The Continuing Education of Coach Budenholzer
For a while now, there has been a theory floating around the NBA. It has to do with the Atlanta Hawks and how they play and how they look on the floor and what their identity is. It goes something like this: the Hawks are a hybrid relative of the San Antonio Spurs, separated at birth. The Hawks do the same things the Spurs do. They create offense through motion and ball energy. They space the floor with efficient shooters whose demands don’t kill possessions. Fundamentally, they lack egocentricity and selfishness.
For some, the Spurs analogy, is frankly, laughable. The Hawks don’t have Tim Duncan or Tony Parker. They don’t have the gritty and uncompromising toughness of Greg Popovich. They don’t have proven role players who have performed under pressure and helped win rings, players like Paddy Mills and Danny Green.
But the Hawks do have Mike Budenholzer and that counts for something.
May 13, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer reacts to the action against the Washington Wizards during the first half in game five of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Wizards 82-81. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Budenholzer witnessed the San Antonio Spurs for nearly two decades and was instrumental in their success as Greg Popovich freely gave him increased responsibility. His Spurs experience was a valuable tutorial this year as he guided a team most figured would win, in a good year, 44-48 games. That the Hawks shocked just about everyone with their brilliant offense in the first half of the year seemed to transcend everything the Hawks represented the past eight seasons: isolation Joe Johnson, selfish Josh Smith, clueless Mike Woodson, bored Atlanta fans. It is true. Winning changes just about everything.
Before this season, when Mike Budenholzer’s name came up, two things came to mind. Popovich’s long time assistant who shied away from publicity. And that DUI arrest right after he was hired to coach the Hawks. During this incredible season, Budenholzer clung to the first and made almost everyone forget about the second.
Budenholzer’s moment of grace was his Coach of the Year honor, richly deserved. He enjoyed it for about a day and then the playoffs kept his attention.
As each game took on a different texture, the narrative stayed the same regarding Budenholzer’s coaching. He was mediocre when he shouldn’t have been. An experienced coach in the playoffs, Budenholzer was fully aware how important adjustments are and yet he seemed to make none.
He stuck with Dennis Schroder out of loyalty, refusing to play Shelvin Mack until the Eastern Conference Finals was out of hand. He yo-yoed Mike Scott who had a good regular season for the Hawks. He didn’t have a game plan to adjust to the size deferential of the teams he was playing against. Often, he played too slow. Often, his players were confused on assignments, leaving three point shooters wide open.
You would expect that Budenholzer would appreciate the basic playoff rule that Pat Riley made famous in the ‘80’s. No rebounds, no rings. The Hawks were last in offensive rebounding in the regular season, 27th overall.
Playoff basketball lives and dies on extra possessions because the defenses are so good. Last night, it was the offensive rebound from Matthew Dellavedova that led to a Cavaliers victory. It was the multiple offensive rebounds by Tristan Thompson that sunk the Hawks ship.
More from Hawks News
- Start, Bench, Cut: Sorting through the Hawks’ power forward options
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic reacts to earning FIBA World Cup championship bid
- When does training camp start for the Atlanta Hawks?
- Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic makes special dedication after FIBA win
In the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors are not doubling LeBron James. And in both games he hasn’t hit 40. Last night he was a volume shooter missing 24 shots. The difference was, the Cavs rebounded LeBron’s misses. Nevertheless, having to do everything wore LeBron out at the end.
Against the Cavs, Mike Budenholzer doubled LeBron, turning J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova into stars. It’s true that without Kyle Korver the Hawks had zero chance to win the series but Budenholzer didn’t adjust his strategy to make up for the difference.
It started in the first series. The Brooklyn Nets shot 35% from the three point line. Then the Washington Wizards shot 38% from the three point line. The Cleveland Cavaliers made 40% of their three point attempts.
The Hawks defense worsened each and every series and that falls into the lap of Mike Budenholzer for this simple reason. Teams are supposed to get better as the playoffs continue, not worse.
If you have heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: jump shooting teams don’t win titles. Jump shooters have tired legs by game 90. Shots that went in three months ago, clank off the rim. The Hawks were the second best three point shooting team in the regular season at 38%.
In the playoffs, the Hawks made 31% of their threes. They took the second most three point attempts, 28 per game, more than a third of their shots. When the shots wouldn’t go in there was no Plan B, except to take more three point shots.
After the Hawks were eliminated, Mike Budenholzer was stunned at the shooting percentages. The Hawks continued to move the ball, they just missed open shots. Budenholzer repeatedly said “I don’t know”, when asked why. If he doesn’t know why, then who does?
More from Soaring Down South
- Start, Bench, Cut: Sorting through the Hawks’ power forward options
- Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic reacts to earning FIBA World Cup championship bid
- When does training camp start for the Atlanta Hawks?
- Grade the trade: Hawks deal Trae Young to Clippers in shocking proposal
- Dejounte Murray rips NBA 2K after Atlanta Hawks ratings reveal
It’s easy to forget this is Budenholzer’s second year as a head coach. Even he didn’t expect this season to evolve the way it did. It’s human nature that he took for granted the January success. But, that alone is antithetical to NBA head coaching where nothing is taken for granted and everything can blow up in a matter of seconds because of injury, bad luck, officiating or selfishness.
At the bitter end, when Budenholzer didn’t have any answers while the rest of us seemingly did, it only emphasized his playoff inexperience as the man in charge. Was he in over his head?
There is never a do-over in sports. You have to live with what you created. Nothing changes the end result. It is a part of the record, a page in history written in ink. But, as bleak as that may sound in the present, another Atlanta Hawks season with its complexities and personalities and challenges is ready to be met.
The honeymoon is now over for Mike Budenholzer. The marriage is entering year three. He is one of two things. He is the coach who is good enough to take you to the Conference Finals but cannot make it farther than that. Or, he is the coach who can make champions out of men.
This year will tell. Budenholzer’s success altered what everyone expects from him. It is, forevermore, Conference Finals or bust for Mike Budenholzer.