So, what do you think now?

[Gray Mule]

:write a letter:

Now that the excitement of the off season is winding down, now that we know what our roster

is going to look like, for the most part, unless there is an unexpected trade, what do you think?

On paper, the Hawks look much stronger in the second unit. And, the five starters from last season

are still with us.

Questions that, for the most part, that must wait for the season. Questions that will determine how

the Hawks will stack up against the rest of the league.

Can we remain healthy? Injuries can wreck a promising season. Time will tell.

Can our new, rookie PG really play at this level AND will Woody trust him enough to give him the

opportunity to develop his skills in actual game conditions? IE, will he use him?

Will Woody be able to overcome his mental block. "Hawks can't win unless JJ is on the floor at all times."

He would never say this, but his actions show that he really believes this. Maybe he's correct in this.

Maybe the Hawks can't win with JJ spending any time on the bench.

With the addition of two big men, will our inside defense and rebounding improve? Will their age slow

down the opportunity to play the speed game? How fast are they?

Will our "Flip" replacement be able to play enough defense to balance out his expected offense? Will

he even get on the floor if he is expected to be the relief player for JJ? Or, will he play the point or only

come in when JJ move to small foreward?

How large will our rotation be with all the new second unit guys?

Will our young veterans improve? Another year's NBA experience and another year together as a unit

bodes well for this to happen.

So many questions and we can only guess at the answers right now.

If this year's team survives the regular season and makes the playoffs, which we all expect right now,

what are the chances to go far? Can we survive more than one round?

And, what would be the point in all these questions from me without asking the very important one - - -

"Can this team of professionea, highly paid NBA players, consistantly hit their free throws?"

:helpsmilie:

[ATLNY7]

I really hope they improve their free throw shooting dramastically.

[ATLSmith]

I really hope they improve their free throw shooting dramastically.

Oh man, they were terrible at the line in some games. I think they lost at least 5 due to poor free throw shooting alone. They also had lots of problems defending quick guards and we didn't realy add a palyer to help with this other than Teague.

Gray Mule, I can't wait for the season to start. Like most people here I'm interested to see how Teague and Crawford fit into the team. Also want to see what improvements our 3 "young" guys have made. I don't want to get my hopes up but I have visions of Horford owning the boards and being more his consistant with his mid range jump shots, Josh Smith abandoning the 3 pointer and taking it the basket with a greatly improved post game while still making the occasional mid range shot, Marvin killing teams from behind the arch then burning them when they leave him open in the post.

What I'm looking forward to more than anything is watching Crawford come in at point when JJ is constantly double-teamed. Then having both JJ and Crawford abuse the opposing guards. You know this is going to happen in at least one game this year. <evil grin>

I'm not terribly concerned with the Hawks record during the regular season as long as they make the playoffs. I'd like them to get 50 wins but won't complain if they don't. I can see them getting to the Eastern Conference finals in the playoffs but winning the whole thing will be tough this year but possible next year if Sund keeps improving the team.

Yip, this season is going to be fun to watch.

[DrReality]

I think the potential pairings with our bigs is very interesting: Za and Al, Al and Joe S, Al and Colins, Za and Joe S, etc. Totally different look for us and can move guys around to different positions to play different styles and to match-up with opponents. Hope Woody listens to his assistants about how to do this.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

:write a letter:

Now that the excitement of the off season is winding down, now that we know what our roster

is going to look like, for the most part, unless there is an unexpected trade, what do you think?

On paper, the Hawks look much stronger in the second unit. And, the five starters from last season

are still with us.

Questions that, for the most part, that must wait for the season. Questions that will determine how

the Hawks will stack up against the rest of the league.

Can we remain healthy? Injuries can wreck a promising season. Time will tell.

Can our new, rookie PG really play at this level AND will Woody trust him enough to give him the

opportunity to develop his skills in actual game conditions? IE, will he use him?

Will Woody be able to overcome his mental block. "Hawks can't win unless JJ is on the floor at all times."

He would never say this, but his actions show that he really believes this. Maybe he's correct in this.

Maybe the Hawks can't win with JJ spending any time on the bench.

With the addition of two big men, will our inside defense and rebounding improve? Will their age slow

down the opportunity to play the speed game? How fast are they?

Will our "Flip" replacement be able to play enough defense to balance out his expected offense? Will

he even get on the floor if he is expected to be the relief player for JJ? Or, will he play the point or only

come in when JJ move to small foreward?

How large will our rotation be with all the new second unit guys?

Will our young veterans improve? Another year's NBA experience and another year together as a unit

bodes well for this to happen.

So many questions and we can only guess at the answers right now.

If this year's team survives the regular season and makes the playoffs, which we all expect right now,

what are the chances to go far? Can we survive more than one round?

And, what would be the point in all these questions from me without asking the very important one - - -

"Can this team of professionea, highly paid NBA players, consistantly hit their free throws?"

:helpsmilie:

All I know is that over the years ( even last year ) . . when JJ went to the bench, this team seemed to totally come apart at the seams on both offense and defense. You'd see 9 point leads quickly shrink to 2 point leads . . and 2 point decifits baloon to 9 point leads . . when JJ is out of a game.

How well Jamal Crawford plays will determine how much rest JJ can get on a game by game basis. He can't come into a game in the 2nd quarter while JJ is out, and go 1 - 5 FG during a 4 - 6 minute stretch. That's how runs start.

[AnakinJoe]

Woody needs to be more aggressive with our leads and stop playing an NBA-version of Dean Smith's 4-corners when we have a lead. If we could take some of those 7 point leads early in the 4th quarter to 15 points, then JJ will play fewer minutes. But Woody seemingly goes into prevent defense in those scenarios and is forced to play Joe late into games because we are maintaining a 2-3 possession lead. With Collins on this team, Crawford should always have at least 2 above avergae defenders on the floor with him at all times (Collins plus any starter from the front court) and that should allow Joe to rest while Jamal provides the offense.

One way or another, it should be fun to watch it all come together.

[Swatguy]

Woody needs to be more aggressive with our leads and stop playing an NBA-version of Dean Smith's 4-corners when we have a lead. If we could take some of those 7 point leads early in the 4th quarter to 15 points, then JJ will play fewer minutes. But Woody seemingly goes into prevent defense in those scenarios and is forced to play Joe late into games because we are maintaining a 2-3 possession lead. With Collins on this team, Crawford should always have at least 2 above avergae defenders on the floor with him at all times (Collins plus any starter from the front court) and that should allow Joe to rest while Jamal provides the offense.

One way or another, it should be fun to watch it all come together.

There were times we ran more without Joe on the court. But as you know, defense and rebounding is the key to running. Woody is no dummy, he knows the best way to win is to hammer teams when you have them down. Thus, more aggressive with the second unit. If Teague is as promoted, his blinkism with Jamal on the court may expand leads in the second and early forth quarters that we have not consistantly seen. A step up with frontcourt guys Jason, Randy and Othello, pushing Zaza, JoeS and Al look promising.

As we go, Josh and Marvin are now the unknown difference makers. Those two have so so much potential it is scary.

One more guard on the roster, then lock it down at 14. Silar can force Sund to sign 15, but we need another guard.

[sillent]

As we go, Josh and Marvin are now the unknown difference makers. Those two have so so much potential it is scary.

I AGREE!!

One more guard on the roster, then lock it down at 14. Silar can force Sund to sign 15, but we need another guard.

The way we been making needed moves this summer make me feel like if we needed another guard we would have another guard. Sund/Woody must be even higher on Teague than we expect to not resign Flip. I think Sund has been filling all the gaps for Woodson this year to see if he is actually the coach we need him to be or if we should start looking for other options. Just saying I think if we really needed another guard we would have one. Unless u mean shooting guard(not undersized) and in that case I would get West/Green or both and they can handle the 1-3 in sparring back up minutes.

[DrReality]

It's well documented that we had little offense when the first team was on the floor. But when the second squad took over there was no offense other than Flip doing his thing, I sure hope that changes.

And Woody has to sit JJ more and this will give Craw time to do his thing.