This is as good as it gets.

[Gray Mule]

:help wanted3:

Defense. What defense? This is as good as it gets. Most teams, but not all, have the ability to score 100 points on any given night.

When they face the Hawks, they can reach their goal of 100 points. Last night's game is a great example.

Most NBA teams are capable of throwing such a defense against the Hawks that they become flustrated and couldn't throw it in

the ocean from a rowboat. Another great example last night.

When everyone is hot with their shooting, the Hawks ar unstoppable. Sometimes this happens. If some of them are cold, they keep

shooting any way, hoping to warm up. When this happens, they are doomed.

Sure, Hawks have a good record for the season. They have won a lot of games. Have you looked lately at what they have been doing?

Talk about being a day late and a dollar short, that's us.

And, what's with our 6th man of the year? Is he injured and we don't know it? Is he ill? Is he having his own personal pity party

because the Hawks didn't offer him a great extention? The way he's been playing recently, Jeff Teague has played rings around

Crawford. Yet, JT sits on the bench and Crawford plays - - He can't score, but he plays. Why? He'll snap out of it and he's a veteran.

Bullfeathers. If he's not geting the job done, give someone else the opportunity.

I remember an old High School cheer. "When you're hot, you're hot! -- When you're not, you're not! We're hot! You're not!"

Describes our Hawks to a T. When they're hot, shots fall. Those jump shots go in. We rain 3's. We steal the ball.

When we're not, heaven help us. Another loss.

Before the Hawks were torn down and rebuilt from the ground up, they were capable of making the first round of the playofs.

They were borderline, in or out. We're better than that now. Unless we fall flat in the second half, we are playoff bound.

Expect the same results as we have witnessed the last two or three seasons, We get there and that's all.

YEP. THIS IS GOOD AS IT GETS!

:vacation1:

Edited February 17, 2011 by Gray Mule

[Vol4ever]

Dead on analysis Gray. We all know this and the ownership does too. The ball is in ownership's court to make the proper changes.

BTW: At least Woody had the team playing defense.

The chemistry of the Hawks is just not there.

Edited February 17, 2011 by Vol4ever

[MoBetta]

Cosign OP

This team is not gonna get any better.

Hopefully no one goes to the home games so the hawks can be embarrassed for the garbage they put on the floor

[macdaddy]

Wow. I can't believe GrayMule has gone over to the dark side? ASG take note! I don't disagree with much of what you said because their play is bullfeathers. But we are a talented team and better than the Knicks. We all thought the Hawks would struggle out of the gate with the new coach but the truth is that was the honeymoon period. The honeymoon is over and they either decide to get with the program or implode. The last time this team made a major step forward was the trade for Bibby. I think he came in and signaled to the other guys that playing together is better than fighting the coach and bickering all the time. Another trade would be good for this team. Bring some guys in who have been on losing teams and they will show our guys how complacent they have become.

[JackB1]

Agree. Gray is dead on. We have become a team that lives and dies by the jumper. Unfortunately, one of our few inside presence players has also fallen in love with the jumper (Smoove). Horford has also

become more of a jump shooter this season (albeit a pretty good one), but when the jump shots aren't falling, we will lose...plain and simple. That's why the Hawks are so inpredictable. You never know on any

given night if the shots will be falling or not. That's also why we can lose to bad teams. We basically can lose to anyone when the shots aren't falling because we don't have good enough defense to stop anyone

from putting up 90-100 points.

These jump shooting inconsistencies will ultimately prevent us from progressing far in the playoffs. You HAVE to learn other ways to win on nights the shots aren't falling and we all know those nights WILL happen.

At this point the Hawks fate is predetermined. No way we are going to win (4) best of 7 series against quality teams, in a row. Just aint gonna happen. Question is....is there enough time to do something about it this

season? Or do we need some wholesale changes to occur? The sad thing is WE DO HAVE SOME GUYS THAT CAN SCORE WITHOUT JUMP SHOTS!!! Joe can do it, so can Smoove, so can Marvin and so can Horford.

So can Crawford and so can Teague. But night after night we play the jump shot game and roll the dice. Gotta blame coaching for that or having the wrong person as coach, if the player's won't listen. I mean how many

times do we have to hear Drew say "we took too many jump shots" or "we settled for jump shots way too much"? Then the next game and what happens? Smoove is taking 25 footers with 15 secs on the clock once again!

[Wretch]

Dear God.........it is a sad day when the Mule, resident optimist, calls the team mediocre. Can't say I disagree.

There is truly something wrong that needs to be fixed...

[RT3]

Cosign OP

This team is not gonna get any better.

Hopefully no one goes to the home games so the hawks can be embarrassed for the garbage they put on the floor

HA, I saw this coming a while ago, but not Grey Mule, as every post I have ever seen by him has been extremely optimistic. I created this other thread for the same reason.

http://www.hawksquawk.net/community/index.php/topic/355973-i-have-boycotted-the-hawks-until-change-happens/

Sick of the Hawks and sick of being frustrated with them. Just watch them for any entertainment you can get from them and you will not be let down and disappointed, like I used to be.

Edited February 17, 2011 by RT3

[Deeman]

No Super star player - Check

Mediocre defense - Check

Strictly a jump shooting team - Check

When's the last time a team like this won anything? Don't worry i'll wait.

[Seano]

Dear God.........it is a sad day when the Mule, resident optimist, calls the team mediocre. Can't say I disagree.

There is truly something wrong that needs to be fixed...

My thought exactly. Gray was always looking on the bright side of things, and if even HE is seeing something much less than a rosy glow surrounding the Hawks, then we have got problems, Atlanta.

And then the Spirit Group wonder why the Hawks are losing fans and can't keep the building full. Resignation, discouragement and frustration are very powerful things.

[terrell]

Nothing new here. Hawks been mediocre for years. They win just enough to keep us interested. That seems to be good enough for the ASG. We've got 2 good sg's, 2 good pf's, and a bunch of scrubs. That's the Hawks for you. Can you say unbalanced?

[JackB1]

We made no changes in the offseason except a new coach, who seems more like a player's pal, than a true coach. So why should we be surprised?

Expecting different results with the same thing is the definition of "insanity:, isn't it? :)

What remains to be seen.....what is done after our quick exit in the playoffs this year?

[macdaddy]

No Super star player - Check

Mediocre defense - Check

Strictly a jump shooting team - Check

When's the last time a team like this won anything? Don't worry i'll wait.

I figured it out. That year the East won the All Star game and AI was the mvp.

[Gray Mule]

SET AND SATISFIED

That seems to be the answer when trades are brought up. We may be shocked. They may pull off a trade. Don't hold your breath.

Jeff Teague is mentioned. He's the second PG we have drafted and he hasn't worked out. Why? Either the people running the

draft for the Hawks don't know what they are doing or the coaching staff don't know how to develop a PG. Whitchever it is, we're 0-2.

We cxould possible trade JT. Question is, who would really want this second attempt at drafting a PG?

Marvin. Everyone, or almost every one wants Marvin gone. Yet, recently he's been the most consistant productive player on the roster.

Hawk fans, for the most part, will never be satisfied with Marvin, no matter how well he does because he's not CP3.

Josh is our man child, wanna be all star. Love or hate him. He's good. He's great! He's uncoachable. Naw. He's just Josh and He's

never going to change or grow up. He lives in his own world and marches to the beat of his personal drummer. Josh fans would revolt

if you atempted to trade him for a much needed player. In his own mind, at least, He's untouchable.

Crawford and Johnson both run hot and cold. Lately they have been 2 ice cubes. Crawford doesn't have an extention and JJ is being

paid like an all star starter even though he will never sniff that heady aroma. He's a bench player in the NBA all star game and always

will be, if he continues to make it.

Yet with all this, the real question is: Where is the heart? Where is the passion? Last season, JJ was quoted as saying the Hawks didn't

care whether the fans showed up or not. This was the truth, even though they tried to soften and change the meaning. They truly don't care.

Woody taught defense. We have the same players. Now, they don't even understand the word, defense, unless it's the opponents defense

directed at them - - Then they don't know what to do about it. Guess they forgot all they learned. Like a goose. They wake up in a new world

every day. Defense? What's that? We don't understand.

We enter the all star break with an offense that can't hit a shot and a perfect sleepwalk defense. Just in case we might have thought we might

have a chance at a comeback late in our last game, they threw the ball away on three straight trips down the floor. Then, just to show that there

was no panic in them, they ran the shot clock down time and time again when they needed points.

The old man, the eternal optimist, is mad. He's hurt. He would cry if it would do any good. It will not help.

YEP. SET AND SATISFIED. UGH!

:comp_virus:

[Seano]

SET AND SATISFIED

That seems to be the answer when trades are brought up. We may be shocked. They may pull off a trade. Don't hold your breath.

Jeff Teague is mentioned. He's the second PG we have drafted and he hasn't worked out. Why? Either the people running the

draft for the Hawks don't know what they are doing or the coaching staff don't know how to develop a PG. Whitchever it is, we're 0-2.

We cxould possible trade JT. Question is, who would really want this second attempt at drafting a PG?

Marvin. Everyone, or almost every one wants Marvin gone. Yet, recently he's been the most consistant productive player on the roster.

Hawk fans, for the most part, will never be satisfied with Marvin, no matter how well he does because he's not CP3.

Josh is our man child, wanna be all star. Love or hate him. He's good. He's great! He's uncoachable. Naw. He's just Josh and He's

never going to change or grow up. He lives in his own world and marches to the beat of his personal drummer. Josh fans would revolt

if you atempted to trade him for a much needed player. In his own mind, at least, He's untouchable.

Crawford and Johnson both run hot and cold. Lately they have been 2 ice cubes. Crawford doesn't have an extention and JJ is being

paid like an all star starter even though he will never sniff that heady aroma. He's a bench player in the NBA all star game and always

will be, if he continues to make it.

Yet with all this, the real question is: Where is the heart? Where is the passion? Last season, JJ was quoted as saying the Hawks didn't

care whether the fans showed up or not. This was the truth, even though they tried to soften and change the meaning. They truly don't care.

Woody taught defense. We have the same players. Now, they don't even understand the word, defense, unless it's the opponents defense

directed at them - - Then they don't know what to do about it. Guess they forgot all they learned. Like a goose. They wake up in a new world

every day. Defense? What's that? We don't understand.

We enter the all star break with an offense that can't hit a shot and a perfect sleepwalk defense. Just in case we might have thought we might

have a chance at a comeback late in our last game, they threw the ball away on three straight trips down the floor. Then, just to show that there

was no panic in them, they ran the shot clock down time and time again when they needed points.

The old man, the eternal optimist, is mad. He's hurt. He would cry if it would do any good. It will not help.

YEP. SET AND SATISFIED. UGH!

:comp_virus:

I wish the ASG would read this, Gray Mule. It's very illuminating and very sobering when lifelong fans and eternal optimists such as as yourself are just becoming completely turned off by what's going on (or more accurately, what's NOT going on) with these Atlanta Hawks. Like I say, fatalism and resignation is setting in amongst this team's staunchest fans (and I would include everyone taking the the time, care and effort to post on this message board as being in that group.), and that's a big, big problem.