The FEB Schedule will likely bury the Hawks

[Guest Walter]

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it's like Don Nelson was once quoted as saying "In the NBA the

worst

thing you can be is mediocre. The worst thing you can do is be the 7 or 8 seed in the playoffs every year. If you're not really good you've got to get really bad before you can turn it around."

we're stuck.

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I stated the diminishing returns on rebuilding were already showing and that this team would max out well below contention. Man do we need luck or more luck because I wouldn't count on anyone within the Hawks to get it or do anything about it right now.

W

[Guest Walter]

If so, here comes Oden!

W

[TheDude]

if we win games and phoenix ends up with like the 8th pick, i won't feel so bad...i mean they'd get it next year anyway probably that low..

[Diesel]

And what I say will seem like Prophecy!!

[Diesel]

[a1aa0]

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If the Hawks go 14-0 in FEB, I will do unspeakable things to live chickens.

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I guess I am rooting for 13-1 for the sake of TP's sanity!

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On behalf of PETA I will also root for 13-1.

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[bfwolf]

Let's get 2 things straight, Diesel:

1) I had the cajones to challenge your assertion with my pocketbook. You didn't have the cajones to put your money where your mouth is. That just makes you a blowhard who goes around spouting random, bad predictions that he doesn't REALLY believe in but then celebrates when one of them occasionally comes true.

2) While I would have gladly made the bet with you at the time I challenged your assertion, I wouldn't have made the bet once we found out Nash wasn't going to play. Everybody knows he's the guy that makes that team and that system work. If you had made the bet with me, and then it was JJ and not Nash who had gotten injured and couldn't play, I would have gladly taken your money but I wouldn't have been so lame as to come here and rub it in your face when you could have never predicted the injury. Pretty lame.

But it was still a great win for the Hawks.

[Diesel]

A messageboard is not Vegas.

It's a matter of pride...

You were so sure that the team that we all follow on this messageboard would lose (be swept) that you spoke out against it...

Do you really think your speaking out against the Hawks on the Hawks messageboard and backing it up with a "bet" gives you any kind of reason to feel like you deserve a pat on the back???

And you still come here and make excuses for why the Hawks won. Maybe you and Phx_suns fan need to go off together and you can start your own messageboard for Sunsfans who are interested in the Atlanta Hawks but not really...

[bfwolf]

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A messageboard is not Vegas.

It's a matter of pride...

You were so sure that the team that we all follow on this messageboard would lose (be swept) that you spoke out against it...

Do you really think your speaking out against the Hawks on the Hawks messageboard and backing it up with a "bet" gives you any kind of reason to feel like you deserve a pat on the back???

And you still come here and make excuses for why the Hawks won. Maybe you and Phx_suns fan need to go off together and you can start your own messageboard for Sunsfans who are interested in the Atlanta Hawks but not really...

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Dude, you're ridiculous. You think believing the Hawks are better than they are makes you a better Hawks fan than I. It doesn't. It just makes me a realistic Hawks fan and you an unrealistic Hawks fan. If you want to make bad predictions that you'd never be willing to back up with your own money, fine. But don't come back here and gloat when one of those bad predictions occasionally comes true, ESPECIALLY not when the other team's best player gets injured after your prediction.

[Diesel]

You're on the wrong side of your prediction... Deal with it. Period.

You want to believe that you are more realistic...but what evidence do you have that you're "a more realistic fan".. that's pure and simple BS... I recognized that there are some teams that we will lose to. I recognized that we will probably finish somewhere like 8-6... But as I told you then... Mr Realistic.. Basketball is about Matchups... not about win-loss records. It doesn't matter how many games you have won, if you don't matchup well against a team, you will lose. Period.

Just because you fail to agree with what I say because you're some kind of Sunsbootlicker... doesn't mean that you're "more realistic"... THE PROOF IS IN LAST NIGHTS GAME...

as I told you before FEB.. if Teams with no low post game makes us run, they will lose because we're built to run.

[Johnnybravo4]

It is kind of funny because before the game, Joe Johnson said that he hope we didn't run with Phoenix because "We aren't built for that."

I think that JJ has been so badly coached for so long that he couldn't even identify our ability to run.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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What I will say about Phoenix is that we fit the mold of a team that can play with them. I didn't include them in the teams of games we will win, but I don't think that they have a matchup advantage over us either. Who knows, if they force us to run, we may win!

My point is that there is a recipe for teams that I am certain will give us a very hard time. It has nothing to do with wins or losses, it's all about matchups.

Matchup is the answer to the question why does Phoenix have such a hard time against Utah and Dallas.

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They just don't understand, Diesel. Records mean a lot, but how you match up with a team means a lot more. The average fan looks at the won/loss column, and think there is no way that a losing team can get it done.

What Hawks fans need to come to grips with, is that we're a middle of the road NBA team, no matter what our record says we are.

The injuries in December that caused all of that losing, are NOT who the Hawks really are.

We're a .500 ballclub, capable of beating . . or losing . . to anybody on any particular night.

That's why Hawks fans should always take these games one game at a time.

[AtLaS]

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It is kind of funny because before the game, Joe Johnson said that he hope we didn't run with Phoenix because "We aren't built for that."

I think that JJ has been so badly coached for so long that he couldn't even identify our ability to run.

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I think he meant that it's not good to try and run with PHX because they are the best in the league at what they do, nobody should try and run with PHX.

If the Suns had Nash I don't think we could run with them.

[bfwolf]

I've said my piece. I'm obviously not going to change the way you behave with further posts, so I won't bother.

[TexasPete]

If we had a good distributing PG we could run all day. I'm not talking about a Nash or a Kidd. I'm talking about even a TJ Ford or a Calderon. Just a guy who knows how to push and get the ball into the right hands.

Speedy is far from that guy. He is not a good passing PG and never has been. He also cannot finish on his own. He was a BAD pick up for a lot of reasons. Lue, who I like, is also not the push it type PG and he is a shoot first PG.

Billy just doesn't "get" PG's...he wouldn't know a good one if his life was on the line.

[Guest Walter]

I asked him if he wanted to take a $20 bet on whether Oden entereed the draft and whether the Hawks would get an impact player (i.e. more than MLE) this offseason representing each an aspect of either's plan? He came back with a bet on Oden and whether or not the worst team kept the top pick? We all KNOW the percentages of the worst team keeping the top pick (25%), that it's not just the #1 pick but top 3 that could help this franchise, and neither bet speaks of any aspect of his "plan". So why make a even odds bet on something whose overwhelming probability is decided, especially when it doesn't represent his plan at all or mine accurately?

I accepted his Oden bet offer and asked for him to bet on ANYTHING about his "plan"? Seriously. Anything. Would we sign a plyer worth more than the MLE? How about a Max player? Make a trade for a max player? Anything. Silence. I asked him several times more. Finally, he refused, insisting he wait until March 1st until he heard further word on Oden entering or not entering the draft. Who knows, maybe like Nash getting injured (and our winning), Oden whispered in his ear, it emboldened him, because a week later he accepted the Oden bet.

And yes, I like the part where his thinking we'll win 4 straight makes him a better fan. And thinking we would be greeted as "liberators" makes one a better patriot. Time for a new icon.

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Let's get 2 things straight, Diesel:

1) I had the cajones to challenge your assertion with my pocketbook. You didn't have the cajones to put your money where your mouth is. That just makes you a blowhard who goes around spouting random, bad predictions that he doesn't REALLY believe in but then celebrates when one of them occasionally comes true.

2) While I would have gladly made the bet with you at the time I challenged your assertion, I wouldn't have made the bet once we found out Nash wasn't going to play. Everybody knows he's the guy that makes that team and that system work. If you had made the bet with me, and then it was JJ and not Nash who had gotten injured and couldn't play, I would have gladly taken your money but I wouldn't have been so lame as to come here and rub it in your face when you could have never predicted the injury. Pretty lame.

But it was still a great win for the Hawks.

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W

[smoove5]

Sergio Rodriguez would be a fit for the hawks that guy can push the ball he gets in the paint easily i would go after him Portland already haves Jack and Roy so Atlanta might be able to get em

[Diesel]

The difference that Nash brings is that he's truly a master at controlling the tempo...

However, last night, we didn't stop the Suns from scoring.. we outscored the Suns. The same gameplan that worked last night without Nash would have probably worked with him... In fact, I think that had Nash played, we would have had an easier time. Nash is not the defender that Diaw and Barbosa are. Barbosa rushed past Chillz with ease... However, Smoove still goes to work.. We still out rebound them on the offensive boards... I don't see how Nash becomes Savior in that particular game. Now had we brought the Suns offense to a grinding halt, you'd have a point.. but we didn't hinder their offense. They were throwing alley-opps and threes left and right.. The problem was that when we played agressively and ran the ball, they couldn't stop us.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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Again, I'm happy to work out privately the details of a wager if anybody would like to bet straight-up that the Hawks will get a win vs. the Suns this year.

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Too bad I didn't see this earlier.

BTW, we already have more wins this month than some pessimist saw us getting the entire month.

[bfwolf]

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You're on the wrong side of your prediction... Deal with it. Period.

You want to believe that you are more realistic...but what evidence do you have that you're "a more realistic fan".. that's pure and simple BS... I recognized that there are some teams that we will lose to. I recognized that we will probably finish somewhere like 8-6... But as I told you then... Mr Realistic.. Basketball is about Matchups... not about win-loss records. It doesn't matter how many games you have won, if you don't matchup well against a team, you will lose. Period.

Just because you fail to agree with what I say because you're some kind of Sunsbootlicker... doesn't mean that you're "more realistic"... THE PROOF IS IN LAST NIGHTS GAME...

as I told you before FEB.. if Teams with no low post game makes us run, they will lose because we're built to run.

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So Diesel,

I've been on vacation and haven't checked the board in a while. Did you come back and eat your crow about your absurd 8-6 prediction for the Hawks in February? If I recall correctly, you said we might even go 10-4. 10-4!! We stayed mostly healthy for the month, got 3 of our wins against teams missing their best player (Rockets/Ming, Clippers/Brand, Suns/Nash), acquired a veteran PG in the middle of the month, and still didn't come anywhere close to your ridiculously optimistic prediction.

As for your prediction about which teams scare you and which don't, we went 1-2 against the teams that scare you and 4-7 against the teams that don't. Big difference there, Mr. Matchup!

Normally I wouldn't make such a post, but after you were jerky enough to call me out after we beat the Suns WITHOUT NASH and WHEN YOU DIDN'T HAVE THE GUTS OR TRUE BELIEF IN WHAT YOU WERE SAYING TO ACCEPT MY OFFER TO WAGER, I felt turnabout was fair play.

If you want to be unrealistic and overly optimistic, that's fine. But DO NOT expect anybody else to take what you say seriously and don't come on this board calling me out when you are right 1 out of 4 times.