Take all the ages of Hawks starters, and it averages out to about 24-and-a-half years.
That’s a group consisting of Trae Young (22), Kevin Huerter (22), Bogdan Bogdanovic (28), John Collins (23) and Clint Capela (27), which battled the Bucks well but ended up losing in six games, with the Hawks’ remarkable playoff run coming to a close Saturday.
Take all the ages of Bucks starters, and it averages out to 31 (that’s Jrue Holiday, 31, Khris Middleton, 29, Brook Lopez, 33, P.J. Tucker, 36, and Bobby Portis, 26). If Giannis Antetokounmpo, age 26, were playing (he missed the final two games of the series with a hyperextended left knee), that average stays the same.
For many of the Hawks’ key players, including four starters (Young, Huerter, Bogdanovic and Collins), this marked their first experience in the NBA playoffs. Largely, they excelled, showing poise in big moments and continuing the unprecedented turnaround under interim coach Nate McMillan, defying the odds to win two playoff series and knock off Philly, the top team in the East.
The Hawks view this playoff run as the beginning of continued success, as opposed to an ending, and that postseason experience will be invaluable for younger and less experienced players moving forward.
“You look at the roster from (Game 6), and you saw the age difference in I think the starting lineups, it’s crazy,” Young said. “But it’s good for us. And I think it only helps us. Hopefully it fuels everybody that we want more of this. This isn’t something we want to taste once and not get back to. So as long as everybody’s motivated and continues to work this offseason, I can see this team getting here and even further next year, with the hunger and fight that we have.”
At age 21, Cam Reddish came off the bench Saturday night to make six 3-pointers and lead a comeback attempt with a team-high 21 points, after recently returning from a long-term Achilles injury. De’Andre Hunter, 23, played good minutes in the Hawks’ first-round series vs. the Knicks, before undergoing season-ending surgery on a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee June 15.
Rookie Onyeka Okongwu, 20, flashed major potential on this run, showing he has the pieces to compete well in the NBA, after a slow start to the season. This was the first playoff run for those three guys, as well.
The Hawks learned what it takes to win at a high level, no easy task, particularly once you’re battling good teams every other day in the playoffs. Of course, with the offseason comes potential roster moves, but experience was the one thing this group, as-is, was missing, Collins thinks.
And now they have it.
“We got to taste a little bit of that,” Collins said. “Obviously, it didn’t end the way we wanted, but I feel like that was the most important part. I definitely feel like we have the young talent — Dre, myself, Cam, Trae, everybody here. I feel like the young core is here, the veterans are here, the coaching. We just needed some experience to hang our hat on and understand what it feels like.”
As much as veterans with playoff experience (Lou Williams, Danilo Gallinari, Capela) can share wisdom, there’s nothing like firsthand experience for a young group.
That understanding of what the playoffs are like, and what the Hawks will have to do to get there again or potentially advance even further, is “everything,” Huerter said, as they aim to build on it next year.
“There’s no better way to learn how something is, unless you experience it yourself,” Huerter said. “Just what it takes to get here. The last month-and-a-half, really all year, it’s a grind. It’s tough to win in the regular season, it’s even tougher to win in the playoffs. The level of teams, how the game changes, everything is so different. Going to be invaluable moving forward. Obviously if we want to make that next step and win two more games in these Eastern Conference finals and get to (an NBA) Finals, and even then, that’s another step up. This has been great.”
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