Monday 30 November 2009

The Atlanta Hawks Season Ahead

By Toby Kahl

The 08'-09' season for the Atlanta Hawks was bitter sweet for the most part. While the team improved upon their previous season, the playoff perform against the Cleveland Cavaliers wasn't what the Hawks team hoped for.

The Hawks finished second in the Southeast division behind the Orlando Magic with a 47-35 record and were swept in the second round of the playoffs. The first round win against the Miami Heat wasn't that impressive either - every win and loss was in the double digits.

The 08' playoffs against the Boston Celtics proved that the Atlanta Hawks were on the rise and should compete for the Eastern Conference Championship in the near future.

The Hawks did improve on their previous season - many feel the Hawks took a step backwards in 09'. Not being able to win 50 games in the Eastern Conference isn't very impressive by many accounts. If a team is a serious playoff threat -winning 50 games should be accomplished.

Horford has great rebounding and shot-blocking ability, and moves up and down the basketball court with great speed. A work in progress, he's expected to improve steadily during the next few seasons. If Horford can develop into what they think he can be, Johnson will have some really nice help around him.

Rounding out the team are other valuable pieces, which include the ever so talented Josh Smith, point guard Mike Bibby, newly acquired Jamal Crawford, rookie Jeff Teague, and others.

The only concern I see is the lack of scoring for this team. They must improve on putting up bigger points if they want to make some noise.

Coming out of the East won't be easy and the Hawks will have to fight and claw their way through the upcoming season.

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