Hope returns

[NineOhTheRino]

Right around the draft deadline I started to lose hope that this team would ever compete for a championship. Seeing another mega-team form started to cloud my outlook for the Hawks. Well the clouds are clearing out. Here are a few simple reasons why I now think the Hawks can compete.

Hard cap coming

• These mega teams will not be able to fill their rosters with a bunch of mid-level ring chasers.
  

Hawks road record

• That's a sign of maturity. Something tells me the these Hawks are behaving more professionally on the road.
  

All of the top-tier EC teams are flawed

• The Heat desperately need a low post presence, take horrible shots late in games, and are extremely predictable on offense.
  
• The Celtics just traded away the main advantage they had over the Hawks. Shaq and Jermaine "Bone-on-Bone" O'Neal are no threat.
  
• The Knicks can't defend a wet paper bag.
  
• Hawks fans hated Iso-Joe. Well Iso-Joe is nothing compared to Iso-Rose. Chicago probably has the most ill-conceived offense in the NBA. All D. Rose in the 4th. Three final words on Bulls: Carlos Boozer Loser.
  
• With Orlando it's not so much about them being flawed but it's about the Hawks now having the ability to extend the defense to guard those wing shooters.
  

I'm not saying the Hawks will win a title. However, I do feel that the Hawks CAN win a title. That's all you want as a fan. Hope!

[txsting]

This is certainly the best chance the Hawks have ever had. We do have hope of EC finals for once. Hopefully we can get and stay healthy because that is a huge part.

So very interested to see what LD is going to do in the playoffs, having never been there before as a head man.

[Admin]

Good post Nino ... although I disagree with the part about the Knicks as I've seen them play stellar defense against 2 very good teams since the trade. I'm skeptical that they can keep it up but they absolutely have enough talent to be as good as us defensively.

[DJlaysitup]

Hard cap coming

• These mega teams will not be able to fill their rosters with a bunch of mid-level ring chasers.

I sincerely hope this is the case! The NFL has survived quite well without having the big market teams in the superbowl every year.

To be honest though, I'm not sure they (league management - especially Stern) will want to lock it down to a real hard cap. They are meddling crooks at heart.

[coachx]

To be honest though, I'm not sure they (league management - especially Stern) will want to lock it down to a real hard cap. They are meddling crooks at heart.

The only way they go to a hard cap is if they raise the salary cap figure by a fair amount. That is the only way, with a hard cap, that NY and Miami (the 2 future money makers for the NBA) can fill out their rosters. If such a thing happens it more of a win for the big market teams and a definite loss to everyone else.

The smaller market teams would never vote for that (if they get a vote) b/c most small market teams have no interest in raising their payrolls and they would lose out on all the profit shareing checks from the big market teams paying luxury tax.

The NBA players and owners should be very careful with this potential strike. The NBA is not as universally loved as the NFL. The fans may not be as quick to jump back on board with the NBA after a strike as they would the NFL.

Edited March 4, 2011 by coachx

[Superiorblogman]

Hard cap is not the way to go, very few things in life are mandatory and a hard cap should not be one. This potential lockout is about the same thing the NFL one is about and that is the owners getting a bigger piece of the pie. The owners are being unrealistic IMO, if you want instant results in a business go be a day trader.

[Joker]

Hard cap and the NBA doesn't make sense. In the NBA, players aren't replaceable. You can have your good RB hurt and the next one is just as good. Outside of Denver, if you lose Lebron to Marvin, the player next time in line is a major downgrade. The NBA isn't what the NFL is since individuals mean a lot more.