Moving on, Renaldo Balkman (sweet block on Tim Duncan during the Knicks' aborted comeback Monday night) is what I thought Josh Smith would be before I realized that Josh Smith is sui generis. Mike Woodson has the Hawks at 3-1 this year but he has yet to realize about Smith what Isiah Thomas has already demonstrated an understanding of w/r/t Balkman: He is a power forward. As long as Thomas doesn't overextend Balkman, he should provide some quality production in limited minutes.
Were Smith playing on the perimeter intermittently so as to get Marvin Williams on the floor at his best position, I'd have a mild concern rather than a complaint, but Woodson is playing Smith out of position so as to give a thus far overmatched Shelden Williams a plurality of minutes at the 4.
The best Hawks lineup right now is (Small guard)/Johnson/Childress/Smith/Pachulia. Their second best lineup has two small guards, two of Johnson/Childress/Smith, and Pachlia.
Woodson doesn't have any depth. I think he'll be best served by riding the few good players he has very heavily on the nights Atlanta has a chance to win and resting them often when their opponents put a game out of reach late in the 3rd or early in the 4th quarter.
Until Tyronn Lue stops making shots, he and Claxton should play the bulk of the minutes at the 1 as well as the leftover minutes behind Johnson and Childress. Wright should back up Pachulia and Smith. Depending on the opposition and which Hawks are in foul trouble, a combination of Stoudamire, Shelden Williams, Matt Freije, and Solomon Jones (in that order) should get what's left over until Marvin Williams returns.
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