The Difference.

[Diesel]

The difference between us this year and last is that this year... we know we can win and we know how to put teams away. I think Vets and maturity has given us this edge. It makes us a hard out for the rest of the league. To quote Doc Rivers... We're more athletic than everyone else. Now.. we know we can beat everyone else with effort. It's looking good.

[DominoT]

There's no doubt it will be an exciting year. I'm going to savor every game, and go to as many as I possibly can.

[NineOhTheRino]

I remember the same team starting out hot last year. I don't understand all the excitement. Beating the Celtics on the road was good but it's still way too early to declare this team anything special. It's a cute story and it does give you a warm fuzzy felling but I have to see more for a longer period of time before I say this team is different.

Edited November 19, 2009 by NineOhTheRino

[Traceman]

The difference between us this year and last is that this year... we know we can win and we know how to put teams away. I think Vets and maturity has given us this edge. It makes us a hard out for the rest of the league. To quote Doc Rivers... We're more athletic than everyone else. Now.. we know we can beat everyone else with effort. It's looking good.

I think you are right on. This team CLEARLY knows how to win going down the stretch and when you combine our athleticism and talent with knowledge, it makes us tough to beat in crunch time. I have been most impressed with Smoove's maturation. The energy and effort he has put on rebounding and defending in the 4th (the things that win you close games) has been VERY impressive. I think when he plays like that, it energizes the whole team and EVERYBODY give more effort. It's looking REALLY good.

That said, I want to ride this winning streak as long as possible but I DO want to see how we bounce back after a tough loss and I want to see how we handle a little adversity. That will tell me all I need to know about this team. From what I've seen so far, I think we are going to handle both situations well.

As long as we stay healthy, I think you are right on. We are going to be a tough out.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Traceman

[DominoT]

Sorry you're not excited. I am. I'm fine with being excited, knowing full well that something bad could happen in the future. That's kind of the point. Anticipation. Fear mixed with awe. All in all, it just makes me want to watch every game start to finish. It's great.

[HawkItus]

I think the depth is playing a role in this as well. Josh Smith is being pushed by Joe Smith in practice this year. Joe Johnson draws Jamal Crawford this year in practice. Bibby gets to confront a faster and younger player in Teague every practice so he learns to use his wiles a bit more. It's the old adage of playing like you practice.

[Traceman]

I remember the same team starting out hot last year. I don't understand all the excitement. Beating the Celtics on the road was good but it's still way too early to declare this team anything special. It's a cute story and it does give you a warm fuzzy felling but I have to see more for a longer period of time before I say this team is different.

This year's start is night and day versus last year's start. We have played more good teams and we have beaten more good teams. We are FAR better statistically. We are currently 7-1 vs. teams with .500 or better records. Our margin of victory is FAR higher. None of the wins we've had so far feel "flukish." We have simply out played and out executed teams in all of our wins. Most importantly though, we pass the "eye test." We look like a team that EXPECTS to win no matter who the opponent is.

It remains to be seen if we can declare this a 4 team race for the EC title but we are a FAR better team than we were last year and if we stay relatively healthy, who knows?

Edited November 19, 2009 by Traceman

[exodus]

I think you are right on. This team CLEARLY knows how to win going down the stretch and when you combine our athleticism and talent with knowledge, it makes us tough to beat in crunch time. I have been most impressed with Smoove's maturation. The energy and effort he has put on rebounding and defending in the 4th (the things that win you close games) has been VERY impressive. I think when he plays like that, it energizes the whole team and EVERYBODY give more effort. It's looking REALLY good.

That said, I want to ride this winning streak as long as possible but I DO want to see how we bounce back after a tough loss and I want to see how we handle a little adversity. That will tell me all I need to know about this team. From what I've seen so far, I think we are going to handle both situations well.

As long as we stay healthy, I think you are right on. We are going to be a tough out.

The Hawks got blown out by the lakers and Bobcats and came back strong both times. They haven't had a close loss though.

To me the difference is a lot more than just attitude. Last years team sucked on the boards and didn't score much inside. They relied too heavily on the long ball. This years team is leading the league in pts in the paint, second in fast break pts and 6th in rebounding ratio. That is a pretty startling contrast since it is basically the same guys.

[Traceman]

The Hawks got blown out by the lakers and Bobcats and came back strong both times. They haven't had a close loss though.

To me the difference is a lot more than just attitude. Last years team sucked on the boards and didn't score much inside. They relied too heavily on the long ball. This years team is leading the league in pts in the paint, second in fast break pts and 6th in rebounding ratio. That is a pretty startling contrast since it is basically the same guys.

Very true Ex. Last year, we kind of lived a died by the long ball. In fact, I think it was Hollinger who said it was unlikely that we would shoot it as well this year and that is why he picked us to not be as good. Well, he was right about us not shooting the 3 as well (at least so far), but he has been WAY wrong with regard to us not being as good.

As for the stats you mentioned above, there have been a lot of improvements but I think Smoove's improved play is the biggest reason we are doing all those things so well. One reason we are scoring so many points in the paint is because we are running more. We are running more because we are rebounding more.

Smoove is the most important player for our fast break, both starting it and finishing it. As he showed more than once last night, he can literally be a one man fast break (rebounding or blocking the shot and then taking it coast to coast).

Smoove is also making a more concerted effort to play closer to the basket on offense. That helps our rebounding not only because he is in position to rebound but because the other team does not get the opportunity to rebound one of his errant jump shots.

Also, even your man Al looks more fluid in the post. Did you see those moves he put on Oden versus POR and O'Neal last night? Could he develop into a consistent post threat? It's starting to look like that may be possible.

[bay2theAlady]

I remember the same team starting out hot last year. I don't understand all the excitement. Beating the Celtics on the road was good but it's still way too early to declare this team anything special. It's a cute story and it does give you a warm fuzzy felling but I have to see more for a longer period of time before I say this team is different.

If you can't see the difference in the 2 teams, you must be blind! Last year when fell behind we were never able to recover. We would continue to take bad shots and our confidence would wane with each bad shot or turnover. Now...we have so much confidence, its refreshing! We rarely get down on ourselves and if we fall behind, we put our head down (not in a bad way) and dig deeper to get back into the game. And its nice to have confidence in our bench for once (we can go 5 deep off the bench and not worry about losing much production).

Although I agree its a bit premature to start talking about challenging for a championship, this looks like it might be the year that the Hawks make some serious noise deep into the playoffs. Whatever happens, I'm proud of how this team has started the season off!

[NineOhTheRino]

If you can't see the difference in the 2 teams, you must be blind! Last year when fell behind we were never able to recover. We would continue to take bad shots and our confidence would wane with each bad shot or turnover. Now...we have so much confidence, its refreshing! We rarely get down on ourselves and if we fall behind, we put our head down (not in a bad way) and dig deeper to get back into the game. And its nice to have confidence in our bench for once (we can go 5 deep off the bench and not worry about losing much production).

Although I agree its a bit premature to start talking about challenging for a championship, this looks like it might be the year that the Hawks make some serious noise deep into the playoffs. Whatever happens, I'm proud of how this team has started the season off!

Everything you're saying is true but the sample size is still too small to make a final decision.

Edited November 19, 2009 by NineOhTheRino

[exodus]

Very true Ex. Last year, we kind of lived a died by the long ball. In fact, I think it was Hollinger who said it was unlikely that we would shoot it as well this year and that is why he picked us to not be as good. Well, he was right about us not shooting the 3 as well (at least so far), but he has been WAY wrong with regard to us not being as good.

As for the stats you mentioned above, there have been a lot of improvements but I think Smoove's improved play is the biggest reason we are doing all those things so well. One reason we are scoring so many points in the paint is because we are running more. We are running more because we are rebounding more.

Smoove is the most important player for our fast break, both starting it and finishing it. As he showed more than once last night, he can literally be a one man fast break (rebounding or blocking the shot and then taking it coast to coast).

Smoove is also making a more concerted effort to play closer to the basket on offense. That helps our rebounding not only because he is in position to rebound but because the other team does not get the opportunity to rebound one of his errant jump shots.

Also, even your man Al looks more fluid in the post. Did you see those moves he put on Oden versus POR and O'Neal last night? Could he develop into a consistent post threat? It's starting to look like that may be possible.

I did. Like i have said all along he needs to stop trying to back guys down. That isn't going to work. Against Oden he was going into his move quickly and shooting his hook while on the move instead of trying several times to back him down and then shooting an off balance shot right over him.

I would prefer to see him facing up more often because then can't touch you when you face up. then he could drive and throw up a fake or cross over and get easy scores. They aren't going to be able to keep up with him if he uses his quickness.

He isn't an intuitive player on offense which will always limit him but he can be a 15/10 player which there aren't many of.

[Joker]

I did. Like i have said all along he needs to stop trying to back guys down. That isn't going to work. Against Oden he was going into his move quickly and shooting his hook while on the move instead of trying several times to back him down and then shooting an off balance shot right over him.

I would prefer to see him facing up more often because then can't touch you when you face up. then he could drive and throw up a fake or cross over and get easy scores. They aren't going to be able to keep up with him if he uses his quickness.

He isn't an intuitive player on offense which will always limit him but he can be a 15/10 player which there aren't many of.

Very true but with a player like CP3 or Jennings he could be a 20+ scorer. He will never do that in Atlanta because we are so deep but maybe elsewhere (HOPEFULLY NOT). Al is so key to us being an elite team.

[coachx]

I remember the same team starting out hot last year. I don't understand all the excitement. Beating the Celtics on the road was good but it's still way too early to declare this team anything special. It's a cute story and it does give you a warm fuzzy felling but I have to see more for a longer period of time before I say this team is different.

We were 8-4 last year at this time. One of those extra losses came from a buzzer beating shot by Paul Pierce in the Boston. This year we beat them by double digits in their own building.

This year we have Smith and Horford taking their games to another level.

We have Crawford, who is an upgrade over Flip.

We have Teague, who appears to be an upgrade over Law.

We have Joe Smith who is an upgrade over Solo

We have added Jason Collins to join Morris as emergency bigs.

Bibby and JJ have not lost anything. In fact JJ looks like he lost 20 pound which is making him quicker and more explosive. He even caught a rebound in the air and dunked it last night. I have never seen him do that in his 4 + years with the Hawks.

All signs pont to a better team.

[Joker]

We were 8-4 last year at this time. One of those extra losses came from a buzzer beating shot by Paul Pierce in the Boston. This year we beat them by double digits in their own building.

This year we have Smith and Horford taking their games to another level.

We have Crawford, who is an upgrade over Flip.

We have Teague, who appears to be an upgrade over Law.

We have Joe Smith who is an upgrade over Solo

We have added Jason Collins to join Morris as emergency bigs.

Bibby and JJ have not lost anything. In fact JJ looks like he lost 20 pound which is making him quicker and more explosive. He even caught a rebound in the air and dunked it last night. I have never seen him do that in his 4 + years with the Hawks.

All signs pont to a better team.

I believe we will go to the NBA Finals, it's all up to us and the referees. If we play the Lakers, I do not know if we can win, but anyone else and I think Atlanta could hoist the trophy. This team is that good and we're built for the playoffs unlike the Suns. People forget that most of our best players JJ, Marv, and Horf was hurt in the Cleveland series.

[buckeye242424]

This is the most excited/happy/enthusiastic I've been since the mid-late 90's. I know something is going right when I'm constantly bothered by people who obviously know I'm a Hawks fan because of my pennants and Hawks stuff in my office (which I'm sure look strange because I'm in a corn field in Columbus)...but so be it.

After all that, we all need to take a deep breath, myself included, and understand things even out in life. We need to layoff all the NBA finals talk (albeit fun to dream and enjoy) because you're setting yourself up for more disappointment and "what if's". Not that it couldn't happen, but we're one awkward fall or broken bone away for all of this to be changed. Especially with 70 games to go.

This has been an awesome start, couldn't have asked for more. But I'm trying to stay grounded and not talk too much crap to all the Cavs fans at work, because if the past is any indication, it could all come crashing down quickly. In the meantime, keep in rolling guys!!

[itsslomotionbaby]

Very true Ex. Last year, we kind of lived a died by the long ball. In fact, I think it was Hollinger who said it was unlikely that we would shoot it as well this year and that is why he picked us to not be as good. Well, he was right about us not shooting the 3 as well (at least so far), but he has been WAY wrong with regard to us not being as good.

As for the stats you mentioned above, there have been a lot of improvements but I think Smoove's improved play is the biggest reason we are doing all those things so well. One reason we are scoring so many points in the paint is because we are running more. We are running more because we are rebounding more.

Smoove is the most important player for our fast break, both starting it and finishing it. As he showed more than once last night, he can literally be a one man fast break (rebounding or blocking the shot and then taking it coast to coast).

Smoove is also making a more concerted effort to play closer to the basket on offense. That helps our rebounding not only because he is in position to rebound but because the other team does not get the opportunity to rebound one of his errant jump shots.

Also, even your man Al looks more fluid in the post. Did you see those moves he put on Oden versus POR and O'Neal last night? Could he develop into a consistent post threat? It's starting to look like that may be possible.

like i have said before it is all about what horford and smooth do, did you see those 10footers horford was hitting and some of those hooks in the lane if horford becomes a career 16 pt. man then i beleive we are easily the 2nd best team in the east.josh should be able to spell vince carter as his peak but as for right now if he puts in another 16 with his defensive intangibles that definately takes a lot of pressure off our guards to score, zazza is evan doing something nice he is challenging his man when space is cleared out down their ( hes been getting us around 7 pts. a game) thats a bonus for us , would like for him to get us 10 a night. with all of that happening with rebounds its no accident as to why we are looking good.

[benhillboy]

The difference is Smoove's maturity, focus, and increasing experience, point blank, period. As long as Bibby knocks down his trays and Joe keeps his mind on team ball movement (as well as he has played, he still is having huge laspes with over-dribbling and forcing poor, contested shots, he's just hitting most of 'em now), I'm cool. Marvin will show up when all the stars align about 2 or 3 times a month. Hell, we're killing squads with no offensive gameplan and Joe caught a put-back dunk, I can't complain about anything. Let's save the Nostradamus predictions, though. Just sit back and enjoy the fact that the Hawks matter.