Could this year's Hawks possibly be a .500 team?

graymule · Post #1 » by **graymule** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:38 pm

We've all read the odds. Somewhere in the mid 20's seem to be the tops in wins for this year's Hawk team.
I believe Vegas has us at 27.5 wins. Question: How do we win that .5 game? I know. It has something to
do with betting odds, which I don't understand.

Back to the main topic. Those odds of 27.5 wins comes out to mean, Atlanta will win one and lose two from
beginning to end of the season. Are the Hawks this bad? Those fans who preach, "Tank! Tank!" hope that
is true. They believe that our entire future hinges on that elusive super star available in next year's draft.
He is sure to come to us if we lose enough games.

Then, there are the fans on the entire other end of the stick. I am one of those who refuse to believe that
this year's Hawks will become the door mat of the NBA. All other NBA teams will be wiping their feet on
us as they walk all over Atlanta. - :banghead:

We are told by these expert NBA thinkers that all the good players that Atlanta had on their roster last season,
with the exception of Dennis, are gone. They have been replaced by bench players only, not starters. Seem
they believe we have Dennis and a pretty good G league team, trying to compete at the NBA level.

To me, these great thinkers have insulted our coach, our GM, and all the players on our roster. Our second
year players, our rookies we drafted and signed and all the others. Bull Feathers! We ain't that bad! In fact,
this year's Hawk team will have these experts eating their words.

41 wins? My goodness! That's winning half their games and not one third that is expected. This can't be.
If Atlanta win that many they miss that great, all world draft pick that guarantees them the championship
every year in the future! They probably make the playoffs. What would this G league team do there?

Yep. This year's Hawk team will be as good or better than last year's! GASP ! You heard it here first.
(Note: This Hawk team can hit their free throws!)

:lol:

Robo_Claw · Post #2 » by **Robo_Claw** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:53 pm

They actually might be better than I was thinking we would be at this point. would not be super surprised if we were over the vegas predictions but I don't think we will be .500

Post #3 » by **Jamaaliver** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:15 pm

Sportsline/Vegas betting odds are currently putting the over/under around 31 wins.

I think that's the best case scenario for this current group.

I also think Schlenk strongly considers moving some of the veteran pieces at midseason for more assets and lets the young'ns get heavy minutes.

When/if that happens, I expect things to largely fall apart.

Official answer: if they really tried, this Hawks team would still be hard pressed to get to 40+ wins.

Also, I don't think they'll really try.

jayu70 · Post #4 » by **jayu70** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:10 pm

I think we'll play a better brand of basketball, more pleasing to my eyes anyway than last year. Will that translate to wins? Remains to be seen.

Spud2nique · Post #5 » by **Spud2nique** » Thu Oct 12, 2017 8:18 am

We are young, we play hard and we play the right way. Having said that, it takes stars, closers and veterans to win in the NBA. I have us at around 23-27 wins. Fun times ahead though watching our pups grow!

kg01 · Post #6 » by **kg01** » Thu Oct 12, 2017 12:49 pm

Spud2nique wrote:We are young, we play hard and we play the right way. Having said that, it takes stars, closers and veterans to win in the NBA. I have us at around 23-27 wins. Fun times ahead though watching our pups grow!

Good point. All things being equal, I think we'd win more games. However, as you suggest, the superstar factor is real. As a wise man (Paul Johnson) once said, talent defeats theory any day (or STTE). Our overall talent level is too low so, if we hit .500, it'll be a herculean feat.

Can we? Yeah. Will we? It'll be tough.

jayu70 · Post #7 » by **jayu70** » Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:06 pm

kg01 wrote:
Spud2nique wrote:We are young, we play hard and we play the right way. Having said that, it takes stars, closers and veterans to win in the NBA. I have us at around 23-27 wins. Fun times ahead though watching our pups grow!

Good point. All things being equal, I think we'd win more games. However, as you suggest, the superstar factor is real. As a wise man (Paul Johnson) once said, talent defeats theory any day (or STTE). Our overall talent level is too low so, if we hit .500, it'll be a herculean feat.

Can we? Yeah. Will we? It'll be tough.

I only want us at .500 if it's on the backs of the young core players. That means they are more talented than most think. If we are at .500 because of Dedmon and Illy - I'd pass.
That was hard to type because I just can't root for my Hawks team to lose. But I so want us to get a star. :banghead:

macd-gm · Post #8 » by **macd-gm** » Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:35 pm

I have to keep reminding myself that teams with middle of the road vets and young guys never really win in the NBA. What makes me wonder about how good this team is is that we won 43 games last year and honestly this team seems not that far off talent wise. IF we do win only 28 games then that basically means that Paul Millsap was responsible for 15 wins because I don't see the loss of Howard or Hardaway as that big of deal. Maybe i'm not giving them enough credit.

kg01 · Post #9 » by **kg01** » Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:56 pm

jayu70 wrote:
kg01 wrote:
Spud2nique wrote:We are young, we play hard and we play the right way. Having said that, it takes stars, closers and veterans to win in the NBA. I have us at around 23-27 wins. Fun times ahead though watching our pups grow!

Good point. All things being equal, I think we'd win more games. However, as you suggest, the superstar factor is real. As a wise man (Paul Johnson) once said, talent defeats theory any day (or STTE). Our overall talent level is too low so, if we hit .500, it'll be a herculean feat.

Can we? Yeah. Will we? It'll be tough.

I only want us at .500 if it's on the backs of the young core players. That means they are more talented than most think. If we are at .500 because of Dedmon and Illy - I'd pass.
That was hard to type because I just can't root for my Hawks team to lose. But I so want us to get a star.

Yeah, this goes without saying IMHO. No one wants a Dedmon/'Sova-led squad. That's not a treadmill team, it's a dread-mill team.

jayu70 · Post #10 » by **jayu70** » Thu Oct 12, 2017 2:16 pm

kg01 wrote:
jayu70 wrote:
kg01 wrote:
Good point. All things being equal, I think we'd win more games. However, as you suggest, the superstar factor is real. As a wise man (Paul Johnson) once said, talent defeats theory any day (or STTE). Our overall talent level is too low so, if we hit .500, it'll be a herculean feat.

Can we? Yeah. Will we? It'll be tough.

I only want us at .500 if it's on the backs of the young core players. That means they are more talented than most think. If we are at .500 because of Dedmon and Illy - I'd pass.
That was hard to type because I just can't root for my Hawks team to lose. But I so want us to get a star.

Yeah, this goes without saying IMHO. No one wants a Dedmon/'Sova-led squad. That's not a treadmill team, it's a dread-mill team.

Post #11 » by **ATL Boy** » Fri Oct 13, 2017 11:52 pm

GM, your optimism is contagious and an absolute breath of fresh air. I certainly prefer your type of thinking to the doom and gloom I see on other team's Real GM boards.

With that being said however, I think we'll be hard pressed to reach .500, mostly because I'm expecting Schlenk to move some of the contributing vets at the deadline if they're playing well. I wouldn't put anything past Coach Bud's ability to overachieve with the talent he has, on the hand. He's done it in the past.

Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

MaceCase · Post #12 » by **MaceCase** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 5:28 am

This is an easy season to root for the team. No expectations, no lamentations of what could have been or protestations of what should be. 10 years was a long time, a couple season breather could be beneficial. The team ends up .500, great! It'll be a nice feather to stick in doubters faces. The team ends up .500, misses the playoffs but wins the lotto.... I'll purposefully be one of those that makes 400 threads on the GB claiming the Hawks are the next dynasty. The team bottoms out? So what? Cap sheet is clear, picks a plenty, and maybe I watch college ball for the first time since the ACC ransacked the Big East.

HoopsMalone · Post #13 » by **HoopsMalone** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 7:13 am

No offense but your team has... no offense.

Defensively, there is some talent in that Prince/Ilyasova/Dedmon front line. But you are going to have a BRUTAL time trying to score this year

graymule · Post #14 » by **graymule** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 4:25 pm

RE: This season's draft.
Seems that there are more than one desirable player coming. We all know that, due to trades, the #1 draft
pick is "almost" guaranteed to go to King James and the Cavs. They have someone's draft pick that was given
in a trade and it is a lottery pick.

Nevertheless, Atlanta has three, count em, three draft picks in the first round. If, which ain't happening, the
Hawks win it all, they still have their three. If the Cavs win it all, they still have their lottery pick. Now, guess
who is getting their choice of picks in the draft?

It's true. We, the fans, have no expectations this season. If we go 0-82, so what. We all knew before game one
that we weren't going to win it all. Know what? This makes every victory so sweet !!

DirtybirdGA · Post #15 » by **DirtybirdGA** » Sat Oct 14, 2017 4:28 pm

None taken.

macd-gm · Post #16 » by **macd-gm** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:24 pm

HoopsMalone wrote:No offense but your team has... no offense.

Defensively, there is some talent in that Prince/Ilyasova/Dedmon front line. But you are going to have a BRUTAL time trying to score this year

From the Hawks fan perspective this is no different than any other year. Which is why we were like 0-10 when Sap didn't play last year. I think what they fixed though is added guys who can really hit the 3. Which is why we were successful in the past. So that will help negate the huge offensive vacuum of Sap leaving. So the optimist in me says: Improved play at the 5, improved 3 point shooting will mean we won't be as bad as it seems. Of course we'll tank the second half so win total won't look great but the team will be competitive.

Post #17 » by **Jamaaliver** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 11:30 am

Tweet of the day:

Read on Twitter

jayu70 · Post #18 » by **jayu70** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 12:20 pm

Or maybe the young players are just better than most people give them credit for.
It's one game though.

kg01 · Post #19 » by **kg01** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:09 pm

jayu70 wrote:Or maybe the young players are just better than most people give them credit for.
It's one game though.

That and maybe that hack-job Arnovitz doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. I'm thinking it's a little from column A and a little from column B.

Also, got some love on NBARadio from my guy Isola and even from Scalabrine. A caller called in and asked said STTE that ATL is doing a good job by refusing to overpay guys to be mediocre. Playing/developing young guys. Both hosts agreed with the approach. Called the Hawks a good organization. Will develop guys, then make the right moves when available.

Hey, good Hawk press is about as rare as an Al wHorford double-digit reboarding effort. *clap*