Coach Bud

atljtaylor

ATLANTA -- Mike Budenholzer today was named NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for January, 2015, the second consecutive month Budenholzer has won the award. It is the seventh time in Atlanta history a Hawks coach received the honor and first time it’s been done in back-to-back months.

Atlanta recorded a perfect 17-0 record in January (9-0 at home, 8-0 on the road), setting the franchise record for wins in a month, while becoming the first team in NBA history to go 17-0 during a calendar month. The Hawks are currently on a club record 19-game winning streak (tied for the fifth-longest in NBA history) and own the league’s best record at 40-8.

The Hawks led the NBA in 3FG% (.415) and assists (459) in January, while pacing the Eastern Conference in point differential (11.9), points per game (105.6), 3FGM (184), FG% (.481), FGM (659), assists per game (27.0), assist/turnover ratio (2.00) and steal/turnover ratio (0.68). Additionally, Atlanta was fifth in the NBA in both defensive FG% (.426) and points allowed per game (93.7).

Atlanta tied a team record during the month by making 10-or-more 3FGs in eight consecutive games (Jan. 5-17) and knocked double-digit three’s 14 times overall in January.

Budenholzer, who will coach the Eastern Conference in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 15, has also guided the Hawks to a season-high 10 straight wins at Philips Arena and a franchise record 12 consecutive victories over Western Conference foes (7-0 in January).

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Mike Budenholzer Named NBA Eastern Conference Coach of the Month

atljwilson

The Atlanta Hawks finished January 17-0, the best record over a month in NBA history, and have been rewarded for it.

Head Coach Mike Budenholzer has been named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for a second straight month.  He earned the honor in December when Atlanta went 14-2, but his January was even more impressive.

Coach Bud's team has won 33 of 35 games since Thanksgiving and has 16 wins over teams with .500-or-better records - three more than any other team.  In January the Hawks earned quality wins over the Blazers (twice), Clippers, Grizzlies, Wizards, Raptors, Bulls and Thunder.  They also beat the Pistons twice when Detroit was playing its best basketball of the season.

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Budenholzer Wins Coach of the Month Again

Twenty players have appeared in a regular season game for Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer since he took the job.  Can you pick them from the players listed below?

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Pick the Players Bud Has Coached

The 2014 Atlanta Hawks training camp is in the books, with the team having completed five practices in a three-day span.  For the second straight year, the Hawks held the first days of camp in Athens, Ga. on the campus of the University of Georgia.

After watching practices and talking to players and coaches, here are five things we took away from camp:

1)  This team is further along than last year

This may seem obvious considering Coach Bud has 12 players returning, but it's probably the most important takeaway from camp.  Whereas last year Coach Bud was trying to introduce a new system to a relatively new group, the team was already running headed into this year's camp, and it showed during the scrimmages.  Players were running the offense, moving the ball and playing team defense.

2)  Al Horford is getting closer to 100%

Though he was held out of contact drills this week, Horford said he's getting closer to feeling 100 percent.  Coach Bud said he will slowly work Horford into contact situations, starting with 1-on-1 drills and progressing to 5-on-5.  The plan is still to have him ready to play on opening night in Toronto.

Kent Bazemore hasn't been in contact drills yet as he continues rehab on his foot, but the returning players have been impressed with both Thabo Sefolosha and Adreian Payne.  Each drew high praise when we asked others how they're doing picking up the offense.  Both players figure to get minutes off the bench, and both said it's nice to have so many returning players to help teach them the system.

4)  The best FIFA player on the team is...TBD

There's a battle amongst some of the players as to who is the best FIFA gamer.  The team had a chance to bond at night while staying in Athens, and a handful of them said they played FIFA.  Bazemore was quoted as saying he was the "FIFA King," but Mike Scott quickly refuted that claim by pointing out that he lost to Dennis Schröder.  Paul Millsap and Mike Muscala have also laid claim to being the best, so it appears we'll have to sort this out with a tournament at some point this season.

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4 Things We Learned From Training Camp

The Hawks have re-signed power forward Mike Scott (per team policy, contract details were not released). Scott excelled under Coach Mike Budenholzer and made major strides in his second season in the NBA to become an important role player for Atlanta.

He averaged 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game coming off the bench for the Hawks in 18.5 minutes per game. He spent his summer getting in better shape and expanding his range to play more on the perimeter, and it paid off for him in a big way.

Off the bench, Scott became one of the Hawks’ primary offensive weapons with the second unit, and he excelled in the pick-and-pop game. Scott shot 31 percent from three-point range on the season and 48.4 percent on long twos (16 feet to the three point line). His ability to space the floor made him a valuable commodity for Coach Bud and earned him a significant role as one of the first bigs off the bench.

Bringing Scott back gives Atlanta a lot of frontcourt depth for what figures to be a very tight competition for minutes. Scott joins first round pick Adreian Payne, Pero Antic and Mike Muscala as the bench unit behind All-Star Paul Millsap and the returning Al Horford. All six Hawks frontcourt players have the ability to step outside and knockdown perimeter shots as well as run the floor in transition, and with the way Coach Bud likes to space the floor and push the pace, it makes sense that the Hawks have tailored their roster to fit those desires.

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Scott Gives Hawks Another Stretch Forward

Several current and former Hawks players, executives and even mascots have accepted the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge over the past few weeks.  You can see all of them individually above, but I thought I'd provide a recap of each anyway.  Some are more hilarious than others, but all are very good.

The Atlanta Hawks' majority owner got in on the action, completing the challenge while on a trampoline in Colorado.

Coach Bud accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge from Al Horford.

Muscala accepted the challenge from a few people, and among the folks he challenged was Imagine Dragons drummer and Hawks superfan Dan Platzman.

Teague's Ice Bucket Challenge involved everything you could possibly want...except the ice.  Watch for a Bill Clinton reference.

I'm not sure why you'd want to lean back while having ice water dumped all over you.  Millsap tried that, then quickly sat back up.

A 15-second Instagram video isn't enough to capture the reaction of being drenched with ice cold water, so Schröder documented the feat with two videos.  The second is the more entertaining of the two, and his reaction is priceless.

By far the most painful-looking of the bunch to date.  Adreian...why did you think it would be a good idea to have ice fall on your hairless head from two stories above?  At least it didn't end like this.

When the commissioner challenges you, you have to accept.  Mutombo seemed to be the most unprepared for how cold the water was, judging by his reaction.

The Hawks CEO stepped up and accepted Ryan Cameron's challenge.  Is that a stove pot with ice from the freezer?  Whatever works!  Another must-see reaction.

Harry was first in the Hawks family to accept after being challenged by University of Florida mascot Albert the Gator.  Next time we'll tell him to cool it on the caffeine.

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Hawks Taking Part In Ice Bucket Challenge

Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer accepted Al Horford's Ice Bucket Challenge.  Take a look at the video below:

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Coach Bud Completes Ice Bucket Challenge

Hawks first round pick Adreian Payne, who just officially signed with the team, showed plenty of promise during his week of play at Las Vegas Summer League and will look to play his way into the rotation during training camp.

Payne comes into the NBA with a pretty well-polished skill set on both ends of the floor. On offense, he is explosive at the rim and has the shooting touch to spread the floor from the power forward position. The biggest hurdle for him on the offensive end will be adjusting to the speed of the game. He is plenty athletic and quick but had a tendency to rush himself in Summer League, particularly shooting the ball.

“I feel like I played pretty decent,” Payne said of his Summer League performance. “Feel like I played pretty consistent throughout the tournament, so I just gotta continue to get better and get more efficient with my shots. They were telling me to get my shots, try to slow myself down and get my shots when they come, and they were coming, they just weren't falling...Being able to shoot the ball translates to any level, but it’s a lot different with the speed of the game and the players are more athletic. So, I’m just trying to get more comfortable out there and trying to find the pace of the game, so the shots still come and I’m in rhythm.”

For the coaching staff, they’re happy to have a player who plays with the intensity and effort Payne does, and they’ll be working with him throughout the preseason on being under control and changing pace.

“You always love the fact that you have to tell a guy to slow down rather than pick it up,” assistant coach Darvin Ham said. “He just needs to learn how to be quick but not in a hurry. He gets going and he’s going full speed, and that’s normal for guys coming out of college. They want to do everything 1000 percent and 100 miles per hour, but you can’t blame him for that, and we’re just going to try and refine him a little bit and play with a change of pace.”

At the beginning of Summer League, Payne said he was struggling a bit with finding his space in the offense, and when and where he was supposed to get his shot. By the end of the week, he felt he had a better idea of his role and where he was supposed to be.

“I’m much more comfortable [with the system than when I started]. I’m just trying to get more comfortable out there -- more comfortable with my teammates and what they do and how I play with them.”

With his size and athleticism, Payne can be very impactful on the defensive end. Where he is still learning his role on offense, he is much more comfortable with the role he will play on the defensive end as a rim protector.

“Coach wants us to play defense, rebound, and run the floor. He wants me to block shots and at [Michigan] State I wasn’t able to block shots, but here I am...[Coach Izzo] didn’t want me to get into foul trouble, but the rules are different here than in college. Here you have verticality, so it’s a lot different.”

Payne flashed his shot blocking ability on multiple occasions in Summer League, and, for someone who wasn’t allowed to be aggressive blocking shots in college, he has great natural instincts helping over from the weakside at the rim. The biggest step for Payne defensively will be to cut down on his on-ball fouls. Where college lacks a verticality rule that the NBA has, which will allow him to go for more blocks, the NBA is much stricter on physical contact when defending on the ball.

“Just trying to learn how to defend the perimeter without touching,” Payne said. “You know, once you touch someone on the perimeter in the NBA they call a foul, so it’s a lot different.”

“The shooting element is there,  the defensive element is there, and making athletic plays,” Coach Ham said. “We just have to get him to stop fouling so much. In college they play a lot more physical than we do in the NBA. At the NBA level the big key is not to impede progress, so referees are a little more ticky tacky with how they call fouls as opposed to college where you can get into guys more. It will take some time, but he’s a smart kid, smart player, and he’ll make the proper adjustments.”

Payne has the potential to make an impact on the Hawks' team this season. He has the skill set to fit very well into Coach Bud’s system at both ends of the floor, shooting from the perimeter and attacking the rim on offense and being a presence at the rim on defense. The biggest step for him to take to earn himself consistent minutes in the regular season will be to become, as he noted, a more efficient shooter and being smarter with his physicality on defense. 