Greene: Hawks Offseason Shakeup Imminent?
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Atlanta Hawks in 2011 was whether or not their decision to bank on team chemistry over making major roster moves would pay dividends in a conference where all the power teams underwent significant changes in order to remain relevant.
The answer to that question as the 2011 season comes to a close is a resounding NO, and now the Hawks need a strong showing in the postseason to prevent their core from being dismantled.
Last summer the Miami HEAT secured signatures from All-Star forward LeBron James and Chris Bosh while re-signing Dwyane Wade to bolster their lineup.
The Boston Celtics added interior muscle with Jermaine and Shaquille O’Neal.
The Chicago Bulls added perennial 20/10 threat Carlos Boozer.
The Knicks took the investment risk on the knees of star forward Amar’e Stoudemire.
And even the Milwaukee Bucks got in the mix by trading for Corey Maggette and signing journeyman forward Drew Gooden.
The Orlando Magic made two blockbuster deals in December by acquiring Jason Richardson, Gilbert Arenas, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark. And at the trade deadline the Celtics and Knicks made major deals with New York acquiring Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups and Boston welcoming Jeff Green into the fold.
The Hawks, in contrast, re-signed Joe Johnson and brought in Etan Thomas and Josh Powell and called it good until the trade deadline.
After a twenty-four point thumping at the hands of the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in their first game post All-Star break, the Hawks decided it was time to somewhat abandon the team-chemistry-trumps-talent-acquisition approach by trading for veteran guard Kirk Hinrich and reserve center Hilton Armstrong from the Washington Wizards.
At the very least, the trade sent the message that ownership was taking note and observing if the Hawks’ core of Johnson, Al Horford and Josh Smith had indeed reached their respective ceilings.
With only two games remaining on the regular-season schedule for Atlanta, it appears more changes are on the horizon before the start of the 2012 campaign.
The Hawks have lost four straight contests and are an abysmal 8-12 over their last twenty games, where teams expected to make noise in the postseason usually are turning it up a notch.
But the latest setback versus the Wizards may forecast the future changes that are on deck.
On Saturday the Hawks traveled to Washington and suffered a thirty-two point shellacking.
Yes, the Hawks were playing without the All-Defensive Smith, but even the most diehard Hawks fans must admit the performance was inexcusable especially on the heels of a double-digit defeat at the hands of Indiana the night before.
Atlanta has lost the confidence of rookie head coach Larry Drew.
"I am not very confident at all," Drew told the AJC. "I have been in this situation before having been in the league a long time. You can’t just flip the switch. It just doesn’t work like that. You want to carry momentum as you finish the regular season, as you move into the playoffs."
Even without the services of Smith, the current Wizards team should be considered a juicy steak as late season opponents for playoff squads go.
Featuring a lineup of only ten able bodies and a host of D-League call-ups Washington was a must win contest for a struggling Hawks squad.
Instead another blowout loss, their fourth 30-point defeat of the season, created another laundry list of questions surrounding the franchise’s future – with this unit.
At least the team’s leaders have narrowed the recent struggles down to one culprit – an extreme lack of effort.
"Guys were really just going through the motions out there," Horford said after the loss.
While Johnson said he couldn’t narrow the issue down to one flaw, he ultimately agreed with Horford’s assessment.
"Honestly, I don’t know," Johnson said. "It’s been pretty much unacceptable the last two games. I can’t really just pinpoint one thing. We just haven’t been playing hard."
{AUTHOR_BOX} The obvious public scapegoat is Drew, a longtime team assistant under departed head coach Mike Woodson. There have been numerous issues he hoped to reform before the season that have yet to materialize.
Less jump shooting from Smith, more touches for Horford in the paint, less predictable offensive sets, rapid development of second year guard Jeff Teague, stronger interior play and promises of Johnson being more effective with less touches are examples of Drew initiatives for the Hawks that haven’t improved and in some instances have trended worse.
But is targeting Drew too easy?
As the unquestioned leader of the team has Johnson done enough as coach on the floor during the team’s lapses? Has Horford been vocal enough about demanding the ball as the season has progressed and his lack of touches continue to deteriorate? Has Smith taken ownership of the fact his jump shooting, although shooting a career-high from three-point, isn’t the strongest part of his offensive game?
A postseason rematch with Orlando looms on the near horizon.
Although the Hawks won the season series 3-1; there aren’t many who are favoring Atlanta over a focused Dwight Howard led Magic team who dished the Hawks the most lopsided playoff whooping in NBA history in 2010.
The Hawks entered the season with legitimate hopes to reach the conference finals but are now faced with an ever growing skeptical fan base and a further skeptical national following.
Another playoff trouncing will likely mean executive vice president and general manager Rick Sund will be called into emergency duty this summer in an attempt to reconstruct the ailing Hawks and keep them relevant in a conference that will be ultra-competitive for years to come.
Q-Rich Says Orlando Magic Are Ready For The Playoffs
The Magic are following riding a different trajectory than their first round playoff matchup (Hawks) compiling a 12-7 (63 percent win rate) record since the beginning of March.
Sure, if you evaluate the Magic’s season overall it hasn’t lived up to the lofty expectations but they’ve also compiled the aforementioned record battling numerous injuries to major pieces in their lineup.
Veteran forward Quentin Richardson believes despite the ups and downs the Magic are ready for the rigors of the playoffs.
"Definitely," Richardson told HOOPSWORLD when asked if Orlando was playoff ready. "This is a veteran laden team. A lot of guys have played in the postseason, some guys more than others and some guys have been deeper than others. But I think you just know that intensity from being the league for a long time. You know that intensity. You can see it and you can feel it."
Questions have surfaced about the legitimacy of Orlando’s title hopes this season as of late due to the team’s inability to overpower lesser competition at this stage of the season.
Richardson feels people should be analyzing the situation the other way, especially since the team continues to rack up victories against non-playoff teams.
"That’s something we definitely need to get better at but at the end of the day this is the regular season and a win is a win," Richardson explained. "We definitely know that we need to close better and perform a little better down the stretch. Right now we’re just trying to get guys back out there healthy and get back in sync with everybody."
Richardson also believes the Magic’s roster boasts a high skill level and basketball IQ which in turn helps the team pull out victories even though the level of play is sometimes subpar.
"I mean if you look around this room we have a lot of talent here," Richardson said to HOOPSWORLD. "That says a lot knowing we’ve been up and down with our play but we’ve still been able to win some games even though we’ve looked pretty at times. That lets you know the level of talent we have in this room."
As Hawks head coach Drew stated, you can’t just ‘flip the switch’ in the postseason and expect different results.
The veteran Richardson is talking the same tune.
"Yeah I think we definitely need to go into the playoffs playing well," Richardson said. "I think that’s the most important part of this last little stretch; going into the postseason playing well."
Loading ...
