Pierce: it is time for young team to become winner
Lloyd Pierce sees improvement in each of the five players he calls the core of the rebuilding Atlanta Hawks.
There is pressure for the coach to deliver proof of that growth. Pierce says it’s time for a young team led by Trae Young to become a winner.
Young averaged 29.6 points and 9.3 assists and earned the All-star berth in only his second season. Young and John Collins give the team two young high-scoring starters and reason to hope a streak of three straight losing seasons will end.
“The excitement is the possibility of what they can become as they continue to grow together,” Pierce said Tuesday. “I’m always focused on the big picture and it’s really about getting those guys to all be a we team and to play together and for us to grow in the same way these guys have done individually.”
Pierce said in April the Hawks “need to make a major jump next year.”
Atlanta’s 20-47 record provided no proof of improvement. The Hawks finished in a virtual tie for last in the Eastern Conference, percentage points ahead of Cleveland.
The Hawks are one of eight teams who were excluded from the NBA’S plan to complete the season.
SCRIMMAGES ANYONE?
Atlanta was eliminated from the playoffs before the season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The team could face more than eight months away from meaningful competition. There is a concern the void could rob the core five — Young, Collins, De’andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter — of court time that is essential to their development.
Pierce and Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk are lobbying for the bottom eight teams to conduct scrimmages against other teams. Schlenk says complications include negotiations with the players union and possibly excluding players entering free agency.
Schlenk said the possibility of an eight-month layoff is “obviously a concern. One of the most important things for our guys is to continue to play.”
YOUNG FINDS A GAME
Without the approval of the team, Young played against current and former college players in a game in the Oklahoma City’s Skinz League last week. When video of the game surfaced, it was used in the Hawks’ case for the NBA to approve practices and scrimmages for the bottom eight teams.
“I think the beauty of it is we were able to see why this proposal is important,” Pierce said. “Our guys want to play.”
Pierce said Young’s freelance game was a surprise.
“No, we didn’t know but I think it’s educational for the league and it’s part of the proposal,” Pierce said. “Can we provide a safe environment for our players against other NBA players if we’re able to monitor it, if only for a short while, so we can avoid that temptation.”
Pierce said he used Young’s game as a reminder for players “to stay patient as we put together a plan for them.”