AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 02 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USEarly chemistry a key
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The real show doesn’t start until Tuesday. That’s when the Hawks hit the court for two-a-day practices and we all find out just what kind of chemistry this team will have this season. Aside from the obvious — keeping the main characters off the injury list — I don’t know that there is a more important issue for this or any team in the NBA.
The Hawks didn’t find the right chemistry mix until two months into the season a year ago, their 2-16 record during the first 18 games proof that the right balance eluded them until then. No one wanted to use Jason Collier’s death as an excuse, but to this day I believe that the traumatic impact of Oct. 16, 2005, was never acknowledged for the devastation it wrought throughout the organization.
It almost felt like the Hawks had to hit rock bottom last year (the hot seat was blazing for the coaching staff by then; the owners had to either give Mike Woodson a vote of confidence or give him the boot — they made the right choice by the way) before they could rise from the ashes that was all their early season tumult.
It took weeks for Joe Johnson to find his comfort zone with his new teammates (remember, his deal didn’t get done until late August) and then Marvin Williams and Salim Stoudamire had to be incorporated into the playing rotation.
I say all that to make this point, aside from Speedy Claxton’s hopefully speedy (sorry, couldn’t resist) recovery from his broken hand, the Hawks shouldn’t have any other speed bumps to slow them down this season. At least none that are obvious right now.
So let’s study the first 18 games on the schedule for this season. And yes, I know we’ve got the preseason schedule to deal with. But that’s just an extended training camp. I’m talking about the game that actually count.
Let’s look 18-deep right now and guess where these guys could be by then. Keep in mind that for the first time in years that first month won’t include an extended trip through the Western Conference, where the most promising of seasons can be derailed in a matter of days.
The Hawks play 14 games before having to worry about that Western Conference trip. And by then, we should have a pretty good idea of what type of team these guys are capable of becoming and what type of season they can put together with a roster that is finally two-deep (legitimately two-deep) at every position.
Now I’m not even a fan of preseason predictions for a season (I know, I know, that’s not what it looked like in Sunday’s paper), let alone first month predictions. But as far as I can tell, the Hawks’ first 18 games shape as their most important of the season. If they get off to a good start the possibilities are endless. If not …
Playing .500 ball or even better through 18 games would be off the charts for the Hawks. But if the Hawks can stay anywhere within three games of .500 through the first 18 games, they have a chance to rid themselves of some of those early season demons from years past.
Some people might think that 6-12 is selling a team short. But after 39 wins and 125 losses the past two seasons, I think these guys have to crawl a little bit before they walk. Feel free to tell me if I’m crazy (you always do anyway).
Comments
By TonyG
October 2, 2006 04:08 PM | Link to this
From what I’ve read, it seems that the Hawks realize that. They saw how getting into such a huge hole last year made them feel like climbing out of it was impossible. You’re right, if the Hawks get off to a good start, this could be a really great season instead of a struggle.
By bill
October 2, 2006 04:11 PM | Link to this
Sekou — All good points you made…but we’ve drank the Kool-Aid before. I still don’t see how we’ve improved defensively with our off- season moves, other than assurances that all of our young guys will play better in the paint.
I’ll believe it after the first regular season game that one of the phenoms take a charge, or at least clobber the guy going in for the slam!
By doc
October 2, 2006 04:20 PM | Link to this
well by now most have heard me echo these thoughts many times over in past notes that you summarize about the past and the turbulance beyond ownership issues. i too have gone on record as saying that ill be encouraged rather than discouraged if this team gets off to a 7 and 13 start in the first 20 games so sekou we are on the same page there as well.
good articles to read today, well done. i know that for me it is a sense of actions speak louder than words except when they are spoken with such conviction. previous actions on the court suggest there will be follow through. i am very excited to hear what josh has to say and the way he says it, with maturity and insight beyone his years. i continue to be even more impressed by bk when he is talking basketball and his players.
what came to me today was a sense of the paradox if the hawks dont go ahead and develp some credibility only to have the guy who tried to undermine the whole thing by his “veto” power come back and take over and have to fire everyone to do it his own way. irony strikes again.
By JimmyF
October 2, 2006 04:22 PM | Link to this
Most of what happens early on rests on the shoulders of Claxton and how he can mold and work these young talents into the potential all-stars they can become. With the setback from his injury it could be hard, but I like that we have three players ready to prove their immense talents to this league in Smith, Williams, and Claxton. All mentioned are looking for a legitimate identity for the league to notice. That fire to be great and passion they show could get the team off to a blazing start with then the pressures of holding that pace throughout a grueling 82 game schedule. These three plus Johnson who IS, mark my words, going to make an All-Star appearance this year are going to turn heads fast. Smith will a man on a mission after hearing his leadership qualities seeping through and a sense of responsibility for the city and his self. 18 games in, I see a 10-8 record. Call me crazy I dare you.
By vdunkndunk
October 2, 2006 04:23 PM | Link to this
In the first 18 games we should have a solid chance to win at home against NY, Orlando, Seattle, Milwaukee, Toronto, and Charlotte. Then we have some winnable games on the road against teams like Philly, Toronto, Portland, and Seattle.
If we won all those games we would be 10-8 after the first 18 games. I don’t think we’ll win all of them, but we should win many of them…plus we should beat a couple of teams we’re not supposed to. So I’m optimistically hoping to be somewhere close to 9-9 or maybe better, and hopefully not much worse.
By Tony
October 2, 2006 04:30 PM | Link to this
Bill, At least one big defensive improvement is getting rid of Harrington
By Tony
October 2, 2006 04:32 PM | Link to this
Bill
One big improvement in the defense was by getting rid of Harrington
By Samuel
October 2, 2006 06:31 PM | Link to this
Cuz,
I’m thinking along with you. I believe that we will win from 4-6 out of that first 18. Speedy getting hurt is bad news anyway you spin it. Our home opener against the Knicks is winable but I believe they(the Knicks) will have so much to prove that they will take it, sorry guys. We can win the Orlando game here but I also believe Orlando will be one of the teams in the NBA ready to make a move to the next level. We should win in Toronto and here against Seattle and Toronto. The Charlotte game back here can be another win but it can also be a loss as Charlotte is in the same situation as Orlando. We can win in Portland and maybe in Seattle. I predict 5-13.
By smartguy
October 2, 2006 06:56 PM | Link to this
.500. are you kidding me. we ought to be .750. we could, and should win at least ten of those first 18. that may be optimistic, but there are some really bad teams in the east this year. go hawks. samuel, you’re a moron and an idiot.
By Astro Joe
October 2, 2006 07:58 PM | Link to this
Put me down for 7-11 in the first 18 games.
Great stories from yesterday. I hope that Josh Smith does a better job of using the critics’ comments than Vick did last year. Sometimes that stuff works to motivate and sometimes it takes guy’s out of “just being who they are”. When I see Smith shooting 25 footers, I can’t help but think of Vick standing in the pocket trying to be Warren Moon.
By jhan
October 2, 2006 08:16 PM | Link to this
Put me down for 8-12 in the first 20 games. After that they should play .500 ball the remainder of the season. I believe expectations will be met if this team wins 36-40 games this year.
By redhawk
October 2, 2006 08:34 PM | Link to this
Thanks SS—I enjoy your blogs—I think the Hawks need defensive chemistry cause that’s where chemistry counts most—and that’s supposed to be Coach’s forte. If the Hawks defense is MUCH BETTER we could be in the hunt at the end of the season—If we get into March with a reasonable shot at the post-season, I’ll be satisfied. I just don’t want to know that the season is a bust at Christmas. — But the East is overall stronger, I think. REDHAWK
By Wedgie Evans
October 2, 2006 09:25 PM | Link to this
I say we lose at Philly, win vs. New York, lose vs. Orlando, lose at Cleveland, lose at Toronto, win vs. Seattle, win vs. Milwaukee, lose vs. Miami, lose at Detroit, win vs. Toronto, win at Orlando, lose at Washington, win vs. Charlotte, lose vs. Cleveland, win at Portland, lose at Seattle, lose at Denver, and (here’s the big upset) win at LA Lakers.
That’s 8-10 in the first 18 games (3-7 on the road, 5-3 at home).
Even without Speedy Claxton, our defense is gonna be much, much better with the addition of three big men this offseason (both the rookies and Lorenzen Wright) and with Al Harrington gone. We will probably have a tough time scoring against good defenses without a true post-up presence, and with Speedy out that problem will only be worse, but our athleticism and defense should be enough to keep us close in most of these games. 8 wins in the first 18 is not an unreasonable expectation. Chances are we will end up dropping a couple of those games we should win, but I would definitely be surprised if we had anything less than 6 wins after the first 18 games were over.
By Samuel
October 2, 2006 09:29 PM | Link to this
Thanks Smartguy,
You’re kidding right. I’m sure you named yourself,right. So you’re saying we should win the East with all these week teams, right. Check back with me in a month or so. Cuz, I guess that makes you an idiot and moron too. Smartguy, You Rule!
By Ken Strickland
October 2, 2006 10:23 PM | Link to this
BK has been unbelievably successful in drafting talented players with tremendous potential. His greatest accomplishment has been drafting players with outstanding character. It is the unique combination of talent, potential and character that has fueled the rapid development of our young players. All of our key young players, except SWilliams, has at least 1yr of experience playing DEF on the NBA level. That, and the addition of Claxton and Wright, should definitely improve our DEF. Replacing Harrington with MWilliams will also improve our DEF. Since scoring wasn’t a real problem last yr, a big DEF improvement will definitely get us off to a good start and finish. GO HAWKS!!!!
By hazer
October 3, 2006 10:15 AM | Link to this
40 wins…
By BB genie
October 3, 2006 10:40 AM | Link to this
No one should make any travel plans for the last week of April 07. Hawks will be in the playoffs. They have a secret weapon. The Genie!!!!!! 40-42 will get us in. We must focus on winning as many games vs. Eastern conference teams the season. Tie breaker rules will come into play at the end of the season.
By The Flash
October 3, 2006 11:53 AM | Link to this
I think that the biggest issues are concepts and trust. By concepts, I mean, will the approach on offense be the type of system in which a guy like Diaw would flourish. That is the test. That is the future of basketball, which is seeped in the best of the past. Talking about the past, if past ir prologue, Woody and his bobby-knight approach to the game, does not leave me with the feeling that this team will begin to approach its potential. Which is not to say that they will not be good, or have a good start, by Sekou’s and my main man’s definition.
Trust. My belief has long been that the Spirit and BK through trust out the window a long time ago. The question remains is trust like lag pressure in a golf swing. Once you let it go, is it irretrievable? Doc, the pragmatist, in his past line of work you have to be, would say that Billy made the wise political choice, the only one he had. I say that there was a price for that choice, and it is huge. How does Clyde always put it?
By ray
October 3, 2006 12:30 PM | Link to this
Nothing like asking people to make predictions. It’s almost like starting a fight. You’re always going to get answers/opinions that range from far in one direction to far in the exact opposite. Here’s a prediction for you: after the first few negative and positive predictions, I predict that bloggers will go after each other based on their predictions. Oh wait….that’s happened already. Yeeesh.
Samuel, I don’t necessarily agree with your predicted win total within the first 18 games, I think we’ll get more wins than that. However, you are definitely not a moron or idiot, so your ideas have just as much merit as anyone else’s. I think if Chalmers is any good in camp (my guess is he will be ) then we should sign him. No offense to Lue or Ivey, so anybody who’s going to scream at this can stop right there, but we need a back up who doesn’t let up on the speed of the game. Claxton is a penetrator. If Chalmers is able to penetrate consistently and drive the offense at a high gear, that’s what we need coming off the bench. We need a second-stringer who is a ball-hawk. You just can’t let up on offense or defense when the starter is out. And if the guy coming off the bench isn’t those things, then he needs to be one hell of a shooter/scorer. Why? Because that would mean JJ is having to play some minutes at the point…and he shouldn’t be doing double duty like he was last season: setting up the offense and trying to find his shot. If he’s going to have to play pg at those times, there should be someone in the backcourt with him that’s a scoring threat so defenses don’t sag on JJ. Not that there won’t be other guys to pass the ball too, but 4-on-5 isn’t the game you want to play, whether it be on offense or defense.
Speaking of defense. You really have to care about it to be effective. What we need is a swarming defense. Clog the passing and driving lanes, deny your defender the ball, and when he does get it…deny him the space to work in. A defense has to attack, it cannot wait for the offense to make it’s move. And then comes the part of the game that all good teams have learned in some way, shape, or form: damage control. As we well know, there are many guys in the league that will just destroy you because they cannot be stopped. So damage control is the name of the game. The best way to do it is to clamp down on everybody else. One man, heck even two are not going to beat a team solely by themselves. Remember Shaq and Kobe against Detroit? Oh they got theirs but the role players were snuffed out. And let’s face it: this is a young Hawks team with no stellar defenders as of just yet. Even Josh Smith isn’t a stellar defender yet, although he can be. And none of our interior guys is an established intimidator in the league. So, they have to learn to swarm the ball and not put the defensive responsibility and pressure on the interior defense or it will fail due to lack of experience and/or ability. And learn damage control, because defending is not necessarily about stopping as much as it is limiting.
By ray
October 3, 2006 01:14 PM | Link to this
Here’s another thought on point guards. Maybe Hawks management should take particular notice of things happening in Boston, particularly throughout training camp and preseason. The Celtics have Rondo, Telfair, and West. The way I figure it, all of these guys want to be The Man, so any who don’t get the job will be upset. Sure, there’s gotta be a back up guy. Rondo may be the only guy who’d go for that. Then again, West and Telfair are both young, so that would mean career back up for any of the guys who don’t get the starting job if they remain in Boston. Perhaps we could see who doesn’t get the starting job and who the Celtics would be willing to part with. Personally, any one of the three isn’t a bad gamble, I don’t think. And then maybe we could work a trade of some sort, assuming we can offer something they need or want. My reasoning for this is Speedy is prone to injury and while we did sign him for a while and a decent chunk of change, he’s not the pg of the really long-term future. In fact, getting a younger hard-charging pg with Speedy as a long-term excellent back up and maybe mentor (remember, he’s a penetrator and ball-hawking defender) isn’t a bad idea. Just a thought, because our pg situation isn’t the most secure, espeicially if Speedy can’t remain healthy. Like I said, just a thought.
Mildly interesting side note I happened to come across while reading InsideHoops.com commentary. The comment made was that the Hawks should sign Michael Olowakandi. I really can’t tell if that was meant as a joke or what. I just thought it was somewhat interesting considering how “out of the blue” it was.
By Bohezzy
October 3, 2006 01:19 PM | Link to this
I’m predicting we go 10-8 in the first 18 games. This team is a talented bunch, even with Shelden Williams on the team. Josh, Joe, and Marvin will carry this team offensively and the most important part of the equation is we have a point guard that knows how to slow things down at the appropriate time and push when it needs to be pushed. That’s what we lacked last year. We would be on the lead in the 3rd and 4th quarter and let the other team dtermine the pace of the game and next thing we know we lose the game. Zaza has help to keep him fresh. Hopefully Batista does something productive beside just take up space(hard fouls, rebounds). If these fall into place we should be ok and in the playoffs. This squad has more talent than the last Hawks teams to make the playoffs. Holla at cha boy.
By Kappy
October 3, 2006 01:31 PM | Link to this
I’m so excited to see our young Hawks play. We looked so promising at the end of last season. And excuse my language, but I would have a pitched tent in my pants if we made the playoffs. Nothing would make me happier.
And I agree, the first month is critical to our survival. We dont have to dominate, just compete and win a few. The Knicks and Magic games will be very important. To start off on the right foot and beat teams we’ll be competing with in the East would be HUGE!
Let’s start the season!
By Jameyan
October 3, 2006 01:45 PM | Link to this
Like Yung Joc “It’s Going Down” In Atlanta with a Hawks. Here is a few predictions for ya in the first 20 games. @Phi-W-Upset Special NYK-W They Still stink Orl-W Close game but we pull it out @Cle-L Lebron takes over the 4th quarter @Tor-W Joe Johnson drops 40 in win Sea-L Tired from the road trip Mil-W Gets back in the win column Mia-L Too much Shaq @Det-L Close game and the refs will blow it Tor-W Another win against a team we lost 2 4 times last year @Orl-L Dwight Howard dominates @Was-L Gilbert Arenas drops career high Cha-W We have to win this game Cle-W Lebron scores but nobody else doesn’t @Por-W-We owe them from the last 2 seasons @Den-L Tough place 2 play at @LAL-W- Just like last year @Sac-L Don’t remember the last time we won in Sac town Den-W Camby and Miller will be hurt by then.
Home (7-2) Away (4-7) Overall (11-9) first 20 games
By Lacsho
October 3, 2006 03:06 PM | Link to this
I think the Hawks will go at least 9-9 the first 18 games. I’m not worried about Speedy and his broken hand; I think Salim will pick up the slack at the guard position. I just hoped he watched a lot of film and worked on his individual defense.