The Atlanta Hawks

[Wurider05]

If we resign Marvin, get a big our lineup will be

Bibby/Teague/Crawford

JJ/Crawford/Evans

Marvin/Evans/JJ

Smoove/Marv/Horf

Horf/ZAZA/

Solo, RM, FA-Big, West

I may get laughed at but with this team you realize that we have a better chance of winning the finals than we do getting out of the east. We match up well with the west teams but Orlando, Cleveland, and Boston are just beasts in our own conference. As a basketball fan I truly believe that a healthy Hawks team would have had a better showing in the Finals than Orlando or Cleveland (remember what the Lakers did to them). And hell we took Boston to 7 games last year and they destroyed the Lakers in the Finals. Sad but so true!!

[MaceCase]

I see where you're going with this and it's a little insulting but hey it is what it is. We do match up better in theory with finesse teams rather than the bangers that are more common in the east.

[buckeye242424]

If we resign Marvin, get a big our lineup will be

Bibby/Teague/Crawford

JJ/Crawford/Evans

Marvin/Evans/JJ

Smoove/Marv/Horf

Horf/ZAZA/

Solo, RM, FA-Big, West

I may get laughed at but with this team you realize that we have a better chance of winning the finals than we do getting out of the east. We match up well with the west teams but Orlando, Cleveland, and Boston are just beasts in our own conference. As a basketball fan I truly believe that a healthy Hawks team would have had a better showing in the Finals than Orlando or Cleveland (remember what the Lakers did to them). And hell we took Boston to 7 games last year and they destroyed the Lakers in the Finals. Sad but so true!!

You may be correct. However, the flaw in your opinion is that we won't get to prove your point because you have to win in the East to get to the Finals. Even if the West were just the Clippers, Kings, and the Warriors, we still wouldn't know if your theory rings true. Gotta beat the "beasts" of the East first...that's all that matters.

[EazyRoc]

I seriously don't think Boston or Cleveland are going to be as good as advertised. I do think the team that's going to dominate is Orlando.

[buckeye242424]

I seriously don't think Boston or Cleveland are going to be as good as advertised. I do think the team that's going to dominate is Orlando.

Depends on the definition of dominate, right? Cleveland was clearly the best team during the regular season last year, IMO. But we saw what happened in the playoffs. Orlando was a sleeper to win the East, even win 57 wins.

[Peoriabird]

I seriously don't think Boston or Cleveland are going to be as good as advertised. I do think the team that's going to dominate is Orlando.

What's so dominant about Orlando's team?

[lunar]

i don't see orlando dominating anyone next year. they won last year because they spammed the three ball and forced teams to single cover dwight. however, vince is not the volume shooter turkgolu was and teams will now be prepared for what the magic are trying to bring. also, the magic are very thin on the backcourt bench. we all know what anthony johnson and JJ redick are gonna do to a team (not much). injuries could knock them down in a hurry.

[T21]

My point is, if we play to our strenghts, athleticism, speed, up-tempo... there are not many teams in the league who can keep up with us!

However, in order to constantly play such a game and break-down opposition, we need to have deeper rotation... and hopefuly we'll have one this year... and eventualy, Woody has to put some confidence and give more responsibilities and minutes to our second unit guys. That's the only way to work things out!

[Diesel]

I see where you're going with this and it's a little insulting but hey it is what it is. We do match up better in theory with finesse teams rather than the bangers that are more common in the east.

We just have to find our niche. I think we should be a run and shoot team. Woody is on the hot seat this year. With Teague, Bibby, and Craw, we should be running and shooting to cancel out the effect of those half court beasts.

[thefloydian]

We just have to find our niche. I think we should be a run and shoot team. Woody is on the hot seat this year. With Teague, Bibby, and Craw, we should be running and shooting to cancel out the effect of those half court beasts.

Do you honestly have any hope that we will run with Woodson as the coach? I mean, we've all been saying this for years, and our offense has remained "Iso-Joe" throughout.

[lunar]

to me run and shoot teams never make it far in the postseason. even orlando was for the most part defense first with howard. whenever i hear run and shoot i think of golden state and phoenix. they never got as far as the defensive teams in the league. i do agree that we have to find our niche, but i think that it is going to be with a more efficient approach and with using our superior athleticism to force other teams into mistakes. causing turnovers and then running was when the hawks looked best. hopefully this is where teague and crawford can make their prescene felt (best case scenerio)

[thefloydian]

to me run and shoot teams never make it far in the postseason. even orlando was for the most part defense first with howard. whenever i hear run and shoot i think of golden state and phoenix. they never got as far as the defensive teams in the league. i do agree that we have to find our niche, but i think that it is going to be with a more efficient approach and with using our superior athleticism to force other teams into mistakes. causing turnovers and then running was when the hawks looked best. hopefully this is where teague and crawford can make their prescene felt (best case scenerio)

I agree that if running is your identity, you won't ever win big. Then again, I think you can still play defense while running on offense. Neither Phoenix nor Golden State did that. I believe we can easily be better defensively than either of those teams, and even if we aren't, a running offense would still be preferable to whatever you want to call our current offensive strategy.

[kamillion]

hopefully the new guards allow the hawks to do more of the run-and-gun than bibby does... the minutes that crawford and teague get may very well be what ends up being the most critical stretches of the games... we saw SMALL flashes of it when acie law came in and just started pushing it down floor.

like everybody else is saying- play to the strength.

I have heard interviews / read 'tweets' from players in this young off-season- but I haven't heard much about Horford- or even what the plan is for him this off-season / what the focus is for him to work on.

[T21]

I agree that if running is your identity, you won't ever win big. Then again, I think you can still play defense while running on offense. Neither Phoenix nor Golden State did that. I believe we can easily be better defensively than either of those teams, and even if we aren't, a running offense would still be preferable to whatever you want to call our current offensive strategy.

I understand your point, and it's hard to argue that... However, playin' high-intesity basketball (strong D) for 48 minutes with deeper rotation (the only way to do it) would create easy baskets (maximize our obvious potentials) and definitely headaches to opponents... Teams that you mentioned had terrible D's (both in half-court sets and transition), I'm sure that Hawks don't have that problem... we just need an extra big body to bang and lay extra 4-5 hard fouls... that should take care of Celts, Magic and Cavs.

[frosgrim]

to me run and shoot teams never make it far in the postseason. even orlando was for the most part defense first with howard. whenever i hear run and shoot i think of golden state and phoenix. they never got as far as the defensive teams in the league. i do agree that we have to find our niche, but i think that it is going to be with a more efficient approach and with using our superior athleticism to force other teams into mistakes. causing turnovers and then running was when the hawks looked best. hopefully this is where teague and crawford can make their prescene felt (best case scenerio)

Not a pure run and gun, but an early offense team is what we need to do. Get into a flow earlier in the shot clock (shoot before 10 seconds left on the clock) and keep the bigger teams from getting their defenses sets. Boston in the 80s did this all the time. To some extent, the Bulls of the 90s would get into that tempo as well.

I do agree with the sentiment of the original post, the Hawks are a West Coast team in their construction right now. All we need is a WC type of HC to put it all together. Man, Adelman would have this team clicking...

[EazyRoc]

What's so dominant about Orlando's team?

Uh..First and foremost, Dwight Howard. Let's not forget he's gotten better every year. You add a player like Vince Carter who is still a better player than Turkey (can't spell his name), who's the all around better player. You resign your good backup big, and you add more depth with a solid offensive PF in bass. If they bring Matt Barnes into the fold, they will be a better team than last year. They now have a bonafide goto scorer with Vince Carter, who is a good enough shooter to where Turkey won't be missed. They've added more depth in their frontline, and their backcourt is still solid. Their personnel fits the way they are trying to play perfectly. I can't say the same about Cleveland. Boston wont be as good because they're old, and at least one of their big 3 is going to fall to injury. Not to mention natural regression due to age. I think the Hawks have a very good chance at finishing in the top 3 in the East, barring major injuries. However, I think the defending Eastern Conference champions (you know..the team that sent the regular season darlings home) are going to be the team to beat going into the season. So, Peoriabird, the real question is..what's not dominant about Orlando's team ?

[Wurider05]

I think that we can be an uptempo team that plays defense. Phoenix and Golden State don't have any good defensive players on their teams but we have a few. We will have to mix it up.

[AHF]

I agree that if running is your identity, you won't ever win big. Then again, I think you can still play defense while running on offense. Neither Phoenix nor Golden State did that. I believe we can easily be better defensively than either of those teams, and even if we aren't, a running offense would still be preferable to whatever you want to call our current offensive strategy.

Just look at the greatest team of All-Time, the old Boston Celtics. They ran at every opportunity but also played hard D. They won more championships than anyone and there is no reason, IMO, that a team can't both play great defense and exploit the opposition with an uptempo offense. The problem is that many of the teams that go uptempo are doing it because they have defensive and interior liabilities they are trying to mask. Teams with those kinds of deficiencies aren't going to win championships regardless of whether go uptempo or play slow it down, walk it up half-court offense.

[Peoriabird]

So, Peoriabird, the real question is..what's not dominant about Orlando's team ?

well for starters

1) They don't shoot that well

2) They don't pass that well

3) No one but Howard rebounds that well

4) Only one Shot blocker on the team

5) Howard's post offense improves marginally annually

6) Bad free throw shooting team

7) Mediocre to bad defense team

But the main thing this coming season that has me questioning them as a dominant team is the potential for bad Chemistry especially between Howard and Vince Carter. Howard would probably be better off with catch and shoot type wings rather than creating wings ( i.e. ball hogs ) like Vince Carter. They already had bad shooting Pietrus in the line up and now when you add Vince Carter the perimeter shooting will be even worse. Also Carter has no interest in playing defense at this stage in his career. I'm still trying to figure out what's so great about Gortat and Matt Barnes

[EazyRoc]

Wow. I stopped listening to you after your first point. Orlando doesn't shoot that well ? Whatever man. You got it.