be more sought after than any other Hawk) to get the combination we need or Al should be traded to bring in the type player that can accentuate JS’s strengths and offset his weaknesses. But one or the other should be traded. IMO, we just can’t win the way we are currently constructed and an objective discussion should be able to be had on Josh, who I really like as a person, without race rearing its ugly head.

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These are the things that needs to happen to make the hawks a better team:

1) They must rid themselves of JS

2) If LD is to remain the hc they must get a true pg(Kendall Marshall)

3) We need better scorers. draft Orlando Johnson

3) Keep T-Mac and make him a starter

4) Trade JS to the Wizards for JaVale McGee.(I think DH will be a Laker)

Next season roster should look like this. That is a very smart basketball team right there.

pg- Jeff Teague…………Kendall Marshall
sg- J.Johnson……………Orlando Johnson
sf- T-Mac………………….Marvin Williams
pf- Al Horford…………….Vladimir Radmanovic
c- JaVale McGee ……..Zaza

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We lost this game on the effort or lack of effort around the basket. If you look at the Memphis game on Friday, Houston got outrebounded 42 to 33, and Memphis went to the FT line 33 times compared to the Hawks 16 FTA. We should have attacked the basket on every possession. Take a look at the shot chart, way too many jumpers when they really weren’t necessary.

Also, Jordan Hill 15 boards (4 offensive) in 28 minutes…Sam Dalembert 10 boards (5 offensive) in 20 minutes…Unacceptable!!!

Good news is that it can all be fixed with coaching & effort. Bad news is, we’ve been saying that for years.

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LD’s poor decision making is up there (I mean down there) with JSmith’s Low BB IQ. I really thought the ATL can still steal the game around 5mins of 4th (73-79) then he decided to sub Zaza and Rad for Al and Js. He completely disrupted the flow of the team and the little momentum when they were making a nice run lead by Tmac. Radmanovic didn’t score but he defended decently and compared to JS, didn’t really have any mistake. Same thing can be said for Zaza. He should have used Marvin or anyone not named Josh Smith (or Pargo) instead. It also doesn’t matter if JS decided to attack the inside and miss/get a foul because he can’t shoot FTs.

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WHY IS THIS TEAM STILL WASTING AWAY IN THIS TOW ? I MEAN WASTING ANYONE’S MONEY AND SUPPORT, A WORTHLESS BORING SPORT, SEND THEM TO SEATTLE
WHERE THEY BELONG !!!! ATLANTA DOES NOT NEED nba BASKETBALL !!!!

BORING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Jumper Josh and Softy Al for Dwight.

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LD don’t have a clue about how to substitute.

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happy new year guys, may it be filled with health and sustenance of your choosing.

go hawks!

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Here go the complaints, the blaming and finger pointing portion of the week. So did you think we was gonna be undefeated?

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Tough game to accept…..I wonder why drew disrupted the rythum the reserves had in the 4th? i understand its a rotational, but we should be past grade school rules.
Drew has to trust his bench more in the end. Zaza and T-Mac are jelling together….I have seen some improvement over last year, but when Josh is’nt playing well or within the constraints of the system, sit him and instruct him. After all, he never had college coaching and I have yet to see him being taught during a game.
I personally think this team has to have Josh”s defense, but I wish he were the 4th or 5th option on offense. His skills are not for a disciplined offense; he needs to pick up the leftovers and clean the glass.

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The Hawks are at Miami on Monday and at Chicago on Tuesday. A three-game losing streak after the 3-0 start is a real possibility.

THE SEASON STARTS TOMORROW!

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Why is everyone trying to trade Josh to Wash???? THEY DONE NEED JOSH SMITH!

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Better think of another trade Tony.

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rk said best what I think I have been trying to say for the last couple of seasons :

Teague’s major shortcoming is that he does not make his teammates better.

I like Teague’s quickness. I like his defense. And so far this year, I am liking his shot. When he is aggressive, he makes the Hawks a better team, but he does not make his teammates better. Good NBA point guards don’t just make their team better because they can play D or shoot the ball, they make their _teammates_ better because of leadership, vision, decision-making, etc.

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I know terrell but it makes me feel good just to say it. JS is a street player not an nba player. The hawks need professional players. I’m Sorry JS but that’s the way it is.

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I will suggest any trade idea I think will make this team better……if you don’t like it I suggest that you grow up and learn the principles of life. Galatian 6:7,8/James 1

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This team is so predictable. Whenever we win Fri night at home, we always lose by 10ish Sat night on road. I predicted entire game last night. I would take McGee for Smoove in heartbeat but they already have a tweener in Shard.

We might as well forfeit any game we play where our mentality is that opponent has tired legs

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Last night’s game just showed these are the same ol Hawks.

T-Mac was the only guy to show up

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mike heee every day when i am within reach of computer. just so ,any good bloggers and MC giving us new blogs it is hard to keep up and comment on every one. nice to read folks that have similar ideas and just sit back and say ditto that.

be well my friend. had my girls with me some this week and took in a hawks game against the wiz; good christmas and quietly brought in the new year. i tend to lie low on amateur alcohol night.

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Gearon is going to wait the whole yr to break things up. Will not make one move involving Duck Smoove or Al

FIRE SUND

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I was burning y’all with my cuts to the hoop last night. J-Brick’s got nothing on this Dinger. He couldn’t block any of my shots. White Chocolate, baby! That’s how I roll!

Bet you wish Josh was slashing to the hoop like me instead of building a condo during the game. But you know, J-Brick can do it like me. ATL, “how my a$$ taste?” LOL.

Take ‘em to the trailer park, son! Vanilla Ice out!

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I’m Afro-Americana baby. And let me just say if Marvin Williams were white, we would not call him athletic.

For all his wingspan all it does it hurts his game, yeah he can get a put back slam every now and again but goddamn Budinger is locking you up and making you gunshy?

Open your eyes guys, Marvin is a tweener. So is Al. and so is Josh. But you know what?

Josh Smith gets the ball because of FTA. The Fouls stop the bleeding. The problem is there is only one guy getting FTA at that level!

No complaining about Marvin who is scared of the ball. No complaining about Al can’t demand the ball because of his ugly post game.

AH had 4 FTA but only 2 trips to the free throw line Spaced so wide apart…geez. There were 2x that Horford did score and then there was a 3 scored!

Yes, Smith did kill the team. But he is the only one who can ATTEMPT to control the other team’s pace via Free throws and foul calls.

If you guys are so knowledgeable ask yourself this. :

QUESTION: Why does Smith keep getting the BALL FROM his TEAMMATES? WHY DO SMITH’s TEAMMATES not FREEZE HIM OUT.

ANSWER: A) 8 FTA. and B) Look at the alternatives. C) No that’s not a fluke every year Smith leads the team in FTA.

This team is a team incapable of anything that gets them to the line. Look at Lebron, look at Wade, look at Rose.

Smith was terrible, but goddamn. He played 31 minutes and got 8 FTA. Thats the scary part. Per 36 minutes Wilt Chamberlain’s best FTA was 12.6

How many Free throw attempts was Josh supposed to get?

10? 12?

Granted Wilt shot better FT% that year than Josh last night but I digress. If the teammates felt the same way as some fans do then give the ball to Marvin or AL or injury prone Teague or Joe Johnson or injury prone FT anemic McGrady.

Where are the Free Throws supposed to come from?

His teammates scapegoat him but damn even JJ said they are a team full of jumpshooters top to bottom. So on a jumpshooting team Where are the Free Throws supposed to be coming from?

Or are you saying give Marvin and Al more jumpshots? What is Smith supposed to do?

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Happy New Years!!!

1. I told my wife in the first quarter Josh was all over the place, and LD (learning disability) needs to bench Josh.
2. It seemed like Teague let Josh take him out of his game. Teague needs to grab his nuts and let Josh and have it!!! He needs to put Josh in his spots, and he should try to prevent Josh from bringing the ball up the court. Josh lost wait, but he’s still immature. My man Teague needs to man up. I’d trade Josh and Kirk for a legit big. Josh can’t get any rebounds, since he’s always out of place on the offensive side of the court.
3. LD, LD, LD horrible coaching decisions.
4. Who’s the leader of this team?
5. It seems like LD is sabotaging Marvin. I don’t know why he can’t get any burn in the 4th. I would’ve played Tmac and Marvin together, and I would’ve benched Josh. TMac is smart and savvy enough to play 1-4.
6. Come on JJ (that’s all I got to say)
7. As always, the Hawks seem to ride and die with Josh. He’s an emotional roller-coaster that still cries about every call. Josh should give the ball up on the break and run straight for the rim. A per example watch the Clippers big men, however; I will digress. The clippers respect their PG (and he demands that respect), while Josh doesn’t respect any one, nor does Teague demand his respect.

Peace to the Old heads on the blog,

SHO

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Leuer and Bogut ain’t gon’ help you out, son! Leuer couldn’t hold my Dinger. I’d be dunkin’ all over that front line. I’d be gettin’ to the hoop all night while you sit on Bogut’s lap and J-Brick builds our new arena. I’ll slash, dunk, and swat Leuer’s trash out of H-Town. Like a single mother, homeboy, I wash and dry! Believe that, son!

These scubs can’t do it like me! “…yeah, they can’t do it like me..” From the trailer to the hall-of-fame, baby! First ballot, boi!

Aesop Rock, baby!

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y’all feel me?

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tony, that message…was mainly for the trolls…that like to high jack the blogs…no pun intended bro.

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Why Josh not getting the ball in the post ? that’s a coaching problem, Josh to be successful must play in the post and stop hanging around 3point line.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!

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“I was burning y’all with my cuts to the hoop last night. J-Brick’s got nothing on this Dinger. He couldn’t block any of my shots. White Chocolate, baby! That’s how I roll!”

You do know he was back cutting the slower Marvin Gaye. Smith was the guy charged with blocking his shot after the fact.

It would have been different if we had the quicker Smith defending Budinger and 2 7 footers roaming the paint and Smith trailing Budinger?

Smith lost weight to play the SF. Too bad Marvin and Radmanovic can’t play perimeter PF.

Trade someone+ a pick for Leuer yesterday. Give him some burn.

F%ck it. Vlad is useless.

Smith, Leuer, Horford. Then Smith.Leuer.Dwight >:D

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Budinger is a rich/middle class kid from out in San Diego, Cali. He’s a Beach boy. He used to play high ranked volleyball.

Smh Talking about Trailers . idiot

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darrell starks,

It’s pretty interesting to me that the trade you posted above predicts the Hawks to win less games with Dwight Howard, while the Magic win more games with Horford.

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Please don’t make excuses for Josh bring up race…dude is a head case…once he loses his focus in the game…he shot. Zebo was the same way earlier in his career. Maybe, once Josh gets with the right team or the right Coach…he will learn how to play under control, and respect the game more. Both Josh and Al have become more reliant on jump shooting under LD tenure.

If LD has a two foul rule for players…why can’t he have a two out of control rule for Josh?????????

Just saying.

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Smith.Leuer.Bogut

Being the #2 pick has nothing to do with the fact that Marvin had the HOT hand. So what he isn’t the best player “Off the Dribble”, he still can score and as a coach you find ways for him.

Your HATE for Marvin evident, because Chase scored 8pts of his 17pts while Marvin was on the bench….

The fact that he ended the game with only 7 shots and 20min is an LD problem and the #2 picks problem.

Basketball 101: When a player has the HOT HAND, you RIDE HIM.

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Smith.Leuer.Bogut

Hill had 15rebs, I guess Josh can’t play PF EITHER….And Humphries had 13rebs…Maybe they should SWITCH.

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“Both Josh and Al have become more reliant on jump shooting under LD tenure.”

This is true. You’ve got to admit though, even though it’s early in the season, Al really seems to have toned it down with the jumpers. He’s looking to drive and post up a lot more than he’s looking to shoot the midrange shot right. At least it seems that way right now, it’s too early to tell for sure. I watched some of the FIBA Americas tournament and Horford didn’t shoot a lot of jump shots during that either, which was interesting.

L.D. definitely encourages a lot of jump shooting with his offense though, and Josh continues to fall in love with the jump shot.

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HOWARD, REDICK FOR HORFORD, MARVIN, ZAZA

STARTERS TEAGUE, REDICK, JOE, JOSH, DWIGHT

BENCH PARGO, GREEN, TMAC, VLAD, COLLINS

RESERVE IVAN, STACK

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

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af6,

I agree that some of our starters are selfish veterans, and sometimes they may not listen to Teague, but that is not true for everyone. Marvin and Al are nowhere near selfish. Both of them take fewer shots than they probably should and are always looking to pass the ball if a play is not called for one of them. As far as the criticism of Teague, it’s legit. He misses a lot of things a natural point guard wouldn’t. For example, after Al sets a pick for him, he almost never passes the ball back to Al when Al pops out for an open jump shot. That’s one of the easiest and most basic plays for a point guard to make. Teague does a good job of defending his position, controlling the pace on offense and penetrating, but you have to admit that his playmaking for others needs a lot of work. Yes, sometimes Josh and Joe can be black holes on offense and they interrupt a play that he is trying to run, but that’s not the case all of the time. Teague often looks like he isn’t even trying to look for the open man. He plays best when he’s being aggressive, and sometimes he makes great passes to others for easy baskets, but most of the time, it seems like his idea of being aggressive is getting to the hoop and scoring himself. True playmakers are tough to find. With Teague on the floor we have to rely even more on isolation for our scoring. Now, even Al has to isolate or crash the glass for most of his points, when he used to get a lot of his baskets assisted.

Also, when you ask about which starters have gotten better, I don’t know if you are talking about them improving from last season to now or if you are talking about them improving since they came into the league to now. If you are talking about the latter, guys like Marvin and Al have obviously improved. Al didn’t have a reliable jump shot when he came into the league and he is now deadly from midrange. Marvin couldn’t shoot 3’s when he first came in. Now, if you are saying that guys didn’t improve over the summer, that remains to be seen. We need to watch more games to be able to tell. Based upon the first 4 games, it looks to me like Al has made some improvements in the post. I haven’t really seen him use new moves, but he’s been quicker and more disciplined down there. It’s like he knows what he wants to do now when he gets the ball inside and he’s more assertive and quicker in the post now. I can’t say for sure if he’s improved down there yet, since the season just started, but we’ll see. He also looks like he also improved his driving ability. It’s too early to tell though. It’s too early to tell if anyone has really improved yet.

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Early observations……Only reason Al isn’t shooting more jumpers is due to the fact that teams are not giving him that wide open set shot that they gave him last year. Check out how after he sets the picks the defense does not leave him wide open anymore……I’ve also noticed that he didn’t work on going left during the off season….still forcing his moves to the basket to the right.

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I’m ready for the big lineup. Al doesn’t like to bang on both ends of the floor and JS weight loss is effecting his strength. Al also doesn’t like to take charges where Twin is good at it.

Pargo can’t handle most of the pgs in the league and should be let go when Kirk is healthy. This bench lineup will look MUCH MUCH better during the playoffs. I really like this lineup when the regulars are struggling.

Kirk
Marv
Tmac
Rad
Zaza

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Jerome

I must say you made some great points on Teague however, let’s not forget he was on the bench majority of his rookie season because Woodson would not play rookies. He only started playing significant minutes in the playoffs and then a lockout… The improvements in Al’s game maybe the only bright spot but his midrange or lowpost game is not going to scare anyone. I must say Marvin can make a three pointer but will it not cause defenses to break down because they don’t want M to spot up and break a game open. I just find it hard to criticize a young player who doesn’t have a coach or a system to flourish. this team has many flaws that were prevalent before Teague and will not be corrected with Hinreich. If you need more games to see improvement from the players you support give Teague the same consideration. I am only a casual fan because it’s my hometown team but like I said in earlier post I don’t watch the games much and mainly because the style of basketball is horrible. Even when they win it’s not smooth. And the embarrassment on the National stage is hard to digest.

I will give them the benefit of the doubt that this could be a championship caliber squad.

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Exactly, Teague is never going to be a 10 assist guy, esp with this team. But can Teague do 15 and 5? yeah he can. People getting on Teague for his scoring is dumb. No one else COULD SCORE so he did. So last night Teague takes a back seat and lets Josh and Joe hold the ball and dribble out the clock and our offense stagnates. Imagine that. Let Teague play his game. That was a good pass to T-Mac cutting to the basket.

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@MC

Excellent post-game analysis MC. You covered everything that should be covered:

-why in the #@!! has Marvin been benched in the 2nd half for two games in a row????? He has arguably been our best player, having incredible starts to our games. And yet he is the first one to be subbed and the last one to come back into the games….

-You also mentioned Smoove had another erratic game. I disagree, he’s been consistent, consistently terrible!!!! Horrible decision making, lackluster effort defensively(which is usually his only positive contribution), and the worst part is his ATTITUDE!!!!!!!!!! When he takes a horrible shot or a backwards heave at the basket and complains about not getting call. He whines way too much and it rubs off on the rest of the team.
Joe got a tech last night because he was frustrated about getting outplayed by Kevin Martin. Joe has been getting blown by defensively. He’s too flat footed and doesnt move well laterally. He should move to the small forward. Marvin should move to the 4 and BENCH SMOOVE!!!!!!

-LD yanked Teague early in the 2nd half for not contributing. WHY NOT DO THE SAME WITH SMOOVE?????? Smoove was 1-5 on non lay-up shot attempts and had several turnovers. Even still, he camps out stubbornly on the perimeter, waiting to take another jump shot the opposing defense is baiting him to take.
I lol’d when I saw Horford wise up. Horf had the ball in the post when SMoove clapped his hands for a pass to him on the perimeter. Horford just shook him off and cleared him out. Another time, Horford drove to the basket and found Teague under the basket instead of an open Smoove on the 3-point line.

Why did we not exploit Marvin on Budinger last night????/ It wasnt because Marvin didnt try because he posted him up in the middle several times but couldnt get the ball…….AND THEN HE GETS BENCHED!!!!!!!!!!

The Hawks should have crushed this team like you said MC. No excuses.

MC, can you find any answers as to why Marvin is getting inconsistent PT and why LD continues to allow Smoove the free reign that Teague and Marvin dont get? Also, why do we have a robotic rotation. I want to see different lineups and matchup exploitations. Zaza and Horford, TMac Joe and Marvin on the wings, Smoove at center. This is time in the season to try some things that can be taken advantage of come post season for new wrinkles.

On a positive note, i really liked our spacing offensively. That had been lacking a few years ago, and we got a lot of good open shots with our ball movement. The problem is Smoove took too many of them. More and more, i feel like he is the crux holding this team back. He needs to change his game and quit taking jumpers or we should bench him and start Zaza. Look at the Heat and what Lebron and DWade are doing, if they can focus on attacking the basket and not settling for jumpers then Smoove should definitely be able to. The question is can his ego handle it?

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BTW for those bashing Horford for taking jump shots-He was the best jump shooter outside of 15 feet last year!!!!!!!!!! That’s right, better than Dirk.

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It seems as if Marvin and TMac have become mutually exclusive. That is a problem when they are two of the better performers early in the season. I wonder if LD is concerned about TMac playing SG and having to use more energy chasing smaller and quicker players. The other interesting thing is that Joe is pretty much exclusively playing SG now, last year he played SF a fair amount of time. One would hope that he would spend a little more time in the post and driving into the lane if he is going to be mostly defnded by guys like Kevin Martin, Dwayne Wade and even Rip Hamilton.

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TeamTradeJoshSmith

Amen to that! Josh Smith has a basketball players mentality but not a championship basketball players attitude. He is going to continue his “Terrell Owens” like ways as long as a team will put up with it.

But like i said before management has now idea how to run an organization cause they think trading for Dwight Howard and keeping Josh will take them to the promised land. LOL!

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I just can’t understand how a man who comes from basketball can make such poor substitution decisions, no one on this blog could be this bad. Is he suffering from mental problems or a tremendous ego problem?

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Lots of angry entries. I would just like to hear from LD or even Smoove as to why, with JT standing there with his arms outstretched to receive the ball, does he put the ball on the floor and dribble up the court. He sometimes brings it up and tries to run the play. Most any other coach that I am aware of would either bench or fine him everytime he does this.

I really like Smoove for what he can do. I expected he thought he would be playing the 3 this year instead of the 4 and that is what he worked on. However, it didn’t turn out that way and won’t be like that this year so he has to go back to what he did the year he did not take the 3’s.

Jeff is going to have to evolve into the point position. If he has to think he is going to get yanked everytime he makes a mistake his development is going to be stymied as would anybody’s. That means the coaches have to come up with plays for him to run and the others have to follow it. Now, I understand that LD has to worry about his job. But he has got to take a stand at some point and say this is who is the point and who I want running the team. Follow him or get fined or benched. Do you think Doc Rivers, Phil Jackson or any of the other top coaches would let this mess go on. No, they wouldn’t.

Finally, Joe, you are losing your fans. Everyone is afraid you are going to by Jon Koncak Pt II. Since you got the contract you are either trying too hard or not trying enough. You are letting people who make a 3rd of your salary show you up. Teams who come to the Highlight factory should be worried about you every night. Defenses should be setup to stop you. We have all seen nights where you looked unstoppable. The problem is they all seem to have come before you got the big contract. You got it because the people who run the franchise believed in you, as did the fans. Don’t keep letting us down.

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“The difference in this gm was that Drew definitely was in Teague ear after the gm vs the nets regarding scoring.”

Once again, while not defending the job LD is doing, how do you KNOW that “Drew definitely was in Teague ear”? Do you have a source, or is this conjecture on your part?

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I think a head coach is supposed to get into a player’s head, especially if the player needs that in order to fulfill his potential. Is there anyone among us who wouldn’t want a head coach to get into Josh Smith’s head and exorcise those Chuck Person thoughts from his brain? To keep Marvin motivated and engaged? To convince Joe to play more aggressively and passionately? To encourage Horford to play with more assertiveness? And to ensure that Teague maintains his focus? A head coach does more than draw up plays and make substitutions… anyone ever know Phil Jackson to try and get into a player’s head? Would we want im on the Hawks sideline?

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Sautee this crap has been going on with jt & ld for years. Anyone but a blind man can see what’s happening. I can’t see jt staying here & having a good NBA career. Talk about being treated like crap

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Hill had 15rebs, I guess Josh can’t play PF EITHER….

ROUND OF APPLAUSE. IT ONLY TOOK 4 Playoff Exits and Jordan Hill to realize this.
========

Josh Smith playing the point. aka rebound and go aka the Magic Johnson strategy. If Smith gives up
the ball the time the ball is in the air his man gets to recover.

if you rebound and push the ball u might force mismatches. If you want Smith to rebound pass and run. Then you need him at the SF position. And you need a PF who can trail. Josh Smith taking Scola off the dribble is not what a trailer should do.

A trailer should shoot the shot.
The PF is the trailer.

WHY IS SMITH still the PF?
=======
RE: what is the fascination with Leuer?

Devil is in the details. Standing reach says Marvin should be a better shotblocker than Smith or Horford.

But he’s not.
Wingspan Length + intuition says Horford should be better rebounding than K-Love + ZBo. Alas.

You’re using the wrong measurements & the wrong perspective.

The average for height at PF is around 6′10. So if you’re shorter you need more length and strength to compensate.

Most big men can’t play the wing. Leuer can. He is a small forward. I guess you said you saw Bargnani with defense. Funny although he was chucking Bargnani averaged 20ppg last season.

Bottom Line on Leuer ::::::

Most forwards fall in a certain wingspan range to be effective scorers. 6′11, 7′0, or 7′2

ie Olajuwon, McGrady, both have a 7′2 wingspan and were phenomenally coordinated. Marvin with his 7′3.5 not so f*(#@ng much. Outliers who have crazy length like Durant, Elton Brand exist.

I will only list some guys with a 7′0 wingspan.

Carmelo (6′7.5″ 7′0 wingspan 230)
Leuer (7′0 tall 7′0 wingspan, 230)
Kaman (7′0 tall 7′0 wingspan, 250)
David Lee (6′9 tall 7′0 wingspan, 230)
Damien Wilkins

So if I said I had a 7′0 Damien Wilkins who has a 3 point shot or a Chris Kaman who lost weight and has wing skills. Can pick and pop for 3, pass dunk, post up, would you take it?

Yes his athleticism was highly ranked if I recal correctly Hollinger Insider said he was a sleeper.

7 footers are not supposed to move or play like that. Its a huge mismatch problem if we team him up with guys who love to go inside Joe Johnson, Josh, Dwight/Bogut and Teague.

A quicker taller Vlad Radamonovic with more defense, rebounding size and a post game? And a pull up jumper?

You would say wow, the league is full of dumbfncks who dont know how to scout. Screw Marvin I can milk this guy for 16-20ppg easy. Pick and pops, rebound and lead the break with Smith on the wing. Rebound and pass to Teague who draws and Leuer TRAILS set feet and shoot 3s in transition.

Standing reach is nothing. Leuer has the 7′0 wingspan that says coordination and scoring potential. 7′0 height is still 7′0 height. Ask Kevin Love and Anthony Randolph whom he posted up.

Marvin has the height and wingspan of Ike Diogu. Coordination and reliablity? Not so good.

The Marvin experiment must end.

I’d give up 2 (protected) picks to sneak away 7′0 SF Leuer.

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Rusty ,

Not true. Teague can have a good career here. But I don’t think this team can get anywhere with Larry Drew as the HC.

They aren’t listening to him, or he’s telling them the wrong things. That, and he can’t seem to get a handle on his lineups/substitutions.

Personally, I’ve had enough of the experiment.

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Marvin Williams offensive skillset is stuck between positions and he shies away from the ball.

Big Ray, this is embarassing but rank these guys defense.

Damien James
Rashard Lewis
Chase Budinger

Washington and New Jersey explain Marvin’s performances.

You can’t coach Josh Smith into hitting Jumpers or Marvin creating. Or Marvin protecting the rim long enough for Smith to recover and block a shot.

The answer is running down Joe Johnson on offense to draw doubles and get Marvin WIDE open.

And some nights that is not going to happen.

Marvin Williams shies away from the ball. The only distinct iso I remember him doing is the one where he drove on Budinger and fumbled the ball and shot a fumbling jumper.

What’s to stop him from doing it again? His own confidence. Its a free offense. If Marvin feels he can create offense then do it.

“When Marvin has the “hot hand” its because Joe Johnson is busting his butt drawing double teams and collapsing the defense.
Isn’t that how its supposed to happen?”

No you’re not supposed to make your 30 year old SG the first option unless his name is Kobe. Joe Johnson should be doing what K-Mart is doing at this stage. Someone collapses for him and he guns threes in halfcourt and transition.

But it all starts with defense. And we’re undersized.

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As for Josh Smith my eye is especailly on him this season alone I have been one to defend him, but these 4 games he just doesn’t have it yeah dunks are nice, but what else.

Cause so far it seems he was porking Mrs. Kardashian instead of working on his skill set.

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The worst decision this team has made was naming ld as head coach, the next was giving jj all that loot

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@ Ray how many times does Al Horford stay in the paint and dunk off of JJ’s passes in the paint.

Horford is not even a traditional center. It all starts with defense buddy.

Smith is a 1B defender, a helper. He is not an anchor and is not a 7 footer who can drop step and dunk with ease.

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One loss and the sky is falling?
The Hawks are a very good team. One loss does not change that.

===

That’s the glass ceiling falling. The Hawks are a bunch of talented tweeners. 1 game at a time but championship is not likely. And Smith is playing himself out of trade value. He is an absolute tweener who needs others to create shots shoot shots so he can shoot the rock.

Now I know why Jamal Crawford and Radmanovic were brought in.

Get Anderson, Dwight or Leuer, Bogut. Sell the house picks wise for this sh**. If Horford’s trade value is gone then Hawks are screwed.

That glass ceiling becomes cement.

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athleticism = the most overused word in basketball.

Smith’s not the only athletic player in the NBA. Smith plays PF and is 6′8. Smith can’t shoot. Smith is the trailer on offense.

Marvin Williams can’t post up, can’t create offense. Joe Johnson gets tired. Teague wants to drive everything.

Who are these people who should be coming to the ball and creating while Smith crashes the glass.

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Marvin is not skewed to us. His FTA are not from isolation plays. He’s a jumpshooting role player.

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What’s good Sautee!!!

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JeJe,

It always has….

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AJ,

Another good thing about JJ so far, is he has not had to chase PGs around.

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This team I thought should have beat Houston. McHale made Woddie Lite looks like the coach he really is, OVERMATCHED! FIRE LD< SUND & ASG. Why in the HELL did we waive Benson and Sy to bring in no shot, no defense PRAGO! What in the HELL does this guy sho has been out the league three years. WTF? Only The Cheap ASG owners and SUND would do this. This team as the roster is right now, will not make the playoff with Woddie Lite coaching. JJ is not worth 9 million a season not the 20 something Million that he is being overpaid. This guy disappears in crunch times!

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Enter your comments here

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Opps. I blinked. 42-0.

Raheem Morris has impressed me as the coach of the Bucs. But something happened on that team about eight or nine weeks ago. He has lost this team and will likely lose his job.

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If Josh doesn’t quit shooting so many J’s, I wonder if a Josh/Hinrich/1st pick trade for Pau Gasol would be appealing to the Lakers? The Lakers sure do need a PG and some talented youth.

Doubt the Lakers would do it though.

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Overall, I still think we’re better than last season. We’ve haven’t matched up well with Houston the last couple of times we’ve played them.

I think we will give Miami fits Monday nite. Chicago, maybe not quite so much.

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The Hawks have this uncanny ability to flip the switch off and on like no other team I’ve ever witnessed. I believe that they will flip in on for the South Beach game. It will be a good game.

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I just have to re-state what SteveW said about our rotations. When you look at the game flow of last night’s game, you have to wonder what the hell Drew was thinking about. Not only did he take out Teague within 4 minutes after the 3rd quarter started, he subbed Willie Green for Teague.

That’s exactly when the Houston 14 – 4 run in the 3rd quarter happened.

Matter of fact, Teague and Marvin got subbed out during that run, for Green and Pargo. McGrady didn’t even get into the game until the 4 minute mark of the 3rd quarter. Marvin played 6 minutes in the 3rd, and didn’t even get back into the game. And even the 4th quarter run the Hawks went on, didn’t start until Teague came back into the game.

I mean seriously . . . how does Willie Green play 11 minutes in the 2nd half, but Marvin only plays 6? As well as Marvin has been playing lately, that is inexcusable. Put T-Mac at the 2 and get Green out the damn game to start the 4th.

And Jason Collins should’ve NEVER played in this game. WE all know what he’s good for, so let’s not even front about it. If we’re not playing a team in which the offense is going through a center, he does NOT need to be playing. Play him ONLY against Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum types. He is a reserve SCRUB center. Don’t act like he’s a vital part of the rotation.

While JJ and Smith didn’t do nearly enough to win the game last night, Drew screwed himself with those rotations last night. Dude must do better in these types of games. Don’t let questionable rotations cost you a chance to win a game.

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LD’s substitution patterns are the same as last season, only Marvin hasn’t been the weak link in this season’s games. Time to adjust, LD.

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Ld has got to go………………………

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“I like Josh for Derrick Williams

All NBA, Marvin, filler for D12

Derrick, Josh, D12 front line…”

How can Josh be in two places at the same time when he’s nowhere at all?

(Thanks to F. Zappa)

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My favorite Zappa quote was about Rolling Stone magazine:

“Basically it’s people who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk for people who can’t read.”

Priceless.

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If Lebron can literally take 3’s out of his game and you could argue that he wasn’t a bad shooter just a streaky one, then Josh can stop shooting mid-range and focus on attacking the damn hoop, he could easily be a terror on the attack to the rim!

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If Bibby was still here, I’ll bet Drew would have had him on the flloor the entire 4th quarter. And there’s no other way to explain LDrew not playing Marvin other than to say, HC LDREW WAS BEING DOWNRIGHT STUPID. He basically pulled the same stupid move against the Nets.

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pronounced / foosh le duke

i remember reading on his blog a year or two ago about trading josh for kevin love and the people around here acted as like that idea was assenine to even consider that idae. boy i bet now we would make that trade in a blink. back then everbody thought josh was better because he could jump higher and run fatser.

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“back then everbody thought josh was better because he could jump higher and run fatser.”

That was before he lost weight. Now he runs thinser.

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josh smith was my favorite player but he makes stupid decisions….. now larry drew is making bad decisions and the hawks should fire him and take back mike woodson / he is a lot better coach, nothing against LD but he will not help the hawks out in the future. I think the starting lineup should be jeff teague, joe johnson, marvin williams al horford, jason collins so we have some height because josh smith cant rebound. sit josh smith till he learns how to play right and fire LD…

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Josh for DeMarcus trade might Happen

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Hawks100,

Collins can’t rebound or do anything else beside annoy people.

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Sund should look to see what it will take to get Cousins here. I don’t think Sac needs any more PFs though….they let Dalembert go, throwing all their chips in with Cousins, putting in 27mpg, and averaging a double/double….13/11…how good would he look in our lineup?
Could he defend against Bynum and D12 if he has so much trouble with former teammate Harrelson?

Wanna bet Sac would ask for Al? It wouldn’t surprise me at all.

And our current roster gets to prove itself tomorrow night. Like someone said earlier, the Heat has an advantage at virtually every spot on the starting lineup…..Teague and Horford have to make up for the differences and that’s too tall a task.

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Damn . . . OJ Mayo falls into the side of Zach Randolph’s knee. Hope it’s just a knee sprain, but the knee definitely buckled inward.. He did walk off the court under his own power, but he was limping heavily.

Bulls defense looks very good right now.

And Miami destroys Charlotte, with the Big 3 not even playing 30 minutes. Fatigue won’t be an issue for them tomorrow night.

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Read peach tree hoops for interesting article on LD & JT.

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series^^^^

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Josh is tiring to watch…Lost weight, that is all….

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Just remember to spread the criticism after a loss across the entire roster. Mr. Jimmy Craig doesn’t like to be singled out for bad basketball.

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AJ,

Would you trade Josh for Love (I’m just curious to hear your opinion)?

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All you people who worry about other teams being fatigued need to let it go. I have seen us lose plentynof games when other teams are on the 2nd of a b2b.

Apparently our historically inept coaches don’t realize that YOU STILL HAVE TO SHOW UP EVEN IF THE OTHER TEAM IS MORE TIRED.

Last night’s loss was so f’ing predictable. If we had played at NO or DAL I still would’ve predicted a 97-84 loss.

CAN WE PLEASE GET A REAL COACHING STAFF?

THis idiot leaves our entire bench in and benches Marvin inexplicably

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The next three games could be a disaster and I mean a bad one. TMAC should start in place of Josh Smith, Al should be playing power forward and Zsa Zsa should be the starting center. That’s a good lineup along with Joe and Jeff. Drew just does not get it but the fans do. Josh is jus basketball dumb and no IQ for the game. The kid has talent but it’s a talent that’s useless because of his no game brain

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Heat and Thunder……

Scary.

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I mention in the preseason the Hawks could make a move to get Cousins. Although he’s a head case but his size, talent and skill set is tantalizing. would definitely like Cousins on the Hawks team with an more establish Head coach with a track record of handling different personalities but we always can address the coaching position later. Lets face it, the Hawks as constructed probably will not win a championship so why not take a step backwards to go two steps forward with out going into a total rebuilding mode. If the Kings want AL then I would make them pay ransom. Cousins, Jason Thompson or JJ Hickson, Franciso Garcia (to make the salaries match) and possibly a pick. Cousins and Thompson is on their rookies contracts so they won’t take up a lot of salary cap space and Garcia has a 2 years left on his contract with the final year a team option. So the Hawks could decline the last year of his contract and removing him from the books. Talent wise, the Hawks would acquire two bigs that were lottery picks and have shown flashes of quality play. I know Cousins is a high risk player but I have a feeling that he will go to an good organization and be the cornerstone for them for the next ten years.

I would only do the Cousins deal if we can’t get Dwight.

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“Raheem Morris has impressed me as the coach of the Bucs. But something happened on that team about eight or nine weeks ago. He has lost this team and will likely lose his job.”

Albert Haynesworth.

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http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=6sfao5x

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Hawks win tomorrow.

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Notice how Ryan Anderson is taking on the Rashard Lewis role for the Magic?

VRad would be a fit for that role as a shot maker off the bench.

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KevinM,

I forgot that the Kings are under the salary cap. Therefore, I would let them keep Garcia. Send me Cousins, Thompson (or Hickson) and 1st pick for All-Star/All NBA AL…..

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AJ,

As for Al, Josh and JJ’s rebounding being down,marvin is only averaging 7 rpg, which is only up 2 from last year.

That being said, maybe their numbers will improve as the season progresses, and their PT increases

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Can Vlad contribute anything to this team besides shooting 3s?

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Zaza, Marvin, 1st, and 2nd pick for Cousins and Salmons.

Or,

Josh Smith for Cousins straight up.

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“Im sure there are many fans who would not trade josh for love. love doesn’t have the defensive ability of josh, but he is a rebounding machine. And he does average 20+ ppg.”

I am fine with trading Josh for Love, but a trade like that has to be followed by trading Al for a defensive minded true center. A front line of Al and Love is going to get murdered against any team that can drive inside.

At this point, though, I think the window for trading for Love has closed.

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Anyone have an idea about what will happen tonight?

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Pre Conference:NBA Draft Outlook:Hawks Edition: Center

Pre Conference NBA Prospect Outlook

Center

Andre Drummond- Drummond posts numbers similar to DeAndre Jordan at similar ages. Drummond rebounds at a rate of 1 rebound for every 3.79 minutes played, 1 block per every 7.8 minutes played, 1 pt for every 2.5 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 6.9 minutes played. Drummond needs to increase his rebounding rate but he seems to be a good prospect in comparison at this stage.

Tyler Zeller- As a freshman Zeller posted numbers not too far off from those of Drummond’s and Jordan’s except he is not a shot blocker. He rebounded at a rate of 1 rebound for every 3.9 minutes, 1 pt for every 2.51 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 7.09 minutes played. Zeller is currently enjoying his best year which is bumping his career averages. Currently on his career he is averaging 1 rebound per every 3.62 minutes played, 1 pt for every 1.87 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 5.46 minutes played. Safe to say Zeller has improved over his time at UNC and was never bad, but one must wonder how much of that improvement is simply due to him maturing and benefiting from playing against less mature players. That’s the stigma that upper class players must battle.

Reggie Johnson- As a first year player Reggie Johnson posted numbers superior to De-Andre Jordan and Drummond’s. He rebounded at a rate of 1 rebound per every 2.95 minutes played, 1 point for every 2.125 minutes played, and 1 FT per every 4.12 minutes played. He is not a shot blocker though his numbers were superior to those of Zeller’s. Currently for his career he is averaging 1 rebound per every 3.25 minutes and 1 point per every 2.27 minutes played, plus, 1 FT per every 4.32 minute played. There are problems here with this guy though and the biggest is how old is he?

Gorgui Dieng- As a first year player Dieng posted some unheralded but good numbers. His rebounded rate was 1 rebound per every 3.54 minutes played, 1 block per every 8.2 minutes played, 1 point per every 2.73 minutes played, and 1 FT per every 8.6 minutes played. For his career he is currently giving 1 rebound per every 3.24 minutes played, 1 block per every 9.52 minutes played, 1 pt for every 2.8 minutes played, and 1 FT for every 8.3 minutes played. This guy is displaying some good qualities and is kind of going under the radar.

Joshua Smith- As a first year player Smith posted some impressive numbers of 1 rebound per every 3.4 minutes played, 1 pt per every 1.99 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 4.6 minutes played. For his career he is currently averaging 1 rebound per every 3.3 minutes played, 1 pt per every 1.93 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 4.27 minutes played. On the other hand, it will be hard to take Joshua seriously until he proves that he can play more than 21.7 minutes per game, his minutes have actually decreased from last year.

Honorable Mention:

Meyers Leonard- He was basically worthless in his freshman year but has been better his sophomore and is showing hope during a season in which he will be 19-20. He is averaging 1 rebound per every 3.57 minutes played, 1 block per every 11.125 minutes played, 1 point per every 2.09 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 7.34 minutes played. His career numbers are currently 1 rebound per every 4.01 minutes played, 1 block per every 12.89 minutes played, 1 point per every 2.34 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 8.39 minutes played. He is currently having a good year and it is needed just to get that nasty taste out of most mouths, but I still don’t know about this guy he looked too worthless in year 1. I kind of need to see it again to believe it.

Festus Ezeli- Festus was never as useless as Meyers was in his freshman season but he does leave a lot to be desired. His best year so-far his junior year was when he rebounded at a rate of 1 rebound per 3.73 minutes played, 1 block per every 9 minutes played, 1 point per every 1.80 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 3.67 minutes played. For his career Ezeli is currently rebounding at a rate of 1 rebound per every 4.09 minutes played, 1 block per every 11 minutes played, 1 point per every 2.32 minutes played, and 1 free throw per every 4.64 minutes played. As I said Festus does have some good stuff to his game but he also leaves a lot to be desired.

P.S. DeAndre Jordan’s production was used as a comparison chart of sorts because he was a 1 and done 18-19 year old kid. I feel that it is more effective to compare guys to successful one and done guys to see how far they have progressed. I am sure you could argue there are better ways.

All opinions are welcome.

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Andre Drummond- Little bit too much hype was built around this guy, but he is finally showing glimpses of what he can be and will no doubt be a top 3 pick come draft day.

Tyler Zeller – Not sure how I feel about him, has good game around the basket, good rebounder, kind of reminds me of Hansbrough without the all-out motor.

Reggie Johnson – Haven’t seen him play, can’t find any highlights so I don’t know much about him.

Gorgui Dieng – Never even heard of him until now.

Joshua Smith – He’s big. Was the same way when he was in high school, nicest guy you could meet but his weight is just a major issue and how he hasn’t even really addressed it.

Meyers Leonard – Like his game, needs to get stronger and work on actual moves in the post like every other college big, but he can be good.

Festus Ezeli – Not enough games under his belt this season for me to give him a proper breakdown. NOT that good of a rebounder though so far in his college career, so I don’t know about that…

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@ Jae Evolution: Yes my friend when I delve deeper into the American stock of players I see this draft is no different than others, severely overrated.

I am not huge on Drummond but I would take him and not complain.

Like you, I don’t like Festus rebounding numbers. Seems like he is underachieving and should be dominating but I will with-hold full opinion until the year is out.

Dieng intrigues me, he had 6 blocks against both Memphis and Kentucky whom both have NBA worthy athletes.

Try to watch Reggie Johnson of Miami when you can.

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Al and Marvin for cousins. You get bigger and solid up front. Cousin could actually be a 20 & 10 for the hawks. This trade opens more shots for Jeff and Joe. More minutes for McGrady since he’s showing potential that he can give 15/16 a game if given the minutes. McGrady for the first time in his career is shooting the ball at 50%. This trade could make the hawks a threat in the east.

Starting lineup

Jeff/13ppg 7.5ast
Joe/ 20ppg 4reb 3ast
Tracy/16ppg 5reb 4ast
Josh/14ppg 7reb 2blk
Cousins/ 17ppg 10reb 1.5blk

Tell me this ain’t pin point

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real talk

January 2nd, 2012
5:01 am

Al and Marvin for cousins. You get bigger and solid up front. Cousin could actually be a 20 & 10 for the hawks. This trade opens more shots for Jeff and Joe. More minutes for McGrady since he’s showing potential that he can give 15/16 a game if given the minutes. McGrady for the first time in his career is shooting the ball at 50%. This trade could make the hawks a threat in the east.

Starting lineup

Jeff/13ppg 7.5ast
Joe/ 20ppg 4reb 3ast
Tracy/16ppg 5reb 4ast
Josh/14ppg 7reb 2blk
Cousins/ 17ppg 10reb 1.5blk

Tell me this ain’t pin point

That aint pin point that’s just stupid. You people don’t know a thing about business and are so silly when it comes to these type of discussions. Why would you trade a veteran model employee like Al that has helped you build your business for a young problem employee like Cousins that has not helped his current employer build his business? Please don’t come with no foolish potential talk because in the real world of business. A businessman would simply say he has potential wherever he goes I want to see the production that can help me build my business and he does not have it when compared to Al. Josh on the other hand, a problem for a problem is a equal business swap.

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Only watched the game now. It was exactly midnight of the new year’s eve when they tipped off and yesterday was damage control day.

I’ll be brief:

1. First and foremost, watching a tapped game allows us to be more analytic and there several abnormal factors playing against us.

The first one was that Houston started shooting lights out.

Sometimes you have to accept that opposing teams are clicking and this game was like that: EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY NEEDED A SHOT, IT WENT IN.

The Refereeing was HORRENDOUS: several botched calls killed our momentum in several occasions throughout the game.

Just the ones closer to the end of the game:

Lowry’s block on Pargo: ball was on its way down. Bad call.

JJ fouled by Martin – no call, JJ called for the TECH

Teague fouled going to the rack, no call.

2. The comes our Coaching: horrendous.

Complemented with poor in game management, comes the poor post game management:

One of the most horrible statements ever by a coach – calling out Teague because Lowry is a better play maker?

In a night in which Teague clearly had been ordered not to be as aggressive and not to play HIS game?

Teague should be left alone playing HIS game: you don’t make Teague into a pure playmaker, but you can let him develop into a scoring PG which will keep the opposing PG tired and dizzy trying to keep up.

Willie Green in for Teague before the middle of the 3rd period? LD is CLEARY TRYING TO DESTROY TEAGUE.

Marvin was playing like crap on D after a hot start, so it’s understandable that he would get less burn, but no burn at all in the last 16 minutes?

No accountability for Josh?

So few minutes for Zaza when he was clearly getting it done in the 4th?

Again, as a comparison: Minny almost got the win against MIA with 4 subs on the floor with Adelman riding the guys which were getting it done all the way.

That is how you coach, how you instill accountability on players for their poor performances and instill confidence on reserves that play well.

It was a winnable game but there were too many things NOT going our way. Some of our responsibility, some not.

Let’s now try to catch MIA off guard and let us hope that Teague responds to LD with a monster game, destroying Chalmers and Cole.

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A Long Brief!

vava74 Good Morning my friend, but that was wonderful post was anything but, brief. LOL!

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Pre Season?

Are the coaches using these first four games, as pre-season to evaluate the top of the bench? That may explain the be-dazzling rotations.

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There’s no switch to be flipped. There’s just a man to be to fired and some people who need to be moved.

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What is F@cking inexcusable is LD calling out Teague and undermining him like this.

LET THE KID PLAY LIKE HE ALWAYS PLAYED: WITH HOT MOJO FLOWING AND GOING TO THE RACK

DON’T TAKE HIS AGGRESSIVENESS

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This is slightly off-top, but…Chicago looked scary last night. They have been just flat-out dominant lately. I actually think they look tougher than the Heat right now, even though the Heat are undefeated. The Heat have had an easier schedule, but they still look good though. The Bulls are beating up on quality opponents, and they look incredibly polished for such an early point in the season. The Heat have more talent with their “Big 3″, but I think on-paper, the Bulls look better overall due to their great depth. The Bulls have it all right now – a great player, great defense, weapons all over the floor both on the bench and on the starting unit, and they have great coaching on top of all of that.

I’m more worried about tomorrow’s game against Chicago than I am about tonight’s vs. the Heat. I hope our guys bring their A-game, and I hope Larry Drew doesn’t continue to screw things up.

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Horford said. “This team came out right off the bat they jumped quick on us and were never really able to recover from the fist quarter.”

How many f’ing times have we heard a Hawks player say this over the years?

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Any fatigued team that does not suck will beat us because we OBVIOUSLY don’t show up s teams on the 2nd of a b2b

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With our $50 mil man Joe Johnson’s 13 points a game and Josh Smith’s awesome 20 foot brick jumpers this Hawks team is going all the way to the Finals baby !

But the big difference has to be our awesome sixth man Tracy McGrady who obviously gets fouled on every shot he misses. Just ask him……

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Didn’t We?

Didn’t we lead the entire league in most games won on b2b’s last year? Or at least in the top two?

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Yea, the coaching is a problem on this team, but their “core group”
is a problem as well, when your offense is not going, you have got
to bring the defense and apply pressure. All of the good nba teams
knows this. When this hawks team starts losing to another team
by 8-10 pts, they completely gives up, they will quit in a heartbeat.

When you look at this team, they are not tough or physically going to battle you
night in night out, they don’t play with any pride or urgence at all. But then they
want to be mention with the elites, miami, chicago, boston. In order for that to
happen you have to beat these teams, reg season and playoffs. This particular
group, do not have the guts, heart, or mindset to beat these teams.

Somebody mentioned when they loss to houston, that its only one loss,
if you seen that gm on tv, they the hawks got dominated by houston,
no defense whatsoever, and once they fall behind in a gm they will giveup
or quit immediately, every team in the nba knows this about the hawks,
even Chicago’s D.Rose in the playoffs last season made that comment about them.

If this current group of hawks, does not immediately start playing good tough defense
and giving more effort, I would be very surprised if they won 30 gms this season, forget about the elite teams, they are going to have a difficult time beating teams like the pacers, bucks, knicks toronto, and even the bobcats in the east. I didn’t even mention the west did I!!!!

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The only way to suggest that Al be used to acquire Cousins (as opposed to Josh) is either because you have no belief that winning basketball is played above the shoulders, you believe that Josh is an Iverson-like crowd producer (which obviously isn’t true) or you want the thrill of watching two guys known for offering drama to their coaches and teammates coexist (a la T.O. and Ocho Cinco). If Sund were compelled to trade for Cousins, I think the wisest move would be to surround him with stability and talented players who are teachable. You don’t enable him with guys who can’t follow directions from the head coach.

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The Hawks lost because their defensive intensity was not there. We will not win playing good teams if we do not play with a defensive mindset from the onset. I would like to see Horford play strong down low all the time like he did in the 2nd half. I think Coach Drew took Teague out of the game because he let Josh bring the ball up on the break and he did not demand the ball. Teague has got to set the tone for the team. Teague has to take the ball from Josh and not allow him to be the point forward he thinks that he is. Coach Drew has told Teague this, but Teague was not being assertive enough during the game.

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It would be interesting to see some late 4th quarter sets that have Vlad instead of Josh on the floor. I know that Josh is a clutch offensive rebounder, but since the opposing PF often cheats and leaves Smith open on the perimeter, having Vlad out there would force the opposing team to either play one-on-one or leave an excellent spot-up shooter open. If Teague, Joe, TMac or Horford were left one-on-one, I would like our chances of at least getting free throws out of the possession.

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Jettison the warp core Scottie! Make it so…Aye Captain!

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I know Josh is frustrating to watch; he does seem to keep making the same poor decisions quite frequently, namely shooting long jumpers early in the shot clock.

But … is there any evidence to suggest that he is a difficult player to get along with? Or other than his taking of long jumpers, is there any evidence that he and the coaches have issues with each other? I am not talking about a bit of frustration here and there; I want to know if there is any evidence that Josh is in fact a “cancer” (or is nearing some sort of cancerous stage) that several people on the blog seem to keep claiming.

Most of what I hear from the coaching staff and other players is that Josh works hard, comes prepared, and gets along with others.

Just for one example: Remember last year when Drew was trying to install his new offense. He said that Josh not only knew his plays but Josh also knew the plays of every other position on the team, and in some case, he knew other people’s plays/roles in plays better than the person who was supposed to know it! That does not sound like an uncoachable cancer to me.

Yes, Josh is hard-headed about some things (i.e., shooting too many long jumpers), but being hard-headed about one set of actions does not make one a hard head in general. And I am just not aware of any evidence that Josh is “difficult” in general.

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J from A, I don’t think that Josh is a cancer nor “coach killer”. But he was benched a few seasons ago by Woody after a supposed yelling match and he was benched last year by LD after repeated poor decisions (one has to assume that the benching was after more than 1 or 2 discussions about the topic). So while he seems to say and do the right things outside of game time, there seems to be something lost in translation after the jump-ball. Both MC and Sekou before him alluded to “chemistry issues” in the past few years with Josh and teammates. I don’t know who is at fault since I don’t know the issues. So, no, he is not pointing a gun at his teammates nor trying to choke the life from his head coach.

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Melvin, maybe Flip-Flops will get some playing time while Cousins is in the doghouse. I hope he brings his sneakers to the gym.

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I know it’s a pipe dream but how about trading Josh Smith for Kenneth Faried [Nuggets' rookie] or Josh Smith for Kawhi Leonard [Spurs' rookie].

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My last comment was for superior blogman

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