May 17th, 2013 at 12:49 AM
By Gordon RobinsonEarlier this week all the buzz surrounding the Atlanta Hawks coaching moves surrounded around Stan Van Gundy. Well, Nate McMillan was interviewed by the Hawks on Wednesday. Atlanta's GM Danny Ferry is leaving no stone unturned as he tries to find a (possibly) new leader for the team.
McMillan has coached 12 NBA seasons for the Seattle Supersonics and the Portland Trail Blazers. He holds a 478-452 record as a coach and at his last run he led Portland to the playoffs from 2009-2011, but all appearances ended in first round losses. McMillan was fired by the Blazers in March 2012 and has recently interviewed with other NBA teams like the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks.
McMillan is a coach who is known for his defense, his game plan is a slow style of play and his isolation offense may not sit well with Atlanta fans who still remember the days of "Iso-Joe". He did not seem to take being let go by Portland too well and this stint with the Hawks (if he gets the job) could see him determined to lead a team to the promise land.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 13th, 2013 at 11:42 PM
By Gordon RobinsonIn the past Atlanta has been looked at as an unstable purgatory to many coaches and players. While the ownership has not changed, it seems that their thought process has. Instead of every owner acting as an individual general manager, The Atlanta Spirit has hired a strong GM in Danny Ferry and appears to be willing to allow him to call the shots. If the way he constructed a team this past season is any indication of his talent evaluation skills then the Atlanta fans are willing to stand behind him, but he has got to first find a coach that shares his vision.
Why would a top notch coach want to come to Atlanta and be a part of the Hawks franchise? That question can be simply answered by asking "How much does that coach want to leave an imprint on a team?" It has been said that the Atlanta fans are a fickled bunch, but trust me if a coach can put a team on the floor that is exciting and is a threat, then Atlanta will show him (and the team) love. Basketball is big in Atlanta and the fans are just waiting for something to feel good about, as opposed to watching an ending to a movie that you've seen one hundred times. It has worked with the Falcons, the Braves and even the Hawks when they battled the Boston Celtics in the 2007-08 season and showed some grit. A good coach can come to Atlanta, ignite a fire and if the team is good enough to just make the conference finals a couple of times, he would be looked at as the greatest coach in Atlanta Hawks history.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 13th, 2013 at 12:48 AM
By Gordon RobinsonOver the weekend the buzz around the Atlanta Hawks and their fans were rumors that the Hawks were going after Stan Van Gundy as their next head coach. The reason for pursuing Van Gundy was supposedly because he would give them a better shot at Dwight Howard (yeah, it stunned me too!). In more recent reports, Chris Vivlamore of AJC.com (Atlanta Hawks Beat Writer) is stating that while Stan Van Gundy is an option for the Atlanta Hawks job, he is not the only option for job.
There are others that are up for the position, many of which were stated in our article about the Hawks coaching decisions in terms of Larry Drew. The other candidate that we did not mention that appears to be in the mix is Avery Johnson. Atlanta Hawks' GM Danny Ferry has stated that he has not ruled out bringing back Larry Drew, he says that they communicate often and know where each other stands. Drew may also be a candidate for other teams who do not or will not have coaches going forward, he has stated that if he does not return to the Hawks he will interview for those openings.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 8th, 2013 at 12:30 AM
By Gordon RobinsonSo, we spoke a couple of days ago about the Atlanta Hawks letting head coach Larry Drew go and finding a new one to take the team to new heights and now the rumors have started. There are rumors about the job in Atlanta and also about Larry Drew's ability to move on a find a new spot on someone else's bench. F.Y.I., there are no rumors about the Hawks keeping Drew around.
The two coaches that have been connected to the job in Atlanta so far are Quin Snyder and Mike Budenholzer. Atlanta Hawks GM Danny Ferry has worked with both of these individuals previously in San Antonio. Quin Snyder has also worked as an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Los Angeles Lakers and most recently he worked under legendary European coach Ettore Messina. Budenholzer has been with the San Antonio Spurs for over 15 years and was thought to be the successor to Coach Popovich, but with Pop looking like he's not going anywhere anytime soon, Budenholzer began lining up interviews.
Read more... Join the Conversation... May 7th, 2013 at 1:05 AM
By Gordon RobinsonWhen Joe Johnson was sent to the Brooklyn Nets the Atlanta Hawks fans believed that the Hawks would struggle to make the playoffs. On the other hand everyone believed that Brooklyn would be a contender to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, especially when Joe was matched with Deron Williams, Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace. No one would have thought that these two teams were about to suffer similar fates.
As we all know, the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games. Many experts thought that the Brooklyn Nets would be able push past the Chicago Bulls, especially when it came down to Game Seven and the Bulls were without Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng and Joakim Noah was playing on one foot. That turned out to not be the case as the Nets lost on their home floor to the Bulls, 99-93. Deron Williams did his part scoring 24 points with seven assists and Brook Lopez came up with 21 points, nine rebounds and two blocks but Joe Johnson, on the other hand, scored six points on 2-14 shooting from the floor and 1-9 from the three point line.
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