Atlanta Hawks: Erick Dampier signed; Josh Smith snubbed?

ED 25 baby!

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First. Damp wil be with us for 10 days (Orlando/LA) and then we’ll bring in more of a PF/C.

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FTPB

“as long as the reserve voting is left for the head coaches, they will use it as a way to reward the type of player they would either like to coach or the type of player they want to lift up to young basketball players.”

Then the vote should be taken out of their hands. All Star selections are supposed to reward production. Doesn’t matter if Josh is only half the player he is capable of being, or if he makes more dumb decisions than someone else. If he is producing more than another player, he should be in the game, period.

There are valid criticisms of him, but none that justify Luol Deng and Roy Hibbert making it ahead of him.

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He’s a member of the bum of the month club.

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Josh Smith in no way deserves to be an ALL -Star. He’s had a couple of awesome games, and a whole bunch of sub -par games with horrible shooting, half -assed defense, and all -around bad decision -making. That’s not how an all -star player plays. He has the potential to be a perennial All -Star, but doesn’t seem to be interested in fulfilling that potential…

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Najeh, anytime defense isn’t mandatory for a game, Melo will be there! He won’t sit this game out, lol. Melo would more likely play this game, and then rest the next three games.

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I know Rondo has been hurt – but you could make a case he got shafted as well. Only going with 2 PG’s and 2 C’s in the game for the East – but the starters at those positions are dominant.

JJ should see some good minutes behind DWade. I would guess JJ could also be a 3rd PG – Wade and LeBron can play some Point also.

Love to see Josh blocking a shot at the All Star game – he still may get in, let’s see.

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I know this is jumping the gun big time, but just saying… more than half the people with 7+ All Star selections are Hall of Famers or future Hall of Famers. I don’t think Joe is future HOF material, but that is some elite company if he manages to make it next year.

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Mutombo made 8 and Nique made 9… don’t know about whether they were in a row though.

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I actually think the Hawks trading Mutombo was worse than them trading Dominique in terms of basketball sense. Dikembe earned a DPOY with Philly after he left.

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Najeh, 5 seasons ago, I didn’t think Dirk was HoF. But one wild run in the playoffs changes that. If the Hawks were to make it to the finals twice during Joe’s contract, with him playing at a high level, its quite possible. If D12 came here (which he won’t), everyone appears better than they really were all of a sudden. In my mind, Joe is just as good Joe Dumars was in his prime!

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Harpie – You are a complete fool. Nothing more needs be said.

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Though stats won’t show it, this has been Joe’s best season in my eyes. The timing of his plays have been priceless. When the team has only lost once when he scores more than 20, that says enough.

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ARE YOU F*C.KING KIDDING ME!?

Luol AND Hibbert made it ahead of Josh? What the f*ck kind of ignorant bu11s**t is this!? Yes Josh has his miscues. Yes we all get on him. Yes he is a pain the a$$. But DO NOT question this dude abilities as a deserving All -Star reserve! How the f*ck is Hibbert and and Deng better then Josh as a foward? You’ve got to be sh***ing me!

EDIT: Apparently it won’t let you post if you have to many sensory words. Eat that filter b1tch.

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A writer – Drexler – on ESPN takes a swipe at Joe Johnson:

“As far as guys who I simply can’t believe got voted in? Well, that’s Joe Johnson.”

Ignorant.

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Josh should be on the All Star team. How Deng made it ahead of him just makes no sense.

Michael, I assume we will get the pleasure of watching Dampier play tomorrow night against Orlando? If so, Dampier has 6 fouls, he better use 6 fouls. Just need him to beat up on Howard.

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Josh deserved to be an all-star ahead of Joe Johnson any day!!!

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Wasn’t Wayne “Tree” Rollins available for a 10-day contract? Jerome James? or what about Greg ‘THE SCRUB” Ostertag? Alonzo Mourning? Can we talk Shawn Bradley into coming out of retirement? Where is the creativity Mr. GM? Also heard Rasho Nesterovich is still available, LOL.

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This move just means the Hawks group simply wants to ride out this season in mediocrity. No serious playoff run. A 59 year old Dampier can not help you much. However, he is an upgrade over Twin “SCRUB” Collins.

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Josh Smith STINKS as starter.

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Josh has the same attitude and passion toward the game similar to Kevin Garnett and he gets in what up mane?

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Waltbellamy, Dumars never LEAD his team to the Finals or Conference Finals! Dumars never LEAD his team to the 2nd round of playoffs. Dumars played with two other hall of famers, and played FOR a hall of fame coach. You put Isaiah Thomas on this team, with Daily coaching, and I assure you they would make it to the finals also!

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Oh and that guy Drexler from Magic Basketball…well he writes for Magic Basketball. See the correlation as to why the hate for JJ?

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F7 is spellcheck.

“Your” welcome.

If that’s your response to me then you should have just not bothered with the “Submit Comment” button!

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Walt, Dumars was the highest paid player on the Pistons in 94-97, and those were only his 9-13th year in the league (i.e. Joe Johnson this season). If Joe played on the bad boys instead of Dumars, they still win 2 rings, maybe more. Dumars didn’t have the capability of breaking his man down off the dribble as Joe does.

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Have you watched JJ in the playoffs???

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can’t rag on Joe Johnson….in the end he may be HoF material (i really hate to say that) based strictly off numbers.

Career 18 ppg, 4 reb, 4 assists, 1 steal and 6 ALL Star games with like 5 or 6 “impact” years left

just for comparison sakes….

Ray Allen 20 PPG, 4 Reb, 4 Assits, 1 steal and 10 All Star games
T-Mac 20 PPG, 6 Reb, 5 Assists, 1 steal and 7 All Star Games

My eyes tell me Joe Johnson is not HoF material but one could make a case if he continues this way and it would be hard to argue against. He’s a very good…maybe even great player but Hall of Fame is a stretch. We were just fine with Joe Johnson until the contract which we all know is impossible to live up to.

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JJ never got anywhere and never did anything.

But that certainly makes him better than Dumars and Hudson.

He did make a lot of money.

Rally around your under performing hero.

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JJ & HOF. You must be delusional. Puff, puff, pass.

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Dumars = champion.

JJ = ? I know he is your hero. But still well below outstanding.

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Dumars = Backseat champion. By that token, Josh Powell is a champion. As I said, when Joe Dumars was a number one option, the team ended up in the lottery.

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I’m not saying Joe Johnson is HoF Yet. But I’ll take him over Dumars on my team.

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Ra’Mon

It sounds ludicrous at first, but when you really look at it and try to project to the rest of his career. Three more years of this type of production and the case for HOF is STRONG…almost infallible.

And as a Hawks fan…maybe we haven’t appreciated Joe Johnson as much as we should. I hear what “waltbellamy” is saying. However, when Joe Johnson arrived we had 13 wins and we whiffed on two lottery picks (Marvin & Shelden) during his tenure.

He hasn’t been playing along side the greatest wings (marvin Williams, josh childress) nor any good PGs (speedy claxton, salim stoudemire, mike bibby). He’s never had a Shaq, KG, or Yao Ming or any type of low post scoring presence that would help open up the floor in that regard. You could say Al Horford but career 12 ppg isn’t exactly a post threat.

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Walt, JJ made it to the Conference Finals in Phoenix. Since not being the best player on your team doesn’t count. He’s made it to the conference finals.

Yodaddy, I know what he’s saying. But I’m purely saying, as the best player on your team, Joe Johnson has lead his team further than Dumars lead his. And as I said, in my mind, 4 seasons ago Dirk was a choke artist, and not HoF material. But ONE playoff run changed all of that. I don’t believe that Joe doesn’t have the talent to make that happen.

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ASG finally bring in a big man, too bad they waited till he was almost 300 pounds and lying around in a retirement home. Maybe he can take up some space and use up his fouls. Probably is the best of the rest. Would have much rather had Keith Benson a mobile 7 footer.

Joe Johnson is no All Star, kid is not a game changer, thus will never be a HOF. To me if you have never been voted to the starting team by fans, you are not relevant. Also, just because you are voted to All Star game by fans does not make you an HOF.

Case in point, Yi Ming for Houston got voted in as a starter his first time on the ballot, but he was relevant to fans and a game changer. People came to see him play. Jordan before he went on his championship runs, Chicago was not very good but people came to see him play, same could be said for Nique & his Hawks, but Joe Johnson the 6 time All Star is a joke, who really goes to see him play other than die hard Hawks fans…his claim to fame this season is the Hawks are 10 & 1 when he scores over 20 points, so the Hawks were 13 & 0 against sub 500 teams, of which Joe probably scored his 20 points in those games; question where was he in the other 17 games, definitely not a 20 point scorer.

He does not deserve to be an All Star this year…Josh was snubbed.

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I’ll give JJ the all star spot, no problem. Before he arrived the Hawks were Charlotte. Unfortunately the ASG screwed that up with mostly horrible draft picks that don’t need repeating. Having followed the Hawks since the Hubie days, this product is not that bad, Hawks get to the playoff most years and for tithe most part they win at home……….which is what the paying fans like to see.
As for Josh, yes he’s a talent but spends too much making dumb azz plays and disrupting the flow the team is trying to establish. Therefore he is not an all-star. If he played like he did against Indy he’s in. However there are too many nights when watching him I want to rip the tv off the wall and throw it out the window.
Years ago while attending a game, my buddy made the comment that Woody need a shock collar for every time Josh launched one of his ill timed JUMPERs. It’s gotten better but still needs work…….after 7-8 years.
Will be interesting Sunday, Gearon speaks to the season tic holders before Heat game…….guess signing Damp will keep the noise down.

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Joe Johnson, is 4 seasons from having 5,000 assists and 5,000 rebounds. He’s 5-7 seasons from having 20,000 points. You show me the player who has 20,000 pts, 5,000 assists, and 5,000 rebounds, and I’ll believe that Joe doesn’t have a chance at HoF.

Michael Jordan
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Karl Malone
Larry Bird
Oscar Robertson
Jerry West
Clyde Drexler
Gary Payton
John Havlicek.
Kevin Garnett
Kobe

Those are the only players to have those numbers. And EACH is in the HoF, although each doesn’t have a ring.

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I am just glad they didn’t select the Lin kid.

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Its been fun debating. About to watch Tower Heist online.

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FYI – Walt Bellamy career totals – 20,941 points and 14,241rebounds. These totals were compiled when there were actually a half dozen credible centers in the league (and no I do not mean Eric Dampier). I quiver in fear of the possibility that JJ might (?) put together some decent career statistics after another five years without accomplishing anything in a team environment.

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JJ will never darken the door of the HOF.

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Ra’mon

Love the opportunity to disagree.

We will never see eye to eye on JJ.

I still love my fellow Hawk fans.

Have a great night!

Walt Bellamy is my hero.

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Yo Walt, saw you crush Wilt at the Garden back in the 60’s, then the Knicks traded you and Howard Komives for Dave Debusherre………….and the rest is history

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Look out Ra’mon! We might agree on something yet. I love Mo!

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Bells, that would be correct! Lol

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“NBA commissioner David Stern said Wednesday that Hawks ownership has committed to pay the luxury tax should they exceed the league’s salary cap”

The biggest stunt yet by the ASG. If they are going to get Stern to front for them, at least prep him with a more believable statement. Now we all know full well that the ASG will absolutely not exceed the salary cap. So saying they will pay LT if they exceed the cap, is like saying “I can leap tall buildings if I was Superman”.

This is similar to Gearson previous statement of paying LT if he could get Lebron. He knew Lebron wasn’t coming to Atlanta so the statement was really meant to appease the fans.

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bells was a true post presence, lord though, he had hands of granite. loved the hawks before him while he was here and now. moses, bells, petit never here and deke and that is all folks in the post in our history. tree not so much but he was available on the defensive end. sad all of the atlanta post players were past prime when they arrived. orlando has had two that they drafted, lakers have had shaq and wilt and kareem. sucks man.

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walt, yeah, people dont realize that the hawks had been a dynasty only topped by the celts ove the ten years before they got here. it didnt take long for the atl loservillle distinction to take them over. sad they were like the braves ahead of that time going to the conf finals in about 10 of 14 years and only winning once in ‘57. loved sweet lou but he came along tool ate to get much cred for how good a player he was. smooth as osh would like to be the man without a j and a handle.

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Earlier this evening, the Grandmaster (GM) figured everything out.

MC said in a tweet that the more we accomplish in the postseason, the more player incentives…

The more player incentives, the higher the payroll, meaning ASG (no idea what they call themselves these days) would have to PAY MORE AND WOULD EXCEED THE LUXURY TAX.

What does this mean? LD intentionally utilized his BS 2 foul rule in game 2 vs Chicago, costing us the series. That way, more player incentives would not have been achieved. We will never go past the 2nd round with this core and front office.

Checkmate.

-Grandmaster JeJe (GM)

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FIRE SUND

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Josh Smith would have made the [2012] NBA All-Star team [as a reserve] representing the Eastern Conference if:

A. the Hawks are a 1 seed during the All-Star selection process.
B. the Hawks are a 2 seed during the All-Star selection process.
C. the Hawks are a 3 seed during the All-Star selection process especially if the Hawks are tied with the the 2 seed but are positioned [placed] as a 3 seed based on tie-breaker rules.
D. the Hawks are a 4 [or perhaps a 5] seed during the All-Star selection process and Josh Smith is averaging career highs statistically such as 18-21ppg, 10-12rpg, 5-6apg, 2.5-3blks/gm and 1.8-2.5stls/gm while shooting a FG% of 53%-55%, a 3FG% of 33%-36% and a FT% of 75%-80%.

Josh Smith does not have the “legacy” or “star power” to make the All-Star team [as a reserve] while the Hawks are a 5 seed during the All-Star selection process and he [Josh Smith] is averaging 15.6ppg, 8.9rpg, 3.2apg, 2blks/gm and 1.5stls/gm while shooting a FG% of 47%, a 3FG% of 28.6% and a FT% of 54%.

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Quick roundup:

Damper is another guy who comes in 2/3 years too late.

He was sign STRICTLY as a stop gap until Collins returns (a coupe of 10 day contracts and he is gone).

Josh’s snub:

Coaches select players for the All-star reserves based on a single criteria: would I like to have this guy on my team / would I like to coach him (in a nutshell – is he good AND coachable?).

Whilst Josh brings it from a strict quality point of view – in spite of some really poor numbers in some categories – he does not survive the “is he coachable” test, so he is not selected.

Is this a fair assessment? I don’t think so since Josh looks uncoachable now ecause we have a weak HC on LD.

In all fairness, Woody was making an All-star out of Josh, and that was our only loss when Woody departed.

On JJ:

JJ survives with flying colours the above test. He is both good and coachable and the proof of that is the fact that he now DEFERS too much to LD’s offensive schemes.

JJ should take 20+ shots every game (he does sometimes fail to adapt his game to the best defenders). When he takes that amount of shots we usually win.

IND game is a good evidence of that: JJ took over in the first as a guy with his quality should look to do even when his shot is not falling.

This year on D he is mostly paired with the opposing SG – rather than on the PG – and his defensive numbers have been stellar. Another plus for the coaches.

Quality AND coachability.

Unless Josh starts to consistently put up 18/9/3/2/1.5 on good Fg and Ft% the perception of uncoachability will not be going away.

Having said that, Josh is annoying but very good – better than his offensive numbers.

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How is it possible someone could be a stop gap to the 2nd worst player in the NBA (Collins)? The Hawks management is horrible.

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Sorry, Josh Smith did not make the allstar team.

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Dawg
February 10th, 2012
4:43 am

If you believe in ESPN player rankings to evaluate the value of a player, then you know nothing about basketball.

PER stats, Hollinger and ESPN are not the way to evaluate basketball. PER is HIGHLY fallible and a mere tool to compare similar players but it disregards contributions which do not show in the boxscore.

Collins is an excellent post defender when facing bulky/strong post back to the basket players.

As I have mentioned in the past several times and as Najeh said in one of the recent blogs, Collins is a situational player which has a high value in certain circumstances.

Yes, he can’t score, rebound or block shots, but he is a very disciplined defender who draws charges, sets good picks, clogs the lane and glues his chest to the offensive players making them shoot over him with little space to maneuver.

These are all things that most players don’t do well due to poor fundamentals, driven by a preference by young kids to learn flashy moves rather than sound defensive principles.

Bowen who was known to be a lock down defender also did not block shots nor got any steals. His boxscore was typically a big pile of nothing but he contribute in ways that were not visible for people who look only to the flashy side of the game.

Battier ditto.

And the opposite is also true: Iverson averaged 2 steals per game but that was not good D, that was a byproduct of him taking so many gambles on D that he got many steals.

What the boxscore does not show is that Iverson’s direct opponent more often than not (by a mile) had a free pass to the lane.

Collins has been in the Finals as a starting center. Was he good enough to stop Shaq and help his team win the Championship?

No, but he managed to help them to get to the door step and be competitive.

The same happened last year: in 2009/10 we were scared by Howard to the point of being completely defeated before tip off, but last year we won the regular season series and the playoff’s first round with Collins making Howard work hard and exposing his weak fundamentals and his over-reliance in pushing players around and getting bailed out by the refs.

And THIS year, in the game against Minny, Love was getting whatever he wanted in the post when Collins (and Ivan) changed that and made him try to beat us from the perimeter.

THAT put us back in the game and we took the W.

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Dawg

If Collins is the 2nd worst player in the NBA …
then who is the worst ? ? ?

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You people really think that the same coachs who let Josh shoot uncontested jumpshots all day will vote him into the big game?

Lol

SMDH

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LOL @ ppl hating on the Hibbert selection. There has to be a backup CENTER on the team people

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If Josh Smith fashioned his gave after Dennis Rodaman instead of Arvydas Sabonis not only would he be an All Star but probably a Hall of Famer.

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I’m clearly not Josh’s biggest fan right now,
but, Paul Pierce ? c’mon now, I see Deng before I see Pierce ?
Hibbert was a lock from everything I read.
Back to Pierce;
lifetime achievement award as Kincade would say.
Josh may or may not have desrved to make it;
one could make a case for others;
Rondo, Varejao, Lou Williams, Greg Monroe, & Kyrie Irving;
obviously team records came into play as well.
One site – Hoops World, ‘`I think`’, had their guys vote and
the consensus was Ky Irving being selected.

In the west;
Dirk, same as Pierce – Life Ach Awrd
One of the two Utah guys deserved to get in: Milsap or Big Al Jefferson
Also;
like someone said, four pgs ?
Chris Paul, much like Melo, did he deserve it ?
Tony Parker [I know he made it] but a more deserving starter ? yes ?
Westbrook ? I prefer *Hardin to Westbrook on OKC as a player.
*[If I had to choose]

All in All

-It’s an exhibition-

Kinda like professional wrestling / who cares ?

‘cept for Josh,,,,, I know it mean’t something to this kid.

This time; I’m on Josh’s side !!

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Interesting, but not surprising, take of one Hawk on Josh Smith. This is from an early December, ‘11 article:

“Josh brings so many things to the table it’s priceless – not only offensively but defensively,” Pachulia continued. “If he plays the right way, uses his athleticism and plays smart he’s unstoppable. We’ve told him before millions of times and we still tell him in a good way, a positive way of course. We’re friends. As long as he’s doing that (playing smart) I’m sure everybody is going to be happy and no one will want to trade him. It’s really in his hands. He has the ability, trust me his potential is unbelievable.”

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newkid,

THAT is a perfect testament on why he has not been selected.

EVERYONE sees Josh squander enormous potential and he simply can’t help it.

He doesn’t want to be what he CAN be and concentrates in trying to be what he CAN’T be.

Still a valuable player IMO, but the frustration he brings to the table is very difficult to cope with.

To be perfectly honest, we now have two of those since Horford also does not want to be what he can be and wants to be what he will never be …

Oh brother…

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D. the Hawks are a 4 [or perhaps a 5] seed during the All-Star selection process and Josh Smith is averaging career highs statistically such as 18-21ppg, 10-12rpg, 5-6apg, 2.5-3blks/gm and 1.8-2.5stls/gm while shooting a FG% of 53%-55%, a 3FG% of 33%-36% and a FT% of 75%-80%.

Dude, those are MVP numbers… He shouldn’t have had to put up MVP numbers to get into the damn ASG as a reserve!

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vava the prob with your talk about collins and him being a game changer and having the gall to compare what he does to what bowen did is bowen simply did it noght after noght game after game for years. shutting down the oppositions best. the spurs have not been the same since and to boot whenever it came time for a bog three he had the dagger ready, horry like. vava sorry that is insulting to any fan with reasoning ability. you got carried away.

anyway having been there at the game, ivan really was the guy in the shut down of love as he was to bosh. collins was in the game but they had another big for him to deal with a lot less mobility than love. you put collins on love alone for extended minutes and he is mincemeat, while love grabs another personal high in rebounds and scores at will.

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The above JM is a different JM, but I totaly agree.

Go Hawks!

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abe states in simply and succintly.

Josh remains his own biggest obstacle to being an All-Star.

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I’m not fallin’ for it !!

‘`Damp`’ not the answer nor the solution.
He may only be a 10 day fill in for ‘`99 cent cheeseburger`’ ?
When JCheese gets back, Damp should be gone – hope – !
-Then-
We can continue *our* quest for a Legit 7 ftr / Big Man !
-Now-
What I truly expect is Sund & co will try will try and pass off Damp
as the 2nd coming of …..well ….. the 2nd coming of “Damp” ?
As if the 1st Damp was HOF worthy ?
-Spin City-
Heather Locklear … my mind wanders dometimes…………………….

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KevinM

February 10th, 2012
9:29 am

Kevin, sell your tickets while you can and just watch this in the tube.

Dampier in his current state will be a completely immobile pile of lard in the lane and IF he gets any minutes Howard will simply dance around him for easy dunks.

Dampier already looked like crap last year, so one year and 40lbs after…

Zaza is good for short stretches because he is annoying – scratches and bites – in these type of games but he can’t hold on more than 15/20 minutes before collecting 4 or 5 fouls.

Our only chance is Ivan getting into Howard’s skin to the point of both getting a double tech.

Also, Josh is remarkably bad defending stretch PFs, so Ryan Anderson will probably have a career night from 3 point land.

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I think it would be hard to notice 20-25 extra pounds on a 6′11″ frame. My guess, if Dampier appears bigger than his normal playing weight, then we’re likely talking closer to 40+ pounds of extra baggage. But for a 10-20 day contract with games against D12 and Bynum on the horizon, why not?

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“LOL @ ppl hating on the Hibbert selection. There has to be a backup CENTER on the team people”

1. Why?

2. Bosh can be the backup center

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Erick is one heck of a guy and he will prove he is worth giving him a chance. He is also from the real Dawgs of the SEC, Mississippi State!! Go Erick!!

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I LOVE this Dampier pickup. the Bad Boys had the Jordan Rules and Larry Drew has the Dwight Rules.

the Dwight Rules are simple: throw every body over 6′9″ at Dwight and make the guards beat you

we only had 3 guys (4 counting Vlad but really?) that could do that: Josh, Zaza, and Ivan. now we have 4 (5) bodies we can throw at Dwight and keep the key guys (Josh, Joe, etc.) out of foul trouble

the Dwight Rules were 80% of the reasoning behind this pickup

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if Al was healthy and voters had a brain we’d have 3 All-Stars

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Josh’s Snub,

Josh is inconsistent, undisciplined and considered to be uncoachable.

??????

If you were a coach starting a team, what player would Josh have be picked above…I don’t think any….He maybe the fourth player taken from this team(Joe, Al, Teague then Josh).

Coaches pick the players they want to coach….Many on this blog/city give Josh the benefit of the doubt for having POOR COACHING, but the COACHING FRATERNITY doesn’t…THAT IS WHY AL GETS PICKED ABOVE HIM.

PS. Only former players defend Josh, not coaches.

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‘Kevin, sell your tickets while you can and just watch this in the tube.

Dampier in his current state will be a completely immobile pile of lard in the lane and IF he gets any minutes Howard will simply dance around him for easy dunks.

Dampier already looked like crap last year, so one year and 40lbs after…”

50liter Kegs will blow ya right up! What a joke!

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newkid,

He needs Boston..

Josh doesn’t need Boston (imo). He needs a good coach. Doc Rivers, Popovich in San Antonio, I would even take Rick Adelman or George Karl.

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Grandad,

Awesome trade for both teams! Did you call Sund? But seriously i like it. How tall is AV?

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We’re about 7 hours from tip-off….how do match up with the Magic?

I think we struggle only with D12…can we win if D12 goes for 30/18? Do we have enough fouls to give up inside?

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“Whose spot would you give to Josh?”

Deng or Hibbert. I can understand the argument for Pierce, since he’s carried that team since returning from injury, but even he hasn’t had a better season than Josh.

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“Coaches pick the players they want to coach”

Then they shouldn’t be picking. The All Star game is about recognizing the best players, period. Josh is a better player than Deng or Hibbert. Doesn’t matter how much of an underachiever he is, or how hard he is to coach. You really think the coaches are standing there in the All Star game coaching? You think they are calling out sets?

It’s the All Star game. It’s a celebration, bitches. It’s not a competitive contest.

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“If Josh is playing at 50% capacity and he’s still better than Deng playing at 100% capacity, then Josh should go, irrespective of whether or not he’s not playing up to his potential.”

Co-sign. But Najeh, since this is a Hawks blog, shouldn’t you have used “irregardless” instead of irrespective?

doc,

In the Hawks Big Man Pantheon, you can’t leave out Big Z.

Zaza??????

Hell to the naw, I mean Zelmo Beatty. Other than Pettit, the best scoring big we’ve ever had.

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” But Najeh, since this is a Hawks blog, shouldn’t you have used “irregardless” instead of irrespective?”

Dang my bad, I guess that was a heat check for me.

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OB, it’s as much about the organizational culture as it is about the coach. When your ‘basketball family’ consists of Hondo, Cousy, Russell, Sam Jones, KC Jones, Jo Jo White, Nellie, Bird, and so on, and they’re all constantly and helpfully in your ear about ‘the Boston Way’, you learn or leave. Put Doc back in Orlando (without the support of the Boston family) and see if he has the success he has had in Boston. Boston won more championships than any NBA franchise before Doc, and will win many more after Doc. Put Doc (or Pop or Phil) in Atlanta with a basketball family that starts with the ASG and probably ends wtih Nique, and see how much success he has with a cats like Josh.

Those ‘agents’ of Josh’s mentioned in the Sekou link sound very much like the sort of jock sniffing ‘enablers’ surrounding many of these challenged, but talented, young men during their ‘productive’ years. Poor Josh.

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sautee, zelmo was a traitor and wasnt here long enough to make any history.

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sorry northcyde meant najeh, been a long morning trying to catch up.

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No problem Doc.

What I would love to see, is how many votes each player got from the coaches at each position. I want to see how many coaches even voted for Josh, to get a clear idea if he was even close or not.

If Melo can’t go, Josh will be the likely replacement. If one of the guards can’t go, a guy like Lou Williams or Ray Allen may get the nod, even if Rondo or Smith deserve it.

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*yawn*

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Najeh,

On Josh’s snub, you should look into my earlier posts.

Reserves are selected by coaches and their selections certainly based on “quality+coachability”.

The harsh reality for Josh is that he is kind of a laughing stock in the league and the perception is that he is uncoachable.

My view is that he never had good coaches and that, even so, Woody had finally turned him into an Allstar (his major accomplishment and our only loss with his departure).

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What is all this talk about this dumb all star game picks anyway? A championship is all what should matter. Do we actually watch these games anyway? It’s a showcase of wasted talent. The actual all star game of the past were entertainment and about 3/4 defense; now a days it’s more like 1/4 defense and 75% showboat gunning, thunderous dunks, and hailmary treys. So what if you don’t make the all star game. Josh has been in it before-so I don’t think that will phase him much. Josh must know that he won’t be a Hawk after this season, so he may as well play like he wants to win a trophy with this team. IMHO, I pay little attention to the all star game, itself. I”ll still watch the slam dunk and the 3 pt contest. I also like the McDonalds all star high school game. I may watch the ole timer legends game with Scottie Pippin, if they have it this year.

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what happened? i thought josh had been named to the allstar game?was he taken off all of a sudden? also, was dampier with the hawks once before? he must have been signed cheap? thats rick sund and his group for you

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Big Ray

I’m still trying to figure out a way to draft Thomas Robinson.

Probably have to get at least in the top 6.

____________________________________________

Kinda like last year – I liked Singleton at 20
then we traded pick.
On draft night folks started saying Sund was gonna trade up;
I was wishin’ for Kawhi Leonard !
Oh Well … I do not scout for the Hawks.
Their scouts are much more experienced and wise, and professional
and all sorts of nifty such and such than myself.

What do I know:
I said Rudy Gay had the same hgt and wingspan as Sheldon Williams.
why would you take less talent just for that wingspan ?
Then again, what do I know ?

Follow the progress of Kawhi Leonard.

Also I’m saying it right now:
Thomas Robinson / Thomas Robinson / Thomas Robinson ! ! !
Even if we must trade josh to get high enough to get him.
If we can get a Center to boot = Gravy; yeah !

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bigger butt, gdad?

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I’ve always thought the NBA All Star roster should be a 15 man roster. There are usually a handful of all stars each year who are selected but are nursing injuries, fatigue and simply do not want to play in the game. This would give opportunities for a additional player (or two) to be selected. In having to choose two playes from the three A.I., Ding or Smith, I would leave Smith off.

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It is a sad day when this guy has been a very good player and he is not recognized by the coaches in the leauge. He has improved his jump shot, improved his attitude, scores more, continues to play defense and yet he is snubbed, AGAIN! Kick rocks all you coaches who did not vote for Josh you should be ASHAMED!

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i would hope that josh could bring back someone better than varejao. bah!

when hubie brown the dean of coaches points out obvious flaws in josh’s game it’s not like that goes unnoticed. call me the day when the light comes on and josh finally figures out he has major offensive limitations and decides to play to his strengths and what the team is trying to accomplish.

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[If]^^

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I sure hope the Dumpster does not embarrass himself tonight?

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Josh Smith an ALLSTAR?……LMAO………Maybe when he stops being a premodonna and learn the game of basketball. The HAWKS can really help themselves by trading for a player who doesn’t dream of highlight reels. Again, there is a reason Dwight does not want to come to Atlanta to be with his bud Josh but if Josh leaves I betcha Dwight would jump at the chance.

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Let’s hope Damp can hold his position like a dumpster……clog up the lane with all that lard he’s packing.
He knows how to play. Can he….

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#Hawks F Josh Smith on All-Star snub: “I guess I don’t know the right people or kiss enough [butt].”

An oft used excuse for folk who either are too stupid to learn the rules or too brash to accept the rules. I’d like Josh to explain a voting/selecting process that isn’t subjective (including choosing sides for a pick-up game on the blacktop).

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I am actually glad Smith didn’t make the All-Star roster. No one wants to watch horrible shots and air balls in the All-Star game. Smith is blaming the voting on kissing butt which is really because of that poor shot selection. All he has to do is get better at that and he will be in multiple All-Star games.

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josh got snubbed. hands down. i see what yall wrote about he didnt deserve it and there are good points to those arguing why he shouldnt of made the team. but think of this, luol deng made the team and he’s missed games but hes not as essential to the bulls as josh to the hawks. josh does everything and ya hes not as consistent like an all star should be but even if josh has a mediocre game he still get 10 pts 7 rbs 4 ast 2 blks and guards everyone. i seriously believe if josh played for a team with a real head coach he would be at 18 &8 every night and shooting 50+% from the field. it is a damn shame he got nixed like that for luol or PP34.
now on dampier, good 10 day signee if he is in shape. i dont like hearin he’s 280lbs but he will hopefully get a few mins and contribute. id still like to see keith benson cuz i think he can grow into a good/athletic C that can give us mins and turn into more. they say keiths problem is strength but strength in the NBA is not of great importance its about positioning and heart, look at KD35, he prob still cant bench 185 but u wouldnt call his game weak, KD can get to the lane and finish strong and i think keith B could help us moreso than a erick dampier could

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heh heh at sautee, h3ll yes smash kick butt instead.

sad that while iggy and deng quietly took their snubs im the past osh again shoots himself in the foot at close range i might add because he didnt miss.:-)

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YAY!!! We got Dumpier….We’re gonna be champions…yeaa!!

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“On Hibbert’s selection…

… you guys are snubbing him, however, his nimbers are just about the same that Al had (I think per minute may even be substantially better) when he got called up.”

He isn’t nearly as efficient as Al. More importantly, I can’t support an All Star selection who gets owned by Zaza this badly.

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lea, I aim to please.

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I’m with Melvin.

Replace Pierce with Josh, and replace Deron with Rondo.

Najeh,

Somebody from the Pacers will get a spot based on the team record, so either Granger or Hibbert would have gone.

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when you wonder why the phil is half empty and the numbers are declining this is sobering:

http://beta.local.yahoo.com/news-georgia-dead-last-financial-security

folks we are skating through.

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“I can’t support an All Star selection who gets owned by Zaza this badly.”

Haha… that makes East All-Star Roy Hibbert, West All-Star Marc Gasol and former #1 overall pick Andrew Bogut that Zaza has not looked bad against. He really only looked overmatched against Spencer Hawes since he became the starter. I saw your props comment ftpb.

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“Give the Hawks 1-2 of those wins LD gave away because he’s not an NBA-caliber coach and Josh is an All-Star.”

Buddy,

First off, I believe Josh got robbed, and definitely SHOULD have been on the AST.

However, you have no guarantee that the two wins we “missed” would have swayed the coaches. Is there a chance? Yes, but Josh HAS been inconsistent, despite his moments of brilliance.

Also, in the MIA game you mentioned, Josh was 6-17, so that’s somehow on LD? If Josh hits just one more shot in regulation, there would have been no overtime. Yes, LD has made some “young” coaching errors, but to say that he alone cost Josh his All-Star bid is a huge stretch IMO. I cannot imagine that Josh blames LD. But then, he likely has a much different agenda than bloggers, lol.

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Buddy Grizzard

I would love to go and drink coffee with you while you have that beer.
[tee-totaler]
Then we could discuss my disagreement with your last post.
Respectfully as always.

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Josh= no j and no handles…No AllStar………Yawn……………

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“Somebody from the Pacers will get a spot based on the team record, so either Granger or Hibbert would have gone.”

I would have no problem with Josh, Granger, and Rondo replacing Deng, Hibbert, and Deron Williams. Bosh can be the backup center.

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“Coaches just pick people they like. Time to take the vote out of their hands.”

Agreed, doubt All NBA gets voted in to AllStar games by the fans for sure….

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“Also, in the MIA game you mentioned, Josh was 6-17, so that’s somehow on LD?” – Sautee

Let’s save the specious arguments. What’s on LD is his decision not to foul before the shot with 5 seconds to play and a foul to give. The initial foul to give could have taken ticks off the clock, and then a second foul before the recipient of the in-bounds pass could go into a shooting motion would put them on the line for two free throws, all but securing the win.

LD is a former player, and as G-Dad will tell you, coaches live for late-game situations where game management can have a real impact on the outcome. LD can’t get out there and play, much as he undoubtedly would love to. So managing end-game situations is the closest he can come to directly impacting the game. This was a huge opportunity to be up 2-0 on Miami for the season series and he instructed his players not to foul, opening the door for a tying 3.

Sure… players could have hit shots… players could have hit free throws… the refs could have set aside their typical anti-Hawk bias… any number of factors could have changed the outcome of that game. But the fact remains, LD mismanaged the conclusion of that game and gave away a victory that would have the Hawks in first in the Southeast division with the second best record in the Eastern Conference as I type this. Just think about the difference that one victory would make right now in terms of not only external perception of the Hawks, but goodwill toward the franchise on the part of its own fans.

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LOL @ SVG’s analysis of the Hawks:

“You’ve gotta still deal with Joe Johnson. They’re a huge post up and isolation team… you’re not dealing with alot of movement or anything.”

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I’m all for the Dampier signing because at the very least it allows guys to play their natural positions on the court. He is a BIG body that you can use to plug in the middle where the Hawks are the most vulnerable. If LD is worth his grain in salt as a coach he will use Dampier’s size to set a number of hard screens and picks when needed that will help the perimeter players get off a clean shot. He’s not a mobile big man so they should avoid trying to run pick n rolls with him and he’s not the type of player who is going to rebound outside of 2 feet but again..at his size opposing big men aren’t just going to back him down and shot over him or move thru him – he’s so big that teams are going to have to put a body on him just because you don’t want him roaming alone under the basket.

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If Josh SMith put up the exact same stats, in the exact same way for a team with the exact same record, but located in LA or New York, he woudl be in. If he put up the exact same stats for the Knicks, he woudl be in.

There is just this weird anti-atlanta vibe out there.

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