ESPN Makes It's Predictions – High On Hawks
Hmmm. This is sort of a weird place to be. I’m so used to writing this time of year to tell you why I think the Hawks will be good despite what national prognosticators have to say on the subject. Last year, for example, most observers had Atlanta out of the playoffs.
This year however, based on the success of the postseason and the terrific offseason Rick Sund and his staff have put together, there is a lot more optimism out there about our hometown heroes.
ESPN’s basketball staff is in the middle of some off-season predictions about the upcoming 2009-10 season, and wouldn’t you know it, they are high on the Hawks:
“ESPN’s panelists like the Hawks as the Beasts of the Rest in the East once again, expecting the additions of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith to keep them in the No. 4 slot. If our Eastern Conference prognostications are accurate, the Hawks will again host the Miami Heat in Game 1 of Round 1 when the playoffs begin next April.”
The perception as of now seems to be that there is still a clear pecking order at the top of the Eastern Conference with Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando, but that the Hawks are at the top of the list of teams looking to break up that hegemony.
As the season draws closer, we’ll take a closer look at the teams in the East to see if the current pecking order is still intact.
4th in the east………….. not bad
Gooooooo HAAAAWWWKKSSS! I can’t wait for the new season to start. Forget what the haterz think…we comin for dat number one spot! lol ok maybe not but I hope I live to see the day when we can win a championship!
Just hope the hawks take a lesson from the Bulls 3-4 years ago. Coming off a 50 win season, and a conference semi berth, many picked them as the up-and-coming team
in the East. They fell flat on their faces the next year.
I see us fightin with the magic and celtics for those spots but fourth isnt bad. Let’s Go Hawks!
Glad to see we have some believers this year, good to know.
More depth in the frontcourt. Sign Jason Collins. We may not be able to match talent with the bigs of the top 3 teams in the East, but we can throw some bodies at them for sure. I like our chances, and the top three teams have to learn to mesh with those superstars they just added. We have our core, added a scorer, some role playing vets, and a PG of the future. We should have ANY chemistry issues like those other teams mayt have. I give our offseason and A thus far………CHUUUUUUUUUUUCH
Jason Collins is signed! The GM is serious about this team. Good to see some smart moves being made. More depth and I see good chemistry from the new players. Let’s give these new teams some problems hawks! Cant wait til the season starts!
Not bad ATL. Kind of feels like “Major League” in a basketball way, Great job!
Great pickup in Collins. I think the way the Celtics are spiraling downwards with ray not as good, kevin and his knee probs, I think we have a chance to take the number 3 spot from them. That leaves us with the magic to get better than. I think if the chemistry between Nelson, Carter, whoever they play at sf, Lewis, and Howard isn’t there I think we might edge them. That is if the chemistry between 4 stars doesn’t work.
i think the hawks can challenge any of the big three teams in the east so i don’t think that i would be content if they just got 4th in the conference again.
Unless of course the refs wanna bull shit us this year, we can crack the top three.
Hawksgirl, positive thinking! I believe that they have earned the respect of the refs, but they have to play hard and not immature( Josh Smith). It’s time they act like they have been there before. It’s an emotional game, thay can’t try and then miss windmill dunks on a breakaway in a playoff game. Got to play smart. SportCenter will be there.
Lol. True Hawksfan. Smith has to grow out of that “young gun” attitude faze and show people he is there and not always be outside the paint. I looked for him there and he wasnt in the cleveland series. I only saw al. He has to get his crown for most blocked shots back. With veteran big men there maybe he will get the proper “teaching” on and off the court.
But I dont like charles barkley. He puts us down even when we win. He just has a bad attitude all around. Ima try to keep a positive attitude and ignore him but it will be hard now that we have more national games. Pray for me lol:)
Hawksgirl I feel u on that but don’t worry about him. Inside the NBA is for entertainment purposes…what Charles, Kenny or Ernie say about the Hawks doesn’t even matter. That’s their opinions and their egos talking. That’s what they’re paid to do…talk trash and make fools out of themselves. Don’t get me wrong though, I actually watch that show cause Charles is hilarious. But I never let what he says about the Hawks get to me, even though I disagree with him most of the time. Don’t worry bout him….F**k da haterz and lets go Hawks!!!!
Gotcha ga bulldog. He is funny but annoying at the same time. Is it true Kenny(i think they said) is leaving to be a basketball coach or something? I like him because he’s level headed.
What the hell!!!! We need FLIP MODE MURRAY. just can randolph morris, he’s a SCRUB!!!
cut RANDOLPH he’s a scrub!!! We need FLIP mode MURRAY
What will we do when JOE is CHOKING as usual?
JJ doesnt choke, thats not how i see it. He is too good to choke
Joe is tooo soft! He doesn’t have a killer instinct like a wade, carmelo to step up and ball everynight
JJ is not wade and carmelo and doesnt need to be them. He has his own way of comin through and we have seen him do it plenty. He does have a killer instinct, what do you call that fourth game with the celtics in 07? He killed em! Just because he dont pump his chest and curse all the time doesnt mean he doesnt have a killer instinct. Not to mention we never find out he is injured until he says something which is never or when the coach says something. I see him a lot in the games tryin to play hard but when he gets the ball he is triple teamed all the time. But since crawford is here I believe he may emerge out the shadows and get some freedom. Plenty games he has showed what he’s got but you know jj jay! He is joe cool joe smooth, he will let his teammates take the shinning light before him.
So, was wade soft in his teams 13 game season? Just a thought that came to mind.
There are plenty of quiet assassins that are CONSISTENT, however JJ is NOT CONSISTENT!!! I like JJ he just needs to HOOp
JJ needs to be a bit selfish in other words…….I agree with that
i am atlanta hawks fan
yeah 4th in the league, no 4th in the east, way to be satisfied with 4th place by the way, good example why no atlanta team will win a championship anytime soon
Im a die heart Hawks fan but we are never going to get out of the 2nd round unless Joe Johnson steps up. He’s the captain of the team so the team follows his lead and feed off of him. 4th in the east is wher ei predicted us to b last year. if we cant get out of the 2nd round 2 years in a row, we should consider the season a failure.
True hollyhood. No doubt jj has to step up and i believe bringin in crawford will help.But i cant wait til the season starts because then you can actually see how they will do. By december, i can usually predict their spot….sometimes cause u know they full of suprises but i got faith in them and believe they can make it past the second round this year.
Hawksgirl putting pessimists in check. That’s what I’m talking about. Why all the hate on JJ? How about building up the team instead of tearing them down. Gesh! Flip Murray is no JJ. So stop comparing the two. If I remember correctly JJ ended the season the leading scorer. There’s a reason JJ is the starting shooting guard. Could it be because he’s a shooter? SMH! There’s a reason Flip is a traveling backup. Dang I been missing all the good discussions. I gotta get back on it.
You guys need to get NBA League Pass so you can see that all players have games where the ball just won’t go down. That includes Kobe, Wade, Lebron, etc. Let JJ be JJ and stop thinking the grass is greener on the otherside.
Thank you Mz. Hawkdafied/Number One Lady Fan/Hawkette! Finally! But all 82 games will be on tv this year(yay!) so i will be watching when im not there.