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 --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 125.228.179.190