True To Atlanta
Is anybody else tired of being middle of the road? And the fact the Hawks have been middle tier for so long and only get middle tier draft picks cant continue to be an excuse because some of these teams have young players that are not high draft picks and have become massively productive. One of our middle picks almost never got a chance to show he can play cause of potato head (Jeff)…… And, when the Hawks did have horrible records to garner a high draft pick, what happened?
Since 1980, the only top 10 and above picks that actually played for the Hawks for a period of time and was productive are Augmon, Jason Terry, and Al Horford. Players that were top 10 other than that? Al Wood, Keith Edmondson, Rumeal Robinson, Adam Keefe, Demarr Johnson, Josh Childress, Marvin Williams, Sheldon Williams. Between picks 10 and 20 Hawks have drafted since 1980 Don Collins, Kevin Willis, Billy Thompson, Anthony Avent, Doug Edwards, Alan Henderson, Roshown Mcleod, Dion Glover, Cal Bowdler, Boris Diaw (21st pick), Josh Smith, Acie Law, Jeff Teague, Shane Larkin, Dennis Schroder, Adrian Payne and Kelly Oubre.
Since 1980 Hawks have drafted 7 people for the position of center. (Lucas Nogueira aka Afro was drafted by Boston, boston traded draft rights to Hawks, who then traded him to Toronto). Out of those 7 people, 4 have played minutes in the NBA. Jon Contract, Al Horford, Walter Taveres and Priest Lauderdale. The other 3 are Keith Benson, Pau Gasol (number 3 pick in draft), and Arvydas Sabonis (yes he was drafted by the Hawks but was voided because he wasnt 21 years old).
So basically the Hawks history is based on fact that 8 other franchises in the eastern conference have scouts that are tangibly better, coaching staffs over the years that are tangibly better, head coaches (well we know the answer to that as well as ownership). But then is it that the Hawks are cursed, doomed to be in the netherlands of mediocrity with only once every 15 years to have a shimmer of hope of sustained winning? Fans are supposed to have higher expectations right?
Why should we have “tempered” expectations? especially now, where the East is wide open again. Yes we had injuries to start the year, but all are back except Splitter. Play with high energy one night, next night they forget how to play, this is the last two weeks. All losses can’t be attributed to being tired or injuries. Hawks are 12-9, 4 and 6 in their last 10 games, 7 and 4 at home. It’s not about winning 60 games, and yes its still early, but tendencies “tend” to stay with you (Ask the Falcons).
I am a fan that demands more at this point. Living in Atlanta I spent the money going to games. When I cant go, I take my time to watch them on TV. When I can’t I take the time to listen to the radio, when I cant do that I watch the box score online. I’m invested in this team. The one glaring weakness that lost them games when everything else “wasn’t” working was rebounding and Hawks did two things this year to address it. Splitter and Edy. With splitter being out 5 straight games, and with some of the teams we have played, I feel Edy could have helped. Just because Hawks end up out rebounding a team, if Hawks lose, means some of those rebounds weren’t in important spots. I feel defense could be helped with Edy out there to either block a shot or alter a shot. Holiday and THJ were brought in. Holiday has shown some production when he plays. Took forever for THJ to play. But overall haven’t gotten that much from them. Patterson is definitely an asset, but he also needs minutes to be effective. My point is this, if you draft and stash, stash until you are going to play them or don’t bring them back at all. But if you bring them, play them. Patterson was stashed, he is playing, Edy deserves his shot and 20 games into season there have been opportunities to prove whether the 43rd pick of the draft was worth it or just another long line of busts in Hawks history. Last night Lucas showed that he has “some” value. I want to see if that applies to Edy.
We as fans deserve more. We are the ones who go to work the next day and have to fight with people on why they should take the Hawks seriously. We are the ones that wear the hats, shirts, jerseys, buy the matching shoes……We are the ones that are waiting for Nique to say “and that friends is the dagger”. It’s us. We are the ones that suffered through the Nique years knowing how close we were to dominating the EC. Watching Smitty and Dikembe do all they could. Watching a young AL take it to the Celtics. We are the ones that sat through the years of 1999-2006. We sat through the Nique trade. We saw Nique get a statue. I sat in a hospital room last year with my dying father as the Hawks started their run. We sat through the Hawks getting swept in the ECF. So sorry, I want more, I want the best and all Hawks fans should expect and demand it because without fans there would be no National Basketball Association in the first place. So excuse me for being highly upset at what I am seeing. Excuse me for being a fan.
True To Atlanta
Go Hawks!!
