There has been a lot of movement and change in the Eastern Conference this offseason, enough so that the Chicago Bulls have emerged as challengers for the NBA title with a healthy Derrick Rose and an added big man in Pau Gasol. The Cleveland Cavaliers now hold Vegas’ highest odds to win the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy, having reeled in hometown hero LeBron James and All-Star power forward Kevin Love.
The Charlotte Hornets are also getting consideration as a challenger in the East, having a healthy Al Jefferson and adding Lance Stephenson into the fold. The Indiana Pacers are, by many, expected to fall off this year, having lost their wing men to free agency and injury (Paul George suffered a broken leg in a Team USA exhibition game).
The four-time defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat look to prove they are still a power to be reckoned with having replaced James with Luol Deng. And, the Washington Wizards hope to prove they are better than a second-round team after having 2008 Finals MVP Paul Pierce join John Wall, Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat in the nation’s capital.
Ever the underdog, the Atlanta Hawks may be getting overlooked. They return 12 of their 15 players from last year, including their starting five. They enter their second season in head coach Mike Budenholzer’s “space and pace” system. And, they gain their former All-Star big man Al Horford, who is returning from a pectoral tear last season the caused him to miss all of 2014’s games.
The Hawks entered training camp looking to build on the chemistry that they started developing last year while hoping to acclimate newcomers, Thabo Sefolosha and Kent Bazemore, to the system. They closed out their final day of training camp at the University of Georgia on Thursday with a team scrimmage.
Leading up to the day’s practice, backup point guard Shelvin Mack expressed his excitement.
Let’s get it….
— Shelvin Mack (@ShelvinMack) October 2, 2014
Horford expressed his satisfaction with practice afterwards and reposted a photo of Atlanta’s “Big Three” that point guard Jeff Teague shared on Instagram.
Another good day of practice. Laying down the foundation. #Hawks #HawksRising
— Al Horford (@Al_Horford) October 2, 2014
#Repost from teaguehuh #HawksRising #Hawks http://t.co/v7Q4LiSbn6
— Al Horford (@Al_Horford) October 2, 2014
The team has been utilizing the social media tag “#HawksRising” in the past few days leading up to the preseason. It functions well as both a metaphor for how the team hopes to improve their play this season and an allusion to Atlanta’s NFL team, the Falcons, who are known for the slogan, “Rise Up!”
With a team that now sports two All-Star big men in Horford and Paul Millsap, a budding star point in Teague, the league’s most accurate three-point sharp-shooter in Kyle Korver and a roster built to complement Coach Bud’s system, they intend to rise up this season.
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Michael Brumagin writes the Tweet of the Day for SheridanHoops.com and is also a correspondent for BleacherReport.com. Follow @mbrumagin