I Hate To Disappoint But..... WE ARE NOT I REPEAT

[sillent]

WE ARE NOT TANKING (NOT IF WE GET REED AND DEDMON PLUS A POINT). IF WE GET REED HE JUST CAME FROM A HEAT TEAM WITH SEEMINGLY NOBODIES THAT WERE A GAME AWAY FROM BEING PLAYOFF BOUND SO HE KNOWS WHAT IT TAKES IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS. DEDMON JUST CAME FROM A SYSTEM AND TEAM THAT HAS A CULTURE OF WINNING. MOST IMPORTANTLY THE EAST IS AS WEAK AS IT HAS BEEN IN A LONG TIME. 

This Is A Movement or what I like to call a REVAMP but not a tank job. Dennis will be Westbrook lite increasing his scoring assist and whatever else it takes. Prince will be solid 3 & D guy with more upside Kawhi lite. Collins will be in mention with rookie of the year candidates even in this deep draft. Baze will have a bounce back year. For some reason I think the shadow of Dwight shaded his confidence trying to live up to the likes of Kobe/Harden. Bembry will have a break out year. Delaney will prove he belongs in this league and will Wow us on a couple occasions. Moose will still suck but not as bad as people think (he will prove he can atleast hang in this league). Dorsey will be an unsung hero at times showing THJ microwave scorer type flashes. Diamond under our system will start showing great flashes of all his intangibles and big men usually take awhile to develop but his curve and of course Collins is alot faster. Belinelli will be serviceable and may bring back some remembrance of Korver and possibly slight flashes of Ginobili. Sometimes vets just get rejuvenated on a young team. Plumlee will wow us at times and prove to be serviceable in limited minutes. Reed and Dedmon will be our enforcers in the paint on the defense and rebounding side with some solid inside play.

Most importantly Bud and the team will show his best coaching and developing skills yet and will win coach of the year if he can get us into the playoffs. Schlenk would win executive of the year for putting this team together and we may not have the top draft pick but we will find quality guys wherever we may fall.

OUR WHOLE SQUAD FROM THE OWNERS DOWN TO THE COACHES HAVE TOO MUCH PRIDE TO LAY DOWN AND BECAUSE OF IT WE MAY SURPRISE AND COME UP. DENNIS WAS ON THE 60 WIN TEAM (ALTHOUGH NOT A MAIN FACTOR AT THE TIME) & HAS NEVER MISSED THE PLAYOFFS. I BET HE DOESN'T PLAN ON MISSING IT NOW AND OUR YOUNG HUNGRY SQUAD WILL BE OUT TO PROVE THEMSELVES. PRINCE KNOWS HE COULD DO A WHOLE LOT MORE WITHOUT VETS TO DEFER TO AND COLLINS WON'T CHOOSE TO BE LEFT OUT THE MIX EITHER. BEMBRY AND BAZE MAY ALSO BE SOME OF OUR BIGGEST SURPRISES( Laugh now if you must at the Baze comment). 

ONE THING WE DON'T WON'T OUR YOUNG TEAM TO GET A TASTE OF IS A LOSING CULTURE WHICH IRONICALLY IS WHY I THINK WE GOT RID OF OUR VETS SINCE THEY HAVE NEVER WON A CHAMPIONSHIP WHICH IS OUR ULTIMATE GOAL BUT THEY HAVE/HAD THE BIGGEST VOICE IN THE LOCKER ROOM. 

We may become the youngest team to ever make the playoffs and not saying we will win a round but we might put some scare in a team like we did against Boston years back.

WE WILL DEFINITELY GO THRU SOME UPS AND DOWNS AND GROWING PAINS BUT OVERALL WE WILL FIGHT TO THE VERY END AND POSSIBLY FALL INTO A SPOT IN THE NOW SERIOUSLY WEAK EAST.

THIS POST MAY BE PREMATURE AND FOR NAUGHT IF WE DON'T GET REED/DEDMON OR SIMILAR TYPE TALENT BUT I'M TIRED OF PEOPLE SAYING WE'RE TANKING BEFORE WE'VE PLAYED A SINGLE GAME.  

THIS IS A REVAMP NOT A REBUILD AND YES WE GOT RID OF TALENT BUT ULTIMATELY WE GOT RID OF OLD STIFLING WAYS AND BAD HABITS. THE WARRIORS DIDN'T HAVE ANYONE TELLING THEM THEY COULDN'T BE GREAT. THEY KNEW THEY WERE TALENTED AND PLAYED LIKE IT. I THINK OUR YOUNG GUYS WILL HAVE A SIMILAR MINDSET.

[sturt]

First, the surest way to protect against anyone reading more than a line or two from a post is to put it in ALL CAPS BOLD. Just sayin.

Second, I disagree.

I'd anticipated when Schlenk asserted that this is not going to be a Philly model, that we were probably going to be gunning for 30-something wins, and at the same time we were hearing "Hawks" associated with some starter-level free agents, he had in mind something like what GSW did all those years when they were one of the worst but almost never "the" worst team in their conference.

But this isn't that, if that's what he's got in-mind. This is too Philly-like to have said what he said and get away with it. I'm quickly learning not to trust this guy. Not that he needs me to trust him, of course.

[DBac]

Call it whatever you want. We'll be pretty bad and pick in the top 5 if not top 3.

[JTB]

Trust me I wish you were right but this team is definitely going to be dead awful. Which is fine as long as we see actual improvement in the young players that will be getting a shit load of pt.

im not so much worried about the season and making the playoffs. In fact I hope we do miss out as long as we see some major improvement from these young players. We need 2 all star reserves or 1 all star, 1 rookie of the year candidate or just to see some players in general take some major strides....now don't get me wrong I know this is a hard task with these young guys but the quicker they get better the faster we can speed this rebuild....I mean retool...process up.

[Blunt91]

Let's not get too hasty, Wille Reed and Dewayne dedmon have to first sign the contract. I think schlenk is playing Hardball in the contract negotiations with Dedmon and Reed which may cause them to lose one if not both to other teams.

[hazer]

Both would be nice, but count me on Team Dedmon. Started over 30 games for the Spurs last year, put up 17/17 in the only game he played 30 mins. Could be a double/double macheen here.

[BrazilianHawk]

I want some of that you were smoking!

[Final_quest]

Right now we are one of the worst 3-5 teams in the league, but depending on who we sign that could change a little.  We will be in the worst 10 teams no matter what.  

It takes a real fan to look at this team and predict a playoff berth.  Wow.  

[RWF]

Tank or no tank, I want a top 3 pick and the Hawks seem to have got my memo.

[Guard]

This roster is legitimately awful and signing a Reed or Dedmon isn't changing that. Teams with as much youth as the Hawks usually don't make the playoffs. Especially a team with no scoring option.  Expect a top five pick instead of the playoffs. 

[sillent]

http://www.ajc.com/sports/basketball/prince-doesn-agree-with-low-expectations-for-hawks/7rNF2C78eNAIR9NcfMVHJJ/

 

Schlenk and Prince agree with my statement and I'm sure there are alot more that feel this way in our organization.

[sturt]

@sillent, who knows what Schlenk really thinks.

Words have not followed actions. Multiple times already.

And, you really think any player is going to talk as-if he has low expectations?

Let me qualify that... you really think that any player who wants playing time from Bud is going to talk as-if he has low expectations?

Having said that, I don't mean to suggest Prince is insincere, but only mean to suggest that players are paid in part to keep a positive, we're-going-to-win attitude.

 

[sturt]

7 hours ago, Final_quest said:

Right now we are one of the worst 3-5 teams in the league, but depending on who we sign that could change a little.  We will be in the worst 10 teams no matter what.

My guess is Schlenk is targeting the GSW experience, which is to land somewhere between #4 and #8 from the bottom. So, he'd probably be pleased with that if you were his genie and could grant that wish.

7 hours ago, Final_quest said:

It takes a real fan to look at this team and predict a playoff berth.

If that's a "real" fan, give me a "realistic" fan over that. I'm all for optimism, but there is a limit before it becomes downright naivety.

[sillent]

3 minutes ago, sturt said:

My guess is Schlenk is targeting the GSW experience, which is to land somewhere between #4 and #8 from the bottom. So, he'd probably be pleased with that if you were his genie and could grant that wish.

If that's a "real" fan, give me a "realistic" fan over that. I'm all for optimism, but there is a limit before it becomes downright naivety.

All I know is right now our record is 0 - 0 (or 2 - 1 if you're counting summer league). My positive expectations are just as realistic as the negative ones and our players and organization so happen to agree with me. Let's see whose more realistic come mid season and the end of the year.

[AHF]

Everybody can put their chips in on the preseason prediction of our record and then they'll be heroes or goats for their predictive skills at the end of the year.

[KB21]

13 hours ago, sillent said:

All I know is right now our record is 0 - 0 (or 2 - 1 if you're counting summer league). My positive expectations are just as realistic as the negative ones and our players and organization so happen to agree with me. Let's see whose more realistic come mid season and the end of the year.

Just looking at win shares on the experienced players that currently on the roster: Dennis Schröder, Mike Muscala, Dewayne Dedmon, Kent Bazemore, Marco Belinelli, Taurean Prince, DeAndre Bembry, Miles Plumlee, and Malcolm Delaney combined for 15.2 total win shares in 2016-2017. 

The Hawks had right around 27 win shares that walked out the door with Dwight, Paul, Tim, Ersan, Thabo, Kris, and Dunleavey. 

Honestly, if the Hawks win 25 games with this roster, then Mike Budenholzer is the best coach in basketball, period.

[AHF]

2 hours ago, KB21 said:

Just looking at win shares on the experienced players that currently on the roster: Dennis Schröder, Mike Muscala, Dewayne Dedmon, Kent Bazemore, Marco Belinelli, Taurean Prince, DeAndre Bembry, Miles Plumlee, and Malcolm Delaney combined for 15.2 total win shares in 2016-2017. 

The Hawks had right around 27 win shares that walked out the door with Dwight, Paul, Tim, Ersan, Thabo, Kris, and Dunleavey. 

Honestly, if the Hawks win 25 games with this roster, then Mike Budenholzer is the best coach in basketball, period.

If we are projecting, we should look at ws/48 and the projected minutes for these guys.  Someone like Dedmon will produce a lot more win shares without any change in production just due to the expected increase in minutes.

[OldTimeHawk]

Im pretty optimistic - the guys are young but have talent. But one thing they dont have yet is bad habits that old vets have. If they buy into the system and execute and share the basketball we will surprise a lot of teams.  Right now other than Dennis we arent really locked into any players. If they dont play Bud ball its not gonna hurt to turn them loose.  Lots of upside to this team but want to see how the bench shakes out.