[外電] Hawks say work is unfinished
Hawks say work is unfinished
By SEKOU SMITH
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 04/20/06
Cleveland —- Trying to process the past six months requires at
least a day or two of reflection for some.
But not for Hawks co-captain Joe Johnson. Before the Hawks
finished their season Wednesday night against Cleveland at
Quicken Loans Arena, losing 100-99, Johnson was clear about
what transpired during his first season with the Hawks and
what the future holds.
"I don't need time to process anything," he said defiantly. "I've
been thinking about it for weeks. I've looked at how we progressed
from the start of the season to now, and the reality is had we
done anything, anything at all, we'd be in the playoff hunt right
now instead of getting ready for the summer.
"We started this thing 2-16 man, 2-16. It's virtually impossible
to recover from a start like that. But that's why this season is
so valuable for all of us, especially our young guys. I was
talking to Josh [Smith] about it on the floor at the end of the
game [Tuesday night]. Coming into next year it's going to
necessary for us to show up ready to go from the first day of
camp. We have to be ready to play because next year won't be a
joke. We have to be in the playoff hunt this time next year."
The Hawks harbored pipe dreams of getting there this season. But
those plans were derailed on Oct. 15 when backup center and
veteran presence Jason Collier died suddenly from heart failure.
Already boasting the league's youngest team, Johnson admitted
that the Hawks struggled emotionally in the wake of Collier's
death.
Although they never used those struggles off the floor as an
excuse, it was easy to see how Collier's death scrambled the
team's on-court focus as well.
"I wouldn't dare use that as an excuse for the way we played
this season," insisted Johnson, who broke the Hawks franchise
record for minutes played in a season in his fifth NBA season.
"That wouldn't be fair to Jason, his family or his legacy. But
the truth is we didn't know how to drag ourselves back up after
something like that knocks you down. We're professionals and we
had a job to do, so we had to play the games and try our best to
move on. But that's something you can never just get totally out
of your mind. It's always in the back of your mind."
The focus from this point on, however, is chasing that elusive
playoff berth —- the Hawks, who finished 26-56, have missed out
on the postseason for seven consecutive seasons. A 13-game
improvement from last season —- the third-best turnaround in
the league behind New Orleans (+20) and Utah (+16) —- has
Johnson and his teammates believing that the franchise's
seven-year swoon is coming to an end sooner rather than later.
"We're definitely going to be a much better team next year," said
fellow co-captain Al Harrington, whose status for next season
remains a mystery since he'll be one of the most coveted free
agents on the market this summer. "This season was tough, no
doubt, coming out of the blocks and trying to deal with everything
we had to deal with.
"But there is no doubt in my mind that this team, no matter who is
in uniform, will be scratching and clawing its way to the playoffs
next season."
資料來源
http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0420hawks.html
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