5 early hawks predictions

[Dejay]

Barring injury, I still see them winning 50-57 games. We have a good team here, folks. A very good team when healthy, as anyone who played them in January will attest. Besides, the cHeat has a very good starting lineup but there are better ballers in my subdivision than they have on their bench. And who is taking the big shot in DC with Pierce now gone? The Bulls have to break in a new coach while praying that Rose stays healthy. The Bucks are still a little too green for prime time. That leaves us trailing the Lebrons; yet again...

Edited August 8, 2015 by Dejay

[AHF]

GS was breaking in a new coach last year. Will have to see how it shakes out. I am excited for next year.

[Alex]

Only thing I agree with is the number 1 seed. Carroll will be missed a lot because we have nobody to replace him. lol at the Hardaway playing a big role or whatever. Bazemore is productive in spurts, but will bet exposed if he is actually relied on.

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[Diesel]

What gets to me about Hawks fans... here... is that many of you don't ride with the team.  I mean, somebody says that we won't be top seed this year and it's met with 100% agreement.  That tells me that many of you think that last season was a fluke?  That's the difference between other franchise fan bases and us.  Kobe says that the Lakers will be in contention and Lakernation rides with Kobe 100%.  However, the Lakers didn't even sniff the playoffs when Kobe was playing.  Yet, the Hawks finish 1st last year by a mile... and comeback for another season the the Hawks fan base (I refuse to say Hawksnation because we're not that strong) has doubts that we will be close to contention.  It's sad. 

We've been losers so long that we have the mindset of a loser.  We're that guy that has been turned down by girls so much that when we finally do get a girl, we point out every reason for her to not be with us.  That's sad!!

[rd79]

What gets to me about Hawks fans... here... is that many of you don't ride with the team. I mean, somebody says that we won't be top seed this year and it's met with 100% agreement. That tells me that many of you think that last season was a fluke? That's the difference between other franchise fan bases and us. Kobe says that the Lakers will be in contention and Lakernation rides with Kobe 100%. However, the Lakers didn't even sniff the playoffs when Kobe was playing. Yet, the Hawks finish 1st last year by a mile... and comeback for another season the the Hawks fan base (I refuse to say Hawksnation because we're not that strong) has doubts that we will be close to contention. It's sad.

We've been losers so long that we have the mindset of a loser. We're that guy that has been turned down by girls so much that when we finally do get a girl, we point out every reason for her to not be with us. That's sad!!

Cleveland, like expected, started slow and pushed hard after they made the correct additions during the season. They killed us in the playoffs.

They seem to be better now. Nevertheless I don't think our season was a fluke, because I still think we have a very good team and will compete for 2nd place in the east.

If Bud finds a good strategy and threes start falling vs them we could win ECF

[hazer]

55 wins, ECFs again...

[Mdizzle5]

I agree. ECFs are our ceiling this coming season. Will that happen? Hard to say. Things would have to go as smoothly as they did last season, before ASW. We'll see how it all plays out. One game at a time.

Edited August 9, 2015 by Mdizzle5

[hazer]

We're still "that player" away from the Finals. M Gasol or KD would put us there...

[LamarHampton]

We're still "that player" away from the Finals. M Gasol or KD would put us there...

Maybe bringing in Royal Ivey would move the needle on getting KD here. I'm kidding, but we have had him around before...

Royce Young: Kevin Durant was asked today at his camp who his favorite teammate ever is. Answer: Current OKC Blue assistant Royal Ivey. – via Twitter royceyoung

Kevin Durant, Royal Ivey, Oklahoma City Thunder.

[benhillboy]

Maybe bringing in Royal Ivey would move the needle on getting KD here. I'm kidding, but we have had him around before...

Ivey had no business in the NBA. He had an exceptional career stint considering his limitations because he was very intelligent and professional. Always liked that dude, partly because he's a doppelgänger of a childhood homie. He will move up the coaching ranks rapidly.

I never considered KD the ultimate teammate, but he impressed me with that answer. Most would probably expect Perkins, Fisher, or Collison.

Edited August 10, 2015 by benhillboy

[DrReality]

Hopefully the poor showing in the playoffs will help us learn something and come back with a vengeance.  I love our core and getting the new guys integrated will be critical.  

[BrazilianHawk]

Last season I was the most optimistic among us (I guessed 52 wins in regular season). Might as well continue the trend.

 

Hawks go for 60 again, ECF at the very least, unless we have two or more bad injuries or key players.

[thescout5]

Hawks will win 50-53 games and get bounced 2nd round. My reasoning is the following.

 

1.Although the Hawks improve in the low post with Splitter the league will catch up and understand how to defend the Hawks better.

2. Hawks will try and save themselves for the playoffs and not go all out in the regular season.

3.The lose of Carroll won't be made up by Thabo or whatever combination Bud uses. Thabo is best playing reserve minutes.

4.The other teams will come back stronger from injuries and be hungry to knock off the Hawks. The Hawks will have a bullseye on their backs so teams will try harder to knock them off.

 

If the Hawks can win more than 53 then they'll have to prove it. Just last year before the Pacers were in the ECF and because of injuries were nowhere to be found a year later. When you expect things to go smoothly sometimes they don't and it makes it that much tougher to repeat. Will see what this team is made of this year since I doubt they win 19 games in a row this year.  

Edited August 10, 2015 by thescout5

[macdaddy]

Hawks will win 50-53 games and get bounced 2nd round. My reasoning is the following.

 

1.Although the Hawks improve in the low post with Splitter the league will catch up and understand how to defend the Hawks better.

2. Hawks will try and save themselves for the playoffs and not go all out in the regular season.

3.The lose of Carroll won't be made up by Thabo or whatever combination Bud uses. Thabo is best playing reserve minutes.

4.The other teams will come back stronger from injuries and be hungry to knock off the Hawks. The Hawks will have a bullseye on their backs so teams will try harder to knock them off.

 

If the Hawks can win more than 53 then they'll have to prove it. Just last year before the Pacers were in the ECF and because of injuries were nowhere to be found a year later. When you expect things to go smoothly sometimes they don't and it makes it that much tougher to repeat. Will see what this team is made of this year since I doubt they win 19 games in a row this year.  

 

It wasn't just injuries that sunk the pacers.   They failed to address the chemistry on their team.  An aging PF, a center who is easily exploited, weakness at the point plus guys in the locker room who don't like each other.   They thought Lance was addition by subtraction but they had much bigger problems.  

 

My biggest concern for the Hawks is that i think we have to make some kind of deal at the deadline to fill some gaps but so far Budcox has't shown a great ability to pull off good trades.   I think the Hardaway trade was a good one but it still remains to be seen.  All and all though i think this is a better balanced team than we had last year and i'm pretty skeptical that anyone in the east except the cavs has really improved significantly.   

[macdaddy]

The hits keep coming.  Not only do these experts see no shot for Atlanta to win the east but we're not even competing with the Wiz and Bulls?   Here's my fave quote

 

 

 

The Hawks did little to sway the opinions of everyone who predicted their playoff struggle

 

Sure we got thumped by the Cavs for a variety of reasons but since when is going to the conference finals 'playoff struggles'

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/three-man-weave--which-eastern-conference-contender-will-make-it-up-to-no--2-143757697.html