Atlanta Hawks: Offense steps up in win over Mavs (updated)

Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena.

The Hawks took their new up-tempo offense out for another test drive Saturday.

It started fast and ran well.

The Hawks jumped on the Mavericks early, scoring the first eight points, en route to a 110-94 victory at Philips Arena.

Kyle Korver and Anthony Tolliver opened with 3-pointers and the Mavericks missed their first five shots. The Hawks (3-3) shot 48.7 percent from the field in the first half (19 of 39). By the end of the first 24 minutes, all 10 Hawks who played scored at least three points. The Hawks also got 3-pointers from five different players in building a 58-43 halftime lead. They led by as many as 19 points.

“That’s a good way to start it off,” Josh Smith said. “We have so many weapons on the perimeter and guys who can knock down jump shots. It makes it easier on us. That was a good way to start off. I think it picked our energy level up on the defensive end because we made it easier on the offense. There are going to be nights like that.”

Hawks rookie Mike Scott impressed with a game-high 17 points, including an emphatic dunk off a miss at the end of the third quarter. He had nine first-half points, converting all three field-goal and free-throw attempts.

Ivan Johnson and Lou Williams added 13 points for the Hawks. Devin Harris (11 points), Smith (10 points, 13 rebounds), Anthony Morrow (10 points) and Damion James (10 points) rounded out the double-digit scorers.

“Just playing with confidence,” Scott said of his success. “I still had some defensive breakdowns I have to watch over. My teammates got me the ball and I finished.”

Jae Crowder led the Mavericks (2-3) with 15 points.

The Hawks finished by shooting 45.7 percent from the field (37 of 81). They had 50 rebounds, including 15 on the offensive end, and 24 assists.

Hawks coach Larry Drew wanted to see his team build off their second-half effort against the Hornets Thursday. They did that and more.

“When you watch us play one of the things you clearly see is how well we move the ball,” Drew said. “When we have the ball jumping from one side to the other, particularly when teams are doubling in the post, we have shown we are a very unselfish team moving the basketball. We’ve got guys who can make shots. Early in the game, when those guys are making shots, that’s a good sign. I’ll continue to harp on the defense but … when we are making shots and executing offensively we’re pretty good.”

The Mavericks, playing without Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman, shot just 36.1 percent from the field in the first half (13 of 36), including 14.3 percent (1 of 7) from 3-point range. They finished the game shooting 37 percent (30 of 81).

With one exhibition game remaining, Friday in Detroit, Drew is hoping to get a regular lineup established. That effort was slowed by point guard Jeff Teague (ankle), shooting guard John Jenkins (hand) and center Zaza Pachulia (ankle) held out with injuries. Also, center Al Horford left the game in the second quarter with a sore right calf and did not return.

The Hawks started their sixth different starting lineup of the exhibition season with Tolliver starting at small forward with a backcourt of Harris and Korver joining Smith and Horford.

“It always helps hitting shots,” Tolliver said. “Getting going early, hitting shots early, it helps the defense. Obviously, if you are making shots they don’t have transition and it helps you get back and set up the defense.”

The Mavericks made a second-half run, closing to within 10 points in the third quarter, as Drew implored his team to step up their defensive effort. They did. The lead was back up to 20 points with a Johnson jumper on the Hawks first possession of the fourth quarter.

“I talk a lot about defense but in some instances a good defense is a solid offense,” Drew said. “I think it’s important that we as a team understand what our strengths and our weaknesses are. What’s a good shot, what’s a bad shot. We move the ball and get it to our shooters.”

Notes: Teague (sprained left ankle), Pachulia (sprained left ankle) and Jenkins (left hand contusion) did not play. Drew said there was no timetable for Teague’s return, calling the point guard day-to-day. Teague said he thought he might be out “a couple of days.” Teague and Pachulia were injured against the Hornets Thursday. Pachulia continued to play in the game but Drew held him out Saturday for precautionary reasons. … The Hawks’ practice Sunday will be open to the public. The workout begins at 3:30 p.m. at Philips Arena.

- Chris Vivlamore

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* Return of Harris gives Hawks more flexibility at guard

Follow me on Twitter at ajchawks

66 comments Add your comment

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:43 pm

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:43 pm

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:43 pm

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:43 pm

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:43 pm

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:44 pm

I don’t know what just happened.

paian

October 20th, 2012
9:46 pm

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:48 pm

REPOST

High-sider
October 20th, 2012
9:34 pm

How about we keep the Statue of Liberty and send Johan Petro back?

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/johan_petro/career_stats.html

paian

October 20th, 2012
9:48 pm

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:50 pm

@Slimjr

Slimjr
October 20th, 2012
9:38 pm

Jamal just entered the game HS!
—————————————————–\—-

JC1 has played 8mins and hasn’t even taken a shot!!!!

Roy Kittles

October 20th, 2012
9:53 pm

The hawks should keep damion James. And cut Petro, maybe to Toliiver and Anderson. Maybe watch the waver wires for a good pick up.

Najeh Davenpoop

October 20th, 2012
9:55 pm

If the opening day roster was the top 11 in minutes played from tonight’s game + Teague, Zaza, and Jenkins, that would be fine with me. If they sent Jenkins to the D-League and signed another SF who could provide some quality minutes, even better. I’m not saying Jenkins can’t play, but he is more redundant than Scott on this roster, so between the two I’d rather keep Scott. Petro and Anderson are useless and should be cut immediately.

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
9:57 pm

Slimjr,

The Jazz are running two defenders at Jamal. That’s the secret to guarding Jamal; take the ball out of his hands. The Jazz are using the strategy the Bulls used in the 2011 EC Semis. Del Negro is responsible for “turning” Crawford into a “Ray Allen” or [a] “Reggie Miller.” Del Negro should be running Crawford off [of] picks and screens to “free” him [up].

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
10:00 pm

Crawford just made a shot coming off of a screen. LD [Lame Duck] should have done this against the Bulls in Games 2 -7 during the EC Semis. Maybe, y’all are right calling for LD’s termination. [SMH]

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
10:02 pm

^Correction: “…in Games 2 – 6…”

High-sider

October 20th, 2012
10:17 pm

Slimjr
October 20th, 2012
9:37 pm

So the #2 pick is wearing #2? Nice….
——————————————————————-

He [Duck] wanted that number while playing for the Hawks but JJ would have none of that.

@KJbeatz

October 20th, 2012
10:17 pm

Josh smith is going to be a superstar once this line up pans out. Because this offense flows perfect for him to just do the things he’s good at. Along with steals blocks and rebounds , and assist ( almost forgot ) if he averages 24 points and up a game. And make the playoffs , he will definitely prove that he is a Allstar and a superstar , and Lou Williams is goin to have a break out season to make a case to start over Teague or at the 2… Can’t wait till the regular season. I can’t image this team not being hire then a 3rd seed behind the heat , and Bulls .. ( maybe bulls ) because even if this team doesn’t stay healthy , it has good peices

ctrim

October 20th, 2012
10:43 pm

Does Mike Scott have he skill set to play the 3? At 6′8 a little undersized at PF and seems to be able to score efficiently from the perimeter.

Buddy Grizzard

October 20th, 2012
10:43 pm

Missed the Charlotte game but here are my thoughts on tonight’s contest:

http://repatl.blogspot.com/2012/10/hawks-can-relate-to-dallas-dumb.html

Big Ray

October 20th, 2012
11:04 pm

I read the quotes from this article regarding LD and the players…wrong attitude, if you ask me.

The whole theme is about them hitting shots early on and that helps the defense, everybody feels good, blah, blah, blah.

Same ish as before.

The problem is what do you do when those shots are NOT falling? You gotta play good consistent defense to stay in the game. THAT has to be your hallmark. THIS team can’t just suddenly “turn the defense on” and stop teams and win games all the time. Not even some of the time. And yeah, there are going to be nights where the other team simply can’t miss and our team simply can’t hit. But those are the exception, not the norm, so making defense a part of your brand is very important!

Oh, what am I saying….this is the Hawks, a team that refuses to do anything but live and die by the jumper. And on top of that, our Center-who-is-not-a-center doesn’t block 18 shots per game, and we all know that is the only thing that matters on defense.

lewis

October 20th, 2012
11:06 pm

someone tell me more about damion james

he seemed really intriguing when we drafted him

i keep missing his pt for whatever reason but i’m praying he’s an adequate sf because his #’s show quite abit of production thus far

Big Ray

October 20th, 2012
11:09 pm

Buddy Grizzard ,

Good stuff. But don’t retired your blog just because Lurch has a larger salary than the Hawks want to eat right now…

Ken Strickland

October 20th, 2012
11:10 pm

With a 16 man roster it looks like we’ll cut 2 more players if we don’t carry a 15 man roster. If we go with a 15 man roster it looks like Anderson will get cut. If we go with a 14 man roster it looks like Anderson, Stevenson or Korver will get cut. DJames, added to Josh and Horford, gives us a solid rebounding and DEF frontline.

It’s looking more and more like the starting lineup of Teague, Harris, James, Josh and Horford will become a reality, like I predicted. Korver has proven to be nothing more than a 3 pt specialist better suited to coming off the bench. I’d choose Morrow over Korver since he also plays 2 positions(SG/SF), shoots long range just as effectively, is more athletic and plays better DEF.

Big Ray

October 20th, 2012
11:12 pm

I say it’s fairly simple – Damion James looks (at least so far) like he’ll help us make up for the rebounding that left when Joe and Marv left. Neither was an “awesome” rebounder, but between the two it was roughly…what…10 boards per game?

We’re smaller and we need the help on the glass, ESPECIALLY the defensive glass…that’s where our fast break opportunities will come from, besides steals/forced turnovers.

James’ work on the boards alone warrants giving him significant minutes.

I never liked the idea of trading his rights for cash and Jordan Crawford. But I couldn’t get Mike Gearon/Rick Sund to answer my phone calls, so….

:twisted:

Big Ray

October 20th, 2012
11:14 pm

Ken ,

I don’t see Korver or Stevenson getting cut. Or at least they shouldn’t be. I understand what you’re saying about Korver v. Morrow, though. I just don’t know that it comes down to that.

With Ferry being a totally different guy than Sund, this is hard to predict…

Ken Strickland

October 20th, 2012
11:25 pm

BIG RAY-We certainly have the speed, quickness and athleticism at every position to play excellent team DEF, but does Drew and his staff have the expertise to impliment an effective team DEF scheme? We’re using our speed and quickness on OFF, we just need to utilize it on DEF as well. I wonder if the Hawks are waiting to see what’s available after final cuts are made before deciding whether to cut Petro.

lewis

October 20th, 2012
11:30 pm

we’ll need to implement woody’s switching d to cover up for mike bibby at point

Slimjr

October 20th, 2012
11:33 pm

B Ray even if the jumpers aren’t falling, we have 3 gifted dribble penetrating guards who will constantly draw fouls and shoot a high percentage at the line throughout the contest, thereby stressing the oppositions defense. I’m more concerned about Josh not funking up the flow with his bricks from 22…..Sheesh

What happened to Mid-Range Shawty?

Melvin

October 20th, 2012
11:39 pm

I doubt if the Hawks will cut (eat) any players with guarantee contracts. So Petro, Stevenson, Krover and Morrow will be on the roster. I’m hoping they will carry 15 to start the season. Anderson looks to be a goner probably would have been cut before now had he not have ties to Ferry Spurs days. I think the Hawks will try to move a player or two during the season. Ideally would be to get rid of a player prior to all partial guarantee contracts (James and Tolliver) become fully guarantee.

Slimjr

October 20th, 2012
11:40 pm

High-sider, JC1 became another ISO artist that Drew rode along with ISO Joe..

The gig worked for a minute then Chicago put an end to an exciting show…heh heh

Grandad

October 20th, 2012
11:45 pm

ctrim

DFerry has stated MScott is NOT a [3], and is purely a [4].
____________________________________________

Big Ray

DeSteve has a (3) yr contract, correct me if I`m mistaken ?
____________________________________________

Also … Big Ray … LD`s true colors [as you alluded earlier]

” I’ll continue to *harp on the defense but …
when we are making shots and executing offensively we’re pretty good.”

*harp / **implore **[C-Viv`s word]
Stronger language may be in order.
Demand and or Require comes to mind !

Grandad

October 21st, 2012
12:35 am

Big Ray, Melvin Slimjr, There has been a lot of take about me and what I have done or how I represent. To all my accusers I can only say…

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3q4mah/

Sneaker Pimp

October 21st, 2012
2:05 am

Hawks will win 50 games. Callin’ it now.

Najeh Davenpoop

October 21st, 2012
2:18 am

I wonder what the assisted living centers are like in Utah. Haven’t seen Marvin’s grandma around much recently.

paian

October 21st, 2012
6:20 am

lmao at the jazz fans thinking marvin having one great game makes devin looks bad, yea he had a good game but how can u let matt barnes drop 22 points on you

ag

October 21st, 2012
6:53 am

ND – I said that in an earlier blog, “It Wasn’t A Bad Pick” must be in Utah. I was also at the game – and my breakdown..

The Good
I have heard several bloggers talking about how exciting this team will be. Certainly, last night was not one of them. They dominated the contest from the jump – so really the game was a complete blowout – NO CONTEST! It was like a Mike Tyson fight, over the first minute, although you spent $55 for pay per view.

At one point, I said to my wife, are the Hawks that good or the Mavericks just that bad? The Hawks lived on the FT line – shooting 43. Damion James showed a lot of hustle on several plays and overall looked really good. Josh had a couple of inside moves that were really impressive. Lou goes really hard to the hole and knows how to finish. The Mike Scott led the team in scoring and actually showed off a baby hook. The best thing was I saw a couple of offensive plays! A double screen at the top of the key led to an easy Al Horford layup! The ball movement was also very crisp.

THE BAD
Missed a lot of FT’s. We shot only 67% at the line. Also that crisp ball movement resulted in a lot of uncontested open 3pt shots that we missed.

THE UGLY
Just because you have plays – certain players will not execute them no matter what. The double pick at the top of the key failed miserably with Petro as he got the pass then threw it away.

Just Joe

October 21st, 2012
6:58 am

Grandad…years 2 and 3 for Stevenson are not guaranteed. Sign and trade rules required a 3-yr deal, but only the first year has to be guaranteed. It’s basically a 1-yr deal unless the team wants to keep him around.

ag

October 21st, 2012
7:29 am

As far as some individual players, I think we will have several games that we will have a balanced scoring attack. I really hope LD gives James an opportunity. He did not play until the second half.

Mike Scott played like he belonged. He was very decisive. He made a couple of mistakes, but overall I was very impressed. A couple of years ago JT0 played very well in preseason, but he earned DNP’s. Also, a better example was Benson had a strong game only to be given a pink slip two days later.

DeShawn Stevenson has logged a lot of minutes. If he were not on this team I am sure we would be okay. I think the minutes he is using could be better alloted to James.

Ivan Johnson’s jumper looks like butter. He logged almost all his minutes at C last night. I wonder why LD did not give him a shot to start at PF?

Anthony Morrow and Kyle Kover are hired guns. Morrow looked a little more active but both should come off the bench.

Tolliver earned a start from the Hornet game and if he is the starting forward going into the season – you can expect Marvin type production with less money and a whole lot less expectation.

I have yet to see Jenkins play outside of the Summer League. If he is good enough to start and actually contribute, this team would be a 50 game winner.

Starters Teague, Jenkins, Tolliver, Josh, Al
Bench – Harris, Lou, James, Ivan, ZaZa

Korver, Morrow suits D. Stevenson, M. Scott

cut Petro, Anderson

This is a tough team 1-14. Suits can switch out and actually start based on opposition.

Melvin

October 21st, 2012
9:49 am

I can careless what Marvin, Joe, Jamal or anything other former Hawks player do with another team. They are no longer with the hawks so now they are the enemy…..

Patrick

October 21st, 2012
9:58 am

Hey C-Viv, how’d Kane’s line look?

Oh wait.

ctrim

October 21st, 2012
10:02 am

http://www.slcdunk.com/2012/5/16/3024823/nba-player-salaries-for-2012-2013-who-looks-to-be-overpaid-in-the-8-0

For the multi personality Al Jefferson lover out there and a couple points about Devin Harris back in May. Not hating on Jefferson, he is not a bad player – just not the answer to the Hawk’s needs

Hawkfan

October 21st, 2012
10:05 am

Very optimistic on this team. I see it like this. Subtract JJ who was very good but overpaid and Marvin who was only occasionally a difference maker and add Devin Harris, Lou Williams. Less on defense but probably a wash on offense. Improvement comes on bench however. Since Al was out last yr ZaZa has now been added to the bench along with proven shooters KK and AM (replacing Green and Pargo) and Lou as well. With Ivan and ZaZa 2nd unit should be able to score and be pretty tough and physical as well.

As to who starts at SG & SF I recommend we adjust to other teams lineups to take advantage of our versatility. James, Tolliver, Stevenson, KK/AM, Ivan should all get looks as starters. Strength of this team is its depth though. Defense a concern with loss of what JJ could do but I think we are definitely an improved team offensively and maybe type of team that can force more turnovers.

Should be a fun regular season but don’t forget that depth does not win playoff series and this team is not setup currently to make a playoff run. Could come together that way but a mid season trade for a solid starter on frontline would go a long way to making us a contender.

ctrim

October 21st, 2012
10:05 am

Agree with Melvin – the guys that have left are not coming back and fans need to move on. Wish them well until we need to kick their ^%$^%

Ken Strickland

October 21st, 2012
10:11 am

SLIMJR-Damn man, you’re starting to come around. You’ve made some excellent points recently with little to no bashing, at least under your original name. Keep it up. I do my share of bashing as well. I bash the ANAL MINDED MORONS who use our blogs as outlets when they’re off their meds. Unfortunately, it seems that STEVEN A SMITH stopped taking their meds just before his 1st post.

BIG RAY-If Stevenson and Korver aren’t potential candidates for being cut, who is? I’m all but certain DHarris, LWilliams, DJames, MScott, and JJenkins, along with the returning 5, won’t be cut, which leaves at least 4 open slots if we carry 14. Anderson appears to be the odd man out if we maintain a 15 man roster.

If it’s 14, an additional player has to be cut from a list of JPetro, AMorrow, DStevenson, ATolliver, and KKorver. Morrow and Korver are replicas of each other, except for Morrow being more athletic and a better defender. Petro provides us with interior size, which we don’t have much of, and can be more productive than Collins or Dampier were last yr despite his less than stellar showing so far.

Tolliver provides us with size and versatility. Drew started him at SF last night, which looked to me as a sign he wanted to see if he was versatile enough to effectively play the position. I took that as a sign that one of the SF candidates might be on the bubble(Stevenson or Korver) depending on his performance.

lewis

October 21st, 2012
12:01 pm

Tolliver has never been very good don’t be fooled

Buddy Grizzard

October 21st, 2012
12:06 pm

“Don’t retire your blog just because Lurch has a larger salary than the Hawks want to eat right now.”

Thanks Big Ray. They don’t have to eat his salary if they put him on the inactive list.

Astro Joe

October 21st, 2012
12:40 pm

Strickland, I think Vivlamore already indicated that the players with guaranteed deals will like stick as those with a partial guarantee. So that leaves Anderson, Tolliver and James as the most vulnerable players. I think only James makes the team from that list.

Hawkfan

October 21st, 2012
12:45 pm

KS makes a good point on KK/AM. They do mirror each other and we really have too many guards. However I would rather cut a rookie or send to D-League and have KK/AM as trade bait for a real frontline player as season progresses. I don’t see Jenkins helping us at all due to lack of PT because his potential is that he becomes another KK/AM. That is all he can become. Scott may help us on frontline. Jury still out on James/Tolliver/Scott on which 2 to keep IMO. None of the 3 should be NBA starters so if we are doing well mid season trade a SG for SF or PF that can start.

Petro should be cut but will not be cause we don’t have anybody else for Dwight Howard to abuse this year. Since he is in West now Petro will wear a suit till we play them and the foul out twice and be included in the trade shown above.

Go Hawks, let’s run one!!

steven a smith

October 21st, 2012
1:04 pm

This team is loaded with “MEDIOCRITY.” We need 2 Superstars to make us relevant!!! Marvin Horford will set us back for a few years!!! Right now, we are a poor man’s SPURS.

steven a smith

October 21st, 2012
1:10 pm

“LORD OF THE IDIOTS” and his band of Clown, Scrub, followers tend to use a lot of “Blog Space” to say nothing. Keep pushing your Al Horford lovefest agenda. Maybe Danny Ferry will trade some of you clowns to Utah or Brooklyn for more “intelligent” Bloggers!!!

steven a smith

October 21st, 2012
1:18 pm

Last Night Horford played 14 min= 2 rebounds
Perto played 7 min= 2 rebounds

Ken Strickland

October 21st, 2012
1:24 pm

HAWKFAN-Any player sent to the D-League is still counted on the roster, and Ferry has already said Scott will be on the roster. If Scott, a 2nd rd pick, is guaranteed a roster spot, you can bet Jenkins, a 1st rd pick, will definitely be guaranteed a roster spot.

Just like Morrow and Korver mirrow each other, other than Morrow being more athletic and a better defender, Scott and Tolliver also seem to mirrow each other. The difference is we can expect Scott to get better offensively and defensively with more experience and mins.

Several have made comments about us being too guard heavy. I don’t see a 4 guard rotation of Teague, Harris, Williams and Morrow being guard heavy, especially with us adopting a pressing uptempo OFF and DEF style. If Korver makes the team, I don’t see him playing much guard with Morrow and his long range shooting ability already at the position.

I’m with BIG RAY, it’s going to be very difficult to determine which player, other than JAnderson, will be cut if we maintain a 14 man roster.

terrell

October 21st, 2012
1:31 pm

Why are you guys still talking about Jamal Crawford?????? What has this guy won?

Ken Strickland

October 21st, 2012
2:14 pm

TERRELL-Some individuals become fans of certain players more so than the team. When that player is no longer with the team, they suffer a sense of loss that seems to linger on for yrs. We have individuals who are still upset about us not drafting CP3 or DWill, and some have issues with us not resigning Flip Murray.

KBenson hasn’t played a single regular season min with us, yet some are still having problems accepting he was cut. We’ve even had individuals who have treatened to stop supporting the Hawks if a certain player is traded or cut.

jhan

October 21st, 2012
2:25 pm

Maybe the blog can get a trade exception for SAS!

Emmanuel Ighodaro

October 21st, 2012
2:54 pm

look, cut anderson and buy out petro’s contract and keep everyone else

terrell

October 21st, 2012
3:07 pm

Ken, I wonder why I havent heard anyone crying over Marvin’s departure yet? Im sure when he has one of his unusual good games, I’ll hear something. lol

Big Ray

October 21st, 2012
3:09 pm

Slimjr ,

B Ray even if the jumpers aren’t falling, we have 3 gifted dribble penetrating guards who will constantly draw fouls and shoot a high percentage at the line throughout the contest, thereby stressing the oppositions defense. I’m more concerned about Josh not funking up the flow with his bricks from 22…..Sheesh

What happened to Mid-Range Shawty?

You do make a good point. We do have a few guys who can get into the paint…which helps our bigger guys, who can score up close on dump-offs if our guards have the defense collapse on them.

My main issue is LD is showing he’s every bit as sucked into the idea of “jumper heaven” as the players are, and that ain’t helping. We need a real HC so bad it ain’t even funny. He may as well have just said “I won’t bother these guys about defense as long as the jumpers are falling.”

As for Josh, you know what the deal is, LOL. He seems to think that any shot inside the three point line is a “midrange” shot.

The crazy fact is that…if I remember correctly…he shoots a better percentage from actual 3 point range than he does 18-22 feet from the basket….somebody check me on that though, I might be wrong.

Big Ray

October 21st, 2012
3:11 pm

steven a. smith ,

Had to laugh at your comparison between Petro and Horford. Shall we stick with one game, or compare careers? How about when the real games begin? LOL…come on man, live up to your namesake… ;)

Big Ray

October 21st, 2012
3:20 pm

Ken Strickland ,

I hear you, and I actually think we will carry 15 guys, but I could be wrong. It might be 14. Hard to say because Ferry does not think the way that Sund did.

But…and I should have explained this earlier…I’m not just thinking about what each player brings to the table, or how he duplicates another player’s skill set and what not. You also have to think about these guys as assets.

I have no idea what Ferry will or won’t do prior to the trade deadline, much less what he’ll do next summer. However, there are moves that teams/GMs will make at the deadline that look like really mundane/unexciting moves. However, they are moves that need to be made to help fit bigger plans in the future (like during the summer).

Well, if you cut guys who have value…then that makes those moves harder to do, if not impossible. Just look at who we have – in an isolated situation, Korver doesn’t have as much value on the same team as Morrow. But who do you think has more value in a trade…Korver or Mike Scott? Scott is a 2nd round pick who might not even get to play in the regular season unless it’s garbage time. An unknown commodity that wasn’t worthy of a 1st round pick, is what will be said of him until he can prove otherwise.

Korver is a known commodity, and most teams are not unhappy to have a designated sniper. So if it came down to it, what value would a guy like Mike Scott have over Kyle Korver? Potential-wise, we have no idea…we’ve only seen Scott in preseason and not generally against other teams’ starters. Again…people know what Korver can do.

If you HAVE to make a cut, you cut the guy you get the least overall use out of. Korver is decent trade bait…Jenkins is at least a 1st round pick who happens to be a shooter.

I’d love for it just to be Petro that gets cut….but eating a salary of that size is less likely. Buddy Grizzard suggests putting him on the inactive list.

High-sider

October 21st, 2012
3:28 pm

If “Lame Duck” is, in fact, a lame duck, then should “Ol’ Danny Boy” [GM Ferry] “pull the plug” on him [LD] early or should he [Ferry] allow his [LD] contract to expire and [in the words of Mike Tyson] “fade into Bolivian”?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tLrIkPK8kg

Ken Strickland

October 21st, 2012
3:46 pm

I really like the way our final exhibition gm is scheduled, since we don’t play again until Friday. It gives us an entire wk to go over what we did and didn’t do well in our last 2 wins, and a final gm to see how well we’ve prepared. I wonder if the final cut(s) will be made before or after Fridays gm.

This yrs team won’t be as tall, because of the 2 barely productive 7footers(Dampier/Collins) and 1 dimensional 6′10″(VRad) player we lost. I believe the vastly improved speed, quickness, athleticism, youth and stamina we’ve added will more than compensate for the loss of a few inches and lbs.

Although this yr we’ll lack the chemistry and cohesiveness of last yrs team starting out, this yrs team is much better, and here’s why:
1-DJames is an improvement at SF over MWilliams in every area except shooting and scoring potential, is a better rebounder than JJ, and appears to be just as effective at defending and passing. While JJ’s size, height and strength definitely gave us an advantage at SG, that wasn’t the case with him at SF.
2-LWilliams coming off the bench is a vast improvement over WGreen or Pargo. He’s a better PG than Pargo, a better SG than Green, and a better scorer than either.
3-Harris will be a far, far more effective SG and PG than KHinrich.
4-Horford is a vast improvement in every area over Zaza at center.
5-JPetro’s recent stats show he’s a better rebounder and scorer than Dampier or Collins. His greater athleticism should allow him to be a better help defender as well.
6-Scott and Tolliver are younger, more versatile and athletic than VRad or TMac. The additions of Harris and Williams negates the need for TMac’s playmaking ability.
7-No one can ever say Morrow, Jenkins and Korver aren’t upgrades over Stackhouse.
8-We’re now playing an uptempo style of OFF that favors the talents of our entire roster, rather than last yrs walk it up, halfcourt, ISO dominant OFF that favored no more than 1 or 2 players.
9-We will have more depth, speed, quickness, athleticism, youth, versatility, stamina, shooting and penetrating ability than last yr by far.

The only thing that will be missing will be chemistry and familiarity at the start of the season, with 2 new starters and only 5 returning players.

High-sider

October 21st, 2012
4:00 pm

Big Ray,

“…The crazy fact is that…if I remember correctly…he shoots a better percentage from actual 3 point range than he does 18-22 feet from the basket….somebody check me on that though, I might be wrong.” – Big Ray @3:09pm, 10/21/2012

I don’t think the link below is quite the statistical breakdown your looking for, however, it does provide a total breakdown of “Brick-range Shawty’s” shot distribution for the 2011-2012 regular season. The paradox I see is the difference in FG% from 10ft – 15ft (0.314) and 16ft – 3pt [arc] (0.363).

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/smithjo03/shooting/2012/

High-sider

October 21st, 2012
4:10 pm

@terrell

terrell
October 21st, 2012
1:31 pm

Why are you guys still talking about Jamal Crawford?????? What has this guy won?
——————————————————————————

A. 2011-2012 NBA Regular Season FT% Leader/Winner [0.927]
B. 2009-2010 NBA SMOY [Sixth Man of the Year] Award
C. 1998 3-A State High School Basketball Championship [Rainier Beach High School, Seattle, WA]

Now that’s some ANAL-MINDED MORON, NERD ALERT stuff for ya.

Ken Strickland

October 21st, 2012
4:23 pm

BIG RAY, your mention of not knowing what Ferry will do next yr made me wonder. Earlier I commented that even with the addition of All NBA center ABynum, I felt Philly won’t be a good as some may think due to what they gave up. They gave up their best defenders, 3 best scorers, as well as 2 of their leading rebounders and assist leaders.

I don’t know if Bynum can compensate for all of those losses. If they struggle because of what they’ve lost, Bynum could end up being very frustrated and disappointed. If so, he might want out of Philly, especially if those Philly fans start getting on him. That might leave a big opening for Ferry to get the the NBAs 2nd highest rated center, especially if we have a solid season.

We might end up having to do a sign and trade to get him, which would make JSmith the likely candidate, since Josh will be a FA. Bynum would give us the interior DEF, rebounding, and scoring Josh provides, but without all of the illadvised jumpshots. I’d love a frontline of Bynum, Horford and James.

Hawkfan

October 21st, 2012
4:48 pm

Steven A, weren’t you supposed to take your meds around noon. “intelligent” bloggers don’t exist that’s why we blog