The next step is road wins

[Buzzard]

I think most of us expect to win 50 games this year. And that is logical considering we won 47 last year and have improved every year. The next big step is winning on the road. Of the 16 teams that made the playoffs last year we had the 4th least amount of road wins. Only New Orleans had a winning record on the road of any team that did not finish in the top four in their conference. And ourselves and a very young Portand team are the only ones who finished in the top four of our conference and had a losing road record.

Woody talks about the next step in generic terms; in my mind the next step is winning on the road at a .500 percentage or better. Vet contenders do this; young inexperienced teams like us and Portand (Portland only missed by one game) do not. This is something I will watch closely this season to really get a gauge on whether our nucleus has improved again...

Winning on the road against the teams we should be beat; and stealing one against a good opponent every now and then is a critical sign as whether our team is really maturing this season. Any good team can kill their opponent at home; doing this in a hostile enviroment on the road is what contenders do.

Edited September 28, 2009 by Buzzard

[DrReality]

Sund addressed this very thing and he seemed to have the pulse of what it takes. I think the team has it . . . . .. not sure if Woody does?

[jy23]

Sund addressed this very thing and he seemed to have the pulse of what it takes. I think the team has it . . . . .. not sure if Woody does?

He better, if doesnt he wont have a job next year

[DrReality]

You have to think that the addition of the vets will be worth a few extra wins. And if Woody does use his bench we should have more life in our legs at the end of the season.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Hawks road wins during Woody's 5 year tenure:

4

8

12

12

16

The top teams can win 25+ games on the road. But like Buzzard said, it'll be nice to see the Hawks take that next step, and win at least 50% of their road games this year. If they do that, they'll have a shot at 50 - 55 wins.

Personally, I want to see Crawford be the one that really steps up on the road. We know the kids will play well at home. But we need the vets to really step up their games in those hostile road arenas.