Guys...Lets Face Facts

[JackB1]

OK, here we are in March and there are some things that we as Hawks fans must face up to:

-The Larry Drew hire was a big mistake. The players are too "comfortable" with him and see no reason to play hard every night. His gametime coaching was an improvement over Woodson, but if the players won't bring defensive energy and effort, X's and O's wont help you.

-Josh Smith will never change and will never realize his true potential, because he fancies himself a jump shooter and a playmaker

-The Hawks are more unpredicatble than the weather in Atlanta in March. There is no way we will sustain high energy and effort over a few 7 game series'.

- We are not good enough to beat most +.500 teams

-We are no better than last year

-We are a bad defensive team. We got better with Hinrich, but we need a quality Center.

-We are primarily a jump shooting team. When shots aren't falling...we will lose

-We have a bunch of talented guys with large contracts that don't have any incentive to play hard every night

-Joe Johnson has lost his range. He should play more on the inside and take less long jumpers and 3's.

-Teague shows promise but still isn't ready

-Zaza has peaked.

-Marvin has peaked

If anyone wishes to dispute any of these, I would love to hear it. We are a decent team, but in our current state cannot

compete with +.500 teams. We don't need to "blow it up" but we do need these things:

1) A seasoned and well respected coach that will get these guys to perform every night and play to their strengths

2) A quality center that will stop the merry go round to the hoop and the lack of toughness under the basket

3) A leader on the court that will hold everyone accountable

4) less jump shooters and more guys who bang in the paint

5) much, much better defense

Edited March 7, 2011 by JackB1

[Seano]

OK, here we are in March and there are some things that we as Hawks fans must face up to:

-The Larry Drew hire was a big mistake. The players are too "comfortable" with him and see no reason to play hard every night. His gametime coaching was an improvement over Woodson, but if the players won't bring defensive energy and effort, X's and O's wont help you.

Possibly, but it's too early to make a call on Drew either way. Remember, Doc Rivers was almost run out of Boston on a rail after leading the Celtics to consecutive 33 and 24 win seasons back in 2005-2007. People were picking apart his coaching strategies and saying he was much too much of a players coach, and then he followed up that 24 win season by going 66-16 the very next year and shut up those critics immediately.

-Josh Smith will never change and will never realize his true potential, because he fancies himself a jump shooter and a playmaker

Very possible. He's a really stubborn guy.

-The Hawks are more unpredicatble than the weather in Atlanta in March. There is no way we will sustain high energy and effort over a few 7 game series'.

Yup. Highly inconsistent team, and you're right, that does not really bode well for future playoff success.

- We are not good enough to beat most +.500 teams

Oh, I don't know. I think we're 'good' enough personally to play with just about anyone, but far too often we just fail to do that. I have no idea why, but it's very frustrating.

-We are no better than last year

As of right now, no. But if we can advance past the second round of the playoffs this time, then yeah, we're better.

-We are a bad defensive team. We got better with Hinrich, but we need a quality Center.

Yep. Preaching to the choir here, brother.

-We are primarily a jump shooting team. When shots aren't falling...we will lose

Yes we are. We have very little post presence on offense, unless Josh is choosing to play in the paint as he should be.

-We have a bunch of talented guys with large contracts that don't have any incentive to play hard every night

It's hard to judge effort. I'd like to think that everyone gives it 100% every night, but I also realize this is a very long and grinding 82 game season, and players on every NBA team will 'take a night off' every now and then.

-Joe Johnson has lost his range. He should play more on the inside and take less long jumpers and 3's.

Agree. He's got that sweet little cut to the basket and that nifty teardrop floater that's about impossible to defend without fouling and is really an effective shot for him. We're still going to need to rely on him from long range, but I'd love to see him take it towards the hoop more often.

-Teague shows promise but still isn't ready

He does show promise, so I say give him regular minutes and let him play through his mistakes. We can afford to do that, and besides, Hinrich needs to have his minutes managed. Much rather let Teague spell Hinrich than Crawford, as Jamal Crawford at PG is about an oxymoron.

-Zaza has peaked.

I have no idea. He's 27 years old, so age should not be an issue. Sometimes he can be effective, and very impressive on the offensive glass. Other times, he just doesn't have it and looks sluggish and slow. He's wildly inconsistent just like all the rest of the team. I don't know that's he's peaked, but he has surely gone stagnant.

-Marvin has peaked

Read above. Sometimes Marvin can really impress with his defense especially, and other times it's like he's not even there. He and Zaza may have peaked (or not) as Hawks, and might be better off elsewhere. Who knows?

If anyone wishes to dispute any of these, I would love to hear it. We are a decent team, but in our current state cannot

compete with +.500 teams. We don't need to "blow it up" but we do need these things:

1) A seasoned and well respected coach that will get these guys to perform every night and play to their strengths

2) A quality center that will stop the merry go round to the hoop and the lack of toughness under the basket

3) A leader on the court that will hold everyone accountable

4) less jump shooters and more guys who bang in the paint

5) much, much better defense

[High5]

The Hawks aren't a bad defensive team. With Hinrich (and Josh) we're one of the better defensive teams in the league. It's the offense that has failed us the most.

[AHawks89]

I didn't bother to read. I figured you criticized everyone but Horford.

[AHawks89]

The Hawks aren't a bad defensive team. With Hinrich (and Josh) we're one of the better defensive teams in the league. It's the offense that has failed us the most.

Yeah, I don't know he came across us being a bad defensive team. We're one of the better ones in the league.

[thecampster]

OK, here we are in March and there are some things that we as Hawks fans must face up to:

-The Larry Drew hire was a big mistake. The players are too "comfortable" with him and see no reason to play hard every night. His gametime coaching was an improvement over Woodson, but if the players won't bring defensive energy and effort, X's and O's wont help you.

Unfair really. The Hawks were mostly injury free last year and have lost over 40 player games to injury already this year. Yet they are just behind last year's pace.

-Josh Smith will never change and will never realize his true potential, because he fancies himself a jump shooter and a playmaker

Again not totally fair. He is a much improved jump shooter and a proven passer. Try to remember the guy didn't have 4-5 years of college grooming. He's still grooming his game. What you see with Josh is not the finished product. Same goes for Al, Marvin, Teague.

-The Hawks are more unpredicatble than the weather in Atlanta in March. There is no way we will sustain high energy and effort over a few 7 game series'.

This I definately agree with.

- We are not good enough to beat most +.500 teams

We haven't been healthy/focused enough....but we can and will.

-We are no better than last year

We're better but not luckier. We will be a tougher out this year but will still most probably be done in the second round.

-We are a bad defensive team. We got better with Hinrich, but we need a quality Center.

We are a good defensive team but we have holes, that hole is Center.

-We are primarily a jump shooting team. When shots aren't falling...we will lose

and it sucks. we should be playing much more inside out, pick and roll. Every fan sees it, I have no idea why both of our coaches haven't forced it.

-We have a bunch of talented guys with large contracts that don't have any incentive to play hard every night

I tried to argue with this and couldn't

-Joe Johnson has lost his range. He should play more on the inside and take less long jumpers and 3's.

Joe Johnson is a fine player that should be on a different team...He should be moved for whatever good big and average guard we could get.

-Teague shows promise but still isn't ready

-Zaza has peaked.

-Marvin has peaked

Marvin is poorly utilizied and under utilized

If anyone wishes to dispute any of these, I would love to hear it. We are a decent team, but in our current state cannot

compete with +.500 teams. We don't need to "blow it up" but we do need these things:

1) A seasoned and well respected coach that will get these guys to perform every night and play to their strengths

Profusely disagree. We need to give LD our support.

2) A quality center that will stop the merry go round to the hoop and the lack of toughness under the basket

Biggest need on the team IMHO.

3) A leader on the court that will hold everyone accountable

That should be Hinrich, he just needs to be empowered to do so.

4) less jump shooters and more guys who bang in the paint

Redundant...see point #2

5) much, much better defense

Redundant...see point #2