CLEVELAND — If the Atlanta Hawks were a political campaign, they would be worried right now about the optics.
Their paid pollster would pore over a spreadsheet and sigh, while a team of strategic consultants shook their heads in dismay. "The optics," they would mutter. The optics look bad.
The ledger shows the Cleveland Cavaliers with three victories, and the Hawks with zero in the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals. Team LeBron is poised for a landslide victory, and the pundits are ready to pounce. "It's still a superstars' league," they will sneer.
This is not how the Hawks' campaign of hope and change was supposed to end.
Atlanta set out to win on traditional basketball values, of selflessness and character, on a spread-the-wealth offense and a salt-of-the-earth defense. They ran a campaign of egalitarian ideals, believing that a group of solid, skilled players could prevail over the NBA's entrenched superstar paradigm.
In this grim 11th hour of the campaign, they still believe.
"Still confident in it," Hawks guard Jeff Teague said Monday. "No matter what happens, still going t ...
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Article written by Howard Beck
On Brink of Elimination, Hawks Still Believe Star-Less Approach Will Win…Soon
May 26th, 2015 by Howard Beck Leave a reply »
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