what do you see whats wrong with the Hawks

[JTFan31]

Seriously guys lets talk about whats really wrong, or your opinions on whats wrong with this team. None of us want to hear that they suck and got no heart or none of that crap. Lets really analyze on why they are getting blown out by under .500 teams.

My opinion is that Reef, Big Dog and Jt are very lazy on D and show no effort playing it. Another thing is that on the offensive side of the ball we have no movement, no cutters, no nothing, basically everyone just watches Big Dog, Reef and JT go to work. They are also very careless with the ball, thats the part I dont understand, why are these turning the ballover like a hot potato. I think for this team to be successful is that Big Dog needs to be packaged he is not the right player for this team and we need to package him.

IMO I think the season is over and I am very ashamed calling myself a Hawks fan, first game today I was at home and didnt watch it, I turned to the channel at around 3:45 pm and before I did, I said to myself " I bet they are losing" and indeed they were, worst than what I thought. Very disgusting to watch this team play, I feel terrible for the season ticket holders to go through this type of basketball, that is if you call it that.

[jezmund]

I'm getting tired of beating down on them too. I have to agree though, the problem is effort. We are as talented as Detroit, Boston, Miami, New Jersey, etc.... the problem is that they come out prepared, knowing their roles, and put it all out on the court where it always seems like we have something else on our minds when we are out there.

[Guest]

and I've said this before - it almost seems like Robinson's laziness on D becomes contagious. Agreed, Reef and JT (esp. the prior) are not great defenders...but when they have to make up for Robinson's lapses as well, we simply fall apart...

JT's biggest fault on D is not playing enough man to man d (watch Wilks and see the difference). he plays off his man too much, trying to anticipate steals...I'd rather that stat drop and his apply more on the ball pressure.

reef simply isn't that great of a defender. very average. I don't see any glaring areas where he can instantly improve.

robinson's just awful -

trying to make up for all three of those problems is simply too much. when dog's out, teh team knows they have to step up and play more aggressive...and do so. trade him

[Blunt91]

I think I will take some time off from watching the Hawks games. Babcock and Kasten won't make any trades and expect us to keep watching this pickup ball style of play by the Hawks.No one really cares including the Players, the coaches and management or they would put words into action and do something about it.

[chillzatl]

We have certain technical deficiencies sure (too few defenders, no outside shooters, no ball handlers, whatever). But our biggest problem IS lack of heart, effort and desire. Many here believe that because Shareef and JT are great guys who give a good effort on the court, that this somehow means they are tireless workers and have tremendous heart.

Well that's a load of crap. Heart is more than pounding your chest after you hit a big shot. Heart is not letting offensively challenged players (travis best, henry james) make you look like a joke on a nightly basis. Heart is refusing to let a rookie drop 40 on you. Desire is accepting that you could be better if you worked a little harder and then accepting the responsibility to become better, consistantly.

If JT had all this heart he would be ashamed at himself for letting scrubs like Travis Best make him look like a fool. I know i'm embarassed for him. When I hear guys on sportscenter or Barkley and crew cracking jokes about "random mediocre player" who just lit the hawks up for 30. I say "random mediocre player" because it's a new one every night. I find it embarassing. If it was a rare thing it wouldn't be a big deal. But every game you can take a guess at which scrub is going to eat us up tonight.

It's not just JT either. If Shareef had all this heart, he would have started listening to the critics who say he should give more. There are only a few people in all the basketball world that actually refered to Reef as "the best player nobody has ever seen". Most people just felt he was an above average talent. Though many of those would say that he has the TALENT to be a superstar. Well if he has the talent, why isn't he a superstar? wanna know why? DESIRE.

[beav]

I've seen most of the games this year. (Disgust kept me from finishing the game yesterday).

There is no doubt as everyone has asserted that defense is a major problem. Turnovers I can live with if they are more sins of commission than ommision (they are not, the hawks are just sloppy).

They say the right things in interviews but they really don't care if they win or not. (I think that possibly the only exception is Newble). They aren't willing to add that extra hustle on D, dive for the loose ball, set the extra pick etc etc down the line.

Firing Kruger hasn't seemed to help at this point (I know that it is still early but this crap with miami is freaking embarassing!).

Not to push panic buttons but I would be *actively* pursuing trades right now. The first places that I would go calling would be LA (Clips) and Chicago. They need tough players with heart and attitude. (on second thought the clips and chicago might not be the places for it)...

[TheDude]

it's frustrating because i think most of us agree we have some of the best talent in the league..I think alot of teams out there would love to have the talent we do..i can't even blame babcock cuz he's tried at least.. and that's more than i can say for the players...

I mean what is the problem? don't the players know they have the talent to win and make the playoffs? defense isn't talent, it's hussle and desire...do these players not desire anything? is it because there are no fans in the seats to give them some motivation?..well if they want fans, they need to show the fans they care..

i guess i'll lose the bet to my friend that the hawks would make the playoffs.. but i mean who would have thought they wouldn't? didn't the rest of you think like i did and saw that even before we got bigdog(but before we lost dj) that we scored plenty last year and just needed to step up on d? didn't we see the talent and the run at the end of the year last year? the worst part is my friend will think he knows more about bball than i do(which is a farce) but if he knew anything about bball he wouldn't have made that bet..but he got lucky and my team has no heart..

i mean is it really big dog? i don't get to see the games that much lately so when watching do you see it being an offshoot of his effort...do you think newble was targeting big dog?

if so and i was stotts, I would bench big dog(and say it was because of his slight injury) and start newble also..see if these guys can do something..

do these players not care for their fans, pride, and basketball in general?

i'm frustrated.

[d2v16DKG]

I know what you mean Dochawk. I got a bet going Hawks would finish higher than the Knicks. A sure thing I thought and now I'm not so sure. But I'm not ready to give up. The season is still young and Stotts needs time to turn this team around. I know he doesn't take crap but the players have to do it for themselves. Dog really disappointed me yesterday. As good a shot as he is, he is really one-dimensional. Can't play D and definitely don't let this man dribble! Don't give up yet Dochawk!!

[KB21]

It kills us offensively because we can't get into a structured offensive set without someone that can iniate the offense, and there is no one that elevates the games of those around them, which would help defensively.

It's that simple.

If you put Jason Kidd with this team, they would be tons better. Look at Kidd's Nets. He's raised the level of a bunch of average players around him (Kenyon Martin is only slightly above average). He has no go-to scorer, so not only has he made himself the distributor on the team, but he's their lead scorer as well.