atlhawks1

And the crown jewel, we are seeing how Horford can DOMINATE at the 4 because Muscala is allowing him to move over there. Man, we are deep.

I have to admit, i was wrong about Moose. I was wrong thinking the Hawks needed to trade Horford or sign another big before the trade deadline. I was wrong for suggesting the Hawks try and get Plumlee from the Nets. Funny how getting MINUTES has shown that this kid can play. Im liking what i see out of him. On offense, he can score from outside, has a inside game, and can pass the ball. He has a athletism i didnt know he had either, which was one reason i like Plumlee. On defense, he is quick enough to rotate off his man to give help. Mostly, im loving how he is enabling Horford to slide over to the 4 while Millsap is out. The Hawks have a versatility upfront that i didnt know exist. I admit, i was wrong. LOVING what i see out of Moose........ Imagine how its gonna be when Tavares gets here. The Hawks are soo deep its not funny.

hawks are 5-5 in their last 10 games. EVERY one of those games had the same thing: teams attacking the paint FIERCELY because they know that when the hawks are on their game, the hawks can shut down the wings....... he has the same amount as the hawks.........

http://www.nba.com/2015/news/features/sekou_smith/03/22/hawks-learn-lesson-from-defending-champions/ It was that sort of day for the Hawks, losers of three straight games for the first time all season and suddenly living up to all of the fears of their fans and the words of the critics who suggest that a season's worth of dominance can be undone in the win-or-go-home portion of the season because of deficiencies in their make-up (a lack of big and physical men to battle men of the same ilk on other contending teams).

Thats the point i keep making. Teams are not playing around and attacking the rim. Horford has never been a big time defender at the rim. Sap is too small. Pero, polease, might as well but a statue down low. Muscola? Nope. Brand? Too old and defense never really been his forte. They need Tavares to get whipped into shape asap.........

your hawks trophy case after 50 years of being in atlanta doing it THEIR way:

we will be ok.......unless we play toronto in the playoffs. we can beat cleveland anywhere, anytime.......

Tavares cant get here soon enough..........

the silver lining is the coaching staff sees that walter tavares development is more important than they possibly thought. Its ok to play great team defense, but there is nothing like having a rim protector cleaning up for you in the paint......

and we DONT have that number one seed locked up either. cleveland is 8 back now......... late edit. rechecked the standings. NO WAY cleveland catchs us..........we would have to go 3-9 the rest of the way for cleveland to tie us and 2-10 for them to clinch.........and thats with them winning out........

Im not concerned about our defense on the perimeter. ( thats why i know we can still beat cleveland). my concern is when the ball gets into the paint area. Its true that when we collapse as a team into the paint, we WERE stopping teams. Im still seeing effort, so i still believe we need a big that can defend..........

i know. i know. i know. i know it looks absurd for LOTS of reasons, and i know it wouldnt happen, for various reasons, but hear me out. I love horford. Nothing wrong with his game. My problem is, like we all know, is he isnt a true center. The hawks problem is balance, as ive stated in numerous posts. Sap is too small at the 4 to be true help in the paint and on the boards, and Horford doesnt play like a true center. For all the theories about the NBA not being a true center's league anymore, i disagree. Jump shooting is not gonna win a championship ( see oklahoma city thunder). San antonio has MAJOR presence in the paint, so this spurs east stuff isnt really true about the hawks. HOWARD. We all know that his character, on the surface, wouldnt play over with the Hawks. I get that. I also know that Howard was a BEAST in his early days in Orlando when they played that inside out game. Howard wouldnt disrupt the offense, he would make it even MORE dangerous. I think with the change in culture of the hawks, and how the league perceives atlanta, that howard would come here now. Lastly, i think Houston would do it. They have proved WITHOUT howard, that they can win. I know none of this would never happen, but i believe the skillset howard still brings, would put the hawks over the top and make them a real championship contender. Again, this is not a knock on Horford, its my belief that his TYPE of play isnt gonna get us over the top. If we had centers in the rotation behind him that could rebound or block shots, this would be a moot issue, but as it stands, its what is holding this team back.

THATS the bottom line of this hawks team. I think not. The last month isnt a aberration. Remember, we lost that series against indiana last year ( albeit with a team still new to the system and without horford), when our shots stopped falling. Again, for the hundreth time, we need BALANCE. Teams are having strolls in the park and picnics in the paint against us. Walter taveres better pan out because this pero and muscala experiment isnt working. Al, as we all know, isnt a true center. Sap is undersized as a power. We can dream all we want about our spread offense taking us to the promise land, but the last month, now that teams have figured us out, shows otherwise. Now, they take us serious, and pound our middle and eat for free. We need a shot blocker and rebounder in the rotation. I can live with pero and muscala not being consistent shooters, my problem is their lack of presence on the defensive end of the court and the boards. You cant win games relying on your team shooting lights out every game. There comes a point where you HAVE to win a ugly game in the playoffs, and right now, i dont think we can do it..........

no silver lining here. teams have found the hawks weakness. Pound the ball into the paint against them..........

ive said this over and over. we NEED a rim protector. every game goes the same way: we have to stay in games with our jump shooting, while the other team just gets easy buckets in the paint on us. this cause us to collapse in the paint, and opens up THEIR jump shots. pero is playing good tonight, but like i said, horford needs more of a rim protector behind him or beside him in certain situations.

loved the georgia state win today.........great win..........

i rest my case............

im more focusing on the 11 points per game and rebounds. pero brings NOTHING. the defense of pero is " he can stretch the floor". my question is: WHEN? now, as far as bogut, he is more a rim protector than horford.

And in a 7 game series, if the hawks dont shoot light outs, the warriors would beat them. We got pero coming off the bench behind horford, while the warriors got marreese speights coming in scoring 11 points a game with almost 5 rebounds. pero is averaging 5 points and 2 boards........this love affair with pero might go down as THE single reason we dont win the chip this year, if that happens. too much pressure is put on our jump shooting. i know thats the way we are built, but we also see the results when the team goes cold shooting the ball. curry and thompson have the luxury of knowing that they have more balance and dont have to carry their teams because of it. they can gamble on defense out front more because bogut has them covered. we have to pack the lane and play tight man on ball defense, but if a guy gets into the lane, its always a score against us. ........walter tavares and or some help in the draft cant get here soon enough........

i been saying pero got to go. its beginning to look like bud moved payne because its obvious that pero doesnt belong in the rotation. for all that bud has done good, that doesnt mean he doesnt have a "favorite". like i said before, pero is the hawks version of the falcons biermann. a guy who "supposedly" does a lot, but does NOTHING, and stays in the rotation regardless. there was one rebounding opportunity i saw yesterday where pero had the nuggets boxed out for a defensive rebound, and three or four nuggets kept volleyballing the ball to the rim trying to score while pero just stood there flat footed looking stupid......... he has got to go........

AGAIN, i dont like the imbalance of the hawks. we are a PURE jumpshooting team. we have no rim protectors. if the shots dont fall, we get into trouble. pero has GOT to go next year. no ifs, ands, or buts. thats the start of correcting our imbalance. our bigs should be able to stretch the floor AND play in the paint when our shots are not falling......

what bud is missing is this: THE SPURS HAVE CHAMPIONSHIPS. THE HAWKS HAVE PROVED NOTHING. you get chips, THEN you do these things. on cue, people are clowning the hawks. thats why espn and the networks dont fool with the hawks. BUD gave them a reason last night. nobody cares that he rested his starters, they looking for a reason to clown the hawks and bud gave them one.....ive heard more about this lost to philly, than the win over the cavaliers.....

WHY would coach bud do this after the biggest win of the season? why throw away the very next game like this? i understand resting our starters, but you dont throw away this game like this, right after that game yesterday. you dont take nothing for granted. you crush your competition, not throw away games and give other teams confidence like that......... on a side note, even though the hawks play good on ball defense, the teams with quick guards still give them trouble. go into the playoffs against toronto and take THEM for granted and the hawks gonna be at home watching the rest of the playoffs.......

PERO Antić:

either he is tired, got the big head because of the allstar selection, or been hanging around pero too much...........