Not being a homer

[Wurider05]

As a basketball fan, I have to wonder why no one is giving us a chance against Chicago. We match up well against them. I know that Hinrich is out but even if he wasn't hurt people wouldn't give us any better chance. Look at their games with the Pacers it wasn't like they blew them away every game. We are a superior team than the Pacers. Are we hated that much that common sense totally leaves the equation that we can win or go 7 games? Am I missing something here?

[Crank]

As a basketball fan, I have to wonder why no one is giving us a chance against Chicago. We match up well against them. I know that Hinrich is out but even if he wasn't hurt people wouldn't give us any better chance. Look at their games with the Pacers it wasn't like they blew them away every game. We are a superior team than the Pacers. Are we hated that much that common sense totally leaves the equation that we can win or go 7 games? Am I missing something here?

The team with the league MVP swill always be favored against a team with no superstars so I can see why the national media picks the way they do .

From a personal standpoint Im sorta disappointed that we have went back to the same pre trade stuff that wasnt working .

IMO the starting lineup that includes Josh,Marvin,Al,or should never be used again . We should be moving on from that lineup as a franchise .

[T21]

It beats me... I don't know what it is and I just don't care about it... BTW, I wouldn't want it any other way!

On the record... I believe that we're better team than the Bulls and if JJ and Crawford play well, we'll beat them. Al and Smoove are head and shoulders above Loozer and Noah! Hopefully, Kirk will be able to contribute as well...

Oh, I also think that Pacers could have easily been 2 to 1 up on the Bulls before game 4. Bulls were lucky, plus refs were on their side...

[Wretch]

It beats me... I don't know what it is and I just don't care about it... BTW, I wouldn't want it any other way!

On the record... I believe that we're better team than the Bulls and if JJ and Crawford play well, we'll beat them. Al and Smoove are head and shoulders above Loozer and Noah! Hopefully, Kirk will be able to contribute as well...

Oh, I also think that Pacers could have easily been 2 to 1 up on the Bulls before game 4. Bulls were lucky, plus refs were on their side...

I'd take Al and Smoove over Boozer and Noah all day. If Josh would just focus on defense, what made him so special a season or so ago, my God...it's not even a comparison. JJ is not Rose, but him playing at the level we know he can is not that far behind in terms of clutch play and overall output. Plus he's a SG, without the playmaking responsibility on his shoulders. The Bulls have Deng, but we have Crawford. Deng is an A+ defender, but Crawford can be downright lethal when his shot is falling. The rest of it evens out IMO. At the very least, this SHOULD be a pretty even series.

If we play up to our potential, we can beat them.

[Seano]

As a basketball fan, I have to wonder why no one is giving us a chance against Chicago. We match up well against them. I know that Hinrich is out but even if he wasn't hurt people wouldn't give us any better chance. Look at their games with the Pacers it wasn't like they blew them away every game. We are a superior team than the Pacers. Are we hated that much that common sense totally leaves the equation that we can win or go 7 games? Am I missing something here?

I think it has to do with a combination of several things, none of which have to do with hate. I mean I'm pretty sure that none of these big media types actively hate us or wish us to lose, but they see the same things that we do, namely how maddeningly inconsistent this team can be, and how one game we might look like world-beaters, while the very next we play so poorly that it raises questions as to how much effort these players are even putting into it. And there's the fact that we were on the wrong end of so many awful blowouts this season, I believe more than any other team in the NBA, which all ties into how bloody inconsistent this team can be. So there's that, and then there's that historical and unforgettable beatdown against the Magic last season, and if you think that doesn't leave a residue in people's minds, you'd be wrong. I mean everybody knows about that and is fully aware of it, and that's some powerful imagery right there, the worst playoff stomping in the entire history of the NBA. So everyone is remembering that, which casts more doubts upon the Hawks. So these negative things all exist in people's minds, and maybe that jaundices their views of us, or maybe not, because it's not invalid or unreasonable to question or doubt a team as inconsistent as we have been, so it's like 'show me'. They need to show people they can do it, and that's the only way to prove they can and to stop their doubters. They took step one and showed a crapload of heart and guts in slaying Dwight and the Magic, and so now they need to keep on going and keep at it, and they can beat these Bulls and shut EVERYONE up. It is all on them to do so, and I believe they can. But will they? Who knows. That would be the million dollar question.

[BusBoyIsBack]

When I look at the history of the game and I see only FOUR TEAMS with a PG that ranked in the top 10 in scoring on a team that won a championship and only TWO TEAMS with a PG

that was top 10 in scoring win a championship since the merger, I have plenty of room for confidence. When I look at the fact that those two teams since the merger were Loaded Lakers teams that had players like Wilt, Goodrich, and Baylor next to Jerry West, and Kareem, James Worthy, next to Magic Johnson, I exude confidence

Basically the only thing I'm scared of is our potential strategy vs the Bulls. Larry Drew cannot pull a Mike Woodson vs Derrick Rose and let Derrick Rose get his AND let him get his teammates involved

We HAVE to make him a one man team. Who cares if Rose scores 30 points even on 50% from the floor or higher, if his teammates are forced into low percentage shots because every shot they take is pretty much contested?

[Peoriabird]

There use to be a time in Hawk history when;

1) JJ could shoot really well from the outside and even from the 3 point line

2) Josh Smith would block everything in the painted area

3) Marvin would get to the free throw line 6 or more times per game

4) Al would have these monster rebounding games...I mean 17 or more

What ever happened to those guys? if we can get those guys to play against the Bull then we would have an excellent chance in this series.

[MaceCase]

Well last season plenty media types hitched themselves on our wagon and, like us, were thoroughly disappointed. The question about this team has always been about what's between their ears and what's beating in their chests, until the media can get a consistent handle on that that doesn't include Josh taking jumpers, 25 point blowouts or the most lucrative contract of the summer putting up 10 points then they will continue to disregard us.

[Diesel]

As a basketball fan, I have to wonder why no one is giving us a chance against Chicago. We match up well against them. I know that Hinrich is out but even if he wasn't hurt people wouldn't give us any better chance. Look at their games with the Pacers it wasn't like they blew them away every game. We are a superior team than the Pacers. Are we hated that much that common sense totally leaves the equation that we can win or go 7 games? Am I missing something here?

Nobody is giving us a chance because in the regular season, they blew us out everytime we played them. Even the game we won, we had to come back from a lot.

They are what we shouldn't want to see...

A team that prospers off of bad BBIQ of it's opponents.

A team that rebounds well.

A team that shoots well.

If we come out and play Hawks around the perimeter like we did in the regular season, we might get swept.

BUT....

If we move the ball from side to side and get something going on the inside... we could win.

Believe it or not, this is a call for us to get Horf on the high post shot and for us to play Iso Joe and Iso Craw.

They don't have a defender on that team that can stop Joe's floater if Horf is in the high post.

Joe/Horf has to make Noah make the mistake. If Noah goes to Joe, Joe passes to Horf for the Elbow jumper.

If Noah stays on Horf, Joe kills them with the floater.

I talk about our offense because we're not going to outdefense Chicago, but we can certainly outscore them if we have a better gameplan than everybody on the perimeter and take the open shot.