Drew Is Soaring as Happy Hawk
CLEVELAND- Someone once said John Drew has to be perfect to be average. He has been belittled and booed for things he doesn't do and seldom cheered for his accomplishments.
Drew is the enigmatic forward for the Atlanta Hawks, who recently has been carrying the team on his back.
He is on the road to leading Atlanta in scoring for the eighth straight season. He is away from the constant criticism of former coach Hubie Brown and now playing for a man who boosts his ego and pats his pride, Kevin Loughery.
Drew is doing things he hasn’t done in recent seasons. He has improved defense, rebounding and passing.
“John is playing with a lot more enthusiasm than in the last couple years.” says teammate Steve Hawes. “It’s making him think about other things than shooting the ball. He’s passing it.”
“You can tell the difference in his overall game.” adds guard Eddie Johnson.
“I really think he is playing All-Star basketball.” says Loughery
“I’m happier.” says Drew. “No player completely satisfied. It could be better and it will be better.”
“It’s great when a couch appreciates what you’re doing. I want to play as long as I’m happy. A couple years ago I wasn’t all that happy.”
After this sophomore year at Garden-Webb College in North Carolina, Drew applied for the hardship draft and was picked by the Hawks in the second round in 1974.
As a rookie, Drew averaged 29 minutes and 18.5 points under former coach Cotton Fitzsimmons. Brown became the Atlanta coach in 1976 and almost immediately, his relationship with Drew became volatile. Brown complained publicly about Drew. This criticism never seemed to subside.
Until the day he left the Hawks, Brown tried to trade Drew.
There were complaints about Drew’s toughness and intelligence. Drew remained
calm throughout it all.
“Hey.” said Drew. “You can’t beat Hubie Brown with words.”
Drew admits that a couple of years ago things were so bad he wanted to be traded. “I’m happy I didn’t go.” Drew now says in retrospect.
“The bad raps I got hurt me because a lot of the fans didn’t totally know. People believe what they read and what they want to believe, not necessarily what is true.”
“That’s passed. I’m happy now. We all work together. We know each other well and if we can just get completely healthy as a team we would be fine.”
Drew and Loughery huddled prior to the season and the coach told the player what he expected of him. “He (Loughery) said I wasn’t rebounding well enough. Since then I’ve worked hard to improve. Things are fine now. The management here did a great thing in hiring Kevin. He is the best thing that has happened here.”
Drew us averaging nearly 20 points per game this season, passing the ball more, rebounding a touch better and having the time of his professional life.
At 28, Drew has several years before time takes him away from it all. He doesn’t want to think about it.
On many of these winter nights, Drew is beginning to hear some cheers from the Omni faithful. Maybe, jus maybe, his image is changing. He would like that.
* * *
The Chicago bulls are struggling and coach Jerry Sloan has been getting his share of heat, similar to last winter when the team didn’t really generate any excitement until March. On February 4, Bulls General Manger Rod Thorn gave Sloan a “vote of confidence.” “I told Sloan we didn’t have any plans at this time to remove him as coach,” said Thorn. “Thorn just said I was still here and to try to work and get these guys to play as well as they can,” said Sloan. There have been discussions between Thorn and Bulls managing partner Jonathan Kovler regarding Thorn take over the bench duties. Thorn, however, has dined it.
The Indiana Pacers, struggling on the court as well as at the box office, are for sale. Pacers fans hope some local people can come up with enough money to buy out Californian Sam Nassi, the principal owner. The Pacers are averaging 8,400 per night and like some 17 other NBA clubs, the outgo is greater than the income . . . . Nassi turned over the club operation to limited partner Frank Mariani, who will act as president. However, Mariani also lives in California and the day-to-day club supervision is left to General Manger Bob Salyers . . . George McGinnis suffered a knee injury by pushing his car, stuck in a snow drift. It’s been a long winter in Indy. One bright spot for the Pacers is guard Don Buse, who is hitting on 43 percent of his three-point attempts, connecting on 49 of his 133 shots. Buse also has been careful with the basketball, making just 62 turnovers in his first 48 games . . . The Cavaliers won four of five games and then returned to normal, squandering sizable leads in the next two games, both defeats. Guard Geoff Huston is one positive basketball story in Cleveland. The third-year pro is seventh in the league in assists, with 7.7 per contest.
This article by Bill Nichols appeared in The
Sporting News February 27, 1982
Reproduced with permission of the author.