13 games in 21 nights will determine Hawks playoff seeding

[TheNorthCydeRises]

From Boston tonight ( Mar. 8th ) to Boston ( Mar. 29th ), the Hawks go on what is essentially a 13 game gauntlet that will go a long way in determining their playoff seeding. And in that stretch, there is maybe only one "easy" game . . but we lost to them last week ( Phoenix ).

The Hawks currently have the 29th weakest schedule in the NBA, but that's about to ramp up in these next 13 games.

- 4 sets of back to back games

- 2 games vs Boston, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee ( 4 of those on the road )

- Have to travel to play red hot Miami ( won 16 in a row, and

- Lakers are back on track ( won 11 of last 16 since Feb 1st )

- Pacers have won 12 of their last 16

- even games vs Dallas, Toronto, and Portland will end up being dog fights.

- with no Gortat, Phoenix looks like the potential "breather" game.

If we win 10+ of these games, I think we'll be in good position for that 3rd seed

5 - 9 wins probably keeps us where we are right now.

4 or less wins, and we may be in danger of falling down to even the 8th seed.

It'll be interesting to see how this team responds in these games the next 3 weeks.

[Admin]

I think that 10 or more wins is unlikely but it would really make a statement if we could pull it off. This is definitely where we are either going to make that push or settle in where we're at. I really don't see falling back as an option unless someone important goes down for a length of time. I'm guessing we will finish the season in the 5th spot, but man I'd love to get that up to the #2!

[macdaddy]

We have got to have some big wins in there. If we get blown out by any of our east competition then it'll really screw with our heads going into the playoffs. It starts tonight against Boston. We have to show that we have finally passed them

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Next 4 games ( both are back to backs )

@ Boston

vs Brooklyn

@ Miami

vs LA Lakers

[Bahamut]

CRUNCH TIME! I'm just glad we don't have to play the Bulls again, now that Rose has been cleared by the doctors.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

@ Boston - LOSS

vs Brooklyn - LOSS

Don't do it Hawks. Don't decide to not show up during the most critical stretch of the season.

[Plainview1981]

This team will win 37-40 games and that's it. I can't remember what I predicted at the start of the season..... 42 maybe?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

This team will win 37-40 games and that's it. I can't remember what I predicted at the start of the season..... 42 maybe?

SMH @ you. Always the Grim Reaper around here.

If the Hawks only won 40 games, that means they'll finish the season with a 6 - 14 record. So we'd . . .

- finish below .5000

- be the #8 seed and face the Heat and probably lose in 5 ( hopefully not get swept )

- have the fan base totally turn on Josh, and possibly Teague, and whomever else

- and still not get a ping pong ball to get into the lottery

That's the absolute worst case scenario right there.

[Plainview1981]

SMH @ you. Always the Grim Reaper around here.

If the Hawks only won 40 games, that means they'll finish the season with a 6 - 14 record. So we'd . . .

- finish below .5000

- be the #8 seed and face the Heat and probably lose in 5 ( hopefully not get swept )

- have the fan base totally turn on Josh, and possibly Teague, and whomever else

- and still not get a ping pong ball to get into the lottery

That's the absolute worst case scenario right there.

With the way they're playing... They might do it.

http://hawksquawk.net/community/topic/371273-hawks-predictions/page-2#entry576019

My prediction was between 38-44 wins.

Funny enough, I was fairly optimistic at the start of the season. I can't understand why now that I look back on it.

38-44 wins and a first round exit is pretty much status quo. I guess it was excitement from unloading JJ.

I didn't expect Kyle to be the starter and Devin to be the bench guy.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Hotlanta1981

[Gray Mule]

Why are we worried about where we end up in the playoffs?

Doesn't make any difference. We're not going anywhere.

If, per chance we were to luck up and win round one, we all

know we will not go any further.

All of us, including me, got excited by our play earlier. Now,

however, we see our beloved Hawks in free fall. We all expected,

before the season started, to end up slightly over .500. This

season was supposed to be to prepare us for next season

and probably two seasons hence.

Cap space wins us no games. Without it, it's hard to operate.

We have room to add players next season. Let's not lose sight

of our goal. This year's championship is not it.

GO HAWKS!!!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Why are we worried about where we end up in the playoffs?

Doesn't make any difference. We're not going anywhere.

If, per chance we were to luck up and win round one, we all

know we will not go any further.

All of us, including me, got excited by our play earlier. Now,

however, we see our beloved Hawks in free fall. We all expected,

before the season started, to end up slightly over .500. This

season was supposed to be to prepare us for next season

and probably two seasons hence.

Cap space wins us no games. Without it, it's hard to operate.

We have room to add players next season. Let's not lose sight

of our goal. This year's championship is not it.

GO HAWKS!!!

Gray I disagree.

Regardless of what the Nets did to us last night, I don't think any team in the East, outside of Miami, is significantly better than us. I think any of those teams seeded 2 - 7 can beat each other in a playoff series.

We're not winning a championship, but I don't think any fan wants to see us crash and burn in the playoffs either. Staying out of that #8 spot is imperative.

When the Hawks started the season red hot, that kind of changed expectations amongst some fans ( myself included ). If we're a #6 seed, and we're playing the Pacers, Bulls, Knicks or Nets in that 1st round, I'm not writing us off by any means. The same goes for the 2nd round vs those teams.

But this is the point in the schedule where they cannot crash and burn. If they do, Milwaukee will catch us and we'll be the sacrificial lamb to the Heat. The best case in a series vs them, is that we duplicate what we did in 2008 vs a very good Boston team, and push them to 7 games.

But we're not winning a Game 7 in Miami.

So if we're not going to fall all the way out of playoff contention, we need the best seed possible, so we can at least enjoy a few rounds of playoff basketball.

[Ruckus]

The top teams in the East might not be a lot better than us but they are better and more consistent. We won't win a 7 game series. Hope I'm wrong though.We haven't really beaten good teams all season. We have just beat up the crap teams. Ironically the only good teams we seamed to beat were at the beginning of the season and were without Josh if I remember correctly.

[Bahamut]

So if we're not going to fall all the way out of playoff contention, we need the best seed possible, so we can at least enjoy 4 games of playoff basketball.

I hope they prove me wrong.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

@ Boston - LOSS

vs Brooklyn - LOSS

@ Miami - LOSS

vs LA Lakers - WIN

vs Phoenix - WIN

Upcoming games:

@ Brooklyn

vs Dallas

vs Milwaukee

vs Portland

It sure would be nice to go at least 3 - 1 through this stretch.

[benhillboy]

I got us going 9-8 to finsish with 45 wins, a very impressive feat for this roster who had the injury bug and lost Lou for the year. Hopefully they can squeeze one more out. It'll be in line with what they are: consistently a step above average.

Edited March 16, 2013 by benhillboy

[TheNorthCydeRises]

@ Boston - LOSS

vs Brooklyn - LOSS

@ Miami - LOSS

vs LA Lakers - WIN

vs Phoenix - WIN

@ Brooklyn - WIN

vs Dallas - LOSS

Upcoming games:

vs Milwaukee

vs Portland

@ Milwaukee

@ Indiana

@ Toronto

@ Boston

At the bare minimum, we need to win those 2 Milwaukee games. Lose both of them, and the Hawks will be in danger of dropping to that 8th slot.

No easy games coming up at all.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

@ Boston - LOSS

vs Brooklyn - LOSS

@ Miami - LOSS

vs LA Lakers - WIN

vs Phoenix - WIN

@ Brooklyn - WIN

vs Dallas - LOSS

vs Milwaukee - WIN

vs Portland - LOSS

@ Milwaukee - WIN

@ Indiana - LOSS

5 - 6 so far, with 2 more games to go . . both road games.

@ Toronto . . ( Rudy Gay day to day )

@ Boston . . ( no Kevin Garnett )

Can't trust this team to win both games on the road, so I'll say we'll split the pair.

If we win these 2 games, plus beat Orlando on Saturday night, the Hawks would've gone 9 - 9 for the month of March. All things considered, that would be decent for this team. They would've basically won all of the games they were definitely supposed to win, with the exception of the game @ Phoenix. The home win vs the Lakers and the road win vs Brooklyn definitely helped us this month.

These are 2 winnable games + winnable games coming up vs Orlando and Cleveland. Is it too much to ask of the Hawks to go on a 4 game winning streak right about now?

Maybe it is.

It would be nice to put a little more heat on the Nets and Knicks for that #3 seed. But right now, we may just do a "mini-tank" and stay at the 6th seed.

[benhillboy]

At best we can go 8 out of 11 with sure losses to San An and the Knicks and a slip up. At worst, we go 6 out of 11 with slip ups at Philly and Toronto and maybe at home to Milwaukee. I wont accept losses to Cleveland and Orlando. I hope we can beat the Knicks once. 7 out of 11 I'd take all day. Getting Jenkins, Scott, and Mack much needed experience during an important time while we do it would be great. Our main priority is making sure Zaza and Devin are as close to 100% as possible entering the playoffs.

Edited March 26, 2013 by benhillboy

[Plainview1981]

At best we can go 8 out of 11 with sure losses to San An and the Knicks and a slip up. At worst, we go 6 out of 11 with slip ups at Philly and Toronto and maybe at home to Milwaukee. I wont accept losses to Cleveland and Orlando. I hope we can beat the Knicks once. 7 out of 11 I'd take all day. Getting Jenkins, Scott, and Mack much needed experience during an important time while we do it would be great. Our main priority is making sure Zaza and Devin are as close to 100% as possible entering the playoffs.

They've gotta beat SA one of these days damn it!

[macdaddy]

They've gotta beat SA one of these days damn it!

Remember we beat them in Philips a few years ago. They were without Parker and we still had Bibby at the point so it was 3 years ago i guess. Great game. I had great seats, got overserved, and went and talked to Jason Sudekis who was at the game.