What were you right and/or wrong about this year?

[JoshB914]

Seeing Harry bump that thread from last offseason got me thinking. What things were you right about as a Hawks fan before the season started? What opinions of yours were off base?

I'll start:

Things I was right about:

1) Acie Law can't play in this league and Woody was never the reason for his poor play. It's quite clear this season that the guy doesn't have what it takes (at least yet) to earn any kind of consistent PT from Woody. Acie is not a confident player, he's not a smart player, and he doesn't even appear to have the individual ability for any of that to matter anyway.

2) Woody was never the biggest issue with our struggles. The problem was personnel. One year without BK has already paid dividends. The Flip Murray signing was one of the best of the offseason for me (although I hated it at the time, which was something I was certainly off base with), and Mo has joined him to form a much improved bench. The return of Zaza also greatly helped our depth (by far our greatest weakness last season), and now I'm not terrified whenever Joe, Bibby, or Josh exit the game for some much-needed rest. There was a lot of talk about Woody being a coach who refused to play his bench last year, I say he just needed a functional bench to work with.

Things I was wrong about:

1) I never thought Marvin had the ability to become anything more than an average SF. I didn't think he had the killer instinct or focus. While he is never going to live up to the expectations of a no. 2 draft pick, he has clearly established himself as a guy that will have a long and fruitful career.

I saw him take his game to another level this year, he took on the challenge of covering the opponent's top SG/SF (and did a nice job) and even carried us offensively when we needed him. We could really use a healthy Marv this postseason, I never thought we'd miss him that much.

2) I just didn't think this team was that good coming into the year, and thought we would be fighting for the playoffs yet again rather than having the inside track for the no. 4 seed. Maybe it was the pessimistic side of me that always comes out when it comes to the Hawks. But I really didn't think this team would be as good as they have been. I think I said something like 35 wins before the season began. Sometimes being wrong can feel really good!

[HoopsGuru25]

I didn't think the Hawks would get the 4th seed. Infact I would have said they would miss the playoffs if you had told me Al,Josh,and Marvin would missed 42 combined games(and rising everyday Marvin is hurt) considering they only missed 4 games total last year and we only won 37.

[killbuckner]

Its more fun to talk about the things I was wrong about.

I was flat wrong about Flip Murray. I thought he would be an upgrade over Acie but I never thought he would have this big of an impact.

I saw that Bibby had declined 3 years in a row and figured that at best he would have a moderate uptick. He has been FAR better than I thought he would have been.

Marvin was more of a weapon from 3 than I thought he could be this season. He made 1 all of last season I believe- I didn't think he could both dramatically improve the number he took and the percentage he shot in one offseason.

I thought that if Hawks lost any starter other than Marvin for a signficant period of time they would be in serious trouble. They were able to withstand injuries far better than I expected.

I was wrong to think that the Hawks getting a top 4 seed would make people admit that Woodson might actually have done some things right.

[Skyhawk1]

Things I was right about:

1. Marvin would be much more polished on the offensive end. I was surprised with his D. as well.
2. Flip Murray would be great for us.
3. I kinda like the Mo Evans signing, even though he's very inconsistent.
4. If J. Smith is the Hawks 2nd option on the offensive end, like he was last year, we'd suck.

Things I was wrong about:

1. Horford would be a 15/10 guy. It's shocking to me how poor of a job this coaching staff has done with this youngster.
2. Acie would get more PT. I thought Flip would be JJ's back up at SG.

[LL Cool Scott]

Wrong:

1. Al Horford. He hasn't really improved at all. I expected him to have a go-to move, and he doesn't. He does all the little things that are important, but I don't see anything close to dominance coming out of him. I thought he'd develop into a 20-10 guy by next year and start making all star teams. That's not happening. He lacks a fluidity/explosiveness that's hard to put your finger on. Love the kid, but he's not ever going to dominate like I hoped.

2. Josh Smith. Hasn't improved either. If anything he's regressed.

3. Josh Childress. I thought we'd miss him a lot more than we do.

4. Our success. I thought we'd get about 40 or so wins and 7th or 8th seed.

[lunarblues]

i for one thought that they could make it as the fouth seed, (i thought we were on par with washington and better than miami, but to me the best improvement over the year had to be with Woodson, i don't think that we have forgotten when he forgot that josh smith was on the bench for an entire quarter. he's come a long way since then. i wouldn't bash BK either for the improvement of the team. he put alot of the pieces together that have us as one of the up-and-coming teams in the NBA. but sund deserves alot of credit for getting murray (the second-best free agent aquisition of that offseason behind mo williams.)

so for me:

positives of the season:

1)flip murray pulling a chancey billups and finding a home in Atlanta

2)woodson moving higher in the chain of good NBA coaches

3)marvin williams finally showing signs of being more than a role player

4)zaza pachulia getting his head together and being the banger we need.

5)The city of Atlanta starting to believe in the hawks

negatives for the season:

1)josh smith not developing the jumper and crumbling at the free throw line

2)the lack of dvelopment in acie law (50/50 blame to law and woody)

3)joe johnson still going into a 2 month hibernation in january

4)al horford not finding his niche in the offense

5)the "C" performances on National TV that could bolster the team's name.

[conleyorbust]

From our preseason "predictions" thread:

If there is not significant injury, pencil us in for 46 wins. If we fall back to the pack with regards to injuries, I like us for 41 wins. If we have a catosrophic injury that knocks out Joe or Josh for 20ish games or takes another starter/Mo out for 35ish games, put us at 36 wins.

Again, don't look at last season as a 37 win season and say "we didn't do anything to get better". 37 wins only has Bibby in their for 2 months without giving him a chance to work himself in.

Right: Al obviously isn't the next Karl Malone. Chil leaving wouldn't hurt us and if he was replaced by a SG/SF who wasn't scared of shooting, we'd be better. Zaza turning back into Zaza would help our apparent lack of depth. We were better than a 37 win team last season because of the Bibby trade and therefore trying to extrapolate from there was fruitless. Acie wouldn't be ready to start by the trade deadline. We'd be more injured than last season. The east didn't get super tough (eg. teams like the Bucks/Bulls would still suck).

Wrong: Josh would turn the corner as a rebounder and get up to +9 a game. Acie would be a contributor. Randolph would be a big body that we could throw at opponents for a few a night. Woody would let us run more pick and rolls with Bibby and Josh/Al. Joe wouldn't have another long slump.

[evildallas]

I'd have to go back and research what I predicted to be accurate and I don't really feel like doing that right now.

I can tell you what I think I was right and wrong about:

Right:
1) Mike Bibby - I expected a big contract year effect and that's what I've seen.
2) Josh Childress - addition by removal. Didn't like the way he was used or his skill set.
3) Randolph Morris - is about as raw and useless as I expected.

Wrong:
1) Flip Murray - thought he'd provide some scoring, but completely underestimated how well he'd perform.
2) Josh Smith - I expected more of an effort to prove he was worth the money.
3) Al Horford - I expected more performance, now realize he needs.
4) Woodson - while I still hate the systems he run, he's proven to me he wasn't the biggest anchor around the neck of this team.

There were other things that I didn't even try to predict.
I'm still undecided about Marvin because of his health.
I think Acie has shown that he's too far away (and may never get there) to be a building block.
Solomon Jones hasn't shown enough to merit a contract.
Mario needs more minutes.
Maurice Evans has done okay in my eyes, but not great by any measure.
Zaza has played a lot better this year by focusing on what he can actually do.

[johnny878]

Right-Mike Bibby would suck just as bad as he did in the playoffs against good teams

Wrong- about Flip

[Harry10]

Right:
-Hawks making the playoffs
-Hawks getting home court advantage in the first round
-Flip is good
-Flip will help the Hawks get to the next level
-Michael Turner getting over 1500 rushing yards
-Falcons will make the playoffs
-Ryan being a solid QB, having a similar season to Ben Roethlisberger
-Falcons will have an elite defence with Smith, Abraham, and Grady
-Jennings sucks

Wrong:
-Horford will average 15/12
-Horford will be in the top five in rebounding
-Marvin will average 18ppg
-Evans is a good defender
-Acie will turn into a very good 3pt shooter, just like he was in Texas
-Chris Houston will break out as a top five corner
-Falcons will win the NFC South

Pending:
-Flip will take Bibby's starting spot

in all fairness, Bibby has had alot of bad games lately, but he has been better this season than i thought

[tbhawksfan]

Right that we should have looked to move bibby before the deadline. Making the fourth spot is very nice and Bibby has helped.

The only thing he brings to the table is his shot; when he's on....which is VERY inconsistant.

A move of Bibby and maybe our first might have brought the PG of the present and future.

Even at the cost of the fourth slot this season; I say it would have been a very good move.

Right about Horford and Smoove being good enough to hold down the PF/C starting positions together in the NBA and that they needed a big to help on DEF. Although if the Clips would bite on a Smoove/#19 for Kaman/#3, I'm all over it.

Right about Woodson. He brings some positives............BUT, player development, system development and over-all coaching IQ are not his strengths.

Right about record; I predicted 47 wins. Looks about right.

Flip has been better than I thought.

[D21]

I thought this team would be good, mainly because of a almost .50 record with Bibby last year (the 37-45 was a biased record), thinking that Murray and Evans would be able to balance the loss of Childress, added with the fact that Bibby would be playing for a contract.

I thought the team would be between 45 and 50 W, but... only without lots of injuries.

I'd not think that they would be on the run for that kind of record with the injuries and flu they got.
I'd not think that Murray would bring this positive impact.