25-year old starting center Al Horford is going to miss the next 3-4 months due to a torn left pectoral muscle that will require surgery.  Horford has played in 11 games (all starts) for the Hawks this year and he is averaging 31.6 minutes, 12.4 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 blocked shots per game.  The Hawks are holding out hope that he will be able to return to action sometime in the playoffs…..but that could be wishful thinking.  27-year old Zaza Pachulia will replace Horford as the starting center for the rest of the regular season, at least.  Pachulia has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 15.9 minutes, 5.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Pachulia is not in Horford’s league as a defensive player but he should be able to rebound and give the Hawks a presence offensively around the basket.

With Al Horford & Marvin Williams dinged up right now, the Hawks need 26-year old center Zaza Pachulia to pick up the pace.  In his last three games, Pachulia is averaging 25.0 minutes, 5.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  The Hawks need more production out of him than he is giving them right now.  He has played in 44 games (1 start) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 14.4 minutes, 4.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Pachulia needs to find some heart and get back to the player he was just a couple of years ago.

29-year old shooting guard Joe Johnson might have returned way too early from elbow surgery as his stroke on his shot has looked awful so far this year.  Johnson has played in 27 games (all starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 36.4 minutes, 17.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.  His scoring numbers are way down so far this year because he’s only shooting 39.9% from the floor and 26.6% from three point range so far this year.  The Hawks need Johnson to get his shooting stroke back and for him to average over 20 points per game for them to play at their peak level.

32-year old SG/SF Maurice Evans has really been awful in December for the Hawks.  Evans has played in 14 games in December so far and he is averaging 15.1 minutes, 3.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.  Evans is only shooting 30.5% from the floor and 20.8% from the three point line so far this year.  Evans has now played in 24 games (5 starts) overall this year for the Hawks and he is averaging 16.6 minutes, 3.9 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Evans is only shooting 34.6% from the floor and 25% from three point range so far this year.  Unless Evans starts to pick up the pace soon, he’s going to be sitting at the far end of the Hawks’ bench.

32-year old Maurice Evans, 30-year old Jamal Crawford and maybe even 22-year old Jordan Crawford will be asked to step up at shooting guard with Joe Johnson out of action for the next 4-6 weeks.  Evans started tonight’s game.  He has played in 10 games (0 starts) for the Hawks this season and he is averaging 18.8 minutes, 4.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Evans will need to start shooting better if he wants to stay in the starting lineup as he is only hitting 39.6% from the floor, 30% from three point range and 60% from the free throw line this year.  30-year old Jamal Crawford has played in 17 games (0 starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 29.2 minutes, 13.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.  The Hawks prefer to have Jamal Crawford coming off the bench if all possible.  That means that rookie Jordan Crawford could get some starts at shooting guard if Maurice Evans struggles.  Crawford has played in 9 games (0 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 11.2 minutes, 4.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  The Hawks are going to miss Joe Johnson while he is out of action.

29-year old shooting guard Joe Johnson got a max deal from the Hawks over the summer and he’s playing like he’s counting his cash instead of focusing on playing basketball.  Johnson has played in 18 games (all starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 35.5 minutes, 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game.  Johnson is only shooting 40.9% from the floor and 25.6% from three point range so far this year and that’s awful for him.  The Hawks need Johnson to pick up the pace if they are going to play at a peak level.

UPDATE:  (12/2/2010) – Joe Johnson has underwent surgery on his right elbow earlier today and the injury will keep him out of action the next 4-6 weeks.

32-year old starting point guard Mike Bibby had his worst year ever in 2009-10. He played in 80 games (all starts) for the Hawks last season in which he averaged 27.4 minutes, 9.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Bibby will likely see his minutes cut even more in 2010-11 with second year man Jeff Teague snatching some of his P.T. Bibby has now played in 882 games (878 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 35.3 minutes, 15.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game. It would be nice if Bibby could rebound in 2010-11 but I just don’t see it.

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.

Veteran point guard Mike Bibby is starting to slow down. He has played in 64 games (all starts) for the Hawks this season and he is averaging 27.6 minutes, 8.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Bibby is only shooting 40.9% from the floor this season and that just won’t get it done. The Hawks were smart to bring in Jamal Crawford last summer just in case Bibby started to show his age, which he has. The Hawks better hope that Bibby has been trying to pace himself because they will need all hands on the deck when the playoffs start next month.

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.