Do We Have A Chance against against the big 3?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Who said that he wasn't? Did u read the post? I said and i quote " we just don't know how carter is going to react with this team"! When has he ever had a post guy to play along with? Toronto? New Jersey? Yes, Kobe LBJ JJ, hell lets throw in MJ while we're at it, they all need the ball to be effective. Hence........what post guy did Mike have on his team EVER who demanded the ball in the post, or LBJ or JJ.....Kobe had Shaq when he was younger and still HATED the situation. We're talking about 2s and 3s here, we're not talking about a Magic or someone like that who plays to get others involved. Having a great player in the post completely changes the game, it could work and make them a great team but we jsut don't know exactly how its going to work out. Carter could come in as the vet who just cares about winning the ship and defers to everyone else on the team, OR he could come in as a guy who's been forgotten about the last couple of years and now that he's back in the spotlight could try and light it up. The first one is more likely to happen but who knows?

I think the one thing you need to understand about Howard, is that he is a great player . . . but not necessarily a great "offensive" player.

Howard is a great "all-around" player. But he's not a guy who demands the ball in the post, ala what some of the great scoring post players did in the past ( Moses Malone, Olajuwon, Kareem, Shaq [ in his prime ], etc ). Howard's offensive game should keep getting better and better, but we'll see if he's a guy that is going to consistently dominate a game offensively. Believe it or not, Lewis, Nelson, and Hedo had more FGA per game than Howard did last year. I think the same thing may occur this year, with Lewis, Nelson, and Carter. Carter will definitely take more shots than Howard, and he'll be the guy the Magic go to at the end of close games.

If anything, Howard will make Carter an even more efficient player, because if Carter drives the ball, and Howard's man rotates over to stop him, Carter will pass that ball to Howard. On the flip side . . if Carter's man cheats off of him to go double Howard, it'll be up to Howard to kick the ball back out to Carter for the wide open jumper, which Carter will knock down. But that's not really part of Howard's game yet, seeing that he didn't even average 2 assists last year.

I'd be shocked if Carter didn't have a fantastic season next year, because Howard should make the game much easier for him . . . like how Gasol did for Kobe.

[LordOfNYork]

Uhm, didn't we almost beat them 2 years ago ? With a younger, depthless team ? I understand being cynical, but you're not even being realistic. Who's your team ? Because it's certainly not the Hawks. You're worse than Hotlanta 1981, at least some of what he says is rooted in reality. It seems your only purpose is to come around and knock the Hawks.

My team are the knicks sir and you being a hawks fan I encourage you not to be so hopeful and say things like "we almost beat them." Yeah and so did Chicago last year and Miami to the Hawks last season. I never understood why people used "almost" in sports to make themselves feel more secure with their team.

1. That was 2 yrs ago and Boston's 1st year playing together

2. Rondo and Big Baby are much better

3. They have a veteran Rasheed Wallace who has countless post-season experience

And I'm trying to be as realistic as possible. I don't come come here and bash them. I'm simply comparing the hawks line-up to the top 3 and in reality they do not match up well. And if you noticed in the NBA playoffs, it's all about match-ups. LOL it's not like the NCAA where a #6 seed team can get hot at the end of the season and carry it through the whole tournament. If you read my other posts I'm actually rooting for the hawks to go deep in the playoffs because I live here now and I'd like to see a playoff game. Something I haven't gotten from my own team...I can't stand Boston and Cleveland, but they are what they are...Better than the hawks. If playoffs started today, could you as a hawks fan confidently say we gonna beat Boston, Cleveland, or Orlando in 6? Other the other hand the big 3 fan w/o any hesitation probably wouldn't be too worried about the Hawks because they know what pieces they have on their team...Hawks fan are more like, "let's hope woody does this" or "lets hope josh stay within his game", "lets hope bibby's jumper is on", "lets hope joe can get it going." Reality vs hoping

[jy23]

I think the one thing you need to understand about Howard, is that he is a great player . . . but not necessarily a great "offensive" player.

Howard is a great "all-around" player. But he's not a guy who demands the ball in the post, ala what some of the great scoring post players did in the past ( Moses Malone, Olajuwon, Kareem, Shaq [ in his prime ], etc ). Howard's offensive game should keep getting better and better, but we'll see if he's a guy that is going to consistently dominate a game offensively. Believe it or not, Lewis, Nelson, and Hedo had more FGA per game than Howard did last year. I think the same thing may occur this year, with Lewis, Nelson, and Carter. Carter will definitely take more shots than Howard, and he'll be the guy the Magic go to at the end of close games.

If anything, Howard will make Carter an even more efficient player, because if Carter drives the ball, and Howard's man rotates over to stop him, Carter will pass that ball to Howard. On the flip side . . if Carter's man cheats off of him to go double Howard, it'll be up to Howard to kick the ball back out to Carter for the wide open jumper, which Carter will knock down. But that's not really part of Howard's game yet, seeing that he didn't even average 2 assists last year.

I'd be shocked if Carter didn't have a fantastic season next year, because Howard should make the game much easier for him . . . like how Gasol did for Kobe.

I agree, all I keep saying is that we just dont know how its going to work. We can say all day what we think is going to happen and I agree with you but we just don't know. The ? was do we have a chance against the big 3, yeah we have a CHANCE and for us to have that chance against Orlando I think we need them to not gel with each other, thats all I was saying.

[Crank]

My team are the knicks sir and you being a hawks fan I encourage you not to be so hopeful and say things like "we almost beat them." Yeah and so did Chicago last year and Miami to the Hawks last season. I never understood why people used "almost" in sports to make themselves feel more secure with their team.

1. That was 2 yrs ago and Boston's 1st year playing together

2. Rondo and Big Baby are much better

3. They have a veteran Rasheed Wallace who has countless post-season experience

And I'm trying to be as realistic as possible. I don't come come here and bash them. I'm simply comparing the hawks line-up to the top 3 and in reality they do not match up well. And if you noticed in the NBA playoffs, it's all about match-ups. LOL it's not like the NCAA where a #6 seed team can get hot at the end of the season and carry it through the whole tournament. If you read my other posts I'm actually rooting for the hawks to go deep in the playoffs because I live here now and I'd like to see a playoff game. Something I haven't gotten from my own team...I can't stand Boston and Cleveland, but they are what they are...Better than the hawks. If playoffs started today, could you as a hawks fan confidently say we gonna beat Boston, Cleveland, or Orlando in 6? Other the other hand the big 3 fan w/o any hesitation probably wouldn't be too worried about the Hawks because they know what pieces they have on their team...Hawks fan are more like, "let's hope woody does this" or "lets hope josh stay within his game", "lets hope bibby's jumper is on", "lets hope joe can get it going." Reality vs hoping

So wait why Rondo and Big bay are much better but none of the Hawks players have improved ?

Why do we have to say we are gonna be that them in 6 ? why cant it be 7 ?

Im sure the Cavs thought they would beat Orlando with homecourt didnt they but they lost in 6 . Its a reason why they play the games . To admit defeat before even playing game is a losers mentality . Any of the top 4 seeds can beat each other in a 7 game series it really becomes a matter of who is playing there best ball at the time the series occurs .If we are playing our best ball we can beat any of those teams . Its no different in the west with Por,La,SA,and Den any of those teams can beat each when they are playing their best ball and thats not hoping vs reality thats just the reality. You are talking as though we are an 8th seed who made it in on a tie breaker or something . Our expectations of growth are in no way abnormal and should be expected of a young team growing while making the playoffs .

[EazyRoc]

My team are the knicks sir and you being a hawks fan I encourage you not to be so hopeful and say things like "we almost beat them." Yeah and so did Chicago last year and Miami to the Hawks last season. I never understood why people used "almost" in sports to make themselves feel more secure with their team.

1. That was 2 yrs ago and Boston's 1st year playing together

2. Rondo and Big Baby are much better

3. They have a veteran Rasheed Wallace who has countless post-season experience

And I'm trying to be as realistic as possible. I don't come come here and bash them. I'm simply comparing the hawks line-up to the top 3 and in reality they do not match up well. And if you noticed in the NBA playoffs, it's all about match-ups. LOL it's not like the NCAA where a #6 seed team can get hot at the end of the season and carry it through the whole tournament. If you read my other posts I'm actually rooting for the hawks to go deep in the playoffs because I live here now and I'd like to see a playoff game. Something I haven't gotten from my own team...I can't stand Boston and Cleveland, but they are what they are...Better than the hawks. If playoffs started today, could you as a hawks fan confidently say we gonna beat Boston, Cleveland, or Orlando in 6? Other the other hand the big 3 fan w/o any hesitation probably wouldn't be too worried about the Hawks because they know what pieces they have on their team...Hawks fan are more like, "let's hope woody does this" or "lets hope josh stay within his game", "lets hope bibby's jumper is on", "lets hope joe can get it going." Reality vs hoping

Boston was without their MVP, Kevin Garnett. We also had our own injuries to deal with. The Hawks young players are improved, just like Rondo and Big Baby. I, as a Hawks fan, can say we would beat Boston in a playoff match up if the playoffs started tomorrow. I can't say that as confidently with the other two, but they can be beaten.

[LordOfNYork]

So wait why Rondo and Big bay are much better but none of the Hawks players have improved ?

Why do we have to say we are gonna be that them in 6 ? why cant it be 7 ?

Im sure the Cavs thought they would beat Orlando with homecourt didnt they but they lost in 6 . Its a reason why they play the games . To admit defeat before even playing game is a losers mentality . Any of the top 4 seeds can beat each other in a 7 game series it really becomes a matter of who is playing there best ball at the time the series occurs .If we are playing our best ball we can beat any of those teams . Its no different in the west with Por,La,SA,and Den any of those teams can beat each when they are playing their best ball and thats not hoping vs reality thats just the reality. You are talking as though we are an 8th seed who made it in on a tie breaker or something . Our expectations of growth are in no way abnormal and should be expected of a young team growing while making the playoffs .

Well Rondo and Big Baby have improved and all I hear is Boston is getting too old blah blah and can't handle the Hawks youth. Joe isn't getting any younger, Bibby isn't and Josh is getting any smarter. And I say 6 because most of you are so sure about your team, so if you're so sure then say we'll beat them in 6...Ok, the Hawks like any other team has chance to beat the top 3, you guys are right. But I simply don't think they have the matchups or maturity to take care of any of the top 3.

Boston was without their MVP, Kevin Garnett. We also had our own injuries to deal with. The Hawks young players are improved, just like Rondo and Big Baby. I, as a Hawks fan, can say we would beat Boston in a playoff match up if the playoffs started tomorrow. I can't say that as confidently with the other two, but they can be beaten.

You're right they were w/o KG, but chicago had a rookie pg and no Deng. From the outsider looking in (me) I don't see this team improving too much with other teams like Bulls, Wizards, Raptors behind them. That series with Miami was atrocious! I just think they're too inconsistent