Is This Really Our Roster?

[ViperXX79]

Blind optimist - and not realist - know this team is going to be good (of course if we stay healthy).  Ball movement, Millsap and Horford dominating, Korver 3`s, keep a spark fired under Teague....and this team is by all means competing for the TOP seed in the East next season.

FIFY

 

Top seed?  Come on now.  You're hoping for a healthy Horford, Korver to maintain a very very high level of shooting the 3 and Teague to play a high level that he only flashed for brief periods of time with absolutely no sustainability.  Good luck with those things happening.  We're going to have to be lucky to win our division against Washington and Miami(Yes Miami).

[Alex]

It's becoming more clear that this is the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks.  

 

Teague, Millsap, Korver, and Horford are going to need to average around 75  points a game together though.  I just don't see anyone being able to generate points consistently who isn't listed above.  This offense may be efficient, but that doesn't mean they are going to score the ball a lot.  Sure the defense should be solid again, but there isn't a lot of room for error with them.  

[noble]

FIFY

 

Top seed?  Come on now.  You're hoping for a healthy Horford, Korver to maintain a very very high level of shooting the 3 and Teague to play a high level that he only flashed for brief periods of time with absolutely no sustainability.  Good luck with those things happening.  We're going to have to be lucky to win our division against Washington and Miami(Yes Miami).

I completely agree with this. I also completely agree with @Alex. This team can be good, but there is a consistency issue as well as a depth issue IMHO. That is what makes superstar players superstars. It isn't just that they can score, but it is the consistency to score like they do every night.

[mtnbayou]

FIFY

Top seed? Come on now. You're hoping for a healthy Horford, Korver to maintain a very very high level of shooting the 3 and Teague to play a high level that he only flashed for brief periods of time with absolutely no sustainability. Good luck with those things happening. We're going to have to be lucky to win our division against Washington and Miami(Yes Miami).

[mtnbayou]

FIFY

Top seed? Come on now. You're hoping for a healthy Horford, Korver to maintain a very very high level of shooting the 3 and Teague to play a high level that he only flashed for brief periods of time with absolutely no sustainability. Good luck with those things happening. We're going to have to be lucky to win our division against Washington and Miami(Yes Miami).

Miami? lol. Miami won't make the playoffs. Guess I have a higher opinion of our team.

[Guest]

It's becoming more clear that this is the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks.  

 

Teague, Millsap, Korver, and Horford are going to need to average around 75  points a game together though.  I just don't see anyone being able to generate points consistently who isn't listed above.  This offense may be efficient, but that doesn't mean they are going to score the ball a lot.  Sure the defense should be solid again, but there isn't a lot of room for error with them.  

How many points per game did we average last season?  I'm sure we were close to 100ppg AND that's without Al for the most part.

 

I'm not as concerned about the overall offense, we move the ball and players enough to generate points.  My concern is the offensive execution at the end of games, out of timeouts or when plays break down, something Coach Bud talked about at the end of the season.  He wasn't pleased with the execution of the plays. I think with a year in this system the offensive execution should be improved in those situation.

 

Our lack of size at the wings and backcourt also didn't help when we couldn't execute offensively.  Thabo and Kent improves that instantly.

[Guest]

This is an interesting article:

http://hawkshoop.com/atlantas-sneaky-good-off-season/

 

Grantland’s Zach Lowe has declared the Atlanta Hawks among the losers in this year’s off-season, citing the team’s inability to attract a major piece despite plenty of available cap space:

No one will take Atlanta’s money, despite a good core of players, a very good coaching staff, and an innovative style of play Mike Budenholzer has only just begun installing. Some stars won’t even meet with them. I almost wanted to hug Budenholzer when I saw him in Vegas. The most common theory among insiders for Atlanta’s lack of appeal is that players see the Hawks as a dull franchise with a dead crowd and a limited postseason history that almost always involves NBA TV.

Contrarian that I am, I disagree with Lowe and almost everybody else about Atlanta’s off-season. Before I explain, I feel compelled to point out that the Hawks might have a completely different set of problems if Budenholzer had done what Isuggested prior to Game 6 of the Indiana series and increased Shelvin Mack’s minutes at the expense of Lou Williams. Before the series, I noted that Williams (minus-15) and Elton Brand (minus-26) had the worst aggregate plus-minus against the Pacers during the regular season. In my playoff postmortem, I noted that Brand again had the worst aggregate plus-minus for the series (minus-32) while Williams was only 4th-worst at minus-21.

These numbers tend to be fairly consistent. In my postmortem for the Hawks’ 2012 1st-round loss to the Celtics, I noted that, after posting the worst aggregate plus-minus for the season, Willie Green predictably posted the worst aggregate plus-minus for the series (minus-40 in 63 total minutes). If a player rates as your worst during the regular season, how would think that player is going to undergo some sort of renaissance against playoff defense?

Shelvin Mack’s numbers against Indiana were likewise consistent. He had the best aggregate plus-minus among Hawks reserves against Indiana through four regular-season games (plus-28) and he was best among reserves through seven playoff games (plus-14). Needless to say, the Hawks missed an opportunity to raise the team’s profile as a destination for free agents by failing to close out the Pacers.

Which brings us to why, despite circumstances that some may view as setbacks, I believe the Hawks are having an outstanding off-season. In the past I have clamored for players such as Ivan Johnson and Lance Stephenson who were poor fits for the Hawks’ organizational culture. By obtaining Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore, Danny Ferry addressed the glaring lack of size, defense and athleticism on the wings (which the 6-1 Williams exacerbated) while strengthening the culture with a pair of workers.

Let’s face it, Williams had to go. His 1-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio in the playoffs showed that he lacked the decision-making necessary to serve as a reserve point guard, which would have allowed him to spend more time guarding players his own size. Mack, who is two inches taller and significantly stronger, matched Williams’ offensive output in the playoffs while averaging almost four assists for every turnover.

In getting out of Williams’ contract to make way for Sefolosha and Bazemore, the Hawks seemed to pay a steep price. But in Summer League, Lucas Nogueira has looked years away from becoming a significant contributor. Ferry knows that there is an opportunity to move up in the Eastern Conference with the Miami Heat in tatters and LeBron James on a squad lacking experience and front court depth. He knows that wing issues, coupled with the Hawks’ own front court depth issues, kept his team from making a much larger splash last season.

Bazemore is a player I viewed as an undervalued asset while he was buried on Golden State’s bench. I emailed L.A. Times and Basketball Insiders writer Eric Pincus to ask his thoughts on Bazemore after his Lakers stint, and he was surprised that L.A. didn’t do more to try to keep him:

Bazemore has good size and length for a guard. He’s athletic, defends well and has some basic play-making skills. He’s not a point guard, although he might work in a triangle-type offense in that capacity.

He’s also a very solid teammate. Not sure why the Lakers let a solid role-player go for what wasn’t a very expensive contract.

I wasn’t a big fan of throwing a long-term contract at Luol Deng or Trevor Ariza because Atlanta’s Paul Millsap and DeMarre Carroll have both earned raises after this season. Since Carroll ranks 5th among small forwards in ESPN.com’s Real Plus-Minus, I didn’t see the need to offer $10 million per season to a player ranked below him. What the Hawks need now is a player who can back up Carroll.

Sefolosha might be that player. According to 82Games.com, Sefolosha heldopposing shooting guards to a 15.0 PER last season, but held opposing small forwards to a 10.7 PER. At 6-7, Sefolosha has the size to defend either wing position. But at age 30, he may be slowing down to the point where small forward is more optimal. I asked ESPN.com NBA writer and Daily Thunder TrueHoop blog proprietor Royce Young what he thought of Sefolosha as a small forward:

At small forward, Thabo can get muscled a bit, but he really was the Thunder’s de facto backup to Durant. He played small forward in a lot of smallball lineups, and he survived because he’s got great length and plays exceptionally hard. But bigger forwards definitely could bully him a bit. He’s at his best defending a perimeter player, or a guy that loves to isolate (like James Harden). I don’t think you could rely on him to check LeBron or Melo or someone like that, though.

Young further stated that, although Sefolosha has some limitations against more physical small forwards, he’s an unselfish and talented passer, which should help him fit right in with the Hawks and Budenholzer’s offense:

He’s quietly underrated off the ball as a cutter, but he did less of that last season than in years previous. He’s an incredibly good passer, but he doesn’t really possess the skills to create off the dribble. His handle is average and he doesn’t have any kind of first step advantage. 

Thabo’s an interesting player because he’s incredibly unselfish and understands his limitations and strengths really well. But I think he slipped defensively last season, and even though he shot 40+ percent two of the last three seasons from deep, that always seemed like an outlier.

Thus, I believe Ferry has sufficiently addressed the wing positions and should now turn his attention to the front court. Before the Lakers were announced as the winning bidders for Carlos Boozer, Yahoo’s Adreian Wojnarowski tweeted that the Hawks were likely to make an Amnesty bid. ESPN.com is now reporting that nine teams made bids, so it’s fairly likely that Ferry made a conservative bid. This could indicate that Ferry is conserving cap space to attempt a sign-and-trade for one of the remaining restricted free agents such as as Eric Bledsoe or Greg Monroe

[TheBigETrain]

SF: DeMarre /Thabo /Lamar

PF: Paul /Michael /Adriean

C: Alfred /Pero /Michael

PG: Jeffrey /Shelvin /Dennis

SG: Kyle /Kent /Josh

[gsuteke]

Not a bad team it just lacks household names.

Duncan

Ginobli

Parker

Splitter

Diaw

Leonard

Mills.......

Only Duncan was a household name early on. I think Ferry is doing all he can do at this point which is collect pieces until it all comes together.

[Mdizzle5]

Not a bad team it just lacks household names.

Duncan

Ginobli

Parker

Splitter

Diaw

Leonard

Mills.......

Only Duncan was a household name early on. I think Ferry is doing all he can do at this point which is collect pieces until it all comes together.

 

Until he can get us a Duncan, all this "like-the-Spurs" talk is moot. It's like trying to copy the 96 Bulls and the Triangle Offense without Jordan and Pippen.

 

We definitely don't have the sexiest roster and there are a lot of question marks. That said, they definitely won't lay down and quit even if they're down 30. Can't knock that mentality.

[GameTime]

Until he can get us a Duncan, all this "like-the-Spurs" talk is moot. It's like trying to copy the 96 Bulls and the Triangle Offense without Jordan and Pippen.

 

We definitely don't have the sexiest roster and there are a lot of question marks. That said, they definitely won't lay down and quit even if they're down 30. Can't knock that mentality.

 

Will Duncan at age 42 be elite when they keep winning championships? Shooting efficiency is what made the Spurs champions more than anything else this year. 

[DrReality]

Heard in an interview that Ferry and Bud really like this team, said twice for emphasis.  That being said they think the talent can be developed to improve.  How much remains to be seen. 

[taz]

That team can't win on nba2k they must suck

[Alex]

Heard in an interview that Ferry and Bud really like this team, said twice for emphasis.  That being said they think the talent can be developed to improve.  How much remains to be seen. 

They are selling their product to the fans.  Do you expect them to say anything else?

[LamarHampton]

They are selling their product to the fans. Do you expect them to say anything else?

No, i wouldn't expect them to say anything else but i also don't think it's baseless or untrue. I think us being a very close second the Spurs in assists is pretty telling, ie they got the kind of people they were looking for. Just need some tweaks and Al healthy and we can still make some noise.