The Hawks had a great chance. Being the Hawks, they blew it
Yet again, the Hawks' reach exceeded their collective grasp. More's the pity. (AP photo)
For all the lip service that will be paid to the Hawks’ perseverance through injury and their rousing efforts in Games 5 and 6, let’s call this what it was: a massive missed opportunity. These NBA playoffs weren’t 34 hours old when the team that has never reached the Eastern Conference finals had been graced with two strokes of fortune: Derrick Rose hurt his knee and Rajon Rondo misplaced his marbles.
With Rondo suspended for Game 2, the Atlanta Hawks were staring at the likelihood of a 2-0 lead with the reality of either a weakened No. 1 seed or, better still, an unimpressive No. 8 awaiting in Round 2. Being the Hawks, they tossed their gifts in the trash can. They lost Game 2 here after leading by 11 points with 15 minutes left. They were outscored 18-15 the rest of the way by the 34-year-old Paul Pierce.
This series was lost in Game 2. In NBA history, teams taking a 2-0 lead have won the series more than 94 percent of the time — odds even the schizo Hawks would have been hard-pressed to defy. And, even though we didn’t know it at the time, the Hawks were about to become an oddity in these debilitating playoffs: They would get key guys back. Josh Smith reappeared in Game 4 after missing Game 3, and Al Horford, out since Jan. 11, was alongside. (Had the Hawks advanced to Round 2, Zaza Pachulia might also have been available.)
Add it up: Home-court advantage in the series; Rondo suspended for Game 2; the All-Star Horford making an unbilled return. And what happened? They were eliminated in Round 1 for the first time since 2008, beaten for the first time this century in a series in which they held the home-court edge.
Given their injuries, the temptation is to give the Hawks a pass and say, “Better luck next time.” But every team lost players in this overstuffed regular season — Rose worked only 39 games; Dwight Howard was done by Easter; the Celtics spent the last couple of weeks resting their Big Four — and the Hawks hit the playoffs in a strong position that should have grown only stronger. As Smith said after Game 6: “The road was paved for us, probably as good as it’s ever going to get.”
But they lost in Round 1 because, for all the advances made these past five years, this team hasn’t become anything more than a talented tease. The Core Four — Smith, Horford, Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams — has been in place since 2007, and what we’ve seen the past two seasons suggests that the days of diminishing returns are at hand.
The Hawks’ winning percentage in their final two seasons under Mike Woodson was .610. Their winning percentage in two seasons under Larry Drew, the Woodson assistant promoted to tap untapped resources, is .568. Johnson hasn’t been the same player under Drew, and the Hawks haven’t found a workable mesh to replace the Iso-Joes.
On the key possession of Game 6, the Hawks found themselves with nobody but Smith inside the 3-point arc with seven seconds on the shot clock. The play had been designed for Johnson, but he wasn’t open and nobody else knew what to do. “We didn’t execute the play,” Drew said Friday. “Guys did not go to the right spots.”
Smith hoisted a 20-footer that had no chance. Watch the tape and you’ll see Horford raise his arms after the Celtics rebounded as if to say: “What was that?” It remains a question asked far too often of these Hawks.
“I was upset,” Horford said, speaking Friday morning. “I thought it was a really tough shot.”
He wasn’t blaming Smith — “We’ve seen Josh make tough shots” — so much as he was the breakdown. But that, alas, is what the Hawks have come to do: They draw within sight of a summit, and then they break down.
Too much scar tissue has formed among the Core Four. Drew isn’t a terrible coach, but he hasn’t been able to break this team of its bad habits: When in doubt, look to Joe; when Joe’s not open, hoist a jumper. (And Johnson isn’t even the Hawks’ best player anymore. Smith is.)
I wish I could tell you I see better days ahead, but I see a coach who hasn’t been able to do all he proposed to do. I see a Core Four already already past its collective prime. I see addled ownership and a caretaker general manager, and I see no reason to believe this management won’t be content to keep banking on a team that has already written a lengthy legacy of disappointment, this latest installment being the most galling.
“We thought it was a great opportunity for us,” Smith said Friday, and it was. The Hawks could have been preparing Friday for a Game 7 or, better still, a Game 1 against the eighth-seeded Sixers. Instead they stuffed some sneakers and basketballs in plastic bags and went home for the summer.
By Mark Bradley
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231 comments Add your comment
Ted
May 13th, 2012
9:40 am
The Hawks got exactly what they deserved. Josh Smith is overrated.
tom
May 13th, 2012
12:27 pm
The Hawks have a monkey on their backs. The Celtics. Braves have the Phillies. Until these two teams can hold their own against these teams they will never get past the first round or event the second if they face these teams.
Fats
May 13th, 2012
5:49 pm
Gots to agree with Bradley………………..We had everything lined up to go far and we dont go to war until it was late in the series. We need a Larry Bird mentality going into to playoffs, but we go in like the playoffs are just another game
Pacers anyone?
May 13th, 2012
6:19 pm
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!
Disgusted
May 13th, 2012
7:52 pm
I cannor fel sorry for the ownership for sure.
Hard to root for this team with this ownership–Go Celtics.
DawgNole
May 13th, 2012
8:35 pm
Rickster
May 11th, 2012
12:11 pm
Why should we have expected any thing different from an Atlanta sports team?
______________________
We shouldn’t have.
DawgNole
May 13th, 2012
9:02 pm
Justin
May 11th, 2012
1:15 pm
Ok Mark, the Hawks came within inches of winning in Boston in a game in which the Celtics were treating it as an elimination game. Garnett scored 28 and had 14 rebounds to cap a series in which Zaza Pachulia didn’t even play. Not to mention the very questionable officiating throughout the game and especially in the last minute. And all we get is “same old Hawks.” Did you see the Hawks ever play to this level on the road in the playoffs against a quality opponent? Have they ever fought like this in an elimination game? Al Horford’s ft was half-way down and popped out. It goes in, and maybe we’re talking about resilient this team is. I really don’t see how you can judge the whole season when it’s pretty obvious that Al Horford makes an enormous difference for the Hawks, and in this particular series Zaza would likely have made a big impact.
______________________
“came within inches of winning”
“very questionable officiating”
“ft was half-way down and popped out”
“It goes in, and maybe we’re talking about resilient this team is.”
“would likely have made an impact”
See a pattern here? Your classic, delusional, happy-with-mediocrity Hawks fan. Who of course fails to mention that this failure hasn’t characterized only one playoff series. Rather, it’s continued to happen for 44 long, miserable, unsuccessful years.
Happy, happy, happy!
JASon
May 13th, 2012
9:02 pm
Atlanta sports =
-coaches with no vision
-players with no mental toughness
Chuck UGA
May 13th, 2012
9:30 pm
Glad the AJC staff didn’t try and sugar-coat it. The Hawks organization sucks. That’s why no one outside downtown bothers to attend games. If the organization and ownership were serious and showed it by their actions, then maybe some of us suburban guys would attend games. Problem is, we won’t because we don’t believe in the organization. The attitude is play not to lose rather than “let’s fix this with a REAL coach and a better bench and go out and win something.” Instead, it’s about the money and ROI of owning an NBA franchise and continual “folling” of the locals who waste their time supporting this mess. This is about money and time, and I can’t afford to waste either. See ‘ya next year….not.
Chuck UGA
May 13th, 2012
9:31 pm
Meant to spell FOOLING, not folling.
DawgNole
May 13th, 2012
10:00 pm
W.R. Terrell
May 11th, 2012
1:47 pm
For what it’s worth the HAWKS finished 16 games above 500, LD managed to hold this frail egoed team somewhat together and they were the best they will ever be. Time to count ones blessings and move forward.
_______________________
Can you help me understand how it’s a blessing to know that your team has again ended its season in failure–for 44 straight years now?
JSS
May 14th, 2012
5:35 am
“Can you help me understand how it’s a blessing to know that your team has again ended its season in failure–for 44 straight years now?”
Go ask the Falcons, they can answer it for ya!
Whiskey Breath
May 14th, 2012
8:44 am
Mark, is this article really you? I haven’t seen an article this good from the AJC in about 10 years.
That was when the old Mark Bradley wrote, and there wasn’t a AJC writer that could touch that guy.
I thought that guy died. The Mark Bradley today wouldn’t have a clue and would clear every article with second rate Jeff. I am totally confused.
willSmith
May 14th, 2012
10:33 am
I’ll believe the Hawks owners are serious when they suck it up a use their salary cap exception on Joe Johnson, I think Joe is a class act but his relationship with the city and Hawks fans is toxic – he needs a change and so do we. With Joe gone I do believe Josh Smith can blossom into a star (as long as we remember he will always do something not quite bright every now and again).
CamiloAtlanta
May 14th, 2012
12:26 pm
A team so lousy not even worth commenting on. But I guess lousy is a comment. I’ve perplexed myself. The article is worth commenting on: good job. Now if only we could light torches and chase the owner(s) out of town. But the ATL lost it’s pride when they traded the pride of UGA. Hawks are cursed man.
DawgNole
May 14th, 2012
1:05 pm
229Bravesfan
May 11th, 2012
3:48 pm
Is anybody really suprised???
____________________
Yes, surprisingly. Many dolts on here STILL don’t get it after 44 years of the same ol’ crap.
tyger
May 14th, 2012
1:36 pm
Josh Smith trade options:
He wants a major city and MAX contract…
He wants to play with Superboy…
He wants publicity…
Sounds alot like Brooklyn to me…
I wouldnt worry so much about the market…
If the LA/NO/HOU fiasco taught us anything…
It is that “Ole’ NBA Magic” is all powerful…
And if the Grand Wizard wants it, he gets it…
So, if Stern blesses Superboy/Smoove to NJ…
They will get a Top 5 pick…and whatever else…
They need to make it happen…
I wouldnt even worry about straight up trades…
They’ll just throw names, teams, picks, in a hat…
And work it out on the back-end…
So, dont be surprised if its a 4 team/12 player deal…
Gen. Ashley Beauregard
May 14th, 2012
1:53 pm
Unfortunately, the Hawk’s last chance for being deemed a team worthy of EVER winning a NBA title went down the drain when the courts ruled Julius Erving had to be a Kentucky Colonel. It all falls in line with the Sherman thing and how the people in New York decide who has the chances to win anything, and who gets burned to the ground. As far as sports and war goes, Atlanta is a nice place to visit, and see the Phoenix rise from the ashes in the rear-view mirror.
im a jump shooter
May 14th, 2012
2:12 pm
too many years..too many stupid plays…no self awareness..and decent fans that are done…sell the hawks and bring back the thrashers..
Go Spurs!!
DawgNole
May 14th, 2012
2:19 pm
georgedawg
May 11th, 2012
2:47 pm
The AJC is blowing it keeping you and Schultz. Your negativety and second guessing is pathetic. Thats why subscriptions are tanking. It’s just old and boring!! Wise up AJC we need fresh opinions.
________________________
Can’t believe nimrods like georgedawg blame the AJC for the ineptness of ATL’s teams. Bradley and Shultz are paid to write their OPINIONS, dumbazz, and it’s pretty obvious that they haven’t had much positive to write about for as long as they’ve been covering the pro teams in this city. I can assure you that they’d much rather cover successful franchises than these losers. It’s a lot more fun to write about a winner.
DawgNole
May 14th, 2012
2:41 pm
LoyalDawg
May 11th, 2012
5:19 pm
Did anyone expect a different result??????
____________________
Yup. See my post (above) at 1:05 p.m.
DawgNole
May 14th, 2012
2:44 pm
kbatuc
May 11th, 2012
7:51 pm
This is far better than 2006. Five years in a row of the playoffs is not bad and this is coming from someone who wants a banner more than anyone.
_____________________
BS.
“Someone who wants a banner more than anyone” says 5 years w/o one is “not bad”? What is bad then? How bout 44 years w/o one? Is that bad?
KevinM
May 14th, 2012
4:08 pm
Reading that 5 years in the playoffs is not bad reminded me how great of a time we had while the Braves had almost every playoff opponent clinch a playoff series on the home field.
For the ASG, it shows you get what you pay for, and when you go cheap with your management staff, you get leftovers on your roster. Someone tell me one guy on our bench that is going to be coveted this year. Ivan Johnson perhaps gets interest from a couple of teams, but those teams are replacing players that didn’t get them to the ECF either.
Our team has a way of shrugging things off and just going about their business. The reason we don’t win is because it doesn’t hurt enough.
Does anyone think that other than Josh that they saw improvement in anyone’s game? Teague? Joe? Al? Marvin?
I saw growth in Josh’s game, but he is the one that is coming up for a new contract the soonest, isn’t he?
What’s sad is that Sund will be back if Sund wants to come back and Drew will be back because he had a winning record. The expectations of the ASG truly aren’t high enough. That’s why no one is responding to the end of their season. They’re completely satisfied.
DawgNole
May 14th, 2012
4:58 pm
loserville
May 11th, 2012
8:54 pm
1 fluke title since 1966 — all the rest of the years—choke. it never ends in this miserable city. I may move back to california next year if the economy is better.
_____________________
More BS. Last time you posted this promise (on another blog), you were going move back to NY.
DawgNole
May 14th, 2012
7:29 pm
JSS
May 14th, 2012
5:35 am
“Can you help me understand how it’s a blessing to know that your team has again ended its season in failure–for 44 straight years now?”
Go ask the Falcons, they can answer it for ya!
________________________
You’re right; it’s been even longer for them.
DawgNole
May 14th, 2012
7:30 pm
Excellent perspective on your 4:08 pm post, KevinM.
G©
May 15th, 2012
8:47 am
The source of the Hawks problems start from the top. The Spirit should either sell or place the majority with Gearon or an owner that gives a flick.
President of player operations. Hawks needs a strong basketball mind that will be the architect and marketing force for the franchise. This is what will help bring better players here. This is absent from the organization.
GM. You get what you pay for. Rick Sund is not as bad as his predecessor, but how do you make sense of offering Joe Johnson that “Kobe contract”? Tier 1 money does not make a Tier 2 player……a Tier 1 player. Rick Sund has handcuffed the franchise with that move for the next 5 years, and because of that, he should go.
Coach. You get what you pay for. Larry Drew has done a good job based on what he has to work with between GM and players. However, Woodson should still be coach. Unless you can improve by getting rid of the coach, you might as well keep who you have until you can do better.
Players. They are as good as they’re going to be. Too many gaps on the roster that is beyond their control. With Josh Smith and Al Horford being your best players, and Joe Johnson being your highest paid, the future looks bleek. The roster will improve as the ownership and brass improve. You get what you pay for.
Good luck.
KevinM
May 15th, 2012
9:58 am
I was trying to envision our lineup had this happened…found this on Hawks.com….
“Sources have stated that the Hawks have already attempted this trade and talks were serious, but Orlando backed out because they didn’t want to send him to a divisional foe. The trade was going to be Joe, Teague, and picks for D12 and Turkalou.”
So our backcourt would have consisted of Marvin and Kirk? What a disaster that would look like today….talk about the inmates running the asylum.
MikeyH
May 15th, 2012
1:49 pm
@KevinM,
I am not so sure of that trade, any trade with Orlando would have to include either Josh or Al. Not certain totally of NBA cap rules, but another player from Atlanta would have to be included to balance that deal out too. Not sure Al was even tradeable this year, there used to be a rule about baseyear compensation and a guy not being able to be traded immediately after receviing a huge bump in salary like Al just got, from like 4 or 5 million to 12 million. I wander if Atlanta cant get another trade with Orlando going this summer. Maybe Al, Zaza, Marvin and draft picks for D12 and Turkgolu.
That deal would give them Horford, an all star caliber player, Zaza, a decent center and Marvin though a bad deal, isnt as bad as the Turkoglu so we take there worse contract. Throw in a couple of draft picks or it might take Teague to get the deal done, especially if Jameer Nelson opts out, they might want Teague, but then we have no pg.
tyger
May 15th, 2012
2:32 pm
Hawk Maxims:
Hawks were sold (almost) 3 times in 6 years…
Hawks had 2 GM/ 2 HC in 6 years…
Hawks made playoffs in 4 of 6 years…
Hawks made 2nd rd. playoffs 3 yrs consecutive…
Hawks best player asking for trade 2 yrs consecutive…
Hawks best player has expiring $12M contract…
Hawks most expensive player $21M per underperforming…
Hawks most expensive player 30+ yrs old…
Hawks most expensive player is 3x Allstar/ 1x Olympian…
Hawks HC regular season winning % is .571%…
Hawks HC playoff winning % is .471%…
Hawks HC 2nd season injury-marred…yet successful…
Hawks GM contract expires in one month…
Hawks GM drafted Teague/Jordan Crawford…
Hawks GM re-signed JJohnson, JSmith, MWilliams…
Hawks GM traded Bibby/Crawford for Hinrich/Armstrong…
Hawks GM traded 2nd rd. pick for cash…
tyger
May 15th, 2012
6:30 pm
PG Playoff Efficiency – as of May 15, 2012
Name PPG Eff
Rondo 15.0 +24.7
Paul 20.4 +23.4
Westbrook 23.2 +22.8
Parker 23.2 +20.3
Lawson 19.0 +19.0
Wade 22.3 +18.7
Holiday 16.9 +17.0
Kidd 11.5 +17.0
Conley 14.1 +15.7
Nelson 15.6 +15.2
Teague 14.0 +14.3
Chalmers 10.5 +12.8
Collison 9.0 +12.8
Sessions 10.5 +8.8
Harris 13.0 +8.3