As for Woodson: There was a time when I thought he should be fired, but I’ve changed my mind. He did just fine this season.

Furthermore, I agree Joe Johnson is NOT a superstar. That is obvious. Superstars get double-teamed often and still finish with 20 plus points, because they force their will and are aggressive and find other ways to get their points, i.e. free throws, fast break, etc. Joe Johnson does not have that knack to get any shot he wants and to takeoever a game at will. He showed a small flash of it last year against Boston when he scored 35 points and he also showed a small flash once against the Cavs in Game 3 when he got aggressive and angry and was pushing and shoving LeBron and driving. But he is far too inconsistent to even be considered a Superstar and whoever says otherwise needs to watch some more Hawks game.

Furthermore, I think Marvin is a good player and has a nice stroke and has the talent to be a 20 ppg scorer in this league but he is expendable and has become injury-prone. He can do without him and the problem of too many wing players come to mind when we consider re-signing him. I like Marvin but a trade and sign deal with him is in the horizon and I think we can get good value off of him and I hope to see him flourish on his future team. I like Acie Law and feel Mike Woodson and injuries are the reasons why he has yet to flourish. Lack of minutes and injuries = Lack of confidence. The same thing occured with Salim Stoudamire. Sometimes Mike Woodson can be a player killer and hurts the development of his players. Which brings me to my next point.

Does Mike Woodson deserve to stay or go?

I personally cannot stand him as a coach because he is too stubborn and he hasn’t even accomplished anything. He overplays Joe Johnson and is way too hard on his younger plays and it impedes them from growing. Josh Smith has grown but he still hasn’t reach a level where he should be and I think Mike Woodson has something to do with that. Smith has overcome but other players (Salim, Acie, Solo, etc) have not.

I think the Hawks are headed in the right direction and I think fans should not expect us to defeat the Cavs when we just got our first winning season in years. Not saying have low expectations but be real. We have come a long way and we must make adjustments and changes to make us better each year.

But great dialogue guys and discussions

Thanks.

Sorry I didn’t get back to your retort before now, but did you actually compare Josh Smith’s overall situation to Rasheed Wallace? Are you serious?

While Rasheed seems chemically imbalanced at times with his obsessiveness for getting T’ed up, he was also a very developed PF unlike Josh Smith who is just a good athlete with zero offensive game other than put backs, finishing in transition when no one pressures his dribble, and general offensive situations where he’s set up by someone’s elses dribble penetration.

“How is Marvin better than Josh other than outside shooting.”

…. Again, do you even watch basketball. The fact that Marvin can dribble and chew gum at the same time qualifies him to be a master of dribbling compared to Josh. The fact that he’s the best FT shooter on the team makes him a HUGE asset to this team in the 4th quarter in tight ball games or with the lead. The fact that he’s got a mid range game and developed his 3 point shooting to a moderately high level. The fact that he’s shown when given opportunities that he can score in the upper 20’s when Joe was out and he was given more opportunities. Translation: The offense could be run through him because he has MUCH better decision making abilities than Josh AND because he’s a much better passer than Josh.

Need I go on or is your sophomoric understanding of the game going to present some actual challenge.

Josh Smith is a tremedous athlete who can impact the game on the glass and defensively when he actually decided to play with effort. He also is a turnover waiting to happen, a bad decision waiting to happen, and only God knows what you’re going to get out of him every other night and yet we’re supposed to build around him.

Truth be told, I’d be for keeping him if we brought in the right coach who knew how to actually use the weapons that are on this team.

It’s nothing short of funny for anyone to throw stats out in a comparison like this because it’s all based on the opportunities that you’re given. Both Marvin and Josh would be benefited greatly if they were put in a better position to be successful. But they’re not and that’s the real point.

However, this part of the dicussion started with trying to figure out how we could add the pieces to actually beat Cleveland challenge for a championship. If we have to let someone go, either Josh Smith or Al Horford would be the guys I’d consider because every team needs a better guy at the 5, and a PG who can get it done. To me, those guys would bring enough value to possibly go after someone to fill those voids.

With a 2-3-4-5 quartet of JJ, Hedo, Amare’, and Horford, a moderately priced Bibby, a few solid complementary pieces, and a good draft and we’re perhaps ready for the next leap.