If you’re the Hawks, who fell four games short of these finals, you cannot draw comfort from being a lot like either conference champion. The Hawks aren’t like Cleveland, duh, because they don’t have LeBron James, and they aren’t much like Golden State, either.
The Warriors had two players — guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — average more than 20 points in the regular season; the Hawks had nobody average even 17. The Hawks had no player receive a vote for MVP; the Warriors have Curry, who won the thing. Come the playoffs, the Hawks’ apparent strength in numbers was rendered a weakness.
I apologize in advance for belaboring a point, but here goes: Of the 10 Hawks who worked the most playoff minutes, only Al Horford was drafted in the lottery; only four of the 10 were picked in Round 1. Checking the top 10 for the other three semifinalists, we find: Golden State has nine first-rounders and six lottery picks; Cleveland has seven first-rounders and five lottery picks; Houston has seven first-rounders and four lottery picks.
From January on, we asked: Can a team without a star win the NBA title? Since the Detroit Pistons did it in 2004, the answer has been a resounding “no.” Since then, the championship has been taken by teams led, in order, by: Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade, Duncan again, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Kobe again, Dirk Nowitzki, LeBron, LeBron again and Duncan yet again. Every one of the above will be in the Hall of Fame, as will several of their helpers.
The Hawks had four All-Stars, which was remarkable and deserved. Their starting five was named the Eastern Conference player of the month for the 17-0 January. But we saw in Round 1 against Brooklyn and Round 2 against Washington why the Hawks had to bind themselves so tightly into a working unit. As individuals, they were nothing extraordinary.
The Hawks had no John Wall, no Bradley Beal. They had no big man as imposing as Brook Lopez, who has made an All-Star team once in seven seasons. Heck, they had nobody capable of guarding the 38-year-old Paul Pierce with the game on the line.
This isn’t to say the Hawks aren’t skilled and clever: They absolutely are. But Paul Millsap (47th player picked in 2006) and Kyle Korver (51st player in 2003) made themselves All-Stars through hard work, not sheer talent. Given that Korver is 34 and will be coming off surgery and Millsap is 30 and a free-agent-to-be, there’s no guarantee this group will get any better even if it stays intact.
I really thought the Hawks’ all-for-one approach could trump Cleveland’s one-above-all, which only goes to show how little I know. From the second quarter of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals to the end of the embarrassing Game 4, it was clear LeBron could lift his teammates to a level the Hawks couldn’t approach. (Yes, injuries had something to do with it. But there were injuries on both sides.)
The Cavs could lose two of their Big Three and see Tristan Thompson (fourth player picked in 2011) and Iman Shumpert (17th player picked the same year) rise to great heights because they had LeBron to play off. The Hawks were so precisely balanced, for both better and worse, that if one starter was neutralized — or injured — the whole gang was diminished. As solo artists, the Hawks were more Crosby and Nash than Stills or Young.
And the bench, which had looked so good during the regular season, was exposed. But should we have been surprised? Of the top six reserves, three — Mike Scott, Shelvin Mack and Mike Muscala — were Round 2 picks. Kent Bazemore and Pero Antic weren’t drafted.
As the Hawks head into the offseason, it’s fashionable to say they need more size. Truth to tell, they need more talent. As you watch the finals, note that Golden State has four starters taken among the first 11 of their respective drafts. Note that Cleveland has so much top-end talent it could lose Kevin Love (fifth player picked in 2008) and still reach the championship round. Note that the Hawks, for as far as they’ve come, still have a ways to go.
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