Mark Bradley: Who are the true Atlanta Hawks?

[KB21]

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Who are the true Atlanta Hawks?

By Mark Bradley | Monday, May 5, 2008, 07:50 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thirteen hours after the Hawks made their latest and last return from Boston, they gathered at Philips Arena to clean out lockers and to make sense of what they’d just done. And, more to the point, what they might do.

“We can do something special,” said Josh Smith, who will have to be re-signed for this buzz to linger. “We’ve always been a team at the bottom of the totem pole, but now we’ve been in the playoffs and been successful.”

Here, however, is where it gets tricky. As this suddenly buoyant franchise sails on, does ownership judge the Hawks on what happened over a six-month regular season that ended with the team 37-45, or does it take the stirring events of 15 spring days as the new reality?

“I have not spoken to my [Atlanta Spirit] partners,” said Michael Gearon Jr., speaking by phone Monday, “but we will take a step back for several days and let the emotion settle. And I would not take that statement and conclude that one or the other [meaning general manager Billy Knight or coach Mike Woodson] is gone or will be fired. That is not a foregone conclusion.”

That caveat aside, the guess is that the Spirit will shed Knight and keep Woodson. That belief took root in March, after Knight’s latest attempt to sack Woodson was rebuffed (and made public). If ownership differs with its GM on such an essential matter, what’s the point of keeping him? And, even though Knight has finally constructed a roster of playoff caliber, in-house consensus seems to hold that he took too long to do it.

Woodson is a trickier case. His record (106-222) is a horror, but there’s appreciation for his work within the Spirit. He was given a wretched roster in 2004 and then was handed Marvin and Shelden Williams (as opposed to Chris Paul and Brandon Roy). Through all the losing, he managed not to lose his players. The proof came in the series just completed.

“Woody had his team ready to play,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, the erstwhile Hawk. “Even in Games 1 and 2, you could tell they believed they could win.”

The sentimentalist in me would say Woodson deserves to stay for riding out four difficult seasons and keeping his team on the upward trail. Contrary to popular belief, there’s nothing wrong with his X’s and O’s — nobody who played for Bobby Knight and who worked for Larry Brown can be accused of not knowing the game — and his half-court offense is essentially the same as everyone else’s: pick-and-rolls and pin-downs, curls and isolations.

“If the players want me, I’ll be the coach,” Woodson said Monday. “If the owners want me, I’ll be the coach.”

How far away, he was asked, are the Hawks from being a bona fide contender?

“Not far away,” he said. “We’re 13 games from 50 wins. Would 50 wins have gotten a [first-round] homecourt advantage?”

Yes. Forty-six wins would have. And that, as cold-hearted as it might sound, is why the belief here remains as it was 2 1/2 months ago: That Woodson’s Hawks, for all their skill, leave too many winnable games on the table. (Five more regular-season victories and they’d have played Orlando in Round 1.) He had them primed for the playoffs, but what about for January?

“A lot of games slipped away,” Smith said. “We should have been way better.”

There are men available — Avery Johnson, Jeff Van Gundy, perhaps Mike D’Antoni — who could take Woodson’s foundation and dress it up, who would arrive without the baggage of four consecutive losing seasons. The guess, though, is that Gearon and his partners will see it differently.

And if the Hawks perform under Woodson next season as they did in Games 3, 4 and 6, that will be seen as a shrewd decision. But what if, eight months hence, the Hawks are again treading water and we’re hearing the old lament, “We weren’t ready to play”? Will we regard one giddy series as a new beginning … or a false spring?

[KB21]

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Whatever you do, do it now!

By Sekou K Smith | Monday, May 5, 2008, 07:13 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

SMYRNA - Now that the Real World Boston is over (no offense Beantown, but I’m good until next season), we can all return to our regularly scheduled program here.

It’s decision time now that the Hawks’ magic carpet ride has ended with a thud. It’s the only remaining question surrounding this team, where do you go from here?

And that includes Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Mike Woodson, Billy Knight, the franchise, the fans and just about anybody else (but in no particular order) connected to this team. I’ll address the status of Smith and Childress later.

(A brief aside - I know you were wondering why I’d abandon ship during the playoffs of all times, but the workload and travel load were so great that I wasn’t able to devote the usual time to this forum that it deserves. Rather than short-arm you with one of those cheap, three-graph joints I wanted to wait until I could do it right, the way I’d want a cat to do it, if was taking my time to come here and read and react. And kudos to Mark Bradley, D. Orlando Ledbetter, Matt Winkeljohn, Curtis Bunn, Steve Hummer, Thomas Stinson and all the other cats who dove in on this Hawks coverage during the playoffs. It was good stuff all around and a fun time trying to bring it all to life).

Much will be made in the coming days about the status of both Knight and Woodson, two men whose relationship has clearly taken a turn toward the darker side. No one I’ve spoken with is sure things between the two of them can be patched up (a peace broker would be ideal right now for the sake of all involved but don’t hold your breath).

Whatever the folks in power plan to do, they need to do it now. And I mean like, NOW! My old man always used a saying on me when he wanted to get me moving, “He who hesitates is lost forever.”

I called him a few minutes ago to find out where he lifted it from and he couldn’t remember if it was from his Army days in Vietnam or from one of the dorm philosophers he cooled out with back in the day (this cat has dropped so much wisdom over the years I’ll forgive him for, as Roger Clemens might say, “misremembering” where that one came from). Either way, the words resonated with me more this afternoon than ever.

Studying the moves and non-moves this franchise has made during the nearly four years I’ve covered this team reinforced that point to me. Indecision in the NBA often leads to bad decisions. I’m not suggesting the Hawks rush into anything. But I want to believe that someone has a detailed plan of action in place long before now as to how the franchise plans to proceed from here.

I’m all for the proper planning and all, but leaving all these folks (players, coaches and especially the main two guys) in limbo about the future only bolsters this franchise’s reputation for not acting decisively.

Whatever’s going to be done needs to be done and done swiftly so the next phase of whatever plan is being scripted and hatched can be put into place (if changes are going to be made, don’t drag it out. And if not, put the people that need to know at ease so they can continue to do their jobs and gear up for a critical offseason. Remember now, he who hesitates is lost forever).

Now, for my quick hit thought on two of the people in the crosshairs mentioned above (the other two will be the subject of a later post). And we can make this quick and easy based on the subject:

— Josh Smith and Josh Childress. I’m combining these two cats since the bottom line is the same. PAY UP! Just go ahead and pay these cats and get it over with. I’ve maintained since last summer that the Hawks should have paid both of these guys and locked them up early when they could set the price instead of playing out a season and allowing the market to do so. One other thing I feel necessary to mention is this, while some folks spend all their time nit-picking what these two can’t do, smart talent evaluators around the league are busy studying what it is they can do (quite a bit for both guys) and realizing that both of these guys have found a way to weather all the Hawks’ mess the past four years and thrive. They also found a way to help this team make the playoff run that kept the basketball world buzzing the past three weeks. But as often happens, teams don’t value their own players properly because they’ve overanalyzed their games and decided they can do better with someone else’s (the Suns are still trying to replace Joe Johnson in their lineup, a dilemma they could have avoided before he became a restricted free agent by paying the man what he was worth).

[KB21]

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'Wait and see' game for Hawks

Team, coaches now face season of uncertainty

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 05/06/08

Al Horford aced every test of his rookie season.

He was prepared for everything.

Everything except for what took place Monday at Philips Arena — the morning after.

The Hawks' season came to an abrupt end Sunday afternoon in Boston in a 99-65 Game 7 thumping at the hands of the Celtics.

Horford's previous two seasons ended with the afterglow of NCAA tournament championship runs at Florida, each one brimming with the promise of what was to come next year.

Now he and his Hawks teammates face a summer of uncertainty.

Two of their key players, Josh Smith and Josh Childress, are restricted free agents and must be re-signed; the price tag for both could be huge.

Hawks coach Mike Woodson and his staff have contracts that end June 30, and Hawks general manager Billy Knight is in a similar situation, with the team holding an option on his contract for next season.

"I don't know what to do with myself, man," Horford said Monday as he walked down a corridor to his car. "I know we lost, but I just don't know what to do with myself. You're just done.

"Obviously, you know the season is going to end at some point. But in school, you kind of knew what you had going on next. Here you're done and you're just ... done."

Keeping a nucleus together for next season, and possibly another run to the postseason, is the only thing on the minds of the players.

"I hope everything works out for the best," Horford said. "You know the NBA is a business. And you never know what the guys are thinking. But if it were up to me, we'd have everybody back. We might have to make an addition or two. But at the end of the day, I feel confident with the guys that we have. We have good chemistry, and we got good results. And you just don't want anything to mess this up."

The Hawks might not have a choice. Woodson and Knight aren't even on speaking terms, and haven't been since it came to light that Knight recommended to ownership at the February trade deadline that Woodson be fired — a recommendation rebuffed by ownership.

And there are lingering contract situations involving Smith and Childress. Both will have suitors on July 1, the first day teams can woo free agents.

And both players repeated Monday their desire to remain with the Hawks.

"You don't spend as much time in this organization as we have and not feel like there's work to be done," said Smith, who finished the regular season as the Hawks' second-leading scorer and rebounder and their leader in blocks and steals, and he was sixth in the voting for the league's Defensive Player of the Year award.

"What we can't control is how things play out from here. All we can do is let the process work itself out."

Not being able to control his future, Childress said, is the only tough part of the process.

"It's a management decision," Childress said. "And it basically comes down to a decision of what direction the organization wants to go in. Do you want to start fresh again? Or do you want to work with what you have, add a few pieces and keep it going? That's something I can't control, and nobody in this locker room as players can control. It's a managerial decision that has to be made above us."

Woodson said Monday that the Hawks' first step toward getting back to the playoffs next season is to make sure Smith and Childress are kept in the fold.

He wouldn't comment specifically on his status or his working relationship, or lack thereof, with Knight, saying only that he didn't want to disrespect the accomplishments of his team.

But he did acknowledge that the uncertainty of the Hawks' immediate future is a reasonable concern for his team.

"It's tough because I know these guys, particularly a young guy like Al, are looking to me for guidance and leadership," Woodson said. "I think in our case, our guys have made a strong push to bring them back. They put themselves in a position as a young team that's growing for the future, to show management and the fans that they're worthy of coming back.

"So I can't help but think our ownership group will do the right thing and sign them both back, and continue to add some pieces so we can continue to grow in a proper manner, in terms of the way I think we should, and be a productive team here in the future."

For his players, that future means keeping the core intact, and that includes Smith and Childress as well as veteran point guard Mike Bibby, who is eligible for a contract extension this summer.

"That's the biggest thing right now is getting this group back, getting the two Joshes back," Marvin Williams said. "They helped turn this entire thing around. Hopefully, we get it done, and then everybody has to get better this summer. We've had a little taste of what could be, and it was good. Now we want to pig out on it."

[Eddielives]

I like what Sekou said about while some are looking at what Chill and Smoove can't do, others are looking at them and seeing what they can do. This is really the key as to whether the Hawks are going to improve next season or not. They have to look at both players and see what they do really well and see if it fits into their system, whether it's Woodson/Bk's system or new coach/gm's system. It's all about playing with chemistry and getting guys who fit into YOUR system. We all know Chill has zero ability to create jumpshots. But he drives and gets all kind of scraps around the basket. Likewise, Smoove is only effective if left completely wide open to shoot jumpers and then still is not that good at it. But do the other things he does well, which is most everything else, except for maybe man to man defense, fit into the system. A decision on the coach and gm need to be made soon so we can either pay these guys or move on.

[exodus]

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Woodson and Knight aren't even on speaking terms, and haven't been since it came to light that Knight recommended to ownership at the February trade deadline that Woodson be fired — a recommendation rebuffed by ownership.

If that is true then we should at least be getting rid of one of them.

[KB21]

I believe that where there is smoke, there is fire. I don't see anyway possible that Mike and Billy will both be back. One of them has to go if they clearly aren't on speaking terms.

Even in one of the articles I pasted on here, Mike was quoted saying that if the owners or players want him back, he will be back. He said nothing about Billy Knight wanting him back.

That relationship certainly seems beyond repair. IMO, that is why you should never hire a close friend to work for you. A bit of advise that I got when I decided to go into the medical profession. I was told that when I start my clinic, never hire someone that I cannot fire.

[Admin]

If I had to guess right now as to what will happen this offseason I would say that Woody will be back with a 3 year extension and BK will "resign" and we will promote from within. I'm not crazy about the idea of Nique being our GM but it certainly seems like the next logical step for us. Player wise I think both Chillz and Smoove will be back but we have probably seen the last of Salim in a Hawks uniform (unless Woody is gone). Hopefully we don't give Bibby a new contract as I would like to see how he performs in the first half next year before we make a decision on him.

I do agree though that one, if not both, of Woody and BK will be gone next year. There is no reason to believe that their relationship can be patched up and even if it were we cannot risk them having another falling out at some point in the future.

[Eddielives]

I love Dominique. He's the reason I became a Hawks fan in the first place. But I do not believe he has what it takes to be a good gm. He just doesn't strike me as that type of guy. I think he is best served as being a figurehead for this organization.

[KB21]

I think the most logical promotion from within would be Gary Fitzsimmons. He's got a lot of experience in the scouting aspects of the league with his time in Cleveland and Golden State before coming to Atlanta. He drew interest last year from Seattle and is probably ready to run his own team.

[KB21]

I agree. Dominique as a figure head and part of ownership will never tarnish his legacy in Atlanta. As a GM, he runs the risk of tarnishing that legacy. Who would want to be the guy that has to fire Dominique Wilkins?

[yardbird]

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I love Dominique. He's the reason I became a Hawks fan in the first place. But I do not believe he has what it takes to be a good gm. He just doesn't strike me as that type of guy. I think he is best served as being a figurehead for this organization.

I think Nique is well served doing what he's doing, the face of the franchise, a HOF presence that attracts talent. I think the former player transitioning to a successful GM is relatively rare, even moreso than those that become successful coaches. Joe Dumars did it, but others have failed or either still have the jury out. Zeke Thomas, Kevin McHale and even the executive of the year up in Beantown come to mind. Kupchak was considered a failure until his recent rape of the Grizzlies. Jerry West was considered a success, but after the Memphis fiasco, how much of that was savvy and how much was the bright lights of Tinseltown?

There aren't many players I'd trust with a salary cap in a room full of greedy agents.

[bumpyphish1]

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I love Dominique. He's the reason I became a Hawks fan in the first place. But I do not believe he has what it takes to be a good gm. He just doesn't strike me as that type of guy. I think he is best served as being a figurehead for this organization.

Agree 100%

[SuperSavvyNation]

I really feel it would be a mistake if we retain Woody. If that happens, you can mark it down that we'll be ready to fire him mid-way through next season and their won't be any worth while coaching candidates to replace him.

Might as well get Fratello or Avery and be done with it, because the axe is coming and it would be better sooner than later.

[DrReality]

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I think the most logical promotion from within would be Gary Fitzsimmons. He's got a lot of experience in the scouting aspects of the league with his time in Cleveland and Golden State before coming to Atlanta. He drew interest last year from Seattle and is probably ready to run his own team.

That sounds like it would be very likely. But one wonders if it wouldn't become incestuous bringing someone from inside the organization. Just get the feeling that they need some new direction, but doubt that would happen.

As I posted before, the ASG has gone on record as saying they want to be more active in running the franchise. Bringing someone up from within would allow them to do that. And I don't think that would be a good thing.

[frosgrim]

There are so many issues surrounding the front office its mind boggling.

For instance:

If we do not retain BK and have to hire a new GM, shouldn't that GM have the ability to hire the coach? What GM worth his salt would be willing to come in with a coach already in place?

Conversely, if we don't retain Woody, who would want to work with BK given that Woody has thrown BK under the bus repeatedly in the media and probably with the coaching fraternity?

The worst case scenario for me is that Gearon believes he can be an effective GM. He then lets BK go, has Fitz be his "GM" but in reality, Gearon is the GM (see Dallas Cowboys for this model). Gearon then keeps Woody because he likes Woody. Gearon then blows the offseason by thinking bottomline and not wins. I just feel like this is exactly what is going to happen and it makes me sick.

My preference is for a new FO and new coaching staff.

[KB21]

You know, Gary Fitzsimmons was the player personnel director in Cleveland when Mike Fratello was the head coach there (as well as Lenny Wilkens). Wayne Embry was the GM, but Fitz was the player personnel director and probably had more to do with their drafts and free agent moves than Embry had at that time.

[AnnArborHawk]

I think it was Colin Cowherd on the radio last week saying that successful organizations give their executives autonomy. Robert Kraft doesn't mess around football operations. Do we even know who owns the Spurs?

My question is, what quality GM will come in after this AJC article, KNOWING before they go into the job that he won't have the autonomy he wants/needs?

[JackB1]

the thought of another year of watching Woodson's blunders really makes me ill.

[KB21]

Change for the sake of change is never a good thing. I don't mind making a move if the Hawks can get an established coach like Mike Fratello. However, making a move to bring in another assistant coach/first time head coach makes little sense.

[KB21]

I found this article in the archives of the New York Times.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...751C0A9609C8B63

A couple of interesting things here:

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''We feel we got, in our opinion, the best free-agent wing player for where we are,'' Michael Gearon Jr., one of the team's owners, said by telephone Friday. ''We're not here to be a last-place team. It's not something you do overnight.''

The Johnson deal culminated in a messy power struggle between the previous owner, Steve Belkin, who disagreed with the trade, and the current ownership group.

N.B.A. Commissioner David Stern eventually approved of removing Belkin as an owner.

''When an owner acts like a G.M.,'' Gearon said, ''it ultimately puts the franchise at risk.''

That was two years ago, so I'm not sure if I buy into the idea that Michael Gearon Jr wants to run this team as the GM. I think what Mike probably meant when he said the owners want to take on more of a role is that they want to take more of a role in the business aspects of the team. I think that's why they felt Bernie Mullin wasn't needed. I really don't see Mike trying to mess with the basketball operations on a day to day basis.

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Gearon's father, Michael Gearon Sr., is a former chairman of the Hawks, and he grew up watching Pete Maravich. The son's vision relates to past excitement.

''I want to experience basketball the way I did in the 80's,'' Gearon said, ''with Dominique, Doc Rivers, Spud Webb.''

Paging Mike Fratello. Paging Mike Fratello. Please report back to Atlanta as the head coach.