Who should start at PG for the Hawks?
Aug 13th, 2007 by Inside Hoops
At the point guard position, Atlanta has Speedy Claxton, Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue and rookie Acie Law. It’s possible Claxton gets the nod originally, with Lue as the primary backup, and Law competing with Johnson for the leftovers. But the team hopes that Law quickly rises above the pack, grabs hold of the starting position and becomes a quality point guard for years to come.
As for other starters, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith are locks. Marvin Williams and rookie Al Horford are the next most talented guys, and it’s possible Williams starts at power forward with Horford playing undersized center. Zaza Pachulia and Lorenzen Wright are certainly potential starters at center. Shelden Williams seems destined to come off the bench.
PG: Tyronn Lue, Acie Law
SG: Joe Johnson, Josh Childress
SF: Josh Smith, Marivn Williams
PF: Shelden Williams, Al Horford
C: Zaza Pachulia, Lorenzen Wright
11: Speedy Claxton
12:Solomon Jones
Thats how it should be opening night and from then on just see how these go and adjust.
PG: Law, Claxton, A. Johnson
SG: Johnson, Childress
SF: Smith, Childress
PF: M. Williams, S. Williams
C: Horford, Williams, Wright
Keep a short rotation.
I’d probably start with this, and then make the adjustments, such as moving Acie Law to his natural PG position, moving J Smoove back to SF and starting Horford if Marvin struggles, or if Shelmut struggles switch him with Zaza, or try Horford in the middle. I’m favouring Speedy to start since he was injured most of last year, and they need to get his value up if they want to move him anyhow.
PG: Speedy Claxton, Tyronn Lue,
SG: Joe Johnson, Acie Law
SF: Marvin Williams, Josh Childress
PF: Josh Smith, Al Horford
C: Shelden Williams, Zaza Pachulia,
11: Lorenzen Wright
12:Solomon Jones
this is the way i would do it…
pg: Joe Johnson/ acie law/ claxton/lue
sg: Josh Smith/ childress/ stoudemire
sf: Marvin Williams/ childress
pf: Al Horford/ shelden
c: Zaza Pachulia/ wright
i know they wont do this but it would cause some match up problems wouldnt it?
Anthony Johnson should start.
Speedy Claxton was just horrible last year. If he wasn’t, Johnson wouldn’t have been acquired.
After Johnson, Law should get some minutes. If he is good, then he should get 20-28 minutes per game. If not, then reduce Law’s minutes to 10-12 per game.
After that, Ty Lue should get minutes.
Taylor is obviously someone who is not familiar with the Hawks. Unless he gets injured prior to the start of the season, Speedy Claxton will be the starting PG. Fact of the matter, the Hawks made a major investment in him last year and his injury prevented them from realizing any return on it. Supposedly, he will be heathier than ever and ready to compete. I expect Law to be the first PG off the bench since he is the future.
Also, Marvin Williams is the starting 3 and Josh Smith is the starting 4. Why do people keep wanting to put Josh at the 3 is besides me. His outside shot is not consistent enough yet to play the 3. Also, since he have been working out with Hakeem “The Dream” this summer, he obviously is looking to improve his post moves.
Zaza will probably start the season at 5 and Sheldon will have a shot to be his backup. This would allow Al Horford to backup the 4 and possibly 5.
Though the Hawks have much better depth than years past, they are still a young team. The East has improved a great deal since the end of last season. Using the formula of playing .500 on the road and winning 2 out of every 3 at home will be the formula the Hawks will need to make the playoffs. It will be tough though…
claxton he’s more experienced and can handle the ball.
PG: Acie Law, Tyronn Lue
SG: Joe Johnson, Josh Childress
SF: Josh Smith, Marvin Williams
PF: Al Horford, Shelden Williams
C: Zaza Pachulia, Lorenzen Wright
11: Speedy Claxton
12: Solomon Jones
I say start Law out as the starter, nothing can help a rookie player more than having sky high confidence, you know a player like Law isn’t going to feel pressure as he showed in college hitting so many clutch shots. You could slide Horford over to center and move in Williams, then bring in both Pachulia and Wright as the 3rd and 4th options down low, but I see having Horford and Williams on the court at the same time they would get torn up down low for a few reasons – one being they would be undersized, and two theyd both be very young and inexpierenced.
PG: Acie Law, Anthony Johnson
SG: Joe Johnson, Josh Childress
SF: Josh Smith, Marvin Williams
PF: Al Horford, Shelden Williams
C: Zaza Pachulia, Lorenzen Wright
I have given up on Speedy. I know he had the hand injury last year but still, ATL needs a quality point guard and he was not the right man to bring in after averaging only 3-4 assists in his final season at the Hornets. His 14 points a night were fantastic but the Hawks need a true point guard.
agreed ^
Wrong. The Hawks have potential but they are not going to make the playoffs. Therefore, they need to start Horford and Law, so they get used to being a tandem for years to come.
Who really cares, they won’t make the playoffs anyway. The whole team is a bunch of bench players wishing they were elsewhere! Atlanta is the hotbed for a bunch of other stuff, baseball, football, and parties! Basketball is more exciting at GT.
It won’t matter this team will be lucky to win 30 games
Speedy/Law/Lue
JJ/Salim
Marvin/J-chill
J-Smoove/Horford/Jones
ZaZa/Sheldon/Jones
Regardless of there record if u are a true Hawks fan u should represent and talk about your team.If a sports fans only has teams that win as his teams then he is lucky but it is highly unlikely!Go Hawks!!!!!!!
pg: speedy/law
sg: johnson/childress
sf: smith/m. williams
pf: s. williams/horford
c: zaza/wright
speedy definitely should receive the nod at starting pg cause law is still an unproven talent at the nba level.. acie should be in the starting lineup only if a) speedy plays himself out of the starting line up or b) law becomes a good steady floor general like he did during the summer league.
smith at sf is needed… he needs the open space for him to attack the rim, putting him at the 4th spot doesn’t make sense, he’s not a post-type player and realgm has quoted smith saying that he’s leaner and faster in hopes that he’ll get to the foul line more often
EB, i said thats what it should be, i never said that is what its gonna be. And please dont say i am unfamiliar with the hawks because i live in atl and watch all their game, you dont have to have a good jumpshot to play SF. Sounds like you just dont know basketball.
Taylor, I like Josh but his lack of good ball handling skills along with his weak perimeter defense would hurt the Hawks if he played the 3. I get excited when he dunks the ball but at the end of the day, it’s only two points. If the players he is defending is penetrating and either scoring or getting assists, it is not helping the Hawks.