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2008-09 Season Review: Starting Five

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HMFFL
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2008-09 Season Review: Starting Five 

Post#1 » by HMFFL » Wed Jun 3, 2009 4:46 pm

The Josh Smith one has it's own thread, but here are the rest of the starters, Coach Woodson, and Rick Sund.

Mike Bibby

Joe Johnson

Marvin Williams

Josh Smith

Al Horford

Coach Woodson

Rick Sund
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evildallas
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Re: 2008-09 Season Review: Starting Five 

Post#2 » by evildallas » Mon Jun 8, 2009 4:24 pm

I've not read them all yet, but the Joe Johnson read was interesting. It's a reasonable argument against investing in an extension for Joe. That would lead to the question of what would be more useful: a trade this summer or cap space next summer? I've a big doubter in free agency. It's hard to land an elite player and Atlanta loses against other major free agent destinations in the eyes of most evaluators. Trade seems smart, but I doubt it happens because it would be seen as taking a step back even if it was for the best.

The other question would be if given the opportunity would any of the 3 young forwards (Josh, Marvin, and Al) step up to be the type of players we need to reach the next level. My answer is not without a creating PG on the roster or a lot more work on their respective games. Last year Marvin added the 3 point shot and that was good. Not so good is it seems that he still struggles finishing on drives. That may have been injury related, but whatever the root cause it affects his overall value. Al struggled in the playoffs (prior to getting hurt) with creating his shot against long defenders. The problem I see with Josh is his problem handling the ball in traffic. He has trouble getting to the hole cleanly and referees don't bail him out as often as stars. All 3 of these guys could stand some improvements in their game as a go to scorer, but a penetrating PG that causes defenses to react could be a revelation for the 3 forwards in that maybe they'd get more bunnies instead of only scoring in the post when beating a defender with the ball already in their hands.

The article on Joe hits on these subjects in that it might be difficult for others to get the chance to step up while Joe is the focus of the offense and Joe might not embrace any change to the offensive direction of the team. A lot of ways this could play out and I'm not sure which is way to go.
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Re: 2008-09 Season Review: Starting Five 

Post#3 » by JoshB914 » Mon Jun 8, 2009 4:55 pm

if the worst case scenario involves another season of above average production from Joe Johnson and $15 million of cap room again next summer, the likelihood that the Hawks can build a championship contender without taking a significant step backward increases.

That is a very true statement from this guy and it scared the hell out of me. It's interesting because we never would have gotten this far without JJ, but it's unclear whether we can take the final (and most important step) of becoming a championship contender with him sticking around.
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Re: 2008-09 Season Review: Starting Five 

Post#4 » by lunarblues » Tue Jun 9, 2009 3:12 pm

we can if other players step up and take the balls out of his hands. the pistons didn't make the finals with hamilton being the sole player on every fourth quarter drive. billups, prince, and rasheed all pitched in. what we need is for there to be less joe and more marvin, josh, and Al.

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