Making the case for A.I.

It's pretty obvious that the Hawks are pretty bad when both Joe Johnson and Josh Childress aren't playing. We just don't have that much talent. We don't even have that much potential talent (sorry Josh 2 and Sexual Healing).

I've waffled on wanting Allen Iverson or not- just last week I said "absolutely not" when asked the question. I felt this team was going somewhere and they didn't need any distractions or disruptions. Iverson is probably not a long term solution, and any pieces we give up would have to be long term solution guys (Josh 1 or Sexual Healing). Unless Philly is willing to take on Salim and Lue? Billy King? Billy?

If Lue is going to be putting up 16 shots a night, then AI is not going to bring anything negative to this team. He would be a nice compliment to Joe "Kid Dy-no-mite" Johnson- I'd see a lot of 25/5/5 nights for both of them. I don't know if AI would be the distributor / field general you would want from a typical point guard, but I'm not sure that's necessary with this team. We have quality passers at every position, so I'm not sure how helpful a good guard would be. For example, Chris Paul. AHHHHHH! Chris Paul! Why the crap didn't we draft him! I hate Knight.

Not to keep harping on this or anything, but yet another undersized guard *killed* us last night. I know at Braves & Birds Michael made the point that Lue's defensive shortcomings might be nullified somewhat this season by the defensive help from Shelden Williams and Josh 2, but I'm not convinced.

Anywhoo, all the Hotlanta Hawks Blog wants for Christmas is a healthy Joe Johnson and Josh Childress.

Update: As Bill Simmons points out, Joe Johnson would instantly rank as the best player Iverson has ever played with. I think this Hawks team is magnitudes better than the Sixers right now.

NBA Hates on the Hawks

I checked out this hot tip from The Assocation, but I was saddened to learn that the NBA hates the Atlanta Hawks. How else to explain this???



There are a few sweet pairs up there- I like the Mavs, Spurs, Cavs (with the same color scheme as the Hawks) and Blazers. But check out the ugly ass shoes with only the giant logo on the side: Hawks, Bucks, Bobcats, Timberwolves, and Grizzlies. If I asked you to make a list of the most disrespected franchises in the league, those 5 would be on it. Weak.

I DEMAND A SWEET NEW SHOE FOR THE HAWKS!!!

Nuggets Dunked In a Hotlanta Honey Mustard

Fantastic win last night. Sure the Nuggets let the Hawks back in the game, but they got back in the freaking game. I counted them out twice- once before the game started, as the second part of a back-to-back on the road, against a hot team. I counted them out again as they fell WAY behind in the 3rd (I figured that was the fatigue that was waiting to set in). But Salim, Lue, Joe, Shelden and Josh 2 took over. You'd be surprised how fast you catch up when you convert a 3-point play or hit a 3 every time down the court.

Big ups to Salim, who had a breakout game (I think) yesterday. He's getting better at knowing when to pass and when to shoot, and he's pulling the hard take to the hole + kickout pass that the Hawks need to be running non-stop. He hit some clutch shots last night- some big 3s, a little teardrop runner in the lane with the clock winding down, the alley-oop from Josh 2 (great call by Steve Smith on that one) and my favorite: passing up the contested 3 in favor of a wide open Joe "Kid Dy-no-mite" Johnson in the corner for the game changing 3 that gave the Hawks a 92-91 lead. Salim, congratulations. You've earned your way back into my heart.

Shelden Williams (despite chewing on his jersey like a nervous 6 year old) had ice water running through his veins. In the span of 24 seconds he:
1. Blocked / stripped Carmelo Anthony going for a close bucket (Melo was fouled by Lue going up and I can't believe Dick Bavetta didn't call it, even though he was standing behind Carmelo and couldn't see what was going on, although Lue did a good job of fouling without making a visible swipe).
2. Pump faked Marcus Camby at the other end on a turn around move that was so Tim Duncan I almost crapped my pants.
3. Nailed his two free throws.
4. Failed to successfully box out Camby for a game tying tip-in that Camby totally blew.
Ignoring number 4, it was an awesome stretch.

Joe Johnson is the Atlanta Braves of the Hawks. Consistently very good, with stretches of awesomeness and averageness. I'm not convinced he's selling any tickets, but he's getting wins for this team, and THAT sells tickets.

The Good, The Bad, and The Tyronne

Nice win at Portland to start the road trip, with Tyronimo hoisting up 15 shots and making 9 of them.

Terrible loss at Seattle (playing without Jesus Allen), with Tyronimo chucking up 14 shots and making only 2 of them (including 0 for 6 from behind the arc). Not a coincidence that we lost. Seattle also out rebounded us at our own end of the court- they had 17 offensive boards to our 16. THAT is bad. Seattle also turned the ball over a ton (24 times!), took 7 less shots, and then shot the lights out.

To quote Mike Woodson:

We were awful tonight. We were terrible defensively. We had no defensive presence... Every time we got stops, they got offensive putbacks. I mean, it's a joke.

When your team shoots 38%, it's not just defense. The difference maker wasn't Seattle getting more scoring opportunities, they just made the most of it. A stronger defensive effort could have gotten us closer even with the poor shooting, but let's face some facts: Josh Smith is shooting 37% on the season, 22% from 3-point land (0 for 2 last night). That is embarrassing. He is not being the offensive contributor we need him to be right now. I mean, Shelden Williams is shooting 43% right now, and he missed his first 300 shots to begin the season! Josh 2 needs to get things going offensively, and maybe Tyronimo won't feel the need to put up nearly a baker's dozen of shots every night- the highest average of his career.