This topic contains 14 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by Memphis Madness 9 years, 11 months ago.
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- Posted on: Sun, 04/20/2014 - 8:17pm #54975
Land of GrantParticipantPeople are really underrating the Hawks this year, and just as a franchise in general. They have the second longest streak of making the playoffs (Spurs), at seven straight.
This year, they’ve been royally fücked by injuries. When fully healthy, they’ve been 34-14, on pace for 58 wins. That’s a one seed in the performance art piece formerly known as the Eastern Conference. With everyone healthy except Horford, they were 16-7, on pace for 57 wins. Those stats come courtesy of an awesome post by Theatlfan in a different thread, not entirely sure of validity however.
They’re very well coached by Pop disciple Mike Budenholzer, who’s made the most of some quirky players (hello Pero Antic, oh look, DeMarre Carroll) and helped them gel into a fascinating team.
Paul Millsap is a dynamic offensive player who is now a danger from every spot on the floor. He shoots 3s, attacks off the dribble, is a good passer, rebounder, finisher, post player, and mismatch.
Pero Antic’s outside shooting from the center position means that their opponents have to pull a big out to the perimeter, thus negating some rim protection against guys like Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap.
On the wing, DeMarre Carroll, the Junkyard Dog, has quietly gelled into an awesome player this year, running the floor, finishing plays, hustling, and playing great defense. 11 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 spg this year off of 47% shooting. He’s never gonna be a great shooter, although he’s made strides in that area this year, and is a limited offensive player in the half-court, but, man, he gets it done.
Jeff Teague, well inconsistent this year, is still a lightning-quick guard who can go to the rim or pull up for a J or drop in a perfect pass while locked in, and, when not locked in, can still waltz his way to the rim with ease.
And Kyle Korver is an insane shooter and not the defensive train wreck he’s believed to be.
Imagine the best-case scenario for this team going into this year.
PG – Jeff Teague
SG – Kyle Korver
SF – DeMarre Carroll
PF – Paul Millsap
C – Horford
6th – A Good Lou Williams
That’s a team with great inside and outside scoring, and defense. If Horford’d stayed healthy, and Lou Will’d have stayed good, that’s a scary team.
People just underrate the Atlanta Hawks is general. They’re one of the most stable teams in the league. With everyone healthy, they’re awesome.
Do you guys think they can beat the Pacers, or at least push them to 7?
0 - Posted on: Sun, 04/20/2014 - 9:54pm #891492
GrandmamaParticipantGoing as far to say the Hawks are "awesome" is a giant leap of faith
0 - Posted on: Sun, 04/20/2014 - 9:54pm #891382
GrandmamaParticipantGoing as far to say the Hawks are "awesome" is a giant leap of faith
0 - Posted on: Sun, 04/20/2014 - 10:21pm #891495
Rip255Sorry, but they’d be an average team with Al Horford playing. They’re a rubbish team without him.
38 wins in the East would be equivelent to probably 30 in the West. I don’t give them any credit for making the playoffs.
But you make your own luck in this life, and they did earn that #8 spot fairly and their reward is a diabolical Pacers team that is crashing faster than the Hindenburg. I actually think they might win that series.
But let me repeat: It won’t be because they are good.
0 - Posted on: Sun, 04/20/2014 - 10:21pm #891384
Rip255Sorry, but they’d be an average team with Al Horford playing. They’re a rubbish team without him.
38 wins in the East would be equivelent to probably 30 in the West. I don’t give them any credit for making the playoffs.
But you make your own luck in this life, and they did earn that #8 spot fairly and their reward is a diabolical Pacers team that is crashing faster than the Hindenburg. I actually think they might win that series.
But let me repeat: It won’t be because they are good.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 12:10am #891393
theatlfanParticipantThe injury records cited come from here: Link to Peachtree Hoops
From someone who has watched the team all year, the records do "feel" right though. Every single time the team was gaining some momentum and/or finally getting healthy another injury would hit. We just didn’t have the depth to overcome it especially after we had already lost Horford. On top of a season where seemingly every starter has been out for 10+ games, we’ve also had 3 season ending injuries – 2 at the C position. At one point, 3 of the 4 Cs we had at the beginning of the season were out with injuries and we were starting Elton Brand and didn’t have a backup for him. It got so bad that we bought out our 2nd round pick from his contract in Spain and brought him back over so we could have an extra body down low. While the injuries didn’t strike as hard in terms of quantity at the wings, the fact that we were thin there to begin with meant any time that Korver or Carroll missed a game, then we had to go with a 2 PG lineup for large parts of the game.
As I said in the other posts, this is not meant to be a "Woe is us" post; it is meant to be a "don’t discount us" post. Any of the records cited above would have won the East if extrapolated over 82 games. Sure, everyone has injuries and 58 Ws extrapolated off of being "fully" healthy doesn’t realistically mean that we’d win 58 over the course of the season. And yes, IND is a 1 seed and a legit championship contender for a reason – they can beat anyone at anytime if they can regain their mojo. But anyone who says that the game Saturday was all about IND possibly being on a sinking ship and has nothing to do with what we’re doing as a team just wasn’t paying attention. The system and talent we have to fit it means that we can stretch out a D to a breaking point and we’ve got a couple of penetrators who can take full advantage. I look forward to seeing IND’s counter moves come Tuesday – I suspect that as long as we’re fully healthy we’ll make a game all the way to the wire.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 12:10am #891503
theatlfanParticipantThe injury records cited come from here: Link to Peachtree Hoops
From someone who has watched the team all year, the records do "feel" right though. Every single time the team was gaining some momentum and/or finally getting healthy another injury would hit. We just didn’t have the depth to overcome it especially after we had already lost Horford. On top of a season where seemingly every starter has been out for 10+ games, we’ve also had 3 season ending injuries – 2 at the C position. At one point, 3 of the 4 Cs we had at the beginning of the season were out with injuries and we were starting Elton Brand and didn’t have a backup for him. It got so bad that we bought out our 2nd round pick from his contract in Spain and brought him back over so we could have an extra body down low. While the injuries didn’t strike as hard in terms of quantity at the wings, the fact that we were thin there to begin with meant any time that Korver or Carroll missed a game, then we had to go with a 2 PG lineup for large parts of the game.
As I said in the other posts, this is not meant to be a "Woe is us" post; it is meant to be a "don’t discount us" post. Any of the records cited above would have won the East if extrapolated over 82 games. Sure, everyone has injuries and 58 Ws extrapolated off of being "fully" healthy doesn’t realistically mean that we’d win 58 over the course of the season. And yes, IND is a 1 seed and a legit championship contender for a reason – they can beat anyone at anytime if they can regain their mojo. But anyone who says that the game Saturday was all about IND possibly being on a sinking ship and has nothing to do with what we’re doing as a team just wasn’t paying attention. The system and talent we have to fit it means that we can stretch out a D to a breaking point and we’ve got a couple of penetrators who can take full advantage. I look forward to seeing IND’s counter moves come Tuesday – I suspect that as long as we’re fully healthy we’ll make a game all the way to the wire.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 4:39am #891431
FastAndFuriousParticipantHawks will always compete as long as Jeff Teague plays big check his career games, anytime he plays big/aggressive Hawks can play with anybody.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 4:39am #891541
FastAndFuriousParticipantHawks will always compete as long as Jeff Teague plays big check his career games, anytime he plays big/aggressive Hawks can play with anybody.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 5:57am #891445
Memphis MadnessParticipantThe 3 "grit/grind teams" with sluggish offenses that struggle to score (Pacers, Bulls, Grizzlies) are 0-3 so far.
in the playoffs EVERYBODY plays hard and defends. You have to get baskets in the playoffs.
i think the Hawks can make this a series. They don’t lack in talent. Their guys might be underrated with some Pacers core guys being a tad overrated (PG, Hibbert, Lance, David West). They also need a top shelf point guard.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 5:57am #891555
Memphis MadnessParticipantThe 3 "grit/grind teams" with sluggish offenses that struggle to score (Pacers, Bulls, Grizzlies) are 0-3 so far.
in the playoffs EVERYBODY plays hard and defends. You have to get baskets in the playoffs.
i think the Hawks can make this a series. They don’t lack in talent. Their guys might be underrated with some Pacers core guys being a tad overrated (PG, Hibbert, Lance, David West). They also need a top shelf point guard.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 6:44am #891473
Land of GrantParticipantYeah the post was more of a don’t discount them type thing, tied into a DeMarre Carroll PSA. I like me some DeMarre Carroll.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 6:44am #891583
Land of GrantParticipantYeah the post was more of a don’t discount them type thing, tied into a DeMarre Carroll PSA. I like me some DeMarre Carroll.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 6:47am #891477
Memphis MadnessParticipantLooks like the Hawks could use an athletic, scoring small forward to help take them up a notch.
In my mock draft that I am currently working on I have them taking DeAndre Daniels. I like Daniels’ length, athleticism, and shooting. Use him as a catch-and-shoot guy from 3, a quick slasher, or as a stretch four in small ball lineups. That would add a great new dynamic to the Hawks.
They should also look at Cleanthony Early as a more polished, yet less athletic DeAndre Daniels. Either guy would be a great fit, even at 15. With one of those two, they would fill out their wing rotation with Kyle Korver being the shooter, and DeMarre Caroll being the energy, glue guy.
Other wing players for them to consider would be James Young (more of a 2 guard), Zach Lavine, and Doug McDermott if he is there.
If they don’t want to go with Daniels or Early at 15 (and if those other wings are off the board), they should try to trade down with the Bulls. Send the Bulls the 15th pick, and get the Bulls picks at 19 (to get Daniels or Early) and the 49th pick to go along with their own second round pick at 45, plus some extra cash.
0 - Posted on: Mon, 04/21/2014 - 6:47am #891587
Memphis MadnessParticipantLooks like the Hawks could use an athletic, scoring small forward to help take them up a notch.
In my mock draft that I am currently working on I have them taking DeAndre Daniels. I like Daniels’ length, athleticism, and shooting. Use him as a catch-and-shoot guy from 3, a quick slasher, or as a stretch four in small ball lineups. That would add a great new dynamic to the Hawks.
They should also look at Cleanthony Early as a more polished, yet less athletic DeAndre Daniels. Either guy would be a great fit, even at 15. With one of those two, they would fill out their wing rotation with Kyle Korver being the shooter, and DeMarre Caroll being the energy, glue guy.
Other wing players for them to consider would be James Young (more of a 2 guard), Zach Lavine, and Doug McDermott if he is there.
If they don’t want to go with Daniels or Early at 15 (and if those other wings are off the board), they should try to trade down with the Bulls. Send the Bulls the 15th pick, and get the Bulls picks at 19 (to get Daniels or Early) and the 49th pick to go along with their own second round pick at 45, plus some extra cash.
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