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September 2008
Inside camp
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAWKSVILLE - Whatever you think of Hawks coach Mike Woodson, and I hate to even go there knowing the quick-witted cruelty that’s so prevalent around here, no one can accuse the man of being inconsistent.
The first thing I heard him say when I hit the practice court today was, “Nobody is in shape. You can’t run for five straight minutes and we’ve got to play 48. It doesn’t look like anybody did anything this summer.”
That’s four straight years with Woodson singing that song on the opening day of training camp.
“He says it every single year,” Marvin Williams said with a smile. “I’d be worried if he said something else. But we’re good. We know we’ve worked hard. But the first day of camp always brings it home for you.”
Woodson softened his stance when he addressed the assembled media after practice, toning down the rhetoric after cranking it up throughout the portion of practice we were allowed to view.
“For the most part guys were in tune to what we were doing,” he said. “But I always look at the first few days of camp from a conditioning standpoint and see who did some work in the offseason. And I thought this time last year we were a little ahead of pace. That’s not to knock any of the guys’ effort, because when you start camp everybody is excited and they give effort. But bodies fatigue because we’re doing a lot of running the first few days as we start to prepare for preseason games.”
MORE FROM MARVIN: Woodson did mention that the expectations for Williams this season have been raised, as they are for all of the players. But Williams in particular is a player Woodson has his eye on (mostly because of the position he plays and how crucial it is with so many of the league’s top talents lining up at small forward).
“I think with Marvin, when you’re a small forward in this league and average 15 points in your third year, his numbers have to go up for us to be successful,” Woodson said. “He and I have talked about it. And I don’t think he’s the type of player that will shy away from a challenge. I expect that his numbers will rise this year. He needs to be probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 or 19 points this year. Each year he’s grown as a player and has gotten better from an offensive standpoint. But it’s not just offense. That’s a strong position he’s playing and your opponents are strong offensive players as well, so you’ve got to take pride in defending and rebounding the ball, too. We’re expecting all of those things from Marvin. And I would shortchange him if I didn’t expect all those things.”
LINE OF THE DAY: Woodson let all the players know that any player that plans on shooting a 3-pointer this season better be in the gym either before or after practice working with shooting consultant Mark Price or assistant coach Jim Todd.
The players were on the floor in a giant circle doing their post-practice stretches as he was talking and Joe Johnson raised his hand so he could speak. “I don’t plan on taking any 3’s this year coach,” he said, igniting a chorus of laughter that even Woodson couldn’t help but join.
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Morris eager to mix it up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HAWKSVILLE - While the rush excitement on media day included first looks (for many people) at the familiar names and faces that helped the Hawks to the playoffs last season, Randolph Morris held down his corner of the room in relative obscurity.
That’s not an easy task for a man that stands 6-11 and 275 pounds, but since signing his free agent deal with the Hawks over the summer Morris blended in as well as anyone.
While appearances by his more high profile teammates made a bigger splash during summer workouts, it was Morris that made it the weight room and gym every day during the offseason.
“I didn’t have nothing else to do,” Morris said and then laughed. “Seriously, though, I’m trying to make my mark. I had to be in here every day. I had to go to work. I had to be back in this gym to get my game right.”
No one was happier than Morris to get on the floor for the start of the contact work of training camp (the first official practices started 10 minutes ago). When he targeted the Hawks during the early stages of free agency, he pointed to this morning as his first real chance to make an impression.
“The opportunity is what I make it,” Morris continued. “That’s why I’m going to continue to work my hardest and try and get in where I fit in.”
Morris didn’t have the same opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation in his previous NBA stop, in New York. With a roster stocked with high salaried big men and the cosmic dysfunction that plagued the Knicks over the past few years, his initial voyage into pro basketball was an adventure, to say the least.
“Every team has its own vibes and it trickles down from the management and the coaches and how your infrastructure works,” Morris said. “Right here, it’s just a totally different set up and one that fits where I am right now. So if I just work, grind every single day and bring that lunch pail with me at all times, I think I’ll be able to get where I want to be this season.”
I’ll have Day 1 updates and observations this afternoon, so stay tuned.
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Hope you made it
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMYRNA - To work, home, school or wherever it is you were headed this morning.
Having been in and out of Atlanta over the past three weeks, I was stunned to come home this past week and discover the gas crisis currently strangling us all in the metro area.
Let’s hope all the Hawks make it to media day this afternoon. With their first controversy free training camp in years just hours away, there’s no need for anyone to muddy up the waters by getting stranded on 75 with no gas (how much does it cost to fill up Range Rover anyway? I’m taking MARTA if necessary).
Seriously, though, how refreshing must it be for the Hawks (and all their fans) to have a team show up for training camp with a legitimate shot at making some noise (again) this season?
We haven’t been here in the recent past. What with coaching hot seats, contract extension drama and the obligatory injury news sorry Mr. Claxton) always dominating the headlines, it’s a new twist for the Hawks to show up so fresh and clean for camp.
The Hawks did take care of a little bit of housecleaning the past few days by exercising the contract options on both Al Horford and Acie Law IV and announcing the hiring of both Mark Price (shooting coach/consultant) and Duane Ferrell (player relations program manager), adding a decidedly Georgia Tech flavor to the operation.
Making the moves on Horford and Law was a no-brainer, and the organization is surely prepared to pay up for Horford in the near future (since he’ll command a huge raise in another year).
Adding both Price and Ferrell to the mix were shrewd moves as well. If you’re going to add a shooting “specialist” to your staff it usually helps if he was a sniper himself. And Price was one of the best of his era. Ferrell’s best work as a pro came in a Hawks’ uniform. He’s also a familiar face to folks around town who the Hawks will want to identify as fans now that they’ve actually got some ammunition to court them with (a trip to the playoffs, no matter how you come by it, is the right kind of fuel for a quick sales pitch).
The finalized training camp roster was also unveiled, and there were no surprises there either. I know they won’t actually hit the practice floor until tomorrow morning, but there are a couple of interesting training camp tussles on the horizon for this 18-man group that will interesting to watch.
Battle No. 1 - For the roster spot Mario West held down last season. Surely some people will assume that Thomas Gardner is a better shooter and a little bigger than West. But there’s more competition, namely from a rookie from Cal-State Fullerton by the name of Frank Robinson. According to many observers, he was tremendously impressive during workouts all summer (he was on the summer league team) and will make some noise in camp if given the opportunity. West is relentless and will wage a nasty campaign to hold on that spot. So expect fireworks for as long as the entire group remains intact.
Battle No. 2 - Everyone that’s seen Solomon Jones this summer and in particularly in recent weeks insist that this talk of his physical improvement isn’t just bluster. He’s coming into his own, from all accounts, and that means there is going to be some serious ‘bow throwing for those backup minutes at center and power forward. Zaza Pachulia and Randolph Morris are also in that mix. But there is no predetermined order here. It’s a wide-open race for those minutes and the most aggressive and consistent performer at the spot will win the role. Another boost, even if its just mental, is the four players on the roster listed at 6-10 or taller (Horford is on the borderline but we’re going with listed heights here). Olumide Oyedeji (6-10) and Marcus Hubbard (6-9) also push that envelope, though neither is expected to be around by the time the regular season starts.
Battle No. 3 - Mike Bibby owns the starting point guard spot but there is still some debate as to who will be his primary backup. Logic would dictate that Acie Law IV be the shoe-in candidate for the job. But Speedy Claxton, who appears to be fit to play after so many of us assumed his career was done last year, will have something to say about who plays where. And I continue to believe that Flip Murray could very well be the bailout plan (that was a cheap one, sorry, but I’m trying to stay on message here) at the point. Training camp is the time to discover all the possibilities at your disposal, making training camp an intriguing time for Hawks coach Mike Woodson and his staff.
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Clarity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Salim Stoudamire looks like a new man.
He literally looks brand new.
He’s got the ‘fro back. He’s smiling, not scowling.
And he sounds brand new, too.
It’s amazing what a change of scenery does for a man.
After waiting all summer to find a new home the former Hawks reserve guard has found one in San Antonio with the Spurs. He signed a two-year deal with the Western Conference power and moves into a place where there is a glaring need for some scoring punch off the bench.
“They invited me out there three times and let me know they were interested,” Stoudamire said. “They wanted to see how I could fit in with their guys. They knew I was talented but they wanted to see if they could incorporate that into their system. Then [three] days ago Gregg Popovich called me and told me how much he wanted me to come to San Antonio and we came to an agreement and that’s how I got there.”
After three tumultuous and disappointing seasons with the Hawks (he played in 61 games in each of his first two seasons but managed to make appearances in just 35 last year), Stoudamire knows his position in the league is tenuous, at best, right now. That’s why he isn’t taking anything for granted.
“This is definitely my second chance and it might be my last chance,” Stoudamire said. “But I know how to turn negatives into a positive. After these three years in Atlanta I can say that I’ve finally become a man. Being in a situation where I wasn’t playing, it humbled me. It made me appreciate just being in the NBA a lot more. It made me work a lot harder and realize that this is a blessing. There are only 400 and something guys in the NBA and billions of people in the world. So once you take that into account, your focus is there, your clarity is there and you can move forward.”
Stoudamire leaves the Hawks without cashing in on all the potential he showed, but with a chance to seize an opportunity elsewhere (and when it’s with a perennial powerhouse that routinely plays deep into the playoffs, it’s hard to ask for a better situation).
And even though he’ll be focused on his new job and new challenges, he insists he’ll keep tabs on things in Atlanta.
“I’m definitely going to keep a close eye on the Hawks,” he said. “I still feel connected here. I want to see the best for everyone involved. Not only for the players but also for the coaches, the trainers and especially the fans. I just finally want to see Atlanta basketball reach that consistent level of playing well. I saw how far we came in the three years I was here, from barely winning to making the playoffs and getting everybody energized and caught up in what we’re we doing. And it’s really a beautiful thing to come from the bottom up and have that kind of success.”
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TD’s take, and more …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No one has had a better vantage point for the Hawks’ unofficial summer school sessions than retired NBA veteran and one-time Hawks sharpshooter Tony Delk.
As one of the mainstays at the team’s practice facility this summer (Delk insists he’s not mounting a comeback but merely trying to “stay in shape”), Delk saw things the past few months that lead him to believe the Hawks will continue the rise that started in their playoff series against Boston in May.
Granted, Delk is the firs to admit that what a player looks like in an empty gym in the summer isn’t always a tell tale sign of how they’ll fair once the real games start. But having watched the Hawks closely the past few seasons, and especially last season, he’s convinced that the seeds for future success have been planted sufficiently.
“You can see who has come back improved physically and with a new twist to their game that you didn’t see the year before,” Delk said. “And the one guy that stands out to me off the top of my head is Al [Horford]. He’s making that mid-range shot. He’s come back a lot better. And he’s going to play hard so you know what he’s going to do. And really, if they stay healthy, both Acie [Law IV] and Speedy [Claxton] have really showed me something. I think they can help this team in ways that neither one of them did last year for reasons that were largely out of their control. When you look at how little Acie played last year and the fact that Speedy was out all year, it’s like having two new players this season without having to go out and sign them. Acie is physical and has that size to work with, all he needs is time on the floor. And Speedy’s got his bounce, his quickness and his outside shot has been as good as I can remember. That’s invaluable when you’re in the place the Hawks are right now.”
Just where they are right now depends on your perspective. Many of the pundits have already pegged the Hawks for a fall back to the pack in the Eastern Conference standings.
Delk, however, isn’t so sure that will be the case.
“The way they finished they have to know they’re going to be a marked team,” Delk said. “With that in mind, they have to come to play every single night. They won’t be able to sneak up on anybody. The key to me is finding the right chemistry in training camp. But I think they have a good shot at doing well and finishing in the mix of that top eight in the East. I don’t see how anyone could be convinced that they’re going to fall back to the pack.”
Delk said seeing so many of the Hawks on the floor during the past few months, on their own time, is what convinced him that they realize what’s at stake and what it will take to realize whatever goals they have or will set for themselves this season.
“I don’t think NBA players of my generation and beyond have ever gotten enough credit for all the work they do this time of year,” he said. “This is the time when you get in the gym and really get in shape and trying to polish your game. You can only do so many drills. At some point you have to put it into motion out there on the floor. And I think these guys, based on the way they finished and the way they had this city rocking, they all want to start off right. You don’t want to be behind the curve, you want to get ahead and know that you are a team to be reckoned with. Because the ultimate truth is that the seventh or eighth spot is not guaranteed to anybody. But if you get to third or fourth and stay right there you won’t be on pins and needles in those last five or six games like last year. If you get those wins early on and get off to a good start, that’s the key, and it keeps the fans involved.”
GOLD MEDAL DAYDREAMS: Hawks captain Joe Johnson can’t help but daydream about what it might have been like to have that gold medal draped around his neck in Beijing.
Technically, Johnson is still a member of the U.S. men’s senior national team. But he and the other players on the master roster that didn’t make the travel squad for the Beijing games will have to admire the flashy jewelry of their teammates that did make the trip.
With so few opportunities to snag Olympic gold, Johnson knows that the opportunity of a lifetime might not present itself again.
“It’s not always just about you,” he said. “Sometimes it’s about something a lot bigger than that. I’m just happy that we regained our position as the best team in the world. Do I wish I’d have been there on the floor with those guys? Absolutely. But I wasn’t and unfortunately there is nothing that I can do about it now. That said, I’ve got nothing but love for all those guys that were there. They did a fantastic job and represented us to the fullest. And who knows where we’ll be in 2012. I’ll be a little bit older … but you never know. Maybe I’ll get another shot.”
COACH BIBBY?: A large chunk of Mike Bibby’s summer was spent coaching basketball as opposed to playing. As the shot-called on his son’s AAU team, Bibby has a new perspective on the game, sort of.
“It was a good time,” he said of his summer spent running the show in a different way. “I was coaching my son, which is about as good as it gets.”
Now that he’s back to playing to the whistle instead of blowing one, Bibby’s eager to get his timing back. And perhaps more importantly, he’s eager to see where he fits going into the final year of his contract.
“It goes by fast, It does go by fast. But I still got some left,” Bibby said and smiled. “Last year I came in and just tried to fit in. You don’t want to come in and try and do too much. It was the same way when I got to Sacramento [from Vancouver]. You want to come in and fit in and just see how things play out.”
Things played out particularly well, with the Hawks earning the franchise’s first postseason berth in nearly a decade with Bibby piloting the ship.
But he struggled in the series against Boston, something that he shook off immediately after that Game 7 loss but has not forgotten.
“I think we definitely could have beaten them,” Bibby said. “We just didn’t play well on the road at all, and I mean at all. But things happen for a reason. Maybe that was the start for us to excel this season.”
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(Almost) all in!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby haven’t shared space on a basketball court since May, when the Hawks’ season came to a crashing end in a Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics.
Sure, they’d spoken a few times and even saw each other out Friday night in Atlanta.
But until Monday they hadn’t worked together on the court in months.
Easing back into the routine, however, proved to be no problem, Johnson said.
“Mike knows my sweet spots on the floor and I know his as well and when we’re both out there healthy and hungry, like we are right now, we’re going to be tough to deal with,” Johnson said. “Even though you take a few months away from all this doesn’t mean you can’t come right back and get right back into the flow. It feels good knowing [whom] you’re dealing with out there and having the confidence in each other necessary to get into an immediate groove. Having him healthy, too, is the best part.”
Johnson said the Hawks must continue grooving until training camp starts at the end of the month. Everyone scheduled to be on the training camp roster either has been or will be in for “unofficial” workouts before the start of camp.
And while it was a total coincidence that he and Bibby made their grand entrances simultaneously, the tone of the workouts changed dramatically for a reason.
“We’re not messing around,” he said. “You can’t really judge much from these workouts, because it really is guys being mixed and matched on teams of five to run and just play to get in shape. But we’re not playing around. This is serious business, just like it was before last season. We don’t have everybody here yet but when we get the entire crew in here, we’ll be ready to go.”
Bibby was glad to be back, finally healthy after an injury-plagued start with the Hawks.
“I got here Friday and it was a good run for me, trying to get into that flow again,” Bibby said. “I’d been working and doing drills and stuff. But as far as playing, I hadn’t really played since last season. So it was good to get back out here with all these cats and get busy.”
SPEEDY, TOO: Johnson and Bibby weren’t the only Hawks’ veterans to make it the floor Monday.
Speedy Claxton was in the house as well, looking as “explosive” as Johnson said he could remember seeing Claxton in a “long time.”
Claxton showed off a similar burst during a two-game stint in summer league in July, but there remains some uncertainty as to whether or not he’ll be able to regain his form after two injury-riddled seasons that have cost him his security in the playing rotation.
There were good vibrations this time a year ago and ultimately Claxton never did get back to form. So he’s realistic about his situation this time around.
“I’m coming around,” Claxton said. “Honestly, earlier in the summer I wasn’t feeling this explosive. But now, it’s starting, slowly, to come around. I kind of know how to read my body now, too. I know when I have to rest and when I have to take a day or two off. And once I’m able to do that I can get back into the flow.”
With Bibby, Acie Law IV, newcomer Flip Murray and Claxton all on the roster, it’s going to be a scrap for minutes at point guard from the start of training camp until the situation is resolved.
“I know right now I’m the odd man out,” Claxton said. “That’s just how it is. But I can’t complain about it. They depended on me the last two years and I wasn’t able to be there for them, so they had to move on. I can’t be mad at anybody about that. The most frustrating part is that I know they had big plans for me, just like I had big plans for myself, and it’s a letdown when your body betrays your heart and mind. So hopefully, I can be back out there this year and prove myself.”
Strange words coming from a veteran with a championship ring. But that’s Claxton’s reality these days.
LIGHTS OUT: The spies around the Hawks’ practice court the past few weeks have proclaimed free agent swingman Von Wafer the most lethal shooter of the summer, with retired former Hawks’ sniper Tony Delk right on his heels.
Wafer reportedly won a game by himself last week - he scored every single point as his team shutout the opposition, which is a frightening shooting display in any venue.
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Solo chomping at the bit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So you think you’re the only one anxious for the start of the Hawks’ season?
Anxious can’t do justice to what Solomon Jones has been feeling since the Hawks’ Game 7 loss to Boston in May.
Like most of his teammates who have been working together at the team’s practice facility the past two weeks, Jones has been chomping at the bit all summer in anticipation of the start of training camp, which is just weeks away.
Jones played sparingly in his first two seasons with the Hawks. But he is angling for an expanded role this year.
With 20 extra pounds packed on his 6-10½ frame and a much more aggressive attitude, Jones is eager to make his case on the court as opposed to anywhere else.
And that’s why his decision to skip summer league at a time when the post minutes would have been plentiful, seemed so bizarre.
“I did two years in summer league and I wanted to take this summer to hit the weights hard and it paid off,” Jones said. “Right now I’m up to 250 and I want to play this season anywhere from 245 to 250. I thought [skipping summer league] was the best choice for me to make at the time, even though some people didn’t think it was the best decision. But I think people watching me right now would agree that I did the right thing.”
It’s no secret that this is a huge season for Jones, the one-time second round pick who has outlasted the fifth overall pick of the same draft, Shelden Williams ( who was jettisoned in the Mike Bibby trade last year).
And Jones knows that better than anyone.
“Man, hungry isn’t the word to capture how I’m feeling,” he said. “I’ve had opportunities and I thought I made the best of those. But now I have to come out and prove to people, to people everywhere that I can play in this league. And that’s what I’m doing right now. That’s what working so hard this summer was all about, proving that I belong.”
BIG BODIES ABOUND: The difference in available bodies for the Hawks during the playoffs was stark.
On one end the guards were working, with more players in the mix than playing time to be dispensed. On the other end of the floor there was Al Horford, Josh Smith, Zaza Pachulia and Jones - the Hawks’ paper-thin frontcourt rotation without any margin for error.
“I think it’s fair to say we were a little thin,” Horford said.
That shouldn’t be a problem in the future (and the Hawks might not be done procuring big man talent, per at least one of my spies who insists they are still searching for perhaps one more big to add to the mix).
When you add Randolph Morris, Othello Hunter and a thicker Marvin Williams to that mix, it does appear that the Hawks will have a few more bodies to work with compared to what they had in the playoffs.
“I feel like Solo has improved a great deal over this summer,” Horford said. “Josh has gotten a lot stronger and the addition of Randolph and Othello allows us to throw more bodies out there and gives us some serious depth.”
The surprise of the group could be Hunter, a player whose name plenty of people are familiar with from his time at Ohio State but a player whose game his new teammates are just starting to fully understand.
“We played his team in high school when I was at Oak Hill and we blew ‘em out by 30, but we did that to a lot of people,” Smith said and then laughed. “So I didn’t realize it before but I’ve actually gone against him before. He was a good player then but as you might expect, he’s so much better now. He has that good touch around the basket, he’s got good hands, and he has a face up game, too. And he plays a lot bigger than he is, which is basically the standard for all of us.”
Horford faced off against Hunter in college, when he was starring for Florida and Hunter was backing up Greg Oden at Ohio State.
“It’s different for guys in Othello’s case, like my case, when you come from winning programs. It’s all about the team concept so you can’t always show what you can do individually,” Horford said. “I know that was the case for me at Florida. I could always do more than I showed, but you play a role and sacrifice shooting face up jumpers for the good of the team and for the ultimate goal, which is winning. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. But when you get to this level you get to open up your game a bit more and I think we’ll see the same thing from Othello. He’s got pretty good hands and I suspect he’ll really open some eyes in [training] camp.”
The added bodies means increased competition and a mood heading into training camp that no one will be allowed to rest on what they’ve done in the past.
“My rookie year we had some guys but we had injuries and then last year we had trades that moved some guys out,” Jones said. “Right now we’re back up to where you figure a frontcourt needs to be. And I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a [expletive] of a training camp and honestly, I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait for it to get started.”
ROLL CALL: The only players yet to make an appearance at the pickup games are veterans Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, Mo Evans and Pachulia (who has been in and out of the practice facility all summer). But all are expected to be in the fold within the week - as they arrive other pros that reside in Atlanta during the offseason and were mainstays on the Hawks’ practice court will head out to their respective cities.
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Do you believe?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMYRNA - An interesting email from one of our founding members had me worried when I saw the subject line.
“Disheartened” was staring me straight in the face early this morning and I was thinking, “oh no what now?”
The tone of the email wasn’t what I was expecting, though. It was a sober take on a common theme around here. In short, the email asked a question - what makes me or anyone else think a 37-win team without any significant All-Star caliber additions has a chance to achieve anything more than 37 wins again?
That’s an extremely fair question, and one I’ve asked every Hawks player, staffer, fan, observer, etc., I’ve run across this summer. But the truth is I haven’t really asked myself that question as often as I probably should have.
Having chronicled this team for the past four years and seen them grow from a 13-win outfit to the 37-win crew that finished this past season in that Game 7 loss in Boston, I’m automatically giving the Hawks some credit for just natural progression.
Nothing in their makeup suggests they’re going to go backwards. Nothing about their core group and the work ethic of that group leads me to believe that they’re about level off and stop growing and maturing as individual talents, and in turn as a group.
But in the absence of any empirical evidence that they’ll simply be better because that’s what teams do when they are allowed to grow together without significant interruption, I’m doing what I always suggest folks shouldn’t when it comes to expectations.
So the burning question I’m left with this morning is the same one fans of every team find themselves contemplating in the dog days before the start of training camp (or spring training or what have you):
Do you believe?
Or perhaps even more fitting, are you willing to believe in this team going forward?
I didn’t have any real stipulations this summer to at least think this team had a chance to continue its painstaking climb up the NBA food chain - well, other than the retention of the core members of the team that were free agents and the additions of at least one or two veteran players in positions of need that could alleviate the pressure on the cats being overextended (by my count the Hawks went three for four in that department).
Where you stand on this team right now, though, really depends on whether or not you’re ready to take that leap of faith in this team (from everyone from the front office to the coaching staff to the players on the roster). It depends on whether or not you believe Mike Woodson and his staff come back better prepared to exploit the assets they have as opposed to being hamstrung by the assets they might still be lacking (and the depth is finally there, maybe not the best depth of any team in the league but certainly enough to compete). It depends on whether or not you believe Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Marvin Williams and Mike Bibby come back better prepared for the rigors awaiting them. And there’s
In years past I’ve always taken a wait and see approach about this crew, but their playoff run made more of an impression on me than some others (I don’t care if they won at home and got smashed on the road against the eventual world champs, I saw what this team could be when they’re firing on all cylinders). My belief has always been that when a young team finally tastes that firs bit of the exotic playoff fruit they either get infatuated with getting better and resolve to do just that (Orlando the past two years) or they assume they’ve arrived and suffer through the inevitable letdown that comes with that line of thinking (the Bulls the past three years).
I already know how one of our founding members feels, and frankly he’s been steadfast in his opinion from the day this party started.
But I’m curious where the rest of you stand, whether you believe in this (entire) operation or not, whether you are willing to believe or not?
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Blogcation
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMYRNA - That’s the longest hiatus I’ve taken from this blog since it was born shortly after the end of the Hawks’ dreadful finish to the 2004-05 season.
And I have to admit that it was strange being away (I didn’t so much as pop in here for a minute during the break). Sorry to leave you all hanging like that, but sometimes you have to go cold turkey.
But just a little under a month away from the start of training camp is certainly the time for us to crank up the conversation about these Hawks, where they stand now, where they could land later and whether or not they’ll survive the start of the regular season schedule (after looking at it again today I can’t get over just how brutal it is).
And I’m vowing now, with my Wolverines positioned for the most challenging (and that’s being wildly diplomatic, of course) season of my lifetime and the political blogs handling all the election chatter anyone can take, that this space will not spin into the craziness that has poisoned other hangouts like this one.
With two weeks to catch up on reading, study data for the upcoming season and daydream about the future I have to admit that I’m far more optimistic about this team than I was this time a month ago.
In the interest of full disclosure, it always helps to spend time picking the brains of NBA types who are watching the Hawks from afar.
I’ve done quite a bit of that lately, quizzing each and every one of them about so many of the same things we’ve debated here this summer.
As crazy as this might sound, the one name that kept surfacing in those conversations as the player whose season will best determine the Hawks’ fate isn’t who you might think it would be.
All the guys I spoke with, and all make their living knowing the ins and outs of the league, pointed to Marvin Williams as the linchpin to this season for the Hawks. If he plays above and beyond what he did last year, the Hawks can make another leap. If not … well, they’re much the same as they were a year ago.
Had someone suggested either Joe Johnson or Josh Smith or perhaps even Mike Bibby or Al Horford before Marvin, I would not have been surprised (personally, I think the growth of both Smith and Horford inside will be far more telling. But hey, that’s just my opinion. I’m sure you have your own theories).
But for each of the guys I spoke with to mention Marvin as “that dude,” totally unprompted mind you, it struck me as something much more than a coincidence.
One guy pointed to the Hawks’ performance against the Celtics in the playoffs as Exhibit A as to Marvin’s importance to the Hawks’ bottom line.
“He never actually had a breakout game during that series,” one of my insiders told me last week. “Every other guy in the [Hawks’] starting five had his moment in that series. I know [Marvin] led them in scoring in that Game 6 win but I felt like [Josh] Childress was really the game breaker that night off the bench with that big layup on the baseline, which was also the play that sent Paul Pierce out of that game with his sixth foul. And don’t forget that it was Johnson that hit the huge 3-pointer at the end for the final dagger. I was in the building that night and if ever there was a chance for the kid who was the No. 2 pick in the draft to step up on the big stage and lift his team up when they needed it that was the night. And it didn’t happen.”
If you go back and examine the Hawks’ playoff stats and it’s hard to argue that blunt assessment of Marvin’s performance in his first playoff appearance - he averaged a respectable 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds on .414 shooting. But even Marvin admitted (at least to me) that he wasn’t nearly as aggressive as he should have been offensively and that he didn’t attack Pierce like he wanted to (which was no doubt influenced by the focus of the Hawks’ attack in the series).
The universal opinion here has been locked in on Marvin’s fourth year being crucial to not only his development but also to the Hawks’ ability to continue ascending the Eastern Conference food chain.
That seems to be a theme shared by observers elsewhere.
“I’m not suggesting that Marvin needs to try and be something he’s not right now,” another one of my insiders said during our conversation. “I’m only suggesting that he has to become more of a presence, more of a factor than he’s been in the past. He has to be a threat every night and not just every two or three games. That’s the big difference people talk about between a guy in his third year and his fourth year, it’s that realization that in order to be a legitimate threat you have to be more consistent and not necessarily more dynamic. I think Marvin’s got plenty of game, more than he shows most nights actually, but it’s more important for him to show it every night than it is for him to show off any new tricks.”
That last sentence by my insider was in direct response to my offering that Marvin’s been working on a new wrinkle (a 3-point shot) to his arsenal, something that I’ve long said will make him a much tougher matchup at his size (6-9, 245 after a summer spent working the weights).
That’s where my insider and I disagree on Marvin and players in general. I don’t have any doubts that a player with a significant offensive wrinkle causes problems he didn’t before. And Marvin’s never stretched the defense beyond the 3-point line in the NBA. He’s always been a mid-range catch and shoot threat, from anywhere on the floor within 18 feet.
You move him back beyond the 3-point line, say from one of the corners, and I believe he drastically changes the way teams can defend the Hawks in the half court. No one has scouted the Hawks with Marvin as a threat from that distance. No one has tape of the Hawks with Marvin as a threat from that distance. If only for the first round of games (by the time the Hawks start seeing teams for the second time this season they’ll have surely figured out a way to at least try and defend the Hawks that way) it becomes a huge benefit for the Hawks to take teams by surprise.
One of my insiders vehemently disagreed with me, insisting that if Marvin’s 3-point shooting is just some gimmick that only works on the nights when he’s hot from deep it’ll be a disaster.
“I think a guy with his size and ability would be better suited polishing up his dribble drive game,” he said. “He’s big enough and talented enough to draw fouls if he’s consistently trying to go to the basket. That’s where I think he has a chance to create the most problems for this team. I don’t see any wisdom in parking a guy that big that far away from the basket, especially on a team strapped for size inside. He’d be much more efficient playing in the post more as opposed to working on the perimeter, where Johnson needs space to operate the way he likes.”
If Marvin was more of a playmaker in the Hawks’ offense I might lean that way as well. But he’s been more of a catch and shoot guy than he has been a creator of facilitator.
Either way it’s a fascinating discussion/debate, and one that we’ll have constantly the next month as we break down the Hawks’ entire roster in this space leading up to training camp.
But I’m curious, what do you think Marvin’s role will be on this team this season and going forward?
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