For the better part of the 2000s, the point guard position has been the central talking point in most conversations about the ever-mutating-but-never-really-changing Hawks.
Maybe it was who they passed on (Chris Paul, Deron Williams). Maybe it was who they drafted or signed instead (Marvin Williams, Shelden Williams, Dan Dickau).
If Hawks ownership felt like it was constantly being picked on, imagine how bad it would have been without Speedy Claxton jokes as an alternative?
But the mocking around Philips Arena has diminished and it’s not merely because general manager Danny Ferry and coach Mike Budenholzer seem to know what they’re doing. Jeff Teague is pretty good. He’s also the starting point guard. He is in his fifth season, playing for his third head coach.
Most of the clutter and noise — Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams — are gone and it’s probably no coincidence that Teague is now flourishing.
“As Jeff Teague goes, this team goes,” said former Hawks great Dominique Wilkins. “He’s kind of been handed the team. He runs the offense without having someone in his ear all the time telling him what he’s doing wrong.”
Teague is averaging career highs in points (16.6), assists (7.8) and rebounds (2.6). In an indication of his aggressiveness, he’s getting to the free throw line more than twice as many times per game (six) as last season (2.8).
The Hawks are 11-11. That may not seem parade-worthy, but given the roster is in the early stages of a makeover and ranks 25th out of 30 teams in payroll, it’s promising. (In the Eastern Conference, land of the predominantly downtrodden, 11-11 also makes them relatively upper-crust.)
Serious basketball seems to be in town and Teague is at the center of that. He has taken to Budenholzer and the share-the-ball and motion philosophy of this offense, which the coach brought with him from San Antonio.
“I’m a more comfortable player,” Teague said. “It’s fun playing with these guys. Nobody has an agenda. Nobody is worrying about their stats. We all just want to win. We all think that we’re underdogs. This whole group is just hungry to prove a lot of people wrong.”
Ferry and Budenholzer liked Teague. But it would be fair to say they weren’t sure if they wanted to commit to him in the offseason. They let him dangle out there as a restricted free agent. They only were forced to make a decision after Milwaukee (with former Hawks coach Larry Drew) signed him to a four-year, $32 million offer sheet, prompting the Hawks to match.
Teague initially was upset by the process but he came to understand it. He had conversations with Budenholzer, who said he was impressed with him when the Hawks played the Spurs, and with Ferry. “Danny’s the type of guy who’s always going to keep his options open and I know Chris Paul was a free agent so they had to see what was going on there,” Teague said.
He also was counseled by his father, Shawn Teague, who played for Rick Pitino at Boston University and later coached high school girls basketball in Indianapolis. “It’s a business. My dad kept drilling that into me,” Teague said.
Many believe the leap in Teague’s play this season can be attributed in part to Josh Smith’s departure. Count Wilkins among those. He said Smith “definitely wore on [Teague] and at times I think it really bothered him. Now he’s making his own decisions about what offense they should run, how they should run it and who they should get the ball to.”
But Teague countered that most have the wrong idea about his relationship with Smith.
“We were like best friends off the court,” he said. “So when we got mad at each other, it was more about that’s how we could talk to each other. It’s not like it was hard playing with him. It was more the way the system was run. It just wasn’t for a point guard. We ran a lot of isolation and I’m not an isolation guy, so this fits me better.”
Teague’s importance to the Hawks was illustrated the other night against Oklahoma City. He scored two points in an 0-for-4 first half. The Hawks trailed 48-39. In the third quarter, he got aggressive: 13 points, three rebounds, two assists and getting to the line five times. The Hawks outscored the Thunder 29-28.
“When he gets going like that, he makes a big difference for us,” Budenholzer said.
If there’s one area Teague needs to improve, it’s moving on from a bad shot or bad play. But Budenholzer said, “With all of our players, it’s a real challenge when something doesn’t go well. Jeff’s one of those guys we challenge to just go on to the next play.”
As problems go, it’s a nice change of pace from moving on to the next point guard.
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