Atlanta Must KNOCK Boston out of the playoffs again.

[Diesel]

I don't care what the seeds are.  I don't care if we're the 4th seed and they are the 3rd and the only way we meet is in the conference finals...  We have to get there so that we can beat them and knock them out of the playoffs again.  The Falcons taking a historic loss to the cheating ass Patriots has rekindled my hatred for everything Boston.  They probably believe that the Celtics can beat the Hawks, the Red Sox can beat the Braves, The Bulldogs can beat the Dream,  and the Bruins can beat the Thrashers.  Well, the Hawks have to pick up the mantle...  The Hawks have to expel the Celtics from the playoffs... no matter what...( in my Apollo Creed Voice).

 

[Watchman]

9 minutes ago, Diesel said:

I don't care what the seeds are.  I don't care if we're the 4th seed and they are the 3rd and the only way we meet is in the conference finals...  We have to get there so that we can beat them and knock them out of the playoffs again.  The Falcons taking a historic loss to the cheating ass Patriots has rekindled my hatred for everything Boston.  They probably believe that the Celtics can beat the Hawks, the Red Sox can beat the Braves, The Bulldogs can beat the Dream,  and the Bruins can beat the Thrashers.  Well, the Hawks have to pick up the mantle...  The Hawks have to expel the Celtics from the playoffs... no matter what...( in my Apollo Creed Voice).

 

I'm afraid IT can beat us all by himself.  Besides, you never know which Hawks team will show up for a game.

[Guest]

Just now, Watchman said:

I'm afraid IT can beat us all by himself.  Besides, you never know which Hawks team will show up for a game.

Jus' like las' year, huh?

People gotta understand, regular season and postseason are significantly different.  Just like how HOU will struggle come playoff time, the Thomas guy being a 1-man team has a shelflife too.

[Watchman]

1 minute ago, kg01 said:

Jus' like las' year, huh?

People gotta understand, regular season and postseason are significantly different.  Just like how HOU will struggle come playoff time, the Thomas guy being a 1-man team has a shelflife too.

Last year wasn't the schizoid version of the Hawks.  We were fairly steady, we just couldn't rebound.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, Watchman said:

Last year wasn't the schizoid version of the Hawks.  We were fairly steady, we just couldn't rebound.

I guess my point was Thomas isn't single-handedly beating anybody in the playoffs.

[BigDog90]

34 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Jus' like las' year, huh?

People gotta understand, regular season and postseason are significantly different.  Just like how HOU will struggle come playoff time, the Thomas guy being a 1-man team has a shelflife too.

He got help now - Horford and Bradley. IT owns Dennis. Bradley can lock down Hardaway. Their scheme can stop Dwight 

Millsap would put up numbers but he can't guarantee 25+ points every game like IT could. 

Crowder and Smart got better since last season. I believe Crowder is quietly having a 50/40/90 season.

Edited February 7, 2017 by BigDog90

[macdaddy]

I've become super pessimistic.   I think when we faced Boston we were like a half game out of 3rd and a game out of second in the east?  Now we're 3.5 out of Boston who has climbed up to 2nd.   We've been passed by Washington and Indy is gunning for us.   

The only teams we are beating are ones that are poor defensively and if you look at who we've beaten since 1/1 it's weak after the Spurs win.

These are our 2017 victories:

Orlando, Bucks, Dallas, Nets, Pels, Bullsx2, Philly, Knicks, Houston, Orlando

2017 losses:

Boston, Detroit, Clippers, Wizards, Utah, Miami

 

[sturt]

I wait until after the break to get pessimistic, but maybe that's just me. Fwiw, on the flip side, remember how January became just a beautiful memory toward the end of the 2014-15 season.

Not that that should be very much encouragement, but as you're probably getting tired of hearing me say.... (because I've been saying it since preseason, actually, and I just won't let it die, right?) ... I feel our season is pivoted on whether Prince develops and evolves into starter minutes.

We have not yet begun to fight! Quote me on that. :)

[macdaddy]

22 minutes ago, sturt said:

I wait until after the break to get pessimistic, but maybe that's just me. Fwiw, on the flip side, remember how January became just a beautiful memory toward the end of the 2014-15 season.

Not that that should be very much encouragement, but as you're probably getting tired of hearing me say.... (because I've been saying it since preseason, actually, and I just won't let it die, right?) ... I feel our season is pivoted on whether Prince develops and evolves into starter minutes.

We have not yet begun to fight! Quote me on that. :)

That's exactly what i thought in November.   That ship has sailed man.    I mean Hardaway is 1.5 years into his development process and is only starting because of injury.   We'll be lucky if Prince sees anything but garbage time the rest of the way.   I mean we're talking about 2 months left.   Our wings are so bad that Bembry looks great despite only being able to score on layups.  

[ISOJOE]

vor einer Stunde, BigDog90 sagte:

IT owns Dennis.

Seriously? That was one regular season game. Schro locked him down in the POs. Would be great to play as 6th seed against Boston because Dennis plays better away.

[macdaddy]

1 minute ago, ISOJOE said:

Seriously? That was one regular season game. Schro locked him down in the POs. Would be great to play as 6th seed against Boston because Dennis plays better away.

Hey Joe!

[sturt]

4 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

That's exactly what i thought in November.   That ship has sailed man.    I mean Hardaway is 1.5 years into his development process and is only starting because of injury.   We'll be lucky if Prince sees anything but garbage time the rest of the way.   I mean we're talking about 2 months left.   Our wings are so bad that Bembry looks great despite only being able to score on layups.  

I keep coming back to this, though... Ruder didn't play hardly at all that first half of that first season either. But then,  you go back and look at his game logs, he began pulling double-digit minutes after the break, and if I'm not mistaken, he played about 30 of 35 or so games.

And while uber-talented, he could not bring the seasoning/maturity that a 4-year college player does.

Hard to pin down what Bud is doing at any given moment, but it tends to make sense in hindsight and to fit a pattern, though maybe not the pattern that everyone focused on. So, nah, I won't bet a house payment on it happening, but if I'm playing with house money and had to make a bet, it makes sense.

Certainly, this is not a Payne situation where the guy goes down to D-league and gets lost for many of his minutes. Prince has done what he seemingly can do given the hand dealt to him, whether on our bench or on Long Island's playing floor.

If/when he starts getting those consistent minutes, some good things will eventually happen...  no, not instantaneous, but I'll say, give him 20 games of double-digit minutes, and he'll have his feet underneath him and ready to be an impact player to enough of a degree to be a difference maker in game outcomes.

[ISOJOE]

Hey, is this username acceptable 

[Gray Mule]

Don't give up like the Falcons did.  Intimidation rules when any playoff

team meets any team from Atlanta, regardless of sport.  (See Diesel's post)

Sturt has the answer. 

Prince, Delaney and Bembry are all three rookies and still learning "Bud Ball."

Dunleavy hasn't had time to absorb it all yet.  He's an old wiley vet and he

will get better toward the playoffs.  Besides, he can't be traded yet.

Players that we don't want, strangely enough, others probably don't want

either and all those future draft picks we've accumulated may not be enough

to shake loose a player or players that would really help.  On the other hand,

some Hawk players plus some picks might be just what some team is looking for.

About the trading deadline, there's an old saying, popular years ago that

applies here - - - "You never know what goes on behind closed doors!"

[Guest]

1 minute ago, ISOJOE said:

Hey, is this username acceptable 

Only if you pretend to be the real IsoJoe.

[ISOJOE]

vor 3 Minuten, kg01 sagte:

Only if you pretend to be the real IsoJoe.

Has there been another User with that name?

[sturt]

1 minute ago, Gray Mule said:

About the trading deadline, there's an old saying, popular years ago that

applies here - - - "You never know what goes on behind closed doors!"

Yikes, Mule... that sounds awfully close to something DF might say. You always wanted Deng, didn't you? (hehe)

4 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Prince, Delaney and Bembry are all three rookies and still learning "Bud Ball."

Dunleavy hasn't had time to absorb it all yet.  He's an old wiley vet and he

will get better toward the playoffs. 

Fair observation.

4 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Besides, he can't be traded yet.

Technically, he can be traded, but just can't be put into a package deal to be traded with another Hawk... assuming the ESPN Trade Machine isn't misfiring.

[macdaddy]

Just now, ISOJOE said:

Has there been another User with that name?

Seems like maybe but i don't think it would have given it to you if they were still active.    Welcome aboard.  Or are you just starting fresh?

[macdaddy]

8 minutes ago, sturt said:

I keep coming back to this, though... Ruder didn't play hardly at all that first half of that first season either. But then,  you go back and look at his game logs, he began pulling double-digit minutes after the break, and if I'm not mistaken, he played about 30 of 35 or so games.

And while uber-talented, he could not bring the seasoning/maturity that a 4-year college player does.

Hard to pin down what Bud is doing at any given moment, but it tends to make sense in hindsight and to fit a pattern, though maybe not the pattern that everyone focused on. So, nah, I won't bet a house payment on it happening, but if I'm playing with house money and had to make a bet, it makes sense.

Certainly, this is not a Payne situation where the guy goes down to D-league and gets lost for many of his minutes. Prince has done what he seemingly can do given the hand dealt to him, whether on our bench or on Long Island's playing floor.

If/when he starts getting those consistent minutes, some good things will eventually happen...  no, not instantaneous, but I'll say, give him 20 games of double-digit minutes, and he'll have his feet underneath him and ready to be an impact player to enough of a degree to be a difference maker in game outcomes.

I agree completely that Prince should be getting minutes if not starting.   I just don't think it's going to happen.   

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 hours ago, Diesel said:

I don't care what the seeds are.  I don't care if we're the 4th seed and they are the 3rd and the only way we meet is in the conference finals...  We have to get there so that we can beat them and knock them out of the playoffs again.  The Falcons taking a historic loss to the cheating ass Patriots has rekindled my hatred for everything Boston.  They probably believe that the Celtics can beat the Hawks, the Red Sox can beat the Braves, The Bulldogs can beat the Dream,  and the Bruins can beat the Thrashers.  Well, the Hawks have to pick up the mantle...  The Hawks have to expel the Celtics from the playoffs... no matter what...( in my Apollo Creed Voice).

 

If we don't watch out, we may be the 7th seed.  Pacers are surging and are only 1/2 game back.