What a year for Nate McMillan! There is still a year, then coach of the Pacers, the strategist was preparing to prepare his team for the “bubble”. Despite the serious injury of his major player in January 2019, Victor Oladipo, he had kept his team afloat in the regular season, thanks in particular to the explosion of Domantas Sabonis.
The problem is that the team can not continue in the playoffs, with four eliminations in a row in the first round under his orders, including two naughty “sweeps” to finish. Domantas Saboni is however injured, Victor Oladipo not at all recovered, but the coach is let go by his group, including Malcolm Brogdon and a majority of his executives, who criticize his methods and strategies, and Nate McMillan takes the door two weeks after having been extended …
An astonishing choice which forced the technician to move back, by accepting a post of assistant to the Hawks, to jump better. And after a failed start to the season in relation to recruitments (Clint Capela, Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bgodanovic, Rajon Rondo …), Lloyd Pierce is fired, replaced by a Nate McMillan who then set up a “commando” mindset within a young team from Atlanta whose talent was eager to express itself.
“I thought we had talent and that we could be a good team”, he recalled about this moment when he took the reins of the team, on March 1. “In terms of predicting the future, I don’t look at a team that way, because it’s so hard to win in this league. What we tried to do was build an identity that would allow us to win games, create a style that would allow these guys to score victories. It starts with respecting this game, playing hard every night, playing together, and believing in each other. These are the things that I relied on for this group. Even though he was young, I felt that this group had talent. And if we could transcribe that into our system, and simply learn to execute, play to win, I thought we could win a few matches ”.
A necessary framework for young Hawks
In any case, his appointment had the effect of an electric shock, enhanced by the return to business of Bogdan Bogdanovic. So at 14 wins for 20 losses, the Hawks have a series of successes and go up to 5th place in the East.
Since taking power, Nate McMillan has accumulated 35 wins for 15 losses: 27-11 in the regular season and 8-4 in the playoffs. If the veterans of the Pacers complained about the too tight framework imposed by the coach, the Hawks obviously needed it to pass a course and find certainties within the league.
“Since the first day, when he took the job, we felt he was trying to install a completely different vibe in our locker room”, for his part confided Clint Capela after Game 7 won in Philly. “In every game, he was clear about what we had to do. With each of his speeches, you could feel that he really wanted to move us. With each warm-up, each training, we really knew what each person’s role was. We knew how to win games. Today, everyone knows what they have to do to help this team win, and there is a lot to do with it ”.
Fifth in the ranking of the best coach of the season, Nate McMillan has chained two exploits in the playoffs, leaving the Knicks and Philadelphia, first in the Eastern Conference, without the home advantage. But how far will he go? As long as his proteges apply the basics of his playing principles, Atlanta can continue to dream.
“I always take a game every time, I don’t look too far into the future, never further than the next game. This is my approach. As for when I took the team and thinking it would make it this far, I think anything is possible if you play this game the right way, that you are in it. ‘effort that you bring in the field, and that you play with this determination, that you play with the sense of sacrifice, that’s what these guys have done so far “, he concluded, always pragmatic.
| Tirs | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Bring young | 63 | 33.7 | 43.8 | 34.3 | 88.6 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 9.4 | 4.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 25.3 |
| John Collins | 63 | 29.3 | 55.6 | 39.9 | 83.3 | 1.9 | 5.5 | 7.4 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 3.1 | 17.6 |
| Bogdan Bogdanovic | 44 | 29.7 | 47.3 | 43.8 | 90.9 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.2 | 16.4 |
| Clint Chapel | 63 | 30.1 | 59.4 | 0.0 | 57.3 | 4.7 | 9.6 | 14.3 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 15.2 |
| De’andre Hunter | 23 | 29.5 | 48.4 | 32.6 | 85.9 | 0.7 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.6 | 15.0 |
| Danilo Gallinari | 51 | 24.0 | 43.4 | 40.6 | 92.5 | 0.3 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 13.3 |
| Kevin Huerter | 69 | 30.8 | 43.2 | 36.3 | 78.1 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 11.9 |
| Cam Reddish | 26 | 28.9 | 36.5 | 26.2 | 81.7 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 11.2 |
| Lou Williams | 24 | 21.0 | 38.9 | 44.4 | 87.0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 10.0 |
| Tony Snell | 47 | 21.1 | 51.5 | 56.9 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 5.3 |
| Brandon Goodwin | 47 | 13.2 | 37.7 | 31.1 | 65.1 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 4.9 |
| Onyeka Okongwu | 50 | 12.0 | 64.4 | 0.0 | 63.2 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 4.6 |
| Solomon Hill | 71 | 21.3 | 35.9 | 32.1 | 76.1 | 0.6 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 4.5 |
| Rondo region | 27 | 14.9 | 40.0 | 37.8 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 3.9 |
| Skylar Mays | 33 | 8.2 | 44.9 | 35.0 | 88.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 3.8 |
| Nathan Knight | 33 | 8.4 | 37.0 | 18.2 | 80.0 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 3.8 |
| Bruno Fernando | 33 | 6.8 | 40.9 | 0.0 | 68.2 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Kris Dunn | 4 | 11.3 | 8.3 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 1.2 |
