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2/3/2010 Hawks teach valuable lesson: Life after… NEWSOK NEWS SPORTS BUSINESS LIFE A&E MULTIMEDIA WEATHER OPINION VOICES CLASSIFIEDS JOBSOK CARSOK HOMESOK Berry Tramel's Blog Thoughts from The Oklahoman Sports Columnist Berry Tramel | NewsOK.com NewsOK Blogging Community Home Contact Berry NewsOK | Berry Tramel Articles HawksNewsOK teach| Sports valuable lesson: Life after mistakes Posted by berrytramel on February 2, 2010M at 11:28 pm It’s become popular – and quite correct – to compare the Thunder to the Portland TrailBlazers in terms of rebuilding and how quickly it has taken both franchises. They are on the virtual same trajectory, the only difference being Portland started two years earlier. But don’t forget the Atlanta Hawks when comparing rebuilding franchises. They, too, are two years ahead of the Thunder but started from about the same situation. The Hawks made their only Ford Center appearance of the season Tuesday night, when the Thunder won 106- 99 in a rousing game. And we saw why Atlanta joins Portland, Memphis and OKC as soaring NBA franchises attempting to crash the NBA’s elite level. The Hawks might get there first. They might already be there. Atlanta’s rebuilding job is even more impressive than the Thunder’s. The Hawks rebuilt after going 28-54 in 2003-04. And the rebuilding wasn’t pretty. Atlanta went 13-69, 26-56, 30-52 and 37-45 the next four years. But the Hawks made the playoffs in the soft Eastern Conference with that 37-45 record. Last season, Atlanta went 47-35 and won a playoff series. This year, the Hawks are 30-17 and challenging Orlando and Boston for the East’s No. 2 seed. The Hawks are the only team in the league to improve its victory total four straight years. “The Hawks have done a great job,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “They drafted a very good group, they acquired a very good group and they’ve stayed with it. They’ve improved every year. “NBA teams that build and sustain, that’s what they do.” The Hawks are great inspiration for rising franchises. They’re reaching the elite level despite some big misses. In 2004, Atlanta drafted Josh Childress with the sixth overall pick. He played four seasons and was productive; 11.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 31.3 minutes per game. Think a slightly inferior Jeff Green. Then Childress bolted the Hawks for a $20-million, 3-year contract in Greece. In 2005, Atlanta had the No. 2 overall pick and drafted North Carolina’s Marvin Williams. A solid ballplayer. The Jazz had the third pick and chose Deron Williams. The Hornets had the fourth pick and took Chris Paul. So in back-to-back, premium drafts, the Hawks selected a short-timer and passed on an all-star point guard. …newsok.com/…/hawks-teach-valuable… 1/6 2/3/2010 Hawks teach valuable lesson: Life after… And yet Atlanta still excels, with draft picks (Josh Smith, Al Horford, Marvin Williams) and trades (Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford, Mike Bibby). The lesson is strong. Teams are going to make mistakes. Not every draft pick will be a hit. Not every cornerstone will stick. But keep plugging, keep believing, don’t panic, and good things can happen. The Thunder has yet to lay such dinosaur eggs. But it will. It’s bound to happen. The Hawks prove that such misses don’t have to derail high hopes. Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Categorized under: sports If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader. Comments Comment by Ray on February 3, 2010 @ 6:44 am Sam does a great job of drafting players that fit the team and the city. It’s interesting that most of the Thunder players are from really big cities but, don’t make a big deal about how small OKC is in comparison. My guess is that Salt Lake City and OKC probably get more skeptics who question that the players will want to play there. I think that aspect is overrated. The players who want to win look for organizations that want to win and who do things the right way. They can make money anywhere. 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I like the move. 12 days ago Berry Tramel I'm about to start a chat on newsok.com. Join me from 11 a.m. to 11:30. 13 days ago Berry Tramel OU & OSU spring games both April 17. OU is always early afternoon. Maybe OSU will go evening. I'd like to see both. 14 days ago Berry Tramel Chan Gailey to coach the Buffalo Bills? Well, I guess he's better than Dave Campo. 14 days ago Recent Posts Hawks teach valuable lesson: Life after mistakes Thunder locker room a happy place Why Kenny Sally went to South Carolina, not OU Pitt to the Big Ten? What now, Mizzou? Emails in on NFL & media’s treatment of OKC Meta Log in Entries RSS Comments RSS WordPress.org Buy photos from NewsOK Berry Tramel Columns Berry Tramel: Thunder soaring like a Hawk February 2, 2010 Joe Johnson hit a 3-pointer, Mike Bibby hit another 23 seconds later and gone was the Thunder lead, which once stood at 13 points.Gone, too, was the Ford Center revelry in anticipation that the Thunder would win this Tuesday night battle of fast-rising NBA teams."If the building was a little nervous, the coach on the floor was just as nervous,” said Thu […] Berry Tramel: Behind recruiting curtain February 1, 2010 College football programs all over America come rejoicing this week, bringing in the sheaves. They will sign ballplayers who eventually will determine whether they’re bowling in Pasadena or Shreveport or not at all.It’s all a great mystery, this recruiting roundup that gets everyone in a lather.Read more on NewsOK.com […] Standings change nightly in wild, wild Western Conference January 31, 2010 They say they don’t look much at the standings, these Oklahoma City ballplayers who are making the NBA rethink its idea of rebuilding.Maybe they’re shooting straight with us, which is what they did Sunday night against the Warriors, winning 112-104 via 51.3 percent shooting.Guys this young, most of who never have been in a playoff race, might think the posts […] Oklahoma fans still love Uwe von Schamann January 28, 2010 Pal of mine picked up a 10-year-old kid on the carpool circuit Monday morning. Kid was bummed about Garrett Hartley’s winning field goal that beat Minnesota in the NFC Championship Game."Can’t make it against Oregon, but he beats the Vikings,” said the kid, a big OU and Adrian Peterson fan.With all the nonsense at the end of that Oklahoma-Oregon game, h […] Berry Tramel: CC Sabathia thrives in New York January 26, 2010 CC Sabathia signed up for the charcoal. Volunteered for the pressure cooker.Read more on NewsOK.com […] Powered by Wordpress | WP Premium theme by WP Remix Copyright 2007. Berry Tramel's Blog. All rights reserved …newsok.com/…/hawks-teach-valuable… 5/6 2/3/2010 Hawks teach valuable lesson: Life after… Home Contact Berry NewsOK | Berry Tramel Articles NewsOK | Sports …newsok.com/…/hawks-teach-valuable… 6/6.