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Young Hawks spreading wings and flying high

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Charley Rosen

Charley Rosen is FOXSports.com's NBA analyst and author of 17 sports books, the current ones being Bullpen Diaries: Mariano Rivera, Bronx Dreams, Pinstripe Legends, and the Future of the New York Yankees and Crazy Basketball: A Life In and Out of Bounds.

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Updated Dec 10, 2009 7:14 PM ET
     
 

Game Time: Hawks 105, Heat 90

Forget about Boston, Cleveland and Orlando. The best record in the East currently belongs to the 10-2 Atlanta Hawks. What's the difference between this edition of the Hawks and the underachievers of the past few seasons? Not Joe Johnson. He's still among the most unstoppable one-on-one scorers in the league. Indeed, as he proved in the Hawks' dousing of the Heat, J.J. can score from anywhere. His total of 30 points included 5-for-11 from 3-point range, a dunked put-back and a couple of layups on the run — plus his characteristic tricky maneuverings through a forest of in-the-paint defenders. Johnson also demonstrated his prowess as a defensive stopper — holding the usually dynamic Dwayne Wade to 2-for-9 in the first half, a total of only 15 points on 6-for-18 shooting, and a mere two tries at the stripe. Not a stealer or a banger, Johnson is an incredible position defender, who relies on strength, anticipation and a thorough understanding of his opponent's strengths and weaknesses. In fact, J.J.'s superlative performance in the game at hand was merely business as usual. Not Mike Bibby. He's lost at least a step, and had a difficult time on defense. But Bibby can still bury open shots, make timely passes and take good care of the ball. Oddly enough, Bibby is certainly the slowest player of the starting five — a rare characteristic for a point guard.
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The best aspects of Bibby's game plan are his reliability and his unselfishness. Not Marvin Williams. He's still one of the most athletic players in the league, but he's also an erratic shooter, who forced more shots and drives than Josh Smith used to — which is saying a lot. At the same time, Williams has become a quick-footed and alert defender — but not good enough for him to be a difference-maker. Not Zaza Pachulia. As ever, he hustles, usually comes back to his right hand on every drive, makes an occasional jumper, is an adequate rebounder, a barely passable passer and more of a finesse center than a power one. In other words, Pachulia is an average backup big man. Not Joe Smith. Reliable, a savvy defender, a dependable midrange shooter, and a hard worker ... he's all of these. But being the fourth big man in a four-man frontcourt rotation doesn't give Smith too many opportunities to turn a ball game around. Not Maurice Evans. He'll run, jump, huff and puff on defense, and drop an occasional trey. But Evans is, was and always will be nothing more than a marginal player. In fact, Atlanta's early success can be credited to one newcomer, and the sudden maturation of a pair of youngsters. Jamal Crawford certainly didn't have a spectacular outing — 3-for-10, two turnovers and 10 points. But there's an electric quality that raises the temperature of a game whenever he touches the ball in the attack zone. He can shoot from anywhere, moves briskly without the ball and can get off quick shots from a variety of unexpected release-points. Crawford also demonstrated his confidence when, as soon as a 3-point shot left his hand, he turned and headed downcourt. And, of course, the shot split the net. For sure, he tends to get overly aggressive and tries to force his way through heavy traffic — leading to a pair of his layup attempts being blocked (although he was definitely fouled on one of them), as well as a charging violation. But he's even more interested in moving the ball than he is in shooting it — which is a radical departure from his previous habits. He was credited with three assists, and all told threw seven excellent passes. Crawford's defense is also better than it ever was — two steals — and he's clearly learning how to navigate high screen/rolls. At the heart of his game, though, is his ability to light up a scoreboard. As the season progresses and he gets more comfortable with his role — backup point and shooting guard — Crawford will undoubtedly become more consistent. For the moment, however, he provides the kind of explosive point-making off the bench that the Hawks have sorely lacked. Al Horford's midrange jumper is vastly improved, and his athleticism in the middle is unsurpassed. He's even mastered a step-back J! He can run with the guards, as well as execute swift and timely baseline rotations. Horford's only shortcoming is literally that — he's only 6-10, 246, and is therefore a rather smallish big man. Indeed, he was often simply overpowered by Jermaine O'Neal on isolations and low-post possessions. But Horford's speed and quickness — up and down the court, and to the top of rebounds — provides the Hawks with unusual athleticism in the paint. For the game he was 6-for-10, with 12 rebounds to go with his 16 points. However, the one player on the Hawks who's most responsible for the quantum leap the team has taken thus far this young season is Josh Smith. There's no question about this. Where he used to hoist up at least one or two ill-advised treys per game, Smith's 3-point attempt Wednesday was his first in the 12 games the Hawks have played. Where he used to shoot first and never ask questions, Smith totaled a game-high seven assists and is averaging 4.0 this season. Compare this to his career average of 2.6 assists per game. In addition to his registered assists, Smith also made seven other timely passes to teammates who missed their ensuing shots. From his favorite spot at the midpost above the right box, Smith showed that he could attack the basket with either his left or his right hand. In fact, among his 18 points — on 6-for-16 shooting — was nary a jumper. Just drives, dunks and layups on the run, and put-backs — with several of these being of the spectacular variety. In other words, he didn't need to be frequently featured in order to score. He even made a nifty backdoor cut — but missed the layup. Yes, he missed a few shots — mostly layups in crowds — but only one or two could be considered forces. And when he failed to get a righteous call on one of these, he complained loud and long enough to get tagged with a tech. Indeed, his only egregious force was a behind-the-back pass that went awry.
And Smith was absolutely a force on defense — two steals, two blocks, 10 defensive rebounds (plus four offensive retrievals). His rotations were menacing, but he did have trouble in the opening quarter when Michael Beasley burned him for 11 points — mostly on long-range jumpers. Above all, Smith played with energy both when he had the ball and when he was off-the-ball — the latter being another departure from his previous weak-side loafings. And it was Smith's energetic play that boosted the Hawks to a 34-20 dominance of the second quarter that essentially put the game away. Could this be the season that Smith joins Joe Johnson in the All-Star game? As a team, the Hawks could always score, but they're winning primarily because their defense is quicker and more coordinated than ever before. Also because J.J. is as great as he is, and because Smith's game has grown up. Their most glaring trouble spots are Bibby's lack of quickness, Crawford's lack of command when playing the point, and an absence of size and power in the middle. In any event, this team should be considerably better in the spring than they already are now.

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