Best Hawks Team Ever?

[jaywalker72]

The recent acquisition of Glenn Robinson has most Hawks fans stoked, wired, or simply giddy.

In the current Hawks Front Office poll on RealGM, most people (over 90%) believe the Hawks are definitely playoff bound, and some feel like the Hawks are the best in the East.

In fact the current roster got many of us to thinking, is this the best Atlanta Hawks roster ever?

And, where exactly does that get the team?

OK, so after they moved to Atlanta, the Hawks haven’t held any championship trophies.

In fact, they haven’t gotten out of the second round of the playoffs since they came south from St. Louis.

But they have been filled with many playoff teams, a bushel of 50 win teams, and had some terrific rosters filled with memorable players.

So is it too much of a loser, pathetic idea to compare these eras and see if the current roster matches up, even if none of them has reached the promised land or gotten close to see it?

Naaaaaah.

So, with the help of “The Hawks Show” (shown on many WB affiliates throughout the southeast…if you aren’t getting it for this next season, call and demand it!) host, Bill Shanks, we decided to break it down.

Read the entire article:

http://hawks.realgm.com/index.php

[TrentL2]

[Admin]

That was a great article AS ALWAYS Jay. I wasnt around for the 70s teams because I was still just a very young kid........even younger than lil Mike is now but I was there for all the 80's teams and until now so I remember those teams. I dont think we have had a team that can compare to the team that just got out played by Birds Celtics in that tragic playoff showdown. I honestly believe that had we won that series like we should have we would have won the title that year.

Incredible to think that the 88-89 bunch could be compared to the greatest NBA team ever had Willis just been healthy.

Has there ever been a more exciting moment in Hawks history as a fan than when Deke signed with us? I was shocked that he came to play for us and we should all thank him for that because him signing with us is the major reason for the makeup of our team now.

Has there ever been a bigger sham then when Nique had the Slam Dunk title stolen from him by the judges?

Can everyone remember Spud and his electrifying 360 jam?

As much as I dislike Lenny for his refusal to play young players, he really showed some great coaching with that 96 team didnt he. Man we must have had the worst bench every for a 50 win team.

Jason I must say that this is your best article ever. Extremely informative, inspirational, and very well thought out and written. You have incredible talent and although you are getting tired of the Jason love we are all very blessed to have you writing articles for our team. Please keep up the good work and do not ever change.

[Playoffs03]

this is such a great article, so informative, very well done jay!

[Hawksfreak]

Hey yall he has the best articles! Everyone knows it! I think it is goin to be "The Hawks Show"!

[Diesel]

I never realized how bad a rebounding team the 86-87 team was.

I mean Rollins, Willis, and Nique all under 7 rpg. That's horrid.

[archie44]

Anyway Jay. Excellent article. I could not have written it better myself.

DAN ROUNDFIELD WAS

THE MAN!

[SWISH9061]

I know most of you Atlanta guys dont' even remember the old St. Louis Hawks but you can't ignore the history of a sports franchise. The best Hawks team ever was probably the one that won the championship in 57-58 - beating the Celtics. This team was led by Bob Petit, who was one of the greatest players of all time. The 56-57 team also lost in the finals to the Celtics - this was the Celts first championship and started their great run. Unfortunately, for most of you youngsters, Bob Petit may be the only name on this Hawks team that you may recognize.

The 67-68 team wasn't too bad either. This team didn't go far in the playoffs because there were so many great players in the Western Conference at the time. Among the greats on this team were Sweet Lou Hudson (SG) , Zelmo Beatty © and Lenny Wilkens (PG). I'll take these guys over JT, DJ and Theo any day...

One thing about our history is that the Hawks always seem to have 2nd tier stars - players who are really good but not great. In my opinion, this is what we currently have on the team - a collection of good players but none really good enough to lead us to a championship.

One final note, as I lay this history lesson on you. The worst trade in NBA history occured between the Hawks and Celtics in 1956 when we traded Bill Russell for Cliff Hagan and Ed McCauley. So give Babs a break because he's never done anything quite this bad...

[jaywalker72]

I would never want to forget the St. Louis legacy that came to ATL, but it's not as compelling an argument when you know that one of those teams won a championship...lol...

In fact Swish, I need some suggestions from guys like you on the hawks.com "Hawks Fans Remember" segment on which players you would want to have us catch up with.

Hagen, Petitt, Zelmo, Wilkens, and everyone were terrific players and all of them....even Lenny, are on my own personal list of guys I want to talk to....

So, we are not forgetting or disregarding the St. Louis Hawks, but rather the more compelling argument is which is the best team since they moved to Atlanta.