It's the halfway point. What are your thoughts so far?

[mrhonline]

In general, I'm excited.

This recent downturn probably brought the team's expectations back down to something reasonable, but I think 45 wins is the minimum goal. I can't believe they actually have a shot at 50 wins.

[hawkman]

In general, I'm excited.

This recent downturn probably brought the team's expectations back down to something reasonable, but I think 45 wins is the minimum goal. I can't believe they actually have a shot at 50 wins.

Have faith, we're halfway there!

[High5]

1) Mike Woodson is terrible.

2) The Bibby trade was one of the greatest trades ever. (BK still sucked)

3) Mike Woodson is terrible.

4) Joe needs to get hot in the 2nd half like he did last year.

5) Mike Woodson is terrible.

6) Mo Evans is embarrassing himself. He played so well in November, but other than a game or two he's been brutal since.

7) Mike Woodson is terrible.

8) Flip has taken more buzzer beaters than anyone in NBA history.

9) Mike Woodson is terrible.

10) Zaza is redeeming himself this year after a brutal 07-08 season. The numbers aren't great or anything, but he's having more helpful games and less harmful games.

11) Mike Woodson is terrible.

12) I hope we have seen the worst of the injury bug.

I feel like I'm forgetting something...

[Plainview1981]

1) Mike Woodson is terrible.

2) The Bibby trade was one of the greatest trades ever. (BK still sucked)

3) Mike Woodson is terrible.

4) Joe needs to get hot in the 2nd half like he did last year.

5) Mike Woodson is terrible.

6) Mo Evans is embarrassing himself. He played so well in November, but other than a game or two he's been brutal since.

7) Mike Woodson is terrible.

8) Flip has taken more buzzer beaters than anyone in NBA history.

9) Mike Woodson is terrible.

10) Zaza is redeeming himself this year after a brutal 07-08 season. The numbers aren't great or anything, but he's having more helpful games and less harmful games.

11) Mike Woodson is terrible.

12) I hope we have seen the worst of the injury bug.

I feel like I'm forgetting something...

1.The Bibby trade has worked the best that it can.

2.The Hawks are better, but still not that great. They do far too many things wrong to be a really good team.

3.The team is still badly coached.

4.JJ needs to shoot better in the second half. His play this year hasn't been up to snuff.

5.The bench still sucks

6.It's going to be a really rough Feb. Hopefully March and April will come fairly easy.

7.Need to make a trade for a back up PG and a backup center.

8.Despite the needs, I expect Atlanta Spirit to do nothing.

[DrReality]

To be where ww are given our injuries and that JJ has not hit his stride is nothing short of miraculous. And I think I have to give a lot of the credit to Bibby who is more of a coach on this team than Woody.

Sund has a history of acquiring bigs . . . . . so let's hope for the best.

[coachx]

I'm thrilled !

Getting 2 wins while missing 2 key starters and a bench guy was huge.

1. Smith is making much better decisions and is scoring the paint very well !

2. JJ seems to have pulled out of his funk.

3. Bibby is playing some of the best over all ball if his career !

4.Marvin and Horford should both be poised for return soon !

5. ZaZa is playing well on most nights.

6. Flip was an excellent signing off the bench

7. Mo has been solid off the both bench save a couple of scoring droughts that happens to guys who get 20 minutes a night.

8. Solo has impressed at times.

9. The offensive movement and execution has been much better the last few games.

10. We are still dominant at home

11. Improved road team.

12. Marvin's added 3 point range has done wonders for our offensive spacing

The only thing I have to whine about is Law but, all in all, I'm a very happy camper !

[Duff_Man]

I'm thrilled !

Getting 2 wins while missing 2 key starters and a bench guy was huge.

1. Smith is making much better decisions and is scoring the paint very well !

2. JJ seems to have pulled out of his funk.

3. Bibby is playing some of the best over all ball if his career !

4.Marvin and Horford should both be poised for return soon !

5. ZaZa is playing well on most nights.

6. Flip was an excellent signing off the bench

7. Mo has been solid off the both bench save a couple of scoring droughts that happens to guys who get 20 minutes a night.

8. Solo has impressed at times.

9. The offensive movement and execution has been much better the last few games.

10. We are still dominant at home

11. Improved road team.

12. Marvin's added 3 point range has done wonders for our offensive spacing

The only thing I have to whine about is Law but, all in all, I'm a very happy camper !

1. Smith is doing OK, but has seemed to regress to me. His effort has waned. He challanges nothing anymore.

2. JJ has been good, but I think we may be witnessing his ceiling. We wear him out a lot.

3. Bibby is playing out of his mind this year.

4. We need Horf badly for some inside presence.

5. Zaza is playing well. Still tries to "get his", but a lot of times, that is due to the rest of the team watching instead of moving.

6. Flip is a love/hate guy. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, but that's not what he goes in for. He is a spark plug. If he was starting, i'd be furious, but I like him off the bench.

7. Mo Evans is a fantastic "glue" guy. He fights for boards and steals. He plays very nice one-on-one defense. Makes plays that don't get into the box score (tipping rebounds, etc).

8. Solo is frustrating. His hands are terrible, but he makes a few plays here and there.

9. We rule at home.

10. We got really better on the road somehow. That has made a great difference.

11. Marvin has gotten better yet again. Adding that 3-point range was a great asset. Amazing how he added that over last summer while getting his college degree. I thought you couldn't do both?

12. Hawsquawk community gets a D- to this point. We used to have great participation in the chatroom AND the in-game threads. To this point, we're lucky to even SEE an in-game thread for games. When I first joined and the team was awful, this board was a haven of activity. Now that we're winning, participation has declined greatly. Are people that eager to crap on the team? We need to get the buzz going. We're halfway to 50 WINS. Read that again slowly. We came from 13 wins and have a winner. Let's act like it!

[buckeye242424]

1. Smith is doing OK, but has seemed to regress to me. His effort has waned. He challanges nothing anymore.

2. JJ has been good, but I think we may be witnessing his ceiling. We wear him out a lot.

3. Bibby is playing out of his mind this year.

4. We need Horf badly for some inside presence.

5. Zaza is playing well. Still tries to "get his", but a lot of times, that is due to the rest of the team watching instead of moving.

6. Flip is a love/hate guy. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, but that's not what he goes in for. He is a spark plug. If he was starting, i'd be furious, but I like him off the bench.

7. Mo Evans is a fantastic "glue" guy. He fights for boards and steals. He plays very nice one-on-one defense. Makes plays that don't get into the box score (tipping rebounds, etc).

8. Solo is frustrating. His hands are terrible, but he makes a few plays here and there.

9. We rule at home.

10. We got really better on the road somehow. That has made a great difference.

11. Marvin has gotten better yet again. Adding that 3-point range was a great asset. Amazing how he added that over last summer while getting his college degree. I thought you couldn't do both?

12. Hawsquawk community gets a D- to this point. We used to have great participation in the chatroom AND the in-game threads. To this point, we're lucky to even SEE an in-game thread for games. When I first joined and the team was awful, this board was a haven of activity. Now that we're winning, participation has declined greatly. Are people that eager to crap on the team? We need to get the buzz going. We're halfway to 50 WINS. Read that again slowly. We came from 13 wins and have a winner. Let's act like it!

Thoughts? Easy. 25-16. 4th in the East. Nuff said.

[mrhonline]

12. Hawsquawk community gets a D- to this point. We used to have great participation in the chatroom AND the in-game threads. To this point, we're lucky to even SEE an in-game thread for games. When I first joined and the team was awful, this board was a haven of activity. Now that we're winning, participation has declined greatly. Are people that eager to crap on the team? We need to get the buzz going. We're halfway to 50 WINS. Read that again slowly. We came from 13 wins and have a winner. Let's act like it!

I think you're absolutely correct. There were many people who simply wanted to come here and complain. The number of people who are specifically interested in discussing the Hawks must've been small, and many of those want to watch the game w/o being online.

[Packfill]

In general, I'm excited.

This recent downturn probably brought the team's expectations back down to something reasonable, but I think 45 wins is the minimum goal. I can't believe they actually have a shot at 50 wins.

I am cautiously optimistic. Definitely can't complain about the record as it is better then I expected. I definitely think there are areas of concern, from defensive intensity to offensive sets (or lack thereof), and I wish some of the young guys were taking their games to the next level.

Overall, job well done at the mid-point.

[tonegully]

We have 25 wins. I hate Woody, but i know nothing is going to happen. So, I just hope that Marvin and Horf comes back energized.

Cant complain with 25 wins at the half way mark. How many did we have last year at this time?

[crimedog]

I love where we are right now. We aren't a championship team but right now there are 4 obvious championship teams (and the Spurs) and among those 5 teams there is a Lebron, Garnett, Howard, Duncan, and Bryant and unless the Hawks get a guy like that, they will be severely disadvantaged.

As far as the rest of this season, as I mentioned in the other thread, Smith is still tentative going for blocks but since Horford has gone out, he's really become a force on offense - in fact, for the month of January the kid has been scoring 19ppg on 53% shooting... hopefully he's turned the corner and become the scoring-big man second option that we need him to be. After the ASG break, I want to see this type of offensive decision making (don't mind if he scores less, as long as he does so smartly) with the vintage Josh Smith shot-blocking.

Horford is another of the 4(ish) guys that will benefit from the ASG break. I think that with Smith establishing his offense this month, Horf should come back and play the rest of the season as U Haslem. Al hadn't really been able to get his post offense going but his mid-range J has been nasty. I'd like to see him keep hitting that and get back to destroying the offensive glass like he did last season... also, his shotblocking has been a plus this season.

Marv, for this season, Marv is what he is. Lets hope that when HE comes back, he'll continue shooting 3s as well has he has in this month and in November and not like he did in December.

Bibby, Zaza, Flip, and Mo are doing essentially what I expect from them and I don't expect their roles to change. BIG props to Bibby for proving the doubters wrong and having a Nash-esque late-career career-season.

Joe is the key. I fully expect him to shake out of this slump and come out from the ASG break with his guns blazing like last season. If he can do what he did last season, we'll be able to ride into the playoffs on a tear and protect our home-court.

All and all, I like where we stand. Right now I think the name of the game is staying afloat until the break and then finishing out the season as strong as we know we can.

[exodus]

The Hawks rebounding has to get better for them to have a strong record at the end of the year. Currently they rank 24th in rebound ratio and 27 in defensive rebound ratio. That just won't get it done.

[hawkman]

The Hawks rebounding has to get better for them to have a strong record at the end of the year. Currently they rank 24th in rebound ratio and 27 in defensive rebound ratio. That just won't get it done.

Ex, I see where you're coming from but we've managed to have a 25-16 record through 41 games despite injuries and a difficult schedule. We've "gotten it done" thus far, so I really don't see us getting any worse the rest of the season. I'd like to see our D and rebounding improve though. Hopefully we'll get those things back on track once Marv and Horf are back.

[exodus]

Ex, I see where you're coming from but we've managed to have a 25-16 record through 41 games despite injuries and a difficult schedule. We've "gotten it done" thus far, so I really don't see us getting any worse the rest of the season. I'd like to see our D and rebounding improve though. Hopefully we'll get those things back on track once Marv and Horf are back.

I am not buying the difficult schedule. We have consistently faced teams missing key guys. You can't just look at our injuries without looking at the injuries of the teams we have faced.

Over the last 10 games the Hawks are 4-6.

The main thing is to make it to the All-Star break without any major problems. If they can do that i think they can finish the season strong. Towards the end of the season a lot of teams have given up on the season so there should be some easy wins.

[Diesel]

In general, I'm excited.

This recent downturn probably brought the team's expectations back down to something reasonable, but I think 45 wins is the minimum goal. I can't believe they actually have a shot at 50 wins.

I like our three headed attack. The play of Bibby has been the right player at the right time. I would like to see us just pick up an impact player who could step up. I guess for right now, that's Flip... however, I don't trust Flip down the stretch. I would much rather see us get a hold of a player who could make himself a presence in the post. I think the fact that we're winning without Marvin or Horf speaks volumes to our bench play. Zaza and Flip has stretched out this season. We're a big away. IF we could have gotten Harrington for cheap or if we could get somebody like Foster, I think it will make some difference. I also think that we need to develop Solo and Acie. These guys have ability.

[macdaddy]

I'm not a fan of Woody as a coach but at the same time I'm amazed how we are winning with our roster. And I'm a homer. I usually think our players are better than they really are but when we line up against PHX or even Chicago I think how much more talent they seem to have. So I think that Woody gets credit for our record because he has gotten these guys to play great team defense. His offense is pitiful but we are winning.

Bibby is great, JJ needs to drive more, Smoove needs to get the ball in the post more or at least closer in, Horford and Marvin have played their roles.

I agree that Evans has been a big disappointment. His shooting has been way off and I don't see him as the lock down defender he was advertised to be. Chill got criticized on this board for having an ugly low shot but Evans isn't that much better.

I think Woody actually has done a decent job with Flip. You can tell he doesn't shoot as much as he'd like to.

We do need someone to help. Foster would be perfect in my opinion.

[LOL_Hawks]

Thoughts? Easy. 25-16. 4th in the East. Nuff said.

My thoughts exactly. Other than the minutia such as Flip having the ball AT THE END OF EVERY FREAKIN QUARTER, & Josh Smith trying to do more than he should (he's declined that as of late), and the fact that they tend to make things MUCH harder than they should be...25-16 at the halfway point is 25-16. I've maintained since the 6-0 start that we as Hawks fans really don't have anything to complain about after all the 50+ loss seasons that we've endured. We should just enjoy the ride to a possibly 50+ win season.

[AHF]

I am very happy with this season so far, overall. In terms of our record, I feel like the team is living up to its potential for the first time in a while.

[kamillion]

Im glad to see where this team is at right now- but im more excited about the fact that the hawks have left a few W's on the table. By that- I mean the games on the texas road trip where the hawks beat themselves in a lot of ways- games where the 20 point comeback just didnt QUITE make it over the hump- where Carter's buzzer beater put a stain on what started off as a great game. Its better to think you should have a better record than you currently do than to think you've been lucky & over-achieved to get where you are.

once everyone is healthy- my main points of emphasis (other than trade talk) would be:

1. WIN THE FIRST QUARTER ( i know - i know---a tough request this year)

2. when Joe has the ball- let's try that movement without the ball thing other teams do- sometimes that works!!

3. close out "bad teams" early. don't let the basement dwellers hang in there all night and depend on the last 2 minutes of the game to close out. if you leave them in the game, they'll have enough energy & confidence to send you home frowning. PLUS- if you close them out early, you can rest starters and get valuable experience for guys like Solo.

Edited January 22, 2009 by kamillion