Rathbun: Hawks firmly established as upper-echelon NBA team

FOX Sports South announcer Bob Rathbun discusses the Atlanta Hawks' ongoing success, potential All-Stars and more in this week's column:

That's always hard to say. Things seem to change day by day -- just look at Detroit and what they've done over the past week or so. You'd have to put the Hawks right there near the top of the league, if not at the very top, though. What's been so encouraging for this team is how they've performed on the road, racking up a 12-5 record and going out west and putting wins together, including these past three.

The success that the Hawks have had against Western Conference teams is, I think, what gets most people's attention. When you beat the perceived better conference and you do it convincingly and you do it on the road -- that's going to get everyone's attention.

I think the one thing that has been shocking has been the way that the Hawks have won their games. They haven't won these games at the buzzer. They are simply killing opponents. They've won seven straight road games and have had a double-digit lead in all seven. That's unheard of in the NBA. That, to me, is what's so staggering.

They've earned it. They've played well. They are a team, they're together, they're defending like crazy. Their offense has been unstoppable. If they get out of the gate slowly, it doesn't matter. They were down 11-2 early the other night against the Clippers, and by two minutes to go in the first quarter they had the lead. It just doesn't faze them if they get down. They've got great bounce-back ability and just an unshakeable confidence right now.

It's one of the greatest rolls in the history of the franchise.

Well, it may. The NBA is a league of copy-cats, but this is the way basketball should be played. This is not a new concept. You go back to the great teams in NBA history -- I mean, how many Hall of Famers were on the Boston Celtics during their incredible run of winning eight straight NBA titles and 11 out of 13 championships? They had Hall of Famers -- not All-Stars, Hall of Famers -- at practically every position and you didn't worry about whose team it was and who was getting the shots and who was getting the points. It was team basketball. That is what the league is returning to.

I must say that in today's day and age, this is a fresh concept, because it's not easy to get guys to buy into this system when they have been programmed since birth to be a superstar. The star takes all the shots. The star gets all the responsibility. The star gets paid the big money. It's somewhat programmed by an AAU culture that stardom is more important than team. So yes, this is a little different than what we're seeing on the basketball landscape as a whole. But this is the way basketball is supposed to be played, and if it brings us closer to those times then I'm all for it.

Yes and yes.

I think what Budenholzer has done in coming to Atlanta to install his program certainly deserved league-wide recognition. That system gets sort of labeled with this San Antonio moniker -- and yes, there's some truth to that -- but he's his own man and he has brought his own system. It's offense that really features a lot of triangle principles with his own twists and he's done a great job of adapting to the players available. I think he's been great. I think his staff has done a remarkable job. They lost a key guy in former assistant Quin Snyder, who is now the head coach of the Jazz, and they haven't missed a beat.

And yes, the Hawks are going to be rewarded with All-Star nominations and here's why: the Eastern Conference pick the reserves, and not the fans. They know what's going on.

When we were in Dallas, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said, "I can see the Hawks coming out of the East." Most people around the country that cover the NBA just sort of rolled their eyes and thought it was just coachspeak. Well, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said before the game Monday night, "I think the Hawks might be the best team in the NBA." When coaches are saying these things, they're not saying it for shock value. They say it because they believe it, because they've got to scheme against them. They've got to come up with a way to stop them and what they're seeing on tape does not lie.

To answer the question about All-Stars: I think the Hawks are going to have two. I think Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap will both be on the Eastern Conference team right now because I think it's important you reward winning over statistics. These guys have both, but if you've got to pick between Player A and Player B, pick the guy who's leading your team to wins.

I think the one guy that has been overlooked coming off the bench, and I don't think he's going to be overlooked for much longer, is Thabo Sefolosha. As a newcomer to the system, it took a while for him to get his feet wet and understand what Budenholzer wanted offensively and defensively.

As great a defender as Sefolosha is, now that he's gotten comfortable with the defensive schemes we are watching his play take off. At the offensive end, his shot is coming back, he's got that 3-point touch back and he has been magnificent off the bench. I think that makes the Hawks even better, because they've got a lock-down defender they can bring in the game, a guy that can pick them up offensively. That's been one of the key aspects of this team's success is how good the second unit has been.

When you have very little drop-off when the second unit is on the floor, if any at all, that can make you a championship team. I think we're seeing that develop for the Hawks.