Hawks After Allstar Brk/Hawks Better Than We Think

[Highpozt]

The first have of last season was atrocious --- but after allstar break the Hawks were still playing hard --- is that a indication that maybe Lon has the players believing in him and his system. We played decent ball without an allstar Center. The question is that with Ira Newbill and Leon Smith getting a full training camp and with Theo healthy is this team a top tier Eastern team? Talent wise if JT and Sar hold form and Theo comes in playing like he did before the injury --- then the Hawks are as talented as any team in the east. With Nazr, Henderson, Crawford, ED coming of the bench, and with Cal and Strickland off the roster to make room for Newbill, Leon and Hanno the Hawks look pretty solid. Theo, Nazr, Leon, Henderson, SAR, Hanno, Crawford, Kukoc, Glover, ED, DJ, JV and JT looks like 13 players --- so a deal has to be made or we have a IR to hold a player. I really think in the Hawks case injuries was not an excuse but indeed the primary reason we were not a playoff contender last year.

[Guest]

we have to decide to re-sign Hanno, JV, and Ira...of those of which I think we'll definitely resign Ira, better than 50% on Hanno, and, unfortunately, JV played himself out of our price range. that takes us down to 12 roster spots, plus the player, should we decide to sign him, that we take in the second round (and don't forget Cookie...another reason we don't need to draft a PG).

[Admin]

We cannot depend on Cookie to bring us anything. We need to take a chance on Maddux if (and I do doubt this) he is still around at our pick. We need to have as much competition as possible there. It would be different if Cookie was our backup last year and had shown something, but he hasnt even made our roster yet. If we lose JV, which is likely, we will only have JT with any potential at PG for the future. Email wont be around after next year so getting a guy like Maddux would be imperative for us I think. I would also like to see us bring in a veteran PG, a true PG. I wouldnt be shocked to see us bring in Travis Best honestly, in that case I wouldnt mind bringing in Cookie as the only rookie PG as competition, and then drafting Dixon or Prince at our pick.

[Guest]

Acutally we finished out the last 10 games not so great.Our

defense was giving up over 100PPG again and we struggled

the last 10 games.

The team has alot more to improve than you think...bottom

half in defense and only middle of the pack in offense...we

didn't rebound well...The only thing we ranked high in was

steals and ft %...This team has alot more to get better.

[Blunt91]

I think there is just a chance Stan, Pete & Billy just might take a chance on a rookie PG in the draft. I think that Pete learned his lesson in not picking Tony Parker last year. He now knows that if a player has confidence in his abilities he can come in and play at the NBA level no matter how young. I think that we do need to trade up and get a low 1st round pick, why wait for next season? The time to make the push is now.

[KB21]

We learned last year that the Hawks won't draft anyone that they don't workout, so we will have to see if the Hawks bring in Tito Maddux, Smush Parker, and the Murry guy from Shaw University (all 6-4 or better PGs) for workouts.

So far, they have set dates for Jannero Pargo, who is a tweener but an excellent long distance shooter (and I mean EXCELLENT!) and Sean Kennedy from Marist, who is a great ball handler and passer. He was 3rd in the nation in assits with 7.9 apg. Problem is, both Kennedy and Pargo are 6-2, and that just doesn't seem to fit unless they play a back up role.

Also, the article that states the Hawks intentions to refund the season ticket holders $125 a piece if they don't make the playoffs seems to indicate that Dion Glover may still have a future in Atlanta since he was a player that was included.

[Admin]

I still have faint hopes of our fab five of JT, DJ, Dion, SAR, and Theo.......of course Dion MUST learn and want to play D.

[KB21]

It is something that he regressed defensively from his 2nd year to his 3rd year. He actually played good defense late in the season during his second year. I don't know why he let up on the defensive intensity last year.

One thing is for sure, Dion can score. I'll have to check for exact numbers, but I think he averaged around 9 ppg while playing around 15 mpg.

[Admin]

He can definitely score in bunches.........the thing that impressed me the most with him last year though was his 3 pt stroke. He drastically improved, which is a major indicator that he can improve on specific areas of his game if he truly wants to. If he wants to play defense, I think he can be good at it, but can he do it without letting his offense suffer? I dont know. The best thing about his O-game is that he can score inside or out, which is exactly offensively what we need from our SF. Too bad we cant splice his offense with Iras defense to form one mega player

[Highpozt]

I think the last 6 or 7 games the Hawks had absolutely no chance at the playoffs so I think they were in experimental mode --- although they were never contenders they actually had a ray of hope for the eighth spot after the allstar break. That slight ray of hope had them playing fairly decent ball about 20 games after the break. The chemistry between SAR and JT was very good. The return of Henderson and Kukoc was too late to really get a feel for how they might contribute and of course Theo was still MIA. The negatives were Mark Strickland and Cal Bowler they should have no place on the roster next year. The other negative was Dion Glover --- although I think his is a mental case and not lack of talent ---I really wonder if Dion is worth the risk. The positives were consistancy between SAR and JT --- also DJ started to show flashes that he can play in this league --- Ira turned out to be a hustler and defensive stopper and JV and Nazr solidified themselves as legitimate back-ups not starters. Of course JV is as good as gone with free agency. The other positive is that we have a allstar Center in waiting and if he is in form we should really improve on the defensive end. We also have a former #1 draft pick in Leon Smith --- with a full training camp maybe we will see in him what the scouts saw when they drafted him in the first round. While I am not overly optimistic I do not see anything that would indicate anything but upward directions for the team short of another season of serious injuries to key players.

[Gray Mule]

The health of the Hawks in the upcoming season will be the key to how well

they preform. The physical health of so many of our players put us in the

hole early last season and we never recovered.

The mental aspect of our team, while not mentioned near as much, will be just

as important to this team as the physical health. Apparently, a lot of the Hawks

feel so strongly that they are a playoff caliber team for the coming season that

they are willing to put their money where their mouth is. This is great news.

Lon brought up the idea, the players approved it and then they gave it to the

front office, who agreed to it.

Hawks have two players, Dion Glover and Leon Smith who, if they set their mind to

it, can be much better players. Their problems have been more mental than physical,

apparently, although DG was injured last season. With the right mental attitude, both

these players can make major contributions in the upcoming season.

DerMarr is heading into the final year of his "Give him three years" development. With his

improvement last season, I am really excited about what he can accomplish next. With

the addition of an all star center, the return of JT & SAR and all the experience that our

bench gained last season with all the starters out with injuries and the maturing of our head

coach and the apparent respect he has gained from his players --- Wow!! Let's start the

season soon --- Are you ready ?

Gray Mule

[Highpozt]

Yes I think Leon could be a key ball player --- not because he showed anything so impressive last year but because he seem to be very aware that he is being given a second chance to show why scouts thought he was a number one pick. The other good thing about Leon if his talent is good is that he will come as cheap as it gets. The management stated they were pleased with his work ethics and his conduct --- that sounds like he knows this is his oppurtunity. If Dion last another season with the Hawks he knows he is on the hot seat --- hopefully that works positive and not negative particularly as you mentioned the mental aspect. Lastly if Theo comes back and is in the form he was when selected as an allstar this team should improve significantly.