26-year old power forward Josh Smith is one of the most underrated players in the NBA.  He consistently fills up the stat sheet from night to night by playing hard at both ends of the basketball court.  Smith has played in 21 games (all starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 34.3 minutes, 15.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.0 blocked shots per game.  Smith has now played in 555 games (533 starts) in his first 8 years with the Hawks and he is averaging 33.9 minutes, 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocked shots per game.

23-year old point guard Jeff Teague has taken over as the starter this year and he is doing a great job so far this year.  He has played in 19 games (all starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 34.8 minutes, 13.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  Teague is not the traditional pass first kind of point guard, but that’s o.k. on the Hawks as they also got other players who can handle the ball.  Kirk Hinrich has just come back from shoulder surgery, but he will be the #3 guard going forward as Jeff Teague has played too well to be replaced in the starting lineup.  The Hawks hope he can keep up the good work.

With Kirk Hinrich out of action to start the 2011-12 season, the Hawks handed 23-year old Jeff Teague the starting job at point guard and he’s doing a good job so far this year.  Teague has played in 9 games (all starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 34.2 minutes, 11.0 points, 1.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.1 steals per game.  If Teague keeps playing well, Kirk Hinrich will be the #3 guard when he returns to action.

25-year old small forward Marvin Williams has come out this year like a ball of fire.  He has played in 2 games (both starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 26.0 minutes, 15.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  Williams wants to keep his starting job this year, as the Hawks replaced him late last year with Josh Smith so that Al Horford could play power forward instead of center.  The Hawks’ are at their best when Williams is in the starting lineup, period.

30-year old shooting guard Joe Johnson’s scoring was down a little bit in 2010-11, but his overall game remained strong.  Johnson played in 72 games (all starts) for the Hawks last year and he averaged 35.5 minutes, 18.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.  He has now played in 771 games (701 starts) in his first 10 years in the NBA and he is averaging 36.8 minutes, 17.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Johnson is starting to work his way up in the Hawks’ franchise record books as he is up to #8 in scoring (9,477), #2 in three-pointers made (783) and he is #5 in assists (2,421).

53-year old Larry Drew took over as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks over the summer.  The Hawks finished up 44-38 (53.7%) during the regular season and they were 6-6 (50%) during the post-season.  The Hawks did win 9 less games than they did last year under Mike Woodson, which is the first time in 7 years that the Hawks didn’t improve their win total during the regular season.  That being said, Drew got the Hawks to play well in the playoffs as they paid back the Magic in the first round.  They also were very competitive against the best team in the Eastern Conference (the Bulls) in the second round of the playoffs.  It will be interesting to see if Drew can up the win total during the regular season to make the playoffs a little easier task next year.

22-year old point guard Jeff Teague was nailed to the bench late this year and in the first round of the playoffs against the Magic.  But, when Kirk Hinrich went down to injury, Teague rose to the challenge.  Teague has played in 3 games against the Bulls in this series and he is averaging 42.0 minutes, 17.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  Teague is shooting 20 for 38 (52.6%) from the floor against the Bulls so far in this series.  They need Teague to keep up the good work as he is making Derrick Rose play hard on the defensive end of the court.  Teague has now played in 5 games (3 starts) so far in the playoffs this year for the Hawks and he is averaging 27.0 minutes, 11.4 points, 1.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 steal per game.

SG/PG Jamal Crawford is really giving the Hawks a jolt off the bench against the Magic in the first round of the playoffs so far.  Crawford has played in 2 games (0 starts) for the Hawks in this series and he is averaging 31.0 minutes, 24.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 3.5 assists per game.  He is also shooting the lights out from behind the three-point line as he is 7 for 12 from that range in this series.  With the defense tightening up in this series, it makes Crawford an even more pivotal figure in this series for the Hawks.

With the playoffs rapidly approaching, the Hawks have decided to start getting 27-year old center Zaza Pachulia some P.T. to shake the rust off.  In his last five games, Pachulia is averaging 17.6 minutes, 6.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  He is shooting 76.9% from the floor in his last five games and 86.7% from the free throw line as he isn’t missing many shots right now.  Pachulia has now played in 74 games (4 starts) for the Hawks so far this year and he is averaging 15.1 minutes, 4.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  Pachulia is going to be a key reserve in the playoffs for the Hawks so they are smart to start giving him some P.T.

The Hawks decided to shake things up last Saturday against the Trailblazers by inserting 22-year old Jeff Teague in the starting lineup at point guard.  Teague responded with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocked shots in 44 minutes on the court.  The Hawks won the game 91-82 over the Blazers.  He has now played in 56 games (5 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 12.7 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists.  By inserting Teague into the starting lineup it will set off a few other lineup changes as Kirk Hinrich will slide over to shooting guard with Joe Johnson replacing Marvin Williams as the starting small forward.  This is worth a try.