Atlanta is currently on pace to have their best offensive season in history, their defensive season since 2001, and could end up being the Hawks team ever. This is a team who is definitely a threat to change the Eastern Conference from the Big Three (Boston, Cleveland, Orlando) into the Big Four! Just shy of the half-way point of the season, Atlanta’s record of 26-13 is good enough for third in the East, and half a game ahead of division rival Orlando in fourth.
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Power forward Josh Smith (14.8 points, 2.4 offensive and 5.8 defensive rebounds) leads the team with 2.18 blocks and 1.41 steals a night, and is putting forth a strong effort which could lead to most-improved and defensive player of the year honors, in addition to a spot in the NBA All-Star game. In addition to Smith’s inspiring play, shooting guard Joe Johnson (5 rebounds, 1.05 steals) is atop Atlanta’s points and assists lists with 21.2 and 4.8 per game respectively, while center Al Horford rounds out the team leader-board with 9.8 rebounds (2.7 offensive, 7.1 defensive) in addition to contributing 13.7 points and 1.31 blocks. Last but not least, veteran guard Jamal Crawford lends his assistance and years of experience as the number two scorer with 17.2 points a game, while grabbing 2.5 rebounds, and dishing out 2.5 assists.
The Hawks have consistently been in the playoff running for the past few years, but mainly as an also-ran, and never as one of the top contenders. This season the team seems to have really found the right combination of skill, talent, experience, and ability to have put it all together as a team to be reckoned with in the Eastern Conference. With a legitimate shot at being division, conference, and even league champions, you should be getting tickets right away to watch this team as they play out the second half of the 2009-2010 season.
The new season is speculated by many to prove to be a hard one to crack for the Hawks, although they are the team right behind the big three, it will still have to do much rebuilding and some new faces might just help the team along. At least they don’t have to worry about Hawks tickets sales the fans are in place now the team needs to step up and learn from there past. Many great players have shown them the way they just need to follow good leadership. In the end the only thing the team has to do is play their best and the Hawks ticket holders will make sure that they have all the backing they need.