The Atlanta Hawks were developing Jalen Johnson against the New York Knicks
The Atlanta Hawks took on the New York Knicks in their first Christmas Day game since the 1980s. This was meant to be a matchup between Trae Young and Julius Randle in the biggest setting since the playoffs where the Hawks famously took the series 4-1.
This was taken from us by the pandemic with Young being the first Hawks player to enter the NBA’s health and safety protocols just prior to the Cleveland Cavaliers game which was postponed. Then the team had huge numbers of players follow him into the protocols.
As a result, the Hawks called up Jalen Johnson along with their two-way players Sharife Cooper and Skylar Mays. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Cooper went into the protocols which stopped the Hawks from being able to develop him over this time. They have seen Mays blossom before their eyes through this period as well.
The Atlanta Hawks started to develop Jalen Johnson against the Knicks
We saw it last season when Nate McMillan took over. The Hawks had missed the opportunity to develop Onyeka Okongwu under Lloyd Pierce, and McMillan set about righting that ship immediately. Given that Johnson has played more in the G League, McMillan has not had much ability on game-day to develop Johnson.
That changed against the Knicks which Johnson had to play valuable minutes. He had struggled in the previous two games but when he hit the floor against New York, he appeared to have been given one task. That task was to get on the boards, which he took to with great vigor.
In the first half, Johnson played just over eight and a half minutes. During that time he only took one shot, which he incidentally missed. However, he did collect five rebounds, focussing all of his energy on that skill.
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This is a big part of the way that McMillan develops a player. He sends you on the court with a specific goal and sees if you can accomplish it. Once he believes that you have mastered it, he will then add more. It worked so well for Okongwu last season and it should see Johnson getting good minutes when the playoffs come around.