You play to win now. No more excuses.

[Hawkmoor]

I'm tired of the excuses in Atlanta sports.  Across the board.  I've been following the Hawks, Falcons and Braves since the early 70s.  Its just continuous excuses. Its made me very jaded about Atlanta sports.  With the Hawks: " Pete Maverick shoots too much", " Charlie Criss is too short", " Dominique Wilkins shoots too much", " Tree Rollins can't shoot",  "Isiah Rider cares more about cleaning his car than practice", "Alan Henderson is a bust", " DerMarr Johnson is a bust", "Mike Bibby don't play defense", " Josh Smith will not play in the paint",  " Al Horford is soft",  "Kent Bazemore shouldn't be anywhere near a basketball in crutch time", " Trae shoots too many three pointers",  " the referees",  and on and on.  Look, enough of it.  You play to win now.  This has gone on too far.  If the Hawks can't win without Trae, then they have no business talking championships and the roster is flawed.  Enough of it.  " we will win next year" has gone on for far too long   

" You play to win now..."

Edited June 29, 2021 by Hawkmoor

[RandomFan]

[JayBirdHawk]

Just now, RandomFan said:

I'm not exactly sure what it means - but I'm dying laughing.  and it seeems so appropriate.

[Hawkmoor]

9 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I'm not exactly sure what it means - but I'm dying laughing.  and it seeems so appropriate.

The ketchup is Atlanta trying to win championships.

[Spud2nique]

9 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I'm not exactly sure what it means - but I'm dying laughing.  and it seeems so appropriate.

Me neither but we are with you aqua boy! @RandomFan Godspeed!  

[Spud2nique]

27 minutes ago, Hawkmoor said:

" Al Horford is soft", 

Indubitably.

[Spud2nique]

@Hawkmoor after reading your speech I’m like to suit up and run through a wall for you! 
 

HHHHHHHAAAAAAWWWKKKKSSSSS!!!!

[RandomFan]

8 minutes ago, Hawkmoor said:

The ketchup is Atlanta trying to win championships.

Not exactly. It's you trying to unsuccessfully rationalize that the reasons things work out the way they do = excuses. 

[Hawkmoor]

3 minutes ago, RandomFan said:

Not exactly. It's you trying to unsuccessfully rationalize that the reasons things work out the way they do = excuses. 

You are right.  There are no excuses for this.

[JayBirdHawk]

Just gonna leave this here.

 

GO HAWKS!!!

 

[AUhawksfan]

I wouldn't say those are excuses as much as they are the truth....we have just not been good enough.

For once, I feel we are good enough but even if it doesn't work out this year we are setup to compete for years to come.

They need to approach tonight like a Game 7.  It has that kind of vibe to me.

[JeffS17]

3 minutes ago, AUhawksfan said:

I wouldn't say those are excuses as much as they are the truth....we have just not been good enough.

For once, I feel we are good enough but even if it doesn't work out this year we are setup to compete for years to come.

They need to approach tonight like a Game 7.  It has that kind of vibe to me.

100% we have to come out like the Bucks did in game 2.  I don't care if Trae is banged up and it's Kev that goes off, or JC taking advantage of mismatches, or Lou catching fire, Bogi feeling better, I don't care -- we just have to come out with a ton of intensity and energy, especially on defense, and work all game long.  We are not out until they win 4 games but going down 3-1 will take so much pressure of the Bucks and I don't think that team can handle pressure well

[Atlantaholic]

All we can ask is for the guys to leave it all out on the floor, and I'm sure they will do that. We are banged up, Milwaukee is hitting on all cylinders, odds are against us. I will be rooting and will continue to root for them regardless of the outcome. 

[AHF]

1 hour ago, Hawkmoor said:

  If the Hawks can't win without Trae, then they have no business talking championships and the roster is flawed.  Enough of it.  

I'm on board with a lot of your post but this is just wrong in my opinion.

The Bulls don't win any rings without Michael Jordan.  Roster wasn't flawed.  It was maybe the best ever.  Cavs, Lakers and Heat don't win without LeBron.  Nothing flawed.  Raptors don't win without Kawhi.  Warriors don't win without Curry.  Spurs don't win without Duncan.  Etc.  Nothing is flawed.  That is how Superstars work.  The norm is that a team whose Superstar is unable to go can't win a ring until that Superstar is back in form. 

Trae is our superstar.  We may be able to win a particular game without him but we aren't winning a ring without him.  And that is ok.  It is intentional.  It is a feature of having a superstar, not a bug.

[Hawkmoor]

22 minutes ago, AUhawksfan said:

I wouldn't say those are excuses as much as they are the truth....we have just not been good enough.

For once, I feel we are good enough but even if it doesn't work out this year we are setup to compete for years to come.

They need to approach tonight like a Game 7.  It has that kind of vibe to me.

Exactly.  THEY have to approach this game like a game 7 and don't worry about whether Trae is healthy or not.  Thats the point I was making.  Nothing is guaranteed in sports.  The Hawks are too close to pack it in for any reason.   Whose to say Nate will definitely be the coach next season?  Whose to say that Hunter and Reddish will stay healthy?  Whose to say that the Hawks and Collins DO come to a agreement?  You have to play to win now.

[AHF]

2 minutes ago, Hawkmoor said:

Exactly.  THEY have to approach this game like a game 7 and don't worry about whether Trae is healthy or not.  Thats the point I was making.  Nothing is guaranteed in sports.  The Hawks are too close to pack it in for any reason.   Whose to say Nate will definitely be the coach next season?  Whose to say that Hunter and Reddish will stay healthy?  Whose to say that the Hawks and Collins DO come to a agreement?  You have to play to win now.

This is what I fully endorse.

[Hawkmoor]

2 minutes ago, AHF said:

I'm on board with a lot of your post but this is just wrong in my opinion.

The Bulls don't win any rings without Michael Jordan.  Roster wasn't flawed.  It was maybe the best ever.  Cavs, Lakers and Heat don't win without LeBron.  Nothing flawed.  Raptors don't win without Kawhi.  Warriors don't win without Curry.  Spurs don't win without Duncan.  Etc.  Nothing is flawed.  That is how Superstars work.  The norm is that a team whose Superstar is unable to go can't win a ring until that Superstar is back in form. 

Trae is our superstar.  We may be able to win a particular game without him but we aren't winning a ring without him.  And that is ok.  It is intentional.  It is a feature of having a superstar, not a bug.

The Hawks were BUILT FOR DEPTH.  That has been Travis's calling card the whole time he has been GM.  The Hawks DEPTH is suppose to overcome Trae going down.  If that depth doesn't, then there is a flaw.

[JeffS17]

3 minutes ago, AHF said:

It is a feature of having a superstar, not a bug.

To add to this, another feature of having a superstar player is the possibility to win a ring.  You really cannot win without one.

[AHF]

Just now, Hawkmoor said:

The Hawks were BUILT FOR DEPTH.  That has been Travis's calling card the whole time he has been GM.  The Hawks DEPTH is suppose to overcome Trae going down.  If that depth doesn't, then there is a flaw.

I just fundamentally disagree.  The team's depth is never going to compensate for your superstar going down.  That is no reason not to give it all and go for it if you lose that superstar or he is injured but it does impact the team's ceiling and that should not be a surprise.  

Lou Williams is not enough to overcome Trae going down.  Huerter and Bogi's supplementary playmaking skills are not enough to overcome the loss of Trae.  If he is out the rest of the playoffs, I do not see a path forward to a ring and that is no more of an indictment than it would be to say the same of the Bucks without Giannis.  The Bucks have outstanding depth but they are not build to overcome the loss of Giannis and for all our depth we aren't built to overcome the loss of Trae.  

That is not a flaw.  But it also isn't a reason to go to every playoff game and do your absolute best with the roster that you've got.  

[Hawkmoor]

4 minutes ago, AHF said:

I just fundamentally disagree.  The team's depth is never going to compensate for your superstar going down.  That is no reason not to give it all and go for it if you lose that superstar or he is injured but it does impact the team's ceiling and that should not be a surprise.  

Lou Williams is not enough to overcome Trae going down.  Huerter and Bogi's supplementary playmaking skills are not enough to overcome the loss of Trae.  If he is out the rest of the playoffs, I do not see a path forward to a ring and that is no more of an indictment than it would be to say the same of the Bucks without Giannis.  The Bucks have outstanding depth but they are not build to overcome the loss of Giannis and for all our depth we aren't built to overcome the loss of Trae.  

That is not a flaw.  But it also isn't a reason to go to every playoff game and do your absolute best with the roster that you've got.  

Lets look at the Clippers.  I've always said the Clippers are a very deep team.  Kawhi goes down.  Lue plays the ENTIRE bench.  He isn't sticking to what a "book" says about rotations.  He is out there doing WHATEVER it takes to get a cohesive unit on the floor.  George is a nice piece, but you can't tell me that the Hawks can't match George's output with the other players on their roster.  The Clippers are still in this thing WITHOUT their superstar.  The Hawks in my opinion, CAN get back into this series without Trae.  I've been calling for more of Lou, heck even Skylar Mayes.  You try whatever it takes to overcome and the Hawks have enough pieces to do it.  They won games without Trae during the regular season.  Huerter is a nice piece.  Give Snell a couple more  possessions by running a couple of plays to him to try and find his rhythm.  You got to find the points.