Hawks' four-game slide spurs players-only meeting

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Hawks are in their worst slump of the season, and they hope meetings are the solution.

After losing their past four and six of their past eight, the Hawks held a players-only meeting Tuesday, which followed a post-practice meeting led by coach Mike Woodson.

"It was just guys talking about what we need to do," forward Marvin Williams said. "It was all positive, all positive things."

The Hawks, who play Wednesday at home against New Jersey, have not had much positive to talk about lately. They fell behind by 25 points midway through the second quarter Monday against Miami en route to a 92-75 loss. They are 21-12 -- still the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference -- but are reeling.

Players said the change has to start on defense. Over the past eight games, the Hawks are allowing opponents to shoot 48 percent from the floor, which is what the second-worst team in the league in that category was averaging before Tuesday's games.

Hence, the meetings.

"It's just a lack of effort," said center Al Horford. "People have to make the extra rotation, the extra offense. It has something to do with offense. If guys are not making shots, they tend to get a little discouraged. We still have to defend and rebound to give ourselves a chance to be in the game."

The Hawks' offense is predicated on defense and rebounding, using turnovers and misses to trigger the transition game. If the Hawks can't force missed shots, they can't get out on the break. The Hawks average 17.1 fast-break points per game, but are averaging 11.0 over the past eight games and 8.0 over the past three.

"You've got to get back to being more consistent on defense," Horford said. "It's something we've been harping on all year that we've been doing a good job, but we have to put a whole game together."

Players used words like energy, passion and focus in describing what they think has been missing.

Guard Joe Johnson said the team has "just get back to playing with intensity, having fun. That's pretty much the difference. It seems as if we're just kind of out there, just going through the motions."

In the three games immediately preceding the Miami loss, two against Cleveland and one against New York, the Hawks have been competitive. In the first Cleveland loss, they were down by one point going into the fourth quarter before going scoreless for the first 8:48 of the fourth quarter. They led by 17 points in the third quarter in the second Cleveland game before losing. Against the Knicks, the Hawks surrendered a 15-point fourth-quarter lead and fell in overtime.

"It is disappointing sometimes when you know you can do better and you're not," Williams said.

How the Hawks respond against New Jersey and in following games against Boston (Friday at home), at Orlando (Saturday) and at Boston (Monday) will be a revelation into the team. Of the past 20 teams to make conference finals appearances, only two had losing streaks that lasted five games or more.

Said Johnson, "I think we're a pretty good team, but we've got a long ways to go."