Sekou's latest blog

[Atlantaholic]

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I don't even want to get into how pathetic the EC is and how little even 35 wins within the EC says about our team and it's (diminishing) future chances.

W

The problem I see is that Philadelphia, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, Charlotte, Milwaukee etc... will all be making moves next year to get better... And we are already maxed out cap wise, and with no draft pick.... The only chance at retooling our team will be by trading JJ or Bibby's expiring contract... I find it unlikely that either move will result in our roster being improved.

Considering that three of the teams mentioned above ALREADY are putting up better records than us... it's a pretty abysmal situation.

We will have to hope (AGAIN!) that Marvin, and Smoove play like five and four year players respectively, that Bibby gets healthy, that JJ begins to play like JJ again and that we can find some kind of production from the bench.... Even if all these things play out what is the best case scenario?? I'm not going to speculate, but judging by how this roster has performed this season, I can't imagine it is that good.

[Packfill]

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Considering all the opportinities we've had in the draft and considering this is the 4th year of rebuilding I would have to say that 38 wins is pretty weak considering how bad the conference is.

This season has definitely been a disappointment to me so far. Even if they make the playoffs they have to play a LOT better than they have been to make me see this season in a positive light.

Then you are one of the fans this article, by Sekou, was written for.

My point was... most fans on this site expected around 38 wins before the season ever started. Now in December the team was rolling and people were buying into them........that is when some fans may have been "foolish" to buy into the Hawks too much.

Since my expectations were only a 38 win season I am NOT down in the dumps about the current Hawks. In fact I'm higher on them now then ever. The schedule is getting easier, we have a legitimate PG, so the playoffs are within reach. Ya, that is sipping on a little koolaid but come on...they are only 1.5 games out of the playoffs while the Wizards are in a free fall without Arenas and Butler and the Nets are without Kidd while Harris and Diop are too hurt to play.

I think once people take an honest and objective look the Hawks are very close to where many of us thought they would be.

Walter likes to argue with me when in truth we are only argueing over a difference of opinion of 4 games. Walter thought the Hawks would win 34 games while I thought 38 games would be the win total. That 4 game difference is all that is needed for Walter to start name calling posters fools for expecting a 38 win season.....LOL. I'm just glad I didn't predict 39 wins or somthing totally CRAZY like that. Then Walter may call me a moron and my feeling would be hurt beyond repair. I would be forever scared.

I think the reason that people, including Sekou, are down on the Hawks is because they have been putrid for about two months now. If they were trending up it would be one thing, but that is not the case.

Given how bad the east is right now it would be flat out embarassing to miss the playoffs.

[Atlantaholic]

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I know that every team has health issues but Horford is the only guy in our starting lineup who is really healthy and our injury situation at PG is probably the worst in the entire league.

I am NOT making excuses for them as a team because good teams and good coaches find a way to win when key players are banged up (BOS w/out KG) but we are not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

How many games have our starters missed because of injury???

I'm guessing less than 4.

Virtually the whole eastern conference, aside of Philadelphia, and Detroit have been raped by injuries this year

New Jersey (Nachbar), Cleveland (Hughes, Gibson), Washington (Glibert Arenas, Butler) Milwaukee (Redd), Charlotte (Sean May, Okafor, Wallace, Felton, Adam Morrison), Boston (KG), Toronto (Bosh, Garbajosa, Bargnani, TJ Ford)

have all missed considerable time due to injury... Yet we have a worse record than most of these teams, despite having only our 2nd/3rd string PG and Childress injured (though we played our best basketball during this stretch... so that puts into question how much of a hindrance that injury was)

[Guest Walter]

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My point was... most fans on this site expected around 38 wins before the season ever started.

I believe most were in the 40 game range but regardless,...

...name ONE poster who EVER UNDERestimated the Hawks' win total the last 4 years.

If not ONE poster ever UNDERestimated the Hawks in the last 4 years then there is NOTHING "realistic" about any of our projections. That's why I did not increase my win total projection from last year to this year despite two lottery pick additions. BECAUSE everybody here is so UNrealistic about this team as evidenced by the fact that not a d@mn one of us has ever UNDERestimated the Hawks. People get swept up by each other's "realistic" projections that annually OVERestimate the Hawks by 5-10 games and they themselves OVERestimate the Hawks.

Lastly, I think 35-38 wins in the horrible EC ain't [censored] and the future trajectory of this team now that rookie contracts are up is one that points flat, not up. That is the curse of lesser mediocrity, it self-perpetuates.

In short, I don't have just a 4 game issue with your win/loss projections, I have issue with everyone's win/loss projections for the last 4 years. Considering that not a GD one of us can UNDERestimate the Hawks seasonal future, ]IT WOULD SEEM THAT NEITHER ARE WE LIKELY TO UNDERESTIMATE IT'S LONG-TERM FUTURE! That means, when you (or anyone else) not only wants to sing the praises of a dreamy 35-38 win season in this years EC, but wants to stress how positive their future is, I say, WHEN HAVE YOU EVER GOTTEN IT RIGHT BEFORE and while always getting it wrong WERE YOU E-V-E-R wrong by UNDERestimating the Atlanta Hawks? The answer is "no" and as such why should anyone believe you (or anyone).

W

[Guest Walter]

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I don't even want to get into how pathetic the EC is and how little even 35 wins within the EC says about our team and it's (diminishing) future chances.

W

The problem I see is that Philadelphia, New Jersey, Chicago, Washington, Charlotte, Milwaukee etc... will all be making moves next year to get better... And we are already maxed out cap wise, and with no draft pick.... The only chance at retooling our team will be by trading JJ or Bibby's expiring contract... I find it unlikely that either move will result in our roster being improved.

Considering that three of the teams mentioned above ALREADY are putting up better records than us... it's a pretty abysmal situation.

We will have to hope (AGAIN!) that Marvin, and Smoove play like five and four year players respectively, that Bibby gets healthy, that JJ begins to play like JJ again and that we can find some kind of production from the bench.... Even if all these things play out what is the best case scenario?? I'm not going to speculate, but judging by how this roster has performed this season, I can't imagine it is that good.

...and it's almost certain that with our salary cap situation we can not only not expect to get better but can expect to get worse (lose JC for nothing). It's grim. But of course, we've got a whole forum who has never UNDERestimated the Hawks so we'll project just fine.

W

[Iman]

We all have known for since Belkin and beyond that the Hawks organizationally was weak. They finally made a move strong move and picked up Bibby and a week or so later Sekou comes out with this article. What's the point.

I'm disappointed in the Hawks overall but I'll still enjoy the playoffs the next few years thanks to the weak Eastern conference and still hope Acie will be a solid point and that the extremely young frontline of Horford, Smoove, and Marvin will continue to improve. I'd trade rosters with Portland going forward and that's about it. I'd trade our coach at least half the prospects out there. Alton Lister gave a good interview that I saw a few days ago, I'd probably even take him over Woody..lol.

[exodus]

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My point was... most fans on this site expected around 38 wins before the season ever started. Now in December the team was rolling and people were buying into them........that is when some fans may have been "foolish" to buy into the Hawks too much.

We aren't on pace for 38 wins. We are 10 games below .500 and have won several games when the other teams were missing their best players.

How many games have our best players (JJ and Smith) missed?

We are much healthier than last year but our record is nearly identical. We have consistently blown leads and lost (we got spanked most of the game) to the friggin Clipps without their 3 best players.

[Traceman]

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I am NOT making excuses for them as a team because good teams and good coaches find a way to win when key players are banged up (BOS w/out KG) but we are not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

Good teams DO find a way to win when guys are hurt. Obviously, no one is confusing us with a good team at this point.

That said, just because JJ, Marvin, Smoove and Bibby have all choosen to suit up and play through injuries that many players wouldn't have played through, doesn't mean that they are any healthier than guys who are sitting. Maybe JJ and Marvin SHOULD have missed some games as it is CLEAR that neither one has been as effective after their injuries as they were before they got hurt. I am actually GLAD that Marvin is not playing tonight. Perhaps he will come back on Friday with more bounce in his step after having a little time off.

[Atlantaholic]

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Then you are one of the fans this article, by Sekou, was written for.

My point was... most fans on this site expected around 38 wins before the season ever started. Now in December the team was rolling and people were buying into them........that is when some fans may have been "foolish" to buy into the Hawks too much.

Since my expectations were only a 38 win season I am NOT down in the dumps about the current Hawks.

This is an extremely disengenuos statement, because you are completely ignoring all context.

At the time you made your prediction, New York , Charlotte, Chicago, Miami, Milwaukee, were all projected to have a shot at the playoffs. The consensus from Hawks fans was that we were considerably improved with the addition of Horford + Law, but due to the increase in competition that it would be extremely tough to make the playoffs. People then started throwing around 38-40 wins as a realistic projection that could get us in...

If you are telling me that you made that projection of 38 taking into account that Miami would win 9 games, that Charlotte would be ravaged by injuries and underachieve massively, that New York would be worse than last year, that Washington would lose Gilbert Arenas, and Caron Butler for considerable time, that Milwaukee would have a worse record than the year before etc... Well than you are STILL wrong, because we are NOT CLOSE to being on pace to 38 wins... 33 wins is a whole lot less, around 15% less.

If overestimating our win total by 15% despite every contender for the last three playoff spots in the east being a total freaking joke, makes you satisfied... than you are clearly too easy please, and not representative of 99% of people who are sports fans.

[Guest Walter]

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I am NOT making excuses for them as a team because good teams and good coaches find a way to win when key players are banged up (BOS w/out KG) but we are not healthy by any stretch of the imagination.

Good teams DO find a way to win when guys are hurt. Obviously, no one is confusing us with a good team at this point.

That said, just because JJ, Marvin, Smoove and Bibby have all choosen to suit up and play through injuries that many players wouldn't have played through, doesn't mean that they are any healthier than guys who are sitting. Maybe JJ and Marvin SHOULD have missed some games as it is CLEAR that neither one has been as effective after their injuries as they were before they got hurt. I am actually GLAD that Marvin is not playing tonight. Perhaps he will come back on Friday with more bounce in his step after having a little time off.

Your original post included this, wonder why you didn't include it...

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I know that every team has health issues but Horford is the only guy in our starting lineup who is really healthy and our injury situation at PG is probably the worst in the entire league.

Generally when people follow something like the above with "I'm not trying to make excuses for the team..." the truth is making excuses for the team is EXACTLY what they are trying to do. Moreover, the truth in this situation is that the oppositions' health has been much worse compared to ours no matter how you phrase it (i.e. Horford is the only starter to not miss a game, etc.). The "excuse" should be made for our opponent, not us.

W

W

[Traceman]

that many players would have sat through. The bruised thigh's that JJ and Marv suffered had Shaq out for a lot of last season and for a significant part of this season. Bibby is CLEARLY limited and Smoove said that he needed to sit but realized that he simply couldn't at this point.

Maybe our guys SHOULD have sat so that they could have healed properly. We couldn't have played any worse without them than we have played for the last month anyway.

[Atlantaholic]

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that many players would have sat through. The bruised thigh's that JJ and Marv suffered had Shaq out for a lot of last season and for a significant part of this season. Bibby is CLEARLY limited and Smoove said that he needed to sit but realized that he simply couldn't at this point.

Maybe our guys SHOULD have sat so that they could have healed properly. We couldn't have played any worse without them than we have played for the last month anyway.

The problem I have with these injuries is that the only place in the entire world that they have been reported in is in the Squawk.

JJ is healthy... people can speculate all they want but Rathbun and Smitty have cited it several times before games that JJ is 100% and ready to go. His drop in performance is due to some other factor but not because of injuries.

I don't know about Marvin... again, there have been no reports, except perhaps a Sekou blurb where he said his thigh was bothering him. He hasn't seemed any less athletic or hindered by it the last week in my eyes, so I don't know how much I buy it

[Traceman]

and understand what you choose to understand. I was responding to a post that claimed that we were "one of the healthiest teams in the whole league" and I was simply pointing out that just because guys were suiting up did not meant they were healthy.

If you choose to believe that I am making excuses for them because I pointed out that many of our guys CONTINUE to play through significant injuries, so be it.

[Traceman]

He reported on JJ being kneed in the thigh AND on JJ being kneed in the same calf that gave him so much trouble last year. Ty Hill also said that JJ was hurting during one game that I sat beside him. It was one of the first games that Zaza played after his injury. Interestingly enough, Ty Hill said that Zaza was "nowhere near" ready to play when he first came back.

Sekou reported on Marvin being kneed in the thigh during the Portland game. After the game, he QUOTED Marvin as saying that he didn't see how JJ had managed to play so many minutes after he had been kneed because he (Marvin) was REALLY hurting. I personally think that Marvin is moving better the last week or so but it CLEARLY was a problem for a few weeks at least and I think it screwed up his rhythm when he tried to compensate for it.

He has obviously reported on Bibby's injured hand and his injured heel.

[oiatlhawksfan]

Sekou probably knows about something, going on behind the scene.

[Atlantaholic]

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He reported on JJ being kneed in the thigh AND on JJ being kneed in the same calf that gave him so much trouble last year. Ty Hill also said that JJ was hurting during one game that I sat beside him. It was one of the first games that Zaza played after his injury. Interestingly enough, Ty Hill said that Zaza was "nowhere near" ready to play when he first came back.

Sekou reported on Marvin being kneed in the thigh during the Portland game. After the game, he QUOTED Marvin as saying that he didn't see how JJ had managed to play so many minutes after he had been kneed because he (Marvin) was REALLY hurting. I personally think that Marvin is moving better the last week or so but it CLEARLY was a problem for a few weeks at least and I think it screwed up his rhythm when he tried to compensate for it.

He has obviously reported on Bibby's injured hand and his injured heel.

By all reports JJ has been 100% for a long time now, every official report has confirmed this.

Marvin's thigh was reported as bothering him, but at no time was he considered injured. I remember him looking hurt maybe for three or four games.

All in all, those injuries have not been as big a factor (not even close) as any of the other injuries that Washington, Jersey, Toronto or Cleveland have suffered.

Also, I know you were not commenting on this but I will add it because it's relevant to the posters who are defending the teams play this year: Last year Marvin missed an entire month and JJ missed two months and we finished with around the same record we will most likely finish with this year... something that is extremely mind boggling to me.

[Lascar78]

Yeah we have had a number of injuries, but people on here have assumed that JJ has been permanently injured for a good while even though there were no kinds of indications from anyone that this is the case. The only evidence was his sluggish play. I hope it was injuries. I think it was fatigue and frustration.

[Atlantaholic]

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Sekou probably knows about something, going on behind the scene.

If that something is BK getting fired soon, than I will be ecstatic.

[Guest Walter]

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our guys CONTINUE to play through significant injuries, so be it.

I understand any "significant injury" to be AT MINIMUM something you cannot "play through". JJ has been well for awhile and MW isn't playing any differently than he usually does. And of course, relative to our opposition we are VERY healthy if only because all our players are PLAYING and since we're not playing games in a vaccuum our relative health is the issue, period.

W

[DrReality]

Trying to make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t. They have given us no hope to continue on with the season.