The Atlanta Hawks are a talented team that practically stumbles into the playoffs every year. It’s pretty easy to do when you consider how weak and devoid of talent the Eastern Conference is but its maddening for Hawks fans who know that they could truly be a dominant force in the league if they ever played up to their talent.
This could easily be a championship-caliber team but sadly this organization has failed to develop a sense of direction. They hire coaches on the cheap instead of coaches with a winning pedigree, their draft strategies don’t make any sense and they are slow to develop players because they don’t have a system in place that fosters improvement.
So without further notice let’s take a look at the 2011-12 Atlanta Hawks position by position:
Point Guard
Many people thought the Jeff Teague experiment had failed until the Hawks were forced to start him during the playoffs. Teague played extremely well in the Hawks’ second round matchup versus the Chicago Bulls giving MVP Derrick Rose fits. The Hawks are hoping that he can carry that momentum into this season.
Kirk Hinrich was brought in to start but is now expected to back up Teague this season. Defensively he was an upgrade over Mike Bibby but he never really got comfortable offensively before his season was ended by an injury. He did shoot over 42 percent from behind the arc after coming over from the Washington Wizards in February. Newly signed Tracy McGrady will also add his 6’8” frame to the rotation at times.
Shooting Guard
Joe Johnson had an off-year last season after signing the biggest contract of the 2010 offseason. He dropped under 20 points-per-game for the first time since coming to Atlanta six seasons ago. He averaged 18.2 points-per-game, his three-point shooting dropped under 30 percent, he averaged less than a steal per game for the first time in a Hawks jersey, and his assists dropped for the third straight year. Johnson’s contract is going to tie this franchise’s salary cap up for a long time so if he doesn’t get it together this season then the Hawks may choose to invoke the amnesty clause to clear his contract off their payroll.
McGrady will get most of the minutes off the bench here and at small forward. Hinrich can also play minutes at the two having played alongside Derrick Rose when he was in Chicago. A small lineup consisting of Teague, Hinrich, Johnson at the three, Josh Smith and Al Horford would be very hard to defend.
Small Forward
Marvin Williams has never seemed to live up to being the second overall pick in the 2005 draft. At 6’9” and 240 pounds he has great size and the ability to play both forward spots but like so many players on this team he hasn’t developed his game. He is a good defender and shooter but neither Mike Woodson nor Larry Drew has used him much offensively.
Williams started most nights at the three but he would move to the bench on nights when the Hawks wanted to go big. On those nights, Josh Smith would start at small forward, Al Horford would man the four-spot and Jason Collins would start at center. Williams has shown an inability to stay healthy at times which may be one of the reasons that coaches have not put much on his plate. He may feel even more of a squeeze on his minutes this season with Smith, McGrady, Johnson and newly acquired Vladimir Radmanovic getting minutes here unless the team ends up trading Smith.
Power Forward
Josh Smith is probably the worst waste of talent in the game. The guy just oozes athleticism but is another one of those guys who has yet to develop a consistent game. Listed at 6’9” and 225 (he’s actually bigger than that) the guy can jump out of the gym, he’s super fast, swats shots like a big man, is a monster rebounder, and is one of the leagues’ most versatile defenders.
Smith started to become a little more disciplined offensively under former coach Mike Woodson but reverted back to his old ways last season. He’s a horrible outside shooter but insists on jacking up threes when he should be using his quickness and athleticism to get easier shots closer to the basket. Just imagine how dangerous he would be if he developed a back-to-the basket game. Horford sees time at this position as will Radmanovic when the team needs to space the floor.
Center
Al Horford has been the lone bright spot on this team the past few seasons. Although he’s a little undersized at 6’10” and 250 pounds, he is arguably one of the best young centers in the league. Horford is a tenacious rebounder and is tough to guard in the post. The Hawks didn’t do a good job of getting him the ball in the post last year but hopefully that will change this season.
He still struggles with fouls from time to time, especially going against offensive post men like Pau Gasol, Amare Stoudamire and Dwight Howard which is why the team likes to use Jason Collins to defend the better post players. Collins ability to defend Howard one-on-one is a major reason why the Hawks were able to get past the Orlando Magic in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Zaza Pachulia is still around and gives the team good minutes when he is in the game.
Coaching
Larry Drew failed to take this team to the next level which shouldn’t have surprised anyone. When management decided not to renew Mike Woodson’s contract last offseason I was expecting them to go out and get an X’s and O’s coach to take advantage of all the talent that this team possesses but instead they promoted one of Woodson’s assistant coaches. It’s hard to get different results when you hire someone from your former coach’s coaching pool. This team would have had a better shot at advancing past the second round of the playoffs last year if they had continued on the slow, steady improvement they made each year under Woodson. It’s hard enough trying to entice players to play in Atlanta but it’s even harder to recruit talent to play for a coach who has yet to develop any kind of reputation.
Prediction
You can expect Atlanta to fall no lower than the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Orlando Magic may fall this season but the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers are looking to be much improved teams this season. The Knicks will definitely be looking at a top-five seed while one or both of those other two teams could possibly surpass the Hawks in the standings. The Nets could also enter the playoff picture if Dwight Howard ends up forcing a trade there.
Roosevelt Hall is an NBA Blogger for Pick And Fade. He can be contacted at RHall_TPFB@Yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter @rhall_tpfb.
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