Can we get some love for the Atlanta Hawks Please?!
18-6 1st in Southeast Division, 2nd in Eastern Conference, 3rd in the league
It is a great day and time to be an Atlanta Hawks fan, the fandom of the people of the city is at an all time high, the atmosphere has become an aura of beaming smiles of pride, excitement and laughter of glee and bliss because, after 5 short years this Mike Woodson, Josh Smith Atlanta Hawks are truely, undisputedly one of the best teams in the NBA and a true NBA championship contender.
It is amazing, almost surreal this year in 2009-2010, the team that the Atlanta Hawks have become; Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, Al Horford, Marvin Williams, Jamal Crawford, Zaza Pachulia, Mo Evans, Joe Smith, Jeff Teague, Randolph Morris, Othello Hunter, Jason Collins. These 13 are an exceptional group of personnel on paper alone;
Mike Bibby(31 yrs 6-1 195lbs,12th)9.6ppg 2.7rpg 4.0apg 43.8%FGs 43.3%3ptFGs 81.1%FTs
Mike Bibby, in his 12th season is a great offensive coordination point guard, he has the ability to score 20+ ppg but with these Hawks he is great at making great plays with everyone on the floor involved in the offense, evident by the team making 22.3 apg, and although Bibby is averaging career lows in ppg, fga, and apg, he is also averaging a career low mpg at 28.3, afforded by great guard play in Crawford and Teague, also by Hawks 6 20+ blowouts against opponents already this season
Joe Johnson (28 yrs 6-7 240 lbs, 9th) 21.2 ppg 5.0 rpg 5.3 apg 45.5%FGs 87.9%FTs
Joe Johnson, Joe Johnson. The person of interest in the embarrassing Atlanta Spirit fiasco on whether he was franchise player and worth Boris Diaw and 2 (conditional) 1st round picks. In his 9th season as a pro and his 5th as a Hawk, Johnson has been great and consistent, he is one of 3 players in the league averaging 20+ ppg 5+ rpg 5+ apg, he has scored 30+ 9 times, 8 wins, he is playing extremely well this season, showing a greater sense of defensive and offensive awareness, he is averaging a career high FT%, rpg, and, after leading the league in mpg in the past 3 season, is averaging a career-low mpg (37.1) as a Hawk.
Marvin Williams(23 yrs 6-9 245 lbs, 5th)10.3 ppg 5.3 rpg 42.3%FGs 35.5% 3ptFGs 81%FTs
Marvin Williams. Once used to be the butt of many jokes about what could have been with a Paul-Johnson-Smith core, Marvin Williams has been carving his niche in the game as a forward. He is an excellent defender and a good scorer, shooter, he has high basketball IQ and knows how to make the right play. He began starting at the SF position in 06-07 and averaged 13 ppg 6 rpg, he hits 84% FTs and he has expanded his range out to the 3 point line, shooting 37.7% last season and 35.5% this season. Marvin Williams is a great core piece of the balanced scoring team that the Hawks have become, he never plays for stats and always plays hard.
Josh Smith(24 yrs 6-9 245 lbs, 6th)15.3 ppg 8.4 rpg 3.6 apg 2.5 bpg 1.6 spg 51.7%FGs
Josh Smith, Josh Smith. This guy has been the blunt of alot of scrutiny over the years, takes too many jumpshots, can't hit free throws, bad attitude, problems with Coach Woodson
after starting the season with 2 wins by 11, the Hawks were tested against the Lakers, whom were without Gasol, they played well in the 1st half, but were outscored 34-18 in the 3rd, final score 118-100. The Hawks then go into Portland and win 97-91 behind balanced scoring, 46-36 rebounding advantage, and Jamal Crawford's game-high 27
They then went into Sacromento and won 113-105 and felt good going into Charlotte, the Bobcats showed their improvement and suprised Atlanta, losing 103-83 behind Raja Bell's 24 and Gerald Wallace 11 pts 18 rbs.
The Hawks went back to Atlanta motivated against the Denver Nuggets, and won handily 125-100 behind Josh SMith 22pts/9rbs/7asts/6blks, Joe Johnson 22pts/7rbs/5asts, Al Horford 11pts/13rbs/5asts, and 7 players in double figures, starting a 7 game win streak including beating Knicks by 13, Celtics (in Boston) by 11, Hornets by 23, Blazers (in Portland, again) by 4, Heat by 15, and Rockets by 2 in a buzzer-beating dunk by Josh SMith.
Hawks slept on the Chris Paul-less Hornets, as any team would, not expect a rookie to DO Chris, leading the team with 22pts11asts, they then had a 5 days layoff to prepare for division leading Orlando Magic on Thanksgiving Day. The Hawks played a great first half, they were winning at 51-39. No one still can explain how they came out in the 2nd half with half the amount of energy and scored a measley 25 pts TOTAL in the 2nd half, losing 93-76, causing many people to dismiss them upon faliure of that test as a title contender.
Hawks then beat the 76ers, as they should have, 100-86, the Hawks then expected the same result visiting Detroit whom were without 3 starters; Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton, and Will Bynum. They forgot about that final 04 championship piece whom has been invigorated by returning to his home franchise, Ben Wallace grabbed 18 rebounds, Rodney Stuckey scored 23, and the Hawks lost 94-88
In December, the Hawks are 7-1, beating the Raptors by 31, Mavericks (in Dallas) by 5, Bulls by 25, Raptors by 22, Nets by 23, and Memphis by 13
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