Hawks are hoping to use Saints as a blueprint
Can Josh Smith and the Hawks replicate the Saints' post-season success?
It took 21 seasons before the New Orleans Saints finally reached the playoffs. It was 34 years before they won a postseason game and 43 before they found their way to the Super Bowl.
So let’s start with this: When it comes to the playoffs, regardless of the sport, having an impressive resume is not a prerequisite to winning a championship. If the Hawks were seeking some affirmation that unlikely story lines develop every day, they just got it.
The Saints just won the Super Bowl. Next week, Liechtenstein conquers China.
Loading ...The Hawks face the Miami Heat Wednesday night at Philips Arena. It will be their final game before the All-Star break. After Miami, they’ll have played 51 games and hold the third or fourth best record in the Eastern Conference. They went 4-0 against Boston. They’re still looking for a win against Orlando (0-3) or Cleveland (0-2). So much for the measuring sticks.
At this point, it’s easy to look at the Hawks and think: Pretty good. Still prone to inconsistencies. Probably no better than third in the East. But New Orleans just showed how quickly things can change when a team grows up in the post-season, even if it is another league and another sport.
“When you see a team like that do something that nobody thought they could do, it makes you think we can do the same thing,” Jamal Crawford said. “Why not? It’s possible, especially when you look at the steps this franchise has taken.
“I wonder what that feels like — to win a championship? We’ll see what happens. But I certainly don’t see us capping out. We’re continuing to get better. We’re continuing to gel. We’re about 50 games into the season and everybody is understanding their role. We’re starting to understand what it takes to win.”
The Hawks have never won a conference championship, let alone a league title, in Atlanta. Their only NBA title came in 1958 when the franchise was in St. Louis.
Jamal Crawford and the Hawks swept the four games with Boston.
After a 19-6 start this year, they leveled off to 13-11 over the next 24 games, going into Tuesday’s game at Memphis. They’re certainly better, even if not great, on the road than a year ago (11-12 before Memphis). General manager Rick Sund says he likes the team the way it is. He gave no indication Monday that he’s looking to make a deal. “People are talking about us as being one of the top three or four teams in the Eastern Conference, and that’s what we were striving for,” he said.
But will that translate to winning more than one playoff round?
Josh Smith, a long-time Indianapolis Colts fan, wasn’t happy about the Super Bowl result. But he liked the backdrop it created for the next few months.
“The Saints have a bunch of guys most people haven’t heard of,” Smith said. “But they had a confidence and a swagger about themselves in the playoffs. That’s what we need to have when we play the likes of Boston and Cleveland. That confidence goes a long way.
“Like I’ve always said: impossible is nothing. You can’t give up on your dream. Here you’ve got a football team that’s hardly ever been past the first round and they just won a championship. You start to realize, we can get it done. We can be the sleeper. Even when Detroit won the championship in 2004, they weren’t a losing franchise or anything but they pretty much came out of nowhere and overcame huge odds to beat the Lakers. If we can get hot after the All-Star break, I think we’ve got a chance to do something special.”
The Saints’ victory parade was scheduled for Tuesday night through downtown New Orleans. The team ordered 1.8 million strands of beads to throw.
Crawford smiled, thinking about what a similar celebration would be like in Atlanta. “That would be big, right?” he said. “Peachtree would be shut down for the whole day. I couldn’t even imagine that. Hey, you never know. Nothing is scripted.”
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69 comments Add your comment
Preston
February 9th, 2010
10:19 pm
I’d love to see it but until they show me that they can play with Cleveland and Orlando, I’m not buying it.
JSS
February 9th, 2010
10:23 pm
And I was referring to that do nothing Calvin Coolidge…
Nola
February 9th, 2010
11:32 pm
As mentioned before: Drew Brees is not a nobody, lets not underestimate the power of good coaching (i.e., Sean Payton and Greg Williams), nor a strong regular season.
Snowman
February 10th, 2010
1:37 am
Jeff, great words of support for coach Woodson!!! You have “killed” him over the years and it is good to see you finally have written such a great article on the job he is doing with the Hawks this season (or did I miss that article?)!!! Oh wait a minute, maybe I dreamed that along with some silly article about Saints and Liechtenstein you wrote. What in the hell is wrong with you Jeff and what in the world are you talking about? I BEG you and I mean BEG you to stay as far away from the Hawks as you can possibly stay. Josh made an interesting point about the the team that came from know where in 2004, the Detroit Pistons, guess who was Larry Brown’s #1 assistant that year? Of course you wouldn’t know, duh (what was I thinking)!!!, however it was Mike Woodson!!!
One final point about that Piston team that we should keep in mind, they traded for a then, Atlanta Hawk ,at the last hour of the trade deadline (we have one coming up right and could use an additional piece or two, right?), Rasheed Wallace and it WAS ABSOLUTELY the final piece of the puzzle for them and pushe them over the top. They also bought off the bench, Mehmet Okur (7ft), Corliss Williamson (The Big Nasty!!!), Mike James (instant offense), Elden Campbell (7ft) and Lindsey Hunter (defensive stopper). The record for the Pistons that year was 54-28 about how the Hawks are tracking currently. Is Atlanta Hawks bench that strong right now? Love the Hawks and love the job the coaching staff has done with this bunch!!!…Go Hawks and Go away Schultz!!!
nomoaints
February 10th, 2010
2:22 am
To all you Hawks fans, just remember that success is when preparation meets opportunity. Look as if they’re on their way. So don’t hate because the Saints got it together and we’re basking in our super bowl victory. Who Dat ?? one day ‘yall will be dat, but not to day!! Black ‘n gold in the super bowl !!!
Dr. Warren
February 10th, 2010
3:09 am
The Saints seriously dominated all year long. Even went 13-0. The Hawks are close to .500 since their fast start. Where is the parallel exactly??
grammar patrol
February 10th, 2010
7:06 am
hoho,
Last line, “…pointed out without reproach [COMMA NECESSARY] I hope.” Glass houses, brother. Glass houses.
soldierman
February 10th, 2010
9:18 am
If it breaks down as cleveland, atlanta, boston, orlando I think we would be alright. We have absolutely no chance if it’s us and cleveland in the finals. The NBA has invested a lot of money into lebron/kobe and I seriously doubt they will allow anything close to stop it. If we can catch them say after a 7 game series with orlando or even get orlando after a 7 gamer with cleveland you gotta believe the odds are on our favor. Which is all hypothetical at this point because we still have some 30 games left to play. Either way it’s shaping up to be a good postseason for our hawks.
M Lassiter
February 10th, 2010
9:35 am
who is checking Lebron?
Give the man some credit
February 10th, 2010
10:57 am
I do not necessarily agree with the analogy. But, compared with your other pieces of late, this is a wonderful breath of fresh air. Thank you for not slamming management or ownership. And upon my first read, it actually appears to have a positive spin to it. (Don’t hold me to that… I know how your articles normally turn out)
As for the Hawks doing something in the playoffs this year, it really boils down to Mike Bibby (Oh! and Mike Woodson’s eyebrows). The reason Jamal is so deathly potent is because he comes off the bench, and teams don’t [typically] have an answer for it. But the problem with this is that when J-Cool comes in off said bench, he is replacing a rather non-existent Mike Bibby. If we get double figure points and at least five assists from Bibby, and that it without bringing in J-Cool, then it steps up the game all together [I don't care if it is against those "bloody wankers" down in Orlando].
Truth-Serum
February 10th, 2010
11:14 am
Jeff Schultz I just wanted to chime in and remind you that you are worthless-LOL
The Hawks arent following the Saints blueprint, but many NBA teams are following Woodson’s and the Hawks blue print.
Schultz isnt it about time for you to pimp the Michael Vick saga again. Why dont you write about the politics and stay with a story you know something about. Leave the Hawks alone.
SHOUT OUT TO THE SNOWMAN! YOU KNOWLEDGE OF THE GAME HAS GROWN…DUDE!
hoho
February 10th, 2010
11:15 am
Thank you for all the “glass house” corrections my friends. One difference of course is that I don’t get paid to write or proof read. hoho 2 can get another screen name and save the douche for yourself.
Rinse out your mind. You don’t have to respond with such vitriol to a complete stranger (oh, that actually makes it easier since we can’t see each-it’s like a video game, it’s not even real!)
Truth-Serum
February 10th, 2010
11:16 am
Go Hawks and Go away Schultz!!! – LMAO!
YES, THE HAWKS TRULY NEED A DEFENSIVE STOPPER! HORFORD PLAY CANT PROTECT THE RACK!
UGA 2010
February 10th, 2010
12:04 pm
Man, regardless of what this team will do this year, i have had fun watching the Hawks and plan on doing so for awhile…i honestly see them goin to the NBA finals this year if they get hot after the All-Star break
Snowman
February 10th, 2010
10:20 pm
What’s up Truth-Serum!!! (smile). It’s been awhile, I have not been responding to the blogs as much because “you-know-who” has not written much about the Hawks (of course, because they are doing extremely well!!!). What is up with this dude? Why does he NEVER give “Mr. Eyebrows” (smile) any props? I just don’t get it. Even if he HATED Woody (and he does) you would think you would have to write a positive article about the job he has done currently and the improvements they have made over the years. Why has the public not asked for him to be fired? Why does his editor not make him be more objective/balanced and tone it down a bit? Mark Bradley use to be hard on Coach Woodson however EVEN Mark has come around and been great and extremely fair of late. I am not asking Schultz to say Woody is Red Auerbach or Coach Knight but come on does he NOT deserve one “kick-ass” article about the job he has done with this club (they did sweep the Celtics this year and the Celtics won the championship just 2 years ago and added Wallace to their team this off season!).
Ill just chalk it up to foolishness however we in the Washington DC area would NEVER and I mean NEVER tolerate the writing that Jeff does about our local club who was doing so well!!! One last thing, the Hawks could use a move or two to sure up this team prior to the deadline. Oh, and if we don’t resign Joe Johnson, boy we will be back to square freakin one in my opinion because you know they are not going to sign a LeBron, Dwayne or Kobe and JJ is the next tier. It’s nuts however I am just enjoying their play and if Woody has to keep coach em up because moves have not been made, well so be it!!!
Stay on them Truth and continue to keep it real!!!, I really, really enjoy your work and responses. By the way, I think you maybe right about Zsa Zsa and I did not agree with your assessment before however he is just not getting it done this season and I wonder if it is because he got his money and a tad complacent this season…hell I might be as well (smile) if I received that kind of money. By the way, PLEASE, PLEASE send some warmth and sunshine our way. I am in Washington DC and in less than a week we have had over 50 inches of snow…50!!!!! The Federal Government (which never closes) and the airports have been closed for 4 days (including tomorrow). The Hawks could not even get here last Saturday and I was taking my family (wife, 11 year old boy and 14 year old girl) to the game. I had the really good office tickets too (smile). Oh, and the Wizards have some pieces I think the Hawks could use (Butler, Jameson, or a Brendan Haywood). I just looked and it’s still snowing (smile)!!!!…later Truth!!!
JewellNelson
February 11th, 2010
1:47 pm
The Hawks dont need to use the Saints as any blueprint. The saints, as I mentioned before, were extremely LUCKY to be in the superbowl, first of all, and then secondly to win it. The Saints should have gotten knocked out of the playoffs against Minnesota. Minnesota had an excellent chance to win the championship game. Brett Farve wasted away the opportunity and the Vikings choked as they always do. It was more that the Vikings LOST the game than that the Saints WON the game. The same thing happened in the Superbowl. The Saints didnt win that game either. It was more of a situation that the Colts LOST the game than the Saints WINNING the game. The Falcons should have won their division this year and gotten into the playoffs ahead of the Saints. Now we’ll have to hear all off-season about how great the Saints are. The Saints are a LUCKY CHAMPION. I am convinced of that.
GraveDigger
February 11th, 2010
2:58 pm
The Hawks should concentrated on WINNING GAMES that they should win and not losing games to bad teams. Also, the Hawks need to learn to stop blowing leads in games and close out opponents when they get the chance. Its unfortunate that the Hawks are struggling to overtake the Magic because the Hawks SHOULD already have at least a 3 game lead in the division. The Hawks lost games that were in the bag but failed to close out the opponents. The Hawks could potentially finish in the conference with the SECOND BEST RECORD behind Cleveland. Its too late to catch the Cavs for the #1 spot. That may come next season. Im proud of what the Hawks have accomplished this year and Im proud to say Im a Hawks fan. Billy Knight should have gotten an award for “Executive of the Year” for turning around the Hawks into a consistent winner. Great job billy if you are out there.
Hawk Str8Talk
February 11th, 2010
9:25 pm
Here’s some thoughts on what Rick Sund said before the game to the hawks blog nation. http://www.hawkstr8talk.com/2010/02/grizzlies-heat-chat-with-rick-sund.html
If Hawks are moving forward, it's time to show a sign | Jeff Schultz
February 23rd, 2010
4:20 pm
[...] it’s not going to backslide, we’re still waiting for a sign. Two weeks ago, some Hawks players spoke enthusiastically about the New Orleans Saints winning the Super Bowl, and how that showed anything could happen in a [...]