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Hawks Starting To Fly

Authored by Patrick J. Austin - December 28, 2005 - 1:10 am

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Just when you thought all hope was lost for these beleaguered birds, things have finally started to turn around. After being shellacked by virtually every team during the month of November, we’ve posted some very impressive wins in December; most notably against the champion San Antonio Spurs, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Denver Nuggets (all teams with above .500 records).

What’s the reason for our improved play? That’s a very good question with no singular answer. I believe it’s a combination of things. First and foremost, the owners re-stated their dedication to Billy Knight and Mike Woodson. This was important since some players ignore the direction of coaches and management if they hear they’re on the “hot seat” and will be ousted soon (I’m talking to you Josh Smith).

Another major factor is the fantastic play of Joe Johnson and Al Harrington. Those two have carried us offensively. It’s good to see Joe finally finding his groove with the team. Sure, the point guard experiment failed, but he’s still posting all-star worthy stats. I hope Al Harrington keeps his production up. As we get closer to the trading deadline, the better Al plays the more value we’ll get for him.

Finally, settling on a rotation appears to be helping our young guys. You can see roles starting to develop, which helps each player know what they should be doing on the court. J.J. and Al are the offensive dynamos with Zaza Pachulia, Josh Smith, and Tyronn Lue providing the hustle(Pachulia), defense(Smoove and Lue), and shot blocking(Smoove) in the starting line-up. The bench is comprised of versatile young talent in Josh Childress, Marvin Williams, Salim Stoudemire, Royal Ivey, and Esteban Bautista. Yes, that group is very inexperienced, but not many teams can trot out those kind of fresh legs from the second unit.

For Christmas, I bought myself a rabbits foot (it’s fake, so don’t come after me PETA) and some four-leaf clovers. These will be used exclusively to help the Hawks continue their winning ways. I have to say, it’s wonderful to hear people talk about the “improving Hawks” and see them climb the ESPN and RealGM power rankings. The pessimist in me keeps saying this won’t last—we’re still inconsistent, very young, and play sub-par defense—but after watching so many losses, it’s good to see even a brief period of winning.