Atlanta Hawks: Why New Coach Mike Budenholzer Will Work Out
By Shane Young
After three consecutive seasons of winning less than 45 games (44, 40, 44 respectively), the Atlanta Hawks decided to part ways with coach Larry Drew. With the frontcourt of Josh Smith and Al Horford, management’s expectations were definitely higher than two straight first-round exists. There was a change in the atmosphere, however, when the offseason hiring of Mike Budenholzer was announced at the end of the 2013 playoffs. Along with a summer of losing their most dynamic player, Hawks’ fans weren’t quite sure of their future with an unknown coach.
Stealing Paul Millsap from the free agent market might make this team better than the Josh Smith days. (NBA.com photo)
Despite the reactions towards Budenholzer’s recent mistake off the court, his experience in the NBA alone should allow the Hawks to begin paving their way for a resurgence.
Spending 17 years as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs dating back to the 1996-97 season, Budenholzer knows a thing or two about coaching a winning organization. This move serves as evidence that Atlanta wasn’t completely ready to enter the rebuilding mode just yet. If that was the case, most teams in that situation look for younger coaches that are willing to take the time and maybe even tank for a season. Coaching alongside Gregg Popovich since he was 24 years old, Budenholzer found the new job as an opportunity to compete in the postseason within the next two seasons.
His relationship with General Manager Danny Ferry is unique compared to any manager-coach combo in the league. Ferry was a member of the Spurs’ roster from 2000-03, as Budenholzer helped coach his soon-to-be boss to an NBA title in 2003.
In an interview with Hawks TV’s Jessica Taylor in May, Budenholzer pointed to Atlanta’s young core and offseason cap space as the leading reasons he took the position. His aspirations were mentioned before July, however, as the Hawks were unable to retain power forward Josh Smith in free agency. Atlanta then made some quality moves to improve the frontcourt by signing veteran power forwards Paul Millsap and Elton Brand. All in all, Budenholzer will certainly have one of the better post offenses in the league to work with during his debut season.
The young core of Jeff Teague and Al Horford stayed put in Atlanta with Horford under contract through the 2015-16 season and Teague through the 2016-17 season. This duo only continues to get better and may have been able to take down the Indiana Pacers if Josh Smith played with a sense of urgency last postseason. Budenholzer has worked with the best system in basketball for nearly two decades, which tells me he will succeed in helping his new players find their role and buy in to working together as a unit. They will sure need to be on the same page and dominate the paint as much as they can, considering depth at the guard positions is extremely inexperienced for the Hawks.
Backing up point guard Jeff Teague will be rookie Dennis Schroeder and third-year talent Shelvin Mack. Behind shooting guard Louis Williams will be sophomores John Jenkins and Jared Cunningham.
It’s easy to say that Budenholzer has had his fair share of coaching veterans. From David Robinson to Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, he knows how to approach the older members of the Hawks’ roster. If they falter this season and aren’t competitive in an Eastern Conference that gets better by the year, Budenholzer can’t be held accountable. Atlanta management should understand that it’s their move to get the backcourt some added depth. Teague’s contract offer sheet from Milwaukee was matched by the Hawks this offseason, which indicates they trust him to be the guy. Adding pieces behind him will only help both him and their chances of winning a playoff series.
Hiring a head coach that has four NBA championships on a respected staff is something you don’t always have a chance of doing. The era of Joe Johnson and Josh Smith is officially over and the Hawks must develop a new winning formula.
First, it’s important for the fans to know a few things. Everyone must be given the time to make things work, but you got a guy that dedicated 17 years to being a hard working assistant. As far as his recent DUI charge is concerned, everyone makes their share of mistakes off the court. Just be glad he won’t be making them on the court.
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