Following last season's first-round exit against the Indiana Pacers, most people thought that the Atlanta Hawks would be the same team and a playoff series victory would be unrealistic, but now they are showing that they are a team to be taken seriously.
Former assistant coach for Gregg Popovich, now head coach for the Hawks, Mike Budenholzer is making a case for Coach of the Year. He is a coach who has a nice system and has a good relationship with his players. His system fits the players, and it's a system his players are buying into. He is turning this team into the San Antonio Spurs of the East.
Al Horford is back in the lineup which is a plus. He is still trying to find his groove, but his mid-range shot is looking great. He and Paul Millsap are pick and pop guys with not much of a low post game, but they are one of the best frontcourt duos in the game and the two of them have built excellent chemistry together.
Sharpshooter Kyle Korver is knocking down shots at a high rate, hitting 50 percent of his three-point attempts. What also makes him an efficient shooter is his teammates. Whenever Jeff Teague drives to the hoop, help always comes, this leaves Kyle Korver open. The Hawks always have the floor spread with shooters and have a smooth offensive flow.
The Atlanta Hawks are running the offense to near perfection and sharing the ball. Unselfish play will most certainly win a lot of games. Atlanta is top three in the league in assists, averaging 25.7 per game. This leads to easy points and forces opposing defenses to work harder. The Hawks pass up good looks for great looks.
The Hawks are not a great defensive team, but they know how to get stops when needed. They like to trap ball handlers. They also do a solid job of covering the paint and closing out on shooters. In that sense, the coaching staff is doing a wonderful job of teaching and getting guys to feel confident on the defensive end, and the players are doing their jobs by watching film and understanding what they need to improve on.
Time will only tell how good this Hawks team really is. They will be tested this month, as they face the Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto Raptors, and Chicago Bulls on the road and the Washington Wizards and Memphis Grizzlies at home. This is their chance to show the league how good they are. They have already beaten the likes of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, and Dallas Mavericks on the road, and the Bulls and Clippers at home.
When you look at the East, they have slightly improved from last year. Teams like the Raptors, Wizards, and Hawks have found much success this season. The East is wide open, as there are no clear-cut frontrunners, but Atlanta is definitely a team in the mix. But for them to stay in the mix for the remainder of the season, Horford needs to stay healthy, and they need to stick to their principles.