While Falcons look to win a Super Bowl, Hawks, Thrashers and UGA Basketball prove they are worth mentioning

There’s no denying how good of the season the Falcons have had and they deserve all the attention they have got throughout the season. They are getting ready to play their first home playoff game since 2004 and if they win, they will host the NFC Championship game. So all of Atlanta will “Rise Up” on Saturday for the team that wears the red and black.But I do feel bad for two other professional sports teams in the city because just like the Falcons, they are winning games but they are not getting the attention they probably deserve. The Hawks have a record of 25-14 as of Wednesday and have won six of their last seven games. The Thrashers are 22-16-7 and would make the playoffs if they began today. Once the Falcons end their season (hopefully on Feb. 6), Atlantans should jump on the bandwagon for these two teams because they are going to need the support once the second half of the season starts for both teams next month.

HAWKS STILL FLYING…

Reaching the playoffs is nothing new for the Hawks because they have been their three consecutive seasons. But with a new head coach in Larry Drew and the injuries this team has suffered in the early stages of the season, it’s amazing where this team is now, as they are five games out of the division and conference lead behind Miami, Orlando, Chicago and Boston. And one would think the reason they are winning I because Joe Johnson is playing at a high level, right? Well, that’s not the case because he had some health issues and had to miss two weeks of action last month.

The reason that the Hawks have been winning is they are playing as a team and every game they have different players step up to lead the Hawks to a win. One guy that comes to mind is Al Horford who has been playing the power forward position as of late and it could not have been a better decision by Drew. Horford is second on the team in points per game (16.3) and first on the team in rebounds per game (9.6). Josh Smith is having another solid season, averaging a little over 16 points per game as well as over eight boards per game. He also leads the team in steals with 1.4 and blocked shots with 1.9. They have also gotten good play off the bench with Jamal Crawford, picking up where he left off last year. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year is averaging 16 points per game and provides that spark the Hawks need from time to time.

There is no doubt the Hawks will make the playoffs. However, the question remains can they get past the second round, or even the first round because if the playoffs were to start now, they would have to face Orlando who has given the Hawks problems over the last two years.

THRASH ATTACK…

Speaking of playoffs, the Thrashers are looking to get there for the first time since the 2006-07 season when they won the division and were a No. 3 seed. Since then, things have not been going well for the Thrashers, placing in fourth in their own division the next two years and just missing the playoffs last season.So the team made some drastic changes before the 2010-11 season, hiring Rick Dudley to be the teams new General Manager and they also hired Boston Bruins assistant Craig Ramsay to be the new head coach.

They also acquired Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien from the Chicago Blackhawks who are the defending Stanley Cup champions. All these moves seemed to have paid off because the Thrashers are well in the race for the Southeast Division title are if the playoffs were to start now, they would have the last spot. But if they can take the top spot in the division, they could be a top-three seed again which would give them home-ice advantage in their first round series of the playoffs.

One reason they have playing better hockey is Byfuglien who leads all defensemen in goals with 16. Byfuglien was a key member of the Chicago team that won the Stanley Cup last year and he is looking to have a better 2010-11 campaign. Tobais Enstrom is another player that has stepped up for the Thrashers, notching 30 assists which is tied for the lead for defensemen. Enstrom along with Byfuglien were selected to the All-Star game which is the first time since 2000 the Thrashers had a defensemen in the exhibition contest.

DON’T FORGET US...

There is one more team that needs to be recognized and that is the UGA basketball team, winning nine consecutive games before losing to Vanderbilt on Wednesday. That is the longest streak since the 1982-83 season when Dominique Wilkins was gracing the Georgia colors. And they have not been defeating just teams from mid-major conferences. They were able to defeat Georgia Tech in a last second thriller and they got their biggest win in recent memory when they took down No. 11 Kentucky at Stegman Coliseum this past Saturday.

With the success they are having, the Bulldogs are ranked No. 24 in the AP poll which is the first time in eight years the Bulldogs have made the top 25. It’s clear Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie have been the go to guys for the Bulldogs and have played outstanding so far in the early stages of the season. But credit has to go out to head coach Mark Fox for making this team believe that they can beat anyone, anytime, anywhere. It’s going to be interesting when March comes because they could make a deep run in the tournament.