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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > September > 29
Monday, September 29, 2008
Not buying the Hawks quite yet
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The shining light of Atlanta pro sports opens training camp today, and amazingly that would be the Hawks.
When you are the only team coming off a playoff season — look it up, it won’t take long — you cease being the most-lampooned target in the city. Unless, of course, things go wrong again.
“Everybody’s smiling and motivated around here, because there’s probably a lot of other teams that think it was a fluke that we made the playoffs last year,” Josh Smith said. “So I feel like we have a lot to prove.”
That is the problem with this particular shining light. It’s way too early to assume stability. Maybe even direction.
Think of a bulb: There is no warning when it goes out.
Think of the Hawks: We saw both ends of the spectrum last season. We don’t know which end is reality and which is the aberration.
Are they the team that upset the Boston Celtics in three home playoff games, or the one that backed into the post-season with 37 wins and not only lost four playoff games in Boston but didn’t even compete?
Do you feel good about this team?
“Ask me that in January,” said Rick Sund, the new general manager.
Sund’s biggest concern: The schedule is not designed for early success: 10 of the first 16 games are on the road, where the team went 12-29 last season, and there’s no certainty how this team would deal with a bad start.
Success in sports often is less about talent (which the Hawks have) than it is about resolve and maturity. We just can’t know if this team is there yet.
“You go out 2-8 or you go out 8-2, things get blown out of proportion,” Sund said. “People think, ‘You’re there.’ ‘You’re not there.’ That’s my concern. We can’t get too high or too low. Detroit can lose three games out of the box, or they can win their first five. It won’t affect them either way. We have to understand the season is a marathon and not a sprint.”
General managers always have a Plan B. If things go south early, the question is what Sund does and how quickly he does it.
This is too important of a season for the Hawks for management to allow things to spin out of control. Much of the positive vibe that built during in the playoffs dissipated when Josh Childress bolted for Greece — unprecedented for an NBA regular — and ownership signed Mike Woodson to a two-year extension.
There were obvious arguments on both sides of the Woodson issue. Keep him: He made the playoffs. Fire him: He is 106-222 in four years.
But here’s the most important thing to keep in mind: a two-year deal does not represent an overwhelming vote of confidence. A one-year deal would have screamed, “He’s a goner” and undermined Woodson’s authority with the players. A three-year deal would have been a vote of confidence.
Two years says: “We’re not sure yet.” For those wondering whether the Hawks can take the next step, the question really is: “Can Woodson take them there?”
Give Woodson this much. He isn’t deluded. He understands that 37 wins and a first-round loss probably won’t cut it this season.
“Once you make the playoffs everything becomes higher in terms of expectations,” he said. “I look at our team now as a team that’s had a taste of playoffs. The players are hungry to get back. I know from a coaching standpoint that I’m hungry. We have something to build on. The schedule is what it is. We can’t run from it.”
They made the playoffs last year and now have a chance to be better. That puts them ahead of everybody else. If you’re the Hawks, you embrace that while you can.
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