Mike Bundenholzer
The Atlanta Hawks have made the NBA Playoffs in each of the last seven seasons, but they have continued to fly under the radar. Last season the injury bug hit the Hawks real hard, but under first-year head coach Mike Budenholzer they surprised many observers with a trip to the postseason. The Hawks would give the Eastern Conference’s top team in the Indiana Pacers all that they could handle in the first round of the playoffs before bowing out in seven games. The Hawks didn’t hang their heads after exiting the postseason as they gained tremendous confidence that has carried over to this season.
The Hawks currently have a record of 29-8 which is the best record in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks have done this by playing team basketball and simply believing in one another. All five starters for the Hawks are currently averaging in double figures for points as it has been a different guy every night that has emerged to carry the team in Atlanta.
(L-R), Kyle Korver, DeMarre Carroll, Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague
Last season Hawks center Al Horford was averaging 18.6 points and 8.4 rebounds before a torn pectoral muscle ended his season after just 29 games. Horford has returned this season and his offensive production is down which is to be expected if all five starters are averaging double figures in points, but he gives the Hawks a presence in the post. In seven seasons with the Utah Jazz, power forward Paul Millsap flew under the radar as the Western Conference is loaded with quality big men. Millsap signed with the Hawks as free agent in the summer of 2013 and last season he made his first NBA All-Star team. Millsap is averaging 17 points and 8.1 rebounds this season as he has teamed with Horford to give the Hawks a tough combination on the interior. Like Millsap, the Jazz were the last NBA team that small forward DeMarre Carroll was employed by before joining the Hawks. Carroll is also in his second season with the Hawks and he is enjoying a career year as he is averaging 11.4 points and 5.8 boards per contest. And just as Millsap and Carroll once played for the Jazz, the same can be said about Hawks shooting guard Kyle Korver. Korver is in his 12th NBA season and he has become one of the better three-point shooters that the game has ever seen. This season is flirting with that rare air as he is looking to hit on 90 percent of his free throws while hitting at 50 percent on his field goals and from downtown. But the player that has emerged as the glue for the Hawks is point guard Jeff Teague.
Jeff Teague
The Hawks drafted Teague with the 19th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft out of Wake Forest University without that much fan fare, but he has worked at his craft and he has continued to improve in each season. When the Hawks lost Horford last season, Teague was one of the players that stepped his game up. And in the postseason versus the Pacers, Teague emerged as he averaged 19.3 points per game. Teague’s postseason performance from last spring has carried over to this season as he is currently leading the Hawks in points per game (17.5) while he is 10th in the NBA in assists with 7.2.
When Budenholzer became the Hawks head coach in 2013, he brought with him a winning pedigree. Budenholzer had been an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs since 1996 and during his time there he was a part of four NBA Championship teams. In San Antonio, Budenholzer worked under Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich who preaches team first basketball. With Popovich leading the way the Spurs have won five NBA Championships and they have done it with the team first philosophy as they don’t rely on one player to carry the load which is what the Hawks are doing this season and so far it has been a success.
After a 7-6 start to the season, the Hawks have won 22 out of their last 24 ballgames and their surge cannot just be attributed to playing in the Eastern Conference or the Southeast Division. During this run the Hawks have knocked off the Cleveland Cavaliers twice and defeated the Chicago Bulls on December 15. The past three weeks have also seen the Hawks run the gauntlet versus the Western Conference. In consecutive road games in late December, the Hawks knocked off both the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets which was immediately followed by a home victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Hawks have kicked off 2015 on the right note with road victories over the Portland Trailblazers and Clippers which was followed up with a home win against the Memphis Grizzlies. This past Friday night the Hawks went on the road and defeated the Detroit Pistons who were the hottest team in the NBA. And just yesterday the Hawks throttled the Washington Wizards who are one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference by the score of 120-89.
The Hawks are destined to make the playoffs and they have the people in Atlanta once again gravitating to them. Last summer controversy surrounded the Hawks as their majority owner Bruce Levinson self-reported himself to the NBA in wake of an inflammatory email that he sent in 2012. The Hawks are searching for a new owner as they have been a ship without a captain, but with a chief officer like Bundenholzer, the remaining deck mates have been able to not listen to the white noise outside and focus on playing basketball. Like the Clippers last season in wake of the Donald Sterling scandal, the Hawks are rolling along in spite of their owner. The Hawks main competition in the Southeast Division are the Wizards with whom they have proven that they can beat and it will be a race with the Bulls and the Toronto Raptors for the top spot in the conference. The Hawks have not been out of the first round since 2011 while they have not been to the NBA Finals since 1961 when they still called St. Louis home. The one thing that could hold the Hawks back is that they have a weak bench as they really rely on their starters. There’s still a good chunk of the regular season to go, but the Hawks have shown that they won’t be a pushover this time around.
Source: Basketball-reference.com
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