Atlanta Hawks 2010-2011 preview
Shamefully the Atlanta Hawks quit on their coach in the play-offs last season. They barely got past a weakened Milwaukee Bucks team in seven games in the first round and then suffered humiliating four-game sweep against the Orlando Magic.
The Hawks won 53 games last season and should be around that mark again considering they’ve kept the same team together. That doesn’t bode well for the play-offs given what happened last year, leaving their shortfalls, well, still short.
Add the fact that the Hawks didn’t have any injuries last year, something that is unlikely to happen again this season, and it looks like the Hawks are only aiming for the second round again.
Part of last season’s success was down to Josh Smith finally realising he can’t shoot three-pointers and making better use of possessions. He shot over 50 per cent for the first time in his career and grabbed a career high 8.8 rebounds per game, whilst playing in 81 games.
The Hawks might have shot themselves in the foot when they maxed out Joe Johnson, giving him a $123.7million six-year contract. Given that he’s already 29, not actually an NBA superstar and only likely to decline in ability it could turn out pretty badly for Atlanta.
Off-season moves
The Hawks decided to let Mike Woodson leave at the end of the season after he seemingly lost the dressing room in the play-offs. Their answer was to hire his assistant Larry Drew, a surprising move given the reported interest in the Dallas Mavericks’ assistant Dwane Casey. Maybe they didn’t have enough money to hire a high profile coach after giving $120million to Johnson.
Johnson he was the Hawks’ biggest off-season move, and that crazy contract was probably the worst move they could have made. That contract now handicaps the franchise, stopping them from building around a good young core of talent. If Johnson goes into a rapid decline the Hawks could be crippled for the next 10 years.
They signed-and-traded Josh Childress to Phoenix for a second-round pick also getting a $3.6million trade exception from the Suns. Etan Thomas was added as a third centre and they added former Laker Josh Powell to the veterans minimum.
Prediction
If the Hawks manage to avoid injuries again this season, +50 wins is an attainable target. However, injuries surely will hit at some point and with a new manager at the helm a sub-50 win season is the more probable outcome.
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