Flight School Graduates
Years of paying dues and weeks with a second playoff-tested leader have given these Hawks a return to days of glory.

By Jon Cooper

“The playoff-bound Atlanta Hawks.”

It’s a phrase that didn’t garner much consideration for most of the season, but heading into action Tuesday night, with five games remaining in the 2007-08 season is a win away from becoming reality.

Hawks fans — not to mention the rest of the Eastern Conference — aren’t the only ones wondering just what’s going on.

“We're not used to it, but it's a different year. We've just put ourselves in a position where we can make the playoffs,” said fifth-year center Zaza Pachulia, who is experiencing his first run at postseason. “I'm more motivated. I'm more excited and I'm just not ready to end the season. It's a great feeling and I want to get used to this feeling.”

”It's a different mood, a different atmosphere,” added forward Joe Johnson, who with 15 games of playoff experience, joins Mike Bibby (who has played in 51 games) as the only Hawks with postseason experience. “Everybody's approaching it in a good manner. We've come out every night trying to execute a game plan and get wins.”

While the '07-08 Hawks probably will not carry a winning record into the postseason, they also will not be the first Hawks team to make the playoffs with a sub-.500 ledger (it’s happened eight other times), or the worst (the ‘70-71 and ‘71-72 Atlanta Hawks won only 36 games, and the ‘49-50 Tri-Cities Hawks only had 29 wins).

But for this team, the fact that on April 19th they'll be carrying bags into the arena instead of carrying their belongings out, is a building block.

"You have to lose a little bit before you learn how to do it.,” said third-year forward Marvin Williams. “Unfortunately we had to learn the hard way, but it makes this whole thing more gratifying to know where we were at, even last year, to see where we're at this year."

"It feels really good, knowing that we have a chance to do something that we haven't done in a long time," agreed fourth-year swingman Josh Childress. "I don't think it's hard to learn how to win. The hard part is being consistent, playing at a high level every night because you have to. You can't have games where you slip because that night, the other team is definitely going to bring their ‘A’ game. You have to be able to bring yours.”

This nucleus of Hawks has talked the talk plenty the last couple of years about taking the next step, but this season they’ve walked the walk. Actually, over the last six weeks, it’s been more like a sprint, which also varies from recent history.

In the three seasons Mike Woodson has been at the helm, post-All-Star Break has meant little more than playing out the string, then participating in the draft lottery, as Atlanta had gone 22-71 in that time.

This season looked like it was going to be more of the same, as the Hawks limped through a tough West Coast road trip going 1-4, losing by a combined 62 points. Even the acquisition of veteran point guard Mike Bibby wasn’t going to save this team, especially after dropping six out of seven in early March, this time by a total of 76 points.

"It was kind of a struggle a little bit when Bibby came, but everything smoothed out," said Josh Smith. "Everybody knows what everybody likes to do and we're having fun out there."

Starting with a three-game winning streak against the L.A. Clippers, then at New York and at Washington, things have become fun.

Heading into Tuesday night’s game, the Hawks were 14-13 since the break, having put together a five-game winning streak in late March, to climb into the final playoff spot, then giving themselves some breathing room.

Being able to breathe at a time that unprepared teams tend to come up short of air, is a tribute to the leadership of Bibby and Johnson.

"Those are the only two guys we have that have any playoff experience on this team," said Woodson. "I think they're doing a great job of trying to lead and get us where we need to be. It's important that these young guys continue to grow together with one another but lean on Joe and Mike Bibby."

The veterans have delivered.

No player in the Eastern Conference has been better than Johnson over the last five weeks, as he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month of March, after scoring 24.9 points, on .468 shooting, .435 from three, and .865 from the line, with 7.0 assists, 4.2 rebounds. For an encore he won Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first week of April, averaging 27.3 points, on .579 shooting, .462 from three, with 8.3 assists, and 7.0 rebounds.

"Me and Mike know it's going to go through us," said Johnson, who became only the second Atlanta Hawk ever to win Eastern Conference Player of the Month (Dominique Wilkins is the other). "We have to try to lead these guys in the right direction. We've been trying to do that and I think we've done a pretty good job. We still have a lot of room for improvement but we're getting better."

Bibby has averaged 17.1 points and 7.6 assists over his last 10 games, and has had his two biggest offensive outbursts of the season in a six-day span, a 30-point effort in a crucial victory over Chicago on May 28 at Philips Arena, then a 26-point game April 2 against Toronto, which included a dramatic game-tying three pointer with 0.5 seconds remaining. He also had double-digit assists in back-to-back games April 2nd and 4th for only the second time all season.

The hot-shooting back courts has allowed the Hawks to shoot over .400 from behind the arc since the break. They had been shooting a mere .323 prior to to that.

"They're very important," said Al Horford, who, in March, was named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month, the second consecutive month he’s won that award and third time this season. "You can see them stepping their game up and really trying to make a difference. They really harp on how big it is to make the playoffs and we're buying into it. You see it. Guys are excited and they want this."

Just how bad they want it was apparent over the final 13 minutes of the Apr. 2 game against Toronto. Down 17 late in the third quarter, the team rallied, winning in overtime. Six players scored in double-figures, with Johnson (28) and Bibby (26) leading the way. While the veterans carried the team, it was Josh Smith, who came up big at crunchtime, nailing two big three-pointers.

“It's playing with a good confidence,” said Smith, who went for 24 and nine against the Raptors and his 24th 20-point game of the season (he has hit 30 points five times). “We know that we can come back no matter how much we're down. We’re very confident, we're playing together on both ends of the court, and we feel like the sky's the limit."

They’re starting to expect to win. Of course, the Hawks may be the only ones with such expectations, but that’s fine with them.

"No one expected anything to come from this trade," said Bibby. "No one expected anything to come from this team. If they don't expect you to win, then you have nothing to lose."

Jon Cooper is a freelance writer based in Atlanta