First place halfway through, three potential all stars, a great home record and still half a season to go. What did you expect from the Hawks? Did you expect them to be in first place, be one of the highest scoring teams in the league or having one of the best home records?  Did you expect them to beat the Celtics three consecutive times and get two wins in Boston? Did you expect the national media to pick up additional Hawks games throughout the year?

The players, coaching staff and ownership are not shocked one bit. The team has worked hard, learned to play well together, and is progressing nicely in the 2009-2010 campaign.

The Hawks started off hot and with the exception of a four game slide, have been a consistent team in the win column. It seems the team has learned not to let bad habits linger for long, and has figured out how to not one bad game snowball into a bad week or month. While there are times where the starts are slow and shot selection could be better, the good far exceeds the bad and this team has earned the top spot in the division. Can they hold it?  Here are some quotes on the first 41.

COACH MIKE WOODSON

“I like the direction that we are going, losses are tougher to swallow because expectations are high.”

JOSH SMITH

“Feels good, we just have to stay focused and not look at the standings and come out and play.”

MO EVANS

“We feel like we are right where we want to be and we still gave away few games that we felt like we should have had.  If we learn and put this chemistry together we can go really far.”

MARVIN WILLIAMS

“We’ve gotten off to a pretty good start, our goal was to get 50-plus wins and get home court advantage throughout the playoffs. We can’t have too many let downs.” 

ZAZA

“We had a good first half and we are looking forward to a better second half.”

JOE JOHNSON

“Our effort has to pickup in the first quarter, we can’t have mishaps in games we are supposed to win so we need to come out and handle business.”

OWNER BRUCE LEVENSON

“We couldn’t have asked for anymore than what we got this first half … I like this team I like this locker room.”

OWNER ED PESKOWITZ

“The team has just come together and is much better.  Jamal has made a great difference you can see a lot of chemistry, it’s really exciting. This team is really really competitive.”

THE GOOD TIMES OF THE FIRST HALF

The Hawks have had some memorable moments in the first 41 games this year here are a few:

Beating the Celtics three straight times, Jamal Crawford’s buzzer beater against the Suns, Smooth’s buzzer beater against the Rockets, the red jerseys, winning in Dallas, the largest crowd in Philips Arena History against the Cavs , the return of Mario West (Feel free to fill in the blanks).

THE BAD

Some things did not go the Hawks’ way in the first 41, but the sting of the not so good should be used to motivate the guys to not let them happen again.  I’m sure we all remember these:

The entire game against the Magic in Orlando in Orlando, The first half in Miami, the fourth quarter against Cleveland (10 points), two home losses against the Knicks, and who could forget Nate Robinson in overtime!

WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN SECOND HALF

Trade deadline- Is the team fine as currently constructed or will Gm Rick Sund pull the trigger on a move to make the team more devastating?  What do you think?

Mesmerizing  the Magic-The Hawks are in first place against the Magic, but Orlando owns the tie breaker. Figuring out how to beat this team will be huge for the standings and for a mental standpoint.

Beating Beatable and Bad Teams-With the Cavs, Celtics, Magic and Hawks close together not giving games away will be crucial in the second half.  If a team has a losing record they should be beaten. You can’t win them all, but imagine if the loses to the Knicks, Pistons, the Hornets without Chris Paul, had gone in favor of the Hawks.

“BOB-HAWKS”

Five former Hawks will be in the house on Friday as Acie Law, Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw ,Nazr Mohammed and Flip Murray all return to the highlight factory as the enemy.  Charlotte is a very dangerous team and this will be a highly competitive game.  Great plays, three pointers, and blocked shots will be coming from both teams. Flip Murray was replaced by Jamal Crawford so that will be a production battle to watch. Flip was a fan favorite…but Jamal is better.

The Hawks are 20 games into the 2009-10 regular season . . . roughly a quarter of the way through. Their 14-6 record has them on pace for about 57 wins, which would be 10 more than in 2008-09. A closer look at how Atlanta has gotten to this point of the season makes many believe this year’s Hawks are very capable of maintaining the early pace.

Staying Healthy:(knock on wood)

Atlanta has used the the same starting five for all 20 games this season. Last year the team had used the Mike/Joe/Al/Josh/Marvin lineup only six times at this point, with Horford (2 games), Smoove (12) and Marvin (1) all missing starts.

Quality Victories:

The Hawks are 8-2 against teams with records at or above .500 entering Wednesday night. Quality road wins at Boston, Dallas and Portland are evidence that this year’s team is capable of hanging with the league’s elite even without the comforts of the Highlight Factory. Many will point out bad losses to the Knicks and to the Bobcats in Charlotte, but a quick look at last year’s results reveal that losses to sub-par teams happen in the NBA, even if you are among the elite. The Lakers, who eventually were crowned NBA Champions, lost to the Kings (who finished 17-65) and lost both meetings with the Bobcats (35-47). Orlando, L.A.’s opponent in the finals, lost to Memphis (24-58), Toronto, Milwaukee and New Jersey (all had 34 wins or less). So we shouldn’t panic too much about a couple early season slips.

Analyzing the Analysts:

Seeding:

Most experts had the Hawks finishing as the fourth or fifth seed in the East and not contending with the “Big 3”. While Atlanta is currently holding down the fourth spot, they are now in the discussion when it comes to the 3-seed or even higher.

The Crawford Effect:

Analysts agreed that the biggest difference between this year’s Hawks and the Hawks of 2008-09 was the addition of Jamal Crawford and the departure of Flip Murray. Going inside the numbers shows that Jamal is having a greater impact:

Not to take anything away from Flip, because he was a great fit (and a bargain) for the role that he played on last year’s team, but most of his numbers were built up by leading an inferior second unit that needed an aggressive scorer. Jamal provides even more production and can be used with the starters or with the (much improved) second unit.

Speaking of the second unit:

JC, Joe Smith, Mo, Zaza and Teague have been great through the first 20 games of the season. One stat that should pay dividends down the stretch and into the playoffs is that Al Horford is the only starter whose minutes have increased since last season. The other four starters have seen their minutes cut as Coach Woodson has been able to give them more rest with the stronger bench.

Inside the Numbers:

Obscure stat of the first 20 games: Al Horford career 3FG% = 100%

Al took and made his only career attempt in the Hawks home win over Portland.

Complete NBA.com Rankings and Article

Making the jump from a solid playoff team to a legitimate contender is the toughest one to make, and some might argue that the Hawks have not done enough to warrant a ranking in the top group, much less the top spot. A look at the other teams in the top group and their argument loses steam: Phoenix, Boston, Portland and Denver round out NBA.com’s top-5. Atlanta has beaten the Celtics and Blazers on the road and handled the Nuggets by 25 at the Highlight Factory. It is safe to say that the Hawks have passed their early season tests against other teams in the league that are playing at a high level.

Champions are not crowned in November, but the Hawks don’t appear to be getting full of themselves. They still seem to be operating with a bit of a chip on their shoulder after being left out of all the preseason talk about contenders in the Eastern Conference. The media has been obsessed with the Cavs/Celtics/Magic and their star power, and is just now starting to notice Atlanta.

More tests are on the schedule for the Hawks this week against three of the hotter teams in the league. Portland owns the league’s longest winning streak (6 games), Miami is only a half game behind Atlanta at 7-2, and Houston beat the defending champion Lakers on the road by double digits last night. The good news is that these tests will be taken in the Highlight Factory where the Hawks are 4-0 and are winning by an average of 17.5 points per contest.

It is early, but these early season tests all factor in. The Hawks are gaining confidence, gaining respect and gaining attention around the league.

Update: Hawks also ranked #1 on ESPN.com | Hollinger’s Daily Dime
Update: Hawks ranked #2 on SI.com (behind Suns)

Update: Other Rankings – #1 at Yahoo! – Ball Don’t Lie, #1 at HoopsWorld.com, #1 at BleacherReport.com, #2 at FoxSports.com

Everyone knew the defending Eastern Conference Champion Magic were going to be tough. Everyone who paid attention to the Hawks 31-10 home record last season knew that the Highlight Factory produces mainly home team footage. The Heat have been playing as well as anyone the first two weeks of the season, and the Wizards are much improved with a healthy Gilbert Arenas.

Maybe it’s time the analysts show some love to the Southeast Division.

You get your news “From the Highlight Factory”, so we will assume you are most interested in the Hawks game against the Lakers. One of only two times this season that the Hawks will face the defending world champions. Tip-off is at 9:30 pm EST, and you can catch all the action on Fox Sports South HD or listen to the game on 790 The Zone.

Many analysts (TNT’s Reggie Miller and Kenny Smith among them) have made bold predictions of the Lakers starting 20-1 thanks to an early schedule that is loaded with home games. L.A. earned the title of the best team in the league last season, so it is hard to argue that they shouldn’t be favored against any opponent when they play at STAPLES Center. Still, this is the NBA. The highest level of basketball in the world, and anybody can beat anybody on a given night. These analysts must have forgotten that the Lakers were beaten by Philly, Detroit and Charlotte at home last season ( and none of those teams finished above .500).

All in all, it should be a great day for sports. Let’s see if the Hawks can post a ‘W’ and work their highlights into the first segment of SportsCenter on Monday morning.

Less than a month away from training camp,  as we start to consider the season to come, it seemed like as good a time as any to check in with some of the Hawks bloggers out there to get their takes on the Hawks’ offseason.

That’s right, it’s roundtable time!

Check out the latest installment, which asks them to grade the team’s moves this summer and give their opinion on which other Eastern Conference teams made the most waves as well.

This year however, based on the success of the postseason and the terrific offseason Rick Sund and his staff have put together, there is a lot more optimism out there about our hometown heroes.

ESPN’s basketball staff is in the middle of some off-season predictions about the upcoming 2009-10 season, and wouldn’t you know it, they are high on the Hawks:

“ESPN’s panelists like the Hawks as the Beasts of the Rest in the East once again, expecting the additions of Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith to keep them in the No. 4 slot. If our Eastern Conference prognostications are accurate, the Hawks will again host the Miami Heat in Game 1 of Round 1 when the playoffs begin next April.”

The perception as of now seems to be that there is still a clear pecking order at the top of the Eastern Conference with Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando, but that the Hawks are at the top of the list of teams looking to break up that hegemony.

As the season draws closer, we’ll take a closer look at the teams in the East to see if the current pecking order is still intact.