The Atlanta Hawks: Probably the Most Heartless Team in the NBA.
The Atlanta Hawks need to be disbanded, first let me say I am an Orlando Magic fan, but I hate seeing horrible basketball even when my team is benefitting from it. The Hawks are down 0 – 3 to the Magic in their best of seven playoff series, and they have lost all three games by a total of 87 points. That is almost unheard of especially in the second round of the playoffs, and it is not because the Hawks are not talented either.
I have never really believed in the “team chemistry” factor, except when it comes to issues in the locker room or off field distractions. In the Hawks case their locker room seems to be fairly cohesive, but they still have these games where the team just lacks energy or focus. Of course people will point to coaching, but I would hesitate to do that they are the third seed in the Eastern conference. The Hawks are also tied for the second best home record in the NBA this season, so the coaching has been at least decent.
So, if the problem is not coaching or locker room issues, why are the Hawks playing so poorly in the playoffs? It is actually easy to see, most will point to youth, but the Hawks are near the middle of the pack in average age compared to the rest of the NBA. Age is not the problem, maybe a little bit of maturity, but definitely not age.
The problem is the team’s configuration of players is conducive to these types of performances, and it all starts with Joe Johnson. When Johnson left Phoenix the Hawks thought they were getting a top tier star in the making, but if you look at the overall body of work Joe Johnson is not on the tier with the likes of Wade, Lebron, and Kobe. Johnson is on that tier underneath those upper echelon players, and the fact that he is going into free agency looking for a Max contract is interesting.
Typically stars who demand that type of money are capable of lifting a team on their own almost in spite of the players around them. Dwayne Wade has less to work with than just about anybody in the NBA, but he gets that team to the playoffs and wills them to wins on his own when he gets there. Joe Johnson is surrounded by talent, but he disappears for long stretches of games, and he does not seem to be a leader in the locker room.
Josh Smith is the other problem for all the athletic talent and ability Smith has, he is not a leader and he takes plays off during the game. Then you have two contrasting styles between Smith and Johnson, and the team switches identity between those two players which leaves them looking for consistency. You can’t build a team around Smith and you can’t build a team around Johnson, and the Hawks have built a team around both of them.
They need to jettison Smith and let Johnson go in free agency, and build the team around Al Horford. I know Horford is not what you would consider a star in the NBA, but he plays hard and has been one of the only player s on the Hawks who seem to be giving 48 minutes worth of effort. Marvin Williams is an okay player, but not worthy of his draft position. They need to rebuild the core of this team starting with Horford and Jamal Crawford, Bibby is getting up there in age so he can leave with Smith and Johnson.
Ultimately the Magic are going to knock the Hawks out of the playoffs, if their effort in the previous three games are any indication of how game four will go then the Magic are 48 minutes from the Eastern Conference Finals. The Hawks on the other hand have a long off season ahead of them and some tough decisions to make, but at the minimum either Smith or Johnson need to go if both of them are not sent packing.
