All smiles at Hawks media day
Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Mike Bibby are all smiles at Hawks media day Monday. The real work at training camp kicked off Tuesday morning.
HAWKSVILLE – You’ve never seen so many smiling faces the day before training camp.
It wasn’t just the players. It was the coaches, the front office brass and even a good portion of the assembled media.
You’ve never seen so many smiling faces on the eve of a camp, at least not recently. And these weren’t forced smiles. These were the genuine kind, the ones you see on faces of teams bound for the playoffs.
It’s strange, in a good way, the effect winning has on people.
“On paper we looked good,” Hawks captain and All-Star Joe Johnson said from a corner of the practice court Monday afternoon. “We look real good on paper, so that’s why you see so many smiles around here right now. We’re excited about what this season holds. But the real work starts (in the morning). When the sweat hits the floor, that’s when you know what you’ve really got.”
There’s no doubt the Hawks have their deepest and most balanced training camp roster since I’ve been here, and at least two people in attendance Monday observed that it’s the most seasoned and accomplished group to assemble for a Hawks training camp in a decade.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Marvin Williams said. “Our team itself is pretty deep, probably the deepest team we’ve had since I’ve been here. You could split this group for camp up into four groups of five and have some nasty competition. I know there won’t be any drop off when that second unit is on the floor. but we’ll see in the morning. We’ll see all week.”
Williams admitted to never being terribly excited for a “training camp” but confessed that he’s been eager for Tuesday’s start of real action for quite some time. “Our team has gotten better and we have some new guys that we’re all excited to see in action,” he said, “and I think that’s where the real intrigue comes in for everybody.”
One of the new guys, rookie point guard Jeff Teague, put the finishing touches on the meet and greet portion of his experience with his new teammates Monday. He finally got a chance to meet Joe Smith, the one player he had yet to see since being drafted by the Hawks in June.
“The thing you realize when you see everybody here together is that there’s already a great nucleus in place,” Teague said. “It’s something to be a part of. So you get in here now and realize that you want to get off to a good start and get things rolling right away.”
They kicked things off Monday with a team dinner, a function where Hawks coach Mike Woodson said he would lay out some specifics for his team regarding goals and detailed responsibilities for this season.
“The message is that expectations are always high from where I sit,” Woodson said. “And you can’t be scared of it, you can’t run from it. I’m not scared. I’m not running from it. And the fact that expectations are high means that we have to now try and take that next step. The next step is trying to be in that elite group.”
I reached out to several members of the national media about that very topic regarding the Hawks and received some interesting feedback. While it certainly seems like a possibility, no one is ready to bet house money on the Hawks doing so.
“The NBA remains a league that belongs to the superstars, and unfortunately for them they have none,” ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande wrote in an email. “They have talent and now there’s experience and cohesion to go with it, but they don’t have that one guy who can singlehandedly take over a playoff game on the road. Kobe, Shaq and Tim Duncan played on eight of the 10 championship teams between this decade. The Hawks don’t have anyone of that caliber, not to mention the updated Eastern mix of LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Boston’s Big 3. Because of the consistency the Hawks learned last year they could get to the second round — if the Bulls don’t beat them out for that final berth in the conference semis.”
Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports expressed similar concerns about the Hawks vaulting into that upper tier of the Eastern Conference for the same reasons.
“I think the Hawks’ situation is interesting because more is expected because they were ablet o take another step to the Eastern conference semifinals last year,” he said. “But no one seems to be talking about them in that realm with the big three in the conference. Everybody is talking about Boston, Cleveland and Orlando in the East. So I still think they have a chip on their shoulder. And if you think about it, this team is going to be better for a lot of reasons. First, they’ve got another year of experience and they’re more playoff tested. They were able to re-sign key players and didn’t lose anybody of importance. Their one major weakness, their bench, was aided in impressive fashion, with Jamal Crawford, Joe Smith and Jason Collins and the rookie Teague, all guys that can start if someone gets hurt. So if you look at the Hawks, they’re actually better than they were a year ago. I think what’s hurt them is the fact that they didn’t finish strong in the playoffs, even with their injury problems. And that kept people from taking them seriously as a team that has a chance to move up into that top three. I do see this as a dangerous team with a chip on their shoulder. When it’s all said and done, it’ll be interesting to see if the Hawks take another step forward and live up to their expectations or everybody else’s.”
We’ve talked about it many times around here since that Cleveland series. But what are your realistic expectations for this team this season?
I like Mike Bibby’s take on things, personally, simple but true.
“We got it on paper all day,” Bibby said. “We just have to put it together. Everybody has to have one main goal this season and that main goal is to win. Everything else will take care of itself if we’re operating with that as our No. 1 goal at all times. Individual goals have to be set aside for team goals.”
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310 comments Add your comment
jerrywest
September 29th, 2009
6:28 pm
If JJ leaves and Hawks waive Chillz, we are $10 mil under the salary cap if the cap doesn’t change.
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=9154
If we give back Crawford his option to become free agent (he waived it to come to Atl), and he exercises it, we go $21 mil under the salary cap. Could we do that?
If Crawford has a good year he might want to use it. On the other hand if he has a good year why would we give him that right back? If we had a much inferior Flip instead of Crawford, we would have $21 mil salary cap room next summer. I guess with JJ and Crawford, we are going for all the marbles this year. Why hold back. Sign stackhouse. He will at least cut down on JJ’s minutes and stats. saves future $$$$.
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
6:31 pm
Please stop the hate….
...
September 29th, 2009
6:31 pm
Yeah!!!
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
6:34 pm
All of this logic sounds fantastic until you consider that it’s very, very hard to find an All-Star or even almost-All-Star player other than a rookie coming up on their RFA who doesn’t play out their contract these days. I actually can’t think of a single one off the top of my head from the past 6 years except Duncan two summers ago (and as I mentioned above, even Duncan waited until his rookie contract was up back in 2000).
So I guess it’s ok if everyone else does it – either because they’re better than JJ or because JJ’s better than them. But it’s not ok for JJ to do it. Ok…
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
6:41 pm
jerrywest,
No. The option was for 2 years, not one-at-a-time. And a team can’t “unexercise” an option that the player already chose to exercise – the Player’s Union would go apesh!t if a team could do that. Jamal exercised his option for the last two years of his contract. We’re locked into Jamal through 2011. No way around that.
The only way we’re a player in the FA market next summer (except to re-sign JJ) is if we trade someone else in exchange for an expiring deal before this year’s trade deadline or we somehow convince Cle/Mia/Tor to do a sign-and-trade with us (unlikely, because both the player and the team would have to agree to it).
darrell starks
September 29th, 2009
6:41 pm
What have joe done for the hawks in the playoffs? he’s a no show.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
...
September 29th, 2009
6:41 pm
Would it be possible to get rip Hamilton to replace JJ?
jerrywest
September 29th, 2009
6:42 pm
This team was is built around JJ. He will never find a better situation where he is the focal point. Even if he joins LeBron in NY, his other teammates will suck for a long time.
...
September 29th, 2009
6:47 pm
darell starks:
JJ plays with no heart in the playoffs. Thats why he can’t score.
So lets get Rip Hamilton!!!
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
6:49 pm
…,NO!!
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
6:51 pm
First off, Pknott needs to put down the crack pipe if he doesn’t think that all the teams that strike out on Wade and LeBron aren’t going to be throwing giant wads of money at JJ
jerrywest,
Why are you assuming he doesn’t want to stay here? Again, he is doing what EVERY All-Star free agent has done in recent years.
Why is the obvious so hard to see?? The reality is that there’s no need for the Hawks to mortgage the farm on JJ before they see that he can lead this team to the Promised Land, and no need for JJ to sign an extension that almost certainly is less than he will be able to get next summer.
JJ wants to stay, and the Hawks want JJ to stay. But JJ (correctly) thinks that if he waits until next summer, he’ll almost certainly be able to get the Hawks to re-sign him for more than they’re offering now. And the Hawks correctly are reluctant to give him the kind of money JJ will be asking for next summer because they know they have a good chance of re-signing JJ even if they let him play the year out.
Capitalism at work. Nothing more, nothing less.
mario west
September 29th, 2009
6:55 pm
Braves!!!
darrell starks
September 29th, 2009
6:55 pm
Yes your right when players turn down that kind of money you wonder do they really want to be here, and it kind of hurt the spirit of the team specially if your trying 2 build something.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
6:56 pm
And before you go back to “well, JJ should settle for less money if he wants the Hawks to win,” I again ask you to point me to an All-Star caliber free agent other than Tim Duncan who has done that in the past decade. Nash? Nope, he played out his contract in Phoenix. Kobe? Nope, played until his option year came in LA. Lesser-caliber but very good guys like Manu? Nope. Again, they all played out their contracts. That’s what players do.
If JJ’s selfish, then they’re all selfish. And if they’re all selfish, then what’s the sense in singling out JJ?
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
6:57 pm
Hawks Offical Website now has Training Camp Central:
http://www.nba.com/hawks/news/2009_training_camp_central.html
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
6:58 pm
Tweeet From Hawks PR Man Arthur Triche:
“Hawks participating in annual media training seminar. In addition 2 reminding them of their obligations, informing them about social media.”
darrell starks
September 29th, 2009
7:01 pm
We can’t blame the hawks for this one that was a fare enough contract for a player who haven’t played well in the playoffs at all.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!
JJ the selfish
September 29th, 2009
7:04 pm
niremetal seems like you are the only one who likes JJ’s decision.
So who do you think should replace JJ when he leaves the ATL for more money?
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
7:07 pm
And lastly…
I just thank heaven that the people on the inside of this deal are more aware of all this stuff than the average fan blogger. JJ knows that GMs look at a hell of a lot more than his stats when deciding how much to pay him. They know that a GM is more likely to sign a guy who scores 18ppg on a 50-win team than one who scores 22ppg on a 35-win team (just ask…uh…JJ 4 years ago). The idea that a player will be a ballhog in his contract year flies in the face of what we’ve seen from players like Manu, Nash, Bibby (circa 2002), and other scorer-distributors in recent NBA history. They realize that their value as players stems more from their ability to help their team win than it is from the number of points they score.
But hey. It wouldn’t be Sekou’s blog if there weren’t people calling JJ a selfish ballhog who only looks out for himself (the fact that all of him teammates keep saying the exact opposite notwithstanding). Guess I just shouldn’t let it get to me…
macaroni tony
September 29th, 2009
7:07 pm
Hawks Open 2009 Training Camp
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
By Micah Hart
Monday it was all smiles and interviews – Tuesday it was down to business.
The Hawks hit the practice court at Philips Arena around 9:30 am for their first official day of camp, going pretty much non-stop until about 1:00 pm.
The first day is usually pretty light on actual game play, and this year was no different. There were a lot of drills, mostly working on conditioning. After practice Mike Woodson complimented the players to the media on arriving at camp in excellent physical condition, but of course he wasn’t telling them that during the action. At one point he exclaimed, “You guys want to be a running team this season, you’re going to have to be in much better shape than you are right now!”
Not a whole lot to report as far as performance goes, but I’ll give you a couple bullets:
# It was only one play, but I liked the jumper Al Horford hit from behind the top of the key in one 4-on-4 drill. It was a confident, quick release, and it dropped straight through the net. I asked Al yesterday if there was any particular part of his game he worked on over the summer, and he mentioned that he spent a lot of time on his mid-range game. So based on that one shot, I’ll call his work a total success!
# Jeff Teague seemed at ease amongst his new teammates, and showed off his quickness and athleticism in several drills. I am very excited to see how he performs when scrimmaging gets underway, presumably tomorrow.
# I probably say this all the time, but I continue to be in awe of the shooting prowess of NBA players. After the work was over for the day, several guys stayed on the court to get more shooting in. One game they were playing required each player to make 4-5 from five spots around the three-point line. Guys like Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford, Marvin Williams, Joe Johnson, and Juan Dixon were draining shot after shot, all while I sat there trying to figure out if I would die from starvation before I even made it to the top of the key.
JJ the selfish
September 29th, 2009
7:07 pm
JJ the selfish!
Tony
September 29th, 2009
7:09 pm
I do not give a crap if Joe leaves. D-wade c’mon down. Joe is NOT A SUPERSTAR. When we are down he can’t carry us to victory. Besides Josh Smith is OUR BEST player. Oh yeah, don’t hate. Can anyone answer this, why would you pay a player (Joe) higher than the guy who IS the best player on your team (Smith) and can control the game on both ends? Leave Joe I Do NOT CARE.
macaroni tony
September 29th, 2009
7:13 pm
Reading Sekou updated article, I’m really not worrying about JJ not signing his contract.
“Joe’s been such a big part of the growth and movement we’ve made as a franchise, so I wouldn’t expect anything but his best as always,” Woodson said. “He’s not going to let up, I promise you that. We talked about it at our [team dinner Monday]. This team means a lot to him, and we’ve got some goals that we’ve set that we all want to accomplish. There’s a time and a place for the business that he’ll have to deal with. And that’s later. But that’s not anyone’s concern but his. And it should stay that way.”
...
September 29th, 2009
7:13 pm
Hope the braves can get to the playoffs!
The Truth
September 29th, 2009
7:18 pm
Joe Johnson decision to opt out of ATL has removed all doubt as to where his motivations are these days. After I read the article several times, I didn’t see any signs of a door opening between JJ and the Hawks. He was rather straightforward in my opinion. He thought about it, reached a conclusion, and that was it. He went on to say that (in so many words) that he will be using the Hawks to audition for his next team.
Some blogs ago I was searching for answers to things that could possibly be driving JJ as I was inspired from watching the MJ Hall-a-fame speech. I know MJ is a tough act to follow but he does give us some frame of reference which provides us with insight. For MJ, it was a motivation to prove all his critics wrong, to be among the best of the best and to bring championship titles to a doormat team in the NBA. In his quest to be the best, he passed up all kinds of lucrative basketball contracts. He did all those things and more. By comparison, JJ doesn’t really seem interested in building to win a title as evidence by his past actions. He left a title contending Phoenix for a doormat Atlanta to be the “Man”; to be that big fish in the little pond and made 70M in the process. Despite the improvement of the Hawks since his arrival, he doesn’t seem impressed by it all as he works his next contract. Now he wants to leave the Hawks and downgrade again to another doormat team such as NY or NJ to become an even richer and a bigger “man” in a smaller pond. If any of this is just partially true, it would sound like a player with different priorities then winning a championship. Since his new quest is to prove that he is an elite player, I’m just wondering how that might affect the Hawks team chemistry. When he gets that pass from Biddy, will he be thinking about the win or padding his stats? Even if he is sincere about the team goals, what will be the perception of his teammates about him as a leader? He can’t be compared with Josh, Bibby, or Marvin in their contract year because they weren’t offered extensions. Their drama all happened in the summer and ended before training camp. JJ is the only player to publicly state that he wants out during training camp. That sounds like a motivational killer to me to an emerging team that is looking to do special things this year.
So while JJ thinks about his next team and contract deal when he is in the air shooting his jump shot, at least we now know what’s on his mind and what is motivating him.
...
September 29th, 2009
7:24 pm
Forget JJ, Wade will take us to victory. plus remember 3>2
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
7:24 pm
The Truth,
Really, you got that from this?
http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/johnsons-focus-locked-on-150073.html
“Like every other man in that locker room, I’m all in for my team,” Johnson said. “I don’t have any doubts that we’re set for a big year, and that’s all I care about. We’ve all worked hard to get to this point, and we’re trying to get over that hump this season.”
“I think with the young nucleus we have with Josh [Smith], Al [Horford] and Marvin and Mike running the show, the sky is the limit for us,” Johnson said. “Each year we’ve gotten better. And I look forward to those guys continuing to improve and our team making more strides as time goes on.”
Yeah, you’re right. That sounds like a guy with one foot out the door.
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
7:25 pm
Josh was offered an extension, 5yrs 45mill….
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
7:28 pm
Crawford ready to fill role as Hawks’ scorer off bench:
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/09/29/hawks.camp.ap/
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
7:29 pm
MacTone already posted this. Oops lol….
jerrywest
September 29th, 2009
7:30 pm
New drill for Zaza.
100 dunks in 5 minutes. If he misses one, he starts from 0.
rob
September 29th, 2009
7:30 pm
Seems like many people hate Joe Johnson.
JJ I think you lost some fans.
macaroni tony
September 29th, 2009
7:33 pm
I was upset at first, but I don’t think that we should trade him. Let things play itself out. Unlike Phoenix he was the sixth man, but here he knows that this is his team. JJ is not going anywhere unless he gets a offer that you can’t refuse.
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
7:36 pm
Whoo!!! I Found it!!!!Hah!!!!
http://www.nba.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0907/summerdeals09/content.21.html
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
7:37 pm
Sekou, please talk some sense into these folks who think JJ has already booked his ticket outta here
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
7:39 pm
Ariose,
Is it just me, or does he looks pretty ugly in that uni?
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
7:43 pm
Nire, It’s not you lol…..He’ll look better in the Road unis I bet. Conversely, Smoove looks extra Skinny in the Road unis…
JJ, is THE MAN here. He’s not going ANYWHHERE lol….he’s just worth more than 4yrs & 64mill…4yrs???? Sreiously? Nice try Rick lol…
rob
September 29th, 2009
7:47 pm
Go Hawks!
MyView
September 29th, 2009
8:05 pm
What’s crazy is people talk about the Hawks like they are ranking them. What these national media types have to say means squat. They were wrong about the Hawks last year, they were wrong about the Hawks in ‘07, and when we reach the ECF or beyond, they will be wrong again. LET’S GO HAWKS!!!!!!!
Sautee
September 29th, 2009
8:12 pm
Anybody else find irony in this statement of Woodson’s?
“There’s a time and a place for the business that he’ll have to deal with. And that’s later. But that’s not anyone’s concern but his. And it should stay that way.”
Odd how Woody’s OWN business situation was hardly “not anyone’s concern” but HIM. And obviously DIDN’T “stay that way”.
jerrywest
September 29th, 2009
8:29 pm
Great catch Sautee.
jerrywest
September 29th, 2009
8:33 pm
Should The Hawks Consider Trading Joe Johnson?
http://hawks.realgm.com/articles/593/20090929/should_the_hawks_consider_trading_joe_johnson/
niremetal
September 29th, 2009
8:35 pm
Yeah, sounds right Ariose. He kinda looks like a Smurf, except not blue…
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
8:39 pm
Hawks Getting a third Jersey!!!!
http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2009/9/29/1061212/hawks-getting-a-third-jersey
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
8:41 pm
I bet there gonna be red
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
8:41 pm
Or the old retro ones we wore with the old uni’s I like that one too…
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
8:43 pm
Nire, LOl!!
Ariose
September 29th, 2009
8:45 pm
langwhitaker RT @YahooSportsNBA Delonte West missed his second straight practice Tuesday night. Associate says he’s in his Cleve apartment.
KevinA
September 29th, 2009
8:46 pm
JJ is still the most important man on the team and all the talk of waiting on an extension is nuts. JJ deserves to do what ever he wants to do. I cannot predict the future but I see JJ going nowhere. This team is set up to be very competitive for years to come, why would he want to leave the team that he helped build.
If JJ has a hole in his game it would be his preference to the half court game but then again that may be because of his minutes and the fact Bibby played to many minutes.
With the addition of Crawford and Teague Woody can run shorter rotations to keep these guys fresh. If Josh and Marvin elevate their games on offense (high expectations) this will allow the scoring pressure to be more “balanced”. Look for the Hawks to play more up tempo.
A fresher JJ may score the same amount of points but with fewer attempts, increasing his impact on the game, expect his shooting percentage/assist totals to go up. Most of his “fresher” impact will be pushing the ball on the break, driving the ball more and utilizing the floater shot, (one of the best in the league).
This blog rotates between players, trashing them one at a time. Sometimes I think the complainers must not of watched the Hawks 4 years ago. Not only has our team become a play off team, but has improved every year. Sund had a masterful off season increasing already high expectations. MR Basketball deserves a little respect and will still be the Alfa dog in Phillips.
jerrywest
September 29th, 2009
8:46 pm
Jamal+JJ+Marv+Al+Collier
I just realized that for the first time in a long time we have a lineup that can go toe to toe against any big team. The big problem is Jamal and Jason do not rebound. Marv and Horford have to crush the board.