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Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's

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Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#1 » by Jamaaliver » Thu Oct 8, 2015 9:44 pm

From a nice write-up over at SI. They assess every team's chances of repping the EC in the NBA Finals:

Atlanta’s chances are fairly easily dismissed. The Hawks were outclassed in last season’s Eastern Conference finals by a Cavaliers squad that essentially was missing both Love and Irving. Due to aging and injuries on the rest of the roster, only Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder are likely to play better than last season...

What chance would the Hawks have against Cleveland at full strength?

The Hawks couldn’t stop Cleveland in the playoffs. Splitter will help a bit, but he won’t be closing games. The Hawks had no answer offensively for Cleveland’s switching of the pick-and-roll, which does not figure to change this year unless Teague takes another leap. There’s also little reason to believe a defense which couldn’t stop James’s simple postup isos a year ago will be much better this time around.

Unlike the Bulls or Heat, we likely saw the best of the Hawks from both a team and individual standpoint a year ago. The upside just isn’t there with this team.

Cavaliers threat level: 2 out of 10.


SI gives us the least chance of all EC contenders of beating the Cavs in the playoffs next spring.

Thoughts?
Predictions?
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#2 » by Jamaaliver » Thu Oct 8, 2015 9:47 pm

I am as skeptical of anyone every season of our chances at breaking through to the next level...but damn.

That's a shameful amount of disrespect and disbelief.

Is their assessment spot on?

Way off?

Too early too tell?

:nonono:
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#3 » by ATL Boy » Fri Oct 9, 2015 12:13 am

A 2? That's absolutely disrespectful. I think we'll have the chance in the ECF this season. Chicago will fall off after losing Thibedau (people are under rating that loss) and Miami is getting overrated. I don't trust Wade's health, or Whiteside's hype.


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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#4 » by PandaKidd » Fri Oct 9, 2015 2:50 pm

I wouldnt say 2/10, more like .............. 5/10. I give them a 50/50 shot.

I dont believe in the Bulls right now with the way Rose repeatedly gets injured and the rift between him and Butler. Im not so sure Rose is interested in playing anymore, not as bad as Bynum toward the end, but hes on his way.

Their starting 5 is about the same, with the depth of SPlitter added and youth in THJ and most likely im assuming Holiday/Patterson. CLE got deep as well, they will have Varejao back, Love , TT once he is done holding out.

I think the Hawks have the BEST chance at beating CLE, but I still think CLE is clearly a tier above us. I figure we will be battling it out with the Wizards/Bulls/Raptors
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#5 » by jayu70 » Fri Oct 9, 2015 4:36 pm

I don't know what our chances are but it's definitely not worse than Miami or Chicago.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#6 » by PandaKidd » Fri Oct 9, 2015 4:40 pm

I dont know if i agree with that.

Miami has playmakers but not a ton of depth. They also have injury history with Wade. But, a fully healthy Miami I believe would be formidable.

Whiteside
Bosh
Dragic
Wade
Deng

If Justice Winslow pans out.......thats a scary TALENTED team. They also have Stat who is a capable 10-12 min a game guy.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#7 » by PandaKidd » Fri Oct 9, 2015 4:41 pm

Chicago has the talent too, and with a new coach maybe puts it all together.

Butler
Pau
Noah
Rose
Taj Gibson
Snell

They have depth and talent too. They have question marks with Roses game play nad health as well doe.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#8 » by jayu70 » Fri Oct 9, 2015 4:46 pm

PandaKidd wrote:I dont know if i agree with that.

Miami has playmakers but not a ton of depth. They also have injury history with Wade. But, a fully healthy that's funny Miami I believe would be formidable.

Whiteside
Bosh
Dragic
Wade
Deng

If Justice Winslow pans out.......thats a scary TALENTED team. They also have Stat who is a capable 10-12 min a game guy.


Whiteside - season hasn't started and he's already injured (he was originally day to day, now he is wekk to week)
Bosh - Bosh will Bosh
Dragic - good piece.
Wade - don't trust his knees
Deng - he will fall on that wrist that he's refused surgery on since his Bulls days and miss tons of game
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#9 » by Jamaaliver » Fri Oct 9, 2015 5:58 pm

PandaKidd wrote:I dont know if i agree with that.

Miami has playmakers but not a ton of depth. They also have injury history with Wade. But, a fully healthy Miami I believe would be formidable.

If Justice Winslow pans out.......that's a scary TALENTED team. They also have Stat who is a capable 10-12 min a game guy.


Agreed. And most importantly, they have one of the greatest basketball minds alive scheming behind the scenes. If something isn't working mid-season, Riles will not hesitate to make adjustments.



PandaKidd wrote:Chicago has the talent too, and with a new coach maybe puts it all together.

They have depth and talent too. They have question marks with Roses game play and health as well doe.


Quiet as it's kept, CHI might have the most talented roster in the EAST.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hoiberg's improved offense/spacing leads to a GSW type of improvement from the Bulls.

If Joakim is back to his usual self, they could be the #1 seed in the entire league...
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#10 » by PandaKidd » Fri Oct 9, 2015 6:20 pm

jayu70 wrote:
PandaKidd wrote:I dont know if i agree with that.

Miami has playmakers but not a ton of depth. They also have injury history with Wade. But, a fully healthy that's funny Miami I believe would be formidable.

Whiteside
Bosh
Dragic
Wade
Deng

If Justice Winslow pans out.......thats a scary TALENTED team. They also have Stat who is a capable 10-12 min a game guy.


Whiteside - season hasn't started and he's already injured (he was originally day to day, now he is wekk to week)
Bosh - Bosh will Bosh
Dragic - good piece.
Wade - don't trust his knees
Deng - he will fall on that wrist that he's refused surgery on since his Bulls days and miss tons of game


Deng was an all star
Bosh is an all star
Wade is a Finals MVP and was an All Star (and still can be )
Dragic COULD be an all star

They have a TON of talent on that team. I would NOT sleep on them, injuries or not.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#11 » by PandaKidd » Fri Oct 9, 2015 6:20 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:
PandaKidd wrote:I dont know if i agree with that.

Miami has playmakers but not a ton of depth. They also have injury history with Wade. But, a fully healthy Miami I believe would be formidable.

If Justice Winslow pans out.......that's a scary TALENTED team. They also have Stat who is a capable 10-12 min a game guy.


Agreed. And most importantly, they have one of the greatest basketball minds alive scheming behind the scenes. If something isn't working mid-season, Riles will not hesitate to make adjustments.



PandaKidd wrote:Chicago has the talent too, and with a new coach maybe puts it all together.

They have depth and talent too. They have question marks with Roses game play and health as well doe.


Quiet as it's kept, CHI might have the most talented roster in the EAST.

I wouldn't be surprised if Hoiberg's improved offense/spacing leads to a GSW type of improvement from the Bulls.

If Joakim is back to his usual self, they could be the #1 seed in the entire league...

I look at CHI like OKC, new coaching, new philosophy, new blood, could be just what the Dr. Ordered.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#12 » by td00 » Fri Oct 9, 2015 10:31 pm

I like our chances to go back to the ECF. Cleveland is the team to beat.

Chicago may be better on offense, but not on defense. Suspect 3 point shooters also.

CLE/ATL/TOR/MIL/WAS/CHI/BOS/MIA

I think we start out better than 5-5 also.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#13 » by Worm122 » Sat Oct 10, 2015 3:07 pm

I think they have good chance, Walter Tavares and Splitter will play well, if the Hawks made a trade with the Wolves and get Kevin Martin they will have another solid scorer and a nice bench.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#14 » by jayu70 » Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:19 pm

Worm122 wrote:I think they have good chance, Walter Tavares and Splitter will play well, if the Hawks made a trade with the Wolves and get Kevin Martin they will have another solid scorer and a nice bench.

Who are we to trade for his $7 mil? We would have to at least trade 2-3 players to match salaries (which depletes the depth) plus Minny will want some kind of a 1st round draft pick and that's definitely a NO. He also plays no defense.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#15 » by Jamaaliver » Mon Oct 12, 2015 5:53 pm

Worm122 wrote:I think they have good chance, Walter Tavares and Splitter will play well, if the Hawks made a trade with the Wolves and get Kevin Martin they will have another solid scorer and a nice bench.


I actually really like this trade. Mack and Mike Scott works for number purposes. Neither of their contracts is guaranteed beyond this year.

I can't imagine Minny would require a 1st rounder to get rid of a backup SG who plays no defense. This would be purely a salary dump for them. Same way we got Tiago. Same way we got Korver.

Levine is the future at SG for that team. For better or worse.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#16 » by Jamaaliver » Tue Apr 12, 2016 2:55 pm

Jamaaliver wrote:
Atlanta’s chances are fairly easily dismissed. The Hawks were outclassed in last season’s Eastern Conference finals by a Cavaliers squad that essentially was missing both Love and Irving.

What chance would the Hawks have against Cleveland at full strength?

The Hawks couldn’t stop Cleveland in the playoffs. Unlike the Bulls or Heat, we likely saw the best of the Hawks from both a team and individual standpoint a year ago. The upside just isn’t there with this team.

Cavaliers threat level: 2 out of 10.


Reviewing the reality of our regular season against the predictions coming into the year...this one, sadly, seems pretty accurate.


We just haven't been able to put much of a dent into that Cavs squad. Which jibes pretty well with how we've faired against LeBron throughout his career. Cavs swept us this regular season. Cavs swept us last post season. LBJ is 8-0 against Hawks in the postseason.

Anyone think we have more or less of a chance to upset the Cavs than a few months ago?
If we lose to CLE in the 2nd round, but put up a fight...is the season a success?
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#17 » by ATL Boy » Tue Apr 12, 2016 3:04 pm

If we can put up a fight in the conference finals it'll be a success. Losing in the second round will be a failure.


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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#18 » by PandaKidd » Tue Apr 12, 2016 6:16 pm

This team is nowhere near the Cavaliers, they may get 1 game but not 4 in a week.

Sorry, they need TALENT, they just dont have a lot of it.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#19 » by ofm05 » Wed Apr 13, 2016 3:43 pm

I never understood why ATL plays Lebron the way they do.

Why not just allow him to go off? Work on stopping their shooters. If Lebron beats us with 3's just tip your hat.

Just play him straight up, no double teams. Like what we did to Dwight in his Prime.
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Re: Atlanta's Chances at Unseating the CLE LeBron's 

Post#20 » by Jamaaliver » Wed Apr 13, 2016 4:43 pm

ofm05 wrote:I never understood why ATL plays Lebron the way they do.

Why not just allow him to go off? Work on stopping their shooters. If Lebron beats us with 3's just tip your hat.

Just play him straight up, no double teams. Like what we did to Dwight in his Prime.



This is actually a pretty solid strategy. It likely wouldn't work for an entire series as they'd make adjustments between games...but to perhaps steal a game on the road in the playoffs. I think this could be effective.

The wild-card in this scenario is Kyrie Irving. If he's guarded one-on-one by Teague and starts penetrating at will against him, KI could easily drop 30 against us.

We saw just last week how effective they are when only LeBron and Kyrie are scoring.

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