Hawks are closest team to rare Atlanta title

Which brings us to 2015, and these fantastical thoughts that the Hawks are creating. Can this team — the Hawks — actually bring a championship to the city? I know one thing: They have a better chance than the other six. Here's how I rank the seven major sports teams in terms of their proximity to a title:

1. Hawks

It turns out an NBA team can win a lot of games by playing defense and passing the ball. Who knew? If word of this gets around, imagine the chaos it’s going to cause.

The Hawks held the NBA’s second-best record going into the weekend. That’s not because of one or two great players but rather a bunch of really good ones. Will this work in the playoffs? It did for San Antonio to some degree, although there’s no Tim Duncan or Tony Parker on the Hawks’ roster. The playoffs are a different animal than the regular season. Coaches have more time to figure out ways to attack opponents. But the fact the Hawks gave Indiana so many problems as a No. 8 seed last year and probably should have won that series — without Al Horford — projects well for them. Mike Budenholzer is a great coach, and the team is even-keeled, a reflection of him.

Dare to dream, Atlanta.

2. Georgia football

A case could be made that Georgia should go into most seasons with a chance to compete for conference and national titles. (Then again, so should 20 other schools.) But going 10-3 last season with losses to two mediocre SEC East teams, South Carolina and Florida, represents the biggest disappointment for a Mark Richt team since the Bulldogs were 6-7 in 2010.

I write that, even knowing the Bulldogs had their best player, Todd Gurley, for only six games because of suspension and injury. The loss to a 3-3 Florida team had nothing to do with Gurley’s absence. But the Bulldogs have running back Nick Chubb returning next season and an improving defense under Jeremy Pruitt (the Florida game notwithstanding). Their biggest question: quarterback.

3. Georgia Tech football

The Yellow Jackets reached the ACC Championship game and nearly upset then-unbeaten Florida State. Critics bang on Tech for a soft schedule, but it’s hard to knock a team that played so impressive down the stretch against Clemson (win), at Georgia (win) and FSU (37-35 loss).

Coach Paul Johnson has proved his offense works when he has a quarterback who can run it, and Justin Thomas is as good a QB and leader as the Jackets have had in years. The defense showed improvement in the second half under Ted Roof. The ACC is a winnable conference, and a title would put Tech in the running for the playoffs. The challenge will be next season’s schedule, which includes road games at Notre Dame and Clemson and home against Florida State.

4. Falcons

The new coaching staff led by Dan Quinn can make an immediate impact on a team that was 10-22 over the past two seasons. The question is, how big of an impact. Players will be transitioning to new coaches, philosophies and schemes on offense and defense.

Then there’s the roster thing. Quinn, Thomas Dimitroff and Scott Pioli need to upgrade the personnel, particularly on defense. Nobody can be certain how well those three will coexist, and it remains unclear who will make the personnel decisions. The Falcons are capable of winning the weak NFC South and making the playoffs next season, but they have a lot of holes to fill before they can compete for a Super Bowl.

5. Georgia basketball

I know what you’re thinking: this team over the Braves? Georgia has a good chance of making it into the NCAA tournament. That doesn’t equate to a Final Four run, but a tournament berth at least gets the Dogs in the running. I don’t see the Braves getting into the postseason next year — or possibly the year after.

There’s obvious pressure on coach Mark Fox to get Georgia’s veteran team into the tournament, something that hasn’t happened since his second season (2011-12). The key for Fox moving forward is having a tournament bid and at least one or two wins have a ripple effect in recruiting.

6. Braves

It’s easy to understand why president of baseball operations John Hart and assistant general manager John Coppolella believed they needed to strip down and rebuild this roster, given this Braves’ core has never won a postseason round and went backwards last season (79-83, down from 94- and 96-win seasons the previous two years).

But to win the National League East again and become significant players in the postseason, Hart and Coppolella will need to do a number of things right, hope most of these prospects they’ve acquired pan out and build a consistent offense to go with the team’s solid pitching. That can happen. I’m just not sold yet that it’s going to happen in the next two years. There’s only so much that can be expected in the short term.

7. Tech basketball

The Jackets rank 278th in the nation in scoring (63.6 points), 285th in field-goal percentage (40.9 percent) and 349th of 351 teams in 3-point shooting (71-for-285, 24.9 percent). That’s how a team starts 0-6 in the ACC. Brian Gregory: Your clock is ticking. I understand Gregory didn’t inherit a great situation after Paul Hewitt. But it has been four years now, and there’s no reason a major college team, sitting in the heart of Atlanta, to be this bad.

The Jackets took a major hit when their best player, Robert Carter Jr., transferred, but Carter’s absence doesn’t explain losing at Virginia 57-28 and making only 12 of 49 shots (0-for-12 from 3-point range). It took Tech athletic director Mike Bobinski until late in the season to offer a contract extension to Johnson, who had a far more impressive resume than Gregory. Safe assumption: Gregory is in trouble.