The Hawks Have Landed: Atlanta Clinches Eighth Seed in East

The Hawks Have Landed

This season has been filled with a roller coaster ride for Atlants Hawk’s fans. The amazing play the Hawks had been showing going into December (15-13) made many fans believe that this might be the year the Hawks turn their losing around into a playoff caliber team, but they forgot the Hawks still had half a season to play.

As the peach dropped in downtown Atlanta for the New Years party, so did the Hawks playoff dreams. From January until the middle of March, the Hawks held a miserable 11-25 record—this was even after they acquired their saving grace Mike Bibby.

The Hawks downward spiral came with bitterness from management. Billy Knight, the Hawks general manager, was pressuring the owners to make a coaching change. The owners put their full faith into Mike Woodson, the Atlanta coach, and solidified his position throughout the year. This sparked controversy within the organization with new reports stating that instead of relieving Woodson of his duties, the owners were closer to firing Knight. Once again, the Hawks ownership failed to come to a consensus, and both stayed.

After the All Star break,the Hawks were met with brief stints of excellence. But play was still inconsistent, and the playoff hopes that were once bright, now were dim. They came down a whirlwind path blazed by poor play, lack of leadership, and double digit loses.

But just as playoff hopes were being dashed, the Hawks began to fly. They picked up the pace of their play and began dominating the inside game, using rookie center Al Horford to pound inside. With Horford dominating the boards, the leadership from both Bibby and Joe Johnson, the shot blocking from Josh Smith, and the bench playing remarkable, the Hawks began to pick up their game after a loss to Houston on March 12^th.

The Hawks once again breathed life into the dying season. Bibby has been the catalyst for this turn around. With his veteran presence and healthy body the Hawks once again were chasing the playoffs.

Their record in the past 15 games (10-5) was good enough to bring them eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Their dreams of becoming the first Hawks team to make the playoffs since 1999 was met Monday night with the Indiana loss to Washington.

With a losing record these Hawks have a chance to contend for a title. Ironically, Atlanta was voted as the worst sports city in America last week, but no one told the Hawks about it.

Congratulations to the Hawks fans to an emotional season in which you have endured painful losses and exciting wins. Things are only going to fly from here for this franchise, if they re-sign key players and get a coach in here to teach the fundamentals to these kids.