Although the Hawks are not built to get the basketball to one player with the game on the line, Paul Millsap thinks it might be something to look at in the offseason. The Hawks has several failures late in games that cost the team victories this season.
“A little bit but our team has never been that way,” Millsap said last week during his exit interview on whether he felt pressure to be a go-to player after signing a big contract. “We never relied on one guy to pretty much carry the load or go get a big bucket at a crucial time. It’s always been spread out whether it’s been myself or Jeff (Teague) or Al (Horford) or Kyle (Korver). It’s always been to the guy with the hot hand. Maybe, it’s something we look at. I know we need to get better in those situations, individually, because we lost a lot of games coming down the stretch and it’s big for us.”
In some other notes from exit interviews last week:
- Korver said he is looking forward to a summer where he can work out, something he wasn't able to do last year following surgeries to his ankle and elbow. "I'm actually going to work out,' Korver said of his summer plans. "I'm excited to be on my feet today. … I'm looking forward to a good summer of training again and what I like to do in the offseason and come back better next year."
- Korver was one of several players asked about the possibility of the Hawks making major roster changes after two straight seasons of being swept from the playoff by the Cavaliers. He, like the others, was an advocate of keeping the roster intact as much as possible. "No one has gotten past the Cavs, (only) Golden State the last few years," he said. "There are a lot of teams who would like to be in the position we are in. Sometimes you forget about that. During all-star break I was talking to some guys on some other teams and there are a whole lot of teams who want what we have. But, we are all after the championship. We have to keep on getting better. We still lost. We lost in four. I think we felt better about the games this year than last year. We still lost in four. I'm definitely not in for blowing up. We have good players and great character guys and guys who will work and compete and keep on getting better. We keep on adding pieces. We love our team."
- Thabo Sefolosha said he was healthy for the most part all season after coming back from the broken right fibula and ligament damage that cost him the postseason last year. He said some days were a little harder than others but that overall he felt "great." Sefolosha said one of his offseason plans is to gain a little weight. Of his specific summer plans he said, "Getting stronger. It's a physical league. I'm playing the 3 more and more, sometimes even the 4. Adding a few pounds."
- Tim Hardaway Jr. had quite a first season with the Hawks after being acquired in a draft-night trade from the Knicks. The shooting guard went from not playing, to a short stint in the NBA Development League, to a real role off the bench late in the season. "I look forward to it," Hardaway said of an increased role next season. "That's the goal. I want to do whatever I can to help the team win."
- Mike Muscala said he will use his summer to improve his game and get stronger (something he said is always the offseason challenge). "Up and down for me," Muscala said of his season. "I think there were some good stretches. It was a challenging year for me but I think the next week or two I'll have some time to reflect on it and I'm looking forward to the offseason. It should be a good offseason for me, I think, to improve my game and come back stronger next year. … I have high expectations for myself. I want to improve, as all players do." The Hawks have until late June to pick up the players option on Muscala.
- Mike Scott was asked about what areas he would like to improve this summer. "Everything," he said.
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said that rookies Lamar Patterson and Edy Tavares would play in the Las Vegas Summer League in July.
- The Hawks basketball operations staff spent several days in Chicago for the NBA Scouting Combine last week. Two of the many players they interviewed were California forward Jaylen Brown and Washington forward Marquese Chriss.
