Whats your true feelings about this years playoffs for our Hawks?

[Wretch]

So much has changed for me in the last couple of years.  My perspective on everything is very different these days.  Watching our team in the ECF's was disheartening...  It felt very much like the NBA didn't want us there and as a fan I felt like sending out a great team wasn't enough.  I'm having a hard time putting it into words, but "surreal" and "scripted" summarize my thoughts on it all.  In light of that, it's hard for me to really get excited about going back or even speculate on our chances.

If I had to give an honest opinion, I'm not confident we could take 4 out of 7 from anybody in the East.  Not that we're that bad mind you, but that there's not that much separation in competitive quality.  To me, there's not really a clear cut #2 behind Cleveland...and I don't think anybody in the East is going to give them trouble.

That last game stunk and some might feel disappointed by this team...but I think we need to put our season in perspective here...  The Bulls did not make the playoffs.  I think everybody should let that sink in.  For all of our talk about underachieving/disappointment...I think they set the bar.

[benhillboy]

3 hours ago, capstone21 said:

Celtics will be tough matchup ... they are fast and athletic ... should be interesting

Looks like I'm the only person here who doesn't historically hate the Celtics.  I actually like their brand of play a little better than the Hawks.

They turnover less, offensive rebound well, and get to the line more.  Stevens doesn't allow wild three point shooting either: they have a player who can post up at every position.  

He also doesn't have an increasingly dumbfounding affinity for RJ Hunter, which would amount to the one Bud has with Kyle.  Hell, David Lee doesn't even get guaranteed minutes and he's far more efficient than Kyle.  Steph scores  in a minute what Kyle has the last two games.

The Hawks and Clippers are on tough-6-games to upset alert.

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

5 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 This loss pisses me off but I'm not surprised. This team has had their head up their collective asses all season long when we play teams missing starters. 

On a night when the game really mattered they wet the bed. This mentality won't get them far in the playoffs.  Like I said before, we may not have that superstar but we also don't have that leader on the  floor to rally the troops.

Do I think we should beat Boston, hell yea...will we, who knows wirh this Jekyll and Hyde team.

When Indy beats Toronto, we'll be kicking ourselves even more for pissing away this game.

Good call in the Indy - Toronto series.  I wouldn't be shocked at all if that happened.

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Looks like I'm the only person here who doesn't historically hate the Celtics.  I actually like their brand of play a little better than the Hawks.

They turnover less, offensive rebound well, and get to the line more.  Stevens doesn't allow wild three point shooting either: they have a player who can post up at every position.  

He also doesn't have an increasingly dumbfounding affinity for RJ Hunter, which would amount to the one Bud has with Kyle.  Hell, David Lee doesn't even get guaranteed minutes and he's far more efficient than Kyle.  Steph scores  in a minute what Kyle has the last two games.

The Hawks and Clippers are on tough-6-games to upset alert.

 

You're my dude, but there's so much wrong with this post.   Are you .... *gasp* a Selltics fan?

Say it ain't so, benhill.  Say it ain't so.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, macdaddy said:

i can't go saturday and am extra pissed i won't get this tshirt.  Especially after last year's tshirt debacle.

 

 

Aye, somebody send 10 of these to @Sothron.  My sources tell me he's in love with the volt now (hehe).

[sturt]

5 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

This loss pisses me off but I'm not surprised. This team has had their head up their collective asses all season long when we play teams missing starters. 

On a night when the game really mattered they wet the bed. This mentality won't get them far in the playoffs.  Like I said before, we may not have that superstar but we also don't have that leader on the  floor to rally the troops.

Do I think we should beat Boston, hell yea...will we, who knows wirh this Jekyll and Hyde team.

When Indy beats Toronto, we'll be kicking ourselves even more for pissing away this game.

One of the more intriguing points I've read this year, fwiw.

It begs the question of what leadership optimally looks like, and I appreciate the discussion, even if I'm a little cautious to accept the premise.

To my mind, I think it's more about simple performance than it is leadership, and not even performance as defined as having a superstar.

We simply play a form of the game on the offensive side that demands... demands...  that you shoot 3s better than mediocre... and just haven't. To me, this team is running on all cylinders and capable of exceptional things when they are knocking down shots from the  arc. 

It's why I wanted to see us pick up Dorell Wright, even if we have to release Lamar Patterson.

And then... having not picked him up... that made a statement to me about what Budcox might really believe about this roster's potential to seriously threaten for a championship... granted, the team will only go as far as the starting 5 is able to play at their highest level, but if you really believe in them, you get them every available asset you can. And Budcox chose  not to.

Maybe Budcox diagnosed it correctly. There is an argument that says keeping Patterson for the long-term is smarter than obtaining Wright for the short term... that Patterson's 3 point woes of this season have been a one-off. I hope so. But I can't help but think, when the cost is that minimal, you give your guys a little boost when you express confidence in them enough to add an asset for the post-season.

[Dnice]

Those should go well with the Green this weekend.

[macdaddy]

To add more cause for concern, we couldn't come back from a few down against the Wiz's 9-13 guys.   The Celtics erased a 27 point deficit to beat the Heat when it mattered.    There aren't a lot of great indicators that we are going to roll over the Celtics. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

To add more cause for concern, we couldn't come back from a few down against the Wiz's 9-13 guys.   The Celtics erased a 27 point deficit to beat the Heat when it mattered.    There aren't a lot of great indicators that we are going to roll over the Celtics. 

Selltics also just got molly-whopped at home by CHA in a game they had to win after getting choke-slammt by the Hawks in another must-win game on the road.

You better get your game face on, Macd!

[macdaddy]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

Selltics also just got molly-whopped at home by CHA in a game they had to win after getting choke-slammt by the Hawks in another must-win game on the road.

You better get your game face on, Macd!

The game where we gave up 70 first half points?   Yeah we looked good in the second half but it also took a lot of bad shooting from them.   I'd feel better if we were back to our lockdown full game defense.

[hawkman]

3 hours ago, Jody23 said:

I can see this series going either way, but...

1-This Celtics team has some fight in them;

2-The Hawks' playoff history verses the Celtics is pretty woeful;

3-The league will probably favor the Celtics with calls as they probably would prefer to see the younger team with a brighter future against the Cavs rather than a repeat of last year's ECF.

But can you blame them? Last season's ECF was the worst I have ever seen, and that's coming from a Hawks fan.

[benhillboy]

2 hours ago, kg01 said:

You're my dude, but there's so much wrong with this post.   Are you .... *gasp* a Selltics fan?

Say it ain't so, benhill.  Say it ain't so.

Far from  fan of the Selltics as you say.  Moreso a Bird and Stevens fan.  Garnett and Allen winning a 'ship in their first year together under an average coach can't be understated.  The fact they have the 3rd-ish pick this summer is unbelievable.  They draw great attendance  whether they're at the top or bottom of the East.

I give respect where it's due but for allegiance purposes I'll emit #HawksHate for the next couple weeks.

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

The game where we gave up 70 first half points?   Yeah we looked good in the second half but it also took a lot of bad shooting from them.   I'd feel better if we were back to our lockdown full game defense.

It took an otherwordly shooting effort combined with uncharacteristic first half D for them to put thise 70pts up.  The 2nd half was more indicative of what shld be expected from either team.

You better getcho game face on, macd.

13 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Far from  fan of the Selltics as you say.  Moreso a Bird and Stevens fan.  Garnett and Allen winning a 'ship in their first year together under an average coach can't be understated.  The fact they have the 3rd-ish pick this summer is unbelievable.  They draw great attendance  whether they're at the top or bottom of the East.

I give respect where it's due but for allegiance purposes I'll emit #HawksHate for the next couple weeks.

LeiBron ain't walkin thru that draft door.  Nor are Garnett, Kobe, AI, not even Rose are in this year's draft.  Have fun with the latest 2yrs away from being 2yrs away guy.

#gamefaceon

[Spursfanpeacemaker]

Judging from this season, 1st or 2nd round exit.. but who knows, they might prove us wrong

[Lurker]

It doesn't matter if whether it's Boston or Atlanta playing Cleveland, that series is over in 5 maximum.

[Alex]

My honest thoughts are the Hawks lose in 4 or 5 games.  The Hawks just play like they don't care.  The Celtics are hungry and frankly deserve it more.  The Hawks seem to think they can sleepwalk and win games.  The Hawks play with zero urgency and it will show.

[AUhawksfan]

The glass half full side of me says:  Hawks in 5 or 6.  That Washington game was a fluke or Bud for some reason told his guys to play at half speed to rest.  They'll regain the late season form they showed the second half of the season and their defense shuts down a Boston team that can't create enough offense.

The glass half empty side of me says:  The Hawks lose in 6 or 7.  Like most GA sports teams they play worse in the spotlight and the Celtics step up.  The dispirited play from Washington reappears and Playoff Teague is nowhere to be found.

Honestly I really don't know what to expect  with this team this year so I guess I'll go somewhere in the middle:  a 7 game series.  We win, but have to work a lot harder than we should to close out the series.

[Lurker]

26 minutes ago, AUhawksfan said:

their defense shuts down a Boston team that can't create enough offense.

It's really about this. Boston, like Atlanta, doesn't really have much of a half-court offense. It's not even about the defense, it's about being smart on offense. Don't try to make the home run play or make passes off of muscle memory, be smart for a bit before making the home run play or trying to go on muscle memory.

Limit them to around 10 or less OREBs and don't turn it over too much more than Boston and it should be a series victory.

[BigDog90]

12 hours ago, JTB said:

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm extremely pissed that our Hawks didn't take advantage to be 3rd seed mostly to avoid lebron in the 2nd round....this was the worst thing that could happen this season. 

Forgive me for looking to far ahead as I know we have to take care of the Celtics but I'm very confident that the Hawks will win that series. Not to say Boston can't but if the Hawks play with a chip on their shoulders like they should I see the Hawks winning in 5 or 6.

But for me as a Hawks fan that has seen this team go to 9 straight playoffs....knowing in the back of my mind that lebron is next up on the list if we do get past the 1st round...that alone has me all but very uninspired about this years playoffs. 

Im just being completely honest about it. I've been saying it all year long no one in the east is going to beat lebron but I did want the Hawks to get back to the ECF to gain some exposure so that maybe some top line free agents will look our way! But unfortunately I see another 2nd round exit and pretty much another flat off season coming up.

 

But no matter what I will always be a die hard Hawks fan and Hawks fan only....so Go Hawks!....I'm hoping for a miracle in this years playoffs!

This series is going to be tough. Hawks going to have consistently remain focused and not look ahead to CLE. I can imagine they want vengeance from last season.

I got ATL in 7.  Millsap and Horford should be too much for Boston.

Edited April 15, 2016 by BigDog90

[Gray Mule]

Beware the Celtics.

This Hawk team is terrible when there is a gap between games and this series has all this.

This Hawk team proved, over and over, they couldn't win games when they were expected to.

Our last game is a prime example.  Our starters couldn't beat their second unit.

History against Atlanta VS Boston is still here and prevails.

Beware the Celtics.