The New Jersey Nets' next opponent is not strong.

Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks' record this season is on par with the Bulls, Cavaliers and other teams, and the competition for the position of head and deputy squad leader in the Eastern Conference is fierce.

Although they have been the weakest team in the Eastern Conference in recent seasons, the Hawks actually have a very glorious history, but it's just a bit old.

The five years from 1957 to 1961 were the pinnacle of the Eagles' history.

Under the leadership of Bob Pettit, they ranked first in the Western Conference for five consecutive years.

Yes, you read that right, they were indeed No. 1 in the Western Conference, but later the Eagles moved their address and moved from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference.

In the past five years, the Hawks have reached the Finals four times and lost in Game 7 of the conference finals once.

In that era when they were blocked by the Celtics, the Hawks, who broke through the Western Conference and reached the Finals five times, won the only championship in team history in 1958.

In that year's finals, with Pettit's 50 points in Game 6, the Hawks narrowly defeated the Celtics by 1 point and won the championship 4-2!

Since then, the Hawks have been crazy about Pettitte's offensive line and swingman at the third and fourth positions.

But in the next 50 years, neither Dominic Wilkins, Josh Smith, nor Al Horford, the "quintessence of human film", could make the Hawks the king again.

The history of the Atlanta Hawks is like the movie "Gone with the Wind" that was once filmed in this city, showing a strong nostalgic style, but it has never been able to find its own Mr. Right again.

The current ace of the Eagles is Sharif Abdul-Rahim, the No. 3 overall pick in 1996. He played for the Vancouver Grizzlies for the first five years of his career.

There, in addition to averaging 18.7 points per game in his rookie season, he averaged more than 20 points per game in the other four seasons, and his rebounds in the 1999-00 season also exceeded 10.

In his last season with the Grizzlies last season, Raheem averaged 20.5 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks per game, making him an all-around power forward.

It's just that Rahim also has obvious flaws.

With a height of 2.06 meters, he is a bit short for the power forward position, and Rahim is not a powerful player, which makes him full of confusion when fighting inside.

Secondly, as an All-Star insider, Raheem's blocking is not good, hovering around 1.0 blocks all year round, which makes people doubt his true contribution in the game.

For example, although you can average 20+10 per game, your opponents can also get similar data. In this case, your contribution on the court is actually far less than what the data reflects.

After changing the stadium, everything started from scratch. The Grizzlies, who said goodbye to the past, finally gave up on the tasteless and regrettable Raheem and sent him to the Atlanta Hawks.

Rahim quickly adapted here and established himself as the team's starting power forward.

This is due to the appearance of another inside player. He is the tough center Theo Ratliff, who led the league in blocks last season with an average of 3.7 blocks per game.

Complementary to Raheem, Raheem likes to float and shoot from the outside, but Ratliff likes to fight inside.

Although Ratliff, who plays center, is only 2.08 meters tall, he is very lethal near the basket, especially his offensive rebounds, averaging nearly 3 times per game, which is very scary.

His blocking made up for Raheem's lack of defense at the basket, allowing Raheem to roam around and shoot with confidence.

The starting candidate at small forward is an old guy that everyone is very familiar with, the Croatian player who once became the best sixth man with the Chicago Bulls, Toni Kukoc.

After Jordan left the Bulls, Kukoc, who struggled to support the Chicago Bulls, finally couldn't bear the tremendous pressure and left there for Philadelphia.

But in Philadelphia, his style of play didn't fit in with Larry Brown's position-warming style surrounding Iverson.

Last season, the Philadelphia 76ers, who surged to first place in the Eastern Conference, thought Kukoc was no longer important and sent him to the Atlanta Hawks.

As the saying goes, if you move a tree to death, you will move a person to life. Kukoc came to the Eagles and was reused by the head coach.

The iron tree blossoms and the second spring of career breaks out.

Averaged 19.7 points (career high), 5.7 rebounds (second-highest career), 6.2 assists (career-high), and shot 49.2% from the field (second-highest in career) and 48.1% from the field

The three-point shooting percentage (career high) made people exclaim that the European flying star is back!

Seeing Kukoc perform such a powerful performance in Atlanta, I wonder if the 76ers, who reached the finals but lacked a second scoring point, have some regrets.

But the reality is that there are no ifs. Kukoc, who is enjoying the second spring of his career, aims to lead the Hawks back into the playoffs.

In an interview at the beginning of the season, Kukoc once vowed that after the Eagles players get along well, the team will definitely play better and better. Although the record at the beginning of the season may be very difficult, but as time goes by,

As the game continues, the Eagles will gradually return to people's attention.

The shooting guard position should be the Hawks' biggest weakness, and perhaps the weakest opponent STO has faced this season, Dean Grove.

The 1.96-meter guard was selected by the Eagles with the 20th overall pick in the first round of 1999.

This season is his third season. In the first two seasons, Grove did not have the style of a first-round pick. Every time he played, it was like going through the motions. So far this season, he has not played well.

, averaging 8.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. If it weren't for the fact that the Hawks didn't have a better shooting guard, Grove would never have been the starter.

Just like the barrel effect, the Eagles themselves know that if they don't make up for this shortcoming, the team will not be able to get to the next level.

They are also currently actively looking for teams to trade, but they do not have the right chips to match the asking prices of other teams.

Although Kobe Bryant is good, there is no guy on the Hawks team that the Lakers like.

Although the shooting guard is not very good, their point guard is still remarkable, "Jet" Jason Terry.

When he played for the Hawks early in his career, Terry, who was 1.88 meters tall, was still a point guard.

In his second season, Terry showed his superb scoring ability, averaging 19.7 points per game, in addition to 3.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists. He immediately became the focus of the Eagles' training.

This season, Terry's statistics have gone further, averaging 20.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He has the posture of an All-Star guard.

Terry, who started his career with the Hawks, represents the current style of the Hawks.

Resilient and unruly.

I dare to fight with anyone, you can beat me, but I just don't accept you.

Terry has this kind of character, and so does the current Eagles.

Facing the New Jersey Nets, which boasted an impressive record of 13 wins and 2 losses, the entire Hawks team was very unconvinced.

Last season the ranking was still below me, but this season it will take off immediately?

Firmly refuse to agree.

The only one flying in the sky is me, the eagle.
Chapter completed!