RealGM

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/roster?team=atl



C-Al Horford/Zaza Pachulia
PF-Josh Smith/Solomon Jones
SF-Marvin Williams/Josh Childress
SG-Joe Johnson/Mario West/Salim Stoudamire
PG-Mike Bibby/Acie Law IV

The startering line-up looks very solid. The bench is still a question mark. We can only count on Chill being consistent. Law and Pachulia are the key players. Woodson is likely only going with an 8-man rotation for now.

Woodson is likely only going with an 8-man rotation for now.

Sadly, it was already an 8-man rotation.

The Hawks could really use a veteran big.

Realistically, Mike Bibby replaces AJ and Lue meaning that Law must get steady minutes. I see this as a good thing for his development. Woodson has always had a quick hook with rookies, but without his security blanket to turn to Law might find a stride. Maybe Salim also gets a few more minutes, but probably not much.

Lo Wright and Shelden Williams weren't playing anyhow. In the last 20 games Wright had 69 minutes and Shelden had 50 minutes. Solomon Jones had 45 minutes in that time frame while Zaza had 162 minutes. That's means that all 4 together notched 17 minutes a game over the last 20 games. That's not an overwhelming number of minutes for 1 big let alone 2.

We will have less depth to handle injuries, but I like the thought of filling in the holes with D-Leaguers who will probably contribute more in limited action than the guys they replaced. If nothing else they can provide specific skill sets that we might be weak on. For instance, we can add a long distance shooting wing for specific matchups.

A veteran big would be nice, but we have nothing left to trade to get one without giving up someone like Childress or Zaza, which creates even more holes. And if we get back anything but an expiring contract then we have a danger of paying luxury tax to resign Josh Smith in the off season. There are a couple of deals that could work, but they have a risk of backfiring on us.

Realistically, Mike Bibby replaces AJ and Lue meaning that Law must get steady minutes. I see this as a good thing for his development.

So do I. (Did everyone read that? LOL).

In the last 20 games Wright had 69 minutes and Shelden had 50 minutes

Wow, so just 6 minutes/game to make up? Wow.

I like the thought of filling in the holes with D-Leaguers who will probably contribute more in limited action than the guys they replaced.

Because they need to prove themselves. You're right.

If nothing else they can provide specific skill sets that we might be weak on. For instance, we can add a long distance shooting wing for specific matchups.

You're on a roll. I like the idea of Jeremy Richardson and Rod Benson. Both guys looking to prove themselves.

A veteran big would be nice, but we have nothing left to trade to get one without giving up someone like Childress or Zaza,

Agreed. I've basically put my salary spreadsheet (sad, huh?) away until the summer.

I do hope that a vet big gets released by one of the tanking teams...

mrhonline wrote:Agreed. I've basically put my salary spreadsheet (sad, huh?) away until the summer.

I've got one of those, too.

One of my favorite things about this deal is how it opens up more time for Law and Solo (and even a little for Mario at one of the guard spots). I also think that if this isn't the thing to snap Zaza out of his terribleness, than nothing will. Zaza has no reason to be nervous or look over his shoulder, he just has to come out and play within himself.

The other thing I hadn't thought about before is that, even though we lose Lue's (tongue-twister) positive locker room influence, we get rid of 3 other guys that never really got along with Woody so the vibe might be a lot better in practice.

I'm not sure about improvement in the locker room......Don't forget Zaza, Smoove & Salim have all had run-ins with Woody.
This trade does open up some possibilities for both Salim and Mario, but I don't expect to see more of them now unless there is an injury.
The pressure is on for Woody to produce now, and he needs to get this team to the playoffs. No guarantee with a new guy coming in, but at least the potential is there.
The starting 5 is better than it has been in Atlanta in a long time. We are going to ride them and spot time for Zaza and Acie. Expect a 6-7 man rotation for the rest of the year.

td00 wrote:I'm not sure about improvement in the locker room......Don't forget Zaza, Smoove & Salim have all had run-ins with Woody.

I haven't... does it not amaze anyone else that our coach has had problems with that many players?

I just think that some of the porblems came from pt (some were probably more personal) and now that most of the roster will have to get solid pt, those types of concerns will fade... at least from Zaza. Josh seems to have calmed down and Woody seems to have realized that Josh is now an amazing player. Sal should be moved too, I like the guy and would like to see him have a chance.

I still side with Josh Smith on his blowup with Woody given what happened in that game. That was a player getting frustrated with what looked like a coach tanking. Zaza's run-in was pure frustration from a combination of playing time and not being physically able to do what he wanted. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Salim's blowup was as a rookie, I thought. I don't recall him acting up lately in spite of no playing time.

Regardless, given that the team is fighting to stay in the playoff hunt I would expect that no one gripes about PT. Coach wouldn't have to quell the problems, the rest of the team would.

glad to see Lorenzen out of here.... it will be great to see Soloman finally get some minutes.

i'm not a Bibby fan, but i'm not also upset by the trade, if they traded Soloman instead of Shelden, i would have been really upset.

Harry10 wrote:glad to see Lorenzen out of here.... it will be great to see Soloman finally get some minutes.

i'm not a Bibby fan, but i'm not also upset by the trade, if they traded Soloman instead of Shelden, i would have been really upset.

Really? I mean I wouldn't have wanted to get stuck with Shelden, but would giving up Solomon really been too high of a price to convert AJ and Lue into a probably much more viable PG? I've not seen him show enough promise to merit that much love.

Why isn't Josh Childrss starting? I don't catch many Hawk games but he's my fav. player.

Illuminati wrote:Why isn't Josh Childrss starting? I don't catch many Hawk games but he's my fav. player.

There just isn't a spot for him. JJ at the 2 and Marvin at the 3. Chill is a perfect 6th man but he doesn't really have that gamebreaking ability that Marv and JJ have shown (I wish both would show it a little more though). We saw Chillz try to step into a starting role last season when JJ was hurt and it didn't work.

JoshB914 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



There just isn't a spot for him. JJ at the 2 and Marvin at the 3. Chill is a perfect 6th man but he doesn't really have that gamebreaking ability that Marv and JJ have shown (I wish both would show it a little more though). We saw Chillz try to step into a starting role last season when JJ was hurt and it didn't work.

Yeah, Chil doesn't take jumpers... at all. He doesn't really create his own offense either and he is probably the worst defender of the three. What he does well is move around and get easy baskets off other players, he might be the bast player in the game at that... it works well with the second unit when th other guys are tired.