Gray Mule

Seriously. Bet you didn't know. Posters here are well aware how I feel about free throws. They are "free" and should be made the majority of the time. I found this juicy tidbit this summer. Bruno hit 79.9% of his free throws while in college! Being able to score from the free throw line is a + and bodes well for him to step out to the three and make a good % from there. Hawks are not as weak as some would hope that you believe. Some teams are going to get a headache when they begin to worry about playing us...

Where did Diesel go? That was a much too short visit !!

Ha! We all know how serious we are. Vince Carter is chasing that championship ring, so he signed on here !! Really, our odds seem to be pretty good at making it into the playoffs since there will be 8 teams from the east and we expect to have a good shot at 6, 7 or 8. If you can't dream big, at least make an effort at it!

Lack of D: How long will it take for Hunter to get to 4 fouls? Not very long, I believe. All three of our rookies must learn. But, they were drafted with defense in mind. Hawks will start off with porous defense but it will improve very fast. No center? Perhaps. However Alex, Damian and Bruno will put up a terrific effort to prove that thought to be void. And, all of us wish them success. I believe half our games will be victories. That's 41. Quiet a jump from low 30's but I am convinced they are capable of making that jump.

Yes. We will miss everyone who was here last season but are gone. Rookies take time to develop. Also true. Dedmon, the one missed the most. Len has worked very hard this summer. He says that he feels that he has improved a lot. Damian comes here, seeking to prove to everyone that he is a legitimate NBA center and Bruno wants to prove to everyone that he is really a first round talent and show those who passed him by what a mistake that they made. NBASupes has said, Bazemore and Prince were good players but didn't really fit here. I agree. Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Hopefully, both will be a much better fit with their new team. Hawks still have a lot of games to lose. Too many very young, inexperienced players to expect otherwise. There are wins out there, just waiting to be plucked off the tree. As we grow, more and more of these victories will be ours for the taking. Only winning 1/2 of our games is not, in my opinion, too much to expect. Being healthy is the key here. 41-41 in 2019-20, slip into the playoffs, scare whoever we face and then hit the next season as one of the favorites!!

What happened? Look at the projected starting five. Doesn't look that much different from last season. The Hawks have the #4 draft pick thought of as a starter. All the remainder looks the same, doesn't it? What's the big deal? And, they did resign their old man, VC. So, what's the deal? They won 29 last season and look at who's gone. How can anyone believe that they will be better? OK. Lets give them one or two wins - - 30 or 31. Let's look closer. We of the Squawk nation see things in a different light. For starters, we believe the starting five will be a lot more like the team that claimed Atlanta for home after the all star game and not the one who opened the season. We almost all believe that, due to the new blood and the maturity of the young players, Atlanta will be better on defense and will still score at a high rate. Many Squawk people felt that signing VC was one of the best off season moves that the Hawks made. He is a leader. He has the experience that all the young players look up to. He will be a great help in leading these very young Hawks into maturity. This is my thinking and I believe most here agree. Finally, look at all the players signed and traded for. They make up most of our bench. Bembry is back but the remainder we don't really know. Players that, for some reason or other, didn't quiet fit in where they were. Perhaps they will fit here. We will wait and see. And, there are two of our new draft picks, Cam and Bruno, who we expect to make a splash this season. If Atlanta improves again after the all star game like they did last season, look out !! We will just keep our Hawks a secret here and not share with everyone else. This way, we can sneak up on the NBA. They expect us to improve 1 or 2 victories. SURPRISE ! SUPRISE !!

If only the Hawks had a good defensive minded head coach.. Oh, yeah, they do! He hasn't stressed defense. Had to get his life settled into being a head coach. Some of the players that were traded for are being overlooked in the grand scheme of things. They may bring more than many of those "talking heads" we see believe. Some of these guys aren't bad, not bad at all. So many changes. So many new players. Traded players will be missed. New rookies will, hopefully, play some decent defense. They are big enough and seem to have the desire to make their name on that end of the court. As Hazer said, "It's gonna be very fun to watch!"

Have we oversold ourselves? We believe in our GM and we believe in what he's building. We have observed how well his drafted players have preformed. "He knows what he's doing" we keep telling ourselves. Then, the criticizing begins. Strangely enough, the player we here tend to ignore seems to be getting the most praise. Crabbe is mentioned, over and over, as a great deal. ??? Other players that were traded for all seem to fit into that ,"It doesn't matter. They will make no difference." Most all here believe in our three draft picks. Yet, over and over, I read critical notes about all three. First of all, Hunter cost too much. That seems to be more about him than about his actual talent. Personally, I believe that it was money and talent well spent. Reddish is seen as mostly a steal. Yet, because he wasn't a great star at Duke last winter, many feel that, although he eventually becomes a pretty good starter in the NBA, he will be just a very common wing. Bruno they can live with since he was a second round pick and they don't expect a lot out of him. Seemingly, everyone except most of us here, look on our center position as very weak. Again, I ask. Have we oversold ourselves? Are we destined to be fighting to stay out of the basement in the east rather than striving for that last spot in the playoff standings? Is it true that our returning core of young men will improve little, if at all? Will the absence of Dedmon, Prince and Bazemore have such a negative effect on our Beloved Hawk team that they will not recover?

BBALL INDEX's Jacob Goldstein 31.2 wins this upcoming season. - - Seems that our "new" Hawk team has become the favorite "slap around" team in the NBA.

Why does everyone wish to sell the 2019-20 Hawks short? Why does so many think that we are very, very weak at center? Alex Len is no dud. Damian Jones will surprise some of you. Bruno Fernando is not a helpless, bound for the G league, center. EXPN thinks we are a 30.4 win team. As MLK said, "We shall overcome." He wasn't talking about the Atlanta Hawks but it surely applies.

Supes, I trust your projections more than ESPN. You know who the Hawks have and believe what they are capable of.

Look at "Atlanta Hawks News" on Hawksquawk headlines. Peachtree Hoops. ESPN has just made their educated projection for the Hawks Their 30.4 estimate of wins means that we gain one win on last season's total. WOW! These "experts" know what they are talking about. This means that all of us here except maybe the Doctor, who hasn't been here of late, have it all wrong. All the new players that were traded for are not expected to contribute anything of real value. Apparently our GM doesn't know how to draft and our returning young players will not improve and Lloyd is a "blah" head coach. Maybe they don't really say all that but, check them out. We are expected to win one more game than last season! Bah. Humbug...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUNO FERNANDO !! 08\15\98 - AGE 21 - TODAY! And, he's a big old boy. 6'10" with a 7'3" wing span and 237 pounds on a ready for NBA frame! We're told he's very athletic and that he's a quick learner. Hawks have three centers on their current roster. The other two "old men" are still in their mid 20's. Shorty Bruno is 2" shorter than the other 2 but he looks more of a "beast" than the others. All three will battle all season for the starting job. Some say the Atlanta Hawks are weak at center. I dare you to tell Bruno that he's our weak link to having a decent NBA team! Hawks are young and unlearned. But, we've brought back our mentor, VC, , and expect to stir up some dust before season's end We ain't done but we ain't dead either !! GO ATL HAWKS !

29 times last season, other NBA teams met our beloved Hawk team and lost. We expect that to happen more this season, driving our still unfinished product to new places that they haven't been in some time. Every defeat will be a bitter pill to swallow, as always. Right now, we all hope and believe those 29 victories will grow and grow. Never again do we wish to be that low on the totem pole. We may not reach the #8 place in the east. If we don't, we will walk right up close. Another year. That's what we believe. Come next summer we Hawk fans believe that our team is ready to take on all comers! Don't try to be too good too soon. That's why we can't go for it now. We are still growing. Give us another year, then watch our Hawks !!

Two great college players we expect to have a positive impact on this years Atlanta Hawks team. And, actually, there are three draft picks and a young center we traded for. These "other" players give us depth at center. Are we expecting too much from these young men as they begin their first year with the Hawks? Our GM has hit the "flush" button on our roster. We have more new Hawks than we have returning players, we are told. Note: It takes time to change over from good NBA players to a good NBA team. These young men AND those other players traded for must mesh together. We know that it's the dead off season when we see page after page about the new schedule for next season. Hawks fans are hopeful that our new guys make a difference on defense, our most glaring weakness last season. Damian Jones, Bruno Fernando, Cam Reddish and De`Andre Hunter will be expected to step right in and shake things up. We here on Hawksquawk will be on the edge of our seat, watching for these young men to enter the game. Most other NBA fans from other teams will be asking, "Who plays in Atlanta now? Didn't they lose all their players?" Then, as they faintly remember Trae and JC, they dismiss the Hawks. Are we Hawk fans expecting too much? Will all these young players let us down? No! We believe our GM and our coach know what they are doing. Before the season comes to an end, NBA fans will know who these Hawks are !!