Many thought the Cleveland Cavaliers would zoom to the top of the NBA's Eastern Conference when Lebron James "went home". So far it hasn't happened. And the East isn't exactly stacked with great teams like the West. In fact, out of 15, only 5 are above .500 as this is written.
The Toronto Raptors have shown well, as have the Washington Wizards. The Bulls in Chitown remain an enigma. They have scads of "talent", but who knows how they'll play on any given night?
The rest of the conference -- all ten of them -- vary from mediocre to downright terrible.
Then there are the Atlanta Hawks. Who saw them coming? Currently, they far and away sport the best record in the East at 36-8, including having won their last 15 in a row and counting. And it's not like they're just beating up on weaklings. They have a 14-2 record against teams from the mighty West. Just last night they easily dispatched the Oklahoma Thunder who have been on a roll themselves since getting a couple of their superstars back from injury.
What's somewhat unusual is the Hawks don't have a single superstar on their entire roster. Out of the 15 members of the squad, the highest paid is making $12 million. Sure, that's a lot of money, but it pales in comparison to "superstar" contracts elsewhere. Kobe Bryant made twice that much this year and he's a shell of the player he used to be. Plus, he hasn't even been able to stay healthy in recent years. He's out again with another season-ending injury on a terrible team to begin with.
For that matter, fully 10 of Atlanta's 15 earn less than $5 million. So how can it be that the Hawks have the best record in the entire NBA, not counting the Golden State Warriors? (The GSW are also somewhat surprising, but not that much. While others have received most of the hype, they've quickly and quietly assembled a formidable squad themselves.)
Quick question: Who's the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks? The majority of people don't know. Turns out, it's a guy named Mike Budenholzer. Hardly a household name like many of his peers.
Budenholzer was a typical high school and small college jock. Very good, but not good enough to make it to the "big leagues". So after graduating, he played and even coached for a pro team in Denmark for a couple years. Then he made the best decision of his life. Somehow he got a job with the San Antonio Spurs as merely a video technician. A couple years later, he was promoted to assistant coach. And for the next 16 years, he would learn under the tutelage of Gregg Popovich. He was there when the Spurs won 4 World Championships. That was one helluva long apprenticeship, but few would doubt Coach Pop has proven himself a master of developing the ultimate in team play. Who better to learn from?
It appears to have rubbed off because the Hawks now play in much the same way. Unselfishly. Everybody knows their jobs and are expected to do them. While the Spurs had their fair share of "stars" over the years, none ever had an "I" problem. It was always about the team. It remains so to this day. That could squarely be attributed to Popovich. He would settle for nothing less and every player got treated the same.
Budenholzer has brought the same philosophy to the Atlanta Hawks, and look where they are now. The players have "bought in" and, so far, remain humble. Though they lack superstars, they have enough talent that, when playing hard as a cohesive unit, can get the job done -- against anybody. Winning 28 of their last 30 can hardly be chalked up to a lucky streak. Further, they seem to relish doing the "dirty work", sometimes known as playing hard-nosed defense. It takes a lot of energy and comes with few accolades, but any coach from preps to pros will tell you having a team willing to work as hard on the defensive end for stops as on the offensive one for stats, is a huge asset. It takes the right kind of coach to sell it, and the right kind of players to actually do it.
Perhaps the last team we've seen like this were the 2004 Detroit Pistons. Their motto was "going to work". And it paid off. They defeated the heavily favored Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals. The Lakers had "star" power, but for the most part the Pistons were a bunch of guys that were cobbled together after other teams failed to see their value as individual players and let them go for little in return. But given the right coach, one Larry Brown at the time, who could get them to come together with a collective "junk-yard dog" mentality and -- well -- the rest is history.
Since then, only 5 teams have won the NBA title. The above-mentioned Lakers (2) and Spurs (3). The Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics grabbed one apiece. And we all remember the Miami Heat's two-peat just a couple years ago. Actually they won another one back in 2006 before Lebron and Chris took their talents to South Beach for a total of three.
So can the Hawks win the title this year? It's possible, but not likely. Though it's a given they'll make the post-season, they also have little battle experience when things get down to the nitty-gritty dog-eat-dog world of the playoffs. Even if they make it out of the rather weak East, whoever emerges from the slaughterhouse of the superior West will be a formidable opponent indeed.
But here's rooting for them. After all, when's the last time Atlanta was able to celebrate a world championship in any sport? I don't remember either, but it's definitely been a while.
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