Who's Next?

Atlanta is a star obsessed city. When Fortune 500 CEO’s, Hip Hop and R&B royalty, and numerous athlete’s across the sports spectrum call a city home the residents become numb to celebrity. That being the case, it takes the biggest, brightest and most amazing to bring Atlanta’s influential out of seclusion and into daylight’s gleam. Dwyane Wade is a star. There was a fair number of Miami Heat #3’s in the crowd, and for good reason. The Olympian, All Star, and MVP candidate is one of the premier players in the league and he flashed that talent many times over. This game, and ultimately this series however, belonged to someone else.

Joe Johnson claimed his spot amongst the league’s elite this Sunday afternoon and showcased a skill set that makes him the kind of singular talent teams long for. He showed basketball nation that Atlanta has regained her status as an NBA town. He made it apparent that the lineage of Atlanta Hawk All – Stars like Lenny Wilkens, Lou Hudson, Zelmo Beaty and Dominique Wilkins is alive and well. He put himself on center stage and performed with grace and distinction.

When travelling from one place to another, there must be a goal. The voyage would be pointless without the benefit of a destination whereby progress could be measured. These Atlanta Hawks named securing home court advantage for the playoffs and advancing past the first round as goals before this season started.
The season long direction of PG Mike Bibby did wonders for this team. Coach Mike Woodson and Joe Johnson raved about the Arizona product and NBA veteran.

MW: “Mike’s a huge difference maker for this team. He’s our quarterback out there and he makes us go. He just does so many good things for us from an offensive standpoint. He promised me that he would be in great shape for training camp and he’s been excellent for this team from the beginning of the season until now.”

JJ: “He’s been great. From training camp to now in the playoffs he’s leading us. He’s a great teammate and a great friend.”

The exponential growth and maturation of Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford cannot be understated. The off season acquisitions of Flip Murray and Mo Evans also made a world of difference in the bench play (Murray) and defensive identity (Evans) of the squad. The seasoning of the Coach Woodson and his staff bears mentioning as well. I asked Woodson to comment on the growth of this team.

MW: “First I want to give credit to every player in that locker room because we’ve grown as a team. I go back to the Boston series last year because they taught us how to play playoff basketball. We had a bitter taste in our mouths after losing Game 7 in Boston last year and we knew that if we got another chance this year that anything was possible. This team set goals and they came true. That’s huge for this team.”

As important as those factors are, this voyage from obscurity to the second round of the playoff does not happen without the leadership of Joe Johnson. I asked Joe to comment on this series in retrospect. He went on to address a great number of positives for this team.

JW: “You guys won a first round series; you won on the road and played very well at home. What did you learn about your team from these games?

JJ: “Well to me it means we grew as a team. We responded when our backs were against the wall. Even when they won a game here we were able to go down to Miami and get a win to regain home court and then close it out here in Game 7.”

JW: “Joe you played like a star defensively. What does this kind of performance mean to you?”

JJ: “It means a lot. It’s tough guarding a guy like Dwyane because he put so much heat on us the entire series. I just tried to be aggressive with him and make him take a lot of tough shots. I was able to do that and get some steals and get the crowd into it. That also helped us.”

For all of the credit Atlanta deserves for progressing to the second round, the Miami Heat deserve just as much credit for being a worthy foe. Coach Eric Spoelstra expressed optimism for this team’s future in spite of the disappointing loss.

ES: “This series will only benefit our team. It will help the young guys. We start a rookie point guard (Mario Chalmers) and he just got better month to month. Michael (Beasley) as well. The fact that we were able to turn around a 15 win team and win 43 games this season says a lot about the guys in that locker room.”

No player has done more to command the respect and admiration of a fan base this season than Dwyane Wade. From the Olympics, to an MVP caliber season, to a grueling first round playoff series, Wade has repeatedly showcased his immense physical skills. He re-established himself a bona fide superstar. Don’t call it a comeback people; he’s been here for years. Wade talked about his ridiculously lengthy 2008 – 2009 season in retrospect.

DW:“It’s definitely been a long season. This week makes a year that I started working out for Beijing (and the 2008 Olympic Games). I’ve been going strong since then, first, trying to win a gold medal and then to exceed the expectations that people had for me and for my team. We’re very encouraged by this season. We won 15 games last season and we came back to win 43 games and took Atlanta to seven games. We definitely have something to build on.”

The second round brings none other than Lebron James and the mighty Cleveland Cavaliers. As one MVP candidate retreats back to South Beach, another waits on the shores of Lake Erie. The Hawks are aware of the challenge that awaits them and they welcome it. From Boston last year in seven, to Miami this year in seven, the Atlanta Hawks have proven that they will not back down from a challenge. Instead they have shown the propensity to rise up and be counted. Success is sweet but exceeding expectations are what people remember. I think Joe Johnson’s words express it best.

JJ: “I envisioned that we’d be playing in front of a packed house and the crowd would be going crazy (when I signed to play here). I wanted this when I came here and it’s good to see it happen.”

Do not doubt these Hawks. They have a star and when you have a star you have a chance.