Empty the Bench

The NBA regular season is a grueling one, and Empty the Bench has a certain amount of empathy for the bottom-feeding teams in the league that will get nothing more than a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery for their efforts. So we thought it’d be humanitarian of us to profile one of the five worst teams in the Association, winning-percentage wise, every day this week and give you five reasons they’re still worth watching on your League Pass.

Our fourth spotlight takes a look at the Atlanta Hawks, who have won only two of their last ten and are 23 and 39 overall, sporting a putrid .371 winning percentage. No, it hasn’t been pretty in the ATL. They’re losing at home as much as they do on the road, they’ve had minor and major injuries to fend off all season, and today they learned that they have lost their best player, perhaps for the season.

The Hawks haven’t been good for a long time. Not since the Dominique Wilkins/Lenny Wilkens era in 1993-94. The one thing the Hawks are famous for is blunders. They continually make bad personnel decisions that keep them in the lottery. There’s no point in detailing everything they’ve done wrong over the years, and we don’t have the space, but a couple of their most recent blunders are real head scratchers.

The Hawks have had their wing positions filled for a couple of years, and theoretically they only need to get a decent center and point guard to compete. Unfortunately, those are the two most difficult positions to find in the NBA. That’s why I can’t get over their draft strategy last year: They took the raw wing player Marvin Williams over the more established point guards Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Raymond Felton. Yeah, Marvin is a great talent, but he’s redundant with Josh Smith. Now Chris Paul is an All-Star and Deron Williams only trails Steve Nash in total assists this season.

Or how about this one: in the summer of 2005, the Suns were not going to be able to re-sign Joe Johnson for the kind of money he wanted. Phoenix was going to have to let him walk. But before that could happen, the Hawks swooped in and gave the Suns Boris Diaw and two future first-round picks for the right to give Joe Johnson a near max-level contract that would have been impossible for the Suns to match anyway. That’s the Hawks.

Teams that have had a terrible record for years have been given the opportunity to draft some of the most exciting raw talent out there, and the Hawks are no exception. It makes them a bizarre fusion of the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals. They have the ‘Wow’ factor, but they also seemed like they’re being paid to lose. In any event, the Hawks and their opponents can get up and down the court. Here are a few reasons to pay attention to their track meets:

1. Josh Smith

The Celtics had this year’s Slam-Dunk contest winner, the Hawks have 2005’s. If he can get his head screwed on straight, Smith has the talent to be a perennial All-Star. Thats a big if though. He just got benched last game because he wanted point guard Anthony Johnson to pass him the ball, and Johnson had called for a pick. Smith proceeded to chew Johnson out and then pout on the court, leading to Coach Woodson benching him for 17 minutes.

We got a glimpse of what J-Smoove is capable of during the month of April last year, his second season in the NBA : 7.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.5 steals, 3.4 blocks and 17.6 points in 11 games. That’s what he did in his second year out of high school with Joe Johnson, so we can’t wait to see what Josh does with more experience and no Joe Johnson. He should get plenty of playing time from here on out, and Mike Woodson is a good coach to mentor the young guy. If the 21-year-old can grow up a little, expect big things.

2. Marvin Williams

I bashed the Marvin Williams pick earlier, but I didn’t bash the guy or his skills. In fact, I’m a fan. I just think Atlanta would be a lot further along if they had Chris Paul or Deron Williams starting at the point instead. Now that they are committed to Marvin though, they can build around him. He has the athleticism that can’t be taught, he works hard and he has some very nice basketball instincts. The finer points of the game haven’t been ingrained yet, but he’s getting noticeably better all the time.

The guy is just 20 years old, and he’s already very competitive. In February and March, his scoring has been above 13 points a game, and he’s grabbing 5 boards and a steal on 45% FGs and 85% FTs. As I said, he’s athletic, but the one thing that you can actually see getting better every game is his mid-range shooting and his free-throw shooting. If he can become an above average shooter, his quickness will make him very difficult to stop. Like his teammate Josh Smith, Marvin is also good for at least one thunderous dunk a game, so keep your eyes on him.

3. “I told you so!”

With a seven year drought, the Atlanta Hawks only trail the Golden State Warriors (12) in terms of the most consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance. What do they say about the stock market? Buy low, sell high? Well, Hawks stock is at rock bottom. I’m buying. It may take a couple years of suffering, but when the Hawks finally do make the playoffs again, just imagine the bragging rights. Imagine the pride you can feel after watching something grow from the ground up, and imagine how loud and obnoxious you can be for even minor playoff successes. It’s gonna be fun. And this way, you get to be the anti-Yankees fan. Nobody can accuse you of jumping on a bandwagon or just liking a team because they’re good. This team isn’t good. Personally, I went ahead and bought some Hawks apparel three years ago. That way, I have physical proof (with receipt) that I knew they were going explode . . . even before I knew they were going to explode. Plus, the red really makes my eyes pop.

4. Josh Childress

Ok, I admit it. I love the hair, and that’s part of the reason he’s here. But under that perfectly groomed Afro is an extremely shrewd player who is making a case for Sixth-Man of the Year. He’s coming off the bench for 12.6 points and 6.6 boards to go with 2 assists. But what’s most impressive is that he’s doing it on 51% FGs, 81% FTs and only 1.4 turnovers. Any player who can come off the bench and provide that kind of production paired with that efficiency is extremely valuable. He hasn’t developed an outside game yet, but inside the arc he’s an excellent shooter, he’s a very good ball handler who can play the point forward and he’s a plus defender as well. The only thing keeping this Josh out of the starting lineup is the Hawks poor decision in last year’s draft. Childress should be the main beneficiary of the Joe Johnson injury, and that in itself will make the Hawks a curiosity. Can the 6th overall pick from the 2004 draft shine if given enough playing time?

5. The Joe Johnson Injury

It’s a shame that Johnson went down, and we wish him a speedy recovery. But it’s not like this is going to affect their playoff seeding or anything, so let’s try to look at the bright side. This creates a huge opportunity for a bunch of young players, like the guys mentioned above. Johnson was averaging 25 points a game, 10 more than the next guy. He was also leading the team in minutes (41:23) and shots (20.0) by wide margins. Somebody has to fill that massive void, and the Hawks have no choice but to insert intriguing, young players.

Obviously, expect a big boost in minutes for Josh Smith, Josh Childress and Marvin Williams. But Salim Stoudamire, Craig ‘Speedy’ Claxton and and Sheldon Williams (from the trickle down of minutes) should also be out there more. Claxton is day-to-day right now, but when he plays he’s one of the best steals-per-minute guys in the NBA. He can’t shoot, but it’s fun to see him dart into passing lanes and start fast breaks. Sheldon Williams is their first-round pick this year, so it’s about time he started getting more than 17 minutes a game. I personally don’t think he has a ton of upside, but let’s see what the 5th overall pick can do. And if you like indiscriminate distance shooting, Salim is your man. He has no conscience. None. He steps onto the court, and he bombs away. And as Arizona fans know, when Damon’s cousin is on, he can fill it up. At ‘Zona he broke Steve Kerr’s individual three-point percentage record (by shooting 50.4%).

Monday: the Memphis Grizzlies
Tuesday: the Boston Celtics
Wednesday: the Milwaukee Bucks
Friday: the Charlotte Bobcats