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Monday, January 28, 2008
Who’s worse: Hawks or Thrashers?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
The Hawks. The Thrashers. We could argue for days over which of our winter sports franchises is better, but that would miss the depressing point. Since neither is any good, isn’t it more appropriate to ponder, category by category, which is worse?
TEAM The Hawks have a better squad than their record indicates. (They’re 18-22, having lost five of six.) Even after losing five in a row, the Thrashers have a better record than statistics would warrant. (The team that has yielded more goals than any other is 23-25-4, due mostly to its success in overtime and shootouts.)
You watch the Hawks and come away believing they should be better. You watch the Thrashers and wonder how they’re as competitive as they are.
WHO’S WORSE?: The Thrashers, because they wouldn’t be in the playoffs if the postseason started today, while the Hawks, not exactly on merit, would.
COACH
Almost a trick question, given that the Thrashers don’t actually have a coach. They fired theirs in October. Then again, the Hawks don’t really have one, either, given that Mike Woodson’s career record is an astonishing 87-199. (It was Woodson who once said, “You can’t control your record,” and the feeling persists that this coach has no control over anything — not his players, not the final seconds of a close game, nothing.)
Having done this fill-in business twice now, Don Waddell has gotten pretty good at it. His career record after he has fired somebody is 27-24-1-4, which doesn’t make him Toe Blake but beats the heck out of 87-199.
WHO’S WORSE?: The Hawks, because Woodson might be the worst coach in Atlanta history, Marion Campbell not excluded.
GENERAL MANAGER
Another stumper: Is it possible to be a worse GM than Billy Knight, who took the wrong guy with his first pick in each of his first four drafts here?
Yes, believe it or not. Because Knight, for all his documented whiffs, has still constructed the spine of a roster. (Having a point guard would have rendered it an entire skeleton, but that would have made things too easy, don’t you think?) Waddell has been in place twice as long and hasn’t fleshed out the Thrashers beyond Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa. And Hossa could be gone soon. Yikes.
WHO’S WORSE?: The Thrashers, based mostly on Waddell’s time served.
OWNERSHIP
Another trick-type question, given that each club is owned by the same people. But there’s a subtle difference. Of the many Atlanta Spirit partners, only Bruce Levenson cares much about hockey, and he doesn’t live in Atlanta.
The most visible owner-enablers, Michael Gearon Jr. and Sr., are Atlantans who believe they know a lot about basketball and seem, for reasons unclear, utterly sold on Knight and Woodson. Say what you will about Steve Belkin, but at least he had the wisdom to wonder if the Hawks know what they’re doing.
WHO’S WORSE?: The Hawks, because ownership actually takes an interest in their success. Or, more precisely, the lack thereof.
OVERALL
The easiest choice on the board. The Thrashers have been a disappointment. The Hawks have been an embarrassment. Big difference.
It was a Hawks transaction — the Joe Johnson trade — that first dragged these owners into court. It was the Hawks who were ordered to replay the final 51.9 seconds of a game because the stat crew couldn’t count to six. It was the Hawks who designated Speedy Claxton and not Deron Williams or Chris Paul as their point guard of choice. And it’s the Hawks who have a GM who rarely deigns to speak with the media.
WHO’S WORSE?: The Hawks, because they still haven’t made the playoffs this century. The Thrashers haven’t ever won a playoff game, but at least they got there once. That modest accomplishment wouldn’t carry many debates, but it positively reverberates in this otherwise empty barrel.
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