I don't want to run ANYBODY off the board

[Plainview1981]

I hope nobody leaves because of me. I promise I'll

cut down on the bashing..You guys obviousally want

to believe this team is better than it is. That's your

choice, but I guess I have no choice but to bite my

tongue abit more.

I hope none of you leave. I don't want to be responsable

for people not posting here.

[capstone21]

where did this come from all of the sudden?

Post what you want. This is what this forum is here for. Everyone in entitled to their opinions.

[Plainview1981]

Not if people are going to leave. I'm still going to be critical

but I think people need to realize that isn't going to be

a good season. Does it really do good to get your hopes up

for nothing?

[capstone21]

Who said they are going to leave?

[Boondocks]

Hey the season hasn't even started, and we do have a right to be a tad optimistic

-new ownership, from the looks of it a good group too

-reasonable coach with good assistant coaches

-resigned JT on the cheap

-rookie with alot of potential

-no respect around the league, which will only work in our favor since they won't bring their "a" game when they come

I'm sure I missed something, but the season has just started and in the east, well you never know.

If we make the playoffs or not, at least I feel confident that we're heading in the right direction which is more then I felt in this long awful offseason with the AOL and McDavid mess.

If you want to be on the negative side, go ahead, it's a forum as long as nobody starts namecalling and shi we'll be allright and it only makes for good conversation.

[Plainview1981]

new ownership isn't god. We have no potential allstars

or superstars. Those players are extremely hard to get

and we can't so much sniff one. The draft is weak. All

thats in the draft is some lame dunk Atlanta high school

kid that at best you'd have to give him 4 years to develop

which is far too long. The guy we need is someone that

will take YEARS to get. It simply means the team will

have to wait severals no matter what.

It's about becoming a legit challenger in the east and this

team really has no chance to get to that level. Granted it's

most of Pete's fault. If I saw him in person I'd stick my

foot where the sun doesn't shine. Wish Jay would have

done it when he saw the guy at the game the other night.

[Iman]

Hottlanta, I dont think anyone is gonna leave this board due to your posts. There have been a few times where I just didnt read them for a while. I can say the same about most posters here. I'd even say that a few times Jaywalker, Traceman, etc. even seem off to me but that's the fun of it to see what other people think.

Sometimes we need some negativity to make us realize what 'homers' we are being. I'd actually say the way you use the quote option instead of just responding bothers me more than your negativity. Your pessimism can be kinda cool because occasionally you can read how your optimism is improving but your still negative. Funny enough I've thought some of your posts have been very informative the last 6 months or so, and I hope you continue your team by team breakdown. Actually that's why I signed on today to read about your next team and see if you responded to what I said about your last breakdown. I guess you slept too much last nite to get to it but I'll look forward to your next team breakdown soon! If your feeling too pessimistic just go post on the Falcons site, I'm sure no one will mind there about now..lol.

[cyman3]

"We have no potential allstars or superstars."

- hey, remember that MAGIC season a few years ago with noname players (Armstrong/Amaechi/Wallace)? they were suppose to be one of the worse teams in the league and had no apparent ALLSTARS at the time... yet, they were 1 win away from 8th seed.

anything is possible.

continue to post as u want, im not gonna leave... i know ur a realist and all but my only question is...

- how come u are soo hard on hawks players and not other players?

if we had SHAQ- u prob complain that he sucks at FREE THROWS and hes not as good as peop think

if we had McGrady- u prob complain that all he can do is score and doesnt play a lick of defense

if we had Duncan- u prob say hes too unselfish and needs to get the ball more often

etc...

WITH U- everyone has weaknesses and strengths... but for other players, their strengths outweigh their weaknesses... but for our team, their weaknesses outweight their strengths...

as long as we play good team game together and have heart... that 8th seed looks very bright, IMO. As a realist, i say 8th seed MAX (worse case- 3-4th worse team in the east).

its open for anyone....

[Gray Mule]

Sour lemons make great lemonade! Keep reminding us that

no one is perfect and we shouldn't expect them to be.

Sometimes, with optimism, we may expect too much from

our players. You expect too little. Somewhere in the

middle of all this lies the true value of the Hawk's

players.

You sometimes show a spark of optimism, not often, but

sometimes you do. I'll keep looking for that.

[Plainview1981]

I want us to be the franchise that the Lakers/Spurs

are. Getting 8th seed with no real potential to improve

on that is something that shouldn't be settle for. The

problem is that there really is noway to improve in the

short term. Getting a superstar through FA is hard to get

these days.....Can't think of any real Star that has changed

teams since Tmac.....

[Boondocks]

Well true, you either are a title contender or building up to be a title contender contrary to teams like New York, Portland and whatever who seem to be focused on the playoffs as a goal itself.

This team itself is a nice solid team, granted without superstars, possibly without allstars.

Yes the only way to get superstars is to get lucky in the draft, and frankly eventhough you're not willing to do admit it yes it means grabbing that freshmen or HS sr. For the upcoming draft that would be Dwight Howard, Luol Deng or even possibly Emeka Okafor (eventhough he's a junior).

I honestly believe this team can grab that 8th spot, but I do hope that if we're mathematically eliminated we start working on "improving" our draft status if you catch my drift (yeah I said it). Like Graymule said, hawks have been poor in the scouting department, it's time for that to change.

[Plainview1981]

I just dont know as a fan if I'm truely patient enough

for a 5 year rebuilding plan. I've supported the team

for over a decade and I know I'm alot more critical of

the team perhaps when i was younger as I was closer

to Hawksfan back then...But I just don't know about

another Dermarr Johnson like project....It just seems

to take too much time. As far as I'm concerned, if they

are old enough to sign that contract and get paid they

should be old enough to contribute.

The problem is that as fans we shouldn't have to think...

"Well, maybe teams will take us lightly and we'll squeeze

out enough wins to make the playoffs."

That's not a good mentiality. The team needs to start to

strive for a championship.

[swolehawk2]

I think it is just the we suck... we are the worse team ever ....SAR is a soft punk....JT sucks...posts that get people annoyed with you. Everybody has their opinions but to say the same thing over and over gets a little old.

And as far as playoffs go, I don't get my hopes up, actually I don't make predictions like that for the Hawks anymore, we change so much from year to year these days I just wait and watch. I pull for whom ever wears the jersey because I am a Hawks fan...than doesn't mean I don't see their faults, I just don't choose to post about over and over. This board wouldn't be the same without some of your posts though.

[TROUBLEMAN69]

I'm new to this board and a huge Hawks fan, but I believe in everyone's right to an opinion, regardless of how wrong it is. To say that the Hawks have no All-Stars is very innacurate. Shareef is always deserving of an All-Star nod. JT is on the brink of being an All-Star, regardless of what you guys think. I think Dion Glover and Stepen Jackson can average 13-16 pts per game. The bench has improved with Lee Nailon providing offensive punch that this team has lacked for several seasons. I actually believe, Stotts will provide stability for the first time since Lenny Wilkens, and once Brandon's salary expires, the new ownership will bring in even more help.

Is the team a top 5 Eastern Conference team? No, but I think any spot from 6-8 is available for the taking. Boston has dropped out of playoff contention. Cleveland is still a year or 2 away. The Bulls are still a year away, even with the addition of Scottie Pippen, who is not going to provide the leadership that everyone believes. Where was the leadership in Portland and Houston? Milwaukee will not win this year. The Wizards might improve, but I doubt it. Why not believe that the Hawks can win in this conference?

TROUBLEMAN

[Plainview1981]

Boston is not going to be in the lottery. They didn't win

because of Walker...They won because of Paul Pierce and

good defense.

LaFrentz/Jumaine Jones and a improving Kedrick Brown

will makeup for the loss of Walker.

Raef averages aboit 10PPG 7RPG...Jones will average about

11PPG 5RPG and Kedrick I think will breakout ALITTLE this

season. They are still a playoff team.

JT and SAR are not in the brink of allstars. Neither have

played in a meaningful game in their careers. In fact, nobody

on the team has other than Stephen Jackson and he's

mearly a role player.

[Lascar78]

Of course they won because of PP. But Walker still contributed alot more than Raef, and more importantly Walker's man couldn't collapse onto Pierce. PP will be seing double and triple teams alot more often now

They easily COULD miss the playoffs

[Plainview1981]

It's not just about Raef....They also added Jones and it's

expected that Brown will have a good season. Also, what

if Baker contributes 14/7 combined with Brown/Raef and

Jones they'll be fine.

[Weez]

Good defense? It seems that our friend Hotlanta has a selective memory...for during the 01-02 season, under OBrien, they did play good, solid D, including Walker...but if you followed things last year, this DID NOT HAPPEN, despite quality, good play from Battie in the middle...whether because Walker was too overweight, was back to playing the 3 and not the 4...I'm not sure, but it didn't happen last year

Is Raef going to play the 4 for them? What about Battie? What about Baker? They now have a logjam somewhat in the middle (Baker may = Hendu with a MUCH worse contract)

None of the others you mentioned, Kedrick Brown, Jones, etc have shown anything worthy of being full fledge starters, heck they've shown less than SJax and Dion... and theyr'e going to continue to make PP play somehwat out of position at the 2. Of all the up and coming/superstar backcourt players right now, from Kobe, to TMac, to PP to whomever, PP is by far the truest SF.

[Plainview1981]

They didn't give up only 92PPG by mistake....

They only gave up 92PPG and won 44 games...The Hawks

gave up 98PPG and won 35 games...Makes sense doesn't

it?

[Weez]

so Sacramento, who had the best fg% against last year (but allowed quite a bit) was NOT a good defensive team...mmmk.

go do the homework and see all the reports and breakdowns about the Celtics D last year in comparison with the year prior.