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Best First Year Head Coach? (thus far) Hawks own Mike Bud

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Thus far, in the early going of the 2013-14 season, the Atlanta Hawks are one of the NBA’s surprise teams. One of the most exciting developments for the upstart team has been Jeff Teague’s rise to prominence. After becoming a restricted free agent last summer, Teague’s return to Atlanta seemed all but certain, but through 13 games, it seems to have been a wise decision. Thus far, his per-game averages of 18.4 points, 8.7 assists and 3.5 rebounds each represent career-highs. While Teague has been one of the Hawk’s major catalysts, though, it the overall leadership of first-time head coach Mike Budenholzer that these Hawks have seemed to separate themselves as one of the Eastern Conference’s playoff teams.

Unlike many of the Eastern Conference’s other teams, the Hawks have an overall lack of star power. What they do have, however, is a team unified by the concepts of defensive rotations, ball movement and hard work.They are reminiscent of Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs.

Last season, general manager Danny Ferry opted to not trade Smith, despite the concern that he may eventually leave the franchise without compensation, and that is exactly what eventually transpired.

The Hawks effectively replaced Smith with the more affordable Paul Millsap, whom the club signed to a two-year deal worth $19 million. Al Horford has continued to be the All-Star caliber player he has become over the years and leads the Hawks in rebounding, blocked shots and field goal proficiency and is second in scoring and assists.

Still, it is the overall proficiency of the Hawks mostly unknown second-unit for which Budenholzer deserves at least some credit. No starter plays as much as 34 minutes per game for this team and thus far, the team has eight players who play at least 15 minutes per game. DeMarre Carrol, Cartier Martin, Mike Scott and Gustavo Ayón have all seemed to carve out a place in the coach’s rotation, while the recent return of Lou Williams will only add stock to the cupboard amongst the Hawks’ reserve unit.

Overall, under the leadership of coach Budenholzer, the Hawks have the hallmarks of a winning basketball team, and although they did not appear to be a playoff team in what was supposed to be a stacked Eastern Conference, in the early going, they have separated themselves as a team that is greater than the sum of its conceived individual parts. That, of course, is a testament to coach Budenholzer.

Entire Article: http://www.hoopsworld.com/pointcounterpoint-best-first-year-head-coach

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Ok soup, so you can have a star, Melo, how bout that. Then you have a team like us, no stars.Hawks>KnicksSystem>Star

Having a system can win you a lot of games but to win a ring you need 'THAT GUY' plus the system that EVERYONE buys into and the right coach.Never been a fan of Melo's game - he is only effective in one aspect of the game - scoring. If his shooting is off he cannot impact the game otherwise - no defense, too few assists, not enough overall hustle. Edited by JayBirdHawk
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TheFuzz Collaborator

TheFuzz

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Ok soup, so you can have a star, Melo, how bout that. Then you have a team like us, no stars.Hawks>KnicksSystem>Star

I like the optimism, but our W/L record is right at our talent level. Well-coached talent wins. Melo is a good player but not a great one and the rest of the Knicks are awful. Philly has a solid system in place but not enough talent, for example.

We've got the coach. We've got solid pieces. We need more.

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NBASupes Grand Master

NBASupes

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Ok soup, so you can have a star, Melo, how bout that. Then you have a team like us, no stars.Hawks>KnicksSystem>Star

Then after a couple losses you come back to reality...

As much as the Hawks need a star, I would NEVER EVER want Melo on our team...like EVER. No Melo, no Rudy Gay type "stars"...I want a legit star. I like where we are headed.

I understand you can get hyped seeing really good fundamental Basketball sets being played but I watch a lot of NBA games and this Hawk team is far from impressive. They are one of the smartest teams in the NBA but one of the least talented. They are in my boat with the Suns of teams with the most regular season style of play that won't work in the playoffs due to their void of talent. Not sure Phx style of play would work with talent in playoffs as well.

Also, it's easy to call Melo a star in his right system and personnel but it's hard to say it otherwise. With that said, Melo generally has less overall impact on the game adv stat wise than Josh Smith and that's a problem but like I said, you put Melo in the right system and he can be a stud for you. He's done it in Denver and last year in New York. But not quite sure why you mentioned Melo anyway, I guess it's your silly way of trying to say a star isn't needed. Even worse you mention a terrible chucker in Rudy Gay who generally has negative impact and helped Brooklyn win last night.

Edited by nbasupes40retired
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mtnbayou Newbie

mtnbayou

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After last night I`m not so sure of Coach Bud. Terrible decision to keep the second team in for so long. He seems like he might be a little too hot-headed.

Also, Ayón and Antić should NEVER see the court. I guess they have to since they are our only backup bigs unfortunately. I`d take Millsap or Scott at center over those clowns.

The offense lately has been pretty stagnant too often.

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