Atlanta (15-6)
Pace: 93.0 (22), Off: 102.5 (9), Def: 95.6 (4)
Atlanta is mostly winning with defense, while getting just enough offense from Joe Johnson and a random teammate selected nightly. Marvin Williams has made 10 of his last 13 threes, and Johnson’s wild three at the end of regulation helped the Hawks pull a victory out of thin air in Detroit on Friday.

Two weeks earlier, Shuhmann did not seem convinced that the Hawks would be able to survive without Horford’s services and had them in the middle tier of the rankings at #13:

Atlanta (9-4)
Pace: 92.6 (23), Off: 103.3 (8), Def: 95.9 (5)
Eventually, the Hawks will probably struggle without Al Horford, but they’re 2-0 since he was ruled out for the next 3-4 months. Maybe Ivan Johnson, who won the game for them on Saturday, can keep them afloat.

Even last week, when the Hawks inched up to the tenth position in the rankings, you could read between the lines and hear Shuhmann (and others) saying, “Yeah, they are finding ways to win at home, but let’s see how they do on this road trip.”

Now that Atlanta has won three times in four games during their five-game trip that criss crosses the country, some of the skeptics are running out of reasons to doubt the Hawks.

I feel like we keep hitting repeat on the “Flying Under the Radar” track. The Hawks are now sitting at the #4 spot in the league-sponsored power rankings, but no one is really talking about them. Not to mention the fact that they have beaten the top-ranked team (Miami) on the road and dismantled the third-ranked team (Chicago) at the Highlight Factory.

It is fair to say that the Hawks players want respect and attention for their play on the court, but not in the form of rankings and 30-second features on SportsCenter. They might have even given up hope for that after years of being overlooked. They want their opponents to know that they are for real, and in that regard they are succeeding each time they step on the court.

Check Out the Full Rankings on NBA.com

Kirk Hinrich has been rehabilitating his left shoulder after having a surgical procedure performed on it in early November. He was cleared for all non-contact drills after a January 3 check-up in Chicago, and hopes to be back in uniform at some point during the Hawks current five-game, nine-day road trip.

When Hinrich returns, the Hawks will have another option in a backcourt that has received contributions from many sources already this season. Before last Friday’s game with the 76ers, Larry Drew talked about the challenge of having increased depth this season:

Meanwhile, Al Horford underwent surgery on his torn pectoral muscle on January 17. Horford was re-examined by Dr. Xavier Duralde on Saturday, and it was determined that he could begin strengthening work in six weeks.

Other notable facts about ’95 that Jerry forgot to mention…

• The Atlanta Braves won the World Series
• The DVD was invented and developed
• Yahoo! and Ebay were both founded
  (No… Hawks.com had not been launched yet)
• Braveheart won the Academy Award for Best Picture
• Alanis Morissette and TLC topped the music charts
• Andre Dawson (400 HR’s), Eddie Murray (3,000 hits) and Cal Ripken, Jr. (consecutive games) all reached career milestones

]]> http://hawksbasketblog.com/2012/01/20/back-to-the-beginning/feed/ 0 http://hawksbasketblog.com/2012/01/13/is-this-the-year-for-smoove/ http://hawksbasketblog.com/2012/01/13/is-this-the-year-for-smoove/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:14:01 +0000 Jon Newberry http://hawksbasketblog.com/?p=1382 Josh Smith: Player Profile | Photo Gallery

The early results of the 2012 NBA All-Star Balloting were released by the league earlier today, and Josh Smith was not among the top-10 forwards in votes received. It is the latest example of how fan voting isn’t always accurate.

Don’t give up hope yet that this may finally be the year that Josh breaks through to add “All-Star” to his impressive resume. The fan vote only determines the starters, while two or (most likely) three reserve forwards will be determined by the Eastern Conference head coaches. LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony seem to be locks for the fan vote based on the early results and historic precedence, so it is really a handful of forwards competing for the collective nod from the coaches.

One day after Smith dropped 30 and 13 on the Bobcats, I felt it was a good time to make the argument for Josh to make the trip to Orlando in late February.

Smoove is the ONLY player in the Eastern Conference that ranks in the top-10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks among forwards. That’s right, not even LeBron or ‘Melo can make that claim. James is actually the only other player to rank in the top-10 in four out of the five categories.

Josh’s overall numbers are definitely enough to get the attention of many Eastern Conference coaches, but they have been even more impressive recently.

After a relatively slow start (10.2 ppg and 7.2 rpg in December), Smoove has taken his game to a whole new level. Over the last eight games he is averaging 20.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.9 spg and 1.8 bpg.

On paper, Smith looks like he should get some serious consideration to make this year’s team… but history has proven that there are factors other than what is found on the stat sheet that determine how coaches vote for all-star reserves.

It is safe to say that players that have made the All-Star team before have a decided edge over those who haven’t. This puts guys like Josh and Chicago’s Luol Deng at a disadvantage against players like Garnett, Pierce, Bosh and Stoudemire.

Coaches also tend to vote for guys that are leading the better teams in the conference. If the Hawks continue to play well and have one of the four or five best records in the East when the coaches cast their votes, then that should help Smoove’s chances.

There are plenty of games between in the condensed schedule between now and when the coaches votes are due, but if this recent stretch is any indication of the type of play we can expect from Smith all season long, then J-Smoove will be a hard name to leave off the ballot.

- Marvin Williams (ankle) did not travel with the team for their two-game trip
- Tracy McGrady (back spasms) did not dress for the game at Indiana
- Al Horford (sprained shoulder) left Wednesday’s game and will be re-evaluated on Thursday in Atlanta

The good news… None of the injuries seem to be serious.
The bad news… With the condensed schedule this season, even small injuries can cause players to miss 5-10 games.

Most seasons a player will play through minor injuries with one eye on an upcoming break in the schedule. This season the Hawks will be 50 days into the season before they get consecutive days without a game.

As mentioned earlier, none of the injuries seem to be serious. Both Marvin and Horford had x-rays that came back negative, and no specific incident has caused McGrady’s back pains. Still, an added measure of caution must be taken this season, when time to heal is at a premium.

Here’s hoping that the troops are back from the inactive list as soon as possible.

Last week the Hawks let a big lead slip away against the Bulls in Chicago, right before the start of a stretch of three games in three nights. Then they lost to the Heat in triple overtime at home on Thursday. Then, after getting into Charlotte at 3am, they needed overtime to beat the Bobcats on Friday night.

At the end of a physically and mentally draining stretch of games, the Hawks chemistry was surely going to be tested against the Bulls on Saturday night. The blowout win helped Atlanta pass with flying colors. (Note: the final margin of 15 points did not do justice to explain how much the Hawks dominated this game. Check out a full explanation from the AJC’s Michael Cunningham.)

Re-watch the highlights from Saturday night (if you haven’t watched them yet, where have you been?) and keep an eye on the Hawks bench. As the Hawks are exploding on their 18-2 run to end the first half the bench might even be more active than the players on the floor. The only team to play nine games in their first 12 days of the season is jumping around and joking with each other like kids that only have 30 minutes of recess to get rid of all their energy.

My personal favorite was when Joe broke Deng’s ankles to end the half. Focus in on T-Mac. McGrady (894 career games) grabs Ivan Johnson (5 career games) and wrestles with him while turning away, as if to say, “Don’t watch. That’s not right to treat someone’s ankles like that.”

Here is a zoomed-in view courtesy of Fox’s X-MO:

Some great examples that were not visible on the highlights:

- The Hawks bench standing up in unison before Vlad even releases the ball on his fifth 3-pointer of the night.
- Josh Smith with some creative towel movements to celebrate another ‘And-1′ from Ivan Johnson in the second half.
- Everyone at the Highlight Factory loved seeing dunks by both Zaza Pachulia and Jason Collins on the same night.

Yes, it is only one win. But at the end of nine games in 12 days, to get a blowout win like this that has everyone feeling good about their game is huge with this year’s condensed schedule.

Atlanta looked energized and their execution was crisp right out of the gate, despite the fact that they were playing their third game in as many nights. Josh Smith was especially good in the early going, scoring nine of his team-high 25 points in the first quarter on 4-of-6 shooting.

One negative in the first quarter was that Marvin Williams left the game and did not return after rolling his ankle. (Stay tuned to Hawks.com for status update.) Vladimir Radmanovic quickly took advantage of the extra floor time at small forward, hitting two 3-pointers to spark an 18-2 run by the Hawks to end the half. The run put the Hawks ahead by 18 points at the break and the Bulls would never get back within single digits. Vlad finished the game 5-of-5 from behind the arc.

“I thought we came out from the very beginning and played with a lot of emotion,” Coach Drew commented after the game. “We got some transitions baskets. Defensively, we were on queue with everything we talked about. We just came out, and I thought we just took it to them.”

The first Hawks’ example showed up tonight when it was announced that Tracy McGrady would be in street clothes for Atlanta’s game in Charlotte. T-Mac banged his knee late in Tuesday’s game in Chicago, but felt good enough to go last night at the Highlight Factory. In a normal season, and without a third game in three nights tomorrow, McGrady would probably at least have suited up and been available for limited minutes.

The Heat have put together a solid supporting cast behind their two superstars. Let’s not forget, Chris Bosh anchored a respectable Raptors team for years in Toronto without as much support as he will have tonight.

Furthermore, you can usually count on teams stepping up as a whole to make up for injured players. It is usually brief, sometimes not even a full game, but role players and reserves view these situations as an opportunity to showcase their talents and hopefully earn a bigger role down the road. The Hawks need to make sure they match the Heat’s effort from the opening tip and follow the same gameplan that LD and his staff laid out before they knew that Wade and James would be on the sidelines.

Atlanta should still be upset about Tuesday night’s loss in Chicago, so motivation SHOULDN’T be a problem.

AP Recap – Box Score – Photo Gallery - Highlights

The Hawks handed the Heat their first loss of the 2011-12 season and improved their own record to 4-1 by posting a 100-92 win in Miami on Monday night. Tracy McGrady, now in his 15th season in the NBA, may not have the athleticism he had when he entered the league as a teenager, but on this night he showed that he can still knock down the 3-ball in clutch situations.

Atlanta executed Larry Drew’s game plan extremely well through the first three quarters, save for a few spurts where they let the Heat get out in transition for easy baskets. In the halfcourt the Hawks forced Miami to settle for perimeter shots with a mix of zone defense and more switching on ball screens than they typically employ. To keep the Heat from getting out in transition the Hawks had solid shot selection and only committed nine turnovers in the game.

All of the Hawks efforts set them up for a clutch fourth quarter by McGrady. T-Mac played all 12 minutes of the final period, scoring 13 of his 16 points while hitting all three of his attempts from behind the arc. For good measure, he added five rebounds and four assists to help Atlanta turn a four-point deficit into an eight-point win.

Joe Johnson also hit a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, helping him finish with a team-high 21 points, while Al Horford added 16 points and nine rebounds. Jeff Teague had another solid game at point guard, consistently breaking down Miami’s defense and getting into the paint while taking good care of the ball. Jeff hit six of his first seven shots while scoring 13 of his 15 points in the first half to keep the Hawks within striking distance.

LeBron James finished with a game-high 28 points and Chris Bosh added 19, but the Hawks did a great job of keeping Dwyane Wade out of the lane and settling for jumpers. Wade had 10 assists and scored 12 points, but he shot just 4-of-17 from the field.

The real story of the game was the clutch play from McGrady. With the condensed schedule and T-Mac’s injury history the Hawks shouldn’t plan on counting on these kind of heroics every night, but I think tonight proved that he still has plenty left in the tank to make a big contribution this season. He is definitely not afraid of stepping in to take the big shots.

GAME NOTES FROM HAWKS PR:

– On the strength of 21 points from Joe Johnson and a solid 16 off the bench from Tracy McGrady, the Atlanta Hawks knocked off the previously unbeaten Miami Heat, 100-92 Monday at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

–The win was Atlanta’s fourth in five games, and dropped Miami to 5-1.

– Al Horford also finished with 16 and Jeff Teague turned in a smooth, 15-point, five-assist and four-steal night.

– The Heat led by as many as 10 early, and took a 23-19 lead after one.  Atlanta narrowed the margin at the half, behind Teague’s 13 first half points, 50-47.  The Hawks took advantage of nine Miami turnovers, converting them into 14 points.

– Atlanta trailed by four heading into the final quarter (71-67), and completely dominated the home team in the fourth, outscoring them 33-21.  The Hawks shot 60% in the fourth, making 9-of-15 FGs and held the Heat to 37 percent shooting.

– McGrady had 13 of his 16 points in that crucial fourth, drilling three three-point FGs.

– Atlanta wraps up this three-game road trip Tuesday at Chicago at 8 ET (Sportsouth HD, NBA TV, 680 AM and 93.7 FM).