Our last two games before the break

[Gray Mule]

For one full game and half the next one, our Hawks

hung in there and played some very decent ball.

Looking back, this is what we had available for those

two last games.

Two centers that Hawks had signed from the Development

league within the last 12 months.

A second year player, Diaw.

Four rookies from the last draft.

Some veteran players, in fact several, as individuals,

have played more games in the N.B.A. than all of these

seven Hawks combined!

Hawks had two veteran players to add to this mix and

that was it. Nine players available for these last

two games, and one of them didn't even start!

As bad as our season has gone, as bad as our record is,

and having six players either on I.R. or hurting so

bad that they didn't dress, or even make the trip,

we still see fight in the Hawks that did make up the

nine good men left standing.

Hawks haven't had the luxury of slowly letting our

young players develop. Our young players haven't

had the luxury of being put on the floor with three

or four veteran players with a lot of N.B.A. experience.

No, they have been forced to learn on the run. Thrown

to the fire and told to fight or die trying. Hawks

are not winning a lot, but you can bet that the experience

gained this season will make seasoned veterans out of

them a lot quicker than otherwise would have happened.

I love our young Hawks. Give us another draft or two.

Don't trade away the future for instant gratification.

We did that for years and it didn't work. Not really.

We won 10 before the break. I look foreward to another

10 after the break.. We don't get many, so each one

is so GREAT !!

And, Hawks own the current Slam Dunk Champion !!!!!

Go Hawks !!!!!

[CBAreject]

Mule, I don't so much care how many games we win after the break, as long as we don't win more than New Orleans or Charlotte.

Being bad stinks, but while your at it, you might as well get the #1 pick.

[Gray Mule]

About the draft. There's one word we must remember:

LOTTERY

While it's true, being the #1 team, as far as losses

go, means you have the most, best chance to be chosen

to get the #1 pick, it's not guaranteed.

The worst team doesn't always get #1 pick. The reason,

we have been told, is to prevent teams from tanking

the last several games of the season to guarantee their

draft position. If you have the worst record and really

want that #1 pick, with two or three weeks to go, you

can bet your sweet patooty that many teams would never

win another game that season. The lottery does away

with some of this.

So, Hawks want a high pick in the draft. Agreed.

But, with our luck, we'll end up with the worst record

and still not get to pick #1.

Hawks will still win some games this season. Maybe not

a lot of them, but every one will be so sweet!

Go Hawks !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Final_quest]

Good point GM. I think you should always play to win, granted we don't want to play all our veterans most of the time, but the guys who are on the court need to play to win each game.

[macdaddy]

If we start winning games I think you will see BK do some things to slow us down. We may see Al and AW gone or at least some interesting injuries.

[Final_quest]

Man, that's a big if. Also, we would have to win a lot of games to take us out of contention for a top 3 pick. I think we have lost enough to ensure that if our ping pong ball doesn't come up in the top 3 we are picking #4.

[CBAreject]

I know it's fun to win, but man, we saw first hand last year how much it stinks to pick 4 spots lower because you won 1 extra game.

Because the clippers tanked, we ended up tying with them. They ended up using some of our balls to pick 2nd, while we picked 6th. I sure would've traded one of those wins for a pick of Livingston, Howard, or Okafor.

If we had lost 1 more game last season, we would be well on our way with a core of Okafor/Smoove or Howard/Smoove (Orlando would've traded for the #2, but not the #6).

There's no point in dwelling on the past, but we should learn from it. No more of these posts about how we should win as much as possible and let the lottery work itself out. That's how teams get into the lottery every year--by winning just enough to keep losing.

[macdaddy]

Whether you agree with the strategy or not, I'm saying that BK believes in tanking. I think he will make sure we close to the bottom (or top depending on how you look at it).