If the Hawks don’t make a playoff run, will Josh be jettisoned?
No. 55 is Jordan Crawford. Check his numbers since he got traded. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
The Thrashers fired their coach, changed their general manager, imported a goodly roster chunk from the Stanley Cup champions … and will miss the playoffs yet again. They finished 10th in the Eastern Conference last season; with four games remaining, they’re 11th now. And should we be upset?
Nah. They’re the Thrashers.
As for the Thrashers’ corporate brethren: That’s different. The Hawks have made the playoffs three seasons running and have won a series the past two years. They didn’t opt for change over the offseason. They chose continuity, albeit with a twist. They fired their coach but promoted his assistant. (Message: “We’ve changed, but not really.”)
The Hawks won 53 games last season and finished third in the East. The best they can do this time is 49 victories, and they’re all but certain to be the No. 5 seed. In no way can this be seen as progress — the only reason to fire a coach while keeping his players is because you believe they’re capable of more — but there’s still a chance to get it right. The NBA playoffs, at least the Eastern half thereof, are where goofy happens: Only once since 2002 has the East’s No. 1 seed reached the finals.
A nice playoff run — one that carries into the Eastern finals, where the Atlanta Hawks have never ever been — would allow them to wag their fingers at all us doubters and say, “See? We knew what we were doing.” And there’s no reason they can’t, even without the homecourt edge, beat Orlando in Round 1. (The Magic isn’t half the team it was, which can happen when you trade away half your team in December.)
For discussion purposes, let’s say the Hawks upset Orlando and lose routinely to Chicago in the conference semis. Even the easily satisfied Atlanta Spirit would have trouble framing that as progress. How could you give Larry Drew rave reviews if his team falls at the same hurdle as Mike Woodson’s? And if dissimilar-in-demeanor coaches wind up with the same result, is it even the coach at all?
Since taking ownership in 2004, the easily addled Spirit has been consistent in its willingness to be patient with “the growing young core” of its basketball team. But here it is 2011, and three of the Core Four — Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson — have been in place for nearly six years, and Al Horford arrived in 2007. Over time, the Hawks have gone from wretched (13-69 in 2004-2005) to rather good (53-29 last season). But now the graph, at least the regular-season part of it, shows its first dip since the inglorious days of Terry Stotts and Chris Crawford.
The loose definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. If the Hawks fall in Round 2 again, the only logical tack would be to try something else, and this doesn’t mean promoting a different assistant. Given that their No. 1 pick was sent to Washington for Kirk Hinrich, we can expect no help from the draft. Even worse, last year’s No. 1 pick — Jordan Crawford, also shipped to D.C. – has scored 20-plus points the past four games. Heck, he even had a triple double. (And the Hawks’ record with Hinrich? It’s 10-9.)
There’s a chance Jamal Crawford, who’ll be an unrestricted free agent, could be packaged in a sign-and-trade, but the greater issue is the Core Four. If this season yields nothing better (or even as good as) the past two, why stay the course? Which brings us to names:
Johnson can’t be traded because nobody wants to pay his massive salary through 2016. Horford can’t be traded because this franchise would collapse without him. Williams can’t be traded for anyone of significance because every NBA team already has a Marvin Williams. By process of elimination, that leaves …
Josh Smith.
It would be tough saying goodbye to someone this talented, tougher still watching him become an All-Star — which he surely would — wearing a different uniform. But if this spring becomes another fizzle, what choice would the Spirit have?
(Well, it could sell the team and leave such decisions to someone else. That could happen, too. Never a dull moment, huh?)
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
154 comments Add your comment
niremetal
April 4th, 2011
12:03 pm
Jordan Crawford has been one of the league’s most inefficient players over the past month and a half. Pretty much anyone in the league can score 20 points if they are willing to shoot 8 for 22 to get there. Good players, however, do not.
Jordan Crawford is an inefficient, volume-scoring guard who offers no defense, no playmaking abilities (he has terrible court vision)…really no skills whatsoever besides being able to take a lot of a shots and occasionally hit some. Players like that are a dime a dozen. Wake me up if he ever becomes something more.
papar bag hawk
April 4th, 2011
12:03 pm
I predict the same thing will happen if we trade Josh. He’ll go to a team with a solid coach. He’ll start putting up 18-20 pts, 10 rbs, 4 assts, 2 blks a night. No, that isn’t out of the realm for Josh.
papar bag hawk
April 4th, 2011
12:09 pm
True, but JC2 is a microcosm of a greater ill of the Hawks. Terrible personnel decisions. He is the latest incarnation. Inefficient, but again what is to be expected of a rookie, who in essence just started his NBA career a month and a half ago due to a coach who apparently can’t include developing players as part of the resume? We have players on our team now who go 8 for 22 shooting a bunch of jumps shots at a much more expensive price.
Dawglasville
April 4th, 2011
12:09 pm
Yes. I was a huge Josh fan because of the upside. Now I believe we have seen his best and it is not good enough. He doesn’t want to bang. Remember all of the offensive rebounds Nique use to get? He wants no part of the paint. If he had Horford’s brain and heart he would be Rodman or better. He is a coach and fan killer but so is Joe, Marvin…
juice sourcer
April 4th, 2011
12:15 pm
The Hawks really do suck as an organization. After reading this you realize they have no shot…..they are stuck and have no way out.
Trojan
April 4th, 2011
12:18 pm
Who knows from an organization that drafted Pape Sy. The Hawks management is HORRIBLE!
Baddabing
April 4th, 2011
12:19 pm
Addition by subtraction, I say. As talented as Josh Smith is he kills the spirit of this team. When he plays smart with enthusiasm and energy he’s an All Star but that is infrequent. Most of the time he doesn’t hustle and you can see it brings the whole team down. When he’s shooting jump shots which seems to be almost every game now we lose, that’s not his strength or role on this team.
MistaGamer
April 4th, 2011
12:22 pm
As a writer wrote in a recent SI.com article. It will be a said day when the Hawks have no choice but to trade Josh because they massively overpaid for Joe and shipped his replacement and a 1st round pick off for Kirk Hinrich.
People, the problem has been, and always will be the GM/Ownership group for always being incompetent, always late, and always way too short.
If Rick Sund is not the #1 “Barney Fife” of NBA GMs he is surely 1b!
Veteran Fan
April 4th, 2011
12:28 pm
Trade Josh for Kevin Love. Then go with JJ and Zaza to the Nets for Lopez and their #1! Use both #1s to get Jimmer Fredette and resign Jamal! Front line is Lopez, Horford, and Love, rebounding, effort, and points galore! Good defense and excellent mid-range shooting! Backcourt Hinrich and Crawford with Teague and Jimmer off the bench! Marvin is there if other team goes small and Wilkins is there too! PLEASE break up the CORE!!!!
TomB
April 4th, 2011
12:29 pm
This organization is incompetent. They need new owners, a new GM and a new head coach. The moves by this GM and his bosses leave no room for hope. I’m starting to think the owner who balked on the J.Johnson hire was on to something.
O'Brien
April 4th, 2011
12:30 pm
Mark,
I am a big fan of Horford. But the problem with keeping him is he wants to play PF full time. But I think if Josh would be more disciplined and focused, he has the talent to be a better PF than Horford.
steeldawg
April 4th, 2011
12:31 pm
When Josh is out on the floor he plays the role of a #3 or #2 on offense. He is our power forward and he never comes close to the paint. Why can’t they run a pick an roll and get him moving towards the basket. Where are his low post moves, or offensive rebounding? The worst thing that happened was that he started hitting a couple of those silly 18 foot jumpers. Now he thinks he can hit an outside shot. Trade Josh and Marvin even if it is to clear money off the books. Pickup another center to play with ZAZA. Then move Al to the #4. Look at some of Al’s and his father’s comments. They dont want him stuck at center, and could look to move. Once, the Josh and Marvin money is off the books you can bring Dwight Howard home. Joe, Al, and Dwight would be the best “big three” in the league. Joe at the end of his career, might even agree to re-work his contract for that.
O'Brien
April 4th, 2011
12:33 pm
For those calling for Brook Lopez, dude is 7′0″, 265 lbs, and as their starting center, he only averages 6 rebs per game.
steeldawg (O'brien)
April 4th, 2011
12:37 pm
Josh has been here seven years and all we get is the undisciplined and not focused. You dont trade Al’s sixteen points and eleven boards. You know what you have every single night. Josh came to the Hawks as a teenager from Atlanta. A change of scenery would benefit both.
gomabman2
April 4th, 2011
12:43 pm
Mark, the question is, will Larry Drew be jettisoned? Wow…this guy is unbelievable. Never mind the fact that he didnt play Jordan Crawford, but he simply cant coach. There is something fishy about this hire. The guy blew the game in Houston by not rotating his big men, etc, etc. I’m sorry, but Woodson is a much better coach and this Spirit bunch should lower their pom poms and sell the team to someone who cares!
Joey
April 4th, 2011
12:46 pm
I read last summer that Joe Johnson’s contract would “kill” the franchise for 10 years. Tune back in 2021.
GTT
April 4th, 2011
12:48 pm
Do you still believe the Hawks HAD to re-sign Joe. They are painted into a corner, in that their easiest route to upgrade now is to trade Josh. Oh, and JC2’s performance since the trade is reason enough to fire Drew right this second.
CobbHawk
April 4th, 2011
12:50 pm
We need to move Josh Smith and find a viable option at center. We have been without a worthwhile center since Deke left, and that’s been a long damn time. I love Zaza’s spirit and fight, but he’s just too undersized. Al is a phenomenal player with great technical ability and skills, he really knows the game and knows how best to utilize his game (i.e. he doesn’t take long range jumpers every freaking time he gets the ball – yeah I’m looking at you Josh). However, Al is not a center – again, undersized to match up against the better centers in the league. And Collins is just a waste of space, honestly.
Our lack of a center means that we get hammered inside by everyone who plays us. We just don’t have the big man down low to make teams think twice about driving the lane. Nor do we have a guy who can bang down low to provide an offensive option to our current game of poorly chosen or forced outside jumpers.
So I say again: ship Josh for a viable big man. It must be done.
Mark Bradley
April 4th, 2011
12:51 pm
I thought not re-signing Joe Johnson would have been worse than re-signing him. But now I’m reconsidering.
Stuart
April 4th, 2011
12:56 pm
Mark,
Do you think New Jersey and the Russian billionaire would consider taking Joe’s contract? Possibly deal for Deron Williams in a sign and trade for him if he decides not to return with New Jersey?
CobbHawk
April 4th, 2011
12:58 pm
I’m also kind of upset about Larry Drew. It always upset me when I’d see Woody sitting on the bench seemingly just watching the game go by without any input. The guy looked too much like a spectator than a coach; no fire, little involvement in the game. Perhaps it’s just me; I’m the type of person who, if I was coaching, would be prowling the sideline the entire game, never sitting, and always yelling and trying to make adjustments, or at least being vocal in supporting the team even if I wasn’t trying to make adjustments.
It just seems to me like Drew is a carbon copy of Woody: chair-bound all the time, watching the game and never actively trying to get the team to do anything while the ball is in play. Maybe I’m wrong, but this is the impression I get from watching the televised games (I admit I have not been to a game in-person this year, so take these opinions with salt shaker in hand).
broken wing hawk
April 4th, 2011
12:59 pm
Still can remember when we drafted jc2 I was happy telling the boys how the hawks just nade a real good pick late in the draft its a shame we got these stupid owners and GM that would give all that away for captain kurt not sayin he is a bad player but we could’ve gave them less we got hustled
Zing
April 4th, 2011
12:59 pm
I know this is a fan blog, but c’mon, man, you really think we’d get Love for Josh? No freakin’ way. That’s about as likely as… JJ re-working his contract.
Did anybody notice what I thought was a really telling quote from JJ recently? When asked about Bibby buying out his own contract so that he could play with a winner, JJ said he “was surprised, but it’s not my business” or something like that. He was surprised that Bibby actually cared about winning as opposed to being all about the money, which is what JJ IS. All. About. The. Money. And he’s got it all, now.
Incidentally, guess who our 8/22 scoring lots of points guard is? JJ. At least Jordan C would have cost only about 1/50th as much for similar production.
phil
April 4th, 2011
1:00 pm
I agree with you again, Mark, but I reconsidered several months ago. We blew this one, badly….that’s nothing new with this team though…they rarely get it right…by right, I mean a team that can advance in the playoffs past round 2….wait, that means they never get it right….sorry.
Defensive intensity….offensive intelligence….strong coach….we have none of the three consistently….obvious to anyone with a brain.
Mark Bradley
April 4th, 2011
1:00 pm
I’m not sure any team could absorb Joe’s contract even if it wanted him desperately. There’s a cap, you know.
broken wing hawk
April 4th, 2011
1:01 pm
Niremetal name one hawk that ain’t putting up stupid shots? At least JC2 is putting up 20
Tee
April 4th, 2011
1:02 pm
Thanks so much for casting Jordan Crawford off to us in DC. Before trade, all I knew about Jordan Crawford was that he dunked on “the king” and lit the Wizards up for 30 points in pre-season. However, iI hadn’t just read your comments, I never would have realized that his defense was supposedly an issue. In DC, he’s been ball’ on both sides of the ball — making crucial steals, disrupting passing lanes, leading fast breaks, passing off on time and on target — and playing offense like Earl the Pearl reincarnate. He and John Wall work beautifully together, and Mo Williams brought us some much needed tough, aggressive vibes. Thanks again, Atlanta.
Mark Bradley
April 4th, 2011
1:05 pm
My thinking (at the time): If Joe Johnson left, it would have sent the message — to free agents and to the Atlanta audience — that the Hawks weren’t serious enough about winning to keep their best player.
Trouble is, he’s not their best player now.
steve brown
April 4th, 2011
1:07 pm
Niremetal-whatever drugs you are on please share-tell me the last time a Hawk guard (”who can see the court”) had 10 assists as Crawford had the other night during his triple double.
Joey
April 4th, 2011
1:08 pm
Dang, offer some other team to pay half of Joe’s salary. The Hawks would still come out ahead . . .
If you want to get sicker over this, check this out and look how many players are ahead of him that make less money – most a lot less.
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/scoring-per-game/sort/avgPoints/year/2011/seasontype/2
Joshua Barlowe
April 4th, 2011
1:09 pm
How about you CUT Joe Johnson and Marvin? They both big paid as big-time players but play very like average players. It’s a joke that JJ was an All-Star. He has talent but absolutely no FIRE whatsoever.
lkjdga
April 4th, 2011
1:11 pm
Josh will stay if the asg thinks they need a 6′10″ shooting guard that wants to hang at the perimeter and shoot 3’s
gomabman2
April 4th, 2011
1:13 pm
We should be careful what we ask for here! Remember, the dealings that have cost us in trades and drafts in the recent past. Calling for Josh to go is a great big mistake. Those who know and watch b’ball on a regular know that Josh is a beast while playing in the confines of the offense. Does he take a few too many outside jumpers? Maybe. But who doesnt shout when he nails one of those big rainmakers when the game is on the line? Compared to let’s say, Odom at 39%, JS shoots 32% from 3pt range. He’s developing his outside game. Of course we would like to see him at the post more often, this is a coaching issue more than a Josh issue. Hubie Brown said it best…you design plays to keep Josh down low allowing defenders to double down, freeing up the guards. Josh is a valuable piece and the focus should be on the management staff, not the players.
Walker, Texas Ranger
April 4th, 2011
1:17 pm
The Hawks are in the same trap they were 15 years ago. Good team with no possibility of getting better because they were maxed on contracts and they were drafting the 23 rd best player. They blew up the team, got back in the lottery then draft Marvin Williams instead of Chris Paul and Sheldon Williams instead of Luol Deng, along with about 4 other horrible picks. And now here we are with an above average team and no way of improving. Blow it up and lets start again.
WreckingBall
April 4th, 2011
1:20 pm
Jordan Crawford has become the BRETT FARVE of the Atlanta Hawks. Crawford was sitting on the end of the bench languishing similarly to what happened to former falcon and benchwarmer Brett Farve until Farve was traded away and became a star and a household name. The same thing has happened to Jordan Crawford. Jordan was at the end of the Hawks bench not getting any playing time at all, but he was skilled and talented and had the potential to be an elite player if given the chance. Now that Jordan has gotten his chance, he has made the most of it and is now one of the elite players in the game along with LaBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Norwinski. Jordan Crawford is now in their class as he has been discovered as an ALL-WORLD STAR by the Washington Wizzards. Too bad. The Hawks could have really used Jordan Crawford in the playoffs this year.
elroy
April 4th, 2011
1:21 pm
when will the AJC jettison Bradley & most of the other so called columnists? AJC needs to more than the hawks do w/ anyone on their roster.
Peter
April 4th, 2011
1:23 pm
Mark what you are telling is a tale of how poorly the Hawks are managed by owners, the folks in charge of player selection, and contracts.
Jordan Crawford, apparently didn’t fit in with our dribble style of offense, where everyone takes a jump shot and that is about it.
We still don’t have a legit point for the future, or a center, and that has been the case for how many years ?
Marvin is not on the court a crunch time, and neither is Teague…..but hey JJ can dribble the clock out throw up a prayer, and say he doesn’t care if Hawk fans want to come see the awful basketball they play.
They are still too small to be contenders, and the coach, well somebody on the roster may listen to him someday ?
Things will get much worse for the organization, until it is finally sold !
Walker, Texas Ranger
April 4th, 2011
1:24 pm
Smith will never be any better than he is today because you can’t teach him to shoot and he will always think he can shoot 3’s. He needs to have his arse on the blocks and pass when ge gets more than 10 ft. from the baseket. Dominique was the same way the only difference, Dominique could score at will inside but he always thought he could shoot a 3.
dave
April 4th, 2011
1:24 pm
don’t trade him. .. just tell him to stop with the stupid fall away, long range jumpers. go low post,drive to the hoop, then dunk it or pass it to a real jump shooter. Trading Josh would weaken the defense more than it would help the offense. We need to keep the blocks and the steals
Time
April 4th, 2011
1:25 pm
Bradley needs to be jettisoned.
Joe is the one that needs to go. Shouldn’t have ever resigned him. But now that we have, we need to look to New Jersey or New York or one of these other teams that freed up cash for FA’s this past offseason and deal him away for a bag of chips.
And enough with the stupid Atlanta fans ripping Josh for shooting 3’s. Ok he does shoot some bad ones on occassion. But the vast majority of his 3’s come after Joe has pounded the ball into the court for 20 seconds with the rest of the team standing around doing nothing and Josh ends up with the ball with time running out on the shot clock.
Walker, Texas Ranger
April 4th, 2011
1:29 pm
WreckingBall, the difference was Favre was a drunk rookie while he was suppose to be learning. He would have never started his 1st year but had his eyes opened when he was traded where Crawford was drafted to take JJ place when he became a free agent and the rest is ancient history. I remember a guy going to Phoenix at the 2 and doing pretty good there as well.
JewelNelson
April 4th, 2011
1:29 pm
The same thing that just happened to Jordan Crawford will soon happen to Jeff Teague if Teague is continually allowed to just sit, rust and not play in the games at all. Teague is a phenominal talent and just needs the right coach who can recognize teagues talent and extract and showcase it for the world to see. Larry Drew will never see teagues talent becasue drew doesnt believe in teague. You can tell a coaches belief in a player by the number of minutes the player is getting on the floor. Teague is currently getting zero minutes so that translates to me that larry drew is absolutely no belief in teague whatsoever. Teague will eventually get traded away and will become virtually as good as Nate “Tiny” Archibald a hall of fame point guard who played with the Celtics in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Teague will be just as good because Teague can shoot the basketball and he is LIGHTNING QUICK a foot as far as his speed is concerned.
D in ATL
April 4th, 2011
1:29 pm
This is what happens when you give head coaches short term contracts. No commitment to a coach from ownership leads to short term decision making. Thus, why would a coach take his lumps early in the season with young players? First, Jeff Teague and now Jordan Crawford, who was never given a chance and now has his (immense) talent on display with Washington. We never had the chance to evaluate his scoring ability, if he fits in with our team, or even if he would have made Jamal Crawford expendable this season (in the last year of his contract) for other upgrades. It makes you sick to watch this ownership and GM consistently “yuck” it up with their pitiful decision making. Why do I pull for these guys? Oh, because they wear “ATL” on their jerseys. Believe me that is the ONLY reason!
JeJe
April 4th, 2011
1:31 pm
MB, you’ve always said you’re not an LD fan, but now you think it’s more on the players
I’TS BOTH
FIRE LD
black bee
April 4th, 2011
1:32 pm
JOSH IS NOT THE PROBLEM IT IS MANAGEMENT and OWNERSHIP!!!!!
JSS
April 4th, 2011
1:32 pm
Kinda hard to catch a “Concorde” since they been out of service since 2003… It was a funny joke. Got any Apollo jokes?
Kareem's mom
April 4th, 2011
1:33 pm
hE’S THE ULTIMATE HEAD CASE. mAY BE SURPRISED THAT THERE’S NOT MUCH OF A MARKET FOR SOMEONE WHO CONTINUALLY TAKES ILL ADVISED SHOTS OUT OF HIS RANGE, WON’T LISTEN TO COACHES AND NOT MUCH OF A TEAMMATE
Falcfan
April 4th, 2011
1:34 pm
I’ll add to what Glenn said….we won that game against Boston because Zaza did the blue collar work to get it done….and he wasn’t pulling up from long distance and firing erratic jumpers….he just did the job. why in the world can’t smoov understand he hurts the team when he’s outside shooting jumpers? What is so difficult to understand????? Get down low like Zaza did and do the dirty work for goodness sake!!!!!!! QUIT TAKING JUMPERS SMOOV!!!!!! PLEASE
W/E
April 4th, 2011
1:34 pm
We don’t beat Orlando 3/4 times this year without Josh, he’s the one matchup that they have no one to account for. I get the logic of the article, but the only way I’d trade Josh is for a top-flight pg…which would work better if we still had a 1st round pick to package with him. I actually like Hinrich, but giving up Crawford and a first-round pick was waaay over Hinrich’s value. Resigning Jamal this summer would be fatal for this franchise seeing as that would give us to 30+ year-lod SG’s with 10 mil+ contracts. That Boston game was the only good one he’s had in a month…use the 10 mil we’d spend on Jamal on a young guard who can score…like JR Smith, but we all know Atlanta Spirit isn’t smart enough to do that.
James
April 4th, 2011
1:36 pm
Joe Johnson needs to be traded even if the Hawks have to pay have of his contract he needs to go and they need to re-sign Jamal Crawford.