“WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION…”
With all deference due to Aaron Rodgers, five letters here, from fans of everybody out there in the lands of the Atlanta Hawks and their hosts today, the Washington Wizards (7:00 PM Eastern, CSN Mid-Atlantic). A. N. G. S. T!
Early yesterday morning, the Chicago Cubs scratched their names off the list of the most championship-starved franchises in American professional sports. That event, 108 years in the making, scooches the Hawks (3-1) up the ladder one rung, into the top-five among the title-thirsty queue.
Their last NBA championship, achieved while in St. Louis back in The Year of Our Pettit, 1958, was preceded by league titles for the Detroit Lions (1957), the then-Rochester Royals (now Sacramento Kings, 1951), the Cleveland Thigamajigs baseball club (1948, but thanks for 1995), and the (Chicago, ha) Cardinals (1947), situated today in some gawdforsaken Arizona burb.
As an obnoxious Flyers fan back in the 1980s and 1990s, I could always resort to this joyful taunt: “1940!” That was the tried-and-true go-to comeback for those unbearable Rangers fans that dared to bring their Broadway Blue to Broad Street and try to talk smack about our lovable Bullies. “Yeah, and when was YOUR last title, exactly?”, we’d retort. “Was that back when World War I was just The World War? What did they use without a Zamboni back then, squeegees? 1940! Was that B.C.? Ha ha ha!”
Well, Philly’s last NHL title in 1975 still smelled like current events at the time. And all the knee-slapping came to a halt after the Rangers dealt for Mark Messier and, a couple seasons late, got the proverbial monkey off their backs in 1994. Now, the joke’s on fans rocking the orange-and-black. “1975? Was K.C. even with the Sunshine Band yet? Hardy-har-har!”
Hawks fans don’t need anybody asking them whether Alaska was even a state, or whether The Beatles were still The Quarrymen, back when their team last won it all. That’s one reason why, suddenly, we’re hearing all this talk about real championship goals, from the top on down. Tony Ressler wants a bleeping parade. Steve Koonin plans on renovating Thrillips only after the Hawks win the NBA title next summer. And Dwight Howard tells everyone within earshot about his yearning to bring a championship home. No interview is complete without D8 dropping The C-Word on people. No, that word isn’t “Contention.”
They all know that just the fading memories of NBA championship pasts is enough to fill up Philips on the regular, as ably demonstrated by P.K. (post-Kobe) Laker fans during the Hawks’ 123-116 flop on Wednesday. So, no more of this “in the running”, “chance to do something special,” “putting ourselves in position” claptrap that we’re grown inured to over the decades. In the ATL, it’s all about the ‘chip now!
Building up a Bandwagon of True Believers is always tough to do when your squad just gave up a metric ton of points to a veritable conga line of LOLaker guards. To continue backing up the championship promises they’re selling, the Hawks need perimeter players willing to read their scouting reports, willfully taking away opponents’ strengths and not just anticipating their foes will have off-nights. Atlanta also needs Dennis Schröder to play like a steady veteran point guard for more than the occasional quarter per night, even if he’s not one, so they won’t have to go out and find one.
It will take the Hawks and a bunch of other teams going all the way before Wizards fans ever hear about “1978” from the garden-variety social media trolls. But there’s a much simpler bar that Washington, somehow, consistently fails to clear.
The Warriors of their day, what was then the Washington Bullets (managed by Danny Ferry’s award-winning dad, Bob, and featuring current Laker GM Mitch Kupchak backing up Elvin Hayes), were the defending NBA champs in 1979. They won the Atlantic Division in their first year among that grouping, and sneaked past the Hawks and Spurs to come out of the Eastern bracket (San Antonio, yeah, the 70s were weird), but they blew a 1-0 lead to Seattle in the Finals rematch.
A full quarter-century passed, and the Bullets changed their name (a novel concept, Washington!) but not their regular-season results. A charter member of the Southeast since the division’s inaugural 2004-05 season, the Wizards franchise has now gone an NBA-high 37 years, and counting, without ever being able to at least say they were the best in their division.
Having two cracks at the #1-overall pick in the NBA Draft (Kwame Brown, John Wall) hasn’t changed the annual outcome. Remember the late Abe Pollin’s canary-suited wife making that O-Face back on Draft Night 2010? That’s the reaction you give when you suddenly expect your fortunes are about to change for the better, very soon, not seven-plus years down the road.
The Wizards aren’t likely to snag the Southeast banner in 2017, either, certainly not if they continue to be the only team in their division with a single circular number in the ‘W’ column. That notion certainly must frustrate Wizards fans to no end. While the Hawks, Hornets, heat, and Magic are all recalibrating on the floor, the Wiz were supposed to be benefitting from a revamped coaching staff and a stable roster built (however poorly) around Wall.
An All-Star and Top-3 assist-maker three years running, a Rookie Challenge MVP, and a 2015 All-Defense second-teamer, Optimus Dime is not even three years removed from a Slam Dunk contest championship. The immensely athletic Wall has built a rep as being among the league’s premier guards when it comes to top-end speed.
And yet, with all those accolades, when the NBA’s 30 general managers were polled to identify the game’s “best passer”, Wall (career-bests of 22.3 PPG, 11.3 APG, 45.3 FG%, 2.7 SPG, and 1.0 BPG so far) got nary a mention… while future rookie Ben Simmons did. Wall hasn’t received a single vote in this preseason-poll category from any GM since he entered the league as a Dougie-dancing dynamo in 2010. He’s also still awaiting a single spot on any All-NBA team, despite career-bests of 19.9 PPG, 10.2 APG, 1.9 SPG, 1.5 3FGs per game, and 4.4 RPG last season.
Wall wants some respeck applied to his name, and deservedly so. But to get the acclaim that he deserves, he must at least show that his perceived superiority to division rivals Kemba Walker, Goran Dragic, Schröder and Elfrid Payton can translate to the standings. “They don’t respect me,” Wall tole Sports Illustrated this past week, but followed that gripe with, “You’re not getting any recognition as a point guard if you ain’t winning.”
It’s a paradox of sorts for Wall, whose Wizards had to watch the 2016 playoff proceedings from home, that for his club to do more, he needs to do less. Even with Wall, Washington is middle-of-the-pack thus far in assist percentage. Opponents are clamping down on his mistakes (9 TOs in Wednesday’s home-opening loss to Toronto, despite 33-and-11), causing Washington to surpass those suddenly-revived Lakers with a league-worst 17.4 TOs per 100 possessions. No team has turned over the ball more frequently on a per-game basis than the Wizards (18.0, tied with OKC, Lakers, and Nuggets).
“Wall’s been ball-dominant since he’s been in the league,” astutely observed another former #1-overall, Atlanta’s Dwight Howard, to CSN Mid-Atlantic prior to the Hawks’ season-opening 114-99 home win. “He’s always made plays for other people. But now, with moving around, his speed and quickness, he’ll be able to get easier buckets.”
The idea was that, under Brooks, players like Bradley Beal (career-low 2.3 APG), Markieff Morris, and Otto Porter (75.0 2FG%, but one assist in 100 minutes) would become more than mere supporting cast members when it came to setting up the offense. Yes, this is the same Brooks that coached Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and James Harden in his prior coaching locale.
Well, that delegation hasn’t transpired yet, with 12 teammates totaling 31 assists to Wall’s 34, and by result Washington’s O-Rating currently ranks 4th-worst in the East, its Net Rating worsened only by the Simmons-less 76ers. Wall (34.9 usage%, 6th in NBA) has gotten his share of baskets, but to avoid yet another All-NBA T.K.O., I think he’d better let it go.
After getting dragged by his former Magic mentor for much of the season-opener, Marcin Gortat (4 points on 2-for-6 shooting, 11 rebounds @ ATL) now has Howard (11 points, 4-for-9 FGs, 19 rebounds vs. WAS) in his house. The Wizards’ frontline options will improve significantly once free agent acquisition Ian Mahinmi returns in a few weeks from torn meniscus surgery. But for now, Gortat (10-for-10 FTs vs. MEM on Oct. 30) needs to demand more post touches and work to get Howard in early foul trouble.
After a missed shot, there was a time you could count on Al Horford for two things: (1) a sturdy clap, and (2) hustle down the floor to help his Hawks guard against quick transition buckets by the opposing offense. It’s this one aspect that Atlanta (16.6 opponent fastbreak PPG, 6th-most in NBA; 4th-fewest in 2014-15, 9th-fewest in 2015-16) has missed the most so far with Horford in Beantown. You can be sure the zippy Wall and his Wizards (18.7 fastbreak PPG, 4th in NBA) will seek to exploit opportunities that catch the Hawks flat-taloned.
Howard and Paul Millsap will want to split offensive rebounding tasks, with the understanding that the other big is committed to running the floor in transition, helping take pressure off Schröder, Kyle Korver and the Hawks’ backcourt whenever opponents push the rock past the halfcourt line quickly.
Dwight (1.0 APG) can also build up his assists, of the direct and hockey variety, and improve the team’s offensive flow by kicking the ball out when the inevitable double-team comes. That will prove to be a better option for Howard than accumulating shooting fouls (52.9 FT%) and routinely stopping the game clock, one which hopefully works at Verizon Center. Howard contributing to better ball movement in the halfcourt sets will open up better looks for struggling shooters like Kent Bazemore (17.6 3FG%, 43.5 2FG%) and Millsap (43.1 FG%, 30.8 3FG%).
For many NBA clubs, the operative five-letter word in November isn’t A.N.G.S.T. -- it’s E.A.R.L.Y! But these teams with underwhelming histories (Washington has no 50-win seasons since 1979) know they cannot afford extended downward trajectories at the outset of the season. Both teams will have another game tomorrow, the relatively rested Wizards (only team with just 3 games under its belt) traveling down to division-rival Orlando, while the Hawks return home, where James Harden’s Rockets await after three days of scouting and rest.
The elusive thing called respect won’t be gained tonight; that gets earned in the springtime. But the loser of this game between the Hawks and Wizards is certainly going to need some antacids handy. Never mind Respect. How do you spell Relief?
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
