Will the Schlenk/Budenholzer partnership work?

[Jamaaliver]

On Friday, the Hawks introduced Travis Schlenk as head of basketball operations and general manager...

Budenholzer wasn’t in attendance Friday, being otherwise occupied with his son’s high school graduation.

Here’s how Schlenk described the new GM/coach dynamic: “Bud and I were acquaintances. We’ve been spending four or five hours a day together. There’s no reason to believe there’ll be any issues with coach and (me). He’s one of best coaches in league, in my opinion. We’re a partnership. We’re in this together. I know he feels the same way. I think we’re going to have a real strong working relationship.”

From Schlenk’s measured statements, [his] plan didn’t sound as if it would be “Win Now.” More than once he spoke of “flexibility,” saying, “When a trade or an acquisition of a superstar becomes available, we want to make sure we’re in a position to do that.”

I’m not sure Budenholzer will like what’s coming. Me, I put the over/under on the Schlenk/Bud pairing at two years.

myAJC

[Jamaaliver]

By all accounts, Schlenk knows what he’s doing. He’s an independent thinker with an outsider’s perspective, which will serve him well in a front office that needed some shaking up. The Hawks’ office needed a fresh approach...

What happens the first time Schlenk tries to make sense of the Mike Budenholzer-Dwight Howard-Dennis Schroder devil’s triangle?

What happens the first time Schlenk bangs noggins with his coach and former team president, Budenholzer, who hasn’t spoken publicly (beyond a team-crafted statement) on his demotion?

...neither Schlenk nor Ressler anticipate problems. Schlenk said he spent a few days with Budenholzer this week, getting to know each other and going over personnel and basketball philosophy. Schlenk said he came away with a positive feeling, and that’s good because this is a prickly situation, and the Hawks are not the easiest of the NBA’s fix-it jobs.

Schlenk said it took seven years at Golden State to build a championship-caliber team.

The Hawks aren’t nearly at that level. No player, no trade, no move is off the table...

myAJC


One columnist gives this pairing two years before it comes to an inevitable end.

Their relationship is probably the most important in recent Hawks memory.

Thoughts?
Predictions?

Concerns?

[tbhawksfan1]

There are 30 nba coaching positions; Bud has one of them. Unless Pop wants Bud to replace him, I think Bud stays.

[Geaux_Hawks]

I picked match made in Heaven. As long as Bud has job security, then whatever direction Schlenk decides to go in, Bud will follow. Bud gets to go back to focusing on coaching, and let someone else answer to the boss on basketball moves.

[tbhawksfan1]

Bud and Wilcox didn't. Wilcox wanted to trade Sap at the deadline. Very bad choice to over-rule him (Bud, Ressler) Bud needs to step back and accept his and Schlenk's roles. Bud should have input, but it's Schlenk's team now.

Budball and GSW model are compatible. They could/should fit well together.

[Jamaaliver]

ATLANTA --The Atlanta Hawks have named Mike Budenholzer (BEW-den-holzer) the team’s new head coach, President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ferry announced today. Budenholzer becomes the 12th full-time head coach in Hawks history.

Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

May 2013



Anyone know how many years Budenholzer signed on for when hired as coach? I can't find that number anywhere.

Was he extended when he took the PBO position in 2015?

I'm trying to get a feel for when Bud's contract will be up. If it's soon, and we don't bring back Millsap, I could definitely see him leveraging his way back to SAS to replace Pop -- should our rebuild become too trying.

[ATL Boy]

ATLANTA --The Atlanta Hawks have named Mike Budenholzer (BEW-den-holzer) the team’s new head coach, President of Basketball Operations/General Manager Danny Ferry announced today. Budenholzer becomes the 12th full-time head coach in Hawks history. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not announced.

May 2013



Anyone know how many years Budenholzer signed on for when hired as coach? I can't find that number anywhere.

Was he extended when he took the PBO position in 2015?

I'm trying to get a feel for when Bud's contract will be up. If it's soon, and we don't bring back Millsap, I could definitely see him leveraging his way back to SAS to replace Pop -- should our rebuild become too trying.

I think I remember him signing a 3 year deal at first. I have no idea what his current contract is, however.


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[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

Trav has been hitting the press circuit hard in his first few weeks.

Interesting interview. Trav Schlenk takes an indirect shot at his predecessors in the front office. His take, after talking to a number of Hawks fans, is that most don't believe that the franchise has had much direction or much of a plan the past few years.

He reassures that he has a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C all in mind.

...it's an interesting quote.

Also noteworthy: We haven't heard Bud speak on the record since he released that statement after Trav's hire?

He also missed Trav's Introductory Press Conference (reportedly to attend his sons HS graduation).

Macon.com at the 6 minute mark.


NOTE: At the 15 minute mark, he jokes that he can't stand Mike Budenholzer. Then laughs hysterically, stating that Bud is a top coach in the league and they get along great. He admits there was some hesitation coming aboard with a coach already here, but mentions several times that Mike has a great personality and the two have gotten to know each other very well, very quickly.

This is a good sign.

[Jamaaliver]

Schlenk’s job is to build a winning organization. He can’t do that if there’s a division in his front office or a problem in the locker room. He understands that he and Budenholzer have to be on the same page or it’s not going to work.

The Hawks’ front office was known to be wound a little tightly under Budenholzer and Wilcox, and even in the short but impressive era under former general manager Danny Ferry. That has changed under Schlenk, who has created a looser atmosphere, which was the norm at Golden State.

Nobody can predict how coach Mike Budenholzer will respond to having a new boss – he has yet to speak publicly since stepping down as president of basketball operations – but Schlenk appears to have unified a front office that too often was fractured with Budenholzer and Wes Wilcox at the helm.

myAJC


Bud's silence since 'stepping down' is...deafening.

And noteworthy.

Read on Twitter

Bud not exactly in hiding, but clearly he's keeping a low profile.

[tbhawksfan1]

Bud's low profile is really to be expected. if he wasn't such a good coach he would have accompanied Wilcox out the door for their atrocious GMing. I just hope that Bud hasn't taken too much of a confidence hit to remain an effective coach.

I don't agree with the people that see him bailing. Not many nba head-coaching jobs out there. He has one of them on the Hawks.

This will be a huge season for Bud; very young talent depleted roster in full rebuild. Hope to see Bud step up and teach his system to this new young group of Hawks.

[Jamaaliver]

Reading them tea leaves...

Hearing the names we're rumored to be interested in, I'm not seeing Bud-ball type players.

• Collins plays poor Defense and can't shoot.
  
• Nerlens can't shoot and isn't much of a passer
  
• Jae Crowder can't shoot and is a limited, if willing, passer

Are we already seeing a clear divide in the kinds of players Trav prefers versus the players Bud likes?

Also: Bud still hasn't spoken publicly since his demotion...


Full Disclosure: Rumored targets Kelly Olynyk and Bojan Bogdonavich absolutely sound like Budball players. So...there's that.

[macd-gm]

Reading them tea leaves...

Hearing the names we're rumored to be interested in, I'm not seeing Bud-ball type players.

• Collins plays poor Defense and can't shoot.
  
• Nerlens can't shoot and isn't much of a passer
  
• Jae Crowder can't shoot and is a limited, if willing, passer

Are we already seeing a clear divide in the kinds of players Trav prefers versus the players Bud likes?

Also: Bud still hasn't spoken publicly since his demotion...

Crowder shot 40% from 3 and took 5.5/game last season. So I think he can shoot. I think we're going to be loading up on guys who can shoot the 3 as we should. And mobile centers. So I think that is Bud ball. Crowder, Belli, Bogdonavic, Olynk are all guys who shoot the 3 better than anyone on our team last year.

I agree that Noel doesn't seem like a Bud guy because he can't shoot but I think Bud got Dwight because he wanted a dedicated rebounder but failed to realize that Dwight doesn't move well enough for the system. Noel would be a more agile Dwight. There again we aren't going to get him i don't think. And I don't think he's going to be that great anyway so happy not to overpay for him.

[jayu70]

Reading them tea leaves...

Hearing the names we're rumored to be interested in, I'm not seeing Bud-ball type players.

• Collins plays poor Defense and can't shoot.
  
• Nerlens can't shoot and isn't much of a passer
  
• Jae Crowder can't shoot and is a limited, if willing, passer

Are we already seeing a clear divide in the kinds of players Trav prefers versus the players Bud likes?

Also: Bud still hasn't spoken publicly since his demotion...

Crowder shot 40% from 3 and took 5.5/game last season. So I think he can shoot. I think we're going to be loading up on guys who can shoot the 3 as we should. And mobile centers. So I think that is Bud ball. Crowder, Belli, Bogdonavic, Olynk are all guys who shoot the 3 better than anyone on our team last year.

I agree that Noel doesn't seem like a Bud guy because he can't shoot but I think Bud got Dwight because he wanted a dedicated rebounder but failed to realize that Dwight doesn't move well enough for the system. Noel would be a more agile Dwight. There again we aren't going to get him i don't think. And I don't think he's going to be that great anyway so happy not to overpay for him.

I thought the same about Noel but you are correct about the things he does well. Noel is also a decent passer. Thing is Dwight brought nothing else besides rebounding - his defense in the PnR was atrocious, he couldn't pass, wouldn't cut to the basket effectively. etc. Just didn;' move well enough and he lacked explosion at the rim.

[macd-gm]

To jamaaliver's point though (how do you tag someone?) , it would be nice to hear from Bud his confidence in the direction and what type of system we're going to be playing.

[ATL Boy]

To jamaaliver's point though (how do you tag someone?) , it would be nice to hear from Bud his confidence in the direction and what type of system we're going to be playing.

Just quote his post and he'll get a notification.


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[Jamaaliver]

From Bleacher Report

Coaches on the Hot Seat

Mike Budenholzer


New Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk insists everything's fine.

"I have no reason to believe that there'll be any issues with coach and I," Schlenk told reporters after taking the job in June. "I'm here to help him. It's a partnership. We're in this together. I can't be successful in my job in he's not successful in his job. I think we're going to have a very strong working relationship."

This is the right thing to say, but it's hard to know how meaningful it is. No incoming executive starts his press conference by listing all the people he can't wait to fire.

When you consider how Budenholzer was effectively stripped of personnel responsibilities by ownership after fighting off rebuilding efforts to the detriment of the team (Al Horford and Paul Millsap left for nothing in consecutive summers because Budenholzer was reluctant to trade them), it's hard to be confident in his security.

Perhaps against Budenholzer's wishes, the rebuild is on now.

And, broken record alert: Schlenk didn't hire Budenholzer. In charge of his first franchise after working under Bob Myers in Golden State, Schlenk should carry with him some of the collective, "everybody gets a say" spirit from the Warriors' organization. But he probably also wants to install personnel of his own choosing.

That may be bad news for Budenholzer, who led the Hawks to remarkable 60-win heights but may not be the right guy to guide the team through all the losing ahead.

[macd-gm]

From Bleacher Report

Coaches on the Hot Seat

Mike Budenholzer


New Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk insists everything's fine.

"I have no reason to believe that there'll be any issues with coach and I," Schlenk told reporters after taking the job in June. "I'm here to help him. It's a partnership. We're in this together. I can't be successful in my job in he's not successful in his job. I think we're going to have a very strong working relationship."

This is the right thing to say, but it's hard to know how meaningful it is. No incoming executive starts his press conference by listing all the people he can't wait to fire.

When you consider how Budenholzer was effectively stripped of personnel responsibilities by ownership after fighting off rebuilding efforts to the detriment of the team (Al Horford and Paul Millsap left for nothing in consecutive summers because Budenholzer was reluctant to trade them), it's hard to be confident in his security.

Perhaps against Budenholzer's wishes, the rebuild is on now.

And, broken record alert: Schlenk didn't hire Budenholzer. In charge of his first franchise after working under Bob Myers in Golden State, Schlenk should carry with him some of the collective, "everybody gets a say" spirit from the Warriors' organization. But he probably also wants to install personnel of his own choosing.

That may be bad news for Budenholzer, who led the Hawks to remarkable 60-win heights but may not be the right guy to guide the team through all the losing ahead.

On the bright side i think their philosophy for winning basketball is probably pretty similar. But Bud's total lack of visibility or public statements is still a little troubling to me. It'd be a huge mistake to let him go though. The guy is a helluva coach with potential to be one of the best of this generation of coaches.

Losing Al Horford for nothing was a mistake. Pinning Sap on Bud though is unfair. Bud and Sap had obviously talked and Bud I know was confident he could sign Sap to a really good deal and Resseller was all over that before Schlenk came around. Sap did sign for a team friendly deal, too bad it was with Denver. Bud played that one right. There was no way for him to see that he'd lose his job and Resseller would do a 180 on wanting Sap.

[Jamaaliver]

Read on Twitter

In his 4 seasons as the Atlanta Hawks head coach, Mike Budenholzer has made the playoffs each time, boasting a regular season record of 189-139, a .576-win ratio.

Budenholzer no longer has the core that led the team to a franchise record 60-win season; instead he now has to find a way to promote chemistry among his young squad. The trials and tribulations that come thereof will certainly test his ability through the next several years.

Mike Budenholzer recently ceded his position as president of basketball operations in May in order to focus more on his role as head coach. This gives Schlenk the ability to build the team as he sees fit, but it’s important that he and Budenholzer remain on the same page nonetheless.

With the rebuild set to last for a few years, Budenholzer [must] adapt to this new challenge and find the kind of success that doesn’t garner a trophy or a ring, but one that instead provides Atlanta with the solid foundation for another decade of postseason appearances.

[macd-gm]

Can someone go interview Bud for crying out loud? I mean we're 3 months into him stepping down, hiring a new gm, jettisoning all the big name players yet no comments at all.

[jayu70]

Can someone go interview Bud for crying out loud? I mean we're 3 months into him stepping down, hiring a new gm, jettisoning all the big name players yet no comments at all.

He was interviewed at SL if that helps.