Pac's Resurrection: The Official 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks Season Thread

Dominique Wilkins

Dominique Wilkins

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BOSTON – Like any competitor, Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens does not appreciate getting thumped. He does not like when opponents sing a gorgeous tune his own squad cannot belt out.

Getting handled 105-91, by a team missing two of its best players, is not Stevens' idea of a fun Wednesday night. Still, he admires great basketball. He respects what he likes to call a “connected” team.

What he saw from the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday – even though they rested Al Horford and Kyle Korver – only furthered his belief that they “play the game with a great teamness about them.”

“They attack, they space, they pass,” Stevens said. “It’s beautiful basketball.”

Later, he pointed out the Celtics’ lack of attention to detail.

“I mean, it’s easy,” he said. “Everybody knows it. You can recite all the things that lead to winning, but doing it is a different thing. And doing it with a presence all the time is what the good teams do. That’s what I – I appreciate the way they’re going about things, the Hawks. I just – man, it’s a really good team. They just keep getting better.”

Other Celtics noted similar findings. Avery Bradley said that during the game, he called the Hawks “a machine.” Jared Sullinger used the same term afterward.

“They know what they’re doing, they know what they want, and they do it,” the power forward said.

The Hawks started the season as an Eastern Conference afterthought. Now they have won 10 straight – and 24 out of 26 – to shoot to the top of the standings. One Eastern Conference scout said they play as simple a system as anyone, but in this case, simplicity kills. The Hawks spread the court with players who can shoot, dribble and pass, and they tear teams apart with a collective effort on every possession. They may not feature any perennial All-Stars, but Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap, Horford and Korver all have legitimate cases (some better than others) to earn the honor this season.

“I think this: I think you have to look and redefine who the superstars are with our own eyes every day,” Stevens said. ”And so I would argue that they’ve got a couple guys on their way. And I don’t know what qualifies as a superstar but I know this: nobody in the league can keep Jeff Teague in front of them. Nobody.

“And (Dennis) Schroeder – I’m not saying he’s a superstar yet; he’s a young kid – but nobody can keep him in front of them. And then they space (the court) with shooters. So now it’s a basketball team, right? And Millsap’s been an All-Star. Horford didn’t play tonight; he’s been an All-Star. Korver didn’t play tonight; he’s a really good player. So they’ve got a great group and it fits well, and you might have a budding superstar in that group, right?

“The other thing that I’d say about them that stands out, jumps off the page – jumps off the page when you’re coaching against them, jumps off the page when you’re watching film – big-time savvy. The game comes really easy to them. It’s slow on defense. They can see things coming. They play well together. They know the biggest threats. They react to the biggest threats. And offense, they stay spaced to make the right basketball play time and again. And I agree with you that the superstar thing and factor is a big part of this, but there’s something to be said about a group that just – it’s like a machine. I mean, they’re a machine. They’ve really got a good thing going already.”

They really do.

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/01/jared_sullinger_avery_bradley.html
 
AVXL

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