Hawks could be 1-2 seed this season

[Diesel]

I think we're being a little blinded by the Indiana series.  We were a 38 win team and we haven't made big strides in FAcy.

Also we fail to recognize Brooklyn... Who will be getting Lopez back and has Lionel Hollins at the HC position.  I don't think Losing old man Pierce was a big loss for them.  And if surgeries help Lopez and DWill to get back to top form, they will run through a lot of teams.

I think we're underestimating Charlotte.  Big Al Jefferson, Lance Stephenson, and even sorry Marvin Williams.  IF their lockerroom can stay intact, they have something. Counting out the Knicks already?  They got some young dudes to run with Melo.  I especially like Calderon.

 

I think it will be a fight in the East.

[AHF]

I think we're being a little blinded by the Indiana series. We were a 38 win team and we haven't made big strides in FAcy.

Also we fail to recognize Brooklyn... Who will be getting Lopez back and has Lionel Hollins at the HC position. I don't think Losing old man Pierce was a big loss for them. And if surgeries help Lopez and DWill to get back to top form, they will run through a lot of teams.

I think we're underestimating Charlotte. Big Al Jefferson, Lance Stephenson, and even sorry Marvin Williams. IF their lockerroom can stay intact, they have something. Counting out the Knicks already? They got some young dudes to run with Melo. I especially like Calderon.

I think it will be a fight in the East.

We will be fighting in the middle with all those teams.

[Diesel]

We will be fighting in the middle with all those teams.

 

No doubt about it.  I just think we have to temper expectations.   We really don't know what kind of offense we run.  We only have guesswork about Thabo and Bazemore.  We don't know how Horf will look and we are not for sure if Horf and Sap can work together.  Other teams also have questions, but I don't think we can just look at them and say... Nah.  Nobody knows what Bron's going to do in Cleveland.  Nobody knows how the heat will respond to the loss of Bron (they may be better).  Nobody can guarantee that Detroit won't get it.  I know this, many teams have real big men...it's going to be tough.

[Sothron]

Paul Georgie just went down with a gruesome leg injury in Las Vegas. We are now officially better than Indiana. There is no way he is coming back this season. If we stay healthy ourselves we can be a top 2 seed easy. I am not fearing Cleveland because of the lack of defense. New York is a joke.  I hope that he heals okay but the injury is nasty.

There's zero point zero zero zero one percent chance the Hawks will finish with a top one or two seed. The only way it would be possible if the other teams in the East were all killed off in plane crashes or some other calamity.

[buckeye242424]

There's zero point zero zero zero one percent chance the Hawks will finish with a top one or two seed. The only way it would be possible if the other teams in the East were all killed off in plane crashes or some other calamity.

Oh geez... That's a little morbid.

[Vol4ever]

Way too early to put the bulls at the top of the east, IMO. They've lost 2 key players from the last time they were any good.

I think anything below a 4 seed will be disappointing for us this year. I predict 2nd or 3rd.

Gasol is the best low post player in the east, they're the favorites in the east even without Rose

[AHF]

No doubt about it. I just think we have to temper expectations. We really don't know what kind of offense we run. We only have guesswork about Thabo and Bazemore. We don't know how Horf will look and we are not for sure if Horf and Sap can work together. Other teams also have questions, but I don't think we can just look at them and say... Nah. Nobody knows what Bron's going to do in Cleveland. Nobody knows how the heat will respond to the loss of Bron (they may be better). Nobody can guarantee that Detroit won't get it. I know this, many teams have real big men...it's going to be tough.

I agree that expectations are overly optimistic but that is expected among Hawks fans. The best I can say is that most of the East could be very mediocre.

I can give you a pretty good guess that Cleveland will win lots of games: 50-60. The real question is whether they will gel enough to make the Finals (good chance) and contend for a championship (hard to see in year 1 if the Love trade doesn't happen but if it does this is a very real possibility).

Miami won't be better with Deng instead of Lebron. They seem like a 4-10 seed depending on health (my prediction a 7 seed).

Detroit still seems like a terrible chemistry fit (shoot first pgs and big men who should not stray from the paint) but I do expect they will improve with Van Gundy providing real leadership.

[ATLHawks3]

The east has gotten incredibly weaker now with Paul George likely being out for a year. Chicago right now is hands down the number 1 seed, every other seed is up for grabs. 

[Hairydawgz]

I don't think teams fear us due to our new additions in Baze and Thabo, but they rather fear us in our continued growth with the same core in a winning system. When you keep the core of a team together they generally become accustomed to each other's play and can't help but improve on the previous season. We are building a team of legit pros in Horf, Sap, Korver, etc. These guys are truly pro's in every sense of the word. Not only that but we are very deep 1-9, 1-10 and possibly even 1-12. I like our chances as well. I think we are a top 4 team in the east for sure and will have homecourt in round 1. We will be fighting Chicago, Cleveland, the Wizards and the Raptors all year long.

I hope they don't fear us. I hope they doubt our roster, our system, our coach and our cheerleaders/Mascots/Janitors or whoever else we have! Let them sleep on us until it's too late...

[ag82]

Gasol is the best low post player in the east, they're the favorites in the east even without Rose

I actually forgot about gasol. My brain hasn't fully registered that he is a bull yet.

[AHF]

The east has gotten incredibly weaker now with Paul George likely being out for a year. Chicago right now is hands down the number 1 seed, every other seed is up for grabs.

Chicago is not a no-brainier over Lebron, Irving and Love, IMO.

[ATLHawks3]

Chicago is not a no-brainier over Lebron, Irving and Love, IMO.

We'll see. That's only if Love actually lands in Cleveland. As things currently stand, Chicago is the best team in the east. 

[yungsta]

Lurking other team forums, just about every eastern playoff team message board are extremely optimistic of jumping up to being a 2-3 seed in the east even before the paul george injury.

 

So with Hawks fans I dont expect anything different.

 

Realistically I see us being another middling team.

[buckeye242424]

Lurking other team forums, just about every eastern playoff team message board are extremely optimistic of jumping up to being a 2-3 seed in the east even before the paul george injury.

 

So with Hawks fans I dont expect anything different.

 

Realistically I see us being another middling team.

Yup, , 4-5, maybe 6 seed. Same shit for the last, hell, almost decade....

[mtnbayou]

Yup, , 4-5, maybe 6 seed. Same shit for the last, hell, almost decade....

I don`t get it.  This team is going to be F`king awesome! (if we stay healthy)

 

NO team in the East is obviously better than us.  Not even close.

[Diesel]

I don`t get it.  This team is going to be F`king awesome! (if we stay healthy)

 

NO team in the East is obviously better than us.  Not even close.

 

You have the position of a fan.  A homer even..  And that's a good thing.

 

However,

 

You do have to look at

 

Chicago with:

Noah, Gasol, and Rose and their defense..

 

Charlotte with: 

Walker, Stephenson, and Jefferson.

 

Brooklyn with:

DWill, JoeJohnson, and Brook Lopez.

 

Cleveland with:

Kyrie, Lebron, and Love.

 

Miami with:

Wade, Deng, and Bosh

 

Washington with:

Walls, Beal, Pierce, and Gortat

 

NY with:

Calderon, Hardaway Jr, and Melo

 

Toronto with:

Lowry, Derozen, and Valanciunas

 

Detroit with:

Drummond, Smith, Meeks, Augustin, and Jennings.

 

 

And say.  "Damn!!  They all must be thinking the same thing.   'IF we can just stay healthy, we're great.'"

 

What we are suggesting is that:  Indy, Milwaukee, Philly,  and Orlando are not that good.

However,

Milwaukee with Parker, Knight, and Henson may be good.

Orlando with Oladipo, Gordon, Payton, and Vucevic is also an unknown quality...

Philly with  Carter-Williams, Grant, Noel, and Young will be an unknown quality too.

 

So Indy going down does not mean that we automatically ascend to the top.  I didn't have Indy at the top anyway.  I just think that the east is definitely a fight filled with unknowns right now.  We could be the best or we could be in the middle or we could be closer to the bottom... we don't know.

[ViperXX79]

We are building a team of legit pros in Horf, Sap, Korver, etc.

 

 

We built our team around guys who will be gone in a year? How depressing... 

[Vol4ever]

There's zero point zero zero zero one percent chance the Hawks will finish with a top one or two seed. The only way it would be possible if the other teams in the East were all killed off in plane crashes or some other calamity.

But we love our core......and we really brought in the finishing pieces in the offseason.........lol

[OGRat]

Let's not count out Indiana yet. They can make moves or trades to make up some of the difference of losing PG.

If they signed both Beasley and Marion, they could still compete to at least make the playoffs.

[Guest]

We built our team around guys who will be gone in a year? How depressing...

You never know. It's also more about laying the ground for a great foundation. We want to really show the league that we are about sustaining a winning culture. Then I think players will come. Changing an image takes a bit of time and a great deal of consistency and attention to detail. We are on our way, just be a bit more patient.