Like it or not, the Hawks can’t afford to dump Joe Johnson

WE NEED TRYON LUE

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FIRE WOODY

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I hate to say it, but it’s time to bring in another coach. I respect the job that Woody did building this team from almost nothing, with year-by-year improvement. It’s time.

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If you want to keep Johnson, and I am not sold this will help, then Woodson has to go. If I was king for a day I would let both go and roll out the money carpet for D Wade. The guy has more heart then JJ. and better in the clutch.

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Trade josh smith. It’s clear he can’t give effort throughout the whole game. I don’t care how talented he is. Josh has no heart and he takes off so many plays that really hurt this team.

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The Hawks are terrible! What a bunch of thugs. It will be hilarious to see Phillips half empty on Monday. The Hawks will only get worse now. Atlanta does not care about the NBA anything. The Hawks should leave with the Thrashers.

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Mark
I disagree, I would agree with you, if the Hawk would have shown more heart & effort in this series. I agree that Mike Woodson should be gone, but there is NO WAY i’m paying Joe Johnson big money. He hasn’t gotten the job done. If you pay Joe Johnosn, you are basically stuck with this team that is a second round team at best. Its time to start over & build around Al Horford & Josh Smith

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Keeping Joe Johnson “keeps” the Hawks where they are right now. O. K., so he’s third team NBA, nominally one of the best fifteen players in the league, BUT the Hawks will never win much of anything w/ Joe as their best player. Even if the team fails to get dollar for dollar or player for player value, the team must let him walk.

Woody, too, must go. A coach is as good as his players play hard for him. Unfortunately, see freuent disinterest during the season foreshadowing the current meltdown.

Give Josh Smith, Horford, Marvin Williams, Teague, a couple others a chance w/a new coach, just not a retread, please.

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Mark…you make some good points, but how can ATL “ADD” to their roster to be competitive, if they have OVERPAY for JJ (and anything he asks for will be TOO MUCH). Yeah, he was 3rd team All NBA…that does NOT make him one of the best 15 players in the league…lol. His turnovers and lack of heart is maddening. His absolute non-existence in big games is maddening! Atlanta would not go back to less than 20 wins without JJ…no way! Woodson is definitely gone (THANK HEAVENS)…but Atlanta can use that money wisely instead of giving it to JJ. He’s not needed, and quite honestly, he’s not wanted here anymore.

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FIRE WOODY….that feels great.

Now, I still am a fan of Joe Johnson, even if he has stunk these playoffs. But something has to be said about the fact that Johnson has a tendency to disappear during the playoffs when he is the main cog (he was productive in Phoenix until the face incident, which is why Joe Johnson dunking is sporadic at best). I’m worried he’ll leave and go someplace where he doesn’t have to be the focal point, but will still average 20, 5, and 5 silently and continue to make the all star team. I still think our core is strong.

A new coach would get more out of these Hawks. Even Marvin, whom fans loathe with a passion and Josh, who causes fans to pull their hair out. I can only imagine what a fresh perspective would do, and also a coach who doesn’t mind developing young players. So many answers, hopefully Sund already has a list in mind. I don’t think we can afford Avery (remember, this is the Spirit group). But there has to be someone out there…..

Personnel moves: Offer LeBron a max contract, part ownership of the team, the key to the city, a percentage of tickets and merchandise sold…lol kidding.

Seriously, Mark has a point. Who would we get outside of Joe? I don’t think its anyway D Wade comes here. Rudy Gay is more so a “3″. Can we rely on Jamal to start at the 2 when he’s so good for us off the Bench? Would Bosh come back to ATL? (then how would lineups go?) Then, what about J Chil?

It is going to be an interesting off season.

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Just like sins of the fathers it effects you for generations, J Notso smoove is like many in his generation, no backbone, spoiled by money , no passion, joe johnson not a leader passive verbally, michael jordan would lose his damn mind! Marvin was the worst player you could get from UNC, Bibby was never a leader just a role sixth man, And Woodson you dont Coach effort, come on you better say something run suicides or something use the mdeia attack their manhood publicly or something what a joke. It was as if they would have rather been at the varsity eating a damn hotdog! Atlanta Hawks man up and win a game! Nique schooled them every night hurt money or no money, he used to play for food on the streets, you have no idea! And as fans we pay for your jerseys and tickets and salaries while the economy still sucks and yet you have your millions but dont care what we think, Never will I watch another game or pay for a ticket to watch your no effort__ __ __, find some backbone and work ethic if it wasn’t for basketball you would be picking up trash or bush axing down in jackson with that kind of effort!

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Actually they need both Woody and Joe Jonhson but the Hawks need to seriously look into getting a good to better big man to play center. Hortford is a suitable center but really needs to be at Forward. Atlanta needs to find and develop a big man before just blowing up this team. Before anyone jumps all over me about this, I have watched these last few playoff games against Orlando but the biggest problem is the amount of people we have to use on Dwight Howard. This does take away from the offense and the cohesion because of the people being switched in and out at the Center position. Us having a solid big man and not just Hortford would eleviate a lot of these problems. I would start Crawford and Johnson at the guards (bring Teague & Bibby off the bench), I would also start Hortford and Josh Smith at the Forward (bring Marvin Williams & Zaza off the bench) then use our big man at center and rotate him with the other 7 footer we have on the squad.

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“druid hills hawks fan ”
We have some of the same ideas I see.

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Joe’s gotta go. He’s selfish, unproductive, and overrated. He’ll get you 40-50 games, but he does nothing in big games. We need a bigtime player in Joe’s place–someone who moves the ball and creates offense, rather than someone who dribbles for 14 seconds doing this iso-nonsense.

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Woody has to go. Offer Joe the same deal as you did in the fall – $60 million, 4 years.

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I had a lot of respect for JJ up until Last Night for him to disrespect paying fans like he did buy saying he didn’t care if they come out or not is totally unprofessional. The Hawks franchise should fine him for a comment like that. That comment was disrespectful to me as a season ticket holder. I am seriously thinking about not renewing my tickets for next season if they bring Joe back. What good is winning 53 games in a season and choking in the playoffs this team needs a makeover and I am pretty sure Rick Snud want make dumb Draft picks like Billy knight did. Even in defeat I loved the Heart Al and Jamal showed throughout this series. Jamal was more professional with his comments after the game when he said the fans were just showing tough love with the booing I can respect that. Bottom Line is if they bring Joe Johnson back next I will not renew my tickets, and I will not purchase anymore tickets for my family, coworkers, or friends. We’ll see who cares who shows up if the Hawks franchise show #2 Johnson in uniform for next year

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I was at the game yesterday. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Simply the Hawks had no energy and desire to compete against Orlando. Honestly, Woodson is gone after this season.

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Eliminate all the stupid ghetto nicknames…..smooth,chill,home-slice….make all the players get military hair-cuts,fire harry the hawk, get a mexican point guard to fill the seats, sell tall-boy pbrs for 5 dinero a pop, and hire ditka to coach ‘em up…..

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Guys we don’t need any more big men. There’s nobody in the league that can guard Dwight Howard 1 on 1 with the exception of maybe Shaq. Horford is 6′10″, that’s plenty big enough. Not like the guy is 6′6″. I want a SF that can put some points on the board and I want Teague to get more minutes because he’s good at penetrating the lane and kicking the ball out. He’s going to be a big upgrade over Bibby in that department in a year or two. Add in a coach that’s a better offensive mind and we should be good to go. We can’t get rid of JJ because we have nobody to replace him. If you put in JC as a starter and bring say Childress back we are a 7th seed.

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The hawk are in a tough spot. IF you do not resign Joe, who are you going to bring in to reaplace him with? But it does not make since to pay max contract! Needs to be a block buster trade while keeping Josh, Crawford & Horford at 4 as core.. Dwight Howard is not going anywhere. They will always run into this buzzsaw!

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I had a lot of respect for JJ up until Last Night for him to disrespect paying fans like he did buy saying he didn’t care if they come out or not is totally unprofessional. The Hawks franchise should fine him for a comment like that.

That comment was disrespectful to me as a season ticket holder. I am seriously thinking about not renewing my tickets for next season if they bring Joe back. What good is winning 53 games in a season and choking in the playoffs this team needs a makeover and I am pretty sure Rick Snud want make dumb Draft picks like Billy knight did.

Even in defeat I loved the Heart Al and Jamal showed throughout this series. Jamal was more professional with his comments after the game when he said the fans were just showing tough love with the booing I can respect that. Bottom Line is if they bring Joe Johnson back next I will not renew my tickets, and I will not purchase anymore tickets for my family, coworkers, or friends. We’ll see who cares who shows up if the Hawks franchise show #2 Johnson in uniform for next year

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I had a lot of respect for JJ up until Last Night for him to disrespect paying fans like he did buy saying he didn’t care if they come out or not is totally unprofessional. The Hawks franchise should fine him for a comment like that. That comment was disrespectful to me as a season ticket holder. I am seriously thinking about not renewing my tickets for next season if they bring Joe back.

What good is winning 53 games in a season and choking in the playoffs this team needs a makeover and I am pretty sure Rick Snud want make dumb Draft picks like Billy knight did. Even in defeat I loved the Heart Al and Jamal showed throughout this series. Jamal was more professional with his comments after the game when he said the fans were just showing tough love with the booing I can respect that. Bottom Line is if they bring Joe Johnson back next I will not renew my tickets, and I will not purchase anymore tickets for my family, coworkers, or friends. We’ll see who cares who shows up if the Hawks franchise show #2 Johnson in uniform for next year

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Freshmaker, I agree with you except for not needing another big man. The problem we have now is that Horford gets killed against strong centers and it has an impact on his offensive game. I think we’d get even more out of Horford if he could face the basket more. We don’t need a Howard or Shaq (and of course there aren’t many of them anyway) to win a championship, but we need someone who can at least offset these guys so that Al and Josh don’t get into foul trouble trying to neutralize them. Also, I don’t want to see Jason Collins and Randolph Morris playing significant playoff minutes next year.

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Joe Johnson = overrated Ball Hog..why the heck do we need him Mark? we can certainly do better on the FA market

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D Hawks, to your point, how badly has the Joe Smith idea panned out? He was supposed to be the guy you talked about. Instead, we’ve seen Collins and Morris.

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Hey you hawks fan, Did you really think the hawks and a chance at winning the NBA championship, this franchise, has never reach the Eastern Conference finals if I can remember.They are not the best team in Eastern Conference, No MVP , No All NBA First Team, They are not a elite Team in the NBA, not just yet. It take years to built a Championship Team

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I hope the ASG doesn’t go into rebuilding mode with this team. They have some good pieces in place, just continue to add to it. My suggestion: move Bibby and Marvin to the bench, start Teague and Crawford (if they don’t resign JJ), go after Bosh and move my man Big Al to power forward with Smoove at SF. And for God’s sake, teach Josh Smith how to handle the ball! I see high school players take care of the ball better than him. SMH.

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As I recall, Boston “blew up” their roster a few years back and won and NBA title. I think Joe should go if they can find a decent replacement. In reality, one of Josh Smith or Horford need to go. What other team has two power forwards making that kind of money? Josh would suck as a 3 because he can’t shoot, and Al sucks as a 5. Both are excellent 4’s, albeit different styles. How about we let Joe walk, signing John Salmons to play the 3, then trade Horford for a first rounder and pick up Brendan Haywood. The leftover money would be used to sign the two 1st rounders you’d have plus you should be able to afford a JJ Redick/Anthony Morrow type bomber off the bench. Maybe even another decent big like Brad Miller or Hakim Warrick. Hell, Bibby could go if anybody would take him. I’d take my chances with Teaue and pick up a Ray Felton, Steve Blake, Luke Ridnour type to mentor him.

Seriously, does anybody think Teague/Morrow/Salmons/Josh/Haywood wouldn’t be just as good as this bunch?

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Chad, Joe Smith wasn’t really an answer anyway. He was just supposed to bring versatility at the 4 and 5, but it didn’t work out. I don’t know whether to blame this on his age, on Woody, on his early season injury, or a combination of all things. He hasn’t played a full season on the same team since 05-06 so we shouldn’t have expected too much of him. Also, Woody gave him roughly half the minutes per game that he was getting at his last several stops.

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Wow . . . it’s Mr. Bradley who becomes the voice of reason in ATL. Teams always fire the coach first, before dispersing the talent. The quesiton is going to become how much money do the Hawks commit toward JJ, if someone aggressively goes after him.

If the Bulls offered JJ 5 yrs – 80 million, would the Hawks counter with a 6 yr – 90 million deal?

If the Knicks went with a 5 yr – 90 million deal, would the Hawks counter with a 6 yr – 100 million deal?

And with things going the way they are now, does JJ even want to come back?

To me, the last question is the biggest fear. Because if he doesn’t want to come back, he then isn’t obligated to take a sign and trade to somewhere. And I’m sure that D-Wade and Pat Riley is going to be all in that man’s ear, trying to coax him to go to Miami. A D-Wade – JJ combo, combined with what Orlando already has, would be the nail in the coffin for us . . . when it comes to aspirations for getting to that next level.

It’ll be interesting to see the initial reaction this team gets on Monday night, and what the crowd looks like. Last year for Game 4 of the Cleveland series, 19,000 still showed up to root on the Hawks. Depending on how many Game 4 tickets they sold before yesterday’s game, I wonder if they’ll get anything close to that tomorrow night.

The crowd was quick to start booing JJ yesterday, starting the boos after that 3rd missed jumper in the 1st quarter. If they start booing him from the jump because of his comments, then that may affect JJ’s decision to come back, regardless of what happens in the offseason.

When KG made some bad remarks at the fans after the Celtics got blown out vs the Wizards and were booed off the court, the organization suspended him for one game. KG apologized for making a heat of the moment comment at the fans out of frustration.

I don’t know if we’re going to get that kind of apology out of JJ, unless someone in the ASG makes him. LOL . . . and it’s not like they can suspend him for the final playoff game. They could, but that would make everything look even worse, and he DEFINTIELY wouldn’t come back here.

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The trick I think MB is missing is can we add 1 player that improves us over JJ – probably not. For that kind of money, could we find two guys who would give us more depth and make it hurt us less if one or more of our top 5 isn’t performing (I say top 5 b/c I’m including Jamal but not including Marvin) – possibly. Should we blow this team up? Definitely not. But when looking at this roster, what opportunities do we have to improve this team? We can try to find someone for a mid-level exception. Bibby, ZaZa and Marvin aren’t likely to be moved because they’ve got 2, 3 and 4 years left on their contracts respectively. (I say 4 for Marvin, because unless something clicks for him, there’s no way he’s going to get a better offer.)

The problem isn’t just that JJ had a rough postseason this year. It’s that his production has dropped every time he’s been in the playoffs. Regular season wins are good, but that’s not why the game is played. The playoffs are where players prove their value, and, while JJ is one of the 15 best NBA players during the regular season, I’m not sure he’s one of the 50 best in the playoffs.

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Great points Chad!

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Well, Woodson’s publicly-stated purpose behind not playing Joe Smith during the regular season was so that he would be fresh for the playoffs. That obviously didn’t work out so well.

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“Woodson’s publicly-stated purpose behind not playing Joe Smith during the regular season was so that he would be fresh for the playoffs.”

That’s funny! You at least need to play a guy in your rotations so that there is chemistry.

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Im sorry but I agree with most people here. The best way to get this team going is to do the following:
a. Fire Woodson (I love Mike but the players are not respoding to him anymore and that is sad!!)
b. Let Joe walk (I have enjoyed JJ here but I really FEEL and I could be wrong, but he is more of a liability than a benefit to this team)
c. The Starting Lineup/Coach for next season should be as follows:
C- Al (He’s tough as nails and hungry to be better and has had his moments against Dwight)
PF-Josh(He is the most gifted player on this team and can be a dominating player in the NBA IF some coach can get him mentally focused)
SF-Marvin (I say give him another season to get it together. Im not ready to give up on him yet)
SG-Jamal Crawford (The boy has heart. Nuff Said!!)
PG-Jeff Teague (Mike Bibby has to go so Teague can grow!!)
Coach- Byron Scott or Avery Johnson (NBA Finals apperances for both) Also I’m sick and tired of people on the blogs of ajc calling the players on the hawks THUGS!! Are you kidding me!!! If the team was mostly or all white would you call them Klansmen!! I mean c’mon!! Keep those comments to yourself!! Does Jamal, or Zaza look like a thug?? I mean really?

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Time to let Woodson and Joe Johnson go….This team has reached its peek under Woodson. They have clearly tuned them out, and he better learn to coach effort. Joe Johnson might be an All-Star but he is the worst one. 3rd team All-NBA means nothing….he has no HEART! Time to bring in a new coach a few new parts to gel as a team…..good riddance, when can I help you pack.

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Trade Josh for a true point. Let Joe go and sign Bosh who really wants out of Toronto and move Al to the four where he belongs. Bring in a new coach and let Chill come back to assume the sixth man role now that Jamal is starting in Joe’s spot. Oh and fire Woody.

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As I live in Tennessee, I’ve only been to a limited number of pro sports games (all Braves or minor league baseball games), though I know many of the regulars on here have attended many games across all the Atlanta teams. I kind of adopted Atlanta as my favorite pro team city when I was eleven years old, as did my entire family, during that crazy 1982 Braves run to the NL West championship. We watched them and the Hawks on good old WTBS, as at the time they were A) the only teams we could watch most games, and B) Atlanta was relatively close. I was never an athletic kid, but their influence got me into playing little league baseball and basketball, as well as backyard football. I always identified myself as a Brave, Falcon, or Hawk when I got together with the neighborhood kids to play.

The Braves’ abysmal seasons during the mid-to-late 80s made that miracle ‘91 run and the seasons beyond that much sweeter, and there was a time when I felt the Hawks had a real shot at a title during the days of Wilkins’ prime. As time passed and the money figures associated with athletes soared, and the Braves and Hawks changed ownerships, something happened. Since then the Braves have been about cobbling together whatever cast-off they can to replace a tactlessly dumped future Hall of Famer, and the results have shown in the box scores as well as the turnstiles. As for the Hawks, what can you expect in a league where bigger markets are already coaxing other teams’ players and coaches BEFORE THE SEASON IS EVEN OVER? Give me players who had a heart and a passion for the game and the fans, like Murphy and Niekro and Wilkins over the likes of Joe Johnson any day. The man, like all pro athletes, has God-given talent, but he is more interested in using it to line his pockets than he appears to be in leaving everything on the court and really trying to bring a championship to Atlanta. Talent is not reflective at all of character, not to mention loyalty and responsibility for one’s actions, and I say with growing conviction that all of this one-upping the last guy’s mega-contract or seeking so-called “market value” is ruining all of what made pro sports so wonderful and inspirational to that eleven year-old boy in 1982. Money and the pursuit of it is truly at the heart of not only evil but at the heart of pretty much every problem in pro sports today.

Let Joe Johnson go, Mr. Bradley. Let every player who desires a bigger contract go and abandon any sense of loyalty to their fans and the organizations that gave them a shot. Eventually the system will collapse on itself, and this wildfire of hubris and fiscal depravity will burn itself out. And if many teams or even leagues have gone under by then, I suspect that most of us fans will have long found other interests, anyway.

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northcyde, not only that, but McHale gave the Celtics a gift when he traded KG for what he did. I doubt Sund will find anyone willing to give him that kind of steal.

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I’m so sad for us ATL fans. When was the last time anything good happened for us? Depressing.

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Drop Joe.

Sign Dwayne Wade.

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All the hawks need to be a contender is D-Wade and Bosh. This is a young team–with those 2 superstars, the hawks will be a serious player next year.

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Amazing that Bradley becomes the voice of reason in Atlanta.

If we lose a talent like JJ for nothing ( which is a very real possibility now ), this team will take a major step backwards. We don’t have the cap room to aggressively go after a good free agent. We basically have the MLE to throw at people, plus money left over to try to upgrade the bench with low marginal players.

Of course, the answer is to fire Woody before you do anything else, but the roster is out of balance in my opinion. A decision may very well have to be made between Horford and Smith after the 2010 season. I don’t think you make that decision now, but I think you have to make it next year, if we still have problems defending in the middle and creating low post offense.

And people know what JJ brings to the table. He just picked the most inopportune time to have his worst shooting stretch of the season.

People even talk about Childress like he’s a lock to come back here. That’s not true either. We hold Chill’s rights, but even he may not want to come back to ATL, forcing them to trade him. And he still has one more year on his Euroleague contract.

As upset as the fan base is right now, no one wants to go back to the days in which we’re wishing on lottery picks to improve the team. If JJ stays in the East, and he’s not with us, that is BAD NEWS for this team.

All of a sudden, even WASHINGTON can make a play for JJ now, with the salary dumping that they’ve done this year. This could be a potential Wizard lineup

G – Livingston ( re-signed )
G – Arenas
F – Joe Johnson
F – Blatche
C – McGee

If Arenas comes back to form, and is able to play the 2 while Livingston plays the point, and JJ the 3 . . . all of a sudden, we have to worry about Washington leapfrogging us ( because the young guys of Blatche and Mcgee are good young post players that dominated Horford and Smoove in the final 2 ATL vs WAS games )

The way this season is ending is NOT GOOD for the Hawks at all. The worst case scenario, in my opinion.

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OK, so D-Wade now, you do know there’s this thing called the salary cap that won’t allow us to spend the money to acquire those 2 players, right? If you’re going to post something like that and don’t want to be slammed down as an idiot, you need to provide a scenario for how to make that happen.

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Al – keep
jamal – keep
zaza- keep

everyone else GO TO HELL

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Can we afford to dump Woody?
Let JJ go. Sign a center. Move Marvin to the bench. Sign a real scoring small forward. Start Crawford in place of Joe. Sign a coach who can develop Teague.
Problems solved!

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Can Usain Bolt run the point?

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First of all, I think it’s a given that Woody has to go. He refuses to run an offense in a league where every elite team does, he takes three games to make adjustments in the playoffs, and much like Bobby Cox, he insists on playing players he likes long after they have outlived their usefulness (Bibby), at the expense of young players who need playing time and experience to gain confidence and reach their potential (Teague). Anyone who thinks otherwise is not on the same page as me and 99% of Hawks fans, so there’s no point in reading the rest of this post.

Secondly, I agree to an extent about overreacting. This team did win 53 games, and I think most people who watched it all season would say they actually underachieved by losing a lot of winnable games. Most of that is attributable to Woody’s shortcomings. Yes, Joe Johnson has proven that he is not and will never be a max contract worthy player or a leader by example or anything else, and this team has chemistry issues, but I don’t think it’s entirely fair to pass judgment on this core of players as to whether or not they can win a title until they have had the opportunity to do so under a coach that is capable of taking them there.

All that said, everything in pro sports at some point boils down to money. I’d prefer to replace the coach and keep this core together for at least a year or two and see what they can do — at the very least, I think they will compete much better with Orlando and Cleveland, and it’s entirely possible that with the addition of some pieces they can beat one or the other or both. But realistically, some team will offer Joe a max contract, and it won’t be in the Hawks’ best interest to pay him that kind of money if they want to advance beyond this point.

The finances-dictated reality is that in order to take a step forward from this point, it’s likely that the Hawks will have to take a step back. The Hawks certainly shouldn’t let Joe leave for nothing; keeping him is a hell of a lot better than letting him leave for no compensation. But if they can find a deal that brings them good talent and draft picks in return and gives them flexibility to add free agents going forward, they should do it.

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They should resign Joe Johnson, but only if he doesn’t ask for too much money.

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LOLOLOL TOO BAD HAWKS AW I MEAN LARKS!! TOO BAD SO SAD BUT AT LEAST JOSH WILL HAVE MORE TIME TO PRACTISE HIS 45-FOOTERS IN THE POST-POST-SEASON!! QUICK SIGN LEBRON JAMES AND TRADE FOR DURANT!! GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!!!11

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Two things: 1) with the epic meltdown this team has had in this series, replacing the coach may not be enough to placate the fan base. There will be a lot of questions raised about the Hawks if they are substantially the same team next year. 2) You make the point that this team could be a lot worse off without Joe and that may very well be true. But given his age and salary demands, can the Hawks realistically expect to be a contender with him in the fold going forward?

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Actually we can’t FIRE WOODY unless we resign him……… I thought I should point that out so…….. DON’T GIVE WOODY AN EXTENSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I think Joe is frustrated with the fan base calling him out in the past couple weeks due to his performance in the playoffs. I don’t think he had any intention in staying in Atl from week one this year.
As for Bosh I don’t think we can pay him and I doubt he wants to come here.
Best we can do is keep everyone except Joe and Woodson and possibly pick up a decent piece to help out. I don’t see us losing Joe and going back to only winning 15 games a year.
I would like to see J Smoove, Holford, Crawford stay Hawks for awhile. Hopefully Teague can become a proper starter as Bibby winds his career down. That could be a very good 4 core we could keep for at least the next 4-5. Add a 5th starter in free agency and build the bench through the draft.

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EXCUSE ME??!! MARK DID YOU BUMP YOUR HEAD OR SOMETHNIG??!! DID YOU NOT HEAR HI S RESPONSE LAST EVENING AFTER THAT LAYDOWN LAST NIGHT??!! THAT IS AS UNPROFESSIONAL AS IT GET’S CHIEF!! THIS CLOWN WANT’S TOP DOLLAR BUT PLAYED & SPOKE LIKE A TRUE BLUE 1ST RATE C-H-U-M-P!!! IF YOU’RE GOING TO GIVE TOP DOLLAR TO A PLAYER(SOME WILL BE AVAILABLE THIS SUMMER)GIVE IT TO SOMEONE WHO WANT’S TO BE HERE & IS HUNGRY!!! OH,& LESS BEFORE I FORGET……..FINALLY,FIRE WOODROW NOW!!!

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Mark-JJ is overrated and soon to be overpaid. Get rid of him NOW. Also, he clearly has burned his bridge with the fans of Atlanta.
FIRE WOODY!!

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Keep the teams together except M. Williams he don’t show nor come to play . fire Woody monday night right after the game,bring someone in here with an offense instead of this ISO. you can keep Bibby ,but don’t start him Teauge need to be playing need some more scorer. go get Ray Allen for marvin

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It is Byron Scott, not Bryon….

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I bet we can get rid of Johnson. We can lose with anybody.

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I was at the game on the 11th row from the court last night. I was sitting two rows AHEAD of Roy Williams and say Shannon Sharpe walk by. In other words, I went all out last night for the Hawks game. The sad thing is I had NO FUN AT ALL because the team was PATHETIC!!! The game was over after 4 minutes and there was nothing left to do than turn around and ask Roy Williams if he could coach any better. I overheard commenting that we need to be playing Teague more. Try SOMETHING different!

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Hawks need center, point guard, no-nonsense coach, heart and direction. Woodson out. Trade Josh (I have yet to run in an NBA game) for a young center (either of the Lopez brothers or Hibbert) or point guard (Chalmers, Beaubois, Berea, Ridenour) filling one of the voids. Move Horford to power forward. Bring in Avery Johnson, Byron Scott or Mike Fratello to coach. Really do think that some of the players carefree attitude will go away quickly with a coach willing to get in their faces. Luke Ridenour, Dorell Wright, DeJuan Blair just a few names that would help and could be attained. Woodson & Smith are the two that “have to go” while Smith has any trade value left. Would like Johnson to stay. He won’t! Wade or Bosh coming to ATL is a joke. Why would they even think about it?

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your wrong again!

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No Point Guard to take on Jameer

Nobody to stop Dwight

And ASG for not ponying up money for better big men off the bench than Jason Collins, Joe Smith, and Randoph Morris – end of story

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We’ve seen this movie before…and no FA is signing with Hawks as long as the Spirit owns the team. ATL fans are trapped in a Groundhog Day!

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This is not matter for the Spirit to consider dumping Joe Johnson. They should be the first to the table to offer him the exact same offer or less. Then he has to determine if he wants to be a Hawk. If Joe turns them down again he does not want to be here.

Also, the comments stated by Joe indicates to me he does not want to be here, when he does not care if fans show up or not. He has exactly one game left on his contract; is’nt ironic how he can get motivated to turn on the fans, but can’t show any emotion to get his teammates to play to potential. Check out his body language Monday night, it will let us know. (Vick flipping a fan off or Joe berating all fans, especially season ticket holders, it’ the same thing to me…management should take a stand!)

Should Joe elect to sign, we should execute a Sign & Trade deal. Yes he was selected 3rd Team All NBA, putting among the best 15 players this year, but is number 11, or 15th, either way it subjective. Now as for Sign & Trade, would Portland trade us Brandon Roy, make the inquiry and I would take Roy, a fellow 3rd teamer. Monte Ellis was not on any NBA team, I would trade him for Steph Curry, Salmons, Kevin Martin, Michael Redd when healthy, Ben Gordon because of mentality; if we can get value or bench help, specifically a pure shooter ie a JJ Reddick type.

Then so that it is not personal our would compare his in season stats vs playoff stats over last 3 years, then throw in stats vs marque team and below average teams, plus stats versus the shooting guards from the All NBA teams. Then I think we would have a good idea how far we can go with Joe Johnson. If management offers him a Max Contract, and bring back Woody; I fear we will not get much more than what we have gotten for this team. Bibby, Horford, Josh, Marvin, Zaza, Crawford are all due in traing camp next season, sign sealed delivered. bring back Joe and we have no cap space to improve roster!!!!

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Let Joe go. Good player, but not good enough to pay what he’ll want in his next contract. Let Woodsen go too. I don’t think he knows how to effectively use the talent he had this year.

I think J-Smoove-Horford-Crawford-Teague is a good core to build a team from. We’re not getting D.Wade or LBJ, but maybe Bosh is a realistic acquisition. I think trading for some younger, up-and-coming talent that won’t warrant major $$ is a good way to go.

Yeah, we take a step back, maybe for a season, by getting rid of JJ and Woody, but get some up-and-comers to supplement that main core and this could be a really good team within another year.

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Curiously, in a supposed anti-incumbent year, most of the departing are not retiring but seeking higher office. We may recycle more than we replace. The bad news is that a frustrating 114 seats still have but one contestant. Two of them aren’t even incumbents, meaning they will affect state policy without being vetted by voters. And I have to think that we’d be better off if many had run instead for the Legislature — and cut down on the number running unopposed. Georgia’s problems are numerous. They aren’t going away. There’s too much stale thinking at the Capitol, on both sides of the aisle. New voices would be welcome.

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Joe Johnson should be Thankful we(Hawks fans) didn’t begin booing him during Pre-Game Warmups yesterday for the 5th All-NBA Team performance he has been giving us this post-season at best… J.J. maybe telling the truth about he doesn’t care what the hawks fans think, so I say the Hawks Organization starts to look for another B-Level or C-Level Superstar…

If Joe doesn’t want to be here, the Hawks shouldn’t have to beg…

RISE UP ATLANTA, let’s send Joe Johnson off with more boo’s than he can handle if we get a repeat of his game 3 performance…

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@Brownie

Your post is the best one yet!
Woodson has done a great job, but the team is maxed out with him (not all his fault either)

JJ is not happy here and should move on (there are plenty alternatives who can lead the team)

Al Horford is definitely the hardest worker and team MVP (but should be a PF)

Once Jamal tightens his defense more he’ll have an all around game.

Bibby’s better days are behind him and should consider mentoring Teague.

Josh needs a coach who will sit his a** down and hold him accountable for his actions that hurt the team (especially for complaining after every call and not getting back on D- (he’s only 24 right?)

Marvin has become a liability and should either be traded or have a role to come off the bench (after he hits the weight room).

Last but not least- We need a Center like yesterday……….

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Mark

Do you really believe “Choke” Johnson would play for a new “take no prisoners” type of coach after being pampered here in Atlanta for so long? He has already suggested that he wants Woody as his coach. So this whole notion of keeping him and the core together with a new coach will not work. If Woody leaves, “Choke” Johnson walks. It is that simple. I say savage him (if you can) and move on. But please don’t hold us hostage with fool’s gold for another 4-5 years. Hawk fans would appreciate more if ownership is exactly trying to fix the teams problems instead of playing politics with our money. If it means a playoff setback for while (to get better), then so be it. It is better to fight like warriors and lose with honor and respect, then to lie down (like cowards) in defeat as the Hawks have done. There is no glory in that.

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Wade’s supporting cast in Miami is better than the Hawks’ Chalmers over Bibby, Qrichardson over Marvin, Beasley is a better all-around player than Josh, so if he can’t even get them out of the first round for 3 yrs how is he going to make less talent better? A true championship team needs a minimum of 2 All-NBA talents on its roster to compete for a championship, the Hawks have a bad spade hand, 1 and a possible. end of story

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Joe and Josh are punks. Marvin is useless. Bibby is too old and slow.
No one listens to Woodson anymore. Please, please blow this thing up.

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We need to be careful about how much we pay JJ.
He just has not lived up to expectations for consistency.
Still, with a new coach, maybe this team will perform better.
Pie in the sky, I know, but maybe a new coach will get more consisten play out of this team.
Maybe then, we can get a cheaper players to round out the team.

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Someone else mentioned this earlier. Phillips needs to be the home of
wrestling and tractor pulls both of which are more popular than NBA and
the NHL in Atlanta. Despite being taken over by northern state refugees college sports will always rule this town. The Braves and Falcons have always shown that when they go mediocre their market dies. The assumption that prof sports should be attached to major population centers is wrong. LA is doing fine without an NFL team.

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Need to say Bye to Joe and bring in Chris Bosh…then pick up John Salmons to take over the 2 spot and keep Crawford coming off the bench. Bosh and Salmons> Joe, it would help the Hawks take that next step. Hopefully Teague is ready to take over for Bibby too.

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We don’t need another Chipper Jones contract, besides this owner group can’t afford it anyway. Joe Johnson is one of those players that performs well most of the time, but when the chips are down in the playoffs and you need your top players to play smart, he doesn’t. Many times he has a chance to pass out of a double/triple team, but throws up an awkward shot anyway. You may have to drop back a bit to solidify this team with other pieces they need no matter.

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No set plays. One person gets the ball up top and all the others guys stand and watch. No movement. Josh Smith don’t need to shoot from outside. Bring Avery Johnson to the ATL and and let’s win some playoff games.

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no heart.

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I hate it because I am a lifelong Hawks fan. I think we need a competent big man that can play the post, a PG that can penetrate the lane and hit the 20 footer if left to shoot and a new coach. BYE JJ!! He is not a winner. Josh Smith is the man who makes this team run. There is a two man PG problem with CP3 and his backup. Let’s make a move for either, let JJ go and find a real big for boards and blocks and 14 points a night. JS is ready to make the step to big time player. The right PG can set him up. The right coach with the right system can put together an athletic team with CP3, JS, MW, the unnamed Big and the scrappy forward that is a lockdown defender. I like it.

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I hope we all remember that these guys won 53 game and finished third. I know that doesn’t mean much now. I’m as nauseated by the Orlando series as anyone, The Hawks need to pass the ball and move on offense, no more driving against three defenders (Joe) after letting the shot clock run down to five. Josh could grab 25 rebounds a game if he hung out by the basket and not the 3 pt. line. He should watch what his more successful buddy Dwight does. Howard never dribbles it down on the break, He hangs out under the basket. That’s why he’s first team all-NBA. Josh is more mobile than Howard and has a better outside shot. That should just give us more options if they would just move the ball around. Just watch Orlando. Every time down 3, 4, 5 passes and boom, an open 3-pointer or inside to Howard for a basket (an usually a foul as well). The Hawks had more votes for members of the all-NBA team than Orlando (Johnson, Horford,Smith), they have the Sixth Man of the year. Just play ball-pass the ball! No more isolation game. It’s so fundamental. Johnson has played it at Phoenix and Arkansas, Horford won a national championship doing it as did Marvin at UNC (he could probably score 15 a game if they passed it more). The only one who does not know how to play the game is Josh. If Woodson can’t coach him or coach this style of play, than either he should go or they should trade Josh for a big man and/or shooting guard.

I drive down from Ohio to see the Hawks, whom I’ve followed since Richie Guerin was coaching Sweet Lou, Zelmo and Jumpin’ Joe Caldwell. I don’t want to see them go back to square one, but if they can’t play fundamental offense (they play great defense, especially Josh when he gets down the floor) then they need to get rid of either Josh or Woodson. I think Woodson has done great things since they were winning in the teens every year. As Bradley says, who will replace Johnson? He can’t carry a team, but can contribute 20+ a game if in the mix and the pressure is off.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Pretty simple, huh? BTW, I hope the Hawks pummel Orlando tomorrow! Go Hawks!

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Most of the backlash coming against this Hawks team is from SUCKA** fans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These fans only began to watch when the Hawks began to win. And even when they were winning did not go out to see the Hawks play. The Hawks are tied with the 2nd best home record in the league but are in the bottom third of the league in attendence.

The team has progressed over the years but we still have a 13 win fan base.

Be real the Hawks have underachieved this playoff season but this is without a doubt one of the best Hawks team since coming to Atlanta and REAL HAWKS FANS know this.

If you SUCKA** fans want a SUCKA** team, go root for the Clippers

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Come on everybody lets get real! We all know that the reason the hawks can’t get past the second round is because they need a true center and a true pointguard who can manage the floor. Every successful team has these key players. The hawks just need to spend the money to get these pieces instead of droppig 70 million for bench players.

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I feel very sorry for this team, because they have huge potential “as a team”. However, it is difficult to reach such potential as a team without a leader. The leader is first and always expected of a coach, who should be able to mentor, develop, strategize, analyze, and deliver results. My family and friends have been critical of my thoughts of Coach Woodson all season, but I haven’t witnessed these leadership qualities in Coach Woodson for the past few seasons, especially this season. The Coach stands mostly during the game without any answers to anything. An example of such poor reasoning and strategic direction was shown during this series when he puts in Jason Collins, a 7 ft center, who hasn’t played most of the season. In speaking with Cheryl Miller, she questioned the Coach in surprise of putting him in the game now 1 or 2, and he said Collins was being brought in for ‘foul’ power. How dumb is that? Why not think of Collins for rebounds and points? That is what most centers should deliver. Everything has been about fouls. The players are playing for 1 shot, primarily at getting a foul. Why not go for points, and possibly get the foul? These examples were shown multiple times by Jamal Crawford, who should have delivered under the basket and within short range several instances. So, I don’t blame the players. They have deserved so much better. Players expect leadership, direction, and help to improve and be their best. They have won all their games on natural talent. Imagine what they could have been with such leadership. It is not Joe Johnson’s fault, and I believe his comments are out of embarrassment and mere frustration, but he needed help with answers. I suspect the Coach named Johnson the leader of the team, when leadership started first with the Coach. I hope all the players, including Johnson come back, and have the opportunity to work with a true Coach who can bring all those leadership qualities. It is very unfair to have anything less in a coaching position. It is unfair to investors, fans, and especially the players. Good management doesn’t allow such disasters, including lack of leadership, to play out over a period of time when overall performance isn’t evident. Don’t confuse the Hawk’s overall performance with good coaching and strategic play. As a Hawks FAN, I am amazed and thankful for how naturally talented and blessed this team is, and reflect on how great this entire season could have been.

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kbatuc,

That is an excellent post. I too, have been a fan for a while (Dominque, Doc, Tree Rollins etc…days).

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Please let Joe go. You won’t find anyone better than him (unless we somehow get Bosh) but you can use the money to improve other positions. Crawford isnt much worse than Joe and you can easily find a nice bench player like a Mike Miller without spending an arm and a leg. The biggest thing we need is a playmaker at PG. I think we can find that, a scorer off the bench and a veteran big man with the money saved on Joe. Then fire Woody, find a coach who can actually run an offense and presto….we actually may have a chance in the 2nd round next year.

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If Knight had chosen either Chris Paul or Deron Williams, Woodson would be up for Coach of the year rather than being dumped on by everyone.

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northcyde,

Even during the regular season, I dont think it was the right move to bring Bibby back. How many games was he absent in the fourth quarter (Woody going with Jamal and JJ)? How many games did he play limited minutes because he was horrible?

Andre Miller would have been fine, and I was even open to Jarrett Jack or Ramon Sessions. No, they are not great, but they are younger, cheaper, play better defense, and have the chance to get better. I just can’t believe that we gave Bibby a 3rd year.

As for JJ, I would like to see JJ come back. but I would not give him a 6th year, and I would not give him more than $16 mil per.

But what this team needs more than anything, is a PG and a new HC. We could also use a better SF than Marvin.

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I agree Mark, Joe has been miserable this post season, but they must resign him. They will not be able to sign anyone else close to him. I really think a new coach is the answer and I usually don’t say that. This has been a great season, but I am not satisfied. I may be satisfied with this season if we had made this a series even if we lose. I realize how hard it is to win an NBA Championship. I feel like the best team always wins, whereas, in the other leagues teams can catch fire at the right time and win it all. I am rambling. What I am trying to say is this series has been unexcusable; however, blowing the team up in hopes of eventually drafting another Lebron, Kobe, or Howard is not the way to go. I am a lifelong Hawks fan and have been through so much bad basketball that I feel like I can be content with reaching the semis and COMPETING, or the conference finals.

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Enter your comments here

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Changes are needed….Very Angry with effort and attitude of coach and players…..Get rid of the lazy underacheivers…..some are too happy with multimillion dollar salaries and their lifestyle.

1. Mike Woodson–has to go…Get new coach that will get the most out of the players—effort and hustle, and win or lose with class…which means trying your best at all times. Sorry is he that does not try his best.

2. Joe Johnson…..needs to go…bad attitude and all. maybe let some of this blow over and try and get the most value for him…..Sorry–talent or not…Talent does you no good at all if you don’t try…all the talent in the world is just theory until one busts his butt and hustles in a game….If I am going to lose—I will lose with men that bust their butts trying to win….that’s right ….JJ is a loser.

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You people are wacked. Let’s dump Joe and sign Wade! Like that could ever happen. Why would wade ever want to come to ATL? He can play anywhere he wants – NY, Chicago – places that LOVE NBA basketball and fill their arenas even when the teams suck. Why would ANY type A FA come to ATL if they have other choices? ATL has zero chance of signing or trading for any of these players. The reality is this team with a new coach and one more type B FA could possibly make a move next year. The core is not bad. Don’t let hurt feelings cloud judgement. What we have on this blog is a lot of emotion with no memory of 13 win seasons with no hope. If you actually care about the local NBA team (and many on here don’t) remember what it’s like to be irrelevant at the end of the season. Think UGA and national championship – very frustrating and sad.

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Clyde, I sure as heck dont know who will take that role but its been obvious for years and still is that its our biggest need (even more than a true center imho) we sure need one. Look hard in the draft or trade our draft pick for one if there isnt a guy available in FA. He doesnt have to be of Chris Paul caliber, just a guy who can defend and create some plays for others.

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Johnson says to hell with the fans…..i say who pays his contract….let him go he will never make it in Atlanta and may not make it anywhere with that attitude…..

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Regardless of what you say about Joe, anybody that says we need Woody or should keep his is an IDIOT and doesn’t know basketball. PERIOD.

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Who are the 24% of people not voting to Fire Mike Woodson. What Kool-Aid are they drinking?

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Stand around, pass the ball , stand around, pass the ball or not, dribble into a double team, stand round a little more and watch your teammate dribble. Woodson does not have an offense that can compete against the elite. Pass the ball Joe.

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I sure hope that Rick Sund is smarter than Mark Bradley.

When you’ve only got 5 players, your STAR is critically important. I cannot think of a single NBA team in the last 20 years that has won a championship with “good chemistry.” We need a superstar to put the team on his back and win. This year’s final is not going to be Lakers v. Cavaliers – it’s going to be Kobe v. LeBron!

Joe is a nice piece. He has taken command of regular season games, but that means NOTHING if you want to actually win a championship. He doesn’t hit the big shots, he doesn’t command the respect of the refs (which is critically important to avoiding foul trouble (see Game 1)) he does not make his teamates better and he does not command the respect of the other team. Joe Johnson is not a max contract player!

This is such a short sided article. Just because Joe was named to third team does not automatically mean he is in the top 15 – there are options out there in free agency. What if Pierce exercises his ETO? No one thought he would with $21m, but with a 2011 lock out looking like a real possibility, he might want to make his big money NOW instead of trying to negotiate a deal at 35. Or Melo will probably opt out next year, Stoudamire(not a 2, but a hell of a lot better than Marvin, (of course, I’d love DWade, but Miami can pay him $30m more than anyone else – can’t believe he wouldn’t want to keep kicking it on South Beach, making a ton more $ in a State with no no income tax – Wade has his ring, he’s not going to give that up), and hell, Salmons was better than Joe in the Bucks series!

And ultimately, I’d rather lose and have the chance of drafting the next Kobe, LeBron, or DWade than keep Joe and watch the Hawks consistently lose in the 2nd round. Hell, even if by some miracle the Hawks could have made it to the finals do you think there is any way they can beat the Lakers?

Just getting to the playoffs is not the goal. I’d rather not even go to the playoffs if it meant that I didn’t feel compelled to boo my team off of their home court.

Sure you can upgrade Woody – the defensive techniques have been good, but the man can’t run any kind of offense, so he will never be able to get to that next level. But it doesn’t matter if we’re counting on Joe Johnson. You could put John Wooten, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, Dean Smith and the ghost of Red Auerbach on that bench and Joe Johnson will never be in the same class as Kobe or Lebron.

Cut your losses – paying Joe Johnson $18m a year is committing your team to mediocrity or worse. Look at it this way; Joe knows this is his contract year and THIS is the effort he puts out. What is he going to do AFTER he gets paid!

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Mark,

Hawks greatest needs are point guard and center. It’s hard to see how they can get a quality starter at either of these positions without a trade, at least if they use their salary cap money to resign Joe Johnson. Shouldn’t they at least look at sign and trade options to trade Joe for a starting point guard or center? For example, would they be a better team if they lost Joe and gained Chris Bosh?

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Sadly, the time has come for Joe and Woody to move. Both are likeable individuals but this thing is just not working and the Hawks won 53 in spite of the failure of the coaching staff to adjust during games and the failure of Joe to be an efficient scorer.

The Hawks need a player who can break down a defense and create for himself and others.

Al Horford can defend perhaps every center in the league not named Dwght Howard. Does anyone remember Dave Cowens? He led Boston to a long period of excellence. The system needs to change and that was Woodson’s responsibility.

Losing Joe Johnson might set the franchise back but not to the 8th seed as some have suggested. The money Joe wants would cripple this franchise for years. 5 or 6 years at 15-20 million a year? He is already in decline, so what will years 2 on be like? Let some other team, NY or Chicago, take that plunge.

The real killer of this franchise was the two picks wasted on Shelden and Marvin. That is in the past now but Marvin does not have a SF’s body and is not an excellent shooter, so where is the upside for him?

How does Jeff Teague spend his life playing basketball and come to the NBA with that pathetic shooting style? That is not a shot but a push in the direction of the basket. Why do you suppose every defender backs off even when Jeff is 15 feet from the basket? The whole league knows he is a poor shooter.

There are some good pieces in Atlanta, though Josh Smith is infuriating at times, and a coach (Doc Rivers?) and a find at PG and SF would make a huge difference. Let the new coach choose the players to keep and to bring in with help from the front office.

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I need to get to these sooner.. 193 comments, I’ll never get read. Mark you couldn’t be more wrong. Not only can they afford it, but they will save money. Horford is the guy to build around and from what I here, the players may not like playing with Joe so much. If Sund even gives Joe a max contract offer I will forgo the 2010-2011 season. That’s right, boycott it completely. That’ll show ‘em.

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Sad homer, you are sadly misinformed. You said regarding Joe Johnson:
“He put up good numbers against bottom feeders and could not do jack against top tiers.” Have you ever looked at the statistics? Have you noticed Joe was high point man for the team, usually ranging from 25 to 37 points, against the Lakers twice, Cleveland, Boston twice, Orlando, Dallas, and San Antonio. Are these the “bottom feeders” you cite? Do you know “jack” about JJ or the Hawks? Or are you just bouncing off the wall like 90 percent of these other know-it-all who purport to know what ails the Hawks?

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If we do not re sign Woodson, the one name that dominates my thinking who should coach the Hawks is Jeff Van Gundy. He’s still pretty young, and he had some good years with the Knicks, after Pat Riley left Van Gundy is also very defensive orientated.

If we can use the money that Joe “Max man” Johnson wants, to sign another scorer, or two decent scorers, I think the Hawks would fare better than with him.

If Johnson has another bad game tomorrow, and the Hawks get bounced tomorrow night, as I think very possible, there might be a lot of unhappy fans if we re-sign him. All that might buy us, unless we make other changes, is another 50 win season, and a second round loss, like we’re going to have this year.

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Mark,

Tell me you did not suggest the same Dwayne Casey who was caught bribing college players and couldn’t hack it in half a season in Minnesota. Ftlog NO!

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Mark………… There is no jj in team………. Not only that we need a legit Big !

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Again many of you are on crack. With the current owners and financial limitations of the Hawks they will never sign a A level free agent or win an NBA title. The best we can do is stay relevant and play meaningful games in May. And if we are lucky maybe a Pau Gasol deal falls in our lap. Joe Johnson is not a bad guy. He is no max player but he is a decent number 2. If we get a PG that handles the ball – not a Bibby that brings it up and just gives it to Joe – you got something. I just watched Steve Nash do that. The Suns are a bunch of B type players with Nash making them great. Can Teague do that? WE really don’t know but we should have found out by now.

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[...] You can find that story here. [...]

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yall are a bunch of nerds with no life

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Ditch Woody, and sign Jeff Van Gundy to take his place. Then sign Rudy Gay as a free agent. That dude can nail the outside shot with consistency.

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Mark you say we can’t afford to dump Joe Johnson, but I believe we can’t afford not to Dump him if he want’s max contract. His max contract would cost money needed to pay for other pieces needed to get this team to the next level now and into the future. Joe has proven the last 2 years in the playoffs he does not have what it takes to help this team get past the 2nd round in the playoffs. His production should go up in the playoffs not down. He is worse in the playoffs this year than he was last year. I am sure there are a combination of players to be had that can get us to the 2nd round of the playoffs for the same amount of money that we pay Joe right now, and we won’t have to pay Joe max money for the same production.

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I would hate to see Joe leave. Sure enough he hasn’t had a great series against Orlando, but it happens that way sometimes. He certainly upset me with his comment after the game, but for those who have continuously criticized him for not showing enough passion or emotion, there you have it. I think the comment was based on just that, with hurt, frustration, and disappoint being the emotions he displayed. At any rate he’s still my favorite and I don’t want him to leave. Hopefully they will get it together for tonight’s game. I’m a season ticket holder and a big fan of this team. I would love for them to go further, but I don’t think it’s possible. I would like to see them not get swept for a second season in the second round, that would be an improvement from last year. I would also like to see some changes next year and unfortunately if I had a vote or say so, it would be for Woody to go.

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Any team that pays Joe Johnson a max contract deserves what they get.

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Joe Johnson is not that good, he score two or three points, that’s nothing, I can do that, and i dont even play B-Ball, give me some money I’ll try. Leave Joe,,,Please

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hawks need to give away mike woodson in a hurry!!Joe need to stay marvin gotta go!!We need to get john salmons 4 marvin real talk…!!We need to mucch betta next year 4 sho!!and beat the teams We know we can cavs,magis 4 sho celtics and other sorry team lift weights and get stronger…Lets go Hawks NEXT YEAR YA’ll GIVE US FAN WAT WE WANNA C ATL PIMPIN

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the hawks need to fire Coach woodson and Maurice Evans. Coach Woodson has taken them as far as they can go. Woodson is a good coach but its time for a new job. Him and Coach Mike Brown from Cleveland.

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