Yep. The Hawks are still a fraud.

[Plainview1981]

Every team in the NBA has areas to improve on! They don't lose every game on the road, but they need to play better. Even as bad as they are on the road, they're still sniffing 50 wins. Defensive identity? That's not the players' fault. Free throws?? C'mon dude, you're reaching. You want to blow up a 50 win 4th seeded playoff team for shooting 73% at the line??

Every NBA team has weaknesses. You are looking for perfection. The Hawks haven't failed at anything yet. They have had a great year, and if they're so bad, stop watching them. After reading post after post, you seem in complete misery with the Hawks. Why do you put yourself through it?

But the Hawks do nothing well nightly. I know I'm not theonly one frustrated at the lack of a team identity.

[hawkman]

But the Hawks do nothing well nightly. I know I'm not theonly one frustrated at the lack of a team identity.

Team "identity" is overrated. I'd rather have a team that can slug it out in a defensive, low scoring game AND a team that can score in the 100's against high scoring teams. I think we have the makings of that kind of team. That way, we can lock down defensively when we have to or go on a scoring run when we have to. We have the capability to do both during the course of the game. I think that as this team continues to develop we can only get better and more consistent with our defensive/offensive effort. But I think the reason we can play with any team on a given night is because teams don't know what to expect from us.

[buckeye242424]

But the Hawks do nothing well nightly. I know I'm not theonly one frustrated at the lack of a team identity.

I'll give you the lack of team identity. I don't see a consistent philosophy of how to manage the game on either side of the ball. However, this is not the players fault. It's the coaches. But to say the Hawks do nothing well is vague, and ultimately, farce. You can't get to where the Hawks are record wise, or sit where they are in the playoff standings without doing something well. We wouldn't beat teams like the Lakers and Cavs without playing solid.

[bronnt]

I really can't understand the general philosophy of fans who can't be happy with a team's success, even if it's minor. At the beginning of the season was there any serious sentiment that the #4 seed and a shot at 50 wins just wasn't good enough?

There's this sentiment among too many sportswriters and too many fans of too many sports than anything short of a championship is worthless. I will never understand that. It's the attitude that any fan should want from their players, obviously-you don't want a team to lose the hunger and decide that it's good enough to make the playoffs. But as fans, you have to realize that there is only one champion each year, so if you only enjoy seasons that end in ultimately winning out, you're going to have more anguish than satisfaction. And what's the point in being a fan of a team if you're constantly making yourself miserable with unattainable standards?

There has to be the realization that you can enjoy being a fan of a team that's taking the right steps. It's been a 5 year process, and you can argue that it's taken too long to reach this plateau, but the Hawks, overall, are moving in the right direction.

That's not to say I'm not very unhappy about certain aspects that aren't showing improvement-namely, Josh Smith's effort on a night-to-night basis (not to mention his free throw shooting), or the coach's unwillingness to develop a young PG, or seeing Al Horford properly utilized in the post. I realize that there's too many things wrong with this team to win a championship this year, but overall, I'm still pretty happy to be a fan of the team despite that.

[Plainview1981]

I'll give you the lack of team identity. I don't see a consistent philosophy of how to manage the game on either side of the ball. However, this is not the players fault. It's the coaches. But to say the Hawks do nothing well is vague, and ultimately, farce. You can't get to where the Hawks are record wise, or sit where they are in the playoff standings without doing something well. We wouldn't beat teams like the Lakers and Cavs without playing solid.

If this team does something well on a consistent basis would you mind telling me what those things are? The don't rebound well, defend well, pass well, shoot ft's well.... What does this team really do right? This team is athletic ability and that's mostly it. The hawks are where they are in the standings because the east doesn't have many good teams. Do you see how far the Hawks are behind Orlando? In the west, the Hawks would probably be behind Phx. I missed the game, but there is no way the Hawks played solid against LA. They score what.. 86 points and even got outrebounded? They beat CLE because they were missing Big Z.

[Plainview1981]

Team "identity" is overrated. I'd rather have a team that can slug it out in a defensive, low scoring game AND a team that can score in the 100's against high scoring teams. I think we have the makings of that kind of team. That way, we can lock down defensively when we have to or go on a scoring run when we have to. We have the capability to do both during the course of the game. I think that as this team continues to develop we can only get better and more consistent with our defensive/offensive effort. But I think the reason we can play with any team on a given night is because teams don't know what to expect from us.

The problem is the players need the guts and commitment.

[Plainview1981]

I really can't understand the general philosophy of fans who can't be happy with a team's success, even if it's minor. At the beginning of the season was there any serious sentiment that the #4 seed and a shot at 50 wins just wasn't good enough?

There's this sentiment among too many sportswriters and too many fans of too many sports than anything short of a championship is worthless. I will never understand that. It's the attitude that any fan should want from their players, obviously-you don't want a team to lose the hunger and decide that it's good enough to make the playoffs. But as fans, you have to realize that there is only one champion each year, so if you only enjoy seasons that end in ultimately winning out, you're going to have more anguish than satisfaction. And what's the point in being a fan of a team if you're constantly making yourself miserable with unattainable standards?

There has to be the realization that you can enjoy being a fan of a team that's taking the right steps. It's been a 5 year process, and you can argue that it's taken too long to reach this plateau, but the Hawks, overall, are moving in the right direction.

That's not to say I'm not very unhappy about certain aspects that aren't showing improvement-namely, Josh Smith's effort on a night-to-night basis (not to mention his free throw shooting), or the coach's unwillingness to develop a young PG, or seeing Al Horford properly utilized in the post. I realize that there's too many things wrong with this team to win a championship this year, but overall, I'm still pretty happy to be a fan of the team despite that.

Because these are highly paid players and they should win. It's a long season and the fans want something for the time they put into the team. I swear, sometimes the fans are way too easy on these players. These guys are buying 10 cars while most people struggle to make ends meet,,, But no, we shouldn;t have much expectations of them. Unbelievable.