Atlanta Hawks management is hopeful that Jason Collins, whom the Hawks re-signed after one unremarkable season in the Highlight Factory, can contribute more this year than he did last year, reports Michael Bradley of the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Atlanta thinks Collins will be more effective in 2010-11 because he will be in better shape. Word is he’s already lost a significant amount of weight. Also, ASG’s Michael Gearon Jr. is on record as saying (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) he didn’t think Collins was properly utilized by Woody [former Hawks coach Mike Woodson]. So maybe L.D. [new Hawks coach Larry Drew] gets Collins gets more minutes.
To review, he only played 115 minutes over 24 games last year, scoring 16 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and committing 21 fouls. Almost anything would have to be an improvement.
The reaction from Hawks blogs echoes that sentiment. SB Nation’s own Peachtree Hoops says “I would have much preferred someone with a little more upside to them,” while Hoopinion writes that signing him with the expectation that he’ll contribute is “breathtakingly misguided.”