The East is getting stronger, doesnt bode well....

[TheDude]

for us...The East has added three teams to the POSSIBILITY of a playoff appearance in New York (randolph), Boston (Allen), and Orlando (RLewis). God forbid if Garnett came over to some team not named Hawks.

For awhile I thought we were a shoe-in to make the playoffs. Now I beleive that it is imperitive that Marvin come out swinging and the young guys make an impact for us to have a chance. Our offense will definitely have to get better.

Not only because there are teams with potentials of better records than last year but also teams which we play more often (East teams) giving us a better chance at losing those games.

Marvin we need you. Josh we need you. Young guns we need you.

[BHayley]

While I have been a bit annoyed that a lot of these teams are picking up some nice players, I'm not extremely worried.

A lineup of potentially

Speedy JJ Smoove Horford (Camby?) is a killer defensive lineup. Teams like New York, Orlando, and Boston have dreadful defense. As another person here suggested (BusBoy?), the Horford pick was a move Woodson will use to make us more like Detroit. I don't think we'll be a running team, but we have brought a facilitator in with Acie Law who can make shots and hopefully our young guys will improve their shooting. We need to focus on defense (something we were in the middle of the pack at, but didn't have a true center). We'll be fine. I'd like to see one of our PG's + Sheld/ZaZa go for a center, and I'd like to get a backup for JJ

[Packfill]

I think Law is going to be crucial because one of the Hawks' biggest problems on offense is the lack of easy baskets - the Hawks desperately need a point guard who can create easy scoring opportunities for all the athletes on the team.

[Nicholasp27]

u wanna focus on defense, but then wanna trade shelden?

[coachx]

(Magic, Celtics, Knicks) These teams did indeed add talent on PAPER. but

Celtics - Allen and Pierce are both all star shooting guards who's specialty is offensive scoring. Are there enough perimeter shots to go around for both of them ? Neither are known as defensive stoppers. Allen is 32 and Pierce must be pushing 30. Two allstar looks good on paper but I'm not sure if they are the best compliments for one another. Heck, the Sonics did nothing with Allen and Lewis. Lewis (6'10'')is more of a SF then Pierce (6'6'').

Magic - Sure they add Lewis to team with Howard. However, they are losing Grant Hill and won't be able to afford Darko. The loss of both Darko and Hill may taking away more then what the addition of Lewis will add.

Knicks - Randolf and Curry seem like a an odd pair. Their games mimic one another alot. Both hold the ball and are slow but good low post scorers but both demand the ball often. Both are good position defenders but are really not good shot blockers and are a bit flat footed.

With Marbury holding the ball, Crawford and Richardson looking for shots....will there be enough post scoring oppurtunities to keep both Curry and Randolf happy and efficient ? The Knicks are currently lacking the deadly, spot up, outside shooter to take full advantage of inside double teams.

These teams do look good on paper but, to me, favor the old Hawks teams of JT, Big Dog, and Reef, more then a team built on cohesiveness and winning.

I see the above 3 teams on the same level plane as the Hawks. We will all be fighting for the 7 & 8 playoff spots.

[cowa]

I'm having a hard time figuring out who's going to fall out of the playoff picture next year. I Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago as locks. Miami, Toronto and Washington also should be in. That leaves two spots, but with NJ resigning Vinsanity and getting Kristic back, I don't see how they don't make at least one last run. That just leaves Orlando from last year's playoff teams. They just picked up Lewis, and remember, they got off to a great start last year, just fell apart in January and February.

With the rest of the teams all getting better as mentioned above, and our team just getting younger (Horford and Law), I just don't see us winning 40 games, and that's what it will take to get in (still a losing record) and be swept just like Orlando was this year.

Unless we are able to obtain a defensive center to occupy the lane (like Brendan Haywood, Etan Thomas or Joel Przybilla), I don't see marked improvement. You can't plan on Speedy being healthy the whole season, and I just don't see Woddy playing law for meaningful minutes.

Long term, the future looks great, but I'm not sure about playoffs next season with teh roster we currently have.

[BusBoyIsBack]

It's hard fooling with Hawks fans. Everyone is talking about how strong the rest of the East is.

Guess what? We made some dang good moves as well!

You want to talk about talent coming into the East

It's like we had the #1 pick in the East and we landed the top notch East bound point and big man.

[TheDude]

i definitely agree on this...but it's not given we make the playoffs with the extra competition.

[AHF]

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I'm having a hard time figuring out who's going to fall out of the playoff picture next year. I Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago as locks. Miami, Toronto and Washington also should be in. That leaves two spots, but with NJ resigning Vinsanity and getting Kristic back, I don't see how they don't make at least one last run. That just leaves Orlando from last year's playoff teams.

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I don't think Toronto, Washington, Orlando or New Jersey are locks by any stretch. I think they will be in a fight with us, Boston, and NY for the last playoff spots in the East.

This team has the talent to step up and contend in the East next year - but they need to stop treading water. This is the do or die year for Woodson. He better bring a lot more organization to the offense. We have the depth such that injuries won't excuse poor performance from the team this year.

[DJlaysitup]

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...This team has the talent to step up and contend in the East next year - but they need to stop treading water. This is the do or die year for Woodson. He better bring a lot more organization to the offense. We have the depth such that injuries won't excuse poor performance from the team this year.

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That's pretty much the way I see it AHF. We still got Woody.

Other teams are adding vets, but we added two top line rookies to our roster...yet, we still have Woody. Maybe with a healthy Speedy and Acie Woody's offensive scheme won't look so bad. I just don't want to watch a fourth quarter offense that consists of JJ getting chased around by two or three opposing players any more.

[FrankWhite]

Allen is a 32 year old SG coming back from an ankle surgery. He's also a bad defender.

Lewis is a very good scorer coming off a career (contract) year, but he is a terrible defender and is being way overpaid.

Randolph is a great low post scorer, but he too is an awful defender. He's also a complete basket case off the court, and he's going to a dysfunctional team with it's fair share of headcases. There's a reason Portland didn't even want him to meet Oden.

These moves look good on paper, but they don't exactly strike fear in my heart.

[exodus]

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These moves look good on paper, but they don't exactly strike fear in my heart.

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I agree. I am not worried about NY or Boston at all. I don't see Orlando as a budding powerhouse either. I still think Howard is overrated.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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i definitely agree on this...but it's not given we make the playoffs with the extra competition.

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It's not a given but it's def not a given we DON'T make the playoffs either.

Honestly if we stay healthy last year we come closer to the playoffs. Or if we don't lose to teams without their star players because we came out flat we don't lose that many games.

There are about a dozen games we SHOULD have won last year and a dozen more we COULD have won if we were healthy.

So this team isn't as far from the playoffs as people are making it.

Combine the fact that we added two players who will replace some of the players responsible for about a DOZEN losses, if we stay healthy we could make a DRAMATIC leap.