What would satisfy you tonight?

[RLHawk]

Enough toalk about what the Hawks could look like next year or in 3 years. We know what the Hawks look like today. For better or worse....

What are you looking for in the game tonight?

Terry's new court leadership...

How well Jackson feeds off SAR...

How much our team defense improves...

Dion as a starter...

How Diaw can change the game of our bench...

just the team on the court....

What will make you happy? Optomistic?

Competitive play...

Decent Defense...

A (road) win...

A comeback win...

Complete domination (by the hawks)...

I want to here what you actually want to see now that the team building drama is complete.

[chillzatl]

[Playmaker0017]

RL,

I am looking to see how Reef plays off of the back surgery. I want to see if he is limited.

From the stat lines in preseason, it looked like he deferred --- A LOT. That may be the plan for preseason, since we know he can score. But, I need to see that he is not deferring.

I also do not want to see Stephen Jackson hoisting up 17 shots. That is a sure-fire way to a losing season.

I am interested to see how Diaw does, but not so much in the first game.

I want to see if Glover and Jackson can exist on the same floor. The two of them both play out of control about 30-50% of the time. That is spooky.

Play.

[Lascar78]

I agree. This is what I'm looking for:

-Can we play good team ball and get good motion?

-Can Glover and SJax play under control all the time?

-How much can Boris and Nailon contribute from the bench?

I don't expect much from Boris early in the season but I think he might be averaging 20 mins by the end of the season

[Traceman]

If we can take care of the ball, I think we have a chance to surprise some people but if that same issue continues to follow us from last year, we are in for a LONG season.

[Playmaker0017]

Trace,

Last year we had STUPID TOs. Big Load dribbling it off his leg type of TOs. It wasn't always poor passing. Heck, most of the time it wasn't due to poor passing.

Rather it was poor decision making. I think Big Dog might have contributed to it, as Theo pointed out. Theo said that guys would force things up because it was the only way they would get the ball, or something to that effect.

So, hopefully with the shot-machine gone, we will play team oriented basketball and be effective passing it.

I think the preseason TOs had a lot to do with chemistry and getting used to each other. Reef NEVER gets 7 tos. That has to be due to timing ---- I hope.

Play.

[Playmaker0017]

Lascar,

I think Nailon might turn out to be a better pick up then Stephen Jackson. I was never a fan of that pick up. I think he is extremely over-rated and the only thing he has to his name is a t-shirt that says:

"I played along Tim Duncan and watched him win San Antonio a championship and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"

Play.

[RLHawk]

I want to see how we move the ball on offense. The hawks too often in the past have found themselves standing around. Once the ball gets in the hands of the "shooter" (last year mainly Dog, but it was also Reef in past years) all other players stood still. I like seeing teams that have a lot of player movement, and more importantly ball movement to the open men.

I know that I am not the only one that thinks this. We have discussed many times in the past.

[RLHawk]

I tend to agree with you about Jackson. I think he is a better all round player than Nailon, but not a great player by any means. Both are role players...

What we really need is to make sure everyone has defined roles, the players know them and follow them. Then we need good rotation of players. I use to hate watching Kruger rotate players. It was like he did not know what roles players were suppose to be playing...or did not watch the game he was rotating players into.

I think Nailon will be the spark that comes in and just drains baskets. (He may be a great 6th man for us)

[Playmaker0017]

RL,

I was just making that point about movement in another thread.

Interesting that you brought it up.

I think the worst culprit of standing around when the ball is not in his hands is my favorite player -- SHAREEF. Stotts needs to teach him motion without the ball. That could move Reef into an elite class of player and give him 6 uncontested points a game.

Then the rest of the team loves to stand around and watch Reef get triple teamed. I mean, how difficult is it to fill where the defender just vacated? Can you say open jumper?

We definately need to have a true offensive gameplan in place. We need to have cutters and slashers --- and we have the basic athletes in Jackson and Glover.

Those two can cut and slash... but they don't know how. They only know how to run around WITH the ball, often times turning it over or tossing up garbage.

Every player needs to open their eyes and see the floor. PERIOD.

Play.

[Playmaker0017]

RLHawk,

And our bench was one of our worst problems last year. If Nailon and Nazr can look decent off the bench, then I'd be excited.

The pieces are set to have a decent run.

I think it comes to desire and game plan at this point. If we come out with no strategy, then we will fold and fold quickly.

I think we need confidence and that comes with some early wins. I know we have some tough games... but it is still possible. It's early and EVERYONE in the league is adjusting. If the Hawks come out and snag some from the enemy, then we might start a rolling wave and become a fly in the ointment.

Play.

[RLHawk]

I agree...We do have the basic physical elements of slashing and cutting. Dion could become a 18PPG player if he would learn to move without the ball. (assuming you believe he will still be a 11-12PPG player as he is. He could get another 6-7PPG by cutting to the basket when Jackson or JT have the ball outside. Both of those guys could drop him some passes while he cuts for easy points. He (like everyone else) can feed off SAR's attention. Basic math says if a player is triple teamed, there are 2 players open. The problem is that SAR has no idea where they are. He has no room to move around to find them either. Dion needs to continually move, so that SAR can know where he will be. Then it is easy to find him.

[Playmaker0017]

RLHawk,

Exactly.

Currently, Reef looks for them and they stand somewhere around the three point arc. Often times on the opposite side of the court.

Awful. Just awful.

Play.

[cyman3]

i agree w/ chillz...

it all comes down to the W... if we can get the W, everything else doesnt matter (or matters little)...

first game of the season.. all i want is a W.

[Playmaker0017]

But if we don't play as a team and work on the things I mentioned... then it may be one of the 20 Ws we get.

Gordon.

[pathway23]

23 Ws but the way the media sounds lately they will be surprised if we win 15:)

[emeans]

I am not going to get my blood pressure up because we don't win this year.

I am really looking for improvement on turnovers and ball movement. On the defensive side I am looking for more pressure on the backcourt.

But overall I am looking for the Hawks to at least be competitive for 4 quarters. Be in the game with the possibility of winning at the end.

[Diesel]

An offense that Goes through Shareef.

Shareef passing from the Post.

JT being a floor General.

JT, Reef, and Glover playing decent defense.

I suspect that N.O. is not good. They have the names but they lack good coaching. I think we should win but I want to see us develop these aspects mentioned above.

[Lascar78]

another thing (this season) I really need to see is the hawks competing every game. Last year it seemed that every couple games no one showed up to play and they just handed it to the other team. We need a feisty, competitive attitude. Come on Mr Mean, kick it into em...

[Hawksman]

If we play hard and be agressive on both sides of the court, then I'll be happy. I just want us to scare their asses off.