Atlanta Hawks: Nate McMillan is one of the best motivators
The Atlanta Hawks signed Nate McMillan to a long-term deal over the offseason and this was most certainly the right move for the franchise. The Hawks were sitting in 11th when he took over just prior to the All-Star break. He then guided the team on an 8-0 run which eventually led to the Hawks finishing in the fifth seed.
The team benefitted from his systems and structure and as a result, they had one of the best records in the NBA after the break. As history will tell us, the Hawks finished two games away from the NBA finals, going down to the eventual champions the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals.
If Trae Young had not had the freak accident where he stood on the referee’s foot and damaged his ankle who knows what could have been for the Hawks. The thing is that McMillan was able to achieve this with basically the same roster as the ex-head coach Lloyd Pierce.
The Atlanta Hawks bench boss Nate McMillan is clearly a tremendous leader of men
The Hawks bought into McMillan’s game plan and belief structure to a man last season. He had them playing offense at a high level and intelligently on the defensive end of the court, he even had Trae Young play defense in the Eastern Conference Finals.
What was even more impressive was that McMillan was able to do this without two of the better defenders on the roster, Cam Reddish and De’Andre Hunter. This just shows how well McMillan has been able to connect with his players.
He should have most probably won coach of the year given what he was able to accomplish with the players he had available. He was recognized in the GM survey as being one of the best managers/motivators of people in the league.
dark. Next. Chemistry will be hard to acheive in the preseason
He may have only received one vote but it is still a level of recognition for the way that he handled the team once he took over, especially after losing his job with the Indiana Pacers the season before.