Chris Webber apologizes

[WraithSentinel]

C-Web said he wrong about the Hawks.

[Joker]

:cant believe:

[High5]

Apologized for what? The Hawks have proven anything yet, unless he said we were going to be the worst team in the league.

[IHeartAtlanta]

I saw this 2 lol

he said he was changing his vote because it was election day, and that we proved something to him tonight :thumbsupsmileyanim:

[Plainview1981]

Apologized for what? The Hawks have proven anything yet, unless he said we were going to be the worst team in the league.

Agreed. The Hawks have played mediocre in the last 3 games. Thery'll have to play better once they start running into teams that are actually good.

[BossTweed]

The only thing I've seen so far from the Hawks that excites me is that they are winning games on the road. They still have a lot to prove though.

Edited November 3, 2010 by BossTweed

[MaceCase]

He apologized for saying that the Hawks are not a playoff team.......Are you guys seriously stating that the Hawks have yet to prove that they are a playoff team?

[TheTruth]

It's 4 games into the season. There are 78 games left to prove something of significance. No one should be drawing ANY conclusions about long-term postseason chances just yet.

[foeteen14]

I'm sticking to my 57-25 prediction

[NineOhTheRino]

He apologized for saying that the Hawks are not a playoff team.......Are you guys seriously stating that the Hawks have yet to prove that they are a playoff team?

I'm changing my vote on the Hawks not being a playoff team too. They're clearly a playoff team, but I'm no way near calling them quality until they look competitive vs the Magic and the Heat with Wade.

[jhay610]

I don't see why people would dismiss the Hawks as not being a playoff team, having returned all the guys, plus a few minor pieces, from the team that earned the #3 seed last year.

I get that they got bounced in an ugly fashion and there are some teams on the rise, but I would be sorely disappointed and surprised if this team missed the postseason, barring some sort of catastrophic scenario with injuries.

This group is in its prime 'window' to hit its ceiling. Whatever that may be, they've already proven at the very least that includes playoff games. They are clearly better than the East's bottom feeders and there is still some separation from that upper tier. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

[NineOhTheRino]

Small sample but still have a better road winning proportion right now than at any point last year. Last year's best was 0.667 when the Hawks won 4 road games out of 6 road games played.

that's +1 for LD.

[Sothron]

I don't think we're better than the teams we'd face in the second round of the playoffs which frankly is all any Hawks fan should care about. If Webber said we wouldn't even make the playoffs this year then he was damn delusional. This team is at the very least a 45-55 win team.

[lethalweapon3]

Now that C-Webb spends so much time here, he has to put up with backing up his grandstanding Hawk statements on the streets, so it's convenient for him to change his mind about playoff contention. He's undoubtedly heard from enough local yokels, given he's already changed his view despite the Hawks not (yet) defeating a certifiable playoff contender.

Knowing him, though, it won't take much for him to change his mind back (say, losing to his favorite team, the Pistons, tonight).

~lw3

[Outlaw]

I'm sticking to my 57-25 prediction

I'm not gonna judge this team until we can prove on Nov. 8 that we wont lose by 60 to the Orlando Magic.

[Wretch]

I'm going to throw this out there...again.

I really don't care that it has been mediocre competition. I also don't care that it's only been a few games. I am excited... I'd be excited if we were 2-2 or 1-3. I was excited before the season began. While I did not approve of hiring LD, for once (in a LONG time) the Hawks have done the right thing.

LD's approach to offense was the ONLY thing that gave me hope during the off season. If you are watching the games now and are excited like I am, then you already know why. The rest of you will figure it out if and when we beat someone that matters convincingly. That's a fair approach. The bottom line though...THIS is the way we HAVE TO play if we are going to be competitive with THIS team. We weren't going anywhere with Woodson's offense.

[Guest]

I'm going to throw this out there...again.

I really don't care that it has been mediocre competition. I also don't care that it's only been a few games. I am excited... I'd be excited if we were 2-2 or 1-3. I was excited before the season began. While I did not approve of hiring LD, for once (in a LONG time) the Hawks have done the right thing.

LD's approach to offense was the ONLY thing that gave me hope during the off season. If you are watching the games now and are excited like I am, then you already know why. The rest of you will figure it out if and when we beat someone that matters convincingly. That's a fair approach. The bottom line though...THIS is the way we HAVE TO play if we are going to be competitive with THIS team. We weren't going anywhere with Woodson's offense.

I agree Wretch....We are three teams that haven't lost a game yet (LA, NO) and the only east team.....LAL hasn't played a decent team yet (maybe Houston but they ate 0-3), NO has played good comp SA being one of them, For all of MIA hype they played Boston and lost, blew out the Magic at home and have played Minny, NJ and Detroit?. Boston beat MIA, lost to CLE who we beat on the road, beat Det and some other flub team.

My optimism for this team is sky high and I'm not worrying about who we gonna play in the playoffs until we get there. It's a long season and I'm gonna enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.

The experts predictions about the Hawks are what they are and I could care less, but they need to give the Hawks some credit since the reasoning behind some of it was "new coach, new offense" ...so far, so good.

[BusBoyIsBack]

I'm going to throw this out there...again.

I really don't care that it has been mediocre competition. I also don't care that it's only been a few games. I am excited... I'd be excited if we were 2-2 or 1-3. I was excited before the season began. While I did not approve of hiring LD, for once (in a LONG time) the Hawks have done the right thing.

LD's approach to offense was the ONLY thing that gave me hope during the off season. If you are watching the games now and are excited like I am, then you already know why. The rest of you will figure it out if and when we beat someone that matters convincingly. That's a fair approach. The bottom line though...THIS is the way we HAVE TO play if we are going to be competitive with THIS team. We weren't going anywhere with Woodson's offense.

That's really the bottom line. People who are skeptics say "this team won 50+ games last year". But that team had a ceiling. A non competitive 2nd round ceiling, because of that stagnant offense which simply cannot work vs the better teams in this league.

Moving the ball on offense, having contributions from a Jeff Teague, those are the ONLY ways we are going to improve in the playoffs. The only way those things were going to happen was the installation of this motion offense which not just puts an emphasis on moving the ball, it's the entire identity of the team. And with young player like Jeff Teague, the only way he was going to improve is if he got playing time. And the only way he can get extensive minutes is a coach willing to let him go through growing pains.

Well we have those things in place. That's why I'm ecstatic. Sure the 5-0 record is great, but more so than the record, I have hope for what we can do in the post-season, not just the regular.

[foeteen14]

I'm not gonna judge this team until we can prove on Nov. 8 that we wont lose by 60 to the Orlando Magic.

i feel ya but that's just one game (if we lose). I just can't understand why we're supposed to take step back this year in the win column. we have the same starting line up that won 53 games last year, with improvements on the bench. we have 3 starting players (josh, marvin, and al) that are still improving yeah some teams did get better, but that means some team got worse, i.e cleveland, who we already beat. i'm not saying we're going to win it all, not when 3 of the 4 best teams in the league are in our conference. i'm just saying 57-25 in the regular season is a given.

[AHF]

i'm just saying 57-25 in the regular season is a given.

I don't think so at all.

(1) Last year's team was unusually healthy and we have to expect more time lost to injuries this season.

(2) This team is learning new systems on both offense and defense. Transition means learning curve which leaves plenty of opportunity for growing pains, unlike last year.

(3) The East is flat out better this year than it has been in quite some time so you have to be better than you were last year just to tread water within the conference.

I am more focused on getting a decent playoff seed and seeing a much more competitive squad in the playoffs this year than focused on the regular season record. 57 wins would be great, but it is far from a given in my mind.