By Sam Amico
ProBasketballNews.com
Could the Atlanta Hawks be playoff-bound?
Sounds funny just to ask, doesn’t it?
But believe it, because these Hawks are different than the stumbling young bunch of the past two seasons (at least). And stumbling is meant to be taken literally. After all, who can forget when Marvin Williams fell flat on his face as a rookie … during pre-game warmups!
It was funny, embarrassing, and business as usual in Atlanta.
Suddenly, things have changed.
“The guys are starting to grow up,” Hawks coach
Mike Woodson said. “It’s been exciting to watch.”
Woodson is in his fourth season as coach and
starting to sound like a proud parent. He was
hired to coach the Hawks after a few seasons as
an assistant under Larry Brown (in Philadelphia,
then Detroit) by general manager Billy Knight.
Knight was also reshaping the roster around
that time -- making a major trade for guard Joe
Johnson and surrounding him with young athletic
wing-types such as Josh Smith, Williams, and
Josh Childress.
The Hawks are still young, and sometimes, they still show it on the court. But what makes this season different is they’re competing while they learn.
“When we first started, a lot of these guys had no clue,” Woodson said. “Take Josh Smith. When he came into the league, you had to teach him everything -- how to dribble, how to pass, how to shoot. They were basketball babies for the past two years, and only recently started to grow as individual players.”
Woodson added: “Now it’s up to my staff and I to get them to play as a team.”
Not surprisingly, Woodson is using successful organizations like Detroit and San Antonio as models for his own team.
“We want to make an extra effort to really rebound and defend, and share the ball on offense,” he said. “It’s the only way to win in this league.”
It’s working, as the Hawks have fluttered around .500 for most of the season. That’s a big step up from last year’s 9-20 start and 30-52 finish.
Naturally, the versatile Johnson is leading the way with team-highs in points (21.5 per game) and assists (5.5). Others like Smith (18.4 pppg, 3.1 bpg), Williams (16.4 ppg) and Childress (12.0 ppg, 50 percent shooting) can be counted on regularly as well.
Even Cleveland superstar LeBron James has been impressed.
“They seem to be buying into what Coach Woodson has been teaching,” James said. “Plus, they have a lot of athletic players. That alone will help them win some ballgames.”
AL’S BEEN BIG
Rookie forward/center Al Horford is one of the athletic-types James speaks of
-- as Horford has been gobbling up rebounds to the tune of 9.8 per game (he’s also averaging 8.8 points).
Not bad for a power forward who’s been stuck at center.
“Al’s been phenomenal,” Woodson said. “He came into our league battle-tested after winning two national titles in college (at Florida). He played at a high level in a lot of big games, and that has carried over nicely. He never gets rattled in tough situations.“
In fact, Horford seems to play better in those situations, a rarity among most first-year players.
“He’s made plays down the stretch that you just don’t expect rookies to make, whether that‘s been a rebound or a key defensive stop” Woodson said. “He’s been everything you could dream, man.”
Then there’s the idea of Horford having to play center at an undersized 6-foot-9.
“I didn’t really expect to play him there, but it’s hard to keep him off the floor,” Woodson said. “For right now, that’s where we have him planted and he’s accepted the role.”
SOARING SOON
As usual, veteran Anthony Johnson has been doing a solid job of running the team, filling the role of point guard while rookie Acie Law develops. Tyronn Lue also helps in that department.
Others off the bench include center Zaza Pachulia and second-year forward Shelden Williams, as well as underrated first-year shooting guard Mario West -- who played his college ball at nearby Georgia Tech.
The bottom line on the Hawks is they are an up-and-coming team that is learning on the fly, one that plays hard and is getting a grasp on what it takes to win regularly.
As Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said with a smile, “Marvin Williams doesn’t look like a young kid who’s lost out there anymore. None of them do. They look like they know what they’re doing.”
Again, it's been a nice change of pace.
“We’re still learning, but individually the players are getting better along the way,” Woodson said. “Therefore, as a team we’re gonna be better. The goal now is to keep heading in this direction.”
YOUR TURN
Can the Hawks make the playoffs this season? E-mail me with your answer and I'll post the best responses in an upcoming column on PBN.
Sam Amico is the editor of ProBasketballNews.com. Contact him or subscribe to his free NBA e-mail newsletter at amico@probasketballnews.com.
