Hawks All Time Starting 5

[TheBigETrain]

Its been out a couple of days on Yahoo! and I didn't see a post on this site.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/the-nba-s-all-time-starting-five--atlanta-hawks-225111235.html

 

They have Wilkins and Petit at forward; Mutombo at center and Hudson and Joe Johnson at guards.

 

Thoughts? 

 

My lineup would go small ball.

Dominique and Joe Johnson at forwards (I know I am kind of cheating here as Nique didn't play much at PF or Joe at SF.)

Petit is my center.

Lenny Wilkens and Lou Hudson as my guards.

 

Pistol Pete unlucky. He only played four seasons but what a four seasons they were. Doc Rivers was close too as my PG.

 

If I was to be more strict on position, I would have Al Horford's and Kevin Willis career ahead of Mutombo's hawks career. Horford would probably be my center, with Petit moving to forward and Joe Johnson wouldn't make it.

Edited August 5, 2015 by TheBigETrain

[AHF]

I actually really like their lineup.

[sturt]

Pistol cannot not be part of a starting 5... he and Nique are the foremost faces of the franchise, imo... ie, of their time in ATL.

Edited August 5, 2015 by sturt

[Vol4ever]

Roundfield has to be my PF.

[capstone21]

I can only choose from guys I have watched (85 on)

Deke

Al (ahead of Willis)

Nique

Joe (ahead of smitty)

Mookie

[ATLHawks3]

I can only choose from guys I have watched (85 on)

Deke

Al (ahead of Willis)

Nique

Joe (ahead of smitty)

Mookie

 

If I were to do the same, it would be..

 

PG: Jeff Teague

SG: Kyle Korver

SF: Joe Johnson

PF: Paul Millsap

C: Al Horford

[nonono]

Roundfield has to be my PF.

 

defensively- roundfield was an absolute monster- doesn't get enough love

 

just don't see how you could leave petit off though

Edited August 6, 2015 by nonono

[Guest]

I can only choose from guys I have watched (85 on)

Deke

Al (ahead of Willis)

Nique

Joe (ahead of smitty)

Mookie

Same boat for me but I might go

Deke

Al

Nique

Smitty

Mookie

[hawkman]

Horford ahead of Willis? I'm not so sure about that one.

[capstone21]

Horford ahead of Willis? I'm not so sure about that one.

willis was a better scorer and rebounder but Al is no slouch in those departments and he is also sacrificing and then when you take into account his defense, passing, ball handling, leadership, team player, All Star appearences, the fact that he helped with the turn around of his team it's hard to deny his impact is greater then Willis for Atlanta

[AHF]

Pistol cannot not be part of a starting 5... he and Nique are the foremost faces of the franchise, imo... ie, of their time in ATL.

 

He absolutely can.  He is grossly overrated and not our best option to play on this theoretical team, IMO.  He played a total of 4 years in Atlanta and made the majority of his 5 career All-Star teams when he played for a different franchise.  The guy never played defense, hogged the ball (never with any notable efficiency), and never won anything at the pro or college level.  

 

I would much rather have someone who could defend and who played for longer than 4 years for the Hawks in that spot.

[sturt]

Given more thought, my votes go like this...

 

PG - Pete Maravich

SG - Steve Smith

SF - Dominique Wilkins

PF - Bob Pettit (never saw him play, unfortunately, but everything I read about him and his stats lines say you just can't leave him out)

C - Moses Malone

He absolutely can.  He is grossly overrated and not our best option to play on this theoretical team, IMO.  He played a total of 4 years in Atlanta and made the majority of his 5 career All-Star teams when he played for a different franchise.  The guy never played defense, hogged the ball (never with any notable efficiency), and never won anything at the pro or college level.  

 

I would much rather have someone who could defend and who played for longer than 4 years for the Hawks in that spot.

 

Boooooo. Hissssssss.

[atlhawks1]

Roundfield has to be my PF.

 

I agree. I posted that fact in another thread. As good as Petit was, i dont count players who played back in the 50s,60s because the sport didnt have all the best players in the NBA. People dont realize how great a player Roundfield was. He was a beast on offense and defense, but particularly, defense. Won defensive player of the year. Back then, the NBA was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy more physical, and Roundfield was the lynchpin of a great Hawks defense started by Hubie Brown, and carried over to Mike Fratello.

 

 

 

 

 

[AHF]

Boooooo. Hissssssss.

 

Trivia Question #1

Which year did the Hawks win the most games?

 

1. The worst of the three years before Maravich was drafted.
2. The first year with Maravich.
3. The second year with Maravich.
4. The third year with Maravich.
5. The fourth year with Maravich.

 

Trivia Question #2

Guess how many winning seasons Maravich had in his entire pro career?

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

Answers:

Question #1 - All 3 years before Maravich was drafted the Hawks were better than they were any year with Maravich.  The Hawks averaged 50.7 wins per season the three years before drafting Maravich.  After drafting him, the Hawks averaged 38.3 wins per season - a drop of over 12 games per year.

 

Question #2 - Maravich had 1 winning season as a starter.  He also glommed on for 26 games with the Celtics in his last season playing the 8th most minutes per game on the team and they also had a winning record.

 

 

You can't build great teams around inefficient ball hogs.  Pistol always got his shots and made showboating plays but never figured out there was more than that to the game.

Edited August 6, 2015 by AHF

[Diesel]

Same boat for me but I might go

Deke

Al

Nique

Smitty

Mookie

 

Al is not a PF.  IF he were a PF, it would be hard to put him ahead of:  Willis, Shareef, or Roundfield. Unfortunately, I don't give Kukoc enough time as a Hawk.

 

Maybe this can be the start of the Al vs. Shareef thread?

[sturt]

Guess which year the Hawks won the most games.

 

The worst of the three years before Maravich was drafted.

The first year with Maravich.

The second year with Maravich.

The third year with Maravich.

The fourth year with Maravich.

 

Guess how many winning seasons Maravich had in his entire pro career?

 

Answers:

All 3 years before Maravich was drafted the Hawks were better than they were any year with Maravich.

 

Maravich had 1 winning season as a starter.  He glommed on for 26 games with the Celtics in his last season playing the 8th most minutes on the team and they also had a winning record.

 

You can't build great teams around inefficient ball hogs.  Pistol always got his shots and made showboating plays but never figured out there was more than that to the game.

 

 

More boooooo... more hissssssssssss

 

(hehe)

 

A little more seriously, if we're building an actual team, I take a whole different approach to naming players... and indeed, looking for guys who share the ball, which btw makes selecting Nique more of a headscratcher than it otherwise would. My idea of an "All-Time 5" is more like a Mount Rushmore of the franchise.

[sturt]

And what happens to pop-up in my RSS reader this morning?...

 

 

http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/06/throwback-thursday-video-top-10-pistol-pete-maravich-plays/

[AHF]

I agree. I posted that fact in another thread. As good as Petit was, i dont count players who played back in the 50s,60s because the sport didnt have all the best players in the NBA. People dont realize how great a player Roundfield was. He was a beast on offense and defense, but particularly, defense. Won defensive player of the year. Back then, the NBA was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy more physical, and Roundfield was the lynchpin of a great Hawks defense started by Hubie Brown, and carried over to Mike Fratello.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call me crazy, but I am taking the guy who won an NBA Championship over the Red's Celtics with HOFers Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinson and Frank Ramsey.  Petit played against Russell, Wilt, etc.  He is the only Hawk to ever win an MVP.  He was an 11 time All-Star, 10 time 1st Team All-NBA and 1 Time 2nd Team All-NBA over his 11 years.  He remains #3 All-Time in rebounds per game and #8 All-Time in points per game.  

 

He was the Tim Duncan of his era.  Dominating, consistent and a consummate winner.

 

I don't see how you just write off guys like Bill Russell, Wilt, Oscar Robertson, Willis Reed, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and others who were among his contemporaries.

[sturt]

Yeah, there's not many bigger Danny Roundfield fans than I am, but... using my bad grammar again... you just cannot not leave Pettit off the All-Time 5.

[AHF]

More boooooo... more hissssssssssss

 

(hehe)

 

A little more seriously, if we're building an actual team, I take a whole different approach to naming players... and indeed, looking for guys who share the ball, which btw makes selecting Nique more of a headscratcher than it otherwise would. My idea of an "All-Time 5" is more like a Mount Rushmore of the franchise.

 

To that end, how can you pass on Lou Hudson?

 

Lou was a 6 time All-Star in Atlanta to 2 for Maravich.

 

Lou was almost exclusively a Hawk for his career while Pete was primarily a member of the Jazz.

 

Lou was a key member of those three season averaging over 50 wins a year before Maravich was drafted (the leading scorer on the last two).  

 

Lou outscored Pete in 3 of the 4 years they overlapped on the Hawks.  The one year where Maravich scored more (he scored 456 more points while taking 435 more shots) was the worst record of Pete's 4 years in Atlanta.

 

I just can't see excluding Lou whether  you are talking about play or iconic Hawk status.

Edited August 6, 2015 by AHF