NBA Weekly

Atlanta Hawks: Last night the Atlanta Hawks beat the New Orleans Hornets on the road, which is just the type of victory for the Hawks that makes you think they really are ready to back up and build off of their surprising play against the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last year. The Hawks are now 3-0 and check this out, they haven't allowed more than 88 points in any of those games. They also beat 3 pretty good offensive teams in Orlando, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. If the Hawks can keep up that kind of defense all season, then they should be a lock for the playoffs and a nightmare for most teams to play in the East. Josh Smith has not been off to a great start offensively averaging just 14.0 points on 41.5% shooting, but he has been a beast on the defensive end of the floor. Smith is averaging 3 steals and 3.3 blocks a game so far this season and has been cleaning up the defensive boards pulling down 7.3 a game and averaging 10.7 rebounds overall. I have yet to see the Hawks play a game, but my guess would be that Al Horford has been a catalyst for their good defense as well. That defense right now is ranked #2 in the league in defensive efficiency. It is still early in the season, but if the Hawks stay committed to playing good defense, they could win the Southeast division and finish as a top 5 team in the East. That would certainly be a step in the right direction if they are looking to build off of last season. Let me not forget to mention that Joe Johnson has started the season off on fire as well, shooting 54.7% from the field, while averaging 28.0 points a game. It's a shame that this team won't be on national tv until a Dec. 17th match up against the Celtics.

Tony Parker: Okay, so what the hell is up with Tony Parker? Parker decided to drop a double nickel on the TWolves last night, hitting 22 of his 36 shots, and on the season Parker is now averaging 33.2 points a game. Yeah, I know the Spurs are only 4 games into the season, but Parker is shooting a ridiculous 56.4% from the field. Don't forget that Parker was great in the postseason last year too averaging 22.4 points in 17 games and he is still just 26 years old. Could we be seeing a player who is just entering his prime and is ready to take over as the go to player on the Spurs? It's certainly possible, but you got to love how Tony Parker has started playing this season if you are Spurs fan. I haven't always been the biggest believer in Tony Parker's talent, but I got to show him some love for how he's been playing the past few seasons. I think he might be on the verge of a monster season and that might be a necessity for the Spurs to win without Manu Ginobili. By the way, the Spurs problem is their defense, which right now ranks last in the NBA in defensive efficiency.

Other NBA News:

- Antonio McDyess could end up with Boston, Cleveland, or the Spurs if he doesn't go back to Detroit after the Nuggets release him from his contract.

- How about rookie Mario Chalmers getting 9 steals last night against the 76ers? Yup, that's right, 9 steals. I had to check more than one boxscore just to make sure it wasn't an error. The 9 steals by Chalmers were a franchise record and second only to Ron Harper's 10 steals for rookies all-time.

- Former Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson was elected Mayor of Sacramento, CA. KJ's election as mayor was overlooked because of the enormity of Obama being elected as President. Check out this dunk by KJ over Mark Eaton.

- Al Harrington will be receiving less minutes as the Warriors will look to trade him. Brandan Wright should see more playing time with Harrington losing minutes.

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