Home > Mark Bradley > Archives > 2008 > October > 28 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USLoss of Childress dampens Hawks’ buzz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There should be a buzz. A team makes the playoffs for the first time this century and returns all the starters who pushed the NBA champ-to-be to the limit in Round 1, and there has to be a buzz. But do you hear one?
“To be honest, not really,” Hawks forward Al Horford said. “I’m sure people are looking forward to the season, but I know this is the South. It’s still football season.”
Well, yes. But over two careening spring weeks, something seemed to happen in our fair city. When the Hawks beat the Celtics three times in a frenzied Philips Arena, it felt as if this was becoming an NBA town.
Back then there was a real roar. Today there’s no buzz. There’s barely a murmur.
So what happened? Josh Childress happened. Josh Childress left to play in Greece. As harmful as his departure was to the Hawks in terms of talent, its symbolism was far more debilitating. It was the first time the organization had to act to keep its prized young core intact, and for some reason Childress was allowed to bolt. Talk about your comedowns.
Not three months after they played Game 7 in Boston, the bold new Hawks were seen as the same ol’ Hawks. And even the subsequent re-signing of Josh Smith, their other free agent, didn’t disabuse anyone of the notion that this remains an operation dedicated to doing things on the cheap, as opposed, say, to winning.
Such a belief isn’t unfair, but it is unfortunate. Because this team still has front-line talent, and Rick Sund, the new general manager, did seek to compensate for the loss of Childress by signing Flip Murray, who’s an avid shooter, and Maurice Evans, who last season started for division-winning Orlando.
In sum, a thin team lost its best reserve but now has at least the makings of a second unit. That’s if Acie Law IV, whose rookie season was marred by injury and overcoaching, continues to develop, and if Zaza Pachulia, who famously squared off against Kevin Garnett in the playoffs, plays the way he did before he unaccountably forgot how to play.
The bench has become a big deal because, with the addition of Mike Bibby, the starting five became quite good. Sund believes teams can play for championships when three of their starters rank among the league’s 10 best at their positions, and he believes two Hawks — Horford and Joe Johnson — do. And there’s real hope that Smith, who re-upped for $58 million over five seasons, will continue to work his way upward.
Even if Bibby isn’t quite what he was and could be marked as trade bait if Law proves himself, and even if Marvin Williams never becomes what Billy Knight thought he’d be, that’s still a formidable five. And that’s why it’s distressing that many national voices are forecasting the Hawks to regress and miss the playoffs.
It is not, it must be noted, distressing to the Hawks themselves. “We can’t look at what they’re predicting us to do,” Smith said. “We want to be one of those teams that slips under the radar. We expect a lot of ourselves.”
We’ll soon have some idea of what’s what. Six of the first eight games are on the road, and five of those are against postseason qualifiers. A slow start could replace the absence of buzz with the rumble of discontent, but let’s not be negative so soon.
With one notable exception, this is essentially the same team that made us remember how much fun pro basketball can be. At this early stage, optimism should be our watchword. Optimism, I say!
Permalink | Comments (36) | Post your comment | Categories: Hawks/NBA
Comments
By the lev
October 28, 2008 5:28 PM | Link to this
first….. 48 wins, i predict and i’m smart
By Gary
October 28, 2008 5:30 PM | Link to this
Baloney. How can a second team player who averaged 11 ppg be so important. Besides that, Greece payed him a lot more than he was worth. I thonk the new additions will add a whole lot more than we lost.
By lawton
October 28, 2008 5:41 PM | Link to this
FIRST, why are you ignoring the fact that the ONLY reason the Hawks made the playoffs is because the East was a poor conference? The Hawks, last time i checked, are coming off a LOSING RECORD. “Formidable starting five.” lol, that statement was a joke. What the Hawks ARE gonna do is OVERWORK Al Horford and ruin him ( he will be the Earl Campbell of basketball with the Hawks). Stop IGNORING the fact that the Hawks need another big man down low to help Horford. Josh Smith, overrated. He CANNOT dribble to his right, teams force him to go to his right, thus, all the turnovers and bad passes, he throws the offense out of sync because he is not a half court player, just a run out and dunk on the break player, who HAPPENS to be able to block shots because of his leaping ability. Joe Johnson needs another halfcourt shooter to help him, Bibby is that man in SPURTS, but they need that to come the small forward position, which Smith is not a draw up a play for him type player, which is WHY nobody seriously went after him in free agency. Stop ignoring this stuff. The national media hasnt, which is WHY they correctly picked the Hawks to ” be who we know they are.” Keeping Woodson was icing on the cake of exposing this team for what it is.
By Kyle
October 28, 2008 5:42 PM | Link to this
Horford hit it on the head. This is the south & college football is still going on. That’s exactly why nobody cares. I’d be pleasantly surprised if there was a sellout before they UGA football season ends.
Let’s realistically rank sports in order of importance right now. 1. UGA Football 2. UGA Football 3. UGA Football 4. Atlanta Falcons 5. Atlanta Braves 6. Atlanta Hawks 7. Atlanta Thrashers
By Gary
October 28, 2008 5:43 PM | Link to this
well I should have read mine closer. It should be paid and think. Sorry all who fead the first one.
By Maniac is accurate
October 28, 2008 6:01 PM | Link to this
It’s not just Childress that happened. Knight was one half of a problem. The other half remains on the lawn, unscooped and stinking.
By JEM
October 28, 2008 6:12 PM | Link to this
HAWKS WILL WIN THE EAST!
GO HAWKS!!!
By The Grinch
October 28, 2008 6:21 PM | Link to this
Keeping Woodson was a terrible idea, whatever Joe Johnson may say. He is an assistant coach masquerading as a head coach. I have rarely been as uninspired by a head coach’s words and attitude in any sport as I was from what I heard out of him on print and in radio interviews last season. He was absolutely satisfied with mediocrity and didn’t try to hide it. On Buck & Kincaide right before heading to the playoffs he was asked if it wasn’t kind of lucky that the east was down and that less than 40 wins might make it. His answer was something to the effect of “oh, no, no; not at all. Forty wins is pretty good most seasons in the East and if we split the last four games we’ll be close to that.” It was such a jaw-dropping thing to have said that even Kincaide was speechless and they had to change the subject. That’s pathetic. They won what they won last year on the raw talent a team accumulates from drafting in the top 5 every year, not from any motivational genius of Woodson’s. And if Knight wasn’t such a fool during all those drafts, they would have made it to the finals despite Woodson.
By TAR HEELS 3
October 28, 2008 6:45 PM | Link to this
COACH WOODSON WILL WIN COACH OF THE YEAR, HAWKS WILL WIN SOUTHEAST DIV
By TAR HEELS 3
October 28, 2008 6:47 PM | Link to this
COACH WOODSON WILL WIN COACH OF THE YEAR, HAWKS WILL WIN SOUTHEAST DIV
By tom
October 28, 2008 7:03 PM | Link to this
Nobody cares - Go Dawgs!
By joe
October 28, 2008 7:09 PM | Link to this
nobody cares about the dawgs! they got their a** whipped by alabama and they will prob lose to Fla. Get over yourselves GA fans there will obviously be no title this year w the way texas and alabama are playing. GO HAWKS
By igotxx3
October 28, 2008 7:12 PM | Link to this
anybody knows if the hawks will play on tnt this season???
By big o
October 28, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this
Mark, relax baby it’s early. We are still digesting no october baseball for the 3rd straight year, It is the cocktail party going on in j’ville and the falcons are suprisingly good not to mention all the h.s football we are devoted to. Trust me we will all be all about the hawks in a few.
By Najeh Davenpoop
October 28, 2008 7:43 PM | Link to this
Keeping Woody and letting go of Chills puts a damper on the start to the season, no doubt, but if the Hawks can get off to a strong start I’m pretty sure the crowds will come. I’ll be there, that’s for sure. If nothing else I’d love to see John Hollinger, Marc Stein and the other so-called experts eat their words about the Hawks’ bench.
By rms
October 28, 2008 7:57 PM | Link to this
Mark, you gotta be kidding me. Losing Childress didnt make the Hawks worse. You can find players that match his talent. I think they got a good deal with Flip and Mo. If they lost Josh Smith then I would agree but Childress, I dont know about that. If they had all three that would be gravy, but I like Murray and Evans good veterans. Come on Bradley, get on the bandwagon and start drinking the kool-aid man, quit bieng so optimistic. Who are you, a Celtics Fan!!
By Matt = niremetal
October 28, 2008 8:15 PM | Link to this
I’m sorry…but anyone who thinks that the loss of Childress had some huge effect on the “buzz” that would have otherwise surrounded the Hawks is sadly mistaken. As good as close observers of the team knew he was, he was probably the 6th most talked about player on the Hawks after the Celtics series (1-5 being JJ, Horford, Smoove, Bibby, and Zaza the Thug).
Since I’ve always been both a Hawks and a Stanford fan, I was very sad to see Childress go. But his departure had no more than a minimal effect on the buzz. And the signing of Evans and Murray more than made up for the loss.
By Armond Hill
October 28, 2008 11:08 PM | Link to this
Mark you hit it right on the head. Lots of momentum after taking the C’s to 7. The Spirit had an opportunity to ride that wave and show the dirty dirty they will make every effort to make the Hawks a legit NBA franchise, and what do they do? Clip coupons.
Sund, Childress, Woody, hardlining Smoove, no extensions for Joe, no draft day deals. Our cheap a$$ owners make me sick.
By Armond Hill
October 28, 2008 11:10 PM | Link to this
Mark you hit it right on the head. Lots of momentum after taking the C’s to 7. The Spirit had an opportunity to ride that wave and show the dirty dirty they will make every effort to make the Hawks a legit NBA franchise, and what do they do? Clip coupons.
Sund, Childress, Woody, hardlining Smoove, no extensions for Joe, no draft day deals. Our cheap a$$ owners make me sick.
By Scottbravesfan
October 29, 2008 12:29 AM | Link to this
Most people are into football now and wondering if the Braves are going to make a run at Jake Peavy. Usually I’m into the basketball and hockey seasons but for some reason this year I’m still focused on baseball and football. I guess the Falcons actually playing like a team and some real buzz that the Braves might actually sign some players this winter has preoccupied my sports thoughts.
By Dr. Warren
October 29, 2008 3:00 AM | Link to this
Well said, Mark. The Hawks-Childress situation perfectly illustrates the problem with being a lifelong fan of any sports franchise, especially losing ones like the Hawks and Falcons: you are suffused with brand loyalty from childhood on but have little customer control other than not buying tickets or t-shirts or simply turning off the TV. If I don’t like an electric razor I just bought, I can call the company and probably get a refund. And I don’t have to give up electric razors in general in the metro Atlanta area! When the Hawk’s low-rent bench costs us game after game, and wastes my time and energy, do you think the local monopoly called ASG will even offer an apology? Devoted fans suffer the whims of cheap, incompetent owners even more than the random bounces within the games themselves. Yet, we tend first to blame the refs, the coaches, the players, or fate itself for losses rather than “the company” that is running the show, in part because we know how odd-feeling and fleeting it would be suddenly to shift loyalties to the Spurs or Jaguars or Jazz. Sure, if enough fans stay away then the “company” will be penalized, but the franchises who leave cities generally do so more because they’ve failed to secure funding (read: subsidies) for new stadiums than because their fans are turned off. Call me a whiner, and you would be correct. Call me a sentimental fool, and you would be close to accurate. But call me a friend of the ASG, and you will get a poke in the eye.
By TheAntiMe
October 29, 2008 3:57 AM | Link to this
Well Mark, it seems that the “buzz” left the Hawks just about the same time as Isiah Rider left town. Coincidence or not? Hmm, you decide.
By Dawg Fan
October 29, 2008 8:03 AM | Link to this
Atlanta has a pro basketball team?
By NikkiFree
October 29, 2008 8:23 AM | Link to this
We still love the Hawks. honestly though, it’s college football/pro football going on at the same time. Even the World Series is taking a backseat right now.
By Enough
October 29, 2008 8:52 AM | Link to this
Kinda lame to say a sixth man dampens the buzz. Its just the economy and it has put a dampen on everything and supporting rich pro franchises of any sort is not vogue at the moment. Its early, with the Hawks its a wait and see approach. They were still a sub five hundred team and have to start the season strong for anyone to believe they have turned the corner.
By John
October 29, 2008 8:54 AM | Link to this
I loved Josh Childress, and always defended him on here when people were so hard on him. However, I don’t think losing him destroys us like so many people are saying. He was a very good sixth man, but he is replacable. I think I might like the Evans/Murray combo more. If he had gone to another NBA team, people would not be saying this, but the fact that he went to Greece as teh highest paid player, people are getting the impression he is way better than he really is.
By skeptical
October 29, 2008 9:14 AM | Link to this
Hey, Kyle, this blog is about basketball, not the GA BoozeDogs…you may salivate over the overrated BoozeDogs but a lot of us could care less about them.
As to Hawks, why should there be a buzz about a team that won 37 games and backed into the playoffs in the lousy Eastern Conference, and retained a coach who is a proven loser in the NBA? As to Childress, he may have been Hawks 6th man, but would have been 10th man on most rosters. I didn’t see any NBA team go after him in free agency. J. Smith is also a legend in his own mind, and again a player not seriously pursued by any other NBA team. With Woodson back, 34 wins and no playoffs seems about right.
By jdewayneatl
October 29, 2008 9:14 AM | Link to this
The whole losing Childress drama is just an excuse for the national media to have a reason to not give Atlanta any respect. Sure there was no “All-Star” talent added to a 37 win team but I don’t think Portland added an “All-Star” caliber player either and yet they are predicted to make the playoffs in an extremely strong and competitive conference simply because they added an untested and injured big man. Thats favortism and unfair to a team that has shown steady improvement over the past few years. I have watched closely as this team has made those improvement and stayed faithful even when it was hard to watch. This team has come a long way and will continue to turn heads in this 2008-2009 season.
By DAP01
October 29, 2008 9:19 AM | Link to this
There is plenty of excitement. Childress is a loss but his being gone is not even an issues AT ALL.
By bwtbird
October 29, 2008 11:13 AM | Link to this
Do you even realize that the Hawks would have had to pay Childress 9 mill per year to match the offer in Greece in terms of real dollars??? What other NBA team was even willing to give him 6-7 mill?? NO ONE!!! That’s because he is a serviceable player who cannot shoot…is a weak on ball defender and is a very poor passer!! Murray and Evans skill sets much better balance the Hawks than did Childress…Now wheter or not Woody lshould still be around is another question entirely!!
By Stoned Mountain
October 30, 2008 5:59 AM | Link to this
Yakkety-yak…
Hawks record 1-0. Open with upset victory over the Magic.
Played great defense. Bench outplayed the Magic.
The better Josh played great.
Childress who?
By ry
October 30, 2008 8:18 AM | Link to this
Bradley, you are a jack*. Noone misses Childress and if not for you bringing it up again, his name would not even be mentioned. Mo and Flip more than make up for Childress and provide a deeper bench. There is not much ‘buzz’ because this is just the beginning of the season and it is not the NBA playoffs. You are such an idiot. Try supporting the local teams for a change.
By FanATicaL
October 30, 2008 5:28 PM | Link to this
You should never over pay for a player.The creativity used to put together the bench.Which is the strength of this team.Last year Childress was the only player Woody was willing to play.This year he even played Solomon Jones yesterday.Every game will be a test to see how they play and compete.The sixers with Iguodala/Brand and New Orleans with Paul/Posey/Stojakovic.All will tell how well we fair in the league quickly.
By Barry
October 31, 2008 8:58 AM | Link to this
Hey Y’all:
Bradley, please stop bringing up stuff that no one was thinking of until you brought it up. Nobody is thinking of Childress now. He is gone. This is a new team. Let that be done with and support these local Hawks. Quit trying to create a controversy were there is none. You are showing a selfish wicked side man in this area by trying to start controversy over a mediocre player. Your energy should be spent talking about the players who are playing for the Atlanta Hawks not players who have been traded or wentlooking fo another job. Show some loyalty to our local professional players who we have to cheer for throughout the year.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! This is a SECRET from a HAWK FAN. TELL EVERYBODY.
GO FALCONS!!!
"SHOCK THE WORLD!!"Ringold
By lex luther
November 1, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this
The Hawks are going to prove alot of people/critics wrong. If I could afford season tickets I would be at Phillips every time they step on the court. I can’t stand nay sayers. If you can’t support these guys then keep your mouth shut. NIKE + Hawks = JUST DO IT!!!
By Bear1974
November 3, 2008 8:34 AM | Link to this
Hey Mark.
Urban just called another timeout.
haaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaa haahahahahahahahahhaahah
If UF fans are the most obnoxious then Buttsniffer fans are the most retarded.
Dogs lick balls Mark.
Woof Woof.