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Well the trip is over and our guys are back home. During the trip we have gotten some good performances and high levels of play out of our big 3 that I hope they continue to play at for the rest of the season. But for now lets take a look at what others think of us in this weeks power ranking. John Schuhmann of NBA.com moves us up to #13 after a solid week by Al Horford.
Al Horford has now scored 20-plus in nine straight games and has as many 3-pointers (3) in his last four games as he had in his first 368. But the Hawks dropped the ball in Phoenix on Friday and, with the game on the line, couldn't catch the ball in L.A. on Sunday. Now, their six-game trip ends with the second night of a back-to-back in the thin air of Denver, and they don't get any real rest after that.
Marc Stein of ESPN.com moves us up one spot to #15 and also points out the emergence of Horford with his streak of 20 point games
Remember last Monday's line about how the Hawks are 15-2 when Al Horford scores 20? The record isn't quite as gaudy after road L's to the Suns and Lakers dropped Atlanta to 17-4, but Horford has scored 20 or more in a career-high nine straight games. His previous longest run? Two.
Matt Moore of cbssports.com has us all the way up to #10 with making mention Teague and Horford have been playing well.
Team is thriving with the uncertainty settled behind Jeff Teague and Al Horford.
Sam Amico of Foxsports.com moves us up to #14 where he mentions that Josh is still with the team.
Not even Josh Smith can explain how he's still on the team. But he is, and with the unknown of the trading deadline behind them, Smith and the Hawks can at least look to finish out the year on a high note.
If the Hawks don't re-sign Josh Smith after deciding to keep him at the trade deadline, they will have about the closest thing you can get to a clean slate this summer. Only three players are under contract for next season -- Al Horford, Lou Williams and John Jenkins -- while Jeff Teague is entering restricted free agency. That means general manager Danny Ferry will get to give Atlanta the makeover any new GM dreams of doing. The current Hawks, winners of four straight and this week's biggest risers, aren't too shabby, but it's clear Ferry has a bigger vision in Atlanta that extends beyond the current core.
That's it for this weeks ranking. It seems that slowly and surely, people around the nation are actually starting to respect some of the players on this team. My hopes are that now that we are back home, we will start to play strong and that our big 3 in Jeff, Josh, and Al will start to mesh again and play well just like they did last week. But enough of my thoughts, what do you guys think will become of this team this week? Is this the time that we start to play well and get it together so that we can see big games out of Josh, Al and Jeff?