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Good read. However, the Hawks are a very good team but they haven't and probably won't win a Championship anytime soon. They'll be a good team for quite a few years but I doubt they make it to the top.
Hawks provide blueprint
Mike Monroe
When ice storms disrupt travel in Oklahoma City and Memphis, you know it is no ordinary winter.
While the Spurs strained Friday to get past the Grizzlies at the AT&T Center, the Thunder were thoroughly dominating the Nuggets on an Oklahoma night fit for neither man nor beast.
After Roger Mason Jr.'s fourth-quarter 3-pointers enabled the Spurs to avenge a prior loss in Memphis, the Grizzlies hustled for a charter flight they hoped would beat the awful weather to Memphis, where they were to play the Hornets on Saturday.
One of these two up-and-coming teams has a chance to ease into the playoffs if it can avoid a nasty slip-and-fall before season's end.
More importantly, both appear positioned for runs up the Western standings in future seasons.
The power structure at the top of the West isn't going to change as long as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd and the Spurs' Big Three remain healthy and productive.
Still, the Thunder and Grizzlies need look no further than Atlanta for proof that patience pays.
When the Hawks squeezed into the Eastern playoffs two years ago, Atlanta coach Mike Woodson was the reason the Hawks didn't suffer what was supposed to have been a quick first-round exit against the top-seeded Celtics. Instead, the Hawks won all three of their home games, forcing the eventual NBA champs to win Game 7 in Boston.
Woodson's job was saved, and the Hawks on Friday completed a 4-0 season sweep of the Celtics and loom as the biggest threat to the Cavaliers in the East.
Gregg Popovich once was a few losses from dismissal early in his second full season as Spurs head coach. He understands the benefit of management forbearance.
“I'm happy for the Hawks, especially for Woody,” Popovich said before his Spurs scored one of their biggest wins of the season on Wednesday. “He's a good man, and it's neat to see management stick with him when things weren't going well. He's proved to them that a little bit of continuity and staying power can create a pretty damn good product.
“They're really enjoying what they've sown. It's a great example of what can be done if people don't act like typical Americans with typical instant gratification syndrome and realize that good things might actually take a while sometimes.”
Scott Brooks is in his first full season coaching the Thunder; Lionel Hollins is in his first season with the Grizzlies. Both have young rosters with stars capable of winning games with remarkable skills and giving them away with youthful mistakes.
Fans of both teams are illated by the prospect of the playoffs, but the teams they have to move out of the postseason tournament — the Hornets, Rockets and Suns — have veterans who understand late-season pressure.
The Thunder won't be a Western le contender until they land a legitimate center.
The Grizzlies may be hamstrung for several years waiting for Hasheem Thabeet to develop a rudimentary offensive game.
Gratification won't be instant for either franchise, but the Hawks prove the results can be worth the wait.
Good read. However, the Hawks are a very good team but they haven't and probably won't win a Championship anytime soon. They'll be a good team for quite a few years but I doubt they make it to the top.
the Spurs' Big Three remain healthy and productive
The Spurs Big Three hasn't been healthy in a couple of years' running.
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