Diesel is right, but ----

[Gray Mule]

Hawks got beat in their last game of the season.

It was on the road, where Hawks have had trouble winning

for several years, not weeks, years.

Our opponent is bound for the playoffs and we are not.

They made the final eight, we didn't.

Their second team, in the fourth quarter, beat our second

string. Up to that point, Hawks had been ahead for most

of the night, sometimes by several points.

Diesel said the Hornets would prevail in this game. He was

right. Remember, we play terrible on the road and we

were playing a playoff bound team, so the odds had to be

in Diesel's favor.

All that having been said and admitted to, let us seek for

the truth of the matter further.

If Big Dog had played last night, would the Hawks have

won the game? Probably not. The score would have

been higher for both teams, but I believe Hawks still end

up on the short end.

We made Tractor Trailer look like a star! Yes, we did.

Gray Mule has said for two or three years, "Hawks need a

Tractor Trailer type player to come in off the bench and

bang with the big boys." Why? Because we have no one

to match up with the giants that come in from time to

time against us -- NO ONE.

Did Hawks loose because of our point guard play? No.

We lost because of turnovers and missed shots. Part

of the turnovers was the fault of JT & Dickau, that's true,

but many of them were not. It was a total team effort

to have that many turnovers.

Is Big Dog a very good jump shooter? You bet he is!

Can he rebound? Without question! He gets his share

of 'em. When he's hot, he scores in bunches.

Can he dribble the ball under pressure and not loose it?

Nope. Can he play great defense? Compared to who?

Not likely to make the all-defensive team, even if you

just take the 12 Hawks on the roster at any time.

Could he have stopped or made any difference last night

against Tractor Trailer? No!

Last night the Hawks missed a lot of open shots. It wasn't

the Hornet's defense. They simply missed the shots.

They turned the ball over a lot, partly because of the

defense of the Hornets and partly because they weren't

paying attention. Many passes were forced into

coverage and Hawks failed to adjust.

Changes will come. Some of the present roster will be

gone next season. Hopefully, a fully recovered DerMarr

will be back with us. We still need that big, oversized

dude coming off the bench, a Tractor Trailer type.

Diesel was right -- Hawks got beat by the Hornets. Give

the man credit. He made the right call on that one.

[mrhonline]

a little wisdom from our reluctant, old gray mule :>

Thanks for a little calm.

[Diesel]

I was right, but there was something else.

N.O. was a team we had beaten without GRob earlier this season. IN fact we owned the series 2-1 going into last night.

One would think that with that combination (IF we were better without Grob) we would win.

However, our wins were against Sub .500 teams at home.

[mrhonline]

Well, one would HOPE so, but we would still lose games with or without Robinson.

Plus, we kept in close for two quarters, so you're essentially making an season-long argument on ~18 minutes of play...Not a wise thing to do.

Diesel, I do agree, Big Hog isn't all of the problems, but he's certainly a good percentage of them.