How serious of a playoff threat are we this season?

[enrique]

1 hour ago, Gray Mule said:

@bleachkit 

Stupid question. I tried figuring this out and since you carry the "sage" moniker around these parts, maybe you can help me out. How do get a user "tagged" in a reply or post? I tried reading and do this a while back and failed miserably

Thanks ahead of time...

[AHF]

13 hours ago, Peoriabird said:

Steph was an older rookie so are we comparing apples to apples?

The comparison is coming out of a question of how fast Trae can make an impact like Steph did so I think that is fair because the question is short term focused on how fast he can push the Hawks into the playoffs.  

Frankly, it is unlikely Trae is ever as good a shooter as Steph since Steph might be the best shooter in NBA history.  I’d love it if he did because while I say “unlikely” for Trae matching Curry’s shooting, I can say with 100% certainty that Steph will never be the passer that Trae is.

[Gray Mule]

58 minutes ago, enrique said:

Stupid question. I tried figuring this out and since you carry the "sage" moniker around these parts, maybe you can help me out. How do get a user "tagged" in a reply or post? I tried reading and do this a while back and failed miserably

Thanks ahead of time...

@enrique  Hit the @ and type in the "handle."  As soon as the proper name comes up, you're in business !!

[enrique]

@Gray Mulethanks!!!!

[Gray Mule]

How serious are we?

We're not yet what we are going to be but thank the Lord we're not as bad as we once were.  Hawks have been rebuilt, transformed from an almost good enough team, making the playoffs but never expecting to win it all or get any better.

Hawks had some pretty good players.  They won their share of games.  They ended up with more payroll than necessary but found it necessary to spend to hold on to what they had.

They had a very good coach who wasn't a good GM.  They brought back Dwight Howard to his home town but that was an error.  We're still in the last year of shedding his contract.

Atlanta didn't just make an effort.  They stripped the team down to the ground and poured a new foundation.  They began a new, different team.  Behold, all things are new.  A new GM.  Travis has done a lot of work, shedding the old and signing the new, along with great draft picks.  Atlanta has a new head coach, starting his second year.  Fans here believe in Travis and Lloyd.

These new Hawks have a newly refurbished home and one of the finest health places in the NBA. The head of this department has a great reputation and we are grateful for her.  One of our newly signed players mentioned this as being one of his reasons for coming here.

We will really miss Dedmon and wish him well with his new team.  The other Hawks that were traded off will also be watched and hope they do well when they are not playing the Hawks.

How serious are we about making the playoffs?  Really, really serious.  We don't expect to start this season as bad as we did last season.  We don't even think we are capable of winning the championship - - Not yet.  We have a lot of growing to do before we get to that point.  The big difference now?  We have a lot of young, talented players we expect to be around for many seasons.  At the end of this season, Atlanta will have some contracts that will expire and we will have some extra $$$$ to spend on a free agent or two if any wish to come and play here.

Rebuilding and doing it right.  That's what this Hawk team is all about.  Will there be mistakes along the way?  Count on it.  Will all our new, young players work out?  We can only watch and hope that they all live up to their expectations.  Champions?  Not yet.  Headed in the right direction?  You bet !!

[JayBirdHawk]

 

Quote

Synopsis:

1.Losing Dedmon stings more than we think - Len can fill in offensively, not soo much defensively particularly on the perimter, lack of footspeed. What Len offered as the backup - Bruno and Damian won't immediately.

2. Defensive intensity - Young likely won’t ever be a great defender, but the Hawks don’t need him to be. Having him be pesky and a nuisance this year would be a start. Prince' defense was one of the reasons he was traded in the hopes of an upgrade in the draft. Atlanta added three capable defenders in the draft in Hunter, Cam Reddish and Fernando, but relying on rookies to be better than average is always a challenge.

3. Hunter isn't ready to make an impact - Hunter is likely going to be the starting small forward on opening night, as he is the readiest of the rookies to make an immediate impact, and he doesn’t necessarily have to be electric on offense. On defense is where he has to be ready almost immediately.

Without Hunter’s defense, it’s likely we’ll see much of the same from the Hawks on that end of the floor. Hunter can and should help cover up Young’s and Collins’ deficiencies because he has the defensive versatility to guard bigs in the post and is quick enough to guard perimeter players. He’s also longer and stronger than Huerter and Reddish, which will help both players take smaller wings in their defensive matchups.

Hunter was drafted with the hopes of turning into a lockdown defender. It might not happen immediately, but he has to show he’s capable of turning into that kind of player from the start of the season for the Hawks to reach their maximum potential.

4. Injuries 

 

 

Other intersting titbits:

Quote

1. Interested in only bringing Dedmon back on a 1 year deal.

2. As mentioned earlier, Pierce didn't implement a defensive system last season.

3.There is the possibility of Reddish becoming the team’s primary backup at point guard, but Pierce and Schlenk have told me the plan isn’t to use Reddish much in that role this year. From talking with his high school and AAU coaches, they believe Reddish thrives as a facilitator, which we didn’t see much of during his time at Duke.

 

 

[enrique]

Gotta love the love for the Hawks...

Here is the New Arena rankings for NBA at this point...

https://newarena.com/nba/ranking-all-30-nba-teams-after-crazy-free-agent-offseason/8/?amxt=tbdt_15rf_96

I guess at this point I'd rather be overlooked and disregarded. 

[Spud2nique]

28 minutes ago, enrique said:

Gotta love the love for the Hawks...

Here is the New Arena rankings for NBA at this point...

https://newarena.com/nba/ranking-all-30-nba-teams-after-crazy-free-agent-offseason/8/?amxt=tbdt_15rf_96

I guess at this point I'd rather be overlooked and disregarded. 

So they are saying we are the 8th worst team in the league? ohhhh okaaayyy. Let’s just play the games I can’t wait..

[Gray Mule]

As we look at or current roster and starting five that we now think, thinking of the top 10, position by position, are there 9 players better than ours?  8th worst?  Naw.

And, basketball is a team.  We really believe that our men are truly a team.  Perhaps some NBA units aren't really a team that supports each other.

[Gray Mule]

Looking at our Hawks, position by position.  Is there more than 10 you would trade for ours?

Center - Alex Len, Damian Jones & Bruno Fernando

PF - John Collins, Jaban Parker & Candler Parsons

SF - De`Andre Hunter, DeAndre` Bremby & Cam Reddish

SG - Kevin Huerter, Alan Crabbe & Cam Reddish

PG - Trae Young, Evan Turner & Brandon Goodson

This is the 8th worst team in the NBA?  If so, almost all of our five starters must be kinda bad, wouldn't you think? 

Expectations for our three rookies?  Our #4 pick, Hunter will be good enough to start and will give us a solid, but not great player.

Our #10 pick, Reddish will be our yo yo player his first season.  Up and down,  Up and down.  Sometimes great and sometimes not.

Our #36 pick, Fernando will surprise and many, many NBA fans and teams will be wondering why they didn't pick him when they had the opportunity. 

All three have the opportunity to make the NBA rookie team this season, whether it be 1st team or second. 

They may not be as good as this old man believes but, Really, really bad?  Not a chance!

[AHF]

If you are asking about for the 2019-20 season alone, are there more than 10 rotations at a given position that I would trade ours for?

Center:  Definitely.

PF:  No.

SF:  Yes.

SG:  Yes.

PG:  I'd have to think long and hard on this one between Trae's defensive limitations and my lack of faith in Turner and Goodson.  But I'm so excited about Trae that I would probably say "no."

 

For the long-term, the answer changes on some of these.

[Vol4ever]

1 hour ago, Gray Mule said:

Looking at our Hawks, position by position.  Is there more than 10 you would trade for ours?

Center - Alex Len, Damian Jones & Bruno Fernando

PF - John Collins, Jaban Parker & Candler Parsons

SF - De`Andre Hunter, DeAndre` Bremby & Cam Reddish

SG - Kevin Huerter, Alan Crabbe & Cam Reddish

PG - Trae Young, Evan Turner & Brandon Goodson

This is the 8th worst team in the NBA?  If so, almost all of our five starters must be kinda bad, wouldn't you think? 

Expectations for our three rookies?  Our #4 pick, Hunter will be good enough to start and will give us a solid, but not great player.

Our #10 pick, Reddish will be our yo yo player his first season.  Up and down,  Up and down.  Sometimes great and sometimes not.

Our #36 pick, Fernando will surprise and many, many NBA fans and teams will be wondering why they didn't pick him when they had the opportunity. 

All three have the opportunity to make the NBA rookie team this season, whether it be 1st team or second. 

They may not be as good as this old man believes but, Really, really bad?  Not a chance!

Why do you think Bruno will surprise folks?  I hope he does but he dropped for a reason.  I think he was a reach.  

[Thomas]

Don't know how many folks will actually be surprised but do believe Bruno translates to Draymond much better than Spellman translates to Draymond. Bruno is not only a true hustler on both ends but is strong as hell. Shooting range will indeed take some time but think he will help at C sometime this season. Being in shape is a will power thing and the contrast between the two is huge. Not really discounting Jones either and a lot does depend on him so we will see....hoping both our guys excel in their roles behind Len but think Bruno will be here for a long run. 

[Gray Mule]

1 hour ago, Vol4ever said:

Why do you think Bruno will surprise folks?  I hope he does but he dropped for a reason.  I think he was a reach.  

No reason I could put my finger on.  I simply believe.

[Thomas]

3 hours ago, Gray Mule said:

Looking at our Hawks, position by position.  Is there more than 10 you would trade for ours?

Center - Alex Len, Damian Jones & Bruno Fernando

PF - John Collins, Jaban Parker & Candler Parsons

SF - De`Andre Hunter, DeAndre` Bremby & Cam Reddish

SG - Kevin Huerter, Alan Crabbe & Cam Reddish

PG - Trae Young, Evan Turner & Brandon Goodson

This is the 8th worst team in the NBA?  If so, almost all of our five starters must be kinda bad, wouldn't you think? 

Expectations for our three rookies?  Our #4 pick, Hunter will be good enough to start and will give us a solid, but not great player.

Our #10 pick, Reddish will be our yo yo player his first season.  Up and down,  Up and down.  Sometimes great and sometimes not.

Our #36 pick, Fernando will surprise and many, many NBA fans and teams will be wondering why they didn't pick him when they had the opportunity. 

All three have the opportunity to make the NBA rookie team this season, whether it be 1st team or second. 

They may not be as good as this old man believes but, Really, really bad?  Not a chance!

Still think we can squeak into the playoffs with a good run the last thirty or so games. Pretty big chemistry experiment starting out but then again our point is Trae so agree we will surprise and probably in more ways than one.

[enrique]

4 hours ago, Thomas said:

Still think we can squeak into the playoffs with a good run the last thirty or so games. Pretty big chemistry experiment starting out but then again our point is Trae so agree we will surprise and probably in more ways than one.

We do have a brutal early run, however. IF we do not do very well and get into the perpetual L mode (ala last November) it will truly reveal our character and mettle. That is where our vets (especially Vinsanity) will need to steer the ship and keep us focused and encouraged. IF we actually hit above .425-ish coming out of that early gauntlet, I think we will make the playoffs and will be a surprise team for sure!!!

Bank it!

[Spud2nique]

2 hours ago, enrique said:

We do have a brutal early run, however. IF we do not do very well and get into the perpetual L mode (ala last November) it will truly reveal our character and mettle. That is where our vets (especially Vinsanity) will need to steer the ship and keep us focused and encouraged. IF we actually hit above .425-ish coming out of that early gauntlet, I think we will make the playoffs and will be a surprise team for sure!!!

Bank it!

I agree. Lotta people are gonna owe us an engraved apology if I may quote Apollo.

[JayBirdHawk]

Long Read, but interesting....

 

 

[enrique]

14 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Long Read, but interesting....

 

 

That is definitely a fun read. I enjoyed some of the positivity of the article combined with some nice stats. Thanks for finding it and posting. Makes the doldrums between Summer League and Preseason more bearable:)

Thought the quote: The Hawks have almost too much depth. was an interesting take on the Hawks. On the Wings that is definitely true. But across the other spots we will see. 

[JayBirdHawk]

38 minutes ago, enrique said:

That is definitely a fun read. I enjoyed some of the positivity of the article combined with some nice stats. Thanks for finding it and posting. Makes the doldrums between Summer League and Preseason more bearable:)

Thought the quote: The Hawks have almost too much depth. was an interesting take on the Hawks. On the Wings that is definitely true. But across the other spots we will see. 

I agree that SG, SF, PF have some depth since we have some dual role guys for those spots.

PG and C - TBD.