Hawks look confident! Is this a top 5 team in the

[Hawksfreak]

East! I would think so I mean guys lets just stop and take a look at this lineup....

Jason Terry

Shareef Abdur-Rahim

Glenn Robinson

Theo Ratliff

Dion Glover

DerMarr Johnson (IR)

Darvin Ham

Nazr Mohammed

Emanual Davis

Ira Newble

Chris Crawford

Dan Dickau

Alan Henderson

Now I want yall to look up and down this lineup and find a way to tell me why we can't be the best in the East? Yes, the season hasn't started yet almost though 1 month! If you just look at the roster though you say WOW! Looks like the old Hawks who won 50+ games each year and went to the playoffs! Everyone on the team is confident,healthy,and ready to start. To me those are what qualities you want to have going into camp! Watch out Nets,Celts,Lakers,Kings the BIRDS are back!

[Guest Walter]

If we aren't top 5 one, several, or all of these reasons are to be expected as the weak link.

W

[Diesel]

On the court, it will depend on:

1. Floor Leadership. We need somebody who is able to be the leader on the floor.

2. Coaching. Our Coach is definitely the guy who will be responsible for helping to find a system that is based on the strengths of our players. IF he tries to fit our players into his system, we are donefor.

If either of those things are not working for us, then we will not fair well.

IN the East... Looking at Talent...

1. NJ. They are by far more talented than last yr. Namely becuase they choose defense. It will be plain hard to score against them. They also have depth in Childs and the other guy they signed.

2. Orlando. IF Hill is back to 90% then they have a whole lot of talent. I would expect them to Move Armstrong and Miller for a C or PF. Also, how is Kemp doing? IF he comes back as Kemp from 92.... Dang.

3. Wiz. Washington is easily a top team now. Jordan, Stackhouse, and a whole lot of youth.

4. INdy. Isiah is working with some good players and depth. Miller/Oneal/Harrington/Reggie/Tinsley is my guess for the staritng 5. There's still Artest, Croshere, Mercer, Jones, and others. Expect a croshere trade and maybe a Mercer trade.

5. Milwaukee. Not considering Chemistry... Thomas, Mason, Allen, and Cassell is a damn good 4. Add to that Toni, Pryz, and EJ they have good players.

6. Charlotte. Davis, Mash, Wesley, and PJ are 4 really good players. PJ never gets respect because he's not flashy..> But he's like Silas.. .He gets the job done. They now have Alexander, Magloire off the bench. I wonder if they will get Nailon back?

7. US. We have big Dog, SAR, and JT. Three young guns with a lot to prove. Lon better do something by

8. Philly. Iverson, McKie, Snow, Van Horn, and McCollough. That's a pretty good 5. They have other players also who will make contributions. They have gone from a team that was built around strong defense to one that is offensive in 2 yrs.

9. Chicago. Talent Yes. Will they win? Not yet.

Rose, Marshall, Erob, Blount are all good vet players (role players). Their role this yr will be help the young guys get up to speed. Williams, Fizer, Crawford, Chandler, and Curry are expected to play a role in the future.. Well maybe not Crawford. If I had to guess, I say they start off the season playing:

Williams, Hoiberg, Rose, Marshall, and Chandler as their starting 5. With Crawford, Erob, Fizer, and Curry off the bench.

I don't know what's going on with the big croation?

10. New York. Lots of talent.. .Just not position ready. They need a C. But Houston, Spreewell, and McDyess is the team.

11. Cleveland. Rebuilding but they have some good players.

Miles, Juanny, Davis, and surprise surprise Boozer (I think he will surprise a lot of folks). Cleveland has stocked up on players to get rid of. Maybe they are in the lebron Sweepstakes and would like to get Duncan too?

Juanny, James, Miles, Duncan, Big Z. Can you see that reviving basketball in Cleveland??

12. Boston. Shocking to see them below Cleveland and Chicago? Besides the big two, what do they have? Baker? Will Baker help or hurt? I think Boston's two minutes are up. It will be coaching if they make it to the playoffs.

13 Toronto. JYD, Jeffries, Pete, and Hunter. If those guys can produce off the bench then Toronto might not be so bad. It will take coaching.

14. Detroit. This will be coaching and luck again. I don't see them as having much talent. Bad trades and pickups. They are young but leaderless on the floor. If they trade anymore, can we get uncle Cliffy finally?

15. Miami. Losing Zo was bad. Grant is not as good as he's getting paid. Money is tight.

[Guest]

Um, just curious. How can ORL be the second most talented team with 3 1/2 players (McGrady, Hill - I'm giving you healthy Hill - Miller, and Armstong - the half) and have NOBODY ON THE INSIDE and New York be ranked that low for "Just not position ready."

I don' think the Knicks should be ranked any higher, but esp. given Indy's "position readiness" and your love of Tinsley, that you can't rank them higher (they're more talented than Orlando, that's for sure).

I'm tired, so I'm not goign to go into the rest of the post, but I think your logic is a little too quantitive and not enough qualitive/ are putting too much stock in potential!

[Gray Mule]

Sounds like everyone has what it takes to make a move

on the east if they can stay healthy. Spree is out. That

will hurt them in the early going.

How the rookies pan out could make a huge difference

for some of these teams who are looking for that elusive "Final piece" to the puzzle.

Hawks have spent a lot of time getting to know each other

this off-season and I believe that will pay dividends.

Kruger will have a healthy starting five for the first time

ever. Now, we will see if he can be a coach or not.

Let's play ball!!

Gray Mule

[Diesel]

In reply to:

---

m, just curious. How can ORL be the second most talented team with 3 1/2 players (McGrady, Hill - I'm giving you healthy Hill - Miller, and Armstong - the half) and have NOBODY ON THE INSIDE and New York be ranked that low for "Just not position ready."

---

It's easy. If Hill is 90% (that was my criteria) they have 2 players who are probably the best at their positions in the East.... Tmac and Hill. Remember Hill was a triple double machine at Detroit. They also have Miller and Armstrong. They also have Vaughn who is a fantastic role player. With that squad, Vaughn might turn out to be a true surprise at PG. However, I don't know how much time Miller can stay off the floor. If they find that they don't need Miller, I wouldn't be surprise to see them trade for a C. BY name, a guy like Dampiere. Also, I wouldn't be shocked at all if they pick up a guy like Oakley and move Kemp to C.

That said, let's look at NY. NO C. NO PG. They are struggling at two positions. They have a slew of Mediocre Pfs and one main PF. Spree has gotten old, the game has moved away his style. Even though the game favors Houston's style... I don't think that Houston can carry that offense even with McDyess' help. They need to trade for a leader. Getting rid of Mark Jackson might help them in the long run but in the present, they are hurting bad. And the worse thing is that Houston's contract leaves them no options.

In reply to:

---

I don' think the Knicks should be ranked any higher, but esp. given Indy's "position readiness" and your love of Tinsley, that you can't rank them higher (they're more talented than Orlando, that's for sure).

---

From a chemistry standpt, I like Charlotte and Indy better. BUT we're talking talent. Indy has Oneal and Miller as allstar type players and for as good as they may be, they are not in the same caetgory as Hill (healthy) and Tmac. However, these are not where I expect...I expect Milwaukee to be a lot lower. Washington, Chicago, and Cleveland to be Lower... And Indy, New Orleans, and Detroit to be higher.

[Guest]

Btw,Spree broke a bone in his hand and is out

for 7 weeks and Kurt Thomas was arrested for

abusing his wife or something.