AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 29
Monday, December 29, 2008
The root of all things!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAWKSVILLE - Go ahead and scoff at 20-10 all you want.
But a tip of the hat is in order for these Hawks (and if you were here for 13-69 or any of the two seasons directly after that, you know what I’m talking about).
They’ve not only handled their business with the Charlottes and Washingtons of the world, they’ve done it against the Clevelands and now the Denvers of the world as well.
If you’re looking for the source, just look at the way the Hawks have been winning games. It’s been a methodical, by-any-means-necessary approach that’s worked night in and night out.
Bigger than any one player, because it’s been all of them collectively, it’s been the way they’ve played for each other that’s made the difference.
From Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby’s continued offensive prowess to Al Horford continued improvement on both ends to Josh Smith’s ability to play effectively through obvious pain to Zaza Pachulia thriving in his role as the super sub inside to Flip Murray and Mo Evans finding a way to make plays whenever they’re pressed into service to Marvin Williams accepting the challenge every night to guard some of the most explosive and dynamic players the NBA has to offer (he’s seen LeBron and Carmelo at the start and finish of the home stand with Paul Pierce in the middle and more than held his own every time), these Hawks seems to get it.
The root of this turnaround is in the way they’re playing as a group.
The Hawks aren’t even playing as well as they did during that 6-0 stretch to start the season. Btu they’re winning anyway, which is the biggest sign of improvement. They don’t have to play their very best basketball to win every night, which by my estimate is the surest sign of a good team.
The 109-91 thumping of the Nuggets tonight was impressive against an explosive, high-scoring bunch with Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony at the controls (though Kenyon Martin was the only Nugget to be effective from start to finish).
Just look at the way opposing coaches talk about the Hawks these days for proof that we’re not the only ones that see the changing of the guard with this team.
“We didn’t do enough fundamental things well and we fell apart in the fourth quarter,” Denver coach George Karl said. “When you don’t pass the ball as you should, you’re not going to beat the good teams. Atlanta does a good job defensively by switching, and they made Carmelo see a lot of different bodies, which disrupted him tonight. The Hawks are good at finding the 3-pointer and they have a lot of guys who are confident enough to shoot it. They’re a pretty efficient offensive team with a great player in Joe [Johnson], and Bibby is playing at the level he played in his early days in Sacramento. Mike Bibby’s shooting is as good as I’ve seen in many years from him.”
Bibby (5-for-6 from long range) and Murray (3-for-4 from deep) served up the biggest daggers Monday night. The next time it might be Johnson and Williams. Or maybe even Evans and Smith.
You just never know with this bunch.
But it’s clear that whatever it takes, particularly at home, they’re going to get it done some way and somehow.
