For the first time probably since the Dominique Wilkins-Danny Manning trade, the Hawks are coming off two consecutive playoffs seasons. After years and years of adding young talent, it finally looks like some of those players are panning out and turning the Hawks into a perennial playoff contender. But now comes the hard part, where the Hawks have to go from just being in the playoffs to being a threat to actually win in the playoffs.
Actually Atlanta made a lot of progress this year, actually getting home court and winning their first series. And their talent level isn't that far off from some of the other contenders, but their play is. They need a lot of development from their core players and to make some smart moves this off-season. If they do the following, they should be able to make another jump next year:
1) Josh Smith needs to become a power forward. Smith has the athletic ability to compete at the 3, but I guarantee you every Atlanta opponent starts smiling when he tries to play like one. Sure he can knock down some shots, but does he really scare you when he settles for jumpers? Nothing pisses you off when you watch the Hawks more than the teases of star talent Smith displays when he aggressively attacks sprinkled in between slow isolations and jump shots without even one dribble. Smith needs to take a serious look in the mirror this summer and finally realize that if the ball comes to rest on offense in his hands, something went terribly wrong. The ball needs to be in the hands of Atlanta's guards until they want Smith to do something with it. Smith's game needs to be predicated on aggression, and the jumpshots should only be a counter when teams start to sag and take away the paint. I'm not putting all of the blame on him though. Both the guards and coaching staff need to do a better job of putting Smith in positions to succeed. If I had to guess, I would imagine this is what Smith and Woodson are always fighting about, so it's not that Woodson isn't trying. He isn't succeeding though, and it shows the deeper you get into the playoffs. Whoever is working out with Smith this summer needs to take the ball out of his hands and just teach him how to play off of a pick and roll. Everyone in the Hawks' organization would be much happier if he could do that. Probably won't happen, but Atlanta needs it to make the jump.
2) Define the guard's roles. The Hawks just picked up Jamal Crawford for practically nothing, which is great from a talent standpoint but not necessarily from a chemistry point of view. Crawford has a terrible reputation of being selfish which I don't entirely agree with, but he does take a lot of bad shots. I've always thought that Crawford's bigger problem is that he doesn't have a high basketball IQ and often tries too hard to do what the coach wants instead of taking what the defense gives him. Larry Brown used to say similar things about Crawford, and I don't think Brown is very fond of players who are as selfish as Crawford's reputation suggests. That being said, after this many years Crawford needs a clear directive that he shouldn't be shooting every time down. I would imagine that Crawford and Johnson will share ball handling duties early on, which is dangerous because Crawford will alternate between being too aggressive and too passive. Now that you've traded for him, you have to live with him. And the only way to live with Crawford is to tell him he's the point or tell him he's the 2. He can't play in between. If you see Crawford as your point, pick up the pace and be prepared for some great plays and some headache inducing turnovers. If you aren't sure, tell Crawford to learn how to catch and shoot (amazingly, when he was with the Bulls Crawford said he never learned how to do that. I guess it's not that amazing if you aren't a fan, but I think it's incredible NBA level talent skipped over such a fundamental thing). Jeff Teague is a pretty good pick up considering where they drafted, but he probably isn't ready to step in and play big minutes just yet. He needs to understand what he's doing as soon as possible though, because they will need him this year. Atlanta is thin in the backcourt unless they improbably bring back Mike Bibby.
3) Turn Marvin Williams into a point forward. Marvin Williams is a huge talent and a mismatch against most 3s. Williams is also content scoring 15 instead of trying to destroy his opponent every time out. The Hawks need to tell Williams that he is going to have the ball in his hands early and often, and is responsible for getting into the lane to get everyone else going. Where Williams is lacking in terms of a killer instinct, Atlanta needs to force feed him. He needs to go into the season expecting and demanding the ball consistently, which is a big adjustment for him personality-wise. But the Hawks need another ball handler who can cause mismatches other than Johnson, and it won't be Crawford consistently and you don't want Smith to audition for that role. It has to be Williams for this team to threaten Cleveland and Orlando.
4) Re-sign Zaza Pachulia and try to steal another big man. Unlike most teams who are just making the playoffs but trying to make the jump to contender, the Hawks already have the versatility to play a lot of different ways. They can play Johnson, Williams, and Smith at the 2-3-4, they can play Johnson at the 3 with either Smith or Williams at the 4, or they can play Al Horford at the 4 and match up with some of the bigger lineups around the League. But they need a big who can give them the flexibility to pull off all of these different combinations. They need a 5 who can step away from the basket and give Johnson or Williams room to post up a small wing. They also need a big who can bang down low and compete with Dwight Howard, Kendrick Perkins and Shaq. Pachulia did a pretty good job last year and I don't think they should let him go for free. But they need another big to add to this rotation. Maybe this would be a good home for the Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat.
Atlanta has some serious mental question marks with Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Jamal Crawford, but they also have some serious talent too. This is the wrong time for them to be satisfied with their small steps toward contending. They need Mike Woodson and the front office to step up now and make some of these changes I recommended, or they need them to step out of the way before it's too late.
No comments:
Post a Comment