"Yes, we're back to that again. I'm sure that as fans we shared quite a laugh at the idea of the Atlanta Hawks morphing into another version of the multi-faceted Detroit Pistons team that was so potent from '02-'03 to '06-'07 (and arguably a year longer than that). The first objection would be from a defensive perspective, where the Hawks lack a point guard who can not only guard his own position, but guard many shooting guards as well, as Chauncey Billups used to do in the Motor City. The second objection would be that for all the many positives of Al Horford, he isn't the beast on defense that Ben Wallace once was (of course, Horford doesn't "juice", either), and Josh Smith is no Rasheed Wallace (thank the basketball pantheon). In fact, the Hawks have never played team defense the way that Pistons team did. But offensively speaking? Under the tutelage of Larry Drew, the Hawks do seem to be headed in that direction. No longer is the team a collection of talent that routinely bogs down in the ingrained habit of isolation plays. No longer are they automatically sentenced to offensive epic failure if Joe Johnson or a second guard off the bench isn't able to come out with both guns blazing, so to speak. No longer are they led solely or mostly by the backcourt. This Hawks team can score from a number of places, and finds contributions from a number of players. And, it's happening in every game." Read more: http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-hawks-...troit-model/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_hawks_blog
