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Why is everybody freaking out about Al?

Al is good, he is an all star center, but he is not carrying the Hawks. he is not Tim Duncan.

with Horford, i think the Hawks are #2 in the east, i don't see the Bull ever beating the Hawks.

without Horford, the Hawks easily get the #4 or #5 spot. we have Collins, so we don't need Al for the Magic.

not having Al is nothing new for the Hawks, i mean last year, Horford was horrible after the all star break and he wasn't producing and wasn't helping Joe and Josh and the Hawks were still able to get the #5 spot

I think the bigger question here is why are some of you guys blowing Josh Smith out of proportion. So quick to forget how he is the most ignorant player on the court night in and night out with his stupid shot selection and how he is traditionally one of the worst rebounding PF's in the game. His block shots and dunks have forever clouded the minds of a lot of people. Al's jumpshot was the most consistent element of the Hawks last year. Nothing else that they did even came close.

losing an all star center does hurt, but the Hawks are still a good playoff team with out Al.

even losing Joe, the Hawks can still make the 6ht spot on the east

the only important player is Josh Smith, he is the Hawks most valuable player. any combination of Josh and Joe, or Josh and Horford is a strong playoff team.

the only significant factor that could hurt the Hawks would be losing Josh, because a combination of Joe and Horford would just be a lottery team, because Joe and Horford don't have enough NBA talent to dominate a game

when ever Josh leaves the game, the team looks horrible and looks like a lottery team with zero defense. at least with Josh, he scares everybody in the paint.

like last year, when Horford missed games, the Hawks were still able to win some games, and when Joe missed games, the Hawks were still able to win some games. but when Josh missed games, the Hawks were 1 and 4 last year, and the team look horrible with just Horford defending the paint.

the games the Josh doesn't play in last year, the other team shot over .500FG%, when Josh is in the game, the other team shoots .460%, and that is huge. just look at the links below.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201104090WAS.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201104080IND.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201104050ATL.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201103040ATL.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201103020ATL.html

even in the playoffs against the Magic, Horford was almost non existent and it was Josh and Joe who carried the team to a convincing win against Dwight and the Magic

You mean Joe and Jamal carried the Hawks past the Magic, Josh didn't show up to the playoffs until the 4th quarter of game 3 of the Chicago series. 2 of those games you cited occurred in the last week of the season when the Hawks had already clinched the 5th seed. In fact, Joe only showed up last January and February before some games in the playoffs because his All Star selection was in doubt but check this out

http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 10ATL.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 80ATL.html

The worst, and I mean absolute worst blowouts in history occurred with Al being in a suit so really, hold off on that Josh Smith coronation.

MaceCase wrote:You mean Joe and Jamal carried the Hawks past the Magic, Josh didn't show up to the playoffs until the 4th quarter of game 3 of the Chicago series. 2 of those games you cited occurred in the last week of the season when the Hawks had already clinched the 5th seed. In fact, Joe only showed up last January and February before some games in the playoffs because his All Star selection was in doubt but check this out

http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 10ATL.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 80ATL.html

The worst, and I mean absolute worst blowouts in history occurred with Al being in a suit so really, hold off on that Josh Smith coronation.

yeah i agree Joe, Josh and Jamal carried the Hawks past the Magic. Horford's jumpshot was horrible against the Magic and Bulls. Horford's jumpshot was defiantly not consistent

Hawks are 3 and 2 when Horford didn't play in the game last year.... not great, but i'm okay with that

FACTS:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201103120ATL.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201102080ATL.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201102050WAS.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201101220CHA.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201101210ATL.html

Opponents' FG% with only Horford : .510FG%

Opponents' FG% with only Smoove : .470FG%........... that is huge!

The Hawks did look "ignorant" in that 1st qtr of CHA guarding players like Boris Diaw, there was 1 play where Boris was wide open. I dont know if that was on Josh's shoulders or Vlad's or Pachulia's but there was miscues because Al usually sticks him. We have seen Ivan and Josh at center at times... sigh.

But losing a high caliber center from the rotation for nothing always hurts. Hopefully Zaza trumps Milicic and gives us an edge vs Anthony Randolph.

Last year was last year. Al's defensive rotations and being at the right place at the right time would help us at times. But losing a player for nothing always hurts. Hopefully Zaza picks it up I wonder who will guard Love and Milicic and Williams.

Smith cannot guard Derrick because it would leave Vlad on Love. I don't know if Vlad can guard Williams either Then there's Rubio vs. Teague. We have Joe's size and shooting. Hopefully our experience trumps raw talent and we we win today.

We are topheavy But the Timberwolves are deeper than us and have loves. Go Hawks!

Think of them as Troy Polamalu (Josh) and Ryan Clark (Al). Josh makes the majority of the flashy plays, but without Ryan Clark to adapt and fill in perfectly the team could be left at a disadvantage by his gambling on the flashy play. It's not a perfect analogy but Al gets a lot of credit as a stabilizing force in the lineup especially on defensive. The concern is that without him over time the play will degrade into selfish chaos. That's not necessarily the case. As emotional as Josh is he's matured a lot over the years, so that he's less of a meltdown thread over the long haul (any given night can go sour, but a multi-game funk is less likely).

Ignore the Charlotte game as a measuring stick. I think they've already checked out. Focus on Minnesota and the road trip at the end of the month. Those are more likely to give a better read on the team.

Right now, CHI is playing Asik and Gibson over Noah and Boozer, not because the first 2 are all-stars but because of the latter 2's poor play. That won't continue. CHI will play better.

parson wrote:Right now, CHI is playing Asik and Gibson over Noah and Boozer, not because the first 2 are all-stars but because of the latter 2's poor play. That won't continue. CHI will play better.

Boozer and Noah are old and getting older everyday that goes by.

man, i can just see all the Josh haters cringe every time he takes a jumpshot and the ball goes in and the Hawks win. the Josh haters just can't stand it every time the Hawks win and Josh gets big numbers.

it is great to see Smoove improve as a player and the only way he is going to get better is by taking jumpshots.

Smoove might not ever make an all star team, but he is more talented and better than Joe and Horford.

We are not going anywhere depending on Josh to make jumpers. The real tests are coming and watch the Josh backers blame other people when we start to lose. I will not be blaming anyone because it is coming regardless. Simply put we are not that good without Horford. Kirk will come back and people will swear that is going to help and it will not. We are lotto bound without Horford, don't believe the hype.

Superiorblogman wrote:We are not going anywhere depending on Josh to make jumpers. The real tests are coming and watch the Josh backers blame other people when we start to lose. I will not be blaming anyone because it is coming regardless. Simply put we are not that good without Horford. Kirk will come back and people will swear that is going to help and it will not. We are lotto bound without Horford, don't believe the hype.

this is just so stupid.

i really don't understand Josh haters. i mean it is like they want to see the Hawks lose and Josh to do bad, rather than being a real fan and seeing the team win.

Josh haters would rather be right, than see the home team do well.

Josh haters keep saying that the Hawks are not good without Horford. i agree that Horford helps alittle, but it doesn't doom the Hawks. with Horford the Hawks are an elite team, and without Horford the Hawks are still a strong playoff team.

it is true that the Hawks are not as good without Horford, but with Josh and Joe, the Hawks can still beat bad teams and go .400 against other playoff teams.

Josh and Joe just need to hold the fort down until Horford comes back, beat bad team and get a few wins against playoff team, and make the playoffs.

when Horford gets back healthy in the playoff, Josh, Joe, Horford and the Hawks will be prime to make a playoff push.

i do disagree with the Josh haters in that i think that the Hawks are better without Horford, than having a team without Josh, and the record last year of the games when Josh or Horford didn't play, proves that i'm right.

Why is everybody freaking out?

Because Linas Kleiza was guarding Jason Collins yesterday. Nuff said. He's a classic center but we got him about 5 years too late.

I advocated a classic center that can score off those dump offs that Joe creates. Horford tried to be that dump off and finish inside center and he literally was rejected.

Portland will be the 1st loss imo. Can you imagine if Gerald Wallace and Jason Collins are cross matched?
We need to make a move for a center more than ever. Sure some teams are good enough to beat with Jason Collins starting but we will surely lose certain games. Like tomorrow in Portland with Jamal.

Not to take anything away from him, but Horford as a steady anchor has been a byproduct of having good scoring teammates. And several centers in the league can be just as good as 4th options, if not better because of paint scoring.

But Jason Collins is not one of them. First loss will sure as rain come from POR. But I am hoping we can beat MIL.

Collins is a negative player. Iguodala vs Radmanovic or Radmanovic on Elton Brand. Zone?
2nd loss is with PHI.

And the troubling thing is I don't see guys who are absolute upgrades over Jason Collins currently available in FREE agency!

Sund aint gonna do sh** but sit on his hands.

And there is also bloggers on ajc hawks blog that says the injury will keep him out way past the playoffs.

So he's out for the entire season. Off of a blocked shot. If we want to make any noise we have to trade him.

Smith is entering a contract year next year and trying to experiment with Horford as a forward/jump shooting center again is too dumb to bear.

Should just move forward with a true center. And check out if Rasheed can give you anything as a shooter like Vlad.

Detroit Model
Teague
Joe Johnson
Space Cadet Vlad, Rasheed Wallace, X
Josh Smith
X, Pachulia

X= pieces acquired thru Horford trade

Ruhiel wrote:Why is everybody freaking out?

Because Linas Kleiza was guarding Jason Collins yesterday. Nuff said. He's a classic center but we got him about 5 years too late.

I advocated a classic center that can score off those dump offs that Joe creates. Horford tried to be that dump off and finish inside center and he literally was rejected.

Portland will be the 1st loss imo. Can you imagine if Gerald Wallace and Jason Collins are cross matched?
We need to make a move for a center more than ever. Sure some teams are good enough to beat with Jason Collins starting but we will surely lose certain games. Like tomorrow in Portland with Jamal.

Not to take anything away from him, but Horford as a steady anchor has been a byproduct of having good scoring teammates. And several centers in the league can be just as good as 4th options, if not better because of paint scoring.

But Jason Collins is not one of them. First loss will sure as rain come from POR. But I am hoping we can beat MIL.

Collins is a negative player. Iguodala vs Radmanovic or Radmanovic on Elton Brand. Zone?
2nd loss is with PHI.

And the troubling thing is I don't see guys who are absolute upgrades over Jason Collins currently available in FREE agency!

Sund aint gonna do sh** but sit on his hands.

You are way off base as usual. We will beat Portland, 1st loss is going to be Philly. Trading Horford for a Center not named Bynum or Dwight Howard is a lateral move at best. The same thing you did with bringing Hinrich in here.

We will beat Portland??

Marvin will get off to a slow start being guarded by Wes Matthews. Hurts the team.
Joe Johnson will be guarded by Gerald Wallace followed by Batum.

Then Josh will play hero ball.

When down by 10 in the first few possessions, LD finally decides Marv is more a liabiility than a 31yo Serb and yanks Marv for Vlad theen who will Vlad guard? Gerald Wallace or Aldridge?

Oh and Jamal will find his young legs and likely light us up.

Need to make a move for a quality center.
Murphy's law is in full effect.

Because of Base Year Compensation Rule Horford is not even eligible to be traded until March 1st.

The trade deadline is March 15th. so, yeah...