How big a loss is Thabo?

[AHF]

We beat Cleveland AND GS already without Thabo. It can be done again. All is not said and done. If this team cannot overcome the loss of its 7th/8th best player (albeit the most playoff tested and best defender) when we will still have all our starters including our 4 All-Stars then we werent meant to be to begin with. He was an important piece and a key cog for our defense at arguably our thinnest position so trust me I understand how much this hurts but we have time to adjust before the playoffs and because we know he isnt coming back guys dont have to look over there shoulder waiting in his return. Everybody can now have the mindset that whoever is in that locker room is who they are going to go to war with and everyone will have to pick it up just a little bit more now.

If Cleveland lost Shumpert for the playoffs would you say theyre chances are gone? If GS lost Shaun Livingston or Andre Igoudala would you bury their chances? Contenders find a way to step up when adversity hits. We are contenders now so lets act like it

 

I don't believe in "meant to be" and don't count this team out yet.  But I think we are a complex machine on both ends.  Pulling a cog out of a unit like ours is a much bigger deal than on some other squads, like Cleveland.  They are going to be driven by Lebron, Lebron, Lebron, Irving, kevin love, and role players.  Their losing Lebron is a much bigger deal than us losing any player.  Their losing their 5th man is not as big a deal as us losing our 7th.

[Spursfanpeacemaker]

Obviously Huge, his verstality and defensive ability makes Hawks much more of a threat.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Spursfanpeacemaker

[Plainview1981]

Does losing him significantly effect our chances in the playoffs? Can his defense be replaced? What is the the lay of the land post-Thabo?

 

They haven't beat a winning team on the road without him. Chances are that you will have to win a few on the road in the playoffs.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Hotlanta1981

[Plainview1981]

We beat Cleveland AND GS already without Thabo. It can be done again. All is not said and done. If this team cannot overcome the loss of its 7th/8th best player (albeit the most playoff tested and best defender) when we will still have all our starters including our 4 All-Stars then we werent meant to be to begin with. He was an important piece and a key cog for our defense at arguably our thinnest position so trust me I understand how much this hurts but we have time to adjust before the playoffs and because we know he isnt coming back guys dont have to look over there shoulder waiting in his return. Everybody can now have the mindset that whoever is in that locker room is who they are going to go to war with and everyone will have to pick it up just a little bit more now.

If Cleveland lost Shumpert for the playoffs would you say theyre chances are gone? If GS lost Shaun Livingston or Andre Igoudala would you bury their chances? Contenders find a way to step up when adversity hits. We are contenders now so lets act like it

 

They won those games at home. Who have they beat on the road the last 3 months?

Edited April 10, 2015 by Hotlanta1981

[JTB]

This off season when ferry and Bud went after strong perimeter defenders...we as hawk fans knew what they were trying to do which was to relieve DMC when he sat on the bench as well as make our perimeter defense a lot better just in general but throughout the season the priority changed in my opinion....we went from just trying to be a better team to being a contending championship team and now those perimeter defenders are even more important cause you know you have to get through Lebron James to have any shot at winning the NBA title.

Since the Hawks had this great regular season out of no where, we have gain some respect throughout the league and even General fans already has us in the ECF facing the Cavs. But the ONLY reason Hawk fans were slightly confident about their chances against lebron James and his cavs in the ECF showdown is because we knew DMC & THABO were going to be the main 2 defenders guarding the leagues best player!...with swarming defensive help.

Can they shut down lebron? Of course not nobody can but they do have the ability to force his every shot into a tough shot!

So yeah it's a terrible thing to happen! I see why bud and ferry tried to add 3 perimeter strong defenders as you can recall they went after Thabo, Baze, and Deng! And I wish we had got them all in case of injury like thabo's.....Now DMC is yet again our lone wolf elite defender all on his own that has SF size and basically the Hawks are saying ok DMC you got to take on lebron by yourself and im not saying bud isn't going to give DMC help...I'm saying this because bud is now forced to send help that won't be nearly as strong as Thabo off the bench.

We will always play defense as a team even but Man oh man! When DMC need rest Hawks fans are really going to feel the lost of Thabo! But only when we play the cavs....priority for the off season is to pick up a wing very good wing defender unfortunately 3 isn't enough!

Edited April 10, 2015 by JTB

[cam1218]

They won those games at home. Who have they beat on the road the last 3 months?

We haven't been giving our greatest efforts in some of our post all-star road games, so the record without him on the road might be a little skewed.

Either way, you do realize we have home court advantage against any team besides GS?

[lethalweapon3]

No doubt it's as big a loss as if he simply fell down the steps at the hotel. (DAMMIT THABO, TAKE THE ELEVATOR!)

 

Zach Klein noted that the Hawks are simply 15-10 without Thabo (neglecting any other circumstances, of course). The good news is, go 15-10 in the Playoffs, and as long as it's the right 10, 15 has you one win away from a Parade Down Peachtree.

 

~lw3

[Peoriabird]

 

Hey, Austin Daye. Want to be thought of as more than just roster filler and NBDL material by your peers? Here's your shot. Ditto for Shelvin Mack.

I hope you are joking!

[Peoriabird]

They won those games at home. Who have they beat on the road the last 3 months?

Who cares??? We have home court advantage haven't you heard?

[Plainview1981]

We haven't been giving our greatest efforts in some of our post all-star road games, so the record without him on the road might be a little skewed.

Either way, you do realize we have home court advantage against any team besides GS?

 

You're still going to have to win some games on the road most likely.

[AHF]

We haven't been giving our greatest efforts in some of our post all-star road games, so the record without him on the road might be a little skewed.

Either way, you do realize we have home court advantage against any team besides GS?

We haven't been playing great period post-AS. This means it is unlikely we will return to prime form this season.

[benhillboy]

We haven't been playing great period post-AS. This means it is unlikely we will return to prime form this season.

Hard to please much? We've won our past 4 games by 86 points with patchwork lineups and "nothing to play for" (besides honing our secret weapons in Moose and JJ, but that's on the low). This team is gonna look like a runaway chainsaw soon as the playoffs tip off. Edited April 11, 2015 by benhillboy

[AHF]

Hard to please much? We've won our past 4 games by 86 points with patchwork lineups and "nothing to play for" (besides honing our secret weapons in Moose and JJ, but that's on the low). This team is gonna look like a runaway chainsaw soon as the playoffs tip off.

I hope so, but we haven't looked like that consistently since Thabo was injured.

[nitte]

Millsap is an underrated wing defender. I saw him play solid defense on the likes of Carmelo or Lebron. If Demarre gets into foul trouble against Lebron, I could see lineups where Muscala is at PF and Millsap is at SF.

[yungsta]

Millsap is an underrated wing defender. I saw him play solid defense on the likes of Carmelo or Lebron. If Demarre gets into foul trouble against Lebron, I could see lineups where Muscala is at PF and Millsap is at SF.

 

I think that would put us in an awkward position offensively since it takes away millsap's main strength offensively.

[lethalweapon3]

No doubt it's as big a loss as if he simply fell down the steps at the hotel. (DAMMIT THABO, TAKE THE ELEVATOR!)

 

Zach Klein noted that the Hawks are simply 15-10 without Thabo (neglecting any other circumstances, of course). The good news is, go 15-10 in the Playoffs, and as long as it's the right 10, 15 has you one win away from a Parade Down Peachtree.

 

~lw3

 

Unpeeling that 15-10 onion (17-10 now), that record includes 9-4 at home, which sounds good given homecourt advantage through the East is forthcoming. Home wins sans Thabo include Golden State, Cleveland, Houston, and Washington.

 

~lw3

[skimaskway23]

Mike scott will play some 3 now that muscala has improved.

[asdogg]

Bigger than I thougt from Espn

Meanwhile in the East, the Atlanta Hawks are having to come to grips with the shocking Sefolosha news. The circumstances of his injury make the loss more stinging, but Sefolosha's impact on the floor will be missed, despite his absence for 25 games this season. Although his three-point percentage didn't return to his career-high levels from two years ago in Oklahoma City, Sefolosha was not a huge drag to the Hawks' offense, with the team performing only about a point per 100 possessions worse when he was on the floor. At the same time, his defensive impact was tremendous, as Atlanta allowed about 95 points per 100 possessions with him.

All told, Sefolosha had the second highest net rating of any player on the roster (behind Kyle Korver), with the Hawks outscoring opponents by more than 10 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor. While Atlanta did not fall apart in his absence (going 15-10), it only outscored opponents by less than two points per 100 possessions during that time (versus about seven with him in the lineup). Sefolosha provided Atlanta with another ball handler who could act as a release valve (he ran 58 pick-and-roll possessions, including passes, leading to 0.931 points per possession, according to Synergy), and that's going to be sorely missed in the playoffs, when a lot of initial actions will be game-planned against. Making matters more difficult, he was clearly the most experienced veteran presence on a relatively young bench with fewer than 400 minutes of playoff time logged among the rotation of Mike Scott, Dennis Schröder, Pero Antić and Kent Bazemore.

[DJlaysitup]

...responding to the thread title....BIG

[enrique]

Cataclysmic...hoping that it isn't that bad however.