DEL.ICIO.USCan Hawks strong nucleus take next step?
Talented returning cast expects to advance in playoffs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, September 29, 2008
No introductions were needed Monday when the Hawks’ starting five huddled in a corner for a photo shoot during media day at Philips Arena.
That’s a first for Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ captain and All-Star, who will open training camp today alongside the same four starters he finished the season with last year.
Pouya Dianat /pdianat@ajc.com
Al Horford and Josh Smith have big things in mind for the upcoming season.
Just how far Johnson, Mike Bibby, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Marvin Williams can take this team remains to be seen. They know they can make the playoffs, as they did in April.
But can you ride this core group beyond the flash of that first-round series against Boston?
For once, and the first time in a long time, the Hawks seem to have more answers than questions at the start of a new season.
“First and foremost we’ve got to believe in ourselves,” Johnson said in between poses. “We’ve got something special here. And we really have to validate what we did in the playoffs.”
For the first time in at least four years the Hawks won’t open camp with off-the-court concerns, chemistry issues to sort out or starting jobs to fill. The bench will have to be retooled, with veterans Mo Evans and Flip Murray moving into prominent roles. Everything else, however, appears to be in place.
Still, there is that fear of the unknown.
“When I was in Phoenix we came back from a situation where we won 28 games and added Steve [Nash] and Quentin [Richardson] and had no idea what we had,” Johnson added. “We ended up being the best team in the league that year. So in that respect you never know exactly what you have.
“But I think we have a great nucleus here. Everybody has another year under their belt and we have a healthy Mike [Bibby] in addition to the players we added this summer, we’re definitely going to be a good team.”
If the Hawks are to live up to their own internal expectations, and yes, they too expect to surpass what they did last season, the assembled personnel will have to reach an accord quickly.
“Everybody’s main goal has to be winning,” said Bibby, who starred on an ensemble cast in Sacramento during the Kings’ run as a Western Conference power earlier this decade. “Everybody played their role and the main goal everybody had was winning. We had Doug Christie who knew we had Chris [Webber], Vlade [Divac], Peja [Stojakovic] and me, so he knew his job was to knock down shots and be a lockdown defender.
“We also had Hedo [Turkoglu] and he was a role player. You wouldn’t believe it if you saw him now in Orlando. But he played his role in Sacramento for the good of the team. That’s the way it has to be for us now. Everybody has to be on the same page, one through 14 or 15, depending on how many guys we keep on this team.”
One undeniable common thread of elite teams is a chemistry that is unmistakable. And players, better perhaps than coaches or general managers, know when the mix is right.
Murray has played on playoff teams in Seattle, Cleveland and Detroit during his career. He said the proof is always in the results.
“Everybody always thinks they’re good this time of year,” Murray said. “That Seattle team [that won 52 games and the Northwest Division in 2004-05 season] is a perfect example. We thought we were good. And once we started 17-3, our confidence soared and it flowed between the players and coaches and carried us throughout that whole season.”
The Hawks stayed away from bold predictions Monday, realizing that a team that hasn’t won more than 37 games under coach Mike Woodson can’t go overboard.
But they are embracing the heightened expectations.
“We’ll know if it’s what we hope it is when we start winning games at a higher level,” Woodson said. “Only time will tell with this team. When you start winning games in chunks, six, seven or eight in a row and stay away from losing streaks like that, then you know you’re serious about winning at a high level.”
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