Easily the dumbest preview I have ever read....

[WraithSentinel]

http://nbadraft.net/2006-07southeast001.asp

What kind of f'd up preview is this?

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Atlanta Hawks

Projected Record: 23-59

You'd think, after enough time, that the Hawks would eventually crawl their way out of the gutter. Why not this year? Well, they did add Speedy Claxton at point guard. He is an upgrade over last season, but I don't think anyone would call him a star. Sheldon Williams was supposed to help solidify their font line but he looked terrible in summer league. It is vital to the Hawks that Sheldon shake off those early performances and play like he is supposed to. Al Harrington took his 18 points and 7 rebounds to Indiana and somebody needs to replace his productivity. Josh Smith and Josh Childress will be looked upon to pick up some of the load. Joe Johnson gives the team a legit star and a big time scorer, and Josh Smith should continue to emerge in his role of rebounder, shot blocker and all around energy guy. But the Hawks have a lot of bad karma to overcome and it doesn't appear that they did enough in the off-season to reverse that trend. If Marvin Williams can develop at a quicker pace, it would certainly help a lot.

Key Additions: FA: Speedy Claxton (Hornets), Shelden Williams (5), Solomon Jones (33)

Key Losses: FA: Al Harrington (Indiana)

[thesheedera]

the kind produced by an f-ed up website with no credibility

[bootsybug]

any website that spells shelden's name wrong over and over sucks anyway. but let's be fair, what did they say specifically that you don't agree with?

[Popeye]

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what did they say specifically that you don't agree with?

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only 23 wins, WTF and we are talking about playoffs here, yes playoffs and they think we will win 23 games.

but that's fine, before last season i read this sports magazine(i am not sure which one was) and they projected as to win 17-19 games and we won 26.

[thesheedera]

I disagree that the team will regress, but mainly I think that website is a complete joke that gets too much credit as a good predictor of the draft.

[TheDude]

there's a lot of impending "buts" in there....everything you read sounds like there's a but coming....the Hawks have inherited the Dream Team roster....but

[Plainview1981]

Quote:

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there's a lot of impending "buts" in there....everything you read sounds like there's a but coming....the Hawks have inherited the Dream Team roster....but

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If the so called negitive one wouldn't predict a 23 win season. That;s alittle extreme.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

LOL . . . I actually took the time to write that fool on NBAdraft.net an e-mail today. Of course, I'm a long-winded and thorough writer, so he had a lot to read. I say that we'll win 40 games, but I toned it down a little in my e-mail to him, and said that we'd win 36 games.

This was his response:

Greetings,

First of all, I can tell you are a big time fan by the gargantuan size of the email. Anyone who takes the time to write that much must truly love the Hawks.

Secondly, with all the players they have, Atlanta won 26 games last year. Then they lost one of their best players in Al Harrington and you expect them to do 9 games better?

If you think Speedy Claxton will be such a difference maker, then why will the Hawks be his 5th team in 6 NBA seasons? Also, when Speedy played in 71 games last year, that was the most amount of games he has ever played in during one season (he has already missed preseason games with an injury). He is also a career 41% shooter and 19% shooter from threes. I just don't think he will make that big of a difference this year.

Lorenzen Wright is at the end of his career and won't contribute much.

As I alluded to in the article, a leap from Marvin Williams and Josh Smith would certainly help the team. If both have breakout years, then yes, they can definitely win 35 games. But at this point, you can't just assume they both will. The Hawks certainly have some talent, but their point guards are still weak and I just don't see how they can be much better than last year.

Its just an opinion. Good luck to the Hawks, and thanks for the email,

Josh

[DJlaysitup]

Yeah NC...Speedy will be an enormous addition to our team. Speedy is the X-factor (IMHO) this year. Shelden will also do more in the real games than most expect...because he is usta doin more in real games. Sheldon will not be shy.

JS and MW will have to keep up and show that "dookie"...it ain't goin to be easy (nor should it be).