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Where they sit after summer

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HMFFL
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Where they sit after summer 

Post#1 » by HMFFL » Tue Aug 18, 2009 3:27 pm

#12

Pace: 88.4 (24), Off: 110.9 (11), Def: 109.1 (13)
The additions of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith give the Hawks added depth, but they still lack leadership and cohesion. With other teams in the East making bolder moves, Atlanta's four-year run of winning more games than the year before is probably over. Link
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evildallas
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Re: Where they sit after summer 

Post#2 » by evildallas » Tue Aug 18, 2009 4:26 pm

Last year we were 2-10 against the top 3 in the East. Hard to lose much ground there. They predict a big gain from Washington, which is likely if healthy. That's a big if, but one you make at this time of year. Toronto is the other team they see making a big jump. I don't know if I agree because of their defensive deficiencies. Since we swept Washington 4-0 last year and went 3-1 against Toronto, I can see how they can conclude that we'd not win 47 next year. I don't agree, but I can see their logic.

Here's my problem with the assessment, it lauds other team's bold moves. Bold moves are exciting going into the season, but they don't guarantee success. The Cavs acquiring Shaq is bold and changes the team, but will it work on the court? Acquiring Rasheed Wallace was a big move by Boston, but which Rasheed shows up? Kevin Garnett's health is still probably a bigger deciding factor in the Celtics success. Vince Carter was a big move by Orlando, but how will that team gel on the court? Will Howard get more or less offensive touches with Carter on the team? Toronto changed a lot of pieces, but they really needed to after their last 2 bold moves fizzled (acquiring Jermaine O'Neal and then giving up on O'Neal and trying Shawn Marion). Detroit probably counts as big moves by signing Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, but no one seems impressed with the moves as they don't even look great on paper. Maybe they'll look better on the court.

The rest of the East didn't make bold moves in a win now direction:
Chicago - getting a lot of credit for another year of experience, Deng returning from injury and having Miller and Salmons for the whole season. Their bold off-season was to watch Ben Gordon leave.
Washington - Did acquire Mike Miller and Randy Foye, but that isn't any bolder than our moves. Health is always the main is with these Wizards.
Miami - Q. Rich acquired for Mark Blount. Not bold.
Philadelphia - Watched Andre Miller leave.
Charlotte - Traded away Okafor for a less healthy big.
Indiana - Lots of small signings. Nothing bold.
Milwaukee - Salary dumps.
New Jersey - Trades away Vince Carter. Smart move, but not good for short term.
New York - Saving salary for a rainy day.
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Re: Where they sit after summer 

Post#3 » by tbhawksfan » Tue Aug 18, 2009 6:04 pm

You could make an easy argument to move the Hawks up to the seventh or eighth position. I think Were on a level with Portland and they have to break in a new, old PG. WASH is too thin in the front-court and their back-court probably won't last.
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Re: Where they sit after summer 

Post#4 » by johnny878 » Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:46 pm

i dont understand why everyone keeps acting like its a foregone conclusion that the hawks will win less games this year. They had some injury problems last year and ended up with 47 wins. And now they are healthy and have upgraded their roster.

and on top of that, the bottom of the east has gotten worse for the most part. so that should really cancel out the improvemetn in the wiz and raptors. member the nets took like out of 4 against the hawks last year
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Re: Where they sit after summer 

Post#5 » by CViggity » Wed Aug 19, 2009 12:55 am

We're not on a level with Portland. They are arguably the second best team in the west, where we would be 6-8
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Re: Where they sit after summer 

Post#6 » by Hawk4Playoffs » Wed Aug 19, 2009 1:28 am

I fail to see how Portland is better than the Spurs or the Lakers... Portland is probably the same level as the Mavericks and Nuggets....

I think it is fair to say that Atlanta will be at the 4th spot in the East... behind Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando. The only 2 teams that may give us a run for the 4th spot are Toronto or Detroit... I don't think that will happen...

Atlanta should win atleast 50 games this year... there is no reason why we shouldn't win 50 games.
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Re: Where they sit after summer 

Post#7 » by conleyorbust » Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:46 pm

Well, last season quite a few people said the exact same thing, that we hadn't made enough moves to "keep up" with the teams that would be competing for that 8th seed with us. This summer, we did actually make substantive depth upgrades and swapped out Acie for a guy who at worst, won't be any more useless.

Also, the benefit of starting off with such a young group is that they can keep improving until they are in that 26/27 age range.

Obviously its not a foregone conclusion that we do better than last season but I'd be more surprised if we did worse... Looking at it, our backup unit of Teague/Craw/Mo/Joe/Zaza would be competitive with the 26 and 30 win teams of a couple of years ago. We sneakily became one of the deepest teams in the league.

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