Haven't played any one yet!

[Gray Mule]

Reading after several writers, I found that some have said, "Atlanta fans

are excited about this year's group of players, which are mostly other

teams rejects and those hanging on for one more year in the NBA.

They haven't played any one yet. Wait until they meet the top teams

and we will see the true Atlanta Hawks team emerge. They can't defend

the paint as they have no big players and many of the better teams will

destroy them inside.

They go on to list all these great teams, at least in their mind, that are so

much superior to the Hawks that there will be no contest.

Sour grapes. Know it all writers that can't believe this team could possibly

win as many games as they have already. They still are of the opinion that

Atlanta will still end up in the lottery.

Real, long time Hawk fans expected this team to play .500 ball for the season,

perhaps just a little more. We're excited because we're better than that right now.

Sure, we don't expect to be one of the elite of the NBA. But, we don't like to

be insulted that we're playing way over our heads and that we can't possibly

be as good as we appear to be right now.

These writers expect Atlanta to slowly sink in the standings. The Hawks will

find it necessary to prove themselves, night after night and week after week.

Sure, they will lose but they will also win their share of these games. We, the

fans, know that we're better than a lot of people thought we would be and that

we will continue to suprise those know it all writers.

GO HAWKS!!!

[Peoriabird]

we will continue to suprise those know it all writers.

GO HAWKS!!!

And Nay Sayer Fans!

Amen my Friend!

[Sothron]

What the "experts" don't see because they don't watch our games is that while we are undersized what we do have is quickness and lateral speed and on defense you can see our guys rotating to help each other SO MUCH better than in previous years.This is what house money feels like. I think we all expect a .500 record but if they play better than that then so much the better. Go Hawks!

[AnthonyI11]

Haven't played anyone? We played the Clippers twice and the Thunder..

[ATLSmith]

It's all relative. The Wizards have to prove themselves against anyone. The Heat have to prove themselves against no one The Hawks have to prove themselves against Boston, NY, Brooklyn, Milwaukee(?) and of course, Miami.Until they do the Hawks just need to keep padding their record against these "nobodies".Just a side note, not a bad situation to have 75% of the league considered a "nobody" against to your team.

[Peoriabird]

What the "experts" don't see because they don't watch our games is that while we are undersized what we do have is quickness and lateral speed and on defense you can see our guys rotating to help each other SO MUCH better than in previous years.

Undersized? Zaza 6'11, Horford 6'10, Smith 6'9", Korver 6'7", Teague 6'2". How is that undersized?

[MaceCase]

What the "experts" don't see because they don't watch our games is that while we are undersized what we do have is quickness and lateral speed and on defense you can see our guys rotating to help each other SO MUCH better than in previous years. This is what house money feels like. I think we all expect a .500 record but if they play better than that then so much the better. Go Hawks!

This is true. How many times in the past would we see guys just lazily switch off their man when even the weakest of screens presented themselves then half-assedly point to each other when a wide open guy made a shot because lord forbid that they actually run out at a guy?

[Jody23]

Undersized? Zaza 6'11, Horford 6'10, Smith 6'9", Korver 6'7", Teague 6'2". How is that undersized?

I really wished LD would make this the starting lineup for the rest of the season.

[Sothron]

Undersized? Zaza 6'11, Horford 6'10, Smith 6'9", Korver 6'7", Teague 6'2". How is that undersized?

We don't usually start that lineup and the rest of the team is undersized. Whenever we have Teague/Harris/Lou in the backcourt we are undersized. Al and Josh are undersized at C and PF. The only guy that is about average size is Zaza at his position.

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

We beat the the Thunder and Clippers and lost to the Heat by only 6, and they say we haven't played anyone? Really the only team that I think we will have problems with is Memphis, LAL, and maybe the Spurs. Everyone else the Hawks can win against. I really, really hate it when writers/fans/talkheads use "They haven't played anybody" as an excuse to hate on a team's success. The Hawks have played their schedule! Also, most of the league is sub-par teams like Washington and Sacramento. There is maybe three teams that would be considered "elite" and all three have major flaws that the Hawks can best them at...

[*]Miami - If two of the Big 3 doesn't score at least 25, they aren't winning... they have an old bench... Wade seems to be falling apart with injuries

[*]LAL - dream starting lineup, but are not a deep team... once again, old... now that D'Antoni is the HC, they don't play defense...

[*]OKC - great athletic team with two All Stars... traded away the sixth man of the year and has to rely on Kevin Martin to pick up the slack... Overpaid for Ibaka and Perkins and both are not offensive contributors for their starting lineup...

The Hawks are a young (Kyle & Deshawn are our oldest player at 31), run and gun team with a DEEP bench. We have a group of hustlers and have a nasty bench with Ivan, Pachulia, and Deshawn. We have a sixth man candidate in Lou and a another sharp shooter in Morrow on the bench. They also want to say that we are undersized when everyone admits that the league is shrinking! Blasphemy!

[Peoriabird]

We don't usually start that lineup and the rest of the team is undersized. Whenever we have Teague/Harris/Lou in the backcourt we are undersized. Al and Josh are undersized at C and PF. The only guy that is about average size is Zaza at his position.

That is by choice not because we don't have size. But I think Drew is done with the small ball experiment since it is fairly obvious that it offers no advantages over the line up we started against the Clipper except under special circumstances.

[macdaddy]

The league and the east has some particularly terrible teams. Not many teams have played a hard schedule. Knicks and Brooklyn have barely played anybody to warrant all this celebration of them being elite teams.

[Nicholasp27]

6/12 games against playoff teams HEAT3 top 4 WEST teams (okc,gsw,lacx2)

[cam1218]

I think we have had a pretty tough schedule so far. That little home stretch with Washigton and Orlando was the only easy stretch of our schedule to this point.Houston is a decent team, Indiana is struggling but was 3rd in the east last year. We've already faced the two teams that played in the finals last year. We have played the Clippers twice and had to already go on a 4 game west coast trip that included Portland, Golden State, and a Sacramento team that beat the Lakers. And everything has happened while these players have been getting used to playing with each other. Teague has a new role this year and I think Horford is still working on getting his confidence back. NBATV was raving about Boston beating OKC last week, calling it the signature win they need to get going. We beat that team, on the road too, and it's almost as it never happened!Honestly, when I saw our first month or so I was hoping we'd be 6-6 at this point with signs of becoming a better team. In years past, the Hawks seem to start quickly and fade towards the end, but I thought this year might be the opposite. Looks like I was wrong about the beginning and hopefully I'll be right about the end.

[Plainview1981]

Hoping for a win against SA this year.

[macdaddy]

I think we have had a pretty tough schedule so far. That little home stretch with Washigton and Orlando was the only easy stretch of our schedule to this point.Houston is a decent team, Indiana is struggling but was 3rd in the east last year. We've already faced the two teams that played in the finals last year. We have played the Clippers twice and had to already go on a 4 game west coast trip that included Portland, Golden State, and a Sacramento team that beat the Lakers.And everything has happened while these players have been getting used to playing with each other. Teague has a new role this year and I think Horford is still working on getting his confidence back.NBATV was raving about Boston beating OKC last week, calling it the signature win they need to get going. We beat that team, on the road too, and it's almost as it never happened!Honestly, when I saw our first month or so I was hoping we'd be 6-6 at this point with signs of becoming a better team. In years past, the Hawks seem to start quickly and fade towards the end, but I thought this year might be the opposite. Looks like I was wrong about the beginning and hopefully I'll be right about the end.

Yes. its going to take a lot for us to get noticed this year. We need some big wins at home. if we make sportscenter with highlights of other teams winning 'home' games in our building we have a problem.

Its not just the Hawks though. The Falcons must be the most uncovered 10-1 team of all time.

[DrReality]

Gray, you sound like ScroogrIt's Christmas season of cheer