Hawks are great. And Horford should have been ours.

[buttsR4rebounding]

Young teams or teams with significant changes to their core tend to do well in preseason because they are working on chemistry and putting forth a high level of effort. Veteran teams don't need to do that and look at preseason as a necessary evil. Why did Washington almost get a triple double for the Spurs? Because he is fighting like hell for a roster spot and the Spurs sat Parker, Duncan, Bowen, Horry. Hawks are borderline a borderline playoff team. If they don't have significant injuries this year they will probably sneak over a team that does (and you know someone will, not including the 20 plus games that Shaq will miss).

 

[Rbutters91]

You know who is leading the preseason in scoring this year at 27 ppg? Bostjan Nachbar.

And watch. With our mentality, we'll be thinkin hes MVP worthy.

 

[AtlHawksFan]

They started the season 4-1 last year, and if I'm not mistaken, you created a similar thread last year saying they were definitely going to make the playoffs.

It's preseason. Let's wait until the season actually starts before making these kinds of assumptions.

Why is it that he Hawks pre-season victories and stats are meaningless while you guys are so ecstatic over the play of Grant Hill and your team? Aren't the Suns playing against unmotivated NBAers or has the regular season started in the WC??

Go Cards...

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Why is it that he Hawks pre-season victories and stats are meaningless while you guys are so ecstatic over the play of Grant Hill and your team? Aren't the Suns playing against unmotivated NBAers or has the regular season started in the WC??

Go Cards...

i think our enthusiasm is more built on the fact that hill is looking healthy and fitting into our system nicely. i know he's not shooting 8-9 for 21pts in a half as he did the other night. that's called figuring out a legit takeaway from a preseason game while discounting the actual numbers and outcome of noncompetitive games. try it, you'll likely become a more knowledgeable fan!

 

[azirish]

i think our enthusiasm is more built on the fact that hill is looking healthy and fitting into our system nicely. i know he's not shooting 8-9 for 21pts in a half as he did the other night. that's called figuring out a legit takeaway from a preseason game while discounting the actual numbers and outcome of noncompetitive games. try it, you'll likely become a more knowledgeable fan!

I agree. Preseason is always distorted by the fact that a lot of teams play backups to get a look at them, that players get held out for even minor injuries, and teams are in varying levels of playing condition. This stuff starts to even out after a few weeks into the season.

For the Suns, all their questions were focused on individuals. Is Hill healthy enough to play Suns basketball, is Marion going to motivated by his contract issues or pout? Is Diaw going to be able to return to his 2005-06 status? Will Sknner fit into the Suns style? Can Banks return to his 2005-06 level when with the Wolves?

Ironically, except for Marion (just looking for same old, same old), the Suns could still get to the playoffs without any of these guys making a status jump. For the Hawks, they need a lot of guys to up their games just to get into the playoffs.