State of the Franchise

[gsuteke]

Now that Marvin has been resigned we'll have the exact same team going into next year with the exception of trading out Flip for Jamal Crawford. I don't expect Teague to have a major impact.

The core of the team has been intact for 3+ years. This will be Bibby and Al's third year playing with Marvin, Josh, and Joe. Sometimes improving can be achieved through continuity, especially with young players. The Hawks have done a wonderful job of stabalizing their team.

What are your expectations of the team this year? IF they continue to improve year over year as they have been by a few games we're looking at a 50 win team next season. Is that where we should set the bar next year in respect to where the Hawks will finish the season?

I don't expect Miami or WAS to overcome the Hawks. Now the question is can the Hawks overcome Cleveland, Boston, or Orlando?

50 wins - can they do it?

[ATLNY7]

I think the hawks will get 50 wins this upcoming season.

[Plainview1981]

44-38

[MaceCase]

52-30

[h2t]

Assuming we get a quality big...

54-28...4th behind Cle, Bos, Orl. We get knocked out of the 2nd round again by Cle. Woody finally gets his *ss s*** canned. We resign Joe + replace Mo + add more depth in the frontcourt and make a serious championship run in 2010 with someone who has a clue at the helm.

imho

Edited July 29, 2009 by h2t

[Deeman]

44-38

Why do you think we are getting worse?

[gsuteke]

Why do you think we are getting worse?

New to the site Deeman?

J/K

[WraithSentinel]

According to this we are just filling a mediocre roster again.

http://www.realgm.co...p?f=10&t=933271

Edited July 30, 2009 by UltimaDragonReaver

[Brotha2ThaNite]

This FO is starting to do a damn good job at running this team. They are not over spending and keeping good players. Young Players at that! Lets say if we keep this young team together for another 3 to 4 years..... WOW!

Why WOW??? because as this young team get older and better other older good teams get much older and slower

[Admin]

According to this we are just filling a mediocre roster again.

http://www.realgm.co...p?f=10&t=933271

Jeez at first I thought I was reading a Hawks forum but there weren't any posts bashing Woody so I figured out that it was another teams forum.

If we're mediocre what does that make the Bulls?

[MaceCase]

Jeez at first I thought I was reading a Hawks forum but there weren't any posts bashing Woody so I figured out that it was another teams forum.

If we're mediocre what does that make the Bulls?

They're just mad that they are paying Luol "three points better than Marvin" Deng 11mill per year over six seasons.

[lethalweapon3]

Best case: 50-54 wins, Dirty South champs, 2nd seed, trip to the EC Finals

Minimum acceptable: 44-48 wins, middle of the pack (4th-6th seed), trip to the EC Semis... 2 reg season appearances on TNT/ESPN

A couple fewer wins wouldn't be too bad, especially if the Heat (who need Boozer or something else up front) and the Wizards get healthier/better. The division is likely to be more competitive this year.

~lw3

[DrReality]

We've still got to get a big, but if we do, I think would make a significant improvement given that we have everyone together another year with a few strategic upgrades.

[jy23]

Why do you think we are getting worse?

I haven't been on this site long but one thing I've noticed is that there's plenty of negative people here!

[sturt]

Just the mathematics make it increasingly difficult to do better each year, but I think we may have it in us for our first 50-win season based on yet another year of maturity of the younger guys on the team. Getting Crawford is important, but in view of the outstanding year that Flip had, I don't see his contribution as having that much more impact than we'd already enjoyed. Maybe a little, but not much. As we're almost all in agreement, it is critical, though, that we find some beef to come off the bench with some credible minutes the way that Cliff Levingston and Antoinne Carr once did.

Looking at the opposition for 09-10, while others in the conference made notable additions, they also made some notable subtractions... and/or... will be yet another year older...

And having accounted for all of those factors, I think we're easily a playoff team, and perhaps could even slip into the #3 slot without having to depend on luck. If Sund isn't able to acquire some low-post bench support, though, we could just as easily be fighting for the #6 or #7 slot.

[gsuteke]

I haven't been on this site long but one thing I've noticed is that there's plenty of negative people here!

Well post here more often and do your part to drown out the negativity!

[jy23]

Well post here more often and do your part to drown out the negativity!

Plan on it!

[AmishBoy]

I think we'll have the fourth seed and win between 50-55 games. We'll play one of the big three in the second round and fare pretty well in the series. I don't think we can overcome the size of the other teams unless someone on the team becomes a true 1a along with joe johnson. Against the big 3 we have the advantage with Joe Johnson against them all and really that's it. Maybe Josh against Varejao.

Bibby, Nelson, Mo Williams, Rondo

Joe, Delonte West, Ray Allen, Pietrus

Marvin, Vince, Paul Pierce, Lebron

Josh, Garnett, Varejao, Lewis

Horford, Howard, Perkins, Shaq

Damn, now that I've typed this out it looks even worse than I thought, lol. Unless someone steps up in a major way, we will have to platoon it ala the 2004 pistons.

[frosgrim]

If the Hawks don't get another vet 4, then I think we'll stay around 47 wins +/- 2.

Get a vet 4, ala Joe Smith, then I expect 53 +/- 2.

With Smith I think this team challenges for the South. Orlando is still good, but they didn't have the number of key injuries that the Hawks did. Adding Smith, Teague, and Crawford helps the Hawks play through injuries and should allow for our starters to get a little more rest early in the season. This should equal more wins in January and the Spring.

Playoffs:

Hawks 3 seed

Advance to 2nd round and, if healthy, advance to ECF but loose to Cleveland.

At this point I am going to set aside my beliefs about Woodson and let the guy prove to me that he can coach a full roster.

[Packfill]

I think the teams goal should be 50 wins. Barring significant injuries, anything less could be seen as a sign of stagnation.

I think the key to any improvement lies in the frontcourt, at least one of Smith, Williams and Horford needs to take the next step. They are all still young but have sufficient NBA experience that the age excuses are wearing thin.