The glass half full - my season review

[thecampster]

So it's December 2011 and you tell me that Horford will miss 55 games due to injury, Kirk will be out for 18, Joe for 6, Marvin for 8, McGrady will complain for shots, Zaza and Twin will both go down during the year leaving you to rely on a no name who goes by Ivan Johnson to carry the load at center at 6'8" and only Josh and Teague will play in every game. The team will experience a death in the family, a birth and an apendectomy. I'd say, well we could use a lottery pick anyway.Then tell me we've got home court in the first round and a .600 winning percentage and I'll take that.Then tell me the games we could have won:Jan 3 @ Chi - lose by 2, free throws sink the teamJan 5 Mia - lose by 7 thanks to officiating and free throwsJan 11 @Ind - Horford injury sinks our chances, lose by 12.Feb 29 GSW - lose by 3. 10 missed free throws and 34% shooting sink the teamMar 7 @ Mia - lose by 3. Officiating kills the team as Miami only commits 12 fouls in the game.Mar 9 @ Det - lose by 1. Rebounding and missed free throwsMar 19 Bos - Lose by 3. Smith and Teague are a combine 9 of 34 in the game.Mar 31 Phi - Lose by 5. Bad Team D brought on by dead legs.Apr 11 @ Bos - Lose by 2. F'ing Boston.Apr 22 NYK - Lose by 1. Defense and no inside presense left.10 games total. All winnable games 1 was vs Chicago, 2 vs Miami.These were all 10 winnable games. We are 10 games back of Chicago, 7 of Miami. Winning the Chicago Game and the Miami games plus any 6 of the other 7 and we would have been top seed.No Horford, a slew of injuries, team chemistry issues. I'll take that this year. I think we are better than the record shows and and the ECF are a possibility if the team comes together and Horford/Zaza are back for round 2.

[coachx]

Its hard to argue that the Hawks did not exceed expectations considering the injury to a 26 year old center, who was a 2 time allstar, and to lose Jamal Crawford. The Hawks still managed to improve their win percentage and exceed my expectations.

[ersimo2889]

1 more significant one that comes to mind:@Denver - In control late into the 4th.. Denver storms back to force OT - missed Zaza layup at the buzzer, lose by 1.Aside from a few games, the team has shown some definite fight and heart - like winning the second and third of a back-to-back-to-back after the first was a triple OT loss to the Heat. Or winning in QUADRUPLE overtime to cap off a perfect back-to-back-to-back. Proud of our guys that we're in this position!

[BrazilianHawk]

One could argue losing Crawford was good for the team, for when he had offensive shortcomings, his brutal no-D just killed the team. Also, we got way better after the discovery of Teague.But yeah, I'm quite happy with the team and how they managed all the problems they had.

[AHF]

Its hard to argue that the Hawks did not exceed expectations considering the injury to a 26 year old center, who was a 2 time allstar, and to lose Jamal Crawford. The Hawks still managed to improve their win percentage and exceed my expectations.

Agree 100%. Last season's team underachieved in the regular season then produced in the playoffs. This team stepped up and played to their potential in the regular season...playoffs TBD. Losing Al and having this success was a real accomplishment.I won't play the game of "we lost some close ones and think how much better we could be if...." because every team in the league loses close games and wins close games. Heck, the Charlotte Bobcats lost 12 games by 6 points or less. It doesn't mean much of anything.

[tonegully]

As long as this team comes to play and play with a sense of urgency we should be good against Boston and hopefully get past the 2nd round

[hawkman]

The schedule this year was nothing short of BRUTAL. I know they say every team had back to back to back games, but we played some pretty tough teams at the end of those back to backs. Add in all the injuries during the season and anyone would say this team did pretty darn well. This is easily an ECF quality team with everyone healthy.

[Diesel]

We are really an anomaly. We're not supposed to be this good... but guess what. We're this good. 60%. Equivalent to almost a 50 win season. 50 wins with no Horf and some times with no Zaza... we're scary.The East should be fearful of us getting healthy and playing to our potential.I smell the ECF but first we have to beat Boston.

[ag82]

One could argue losing Crawford was good for the team, for when he had offensive shortcomings, his brutal no-D just killed the team. Also, we got way better after the discovery of Teague.But yeah, I'm quite happy with the team and how they managed all the problems they had.

I completely agree. Our 2nd team has nice ball movement too now.

[thecampster]

40-26 That works out to a 50 and 32 season if you play 82 games. 6 wins better than last year without Horford/Crawford.Now the trick is to get by Boston in the first round, and healthy, so we face the Bulls with Horford and Zaza back.

[arhawkfan]

Nothing with this team surprises me. If we can make it past Boston we could do some damage. JJ and josh look locked it. Jeff has had some good games lately too.

[Randy]

Like I always say - expect the unexpected with this team. These guys did exceed my expectations. I think a big part was the bench - when Green, Pargo, Radman and McGrady came in, I was underwhelmed. I never heard of Ivan Johnson. Those guys made a big difference.The "should have won" list is pretty long, but we probably are prone to forget the "should have lost" games pulled out by a miricle shot or two, or downright stupid play by the other team.BTW - highlight for the season was the 40T Jazz game, I would say.

[CWebb]

Let's hope for the best. I really hope we can beat Boston