Hotlanta's season preview

[Plainview1981]

Hawks record last year: 35-47

Coach:Terry Stotts

Projected Starting Lineup:

Point Guard:Jason Terry-17.2PPG 7.4APG 43%fg

Shooting Guard:Dion Glover-9.7PPG 3.7RPG 42.7%fg

Small Forward:Stephen Jackson-11.2PPG 3.2RPG 42%fg

Power Forward:Shareef Abdur Rahim-19.9PPG 8.4RPG 47%fg

Center:Theo Ratliff 8.7PPG 7.4RPG 3.2blocks 46%fg

Top Subs:

SF/PF:Lee Nailon

C/PF:Nazr Mohammad

PF/C:Alan Henderson

PG:Dan Dickau

Rest:

SG/SF:Boris Diaw

PG:Jazque Vaughn

SF:Chris Crawford

SG:Travis Hansen

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Team postives: Good free throw shooting,decent rebounders,decent athletic ability,2 possible 20PPG

scorers and alot of guys that can play more than 1

position.

Teams negitives: Lacks ball handling, no defense, no

toughness, lacks depth, lacks at the PG spot and lacks

winning experience.

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To improve on last seasons record the Hawks must play

better team defense and have better balance on offense.

Nazr must also reclaim a big role with the team after he has posted back to back dissappointing seasons after showing so much promise when he was traded to Atlanta from Philly. Additionally, Shareef being the captain needs

to show more passion on a more consisant basis. There

was way to many games were his mind romed to other

places.

Terry Stotts must lay out a better game plan than Lon

Kruger has laid out the last few years. He must hold

the players accountable for the mistakes, and hound

them when they play poorly and lose focus. He must

also take advange that most of the players including

the whole starting lineup can play 2 or 3 positons.

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Key Factors: Dion Glover, Theo Ratliff, Lee Nailon

Dion Glover- has shown improvement every year his

first 3 years in the league. He has shown the ability

to be a good scoring and rebounding SG. However, he

can't afford to be any worse than average on defense,

or he might lose playing time to the young and inexperieced Boris Diaw.

Theo Ratliff- Theo was able to average a solid 12PPG

in Philly even with the ball hogging Allen Iverson. However,

he has been unable to be as effective in Atlanta. He does

have a short jumper and maybe alittle hookshot. He will

need to pull his scoring back up to double figures if the

Hawks plan to make the playoffs.

Lee Nailon- How can a guy that averaged 15PPG when

he got to start end up a summer camp invitee? Well,

even though he can score, he is sad to be a libility on

defense and these days that will get you put in the dog

house really quickly. Lee has a big chance to make a

name for himself if he can improve on defense and provide

a team that lacks depth with quaility minutes.

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Projected Finish: 31-51

The truth is that as a fan, I'd like to be able to rate the

team higher. However, the Hawk for back to back seasons

have been a huge let down and so I refuse to get my hopes

up that the team will turn it around. I hope I'm wrong..But

I've always said that I'll take being wrong and be surprised

over being wrong and dissappointed anyday.

[dj_me]

Another good post from Hotlanta! What's going on? Good to hear these things from you man.

A couple things though...

1. I at least think the team will do as good if not better than they did last year. I'm not saying that your opinion is wrong, this is just what I feel.

2. JT should be team Captain. I feel that he can bring so much energy and heart to the game. A Captain should be that, not someone that fells a role; and, I'm sorry but I feel that SAR and Theo both fell roles. SAR gives you a set thing every game, Theo too. But JT can push if needs be; and, if given the role, I think he will push harder.

Otherwise...

I can't wait for the season. The team is going to be playing close to where I live on Oct. 10 (I believe). If I can come up with the money, I most definitely want to go check them out. It would be my first NBA game (even though it is preseason).

[emeans]

You analysis is excellent. I totally agree with you assessment of the team and the future lineups barring any trade.