Atlanta Hawks for real?

[GwinnettNole]

Best record in the East as of this morning-- and beat the clippers last night.

I grew up as a magic fan but was always liked the Atlanta teams--- Hawks included. Now that I have lived in the metro Atlanta area for the last 17 years I'm becoming more a hawks fan.

I do know that Atlanta is generally 'loser-ville' for the pro teams-- so jumping on a bandwagon and thinking they are going to go far in the playoffs is very premature.

They do have a good foundation in Teague, Horford and Millsap...

 

[Lemon Thrower]

hired an asst from San Antonio, which is the reason for the turnaround. last year was a rebuilding. think they still have cap space to boot.

 

[Mugsy101]

Last year was more about Al being injured and missing most of the season and they still made the playoffs. Millsap has proven to be a great addition, they should have beaten the top seed indiana in round 1 they blew it.

The Hawks have a nice team, I think they lead the league in assists, they shoot and make 3's and are a pretty solid team, but I doubt they make it past the 2nd round in the playoffs.

 

[tarheelinfl]

Quick: Name 3-4 players on the Hawks!

Just shows what team play can do, even in the star-driven NBA!

 

[Vizike Is Back!]

They are playing well but the East is horrible. Nowhere near as good as most in the West....including San Antonio and OKC.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[seminoleed]

And yet they're beating the West teams as well

 

[Vizike Is Back!]

I said they are playing well. NBA teams don't normally come out of nowhere with a bunch of nobodys. Time will tell if they can sustain it but my bet is that they lose steam soon. Then again, no one in the East is really dominant.

1/23 against OKC. OKC is now full strength.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[Mugsy101]

At some point having the best record in the NBA, going 17-5 on the road, and 10-2 against the west, has to mean something. Plus they have been beating teams while resting starters. They have won on the road against teams like the clippers, rockets, Mavericks, all from the west.

They should easily win a first round series just based on seeding, whether they can go beyond that is up in the air.

 

[seminoleed]

Originally posted by Mugsy101:
At some point having the best record in the NBA, going 17-5 on the road, and 10-2 against the west, has to mean something. Plus they have been beating teams while resting starters. They have won on the road against teams like the clippers, rockets, Mavericks, all from the west.

They should easily win a first round series just based on seeding, whether they can go beyond that is up in the air.

I don't think they're built for the long haul of the playoffs yet, but a first round win isn't out of the question. Then again, the way they are dominating teams right now has to be encouraging.

 

[seminoleed]

After tonight, I'm convinced this is a charmed team. Every night, it's someone different stepping up. This was a game you'd have expected them to lose--Golden State with the 2nd best record and an average winning differential of 11 points led by Curry, who's deadly all over the floor. Warriors score 114 against a very good Hawk defense--and lose by 8!

This team could get me to enjoy the NBA again--and I do mean TEAM.

 

[Manch.]

Yes they are for real, and I feel will continue to be for real because of the coaching. They are on an unreal run and like Ed said, they keep beating the west.

 

[Manch.]

Wow, what a box score line for ATL..... 49.4% FG---------15/27 3 PM-A/55.6% and 33/37 from the stripe for 89.2%.

Some chick must have been refereeing, because ATL shot 37 free throws to Golden State's 15 attempts. Somewhere, Chris Paul is proud.

 

[Mugsy101]

Originally posted by Manch.:
Wow, what a box score line for ATL..... 49.4% FG---------15/27 3 PM-A/55.6% and 33/37 from the stripe for 89.2%.

Some chick must have been refereeing, because ATL shot 37 free throws to Golden State's 15 attempts. Somewhere, Chris Paul is proud.

I watched a good portion of the game and the Hawks shot more foul shots because they weren't fouling, which is something that doesn't happen in the NBA very often. Plus, no league gives the home team a bigger advantage to the home team than in the NBA. Plus when you throw in GS being a jump shooting team, and the end of game fouls the advantage wasn't as bad as the final numbers looked.

The problem with the Hawks is they got killed on the boards, especially the giving up offensive rebounds, which is something they will have to figure out in the playoffs.

 

[LesClaypool]

Impressive what they're doing. Fun to watch them play!

That said, as far as best records go, there should be an asterisk since San Antonio is systematically resting their stars all year. San Antonio is still CLEARLY the best team in the NBA, imo, and it's not really that close.

 

[seminoleed]

Well, I guess a 60-win season the year after a losing record is VERY real.

These guys are truly a TEAM. I don't think they're built for the long haul of a deep playoff run, but damn, they've been fun to watch this year, especially when Korver was hot.