The Atlanta Hawks are who we thought they were, which is the team we don't really know
by hawksdawgs on Feb 24, 2010 2:27 PM EST
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PrintThe NBA has long been considered one of the more predictable sports to forecast. Few sports can guess the final four teams that will be standing before a single game is played with the kind of accuracy even a casual NBA fan possesses. Sure there are weird, worst case, over thought, borderline dumb to begin with optimism Washington Wizards example every once in a while, but choosing the teams to reach the conference championship this year, it was really between about six teams in October, and it still is today.
Don't get me wrong, the predictability does not destroy the excitement and hope of a new season. For us Hawks fans, we wanted improvement on 47 wins. We wanted individual progression. We wanted to see our new rookie in action. And we hoped to close the gap on fourth the three teams above us. Coming out fast at the start of the season, talk surfaced about exceeding expectations, about contending for the conference championship. Basically, we started wondering if the Hawks were elite.
Yet, right now, the Hawks are only three games better than they were last year at this time. They are fourth in the east, and while I truly believe the 09-10 version of the team is better and will have an improved record at the end of the season to show for it, I wonder what exactly new we now know about these Hawks.
After the Utah win, my friend sent me a text message that said, "I don't get these guys at all." That is not to say he does not get the team's strengths and weaknesses. He knows his Hawks better than anyone. Anyone watches Atlanta for three games and he or she is going to have a pretty clear understanding of Atlanta's strengths and weaknesses (Tim Legler being the exception to that rule). And overall, the Hawks have shown improvement with a few more impressive wins and a better road record this season, but overall, this team is who we thought they were. A team we don't get.
At certain points in this season, the Hawks are a team that has played its way into legitimate conversation about being an "elite" teams in the league and is yet wildly inconsistent. One does not know what to expect quarter to quarter let alone game to game. In simple terms, this is a team with no identity. That is not to say they are not consistent. No, they consistently win and lose the same way. Shoot, the Hawks do the same thing every single night. Results just vary. But before you say it, Joe Johnson isolation is not an identity. I eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich the same way every day, yet there is no marked characteristic about it just because it is repetitive.
So often other teams and their fans say, "I don't like playing the Hawks because of their athleticism and talent." What does that even mean? There is never "I don't like playing the Hawks because their athleticism and talent employed on defense" or "because they pound the ball inside relentlessly" or "because they run" or "shoot the three well" or anything. It is the "you have a neat personality" description of the NBA world.
And maybe the trouble with articulating any kind of specifics about the Hawks is because simply saying "being moderately to above moderately skilled at all five positions and not turning the ball over is good enough to beat anyone on a given night" is boring, but I still think there is something more to it than that. The Hawks all have roles and yet they are not all the right roles and so really they are not roles at all. It is why a team that has basically played together for three years still, more often than not, feels like a motley crew. It feels like a team that takes turns. Too get far too abstract about the whole thing, there is no interconnectedness and because of that or creating that, there is no sacrifice.
I don't know what team to expect tonight against Minnesota. I expect a win. Because the Hawks are good. They are really good, better than they have been in years, but there is still something deeply missing in this team. And it is not a seven footer or a better small forward or anything personnel wise. It is identity. This team's record can continue to go up and up with Mike Woodson, but until he finds a way to brand this team and, by doing so, bind them together, this is just going to be a much better looking version of his first squad.
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I've been saying it for years.
They have no identity. We have no clue what kind of team is coming out of that locker room. It always makes me think of the Warriors. They are who they are, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but at least we know how they’re going to play. I’d do cartwheels if I knew how this team was going to play before they ever set foot on the court.
@cocoqt81
Teams are a reflection of the coach
We need to understand that the Hawks are a reflection of the coach. Woody is different from game to game. When he emphasizes defense, plays inside out and plays his bench effectively, the Hawks are almost unstoppable. You see a lot of inconsistency because we rely too much on guard play and our guards and SF’s take to many jump shots. I have yet to see a game where both of our big men play well and we lose. A coach should establish his identity with a team and the GM should build around that identity. Athleticism and talent is not an identity.
"Opposition in my face, trying to play the fence, I'm bigger than this dude, this don't make no sense, I Air Jordan on 'em". - K-Drama
by Sterling Platinum on Feb 24, 2010 3:06 PM EST reply actions
Right-o.
Not only is that an accurate assessment of this team’s root identity issue, it also indirectly illustrates how Woody has trouble balancing coaching with his strengths, that is, the players like him. A few years back he had rather ridiculous rules that were disconnected from reality (2 fouls in the first half and you sit for the rest of it), and he has learned that that kind of micro-management will not sit well with the veteran team he now has. But he hasn’t figured out how to get the players to bend to his will without applying absurdly small rules, so his solution appears to be to share the load around from time to time in terms of how the offense starts—except for the iso-Joes in certain crucial situations—and to force the team to play team defense through the switching concept.
So team unity appears to be at an all-time high, and we do have to give Woodrow props for that. But Drew and Sterling are right: because he has not figured out how and when to enforce a will—hell, maybe he doesn’t know what will he wants to enforce—the team bounces back and forth and still has those awful runs when they seem to have no answer. And Woody has no answer, lest he upset the apple cart.
Every team needs a hierarchy amongst the players too—which the Hawks have— not just among the coaches and players. But it looks like the coach is one o’ the guys, and you can’t have the inmates running the asylum and expect it to work consistently.
It's nice to see other fans hate that guy as well
He gives the most inane analysis.
Even though the Hippopotamus lacks a stinger for a tail, a truly wise man would rather be sat on by a bee. ~ Banacek
loved mentioning him
the guy has been ripping us apart all week on espn
It is just 1 game and he has based his entire opinion about us off it.
in his defense
he had clearly not watched a single hawks game before doing the Warriors game (in which he apparently only watched the parts where Joe Johnson was scoring) so he has very little sample size.
Great post.
I think one of the things that could help this team find it’s identity is a strong personality on the floor, as a team captain. Joe Johnson certainly has the ability to take over a game and carry the team to a win, but lacks the personality to rally the troops. Bibby has the ability to manage the game and run the point, but lacks the skill, particularly at this late stage of his career.
I think the player that best fits the role on this team is Al Horford, but I don’t know how the team would go about bypassing Joe, to make Al captain, without causing conflict/hard feelings.
The team is changing
The reason we seem to not be sure who we are, is because our team is changing in front of our eyes. While the Cavs and Magic are constant, our team over night went from be happy to make second round to hey we could make the finals.
Most of the change is for better, maturing Smoove and Lion. Marvin’s role as a defender. Addition of Jamal. Others are in flux, JJ is a great player but has to learn to move the ball and trust his teammates more in crunch time.
The parts that are hurting us, are coach, who has not adjusted to our new changes/improvements. And point guard. Bibby whose decline in the last two months is equal to Hawks record being .500. We need to get better production (think faster/more penetrating/better rebounding) out of point, or we go up and down. That is why either Rookie develops, or we won’t go far. Need a driver on the floor or off, and we are missing both
Jump shot identity
But the hawks are a jump-shooting team. We have probably the best jump shooting 1-2 in JJ and Crawford. We are almost unbeatable when they are draining threes. Al and Josh will work hard down low, and we won’t turn the ball over much, but in the playoffs are ability to beat the good teams will come down to JJ and Crawford hitting threes. I know it sounds simple, but that is going to be the difference in the playoffs. Remember the celtics series a couple years ago. Why did we keep with them? Joe and Bibby drained 3 after 3 at home. Now Bibby looks to be a hundred and JC has replaced him in crunch time, but its there ability to hit big shots that is going to win us playoff games.
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