Let's talk the "ceiling" with this team

[ViewsFromTheSquawk]

The main gripe between media,fans,etc. in the final moments of our Teague,Horf,Carroll era was that we didn't have a high ceiling which eventually came to fruition as we got swept by Cleveland in back to back seasons. Now with Dennis,Dwight,and Prince/Bembry what's the ceiling? Could we get back to an 50+ win team. Or does this team have a same outlook as ours did over the past 3 seasons? 

[Peoriabird]

Depends on how well we shoot 3's! If we are above 35% as a team then we are definitely a contender!

[h4wkfan]

I'd say our ceiling is pushing Cleveland to 6 or 7 games in the ECF. Our floor is well, the lottery. 

[Diesel]

Our ceiling is being in the NBA finals next year.  People are missing the obvious talent of this team.  Grit.   We will have one of the best two way tandems at the 4/5 starting spots.  We will have a slew of 2s and 3s who defend well and can hit the outside shot.   We have a PG whoose calling card is defense with a BU who is a vet that can orchestrate offense. 

Our 3 questionmarks...

1.   Dennis.  Is he ready?

2.  Who's going to step into the 3 spot?  

3.  Will we see a return of our excellent outside shooting.  Shooting is the driving force for what we do.

[Peoriabird]

3 minutes ago, Diesel said:

 

1.   Dennis.  Is he ready?

2.  Who's going to step into the 3 spot?  

3.  Will we see a return of our excellent outside shooting.  Shooting is the driving force for what we do.

Dennis will be fine...in fact his metrics are better as a starter than Teague's metrics plus it will be easier to run an offense with a legit big out there.

Baze will start out as the starting three until Prince can hit his 3's at a rate of >35%.

We just have to hit open 3's and this team will be very tough to beat!

[Diesel]

10 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Dennis will be fine...in fact his metrics are better as a starter than Teague's metrics plus it will be easier to run an offense with a legit big out there.

Baze will start out as the starting three until Prince can hit his 3's at a rate of >35%.

We just have to hit open 3's and this team will be very tough to beat!

Every BU looks better statically than the starter until they are the starter...   Hello Matt Cassell.

However, Dennis has to show that he's able to run the offense for more than just a one on five Layup drill. 

 

[Peoriabird]

5 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Every BU looks better statically than the starter until they are the starter...   Hello Matt Cassell.

 

 

His metrics are better as a starter!

[Spursfanpeacemaker]

Ceiling still not high enough to beat teams like OKC, SPURS or CAVS, those teams still stacked with talented and superstars roster. Hawks still need to find superstar/talented player to add in their team if they want to be a championship contender.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Spursfanpeacemaker said:

Ceiling still not high enough to beat teams like OKC, SPURS or CAVS, those teams still stacked with talented and superstars roster. Hawks still need to find superstar/talented player to add in their team if they want to be a championship contender.

Really? I think we are better than okc right now.

[Peoriabird]

5 minutes ago, Spud2Nique said:

Really? I think we are better than okc right now.

This fan base is so strange...we beat OKC last year when they had Durant...and we had a rebounding issue with Cleveland.  Not anymore

[AHF]

12 minutes ago, Spud2Nique said:

Really? I think we are better than okc right now.

I think he forgot Durant was gone when he made that list or accidentally typed OKC instead of GS.

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, AHF said:

I think he forgot Durant was gone when he made that list or accidentally typed OKC instead of GS.

Ya cuz okc has a lot of big men talent but as far as guys that can flat out win a game for you, it's just Westbrook right now. 

[ViewsFromTheSquawk]

13 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

This fan base is so strange...we beat OKC last year when they had Durant...and we had a rebounding issue with Cleveland.  Not anymore

Definitely didn't have a rebounding issue vs Cleveland... TT was not as near a force as he was when we played them in the ECF's our front court actually held their own from a toughness and rebounding standpoint vs CLE... It's just scoring we can't seem to match them... Only person that lived up to that was DS17. 

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

This fan base is so strange...we beat OKC last year when they had Durant...and we had a rebounding issue with Cleveland.  Not anymore

Yup. Okc wasn't a huge problem for us, we actually matched up with them well. They no longer have KD and we no longer have Horford, that might change some things but overall we are a better team. 

[AHF]

4 minutes ago, Spud2Nique said:

Yup. Okc wasn't a huge problem for us, we actually matched up with them well. They no longer have KD and we no longer have Horford, that might change some things but overall we are a better team. 

Whether you view us or them as better, we are probably in a similar tier.  The main point is that neither Atlanta nor OKC are contenders on paper against the likes of Cleveland and GS coming into this season.  There is no way OKC should be on that short list or GS excluded.  I'm interested to see if SA stays on that list with Duncan retired and Parker declining.

[macdaddy]

It really is just guessing at this point whether there is enough mental toughness and chemistry on this team to be successful.   I think these are big question marks.  

[Sothron]

This league is GS, CLE and everyone else. We are everyone else. The ceiling is second round or possible ECF but that's it.

[Lurker]

It wasn't a rebounding issue with Cleveland this time, they failed to address what were the two real problems, shooting (I'll explain below) and being comfortable with starting a large 3 instead of starting a three guard lineup.

If you want to beat a superstar laden team with no superstars, you have to have the ability to get hot from three, and this was not addressed. Kyle Korver will rebound to 43-45% from three IMO, but since he's continuing to slow down with his age, he cannot be considered a factor in the playoffs next season (unless Marcus Smart is defending him). So after him, your best three point shooter is.....Kent Bazemore, and while he could show that his first half of the season shooting was legit and his drop off was due to fatigue, you can't be counting on it.

So the ceiling of this team is 54 wins and lose in 6 to the ECF to Cleveland again. Break that ugly streak, but not break through and it's because the ugly little secret about this team is they aren't as good of a three point shooting team as they want to tout.

[Spursfanpeacemaker]

50 minutes ago, Spud2Nique said:

Really? I think we are better than okc right now.

i forgot OKC is a different team now lol, i was thinking OKC last year, sorry about that. But yeah Teams like Golden State and Cavs have higher ceiling, Hawks has still not yet reach that ceiling yet.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Spursfanpeacemaker

[hazer]

'16-'17 ceiling is 55 wins, 2nd in the East, going deep in the ECFs, and Sap/D8 in the All-Star game.

Edited July 25, 2016 by hazer