Best Team in the League?

ESPN.com’s latest NBA Power Rankings have the Atlanta Hawks rising from sixth last week to first in the poll this week. What’s changed? Mainly their 11-point win in Boston made everyone truly recognize that the deepest Hawks team in years is as competitive as the best teams in the east when healthy. The team also throttled the Hornets by 23 points the very next night, came from behind to win by 13 in Madison Square Garden and wrapped up a home win in overtime over the Trail Blazers last night.

What’s fairly interesting is that many of the Hawks are failing to meet expectations from a statistical point of view, which, to me, says that Mike Woodson is doing a great job of getting this team to put the team first, particularly on the defensive end.

I’ve chronicled Marvin Williams’ struggles on the offensive end in an earlier post, and he continues to be the team’s biggest underachiever. The Hawks have been a better team with him on the bench, but that’s no reason to write his season off just yet. Woodson needs to get Williams to adjust his game just as he has done with other players on this roster. Williams can still be a major asset for the Hawks, but he may have to alter his role.

Joe Johnson is producing right along where we expect him to, but his turnovers are up and his three-point accuracy is well below his career mark. Perhaps the most noticeable change is that Joe Cool has found his voice. He truly seems motivated to lead more than ever before this season.

Jamal Crawford is still adapting to his sixth-man role, but he’s doing a bang up job with it. He’s averaged over 19.5 points over each of the past two seasons while routinely logging a ton of minutes. He’s only scoring 16.6 this season, but he’s shooting better and making the most of his 28.9 minutes per game. People weren’t discussing him as the best offseason addition heading into the season, but its past time for that discussion to begin.

Mike Bibby should be commended for doing what many veterans fail to do; recognize their degenerating skills, accepting a reduced role, and playing to their team’s strengths instead. He’s averaging a career-low in points, assists, steals, and minutes, but he has played efficiently, indicated by just 1.5 turnovers per game – also the lowest total of his career.

The bench, outside of Crawford, has also played efficiently, but none of them are averaging 15 minutes per game. More importantly, none of them appear upset with their limited, yet important, roles.

Two players that are living up to, and perhaps even surpassing, expectations are Josh Smith and Al Horford. Smith’s focus has returned to the defensive end and he is showing a lot of self-restraint with his shot selection. The maturity that we have all been waiting for seems to be developing – at least on the court. Horford is finally taking a step forward after showing little to no progress in his second season. He is averaging career highs across the board, while showing improvement on the defensive end. I expect both of these trends to continue throughout the season, meaning the Hawks can legitimately contend in the Eastern Conference – as long as they remain healthy.

Congratulations to Woodson, the roster, and the organization for getting the attention of ESPN just 10 games into the season. Just four weeks ago, we were told that this season was all about five or so teams competing for the championship, the Hawks not being one of them. This morning, they rightfully stand at the top of the power rankings.

Tags: Hawks hot start, Hawks Number 1, Mike Woodson, NBA Power Rankings