PLAYOFF BOUND ATLANTA HAWKS !

[graymule]

We all know what "they" say, but what say you?

Do we all swallow the pill that "they" are passing out or do we really believe in Bud, his system and our Hawks?
"They" point out all the players that Atlanta has lost, but "they" seldom mention how easily that these great
players were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

One thing Atlanta has going for their Hawks: Young, athletic players. A lot younger and more athletic than
last season's team. One big thing that they will have to learn, and they will: Play NBA ball without all those
rookie personal foul calls. This takes time.

Dennis the Menace is back at PG and should be better than ever. His understudy, Quinn Cook, is the one who
continually "tore up the Hawks" in summer league. He may not be any good, but who knows? Our unknown factor.

High priced and high motor Blazemore will be back at SG. His backup was recovering from his brother being shot
just as the season began, his first in the NBA. That's all behind him now and he will build on his rookie experience.

Prince, Brembry and Babbitt should handle the SF position effectively. Millsap left a hole at PF for Atlanta. The
Hawks will have Ilvasova and Muscala to mentor our rookie John Collins as we recover from this loss.

Finally, at center, Hawks lost D8, who proved that he's not as great as he once was. Hawks have all new centers
this upcomimg season and I believe they will prove out to be better than what we had last season. Dedmon, the
projected starter, will prove to be very good, I believe and his replacement, Plumblee, has never had a coach
like our Bud. I expect this to make a big difference in his game.

I have no hopes of this being a championship team. They are not that good. However, I personally have a hard
time believing that this is a team with a ceiling of the low 20's in victories this upcoming season. "Tank" for that
elusive super star that will carry us to the promised land? Does any one remember, two or three years ago, when
there were several top players who were "guaranteed" to carry their team to the championship?

Enough, already, from the old man. What do you really think of this year's team? Please share your thoughts.

GO ATL HAWKS !!

[graymule]

Well, all right. Someone please explain to the old man why he is so far off base here. I assume that's the case because
no one bothered to answer. Let's guess at their reasons.

!- Dennis the Menance will not be as good at PG as he was last year because he will have no help.

2- Blazemore can't possibly be any good at the 2guard.

3- Prince, Babbit and Bremby can't possible be as good as last season's SF.
(By the way, anyone even remember who our SF was, were last season?)

4- We are doomed. Millsap is gone and no one can take his place. Expecting anything from our rookie is a joke.

5- D8 was our all, our everything. He was, as Aly would say, the greatest. Without him, there will be no
rebounds and no put backs and, remember, he could hit almost 50% of his free throws. He can't be replaced!

There. Does that cover why the 2017-18 version of the Hawks are doomed?

Enjoy our 20 + victories this season. Remember, every win over 20 is considered a bonus!!

[jayu70]

:D

We all know what "they" say, but what say you?

Do we all swallow the pill that "they" are passing out or do we really believe in Bud, his system and our Hawks?
"They" point out all the players that Atlanta has lost, but "they" seldom mention how easily that these great
players were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

One thing Atlanta has going for their Hawks: Young, athletic players. A lot younger and more athletic than
last season's team. One big thing that they will have to learn, and they will: Play NBA ball without all those
rookie personal foul calls. This takes time.

Dennis the Menace is back at PG and should be better than ever. His understudy, Quinn Cook, is the one who
continually "tore up the Hawks" in summer league. He may not be any good, but who knows? Our unknown factor.

High priced and high motor Blazemore will be back at SG. His backup was recovering from his brother being shot
just as the season began, his first in the NBA. That's all behind him now and he will build on his rookie experience.

Prince, Brembry and Babbitt should handle the SF position effectively. Millsap left a hole at PF for Atlanta. The
Hawks will have Ilvasova and Muscala to mentor our rookie John Collins as we recover from this loss.

Finally, at center, Hawks lost D8, who proved that he's not as great as he once was. Hawks have all new centers
this upcomimg season and I believe they will prove out to be better than what we had last season. Dedmon, the
projected starter, will prove to be very good, I believe and his replacement, Plumblee, has never had a coach
like our Bud. I expect this to make a big difference in his game.

I have no hopes of this being a championship team. They are not that good. However, I personally have a hard
time believing that this is a team with a ceiling of the low 20's in victories this upcoming season. "Tank" for that
elusive super star that will carry us to the promised land? Does any one remember, two or three years ago, when
there were several top players who were "guaranteed" to carry their team to the championship?

Enough, already, from the old man. What do you really think of this year's team? Please share your thoughts.

GO ATL HAWKS !!

I haven't set any expectations for the team this year in terms of playoffs. My gut feeling is the team won't be as bad as the pundits think we'll be. In the horrible East (even though most teams are considered to have more talent than the Hawks), I would not be surprised if the Hawks make the playoffs though. I think the defense will carry us in most games which will lead to easy buckets for our young runners. Will we score enough to win is the bigger question.

Burning questions:
1. Will Dennis take the next step - we know he can score, but can he do it efficiently but can he balance his affinity to score to running the team and getting the rest of his teammates involved.
2. Will Bazemore have a bounce back year after the pressure of the big deal got to him? 13% from 3 in November - ppp-eeewwww! Will he try to be the 'man' as the highest paid player or just play his role? Will he start or come off the bench?
3. Will Prince continue to improve with more responsibility now on his shoulders, last year it was just fit in, now he is expected to do more. I wasn't impressed with his SL play.
4. Will Bembry be able to shoot from range to earn more playing time and keep defenses from keying in on Dennis
5. Will Delaney be better having put his brothers incident behind him and in his 2nd NBA season
6. Will John Collins show enough on defense in camp and practice for Bud to play him consistent minutes? His offense I'm not worried about.
7. The rest - will they do more good things than bad thing?

[macd-gm]

I see a team that doesn't want to be in the playoffs this year. For good reason this will be a year where we throw guys out there to take their lumps. So to answer your question GM, this won't be a playoff team because they don't want to be and they will ensure that by playing the young guys a lot later in the season.

Why does that mean we won't be a playoff team? Well just look around the league. Malcolm Brogdon was rookie of the year and the bucks couldn't even get out of the first round despite having Giannis and some quality vet talent. I can't think of a single team that made the playoffs where rookies and sophmore's made up the majority of the playing rotation. It just doesn't happen.

That said, if we wanted to be decent i think we could be. In fact, if we had brought back Sap to go along with Belli, Dedmon, Ersan, Collins, Babbit then we would have been a better team than last year easily. Which would probably be 4th in the conference. Even without Sap we could be a playoff team by playing our vet signees a lot. But we won't

[Spud2nique]

I don't think we are a playoff squad, but at the same time I don't think many teams will look forward to facing us. We will spread the floor, run like hell and shoot a lot of 3's...could be the funnest Hawks squad since 2012-13.

[Jamaaliver]

Well, all right. Someone please explain to the old man why he is so far off base here. I assume that's the case because no one bothered to answer.

This squad is lacking in offensive talent, but is put together better than last year's squad. Better spacing, more athleticism and clearly defined roles.

With the East top heavy, I could see Budenholzer coaching this squad up to 30+ wins and sneaking into the playoffs -- if that was the goal.

By all accounts, it isn't. Schlenk has stated publicy that we're investing in our future. Focused on developing youth and attaining assets.

Our GM doesn't appear to be interested in making next year's postseason.

That, more than anything, is the most likely reason we'll be in the lottery next summer.

Spoiler:

Paul Millsap claims the Hawks didn’t even offer him a new contract. If he’s telling the truth, then it’s a signal that Atlanta isn’t interested in just sneaking into the playoffs. My guess is the Hawks will be embracing player development and tanking the 2017–18 season, which is the right choice.

“We want to be flexible,” Schlenk said. “We want to have guys, assets that we can move when the time comes that we can strike and maintain that flexibility.”

The Ringer