A challenge 4 you squawkers. I'll take on da Bulls

[JTFan31]

Yes please guys, if you choose a team, please know something about them. Vin Baker will definitely be the starting PF and Antoine will be moved to SF, most probably unless i'm wrong.

[thecampster]

Almost there guys.....Let's get the last 5 done...if you've done one and you're familiar with one of the last 5 go ahead and do one more.....I'm spreading it out to avoid individual bias...I'm doing something with this I swear.

Still need from the East

Indiana, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland

Washington.

From the west we have the Jazz and Blazers, but I wanna wait before doing the west.

[Diesel]

Tinsley vs. JT. Well, Tinsley has much more PGing ability than JT. However, JT is the better player. JT by the slightest of margins. 1-0 Hawks.

Reggie vs. DJ. Reg is definitely a player that JT can learn from. Even in his old age, Reggie with his clutch shooting wins this matchup. 1-1.

Harrington vs. Big Dog. Everyone expects Harrington to come back and take over the SF spot even though Artest is one of Isiah's favorites. Big Dog is simply better. 2-1 Hawks.

Oneal vs. Shareef. Well, Hotlantadude thinks that Oneal gets this matchup, but Reef's offense is so much better than Oneals. The reason Oneal can play C well is because he doesn't have much more than a Low post game and he's not the low post player that Reef is. Reef. 3-1 Hawks.

Miller vs. Theo. While Theo is a shot blocking Specialist, Miller has some offense to go with some defense. I can see him putting up about 16-18 ppg and blocking about 1.4 spg. PLUS, he is a good rebounder and has a wide body. Miller.

3-2 Hawks.

Bench... Indiana. With Mercer, Artest, Croshere, Bender, etc, they simply outclass our bench. It's close but they are Better.

3-3.

Coaching. Well, Zeke has experience as a player, Kruger doesn't. But Zeke has made some bad decisions in some games and his dislike of Croshere is puzzling. Even Still Kruger is just as questionable.

Even.

So with a score of 3.5 to 3.5 I believe that this is a pretty even matchup on paper. The advantage will be which team has better chemistry.

[PlayaPat420]

PG--Cassell vs JT This one is pretty close, in my eyes, because eventhough JT is the younger and more explosive, Cassell is a veteran who gets the benefit of a lot of calls from the refs plus he avg 20 P 7 APG. I'll call this one even but if Cassell injuries continue this year, JT.

SG--Allen vs DJ ADV BUCKS Ray is an all star 2 guard when healthy and DJ hasn't proven he can be that, yet.

SF--Thomas vs BigDawg ADV HAWKS There is no way that Big Dawg will let his back up show him up the year after being traded, so I say BIG advantage.

PF--Mason vs Reef ADV...Hawks. I don't really like Masons' game, maybe thats why say this while he is a banger, I think he is limited offensively and hurts more than he helps.

C--Przy vs Theo ADV HAWKS. the only question is Theo's game shape. I believe even if he isn't up to speed he has the advantage over Przy or Johnson, whichever starts/

Bench ADV Bucks. With Michael Redd, Caffey, Kukoc, Haslip and Gadzuric (eventhough rookies) I give them a slight advantage.

Coach Eventhough I hate to say it, ADV Bucks. Karl isn't a favorite of mine but I'll give him the benefit over Lon.

Seems like we match up evenly with the Bucks 3-3-1 to me, the X factor being JT continuing to improve at PG. If he does, ADV Hawks 4-3.

[thecampster]

3 more guys...Detroit, Cleveland, Washington. I'll do the last of the group when done.

[ersimo2889]

My bad. I guess that would be a better move for them. They still may not want to take a chance with Baker EARLY ON, so they would use my lineup, but I guess the other way would go a bit better later on. Thanks.

[ersimo2889]

So I guess this really screws up my projection of the Celtics. I don't know who they're going to start at PG next year now, unless they sign a decent free agent PG. And I don't see any more decent free agent PG's.

[Blunt91]

I will do the Detroit Pistons

Chauncy Billups vs Jason Terry adv Hawks Billups is a good shooter(39%from 3behind the arc) and is a good rebounder for a PG 5.5rpg but that is basically it. He doesn't set up his teamates(only 5.7apg) and is a average defender at best.Jason Terry is a better scorer, defender and better leader.

Jerry Stackhouse vs Dermarr Johnson adv Pistons This seems like the Hawk's weak spot because most starting lineups have a more experienced scorer at this position. Stack is obviously better offensively but Dermarr edges him out on the defensive end.

Micheal Curry vs Big Dog. adv Hawks BIg Dog easliy wins this spot, although Curry is a good defender despite only being 6'5 at SF.

Ben Wallace vs Abdur Rahim adv hawks Despite Wallace being the defensive player of the year and a great Rebounder, Shareef wiped the floor with him last season by dropping 50pts on him. Case closed.

Zeijko Rebraca vs Theo Ratliff adv Hawks THis is a little closer than most of you think. Ratliff is more athletic and a better defender but Rebraca is a solid player. He can score inside and probably is a better rebounder than Ratliff. Carlise should play this guy more than 16mpg.

Pistons Bench: Corliss Williamson, Cliff Robinson, Chucky Atkins, Jon Barry, Rodney White, Tayshun Prince and Mikki Moore.

Hawks Bench: Dion Glover, dan Dickau, ALan Henderson, nazr Mohammed, Chris Crawford, Emanual davis.

Advantage pistons. Corliss Williamson alone is better than all of our bench players . Cliff is still a solid player, Jon Barry can shoot the lights out and Chucky atkins is a good little backup pg.

Coaches Rick Carlise vs Kruger adv Pistons Carlise is the coach of the year. Kruger is still unproven.

Hawks have the better starting lineup but the Pistons bench is much stronger and they have a better coach. THis would be a tough series if we met in the playoffs. I will call it even between the 2 teams.

[Sage11]

Vin Baker on the bench, and on top of that he will not have much impact. Sorry I believe otherwise and he swings the advantage to the Celtics first unit.

[thecampster]

the results.

Washington - unfortunately this is one of my lesser knowledge teams but I'll give it a shot. I'm using a couple of games in April and a little knowledge here to explain.

Whitney vs. JT. JT adv hawks

Alexander vs. Johnson. even Defensively plays him to a standstill.

Hamilton vs. Gdawg. Gdawg adv. Hawks

Laettner .vs SAR. SAR adv Hawks

White .VS Ratliff. Ratliff adv Hawks

Bench Lue, Simmons, Thomas, Haywood, Brown, Jordan, Nesby. Any bench with Jordan on it is a win...adv Wizards.

Coach - Collins .vs Lon.....though I hate Doug, he gets the edge till Lonnie proves himself.

4-2-1

Hawks .vs Cleveland

Wagner/Bimbo .vs JT. adv JT

Davis .vs Demarr. even, Davis isn't better.

Miles .vs Gdawg. adv GROB...The kid is good but only developing still.

Hill .vs SAR. adv SAR.

Ilgauskas .vs Ratliff. Given both will miss 75 games due to hang nails and water in the ear it's Mihm .vs Mohammed...we still win. adv hawks.

Bench - slight adv hawks. The cavs starting five sucks but at least they don't get worse in the next five and they can shoot. Full of workmen like Murray, Boozer, Person and such.

Coach - Lucas .vs Kruger....Holy Crept, Lon wins one....Lucas has never been a consistent winner anywhere...only a couple of good but not great seasons in college and he doesn't get anything out of the little talent he has.

6-0-1

shortly to follow the totals and what it all means.

[thecampster]

First of all, thanks to the 10 total Hawksquawkers that met the challenge of doing this fairly. It's the hardest thing as fans to do. To do something fairly without knowing why when you're favorite team, or in this case usually "teams" are involved.

Alright. there are 15 teams in the Eastern conference. That's 14 teams at 5 positions for the Hawks to match up against.

The Hawksquawkers see this matchup as:

48-17-5. You guys believe we win 48 out of 70 matchups...are equal in 5 and lose 17. You believe our bench wins 10 and loses 4 matchups. You don't believe in our coach who I said wins 1 matchup and no one else saw one he won.

overall we're 57-34-7 out of 98. If these numbers played directly into wins over an 82 game season and we split the ties 50-50 that's 51-31 or good enough for the central division lead (by one game) and the 2nd seed in the playoffs.

We rated our players against the league as such.

JT - 3rd best PG overall

DJ - tied for 11th best SG overall

GR - tied for 2nd best SF overall

SAR - 1st overall (hereby ending the "best power forward in the east arguement I hope).

Ratliff - 5th best center in the east.

Bench - 5th best.

Coach - tied for 13th.

So as Hawks fans, we believe our only weakness is our coach and the youth/play of our shooting guard.

So based on these posts and stats, I'd say we have the 2nd best chance to win the East.

If anyone has any desire to finish this by comparing the West I'll do so too. Just post your impression of that west coast team. Utah and Portland have been done.

[cyman3]

Hmmm, nice theory u got here. But i could respect those rankings...

JT - 3rd best PG overall

DJ - tied for 11th best SG overall

GR - tied for 2nd best SF overall

SAR - 1st overall (hereby ending the "best power forward in the east arguement I hope).

Ratliff - 5th best center in the east.

DJ needs to step up as well as LON KRUGER (esp with this talented team).

[capstone21]

Interesting matchups. Two young teams recently put together with High expectations.

PG Miller vs JT. Jt is the better scorer but Miller is the better PG. He is a great playmaker and led the league in assists on the Cavs last years. Thats right on the cavs. That is really saying something. He is now on a team with some talented scorers he should lead teh league again. JT might really step up with a fulltime position at PG but it is still Adv Clipps.

SG DJ vs Eric P. The Cipps best SG is actually their 6th man but they like to start Eric P(Can't spell his last name). He is a much better outside shooter than DJ but DJ will be a better scorer, defender and is much more versitile. I give the adv to the Hawks. DJ has to step up though.

SF Dog vs Odom. This is intersting to look at. Two really good sfs here. Actually I think Odom is a little underrated. He had a bad year last year due to injuries but I think he is one of the most versitile players in the league. He can play 4 positions on the court and may do a little playmaking himself. He can also score however no where near the numbers that Big Dog can put up. Personnally if I had to choose I would rather have Odom but due to his injury and recent drug history I will rate this position EVEN

PF SAR vs Brand. Two great PFs with two completely different games. Fighting in the West with all those other PFs Brand more than held his own with his great post moves and his rebounds. Thats not bad considering being undersized. SAR established himself as our superstar and maybe the best PF in the EAST. I rate this position EVEN

Theo vs Kandi. We have been waiting for Theo for 2.5 years to show us what he can offer. This will be the year for him to make good on that. He is a great defensive center who will make teams think twice before driving down teh lane. Kandi man was thought to be a bust before last season. Now some consider him the second best center in the league (only due to lack of centers). It is really hard to pick but due to Theos injury past I will give the adv to the Clipps. (otherwise it would have been even).

Bench: another interesting place. QRich, Jaric, Dooling, Ely, Rooks, Maggette, Wilcox vs Glover, Ira, DD, Email, Nazr, Hendu and CC. Maggette and QRich established themselves last year and the Clpps had a nice second unit when you threw in Miles. However, Miles is gone and they have 3 rookies and a washed up Rooks to go with their 2 scoring swingmen. I really like our bench and we are deep at every position adn the only question is DD since he is a rookie. If he fails Email will step in as BU PG. Adv Hawks by a small margin.

Coach: Two underacheiving coaches. Alvin Gentry isa nice coach and I have not yet seen Lon bring what has been expected. This season will be the telling of what he is going to do for the hawks. So for now I give adv to Clipps.

So it looks like I give the advantage to the Clipps but it is on talent. There is somethign to be said about Chemistry and I think the Clipps are more worried about Contracts and individuals than they are the team. Therefore, I think the Hawks may have a better season.

As for their series I go 1-1 on a homecourt split. They will be exciting games though.

[Iman]

Yup, great work on the East Campster. The rankings on our players sounds about right but I wonder if Theo, etc injuries and lack of chemistry may make us only a slightly over .500 team but we'll see.

Laker vs Hawks(seems closer than I think it'd be)

Pg:adv Hawks by a good bit(0-1)

Sg:huge adv Lakers. If we could play DJ on defense then Dion on offense it might be close(1-1)

Sf:adv Hawks(1-2)

Pf:adv Hawks by a good bit(1-3)

C:huge adv Lakers. If we could play both Theo and Nazr at once I'd still take Shaq, even injured(2-3)

Bench:adv Hawks. George, Madsen, etc sure dont seem to me to match up with Henderson, Nazr, etc(2-4)

Coach:adv Lakers, probably huge(3-4)

Cool, the Hawks win!!! Well maybe to be fair here you have to go by how much advantage a player may have. Give us one point for bench, JT, and BigDawg and two for Reef equals five. Give them two for Kobe and Phil Jackson and three for Shaq equals seven. That's probably more like it.