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Atlanta Hawks

rbstern

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The Hen that laid the Golden Legos
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For the TLDNR crowd, skip to the bolded part at the bottom.

I know there aren't a lot of pro basketball fans on ODT, but something special may be happening to an Atlanta sports franchise that only happens to a small market pro sports teams once every few decades.

Been watching the Hawks off and on for more almost thirty years, and regularly for the last ten years. They scuffled along under indifferent ownership for a long time. Then, they made a move to put some more aggressive management in place in 2012. That quickly blew up in an early episode cancel-culture/woke scandal (Danny Ferry firing), setting the franchise back again.

New ownership came in 2015. By 2017, they were in full rebuild mode. In 2018, they made an interesting draft day trade that landed them Trae Young. He was a controversial pick because of his small stature. But the Hawks set about building a team around him. The team was getting better over the first three years of Young's career. 2020 was a mess for everyone because of COVID, but for 2021, the Hawks went out and spent money on complimentary free agents to build a deep supporting cast for Young. Expecations were going up. And the team underperformed badly.

Halfway through the 2021 season, the coach, Lloyd Pierce, is fired. Everyone is wondering if this is another mediocre era for the Hawks.

One of the assistent coaches, Nate McMillan, a former head coach with a lot of experience, takes over as interim head coach.

The Hawks do a 180, going from out of the playoff picture, to posting the best win-loss record in the NBA for the remaining games of the season. They become the best 4th quarter team in the NBA. Doing all of this with two of their original five starters out due to injury, gaining themselves the 5th playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, playing the Knicks in the first round.

They kick the crap out of the tough-talking Knicks, winning a best-of-seven in five games.. Trae Young, in his first NBA playoff series, shows he thrives on the big stage. He's not intimidated by playing in front of a big, national TV audience at Madison Square Garden in NYC, with many people in the basketball world rooting for the resurgent Knicks franchise. He's getting heckled, and he's feeding off it.

It's one thing for an athelete to compete well in a pro sports arena. It's entirely another when that same athlete demostrates they play even better in big pressure situations. Stars who can play better in the biggest games are very rare.

Fast forward to the next series against the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. The Hawks are leading the series 3 games to 2, after being down (and written off) at 2 games to 1. In the last two games, the Hawks have come back from trailing by 18 points (game 4) and 26 points (game 5). They absolutely do not quit.

For perspective: The Hawks had nobody on the all-star roster this year. No players got MVP consideration. No all-NBA defensive team selections. The 76er's are loaded, including Joel Embid, an MVP candidate big man who is easily a top 5 player in the league.

Once again, Trae Young, in front a famously hostile Philly crowd, is working miracles. He's so disruptive on the court, it's hard to gameplan for him. He figures out how to beat what the other team is doing. He's an other-worldly passer, so his teamates are involved and look great. He's got unlimited three point shooting range. As an opposing play-by-play announcer put it: "When Trae Young steps through the arena door, he's in range". It's incredibly fun to watch.

The Hawks, in general, remain humble, don't engage in the wokeness crap, and just seem to focus on baketball.

I don't know what the outcome will be. It's entirely possible the 76ers come back and win this series in 7 games, blowing out the Hawks the next two games. They certainly have enough talent for that. Meantime, the Hawks have exceed expectations.

Game 6 is Friday evening at State Farm. Tune in. If the stars align, you may witness something special in the otherwise unimpressive annals of Atlanta sports history.
 
Nearly two weeks later...Hawks still in it. Tied 2-2 with the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.

They are six wins away from an NBA championship, which Atlanta has never accomplished. The odds are against them. They are playing their hearts out.

Very nice history. I have not watched the NBA in years...or the NFL. One of my sons is a big Sixers fan and wanted to go to a playoff game for his birthday.
I held my nose and took him.
To my surprise I watched a young, aggressive group of no-name players hustle and play team ball.
I have started following them. With Trae Young out with a bruised foot and the Hawks coming out of a blowout loss that put them down 2 games to 1...nobody, including me, gave them much of a chance.
In steps Lou Williams (who I watched play at my old school - South Gwinnett)...and the old perennial “sixth man” steps in and leads Hawks to real pounding of the Bucks. Again, team ball...lots of different young players stepping up and contributing to the win.
Actually playing defense.
I’m hooked. I’ll be watching.
 
For the TLDNR crowd, skip to the bolded part at the bottom.

I know there aren't a lot of pro basketball fans on ODT, but something special may be happening to an Atlanta sports franchise that only happens to a small market pro sports teams once every few decades.

Been watching the Hawks off and on for more almost thirty years, and regularly for the last ten years. They scuffled along under indifferent ownership for a long time. Then, they made a move to put some more aggressive management in place in 2012. That quickly blew up in an early episode cancel-culture/woke scandal (Danny Ferry firing), setting the franchise back again.

New ownership came in 2015. By 2017, they were in full rebuild mode. In 2018, they made an interesting draft day trade that landed them Trae Young. He was a controversial pick because of his small stature. But the Hawks set about building a team around him. The team was getting better over the first three years of Young's career. 2020 was a mess for everyone because of COVID, but for 2021, the Hawks went out and spent money on complimentary free agents to build a deep supporting cast for Young. Expecations were going up. And the team underperformed badly.

Halfway through the 2021 season, the coach, Lloyd Pierce, is fired. Everyone is wondering if this is another mediocre era for the Hawks.

One of the assistent coaches, Nate McMillan, a former head coach with a lot of experience, takes over as interim head coach.

The Hawks do a 180, going from out of the playoff picture, to posting the best win-loss record in the NBA for the remaining games of the season. They become the best 4th quarter team in the NBA. Doing all of this with two of their original five starters out due to injury, gaining themselves the 5th playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, playing the Knicks in the first round.

They kick the crap out of the tough-talking Knicks, winning a best-of-seven in five games.. Trae Young, in his first NBA playoff series, shows he thrives on the big stage. He's not intimidated by playing in front of a big, national TV audience at Madison Square Garden in NYC, with many people in the basketball world rooting for the resurgent Knicks franchise. He's getting heckled, and he's feeding off it.

It's one thing for an athelete to compete well in a pro sports arena. It's entirely another when that same athlete demostrates they play even better in big pressure situations. Stars who can play better in the biggest games are very rare.

Fast forward to the next series against the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers. The Hawks are leading the series 3 games to 2, after being down (and written off) at 2 games to 1. In the last two games, the Hawks have come back from trailing by 18 points (game 4) and 26 points (game 5). They absolutely do not quit.

For perspective: The Hawks had nobody on the all-star roster this year. No players got MVP consideration. No all-NBA defensive team selections. The 76er's are loaded, including Joel Embid, an MVP candidate big man who is easily a top 5 player in the league.

Once again, Trae Young, in front a famously hostile Philly crowd, is working miracles. He's so disruptive on the court, it's hard to gameplan for him. He figures out how to beat what the other team is doing. He's an other-worldly passer, so his teamates are involved and look great. He's got unlimited three point shooting range. As an opposing play-by-play announcer put it: "When Trae Young steps through the arena door, he's in range". It's incredibly fun to watch.

The Hawks, in general, remain humble, don't engage in the wokeness crap, and just seem to focus on baketball.

I don't know what the outcome will be. It's entirely possible the 76ers come back and win this series in 7 games, blowing out the Hawks the next two games. They certainly have enough talent for that. Meantime, the Hawks have exceed expectations.

Game 6 is Friday evening at State Farm. Tune in. If the stars align, you may witness something special in the otherwise unimpressive annals of Atlanta sports history.

I'm hooked too! I haven't watched this much basketball in years. Something special is happening with this team. They are exceeding expectations and the National media still doesn't give them the respect they deserve. This is a gutsy team with a lot of heart. No one expected them to make it this far in the playoffs. Even if they don't win the finals, no one can say they choked. They have already way overachieved every expectation. Go Hawks! Its nice to see Atlanta rally around a team too.
 
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