Official Poll: What will the outcome of the Hawks - Bulls series be?

[Admin]

Just want to get the official thoughts of the Hawksquawk community before the big series starts.

[Wretch]

LOL! I've been waiting for this thread!

Finishing in the 4-5 spot was a blessing in disguise. No we didn't get home court, but we don't have to see Boston or Miami in the 2nd round. We get Chicago. YES, the best team in the East, but a team that we match up well with I think.

Noah is a hell of an energy player and a good rebounder, but he's not the force in the middle that Dwight is. That means JJ should have an easier time getting his shot off in the paint. I expect to see that floater fall and I'm going with him for series MVP.

I don't think these will be close games. I knew it would be tough against the Magic because we're giving up offense to defend Dwight. Their defense on Joe, and on the perimeter in general, was very good. It won't be so easy for Chicago. I think the average margin of victory will be 6-10 points.

Biggest disappointment will be Marvin. He hasn't shown up (consistently) over the past 2 years. I don't expect him to show up again. If LD has any coaching ability at all, he'll move Josh's *ss closer to the basket so he can defend and rebound - it will be HUGE in trying to contain DRose. I think Smoove will have finally figured it out - a little bit, and thus won't be a disappointment. I expect Al to step up, this thing is going to be big between him and Noah. Crawford and Hinrich will have a decent series. It'll get scrappy, which means ZaZa will have some key moments.

We'll win it in 6 and see Boston in the ECFs! lol OMG...did I just say that?!?!?!

[Guest]

Biggest disappointment will be Marvin. He hasn't shown up (consistently) over the past 2 years.

I gotta disagree. There was a point in the game today that they showed Marvin in a close-up right after he made a three and it shocked the hell out of me. He showed a real live game face. He was angry, pissed-off and looking to go ham. I almost spilled my drink. I think he is primed to go off provided he doesn't have to end up defending D-Rose because our players are too lazy to rotate.

[niremetal]

I think he is primed to go off provided he doesn't have to end up defending D-Rose because our players are too lazy to rotate.

Or because Hinrich is out and we have to rotate JJ, Teague, Damien, and Marvin on Rose...

I'm praying, PRAYING that it's just a minor sprain to Kirk's knee. We need him to check D-Rose as much or more than we needed Collins to check Howard.

Edited April 29, 2011 by niremetal

[Admin]

I gotta disagree. There was a point in the game today that they showed Marvin in a close-up right after he made a three and it shocked the hell out of me. He showed a real live game face. He was angry, pissed-off and looking to go ham. I almost spilled my drink. I think he is primed to go off provided he doesn't have to end up defending D-Rose because our players are too lazy to rotate.

I caught that too and thought it was awesome! He looked mean as hell no doubt.

Now we gotta see what he's all about by d-ing up a much improved Deng.

[Wretch]

I gotta disagree. There was a point in the game today that they showed Marvin in a close-up right after he made a three and it shocked the hell out of me. He showed a real live game face. He was angry, pissed-off and looking to go ham. I almost spilled my drink. I think he is primed to go off provided he doesn't have to end up defending D-Rose because our players are too lazy to rotate.

I'll give him his moment. He did it tonight and I got no problems with that... But he has those shots ALL the time and I need to see that shot got down and him making that face every game. lol I anticipate throwing the couch pillow at the screen more often in this series because we'll see him more, but I will be MORE than happy to eat some crow in the coming weeks!

[Hawked]

This is going to be a tough series.

At least we can tell Derrick Rose that Jameer said Hello :D

[T21]

Feel free to call me crazy, but I honestly believe that we're better team than the Bulls!

If Crawford and JJ have a good series we'll win it! Al & Josh can feast on Looser and Noah, plus I think we're deeper team...

We'll have to design a team-defense model to limit Rose's impact, 'cause he's obviously the greatest threat.

[GST]

I think the common complaint is going to be "Why does LD keep playing Crawford at the point?" Because of Hinrich's injury, I don't feel good about this one at all.

[Sothron]

I don't think we can beat the Bulls in a seven game series because quite honestly this team goes through stretches of dead ball, no passing, Iso Joe/Iso Craw and it kills the offense. We can't do that against the Bulls. We are flat out a better team than Orlando and the playoffs showed that. But the Bulls are a different story. We need 48 minutes of smart TEAM basketball to win and I just don't think we can do that.

[Wretch]

I don't think we can beat the Bulls in a seven game series because quite honestly this team goes through stretches of dead ball, no passing, Iso Joe/Iso Craw and it kills the offense. We can't do that against the Bulls. We are flat out a better team than Orlando and the playoffs showed that. But the Bulls are a different story. We need 48 minutes of smart TEAM basketball to win and I just don't think we can do that.

I agree with your first sentence Soth, but the thing about Chicago is that they really aren't a good offensive team. It was a dangerous thing against Orlando because they have so many shooters and such a dominant presence in the middle. Chicago has Rose and that's about it. Boozer and Deng are ok, but if we can at least play solid D, we'll be able to grind out a victory. If we play smart on both ends, I really don't see much of a series.

[frosgrim]

I wonder if we can add Drew to the disappointing list.

My fear:

Hinrich is out pretty much the whole series.

What does Drew do? It would seem you would have to play Teague significant minutes, but my gut says JT doesn't see the floor. I'm not saying that JT is a savior, but he is at least a better option than having Craw on Rose. :Nail Biting:

Overall, i do think the Hawks CAN win this if they play, smart team ball. Get rid of the damn iso plays and keep the ball swinging.

Horford can have a Dwight-like series v. Noah. He just has to commit to being a beast in the low block and the team has to commit to getting him the ball.

[Admin]

I wonder if we can add Drew to the disappointing list.

My fear:

Hinrich is out pretty much the whole series.

What does Drew do? It would seem you would have to play Teague significant minutes, but my gut says JT doesn't see the floor. I'm not saying that JT is a savior, but he is at least a better option than having Craw on Rose. :Nail Biting:

Overall, i do think the Hawks CAN win this if they play, smart team ball. Get rid of the damn iso plays and keep the ball swinging.

Horford can have a Dwight-like series v. Noah. He just has to commit to being a beast in the low block and the team has to commit to getting him the ball.

I think that Teague will get playing time against the Bulls. Teague played 10mpg against them this season and averaged 7.3 points, 1.3 assists and 0.7 blocks so he's shown that he can be effective and I believe that we'll need his ability to break down the D as well as needing him to use some fouls against Rose.

[frosgrim]

I think that Teague will get playing time against the Bulls. Teague played 10mpg against them this season and averaged 7.3 points, 1.3 assists and 0.7 blocks so he's shown that he can be effective and I believe that we'll need his ability to break down the D as well as needing him to use some fouls against Rose.

I suppose we can think of JT as playing the Collins role for this series. Hopefully LD sees it that way.

[Hawkxan1]

The only reason I picked Jamal to be most disappointing is because he's going to (mostly) have Brewer and Bogans on him. Bogans will hound him and Brewer will bully him and force bad shots.

I picked Al to be MVP because he's played with Joakim, and if he gets any time at PF he'll abuse Boozer.

Anyways, Hawks in 7 here we commmmmmmme :superman:

[mudderfudder77]

I agree with your first sentence Soth, but the thing about Chicago is that they really aren't a good offensive team. It was a dangerous thing against Orlando because they have so many shooters and such a dominant presence in the middle. Chicago has Rose and that's about it. Boozer and Deng are ok, but if we can at least play solid D, we'll be able to grind out a victory. If we play smart on both ends, I really don't see much of a series.

FWIW - The Bulls finished 11th in Offensive rating (Atlanta was 20th) and the Bulls were tied for first in Defensive rating (Atlanta was 13th). While i certianly don't think the Bulls offense is great - its not bad.

I don't think either team can say this is going to be an easy series, and I'm really confused as to how you can believe that Atlanta is going to run away with it.

[mrhonline]

I'm not "voting my head" in this one because I genuinely have no clue.

The only "sample" we have are three games closely grouped together in March, a time when the Hawks were trying to work a new PG into the rotation. Plus, even by the Hawks' up-and-down standards, two of those games scream "OUTLIER!"

Gonna go with my homer heart on this one:

Hawks in 4 blowout wins.

[Supporter]

The Hawks have to rely on momentum, heart, and hustle to grind out 4 HUGE wins. Let's face it, Chicago, like Orlando yet again has the Best player on the floor in MVP Derrick Rose. They are the more talented team but we have to be the team that is more scrappier. I say that the key to winning this game is rebounding.

[Wretch]

do

FWIW - The Bulls finished 11th in Offensive rating (Atlanta was 20th) and the Bulls were tied for first in Defensive rating (Atlanta was 13th). While i certianly don't think the Bulls offense is great - its not bad.

I don't think either team can say this is going to be an easy series, and I'm really confused as to how you can believe that Atlanta is going to run away with it.

Let me clarify. I don't mean to say that they have a "bad" offense. They don't have a potent offense. They may be efficient, just as Al Horford is one of the most efficient scorers in the league, but like AL...they don't score a lot of points. In fact, they are at the bottom of the league in that regard. Moreover, if Rose doesn't score like he does, they'd probably be at THE bottom of the league in points scored.

Where they have NO issues is defensively. They won't win by torching us, although that can happen if we don't play defense and lay down like we have done in the past. They will win because THEY are at the top of the league in defense and rebounding. I absolutely love it - defense is probably my favorite part of the game. However, the Hawks are not a defensive slouch.

We have a middling overall defensive rating, according to your source, but it is well known that we have one of THE BEST perimeter defensive ratings. We also have a phenom at PF/SF that has been all but forgotten because he's pretty much gone away from what made him special - and he is the only player, in the history of the league, to do what he has done at his size and his age. People forget that (just like they have slept on Joe). But there was a time when Josh Smith was feared. He was arguably the MVP of this team - and that was with JJ scoring 20+ clutch points per game. Chicago doesn't have anything like him and if we get Josh to return to that form, it will be very interesting indeed.

Chicago has played well all year and have gained respect. The Hawks have not played up to their potential, and are being undersold. If the Hawks play up to their potential, I don't think the Bulls can match them shot for shot. I think that Josh playing the way he used to will anchor a defense that will surprise quite a few people. I believe the series will shock some people and finally get this club some respect and I don't think it's going to be up for debate.

If the "birdbrains" show up (lol), Chicago is going to clamp down and we'll do our best to defeat ourselves - and we will get embarrassed.

...lol, and as always, I am not a hater and I will humbly eat all of the crow that is brought to me (yes, even the crusty crow toes).

....oh and another thing. I made this without knowing that Hinrich would be out That's going to suck if he's not at least 80-85%.....

Edited April 30, 2011 by Wretch

[BIgAl]

I think the biggest problem is Hinrich's injury. I think we match up well and we can win this. In the season i remember those games were the toughest because they played intense defense but we go them with driving to the basket and 1on1 play (counting on SMith and Horford and Pachulia on this one! )