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| Hawks Center Al Horford going for a dunk against Orlando |
Yuriy will be doing posts on the Hawks. He’s tight. Check out his blog!
It now appears that the Atlanta Hawks’ all-star center Al Horford is out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. Many people have a lot of ideas as to what the Hawks should do from this point. There was always the speculation of Atlanta bringing back the hometown superstar, from the Orlando Magic, Dwight Howard, to play in his city. I think the Hawks would have to give up way too much to get him. I like the core group of players we have on our roster now.
Our bench can definitely help us in the long run. The development of rookie Ivan Johnson is going well and Zaza Pachulia, in his seventh year with the Hawks, plays with great intensity every night and his leadership is strong. Great shooters such as Willie Green and Vladimir Radmanovic can help us in crucial situations in a game. They all helped us beat the Heat and the Bulls all in the same weak.
Filling Horford’s role in the line up will be tough but if every player in that locker room shows up to play every single night then we should win a lot of ball games this year and make another huge run in the playoffs. Josh Smith is playing on another level and has greatly improved his shooting. Head coach Larry Drew has this team playing cohesively and with a desire to win.
The Hawks can play with any team in the league if they show up to play every night. At times in the season Atlanta did all that they were supposed to do to win games. Other nights they just walked down the court during turnovers and fast-breaks. Those are easy ways to lose games in this league. So the Hawks have to have that same intensity level every night.
I’m looking forward to what the Hawks do during the rest of the season. I think we will have a great record at home and have the Highlight Factory rocking. We’re primed to make a big playoff run and put the NBA on notice. With or without Al Horford, we will make a statement. For Future blogs about the Hawks, please click on the link at the bottom of the article and feel free to leave comments. I look forward to writing about the Hawks and looking forward to a fantastic season. So until then, GO HAWKS!!!-Yuriy A.