Hawks' impending fall

[benhillboy]

No matter what moves we make (more than likely none) I'm really looking forward to the two games in the early part of March vs. the Bulls. We aren't winning our division as long as LeBron's here, Dwight should be gone to the West soon, the Celtics should disband soon, the Knicks or Nets don't scare me at all with 1-dimensional Melo, and all the other franchises like the Pacers and Pistons, although better overall franchises, have a ways to go to achieve our level of consistency (on a slight tangent, the Pistons have about 6 guys who can get you 20 easily. WTF is wrong? Size and coaching?). Our most equal competitor for seeding are the Bullsfor the next 5 years. They go as far as Rose, then Booz and Noah takes them, which is sadly much further than Al, then Joe and Josh can in terms of the rest of the field. But if we can sweep them head-to-head, I'll have a much more positive outlook on this team than I do now, especially this postseason. I usually don't put much stock into competition triangles, but if we beat the Bulls twice, who bludgeoned the Spurs, who we've never beaten, then I'd probably give the Hawks a clean slate vs. The new look Magic in a first round matchup.

Edited February 21, 2011 by benhillboy

[Dejay]

It's time for changes. You don't get swept 2 years in a row and bring back essentially the same team and same coaching staff. Our team may surprise. I'm hoping for a strong 2nd half. But if we're going to get serious about winning, then we have to make moves that say we're serious. If this group of owners/management is too cheap or too timid to make those moves...then they need to step away from the team and let someone else do it. Honestly, I think that's the only thing that's going to make a difference.

I think in the next few days, we're going to get a real look at what we have to look forward to here for the next few years. One of the world's worst kept secrets is that the Hawks, as currently constructed, is a fatally flawed bunch, a culmination of the BK error (spelled correctly). We here at HS, RealGM, Peachtree Hoops, hell, every Hawks-related forum and blog out there knew back in July that a move or two had to made in order for them to have a shot at taking the next step. We all knew that bringing in a bunch of end-of-the-bench, minimum-salary guys, wasn't going to be nearly enough, especially after just about every decent team in the East went after REAL players.

We all know that the team can't seriously contend for anything but a speed bump in the second round for Boston or Miami (and that's with the assumption that they get by Orlando, which no one will bet their mortgage payments on them doing) and those squads know it, too. Why you think the both of them are fighting soooo hard to get the top seed? Get Doc or Eric Spolstra in a 'room of truth' and they'll both tell you that they're praying for a Hawks upset of Orlando. That way, they'll have a 'bye' into the conference finals while the other one fights to the death with Chicago because everyone will assume that the Hawks will simply fold like they always do in the second round (the Omni was still around the last time they won a game that deep in the playoffs).

Hey, Mr. Gearon, your dirty little secret is out and we didn't need Dale Russell from the I-Team to expose it; your team is who we THOUGHT they were. Oh, BTW, using the same, tired, 'well, we're better than what we were in 2004' line doesn't fly in a town like this, where 80+% of the locals stubbornly hold on to their hometown allegiences with grips of steel. We've seen sooooo much losing in this town, especially in the playoffs, that we can easily discern a phony from the real McCoy. Just ask Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, or John Smoltz; they'll testify. If anyone ever wondered why the Braves had such a hard time selling playoff tickets, just check the timeline. They didn't have that problem until AFTER the free-spending Ted Turner was given the boot, only to be replaced by the penny-pinching beancounters at AOL and now the penny-pinching, 'you people don't buy enough $7 beers for us to spend like that' guys at Liberty Media, who could give two hoots about the team as long as they can still take their wives on their 18th vacation cruise this year.

With that kind of backdrop, did Michael Gearon and the Notorious A.S.G. actually thought that the Hawks and Thrashers had a shot to fool the masses here? They couldn't even lie right about whether they were trying to sell the hockey club, let alone trick us into thinking that the Hawks were 'elite' as Rick Sund once suggested.

I've said it before and I'll say it again; the biggest enemy of greatness is the satisfaction of being good. That's been the Hawks M.O. since the day they arrived from St. Louis over 40 years ago. Only once in my lifetime do I recall them saying 'screw it, let's roll the dice' and that was in the summer of 1988 when they traded for Reggie Theus and signed Moses Malone. After that didn't work out, they've relented on being no more than a sideshow like WCW used to be; something to get the patrons by in the winter, while hopefully making a dollar while doing it. Ask Gearon or Levenson about the teams; the first thing they mention isn't how far/close they are to bringing a title home to Atlanta. It's about how many people should be going to the games because they win, albeit not nearly on the same level with the teams we usually see in June.

Folks, that might cut it in Sac Town, Salt Lake, or Portland where the NBA is the only game in town but as I stated a few minutes ago, that's not enough to sell the masses who saw this act in the Roundfield years, the last half of the Nique era, or the latter part of the Smitty/Deke/Mookie years. It's time for a new direction and unfortunately, I don't think this ownership group has the wherewithal to pull it off.

GAME, SET, MATCH.

[Vol4ever]

Lot of good posts on this thread. I've been an ardent fan since the late 70s. I dont know if it is age or what but I am getting along with other old timers on this site pretty frustrated with this ownership group. There is NO way this team can compete at the ECF level, this year or the next 5 years with this roster. I dont happen to think LD is a very good coach, but with the right players he might be ok. The chemistry that I read about might be there goofing off while in practice and etc, but it IS NOT there on the floor.

If in fact the Hawks dont make a major move by the deadline on Thursday to improve this team and shake things up, I'm just gonna focus on racing season and check in every few days. I will always be a Hawk fan but this is getting really aggravating with the ignorance displayed by the entire Hawks organization.

Edited February 22, 2011 by Vol4ever