Zaza Pachulia is now in his fifth season with the Atlanta Hawks, and it has been his worst one yet.  The 6-11, 275-pound Pachulia has often been seen as one of the Hawks enforcers, playing physical down low and not afraid of giving a hard foul.  After the 2006-’07 season, where Pachulia averaged 12.2 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 0.5 blocks, his role diminished the next couple seasons.  Although he was getting less minutes and was almost always coming off the bench the next two seasons, he was still a productive big man for them.  The past two seasons he only played 17.4 minutes and averaged 5.8 points and 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 47% from the field and 70% from the line.  This season he hasn’t been the same physical presence the Hawks were used to seeing on defense and he hasn’t been as strong of a rebounder.  That is why he has been getting even less minutes this year.  He is playing 13.5 minutes per game while averaging just 4.1 points and 3.5 rebounds this season.  He is also only making 44% of his shots and is shooting just 66% from the line.  The Hawks are going to need Pachulia to step it up in the playoffs and play more like he has the past two seasons.

Marvin Williams’ production has dropped this season, but he is getting less minutes and has become more of a role player for the Atlanta Hawks this season.  He has been a solid role player this season, averaging 10.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 blocks, and 0.7 steals in 29.7 minutes per game.  All of those averages are his lowest since his 2005-’06 rookie season, including his minutes.  Yet, in the past two games he has put together two of his best games of the season.  He didn’t look like a guy who shoots 44% and only averages 10 points and 5 rebounds.  That’s because on Monday night in a 112-93 win over the Chicago Bulls, he played 32 minutes and went 7-14 for 18 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal.  He followed that impressive performance up with another one last night in a 112-93 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, where he went 8-12 for 21 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal.  The Hawks are already one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, so if they can get some more games like this out of Marvin Williams it will be a great bonus.

Anthony “Spud” Webb was always told he was too small to play basketball.  That never stopped the 5’6″ Webb from pursuing his dream and becoming a star in the NBA.  Spud Webb had an incredible leaping ability with a vertical leap around 42 inches, which he showed off in the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest.  Spud ended up winning that Dunk Contest, and it really put him on the map.  Most people know about the show he put on in that 1986 Dunk Contest, but most people don’t realize that Spud really was a solid NBA player for quite a few years.  He was a rookie the year he won that dunk contest, and he only averaged about 16 minutes per game in his first four seasons with the Hawks.  He still made an impact, despite playing such few minutes.  As a rookie, he not only won the dunk contest, but he also averaged 15.6 minutes, 7.8 points, 4.3 assists, 1.6 rebounds, 1.0 steals and shot 48% from the field.  Those are some pretty good numbers for a rookie, especially one playing just 15 minutes per game.  His breakout season was in the 1990-’91 season, where he played 29.3 minutes per game and averaged 13.4 points, 5.6 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and shot 45% from the field.

Spud impressed a lot of teams around the league, especially the Sacramento Kings who traded for him the next season.  He had his best season that year (91-92) with the Kings, averaging 35 minutes, 16.0 points, 7.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and shot 45% from the field and 37% from three.  Although Webb had his best years statistically with the Spurs, he will always be remembered for that memorable 1986 Dunk Contest as an Atlanta Hawk.  Spud Webb inspired many small guards from then on, including Tyrone “Mugsy” Bogues (5’3″), Earl Boykins (5’5″), and most of all Nate Robinson (5’9″).  Spud was Robinson’s inspiration for the 2006 Dunk Contest and trained him for it, which Robinson went on to win.  Robinson also won the 2009 Dunk Contest and will be looking for his third Dunk Contest win in this year’s contest, which Spud will be a judge for.

Atlanta Hawks’ point guard Mike Bibby has been very inconsistent for the Atlanta Hawks this season and is averaging career-lows in points, assists, rebounds, and steals.  He has career averages of 16.0 points, 6.0 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 36 minutes, and a 44% FG percentage.  This year Bibby is averaging only 8.9 points, 4.2 assists, 2.1 rebounds, 0.8 steals, and is shooting just 41% from the field.  His numbers were even worse in the past month and his play has been very inconsistent.  Due to his poor play, Bibby is averaging just 27 minutes per game and has not played more than 30 minutes in a game in over a month.   In the past four games, Bibby scored 11 points against the Hawks, 0 points against the Spurs, 2 points against the Celtics, and 10 points against the Magic.  That just shows just how inconsistent Bibby has been, especially scoring the ball.  Either Bibby needs to really step up his play, or perhaps the Hawks should start giving their talented rookie Jeff Teague some more minutes.  Even though Teague’s numbers are far from impressive, he is averaging only 10 minutes per game so he has not been given much of a chance to show his stuff.  Luckily for the Hawks they have the best 6th Man in the game in Jamal Crawford, who makes up for Bibby’s poor play and is averaging 17.7 points and 2.8 assists.

Josh Smith has been doing a little bit of everything for the Atlanta Hawks this year, and he is deserving of All-Star status.  The 6’9″, 240-pound Smith is only 24, but he has been a force in this league for about five years now.  Joe Johnson gets most of the credit for the Hawks success, which is deserving, but Smith is the difference-maker for the Hawks in my opinion.  He is by no means a one-dimensional player and fills up the stat sheet night after night.  This season he is averaging 15.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.2 blocks, and 1.5 steals.  Smith is also shooting 52% from the field and with his combination of size, athleticism, and jumping ability Smith often has game-changing dunks or blocks that swing the momentum in the Hawks favor.  Smith does have the ability to hit the open three, but he is not consistent from there.  That is why I like to see that he has taken that out of his game and he is more aggressive, taking it to the hole more often.  Smith is a true all-around player and he is one of the main reasons the Hawks are 29-14 this season.

Jamal Crawford has played in every game for the Atlanta Hawks this season, but has not started one game.  He has fit in perfectly as the Atlanta Hawks sixth man and is the Hawks’ second leading scorer behind Joe Johnson despite coming off the bench.  Crawford has a knack for hitting tough shots at key moments, something he showed a few games ago with a deep three at the buzzer to beat the Suns.  On the season, Crawford is averaging 17.0 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.5 rebounds in 30.6 minutes per game.  Crawford has always shown flashes of great play on offense ever since he came into the league, but in his 9-year career he has never made the playoffs.  Crawford is now a huge contributor to a Hawks team that will definitely make the playoffs this season and I think Crawford is starting to run away with the 6th Man of the Year Award.  Crawford is a very exciting player to watch and some of the “rainmaker” shots he makes are almost unbelievable at times.  He does it often though, especially from behind the arc, with 21 career 4-point plays to prove it.  That is only 3 behind Reggie Miller, who is the all-time leader in that category.

The Atlanta Hawks (13-5) put on a show last night against the Toronto Raptors (7-13).  Everyone contributed for the Hawks last night, as they had 9 different players score in double figures.  That is one short of the NBA record.  The Hawks didn’t play great defense, giving up 115 points, but they did do a good job against the Raptors’ best player Chris Bosh.  Bosh was held to 2 points and they got the star forward into foul trouble.  Not only did the Hawks shoot lights out (59%) but they also hit the boards hard, out-rebounding the Raptors 51-29.  The Hawks are not always going to shoot the ball that well, so it is good to see them still attacking the glass.  This was a very impressive game for the Hawks, but they still need to improve defensively.

The Atlanta Hawks are off to a 2-1 start and Josh Smith is a big reason why they have won the first two out of three games to open the season.  Smith has been filling up the stat sheet.  The 6’9″ forward is averaging 15 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.33 steals, 1.67 blocks, while shooting 58% from the field.  Smith also became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 900 career blocks when he had two blocks in the Hawks win over Washington.  Hawks fans have got to love the way Smith has played early in this season.

The Atlanta Hawks have a lot of talent at the point guard position. It all starts with 31-year old Mike Bibby. Bibby played in 79 games for the Hawks last season and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 14.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Despite being a shoot first point guard Bibby gets the ball up the court quickly. 21-year old rookie Jeff Teague will likely be Mike Bibby’s caddy this season. He was the 19th pick of the first round out of Wake Forest. He played in 61 games at Wake Forest and he averaged 16.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game. Jamal Crawford will also likely get some playing time at the point for the Hawks.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE POINT GUARDS IN 2009-2010: B