It's early but they beat Dallas and just beat Phoenix 105-96. Horford and Marvin Williams both looked great tonight, they were ahead of the Suns all night. The Joshes look good offensively and Acie Law IV shows promise. Are the pieces there for them to win 50 games? What do you all think are their chances of making the playoffs??
WRONG CHARLES BARKLEY IS ALWAYS RIGHT. HE GRABBED 500 REBOUNDS, AND SHOT A DEER WHILE HUNTING ONE TIME. About time the Hawks do something right. Too bad no one will be there to notice.
Acie Law (IMO) is going to be a serviceable point guard, maybe in the mold of Jameer Nelson, but I haven't seen anything that says he will have the leadership or ball-movement skills to lead a team like this. With JJ, JSmith, Childress etc. this team is so deep on long wing-players who stretch the floor and they appear to be pursuing hyper paced offense. Salim Stoudamire gave good minutes, added 10 points. This is my first look at him so I am not sure if he is for real, but he looked quick, decisive and confident tonight adding 10. The Hawks have always been a potential laden time bomb, but I think Horford finally puts all the pieces in place. He pressures the low block like a maniac, initiating physical play and dominating the boards, the part of the game Marvin Williams has been unable to bring. Horford allows him to free up around the floor more, ending up creating open looks for Williams. It is about time Marvin comes to play because the "bust-label-clock" is ticking, and he has no reason to not have a breakout year. IF they play any kind of defense, which they did tonight and against Dallas, and IF they can limit their turnovers, then their uptempo, push and press style could out run about anybody no? The east is such a crapshoot that it really is not much of a compliment to say they could make the playoffs. I'll take it a step further, I think they could win 50 games and finish in the top 4. Boston, Chicago, Detroit are the only teams that are superior (for certain), pitting them against Orlando, Toronto, Charlotte, Cleveland for the middle seeds. IMO, anyway. Certainly sounds doable.
Who is their starting PG? I know at least 2 different PGs have started so far. I don't know about playoffs. I still would have traded Horford for Amare...
Law started tonight, Stoudamire and Lue got minutes too. I guess it's Law unless Salim proves he is worth it.
I haven't gotten to watch them play yet, but I'll say I love them for beating two of our Western Conference rivals already.
they will be up and down all year b/c of their youth and inexperience. loads of talent though, if they can mature as a team they'll be in the upper echelon of the eastern conference in 1-2 years.
Uhhh, yeah...call me when they get a road win. Even the sun shines on a blind squirrel's ass twice a day...
They started off good last year too but looked how they ended up by April... Its too early to tell. Sometimes bad teams beat good teams, it happens.
I think the difference between last years Hawks and now, is the physical mentality brought by Horford. He makes Smith, Childress, Williams better. He dominates the boards and provides an interior defensive presence which they haven't had in years. If Shelden Williams could score enough to earn his floor time, they could be one of the best defensive squads. An offensive minded squad who runs the track, AND crashes the boards could do real damage in the East. Anybody know when Pachulia gets back?
PG is the weak point, yet they have alot of options -Acie Law -Anthony Johnson -Speedy Claxton -Salim Stoudamire -Tyronn Lue Speedy Claxton would be the best option but his knee injury last year appears to be bothering him again. I'm not sure he will ever be the same if the injury is chronic (I don't know the exact medical nature of the injury). They have been using PG by committee mostly, with Law at the helm and spare minutes to Stoudamire. Johnson and Lue have had minimal time, but I think they are still just auditioning to figure out which direction to go with. In this sense, they all have alot to prove in the next few games. My guess is Law ends up getting the bulk of it with Salim playing backup fiddle, or Claxton if he proves physically capable (doubt it).
hawks won and did a good job, what i think was best about it though was that they were able to do it without their main scorer putting up big numbers, joe johnson got it done with assists and basically all other stats, but still. 3/17 FG with 0/5 3PFG is pretty horrible, yet they still managed to get the W. our team has the talent and scoring options, but im struggling to imagine how the rockets would fair Yao and Tmac having off nights, who would be the ones who step for 20+ points, mike james would be willing, francis would be too but too bad his out of the rotation. bonzi wells maybe.... but yeh they had 3 other guys who could score 20 , what im wondering who would be our 3 guys who can drop 20 if our superstars are shooting 3/17?? mike james - can score bonzi - maybe shane - unlikely? scola - too early rafer - NO. head - dont know francis - confident he can drop 20, but confident he wont be in rotation either i dont really see us as having any clear cut scoring options behind tmac, yao, mj i guess we shuold expect our 2 superstars to bring it every night, but some nights tmac will b off, and yao as well or he will have bad matchup (utah) just be nice to have a 3rd option who can average 15-16 point, looking for one of the previously mentioned to step up, most likely it will be mike james, but hey, maybe if stevie gets into shape and gets in coach A's good books, could see more of stevie in 2nd half of the season
It's a shame they have so many PGs on their books already. Childress has the height and wingspan the Rockets need to disrupt guys like Josh Howard and Stackhouse.
