I'm Happy With Where We Are Right Now

[Traceman]

If someone had told me before the season started that we would start the season 8-5 with 8 of the 13 games on the road, with 7 of the 12 opponents being playoff teams from a year ago and with Smoove missing 9 and 3/4's of those games, I would have been THRILLED. That doesn't even take into account Al missing two games and being significantly limited the last two and Zaza missing two games and being limited as well.

Every team deals with injuries and we have done a terrific job overall of hanging in with Smoove out. It cracks me up how so many folks think we were SUPPOSED to be winning with Smoove out and with Zaza and Al limited. San Antonio is stuggling with their 2nd and 3rd best players out (Ginobili and Parker). BOS would struggle without Pierce and Allen. The Lakers would struggle without Gasol and Bynum. How good would SLC be without Deron and Okur?

Once we get everyone back and healthy, I think this team is going to be pretty dang good.

[capstone21]

If someone had told me before the season started that we would start the season 8-5 with 8 of the 13 games on the road, with 7 of the 12 opponents being playoff teams from a year ago and with Smoove missing 9 and 3/4's of those games, I would have been THRILLED. That doesn't even take into account Al missing two games and being significantly limited the last two and Zaza missing two games and being limited as well.

Every team deals with injuries and we have done a terrific job overall of hanging in with Smoove out. It cracks me up how so many folks think we were SUPPOSED to be winning with Smoove out and with Zaza and Al limited. San Antonio is stuggling with their 2nd and 3rd best players out (Ginobili and Parker). BOS would struggle without Pierce and Allen. The Lakers would struggle without Gasol and Bynum. How good would SLC be without Deron and Okur?

Once we get everyone back and healthy, I think this team is going to be pretty dang good.

well said

[macdaddy]

Obviously having Smoove out (and Al) is seriously affecting our defense in the paint. So in that respect I agree that our struggles defensively are understandable. But I think we are seeing the team fall into some real bad habits offensively that don't really have much to do with injuries, and my feeling is that the coaching staff isn't doing much to provide offensive direction.

Specifically: no ball movement or player movement on the offensive end, too many long jumpers, allowing some guys like Flip to dominate the ball and stay in the game even when they are ICE cold. Of course maybe missing our PF is as big a problem on O as D.

[exodus]

In terms of injuries you have to look at both sides of it. Chicago was missing Hinrich, Hughes and Gooden. Charlotte was missing JRich. The Wizards were missing Arenas and Haywood. I believe the Bucks will be without Redd.

While i feel good about the start overall we shouldn't make too big a deal about injuries. Every team could say they would be doing much better without injuries. I am sure fans of the Bulls, Cats and Wizards attribute their losses to us to injuries.

[AHF]

Great post, Traceman.

Ex is right that every team deals with injuries, but the bottomline is that we are doing a reasonably good job overall this season, including handling real injuries, and doing that with a challenging early season schedule. Good stuff.

[Traceman]

In terms of injuries you have to look at both sides of it. Chicago was missing Hinrich, Hughes and Gooden. Charlotte was missing JRich. The Wizards were missing Arenas and Haywood. I believe the Bucks will be without Redd.

While i feel good about the start overall we shouldn't make too big a deal about injuries. Every team could say they would be doing much better without injuries. I am sure fans of the Bulls, Cats and Wizards attribute their losses to us to injuries.

You're right and that is the thing. We have a winning record DESPITE our injury problems. I have no doubt whatsoever that the Wizards would be MUCH better with Arenas and Haywood (you can throw Daniels in there too). In fact, they have proven to be a playoff team with those guys healthy.

I'm sure the Bucks would be better with Redd and the Bobcats would be better with Richardson too. As for the Bulls, I think they would be better with those guys but I think their problem is that they have a bunch of role players and no stars. They need to package a bunch of those role players for an imact player. Derek Rose is going to be a star but other than him, I don't think any of their guys have star potential. I thought Deng did but I'm beginning to wonder. Marvin is having a better season than he is so far despite the fact that Marvin is our 3rd (or 4th) option most nights. Denghas a LONG way to go to get back to the efficient 19/7 guy he was 2 years ago. He didn't reach those numbers last year and he has shown no signs of getting back there this year.

[Packfill]

If someone had told me before the season started that we would start the season 8-5 with 8 of the 13 games on the road, with 7 of the 12 opponents being playoff teams from a year ago and with Smoove missing 9 and 3/4's of those games, I would have been THRILLED. That doesn't even take into account Al missing two games and being significantly limited the last two and Zaza missing two games and being limited as well.

Every team deals with injuries and we have done a terrific job overall of hanging in with Smoove out. It cracks me up how so many folks think we were SUPPOSED to be winning with Smoove out and with Zaza and Al limited. San Antonio is stuggling with their 2nd and 3rd best players out (Ginobili and Parker). BOS would struggle without Pierce and Allen. The Lakers would struggle without Gasol and Bynum. How good would SLC be without Deron and Okur?

Once we get everyone back and healthy, I think this team is going to be pretty dang good.

In terms of wins and losses on the season the team is doing great right now, particularly given the injuries.

I am going to reserve judgment until a little later in the season, however, on whether the team is heading in the right direction.

[Plainview1981]

If someone had told me before the season started that we would start the season 8-5 with 8 of the 13 games on the road, with 7 of the 12 opponents being playoff teams from a year ago and with Smoove missing 9 and 3/4's of those games, I would have been THRILLED. That doesn't even take into account Al missing two games and being significantly limited the last two and Zaza missing two games and being limited as well.

Every team deals with injuries and we have done a terrific job overall of hanging in with Smoove out. It cracks me up how so many folks think we were SUPPOSED to be winning with Smoove out and with Zaza and Al limited. San Antonio is stuggling with their 2nd and 3rd best players out (Ginobili and Parker). BOS would struggle without Pierce and Allen. The Lakers would struggle without Gasol and Bynum. How good would SLC be without Deron and Okur?

Once we get everyone back and healthy, I think this team is going to be pretty dang good.

Well, it sounds reasonable. But it doesn't feel reasonable considering the Hawks history. You figure SA and LA will recover because they've done it before. They've been there. There is nothing back to look on and say "They've fallen before and got back up" when it comes to the Hawks.

[mrhonline]

They've actually exceeded my expectations.

I knew the frontcourt depth was shaky, but getting anything at all from Solomon has helped. Still need to do something here...

The backcourt has been tremendous relative to my expectations. Bibby has been clutch, Flip is instant O, and Evans has been a better defender than Childress. Marvin's newfound range speaks for itself.

[Peoriabird]

Obviously having Smoove out (and Al) is seriously affecting our defense in the paint. So in that respect I agree that our struggles defensively are understandable. But I think we are seeing the team fall into some real bad habits offensively that don't really have much to do with injuries, and my feeling is that the coaching staff isn't doing much to provide offensive direction.

Specifically: no ball movement or player movement on the offensive end, too many long jumpers, allowing some guys like Flip to dominate the ball and stay in the game even when they are ICE cold. Of course maybe missing our PF is as big a problem on O as D.

I think that you guys total ignored the great points that this poster made which is a shame.

Edited November 25, 2008 by Peoriabird

[tonegully]

If someone had told me before the season started that we would start the season 8-5 with 8 of the 13 games on the road, with 7 of the 12 opponents being playoff teams from a year ago and with Smoove missing 9 and 3/4's of those games, I would have been THRILLED. That doesn't even take into account Al missing two games and being significantly limited the last two and Zaza missing two games and being limited as well.

Every team deals with injuries and we have done a terrific job overall of hanging in with Smoove out. It cracks me up how so many folks think we were SUPPOSED to be winning with Smoove out and with Zaza and Al limited. San Antonio is stuggling with their 2nd and 3rd best players out (Ginobili and Parker). BOS would struggle without Pierce and Allen. The Lakers would struggle without Gasol and Bynum. How good would SLC be without Deron and Okur?

Once we get everyone back and healthy, I think this team is going to be pretty dang good.

good point, but didnt the lakers make it to the finals without Bynum? Just throwing that out there...lol

[DrReality]

Amen to that. I don't think we realize the feat we have accomplished . . . . all things considered. Now we need to show that it is not a fluke.

[TruJerz]

If someone had told me before the season started that we would start the season 8-5 with 8 of the 13 games on the road, with 7 of the 12 opponents being playoff teams from a year ago and with Smoove missing 9 and 3/4's of those games, I would have been THRILLED. That doesn't even take into account Al missing two games and being significantly limited the last two and Zaza missing two games and being limited as well.

Every team deals with injuries and we have done a terrific job overall of hanging in with Smoove out. It cracks me up how so many folks think we were SUPPOSED to be winning with Smoove out and with Zaza and Al limited. San Antonio is stuggling with their 2nd and 3rd best players out (Ginobili and Parker). BOS would struggle without Pierce and Allen. The Lakers would struggle without Gasol and Bynum. How good would SLC be without Deron and Okur?

Once we get everyone back and healthy, I think this team is going to be pretty dang good.

I agree. I like where we are at. it just sucks because I think if Josh Smith never got injured, we could possibly be underfeated or at least beaten Boston and win one of the NJ games but other than that, im fine with the way the Hawks have played so far this season. we could still use some help downlow but again, with what we have, I think we have played well..better team than last year and i expect Hawks to be better than a 8th seed this year too

[Traceman]

good point, but didnt the lakers make it to the finals without Bynum? Just throwing that out there...lol

True! :smile: That is why I said if they were missing Bynum AND Gasol.

[HawkItus]

I'm satisfied because we are winning. Plain and simple. Even if there weren't injuries most people didn't have us pegged to have this record after the first month. Yes we could nitpick and yes we could question what will transpire the rest of the season. But why do that? I can count on one had the amount of winning months this team has had his 2004.

[Lascar78]

In terms of injuries you have to look at both sides of it. Chicago was missing Hinrich, Hughes and Gooden. Charlotte was missing JRich. The Wizards were missing Arenas and Haywood. I believe the Bucks will be without Redd.

While i feel good about the start overall we shouldn't make too big a deal about injuries. Every team could say they would be doing much better without injuries. I am sure fans of the Bulls, Cats and Wizards attribute their losses to us to injuries.

I agree. It really irks me when people start whining about injuries or bad calls. Every team deals with both, and the record is the record. That being said we have done pretty well overall, but it's disappointing to have looked really good, and then really bad. I still feel that this season will come down to coaching, and I don't have significantly more faith than I did when the season began.

But it goes without saying that the record is significantly better than expected at this point, so that's nice. I expect us to finish in the 5-7 seed range, whereas I probably expected us to be in the 7-10 range before the season started.

[frankthetank966]

Nice post. BUMP

[Johnnybravo4]

I think Josh's injury has had a bigger impact because of our lack of frontcourt depth and the fact that he is by far our best interior defender. He sets the defensive mindset for the entire team. It is still my opinion that we should move MW for Kaman.. otherwise we will be stuck with either having to pay him 50 million or lose him for nothing ala Josh Childress.