Where do they go from here?

So midnight struck predictably and emphatically for the Cinderella Atlanta Hawks yesterday after a resounding beatdown by the Celtics. Still, despite 45 regular season losses and four blowouts in Boston in the first round Atlanta won't soon forget the magic provided by the Hawks in games 3, 4 and 6. The Hawks did something incredible: they awoke the long dormant rabid basketball fan base in this city. That being said, awakening that fan base and sustaining that fan base are two totally different things.


There are four personnel issues that are critical this off-season and they need to be dealt with as swiftly as possible. The first and most critical is the front office situation. The contracts of GM Billy Knight and coach Mike Woodson expire on June 31. Knight has been an easy target for Atlanta's failures the past several seasons and there's no need to bring them up here (although Chris Paul did look pretty solid in Game 1 against San Antonio). Knight did make the moves needed to get the team to the playoffs (drafting Horford, trading for Bibby) but it's still hard to overlook the past. On top of that he and Woodson don't speak to each other.

Now, there doesn't seem to be a reason why they aren't talking. Sure, Knight tried to have Woodson fired several times during the season, but why would that put a strain on a working relationship? Woodson has been a target of mine for a couple of years now, but I'm starting to lean more to his side. I'm beginning to think the problems the Hawks have on the floor are 50 percent the players own lack of basketball sense and 50 percent Woodson's bad decision making. That's a drastic change. That percentage was at 80 percent Woody's fault at some point, so I've come around on him.

Woodson to me has to go. It's not necessarily fair, but it's business and the unfortunate thing is, decisions have to be made that aren't always fair. First and foremost, Woodson and Knight simply can't work together. If you replace Knight a new GM is going to want to bring in his own head coach. If you get rid of Knight and keep Woodson, Woodson has ownership on his side and you're undermining your new GM from day one. That's not a good business practice.

Secondly, like I said earlier, it's hard to know how much of Atlanta's inabilities and deficiencies on the court should be blamed on Woodson or the Players. You can make an argument for both and you'd be right blaming both. One eternal truth about sports rings true in this situation though: You can replace a coach, you can't replace 15 players (or 25 in baseball, 60 in the NFL etc). Again, it's not fair, but it's reality. Woodson did a dreadful job for the most part during the regular season, but for three magical games he pushed all the right buttons. In a realistic world, that won't be enough to save his job. Fortunately for him, the Atlanta Spirit Group doesn't always operate in a world of reality.

So what about the roster? Well, there are two major pieces up for grabs. Let's start with the easier one to assess: Josh Childress. Childress is an invaluable piece to this team as the 6th man bringing intensity and effort every time he's on the floor. He's one of the most basketball savvy guys on the team getting rebounds and put backs, not because of his size or strength necessarily, but because of his smarts around the basket. It'll be hard to lose Chill so ASG must make any attempt to keep him, but if someone tries to drive the price too high, it might not be worth it. Chill might be the casualty of this offseason. Fortunately, he's Larry Birded into Atlanta which means the Hawks can pay him more money than any other team. The big question is will they?

Then you get to the guy who truly might be the toughest player in the NBA to figure out: Josh Smith. J-Smoove, as he's known here, is a riddle wrapped up inside an enigma wrapped up inside a question mark covered in tattoos. One of the most electrifying players in the NBA without a doubt, he can bring down the house with a block or a dunk. He's a good defender and at times he's unstoppable on offense. Other times he's lazy, inconsistent, stubborn and ball hoggish. He falls in love with his deep jumper which can most favorably be considered mediocre. He's a sloppy ball handler and makes mind-bogglingly terrible passes from time to time. He can also be a malcontent as he's feuded with Woodson on several occasions. As much as you can rip on his game, one thing, to me anyway, is true: You have to give the man his money.

His potential is too great. You can't let a local kid with that much ability just walk away. At that point it leaves you with Joe Johnson and Al Horford as your core beyond next year, can you say rebuilding? You also can't run the risk of letting a 22 year old get away because of his inconsistency just to watch him blossom into a superstar somewhere else. Josh Smith is the Andruw Jones in the new millenium of Atlanta sports. Watching Jones you couldn't help but wonder if the guy would ever develop into one of the great stars in baseball. Jones had a unique skill (an unparalleled defensive ability), but was stubborn in his approach to offense and that kept him from being one of the best players of his generation. Smith has a unique skill set (again, watch him dunk or block a shot and tell me it doesn't raise the hairs on your arms) but the jury is out as to whether or not he'll "get it" or improve in the little areas that it takes to go from potential to superstardom.

Still though, if you want to have any hope of sustaining the momentum you built during this playoff run, you have to pay up. You also need to pay up to keep Childress unless the price is too high. As for the front office, realistically it's time for a new direction, this team is probably as good as they'll ever be under Woodson and Knight. If you bring in a new regime it will pump more fresh air into the franchise and excite people even more. If you do that, then you begin to focus on the smaller roster issues (more shooters? more depth?).

Then again, with the Atlanta Spirit in charge, we're probably looking at the Joshes walking and the most dysfunctional GM/Coach relationship is sports persisting.