Can Joe Johnson and Atlanta Hawks challenge Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic? October 02 09  Every day until the regular season begins, HoopsVibe the Blog will ask and answer an important question facing each of the NBA’s thirty teams. Weigh-in with thoughts on our ’Key Question’ feature in the comment box below.Today’s team: Atlanta Hawks. Key Question: Are the Joe Johnson led Atlanta Hawks able to compete with Eastern Conference powers like the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando Magic?
The Quick Answer: No. In recent years, the Hawks have made progress. While ‘The ATL’ is no longer the NBA’s Siberia, they still lack the size and have too many question marks to beat the East’s top teams in a best-of-seven series. Al Horford, Josh Smith, and Marvin Williams are on the verge of big things. This trio of forwards has skill, athleticism, chemistry, and, because they’re young, could dominate opposing frontcourts for years to come. Problem is they’re all forwards. One element is missing: size. Horford, a solid rebounded and scorer, is a ‘four-man’ playing out of position at the ’five-spot’. His effort and heart are commendable, but won’t win a playoff round against seven-footers like Boston’s Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace, Cleveland’s Shaquille O’Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and Orlando’s Dwight Howard. Atlanta, while much improved as an organization, still has issues. For instance, management hasn’t given Mike Woodson an extension and the longtime sideline boss is still expected to win games, despite being a lame duck coach in the last year of his contract. Woodson, a loyal employee, deserves better and should either be let go or rewarded with a new pact. Then there’s Joe Johnson’s pending free agency next summer. Johnson is the Hawks’ franchise player; it’s no coincidence the team’s fortunes changed after they completed that controversial sign-and-trade for the superstar. Management hasn’t extended him, either. And his status as an unrestricted free agent in 2010 could dog the team all year, with the uncertainty spilling over on-court. Bottom line: a new contract for Johnson should have been priority one this summer.
Prediction: 4th in the Eastern Conference.
Sound off: Where do you see Atlanta finishing in 2010? Get at us in the comment box below and follow Oly on HoopsVibe and Twitter. Photo courtesy of FLC.
Posted by
O.Sandor
on 10.3.2009 | To the person using the moniker Jason Kelly and all others who get off topic ...
Please respect that this blog is specifically for those who want to talk about basketball. If you have a basketball related comment that relates to the article, please contribute. We welcome your thoughts.
Please leave other non-related and personal issues with other elements of HoopsVibe out of the discussion. Commenting on that personal stuff takes away from those who do want to talk about hoops.
Please respect that this is what I’m about and what HoopsVibe the website is about, too.
Thank you. Bottom line: we have an amazing season coming up, so let’s have some fun and enjoy discussing NBA basketball! . | Posted by
Jason Kelly
on 10.3.2009 | Is that how J. Nguyen got his job! So its CYE’s fault that he got picked. Lift your game CYE, you owe it to OLY and this site. Sorry to not comment on the hoops Oly. . | Posted by
on 10.3.2009 | The Hawks aren’t there yet. They need a little more depth to challenge the big three and size . | Posted by
O.Sandor
on 10.3.2009 | Hi another no-name poster: Thanks for commenting.
I love the addition of Crawford. He can give Bibby or Johnson a break. And he also allows the club to go small with Bibby, Crawford, and Johnson playing together. A nice look, indeed.
If you have legit interest in contributing an article, contact my editor CYE by clicking the ’contact us’ icon at the bottom of the page and leaving your details and idea for a piece. He’ll go from there.
If you writing comes anywhere close to matching your passion for hoops, you’d likely be great! Good luck with it. Thanks for reading my work. Who knows, hopefully, I’ll soon be reading your work and debating points! . | Posted by
O.Sandor
on 10.3.2009 | Hi no-name. Thanks for commenting. A good post.
The Hawks can challenge the Magic for the third seed. And there are legit questions surrounding ORL.
Right now, even though they lost Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis is out for the first 10 games of the season, and Dwight Howard seems a little too keen on making movies, I still give them the edge over Atlanta.
I like ORL’s off-season moves. For instance, Williams is a nice pick-up, Barnes is rock solid, Ba-------is an emerging PF, and keeping Gortat, a solid back-up for Dwight, is an expensive luxury.
The season rests on what Vince shows up? He’s in his hometown and Van Gundy won’t let him slack, so I like their chances. But I still like the Hawks a lot, especially Joe Johnson and that developing frontcourt!
. | Posted by
on 10.3.2009 | Oly u need to let me write a article lol...but seriously the additions of Jamal Crawford was the most underrated pickup of the summer. The hawks could be dangerous this year . | Posted by
a combo of melo n ai
on 10.3.2009 | The answer is simply no the hawks pound for pound don’t have a good enough team 2 win it all I mean they will compete but as far as making noise I highly doubt it especially with one of there most productive 6 man goin 2 charlotte n with that being the said the answer is simply no . | Posted by
on 10.3.2009 | brandon ba-------(yeh the site censored my earlier post of his name) . | Posted by
on 10.3.2009 | hawks i think can challenge magic for that 3rd spot. fair enough they don’t have a pure centre, however they have two decent defenders in horford and smith who can double dwight. i mean ba-------was a great catch for the magic, but single coverage is all he demands at this stage of his career. i didn’t c dwights passing game out of the double team to be a threat last post season, however the magic do hav vince who himself on any given night can demand double pressure. i like both teams and they’re optimistic futures, however i thot id give my view that hawks can, not will, get that 3rd seed in the east. . | Posted by
O.Sandor
on 10.3.2009 | Hi ... thanks for the compliment.
I’m not right. And you weren’t wrong, we just had differing views. Certainly, Horford is a great, tough player, however, it remains to be seen if he can hang with the biggest posts in the east over seven games. Still, if given the chance, he could prove me wrong. As a fan of him and his game, I hope he proves me wrong.
Finally, we are all entitled to opinions, provided we express those opinions properly. However, this isn’t the forum to express your opinion on my HoopsVibe colleagues, nor do I agree with how you are expressing those opinions.
I very much appreciate your basketball-related comments and that you take the time to read, but going forward let’s stick to hoops, okay? I’m here to debate and write about my passion: basketball. Nothing more and nothing less.
. | Posted by
on 10.3.2009 | I love you Oly. You are write I was wrong. Ecept for the Nguyen comment. You know hes a hater of the everything NBA. LOL. Till the nest article...... . | Posted by
O.Sandor
on 10.2.2009 | Hi no-name, thanks for commenting. However, I disagree with your comments.
Okay, Wallace and KG are 6-11 and a 1/2, with well past seven-foot wingspans. Horford, and I did mention that he’s a very solid scorer, is 6-9 and will have problems with all five players over a seven game series. This isn’t a one night regular season game.
Shaq and Z won’t die on the court, either; both reported in great shape and neither will play major minutes because they’ll be spelling each other off. For instance, Shaq isn’t playing major minutes and won’t play back-to-back games with Ilgauskas starting on those nights. Brown has specifically said he wants to conserve Shaq for the playoffs.
Thanks for commenting, even if we disagree, which is fine. . | Posted by
on 10.2.2009 | when was Garnett and Wallace seven footers? Shaq and Z will probably die on the floor before the playoffs. And no matter what size, you gonna have trouble with Horf. You more of a hater than Nguyen. Nah thats not possible. . | Posted by
Snika
on 10.2.2009 | The Hawks have gotten better statistically and in the playoffs every year for the last 4 years. To be honest, they have a shot to surprise some people. They are really being overlooked with the Powerhouse’s revamping, but this is a positive thing for the Hawks. Joe Cool is so low key, that it is hard to think of the Hawks as a real threat. HOWEVER, adding Jamal Crawford for some serious offensive backing, and healthy bodies underneath like Horford, Smith, and Williams should give them a shot at success in the post-season. I do not think Toronto or Miami is near the Hawks level, and I won’t agree on the Wiz until I see Gil back in full force. . | Posted by
on 10.2.2009 | Miami, Washington, and Toronto could catch the Hawks. They’ve gotten better, so has the top three teams. . | Posted by
on 10.2.2009 | The hawks will make the playoffs,but who knows how far they get! . |
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Oly Sandor | Daily take on NBA Oly Sandor is an NBA analyst and sports journalist based out of Vancouver, Canada.After years of the free-lance game, Oly Sandor is bringing his unique brand of NBA analysis exclusively to (...) More |
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