Amid all the doom and gloom that we hear from those "experts" that we are all familiar with, Atlanta Hawks
will be the worst team in the east and the very worst team in the NBA, comes this one very weak voice:
"Watch out for the Hawks. They are set to surprise a lot of people this season."
Nope. He didn't say anything about Atlanta being really, really good this season. What he did hint at is this.
This Hawk team will not be as bad as some people believe. We have already read about training camp. We
practiced hard and fast because that's the way we plan to play this season. Bud said that. Travis said that
this years team would be filled with players of high character and players who could shoot. Bud believes in
defense and we can expect this from his team.
Those "experts" believe our record will be approximately 25-57. Maybe, just maybe, one or two extra wins.
Let's break this down. Can the Hawks win 12 games by Christmas? We should be much better by then if we
stay healthy. From there to the all star break, Hawks win 8 more games. Golly, just 5 or 6 more wins would
bring us to the end of the season and fulfill expectations.
Some Hawk fans hope for a record of 0-82, hoping it will guarantee the #1 draft pick next year. Sacrifice
everything this season for that elusive "super star" that is sure to be the top pick. Hawks, as of right now,
have three first round picks. Three chances to "get it right."
What do you think? Is this year's team already "Dead on arrival" of the upcoming season? Are we the doormat
of all the NBA, winning only a very few of those games against the other expected "also ran" NBA teams?
Personally, this old man believes that these Hawks are at least 10 games better. That means a 35-47 record.
Health will, as always, be a big key to any and every NBA team.
Your guess is - -
