Next Big Test

[MarylandHawk]

When the rest of the league and national media begin to throw praise on Trae and the team, will they keep their edge?  To me, it took way to long to get basic respect and now they are forced to heap praise because there is literally nothing else to talk about. They should keep their chip and not fall for their fake praise. The minute they loose they will jump ship and pretend we never existed. 

[Spud2nique]

3 hours ago, MarylandHawk said:

They should keep their chip and not fall for their fake praise.

This! I haven’t listened to 95% of the things I used to listen to as far as sports shows, I didn’t wanna hear how we had no chance a few weeks ago and I don’t wanna hear anything they have to say now. 
 

Let’s focus and do our best to get the job done. Forget the bs for a couple weeks and brush it off to the side.

[hawkman]

4 hours ago, MarylandHawk said:

When the rest of the league and national media begin to throw praise on Trae and the team, will they keep their edge?  To me, it took way to long to get basic respect and now they are forced to heap praise because there is literally nothing else to talk about. They should keep their chip and not fall for their fake praise. The minute they loose they will jump ship and pretend we never existed. 

That's exactly what they're going to do. The Hawks need to completely shut those guys out mentally because they are building them up to tear them down later when/if they lose. Don't read the "press clippings" as they used to say. They need to stay focused and push this season as far as they can. The Hawks are 3 wins away from doing what many of us thought was impossible this early in the rebuild. I don't want to keep moving the goalpost, but since they've made it this far, by all means keep going. 

[MarylandHawk]

I think the only thing that can stop us is us. We took our foot off of the gas just a little bit last night while the Bucks pressed harder. We came out a little too cool for school and didn’t make our shots early even when we played great defense.  We just saw the best they can offer, let’s bounce back. I still believe. 

[Spud2nique]

Just now, MarylandHawk said:

I think the only thing that can stop us is us.

Ya I think if our shots start goin down we thrive off that and everything comes together. We just have to keep coming at them with slightly various looks. 
 

Lopez was still vulnerable out there. We can do things with him and move him around on D like a puppet.

[AHF]

58 minutes ago, MarylandHawk said:

I think the only thing that can stop us is us. 

I believe in this team too but I don't see us as so dominant that other teams having a great night can't beat us having a good night.  There is a reason the Bucks have been a top team in the East for several years and Giannis is an MVP.  They are very good and I don't think that means we hold a huge edge.  We need to scrap, scheme and be ready for every game the rest of the way.  This team and coaching staff has shown they can do it but I really don't think we have a material edge on anyone remaining in the playoffs.

[MarylandHawk]

On 6/26/2021 at 10:55 AM, AHF said:

I believe in this team too but I don't see us as so dominant that other teams having a great night can't beat us having a good night.  There is a reason the Bucks have been a top team in the East for several years and Giannis is an MVP.  They are very good and I don't think that means we hold a huge edge.  We need to scrap, scheme and be ready for every game the rest of the way.  This team and coaching staff has shown they can do it but I really don't think we have a material edge on anyone remaining in the playoffs.

Good point. The bigger issue I am getting at is in order to take the next big step, we have to learn how to deal with success. When you work so hard to just be considered as good, it takes a lot of effort and focus. Once you obtain that status in everyone else’s eyes there is a tendency to relax and have an “I made it moment”. They had that moment in game 2 and the Bucks made them pay. It is the one thing that separated Jordan from everyone else. He never had an I made it moment until he had the trophy in his hand. And even then he had a self admitted “competition problem” that drove him even after he started winning. That is he mentality I want to see from this team.  If they do that, it will be hard for anyone to beat us in 7 games. 

[AHF]

On 6/27/2021 at 11:52 AM, MarylandHawk said:

Good point. The bigger issue I am getting at is in order to take the next big step, we have to learn how to deal with success. When you work so hard to just be considered as good, it takes a lot of effort and focus. Once you obtain that status in everyone else’s eyes there is a tendency to relax and have an “I made it moment”. They had that moment in game 2 and the Bucks made them pay. It is the one thing that separated Jordan from everyone else. He never had an I made it moment until he had the trophy in his hand. And even then he had a self admitted “competition problem” that drove him even after he started winning. That is he mentality I want to see from this team.  If they do that, it will be hard for anyone to beat us in 7 games. 

Well said.  Jordan was definitely the king of mining anything he could for some kind of disrespect / revenge motivation.  That was a big part of what made him great as a player.

To quote Garrison Wynn:  

Quote

Satisfaction may be the goal of the common man; but it is the enemy of greatness