What if....

[gurpilo]

Trae meets some expectations and average 16ppg, 7 apg with decent percentages

Prince performs as in the 2nd half of the season, 19ppg, 5 rog

John Collins steps up and average 16 ppg, 10 rpg and shows his game, I think this is happening anyway.

Dedmon and Baze performs as last year

Len improves slightly his numbers this season as he has done all seasons.

Lin play 65 games and performs near his best days, 14ppg, 5 apg.

Anderson is a valuable player

Huerter and Spellman are players that contribute this year and complement this 8.

If that happens and I do not think is unrealistic, where would be all the negativism on this forum? Hawks could win 40 games, I don’t think is happenning and probably chances are low but definately cannot be discarded, is not unrealistic. Am I the only one that is eager to see this team play?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

The problem with this squad is going to be on the defensive side of the ball.  Those guys could reach all of those offensive targets, and still be a bad team.

I'm more anxious to see the arena renovations than I am to see this team play.   This year should be interesting nonetheless.

[hazer]

28 wins is realistic, 25 is possible due to inexperience, 32 if everybody stays healthy, Gaze and Dedmon Walking aren't traded early, and Pierce isn't in over his head. 40? Nawwwwww.

[sturt]

It's likely that this team exceeds the expectations of most NBA media. I'll say that much.

[bleachkit]

I really hope Coach Pierce shows he's a good coach. Bud's first year here you could tell right away he was pretty good coach. 

[gurpilo]

What I really think is this team is vey difficult to project, brand new team

We have flaws, young players, inexperienced coach, team not proven, lack a star, lack a go to player, lack defense....

But we have some strenghts too, true PG, good shooting, up and coming player on John Collins, size inside and on the wings, depth, 2 good players for every position, a wild card at PG...

I think Young and Collins can meet above expectations, Prince can stay on last years performance, Baze and Dedmon will do the same, Anderson, Lin and Len are great additions and I have some faith on the rookies and Bembry.All the guys are focusing on flaws and forgetting the strenghts, the truth is novbody can project what this team is going to do and although 25 wins might be a realistic scenario I don’t think fighting for a playoff spot on the east can be discarded. Last year playoff was 43 wins.

[sillent]

On 8/25/2018 at 5:30 AM, gurpilo said:

What I really think is this team is vey difficult to project, brand new team

We have flaws, young players, inexperienced coach, team not proven, lack a star, lack a go to player, lack defense....

But we have some strenghts too, true PG, good shooting, up and coming player on John Collins, size inside and on the wings, depth, 2 good players for every position, a wild card at PG...

I think Young and Collins can meet above expectations, Prince can stay on last years performance, Baze and Dedmon will do the same, Anderson, Lin and Len are great additions and I have some faith on the rookies and Bembry.All the guys are focusing on flaws and forgetting the strenghts, the truth is novbody can project what this team is going to do and although 25 wins might be a realistic scenario I don’t think fighting for a playoff spot on the east can be discarded. Last year playoff was 43 wins.

I agree completely. I bought season tickets the 1st year we brought Paul and DeMarre to the team because I saw the potential. It seemed like we lacked as far as talent level but I saw a gritty scrappy team on paper and they proved to be the same on court. We lost Horford early that year but still managed to make the playoffs with 38 wins. On paper I see us being a surprise team now.

We won't be as gritty and scrappy but we will be a surprise offensive juggernaut the way we can spread the ball, spread the floor and score on offensive from top to bottom. I think we will be alot better defensively as well than most would expect. Dedmon, Baze, Bembry, Len, Prince and Anderson can all be high end defenders and Collins, Spellman, Huerter and Pothress may surprise as well. The rest of our players at the very least should be able to hold their own to where we don't fall too hard on that side.

Coach Pierce being in charge of strictly the defense for the 76ers did wonders for them last year and I'm sure that will carryover. Besides Embid, Covington, possibly Simmons and Anderson (who we now have) the 76ers on paper looked like a horrible defensive team. JJ Redick was one of their main scores and would be an instant liability on defense but he was able to hold his own or atleast look like it under coach Pierce. With Pierce making sure our defense stays afloat and the natural offensive talents of most of our players I think we will be alot better than most expect.

Although young we don't have too many laid back happy go lucky players like Moose most of our young guys are competitors and hungry to win. Most of our team is filled with high IQ players which should speed up the learning curve. With their natural offensive talents and coach Pierce's implementation on defense I believe we will be the Pacers of last year. Slept on by the league until the league has to face us. I still only predict 39 wins at the moment and whether that gets us a playoff spot or not is yet to be seen but it would blow the minds of all the consensus.  

Going at this season with a winning mentality will carry us over with even more momentum and chemistry and internal growth as well as even more draft picks next year will make us even more potent. I don't trust Schlenk to get the #1 pick right but I do trust in his drafting to find the diamonds in the rough. That means playing to our highest capabilities will not hurt our draft choices at all because it actually puts Schlenk at his strength drafting the sleepers that most pass up on. I'm super pumped about this season and if I can get my Vegas money up now is the perfect time for our underdogs/birds. 

I was wrong in my predictions last year but that's because I expected Bud to do things a whole lot differently. Honestly even before Buds questionable rotations and overall strategies we were hit with many key injuries early that didn't give us a chance to build proper chemistry and put ourselves in a better position. That led to our 3 possible 4 draft picks that landed us where we are now and I think Schlenk not only got his wish to turn us into the Warriors East but we're stacked with other players that the Warriors don't/didn't have like Collins, Prince, Bembry, Dedmon, Vince, Lin, Len, some may laugh but Dorsey and others that the Warriors didn't have when they were 1st making their run as an elite team. 

If we do this right we could go down in history as one of the quickest teams to rebuild and I think Schlenk is more on the page of history making than just collecting new toys every year. If I'm Schlenk I don't want my name to be no where near Sam Hinkie's and allowing this team maximize it's full potential should do the trick. I'm still only predicting 39 wins we still have alot of growth and chemistry to obtain but we currently do have a team that can be alot better than current expectations. Before the Warriors were the Warriors we know they caught the league by surprise with their ball movement and shooting prowess. We were kind of looking like the same thing on the East (It was the same year we won our 60 games) the only difference was they stayed consistent with what they were doing. We fell off and coasted after the allstar break where we had 4 allstars and the results showed.

Our current team doesn't look like a team content to be complacent. True they have alot to learn, a long way to go, grow and develop but they are hungry. Humble but hungry to prove the doubters wrong and I believe we are going to see the results of that starting this year. Again 39 wins is nothing to brag about unless you're being predicted to win about 23/24. It's time for us to bring in a new culture where we expect to do great things and I believe we are going to see the start of that this year.

[Buzzard]

On 8/23/2018 at 6:39 PM, gurpilo said:

Trae meets some expectations and average 16ppg, 7 apg with decent percentages

Prince performs as in the 2nd half of the season, 19ppg, 5 rog

John Collins steps up and average 16 ppg, 10 rpg and shows his game, I think this is happening anyway.

Dedmon and Baze performs as last year

Len improves slightly his numbers this season as he has done all seasons.

Lin play 65 games and performs near his best days, 14ppg, 5 apg.

Anderson is a valuable player

Huerter and Spellman are players that contribute this year and complement this 8.

If that happens and I do not think is unrealistic, where would be all the negativism on this forum? Hawks could win 40 games, I don’t think is happenning and probably chances are low but definately cannot be discarded, is not unrealistic. Am I the only one that is eager to see this team play?

Last season's team best scorers: Schröder 19 PPG, Prince 14 PPG, Bazemore12.9 PPG; the next five top scorers were around 10 PPG. I expect this years team to be better but not 8th seed better. I said this before, we will be very competitive against the lower 16 teams in the league; lower 8 in our conference. Due to our youth, I also expect us to go win less against the top 8 to 10 teams in the league.

The top echelon teams are going to wear us out. It will be due to talent and NBA experience. Then in two to three seasons, when Trae and/or some of our other players start being mentioned as all-stars, both gaps get closed. We are going to be fun to watch this year; but there will be some ugly losses.

 

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

We're trying to get off the treadmill... So yes, there would be negativism from me if that happens.  The youngins can learn and grow as long as that doesn't translate to wins for at least another draft or two.

[JayBirdHawk]

On 8/23/2018 at 6:39 PM, gurpilo said:

Trae meets some expectations and average 16ppg, 7 apg with decent percentages

Prince performs as in the 2nd half of the season, 19ppg, 5 rog

John Collins steps up and average 16 ppg, 10 rpg and shows his game, I think this is happening anyway.

Dedmon and Baze performs as last year

Len improves slightly his numbers this season as he has done all seasons.

Lin play 65 games and performs near his best days, 14ppg, 5 apg.

Anderson is a valuable player

Huerter and Spellman are players that contribute this year and complement this 8.

If that happens and I do not think is unrealistic, where would be all the negativism on this forum? Hawks could win 40 games, I don’t think is happenning and probably chances are low but definately cannot be discarded, is not unrealistic. Am I the only one that is eager to see this team play?

I'm as eager as anyone to see this team play, but you are supposing that pretty much every single player meets or exceeds expectations. If that happens we'd be a top 4 East team and I don't see that happening and I'd welcome all crow to eat if that happens.

Too much youth and inexperience expected to see major minutes.

 

 

[macdaddy]

I'm very optimistic about our players but the level of play in the NBA is too high to expect rookies and sophomores to lead a team and win on a consistent basis.   Out side of rookies and sophomores we just have guys who are fringe starters in this league.   

[Gray Mule]

SILLENT believes that 39 is tops.  Not me.  I think that half our games will be wins.  If you're counting, that's 41!

This season's Hawk team will be capable of winning any game.  Sure, there are better teams and they will be expecting the Hawks to roll over and play dead when faced with their mighty force.  Nope.  Ain't happening.  If we can manage to stay healthy, we will lose some of these games.  Not all.  It will not be an automatic victory for every top half of each division.  Remember, they must remain 100% healthy and this ain't happening.

Our young inexperienced players like Jeremy Lin, Ken Bazemore, Miles Plumlee and Vince Carter might lead us to a win or two.  Three draft picks + Alex Len and Justin Anderson = lots of talented young guys.

Why is everyone so down on our team?  Inexperienced players and coaches, for a start.  Add our last season's tank and high expectations for next year's draft.  Did I leave out anything? 

Pre season, October 1st. is just around the corner.  I saw an ad about our Hawks team today on TV!  The action draweth near!

GO ATL HAWKS !!

[gurpilo]

Looking that my initial prediction could be happening. I think we have a good and young core and a deep team and 40 wins is not unrealistic, of course we could end at 24 but if things click well we might make some noise and preseason is trending to the right direction.

I think Trae, Prince and Collins might perform overall to this thread`s expectation.

Len has been a great surprise, given minutes he could perform even greater than expected, he already did in Phoenix.

Dedmon, Lin and Baze will perform as expected, be careful with Lin he is a good player.

Poythress, Bembry and Dorsey might emerge as contributors as well and still I expect things from Anderson, Spellman and Huerter.

Eager to see this team play.

[EazyRoc]

I think a lack of consistency that comes with inexperience is what will keep us from exceeding mid-20s in the win column. There’ll be nights when we look like a 40-50 win team and nights when we look like the worst team in the league.

[hazer]

Very eager to see this squad play! But youth, inexperience, and questionable D will keep the win totals lower than 40. I’ve been predicting 28 for months, sticking with that ??

[Peoriabird]

Like I said before...Our top 8-9 guys with the exception of Young have plenty of NBA experience so I don't get the argument that we will lose because of youth.  Like GM said, we will lose because of injury not youth.  Posters that think that Hueter and Spellman will get minutes are nuts.  The only mayor minutes they will receive will be in Erie.  This team should will 41 games but because of these nagging injuries, they may fall short of that win total.

[EazyRoc]

13 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

Like I said before...Our top 8-9 guys with the exception of Young have plenty of NBA experience so I don't get the argument that we will lose because of youth.  Like GM said, we will lose because of injury not youth.  Posters that think that Hueter and Spellman will get minutes are nuts.  The only mayor minutes they will receive will be in Erie.  This team should will 41 games but because of these nagging injuries, they may fall short of that win total.

Our two best players have a combined 3 years of experience. The 8-9 other guys just aren’t good enough for their experience to matter. 

[Peoriabird]

40 minutes ago, EazyRoc said:

Our two best players have a combined 3 years of experience. The 8-9 other guys just aren’t good enough for their experience to matter. 

What??? Our best player last year was Baze the 2nd best was Dedmon. Lin has accomplished more than anyone on this team outside of Carter. But if this is what you want to believe, so be it.

[EazyRoc]

1 hour ago, Peoriabird said:

What??? Our best player last year was Baze the 2nd best was Dedmon. Lin has accomplished more than anyone on this team outside of Carter. But if this is what you want to believe, so be it.

I don’t agree that either were our best players, but that wasn’t really the point to begin with. With the exception of Dedmon, Baze, Len, and Lin, just about everybody else projected to get minutes has less than 3 years NBA experience. Guys like Prince, Collins, Bembry, Young, and Anderson have relatively little NBA experience.

[AHF]

11 hours ago, Peoriabird said:

What??? Our best player last year was Baze the 2nd best was Dedmon. Lin has accomplished more than anyone on this team outside of Carter. But if this is what you want to believe, so be it.

If you think Baze will be our best player this year, you should be predicting less than 30 wins even if you are optimistic.