The Future Is Bright in HawkSquawkville

[JackB1]

You guys should feel good about the future of this team.......

The Boston series did much good for our young guys. It also showed that this town is ready to support a winner.

We have a great nucleus of Horford, Smoove and JJ. All our young guys will be one year better next year. Hopefully Bibby with be 100% healthy. IF we can get a real head coach in the offseason, that alone will work wonders. The announcer kept saying they couldn't believe our record was as bad as it was during the regular season with all the talent we have. That's what bad coaching will do for you....it will make you lose at least 10 game more than you should.

If we get a quality, experienced head coach and make a few moves that improve our team, then we go way over .500 next year.

[Diesel]

I say that the future is questionable.

1. The series didn't fix the ownership debacle.

2. Smoove has not been resigned.

3. Chillz has not been resigned.

4. JJ's reup is in 2 years.

5. We have no starting quality C.

6. We have no draft picks.

7. Our players have little trade value.

8. Our team is flawed.

9. We need a new coach but economics might mean a return of Woody.

10. Our bench needs developing.

These are the issues that we are dealing with.

The series was good for Season tickets and it was good for visibility.

I would love for it to have gained us 5 National games next year.

I would love for it to have peaked FA interest.

I would love for it to have made Smoove want to stay at a lower than Max price.

I would have love for it to have motivated Ted Turner to join ASG and finally pay Belkin off and end this BS.

Still, all of that is left up in the air. Hopefully over the offseason, we'll be able to cure some of these questions.

[coachx]

I agree that is very bright......expecting we resign Smoove and Chillz.

Positives:

1. 4 out of our top 7 players have not reached their potential. (Smoove, Marvin, Horford, Law)

2. Chillz and JJ will not get any worse and should still get better from a BB IQ point of view.

3. Full season with Bibby as a PG to tutor Law. Should be a nice combo next year.

4. Game one of next year has the possibility of having the same starting 5. Just a year more seasoned and a year better. The chemistry will be there.

5. David Anderson's shooting ability could open up the floor for Smith to play SF by Horford at PF for stretches.....the "Okur / Boozer /AK47 effect."

6. Mental Confidence ! These "boys" enter next season as "men ."

7. ZaZa has found his role. He should start the year with the right mental make up.

This team could make some noise in the first month of the season with a healthy Bibby and an expierenced Horford.........We will be a much improved team from the one that stepped on the floor to begin the 07-08 season.

[exodus]

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We have a great nucleus of Horford, Smoove and JJ.

The problem is that we don't have much else, and Smoove/Horford have a long way to go to reach their potential on offense. Smith still keeps throwing up long range jumpers and making way too many careless turnovers.

Horford refuses to try to use his quickness advantage over other bigs. He could drive by Perkins whenever he wanted but whenever he gets the ball on a post up it seems like he wants to hold it for several seconds before he does anything.

Bibby is just a big expiring deal. Other than that i don't think he has much value. Against the Celtics he averaged only 10/3 shooting 33.8%. Horford had more assists than Bibby.

Marvin and Childress both looked bad. Zaza shot 28% on the series. Our coach is clueless and there is a chance he might be reupped. Remember when he was interviewed at halftime of game 3 and said Acie was a good matchup against Rondo? Why didn't he think of that before the series and why didn't he play Acie more the rest of the series?

We still need more size, shooting, better coaching and a better GM. Of course the next GM, if we get one, won't have all the opportunities that BK had.

I liked the way JJ, Smith and Horford responded against Boston but going forward this team still has a lot of issues.

[NJHAWK]

Our players have no trade value? Please name the ones who have no value. Maybe West, Richardson and Solo dont but everyone else does. Even ZaZa has value because he is a big man who is not a complete stiff and his deal is expireing.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

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We have a great nucleus of Horford, Smoove and JJ.

We still need more size, shooting, better coaching and a better GM. Of course the next GM, if we get one, won't have all the opportunities that BK had.

I liked the way JJ, Smith and Horford responded against Boston but going forward this team still has a lot of issues.

Now that the Hawks will probably won't be drafting high for a while... why not keep BK? His mistakes were with some of his draft picks, but he's done well in trades.

[exodus]

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We have a great nucleus of Horford, Smoove and JJ.

We still need more size, shooting, better coaching and a better GM. Of course the next GM, if we get one, won't have all the opportunities that BK had.

I liked the way JJ, Smith and Horford responded against Boston but going forward this team still has a lot of issues.

Now that the Hawks will probably won't be drafting high for a while... why not keep BK? His mistakes were with some of his draft picks, but he's done well in trades.

We will have picks in the future. BK has also done poorly with free agent signings (Speedy, Blo).

He has just blown too many opportunities and doesn't deserve to keep his job.

[Diesel]

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Our players have no trade value? Please name the ones who have no value. Maybe West, Richardson and Solo dont but everyone else does. Even ZaZa has value because he is a big man who is not a complete stiff and his deal is expireing.

Tell me. What can you get for a Marvin?

Can you get anything worth his value to us?

[Dexmethylphenidate]

But those picks maybe will be around 10-32... he's made some good picks in those range (Acie, Smith, Diaw).

Wish we had Lo Wright instead of Zaza for the playoffs... but those two were bargains for a big man anyway. Speedy signings wouldn't be so bad if they guy could play. He also did bring in JJ.

[Murat]

Not really, don't let these 3 home games fool you. Don't forget that we underachieved during the regular season. Wasn't the future bright for Bulls 2 years ago when they made the playoffs with a similar young team? The fact is that we lost in first round after a disappointing regular season of barely making the playoffs. We got blowned out 4 times in 7 games. Either fire the coach or make this team better. That's all you need to know.

[Murat]

Also if not for Horford we would be the same team this year as we were last year.

Marvin improved 3ppg, but played more minutes.

Smoove was basicly the same.

Joe got a little worse.

Chillz got a little worse.

Shelden didn't improve at all and got much worse. He is no longer with us.

Zaza got a lot worse.

Solomon didn't improve.

We only improved by 7 wins with Mike Bibby and no injuries. That is BAD my friends.

How is the future bright, please tell me?

[SmooveTheFuture]

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Also if not for Horford we would be the same team this year as we were last year.

Marvin improved 3ppg, but played more minutes.

Smoove was basicly the same.

Joe got a little worse.

Chillz got a little worse.

Shelden didn't improve at all and got much worse. He is no longer with us.

Zaza got a lot worse.

Solomon didn't improve.

We only improved by 7 wins with Mike Bibby and no injuries. That is BAD my friends.

How is the future bright, please tell me?

Can we get Chris Paul or Deron Williams for Marvin "Clumsy" Williams hell no those teams would laugh in our faces. We f'uped big time and we need to correct it by trading the overrated overhyped Marvin Williams. He had one good game in that whole Boston Series im sick of this guy he shows no heart or passion for the game get his azz outtta here.

[coachx]

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Also if not for Horford we would be the same team this year as we were last year.

Marvin improved 3ppg, but played more minutes.

Smoove was basicly the same.

Joe got a little worse.

Chillz got a little worse.

Shelden didn't improve at all and got much worse. He is no longer with us.

Zaza got a lot worse.

Solomon didn't improve.

We only improved by 7 wins with Mike Bibby and no injuries. That is BAD my friends.

How is the future bright, please tell me?

1. When you start to become a winning team your stats may not increase but that does not mean you have not improved as a player. Look a little deeper then per game stats.

2. The Hawks were missing Joe Johnson, and Chillz for long stretches of last season. This forced Marvin and Smoove to score more last year.

3. With less injuries and the addition of Horford and Bibby took away alot of shot attempts. So be careful when you sale a player short for not increasing their PPG without taking into the account the context and variables.

4. A 7 game win increase with Bibby only playing half the season is not half bad. I hope that means we sould have had a 14 game win increase had he played all year. That would have put us at 44 wins which sounds like a good prediction for next years win total barring major changes.

5. I thought Smoove decision making improved. While he still made many mistakes he made fewer mistakes then the previous year. He shot less 3's and had slightly less TOs per game. His 3 point attempts per game was cut from 2.1 to 1.2. This showed in his FG% going up from 43% to 45%/ I have no problem with Smoove shooting only one 3 point shot per game as long as he takes them at the right time. His rpg and bpg were down a little but I contribut that to Horford being a better rebounder and defender then his former front court mate, ZaZa. Horford grabbed some rebounds and blocked some shots that ZaZa could not get to last year. This helped the team but may have hurt Smoove individual stat line some what. Could Josh still improve more ? You bet he can and we all hope he gets this BB-IQ think down at a quicker rate with another coach. He still has a lot to learn.

6. Joe got worse ? Before the allstar break that is true. JJ ppg decreasing whas not neccesarilly a bad thing to me. Once Bibby got healthy, JJ played the best over all game of his career in my opinion. His apg were way up this year showing he has more confidence in the players around him then seasons before. This tell me he has a better supporting cast this year.

7. Marvin - Marvin never improves as much as we like. What we sale him short on is his ability to guard a wide range of different players. His defense was really improved this season. It appears Marvin may not ever be a star but he willbe a very good pro if he is not one already. He, unlike Chillz, can be effective in the open court and in the half court while being an underrated defender. (Just ask Paul Pierce).

8. ZaZa - he did play worse this season but he was over achieving to start with. ZaZa never had any business getting over 30 mpg or starting. He did so only due to our lack of true NBA roster in the past. Once he adjusted to 15-20 mpg he played pretty well to close the year. Instead of worrying about his PPG he started worrying about doing the little things your back up center is meant to do. Doc Rivers got Perkins to believe he is not a scorer. That is not his role. No player wants to hear that but it the truth and it just took ZaZa a little while to buy into it.

9. I thought Chillz played much better this year. His FG% increased from 50% to 57%. His overall stats took a small hit due to playing 8 mpg less.

10. Both Horford and Law could really flip a switch next year.

I see the glass 3/4 full right now. Not 1/2 full or 1/2 empty.

[DrReality]

They've got some important decisions to make re coach, GM, ownership. And depending the outcome of these decisions . . . . it could be either bright or dark. Given who will be making these decisions, I'm not real hopeful.

[NJHAWK]

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Our players have no trade value? Please name the ones who have no value. Maybe West, Richardson and Solo dont but everyone else does. Even ZaZa has value because he is a big man who is not a complete stiff and his deal is expireing.

Tell me. What can you get for a Marvin?

Can you get anything worth his value to us? Yes absolutely you can get excellent value for Marvin Williams. Marv has improved all 3 years in the league and he is only 21. He can sshoot and defend pretty well. He also is coming along although slowly with getting to the basket. Potential in the nba is regarded higher than substance in this league more often than not. Marv is also still on his rookie deal which makes it even easier to deal him.