Dwight Howard raves about Mike Budenholzer's guidance

Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard raves about his new head coach Mike Budenholzer in regards to how much better he is making Howard.

When Dwight Howard decided to bring his talents last summer to his home team, the Atlanta Hawks, he knew he'd have a good coach with a good staff, but he never imagined it to be better than he expected.

The eight-time All-Star only had good words to say about head coach, Mike Budenholzer, and the entire coaching and training staff and went as far as calling them “the best” and talked about how much understanding they all have.

“It’s the best. It’s the best. So grateful to be in this situation. They’ve done an amazing job, the training staff, the coaching staff. Bud has done an amazing job. We have a growing relationship that has been great so far. We are really understanding each other. And it’s good. I love having him as a coach. From the first time I met him until now, we’ve had a great connection. We want to continue that. I love how he holds me accountable every single day to be the guy for the team to lead them in the right direction. When I’m not doing the right things, he is on me. When I am doing the right things, he pushes me to do more. It’s just a great feeling.”

Howard has had a good start to the season and helping the Hawks to a 7-2 record. He has shown content with his teammates and once again talked about the accountability Budenholzer has held them to.

“I think we’ve close to where we can be as a team. One thing I can say is that this group is hungry. Coach is holding us accountable every single day to get better, continue to grow as a team. We want that. I think all of us want to win really bad. It starts, like I’ve been saying all year, in practice, in the weight room, all the little things that people don’t see. That’s where it starts.”

If the Hawks continue to play the way they have done in their first nine games, there's no doubt they can become one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference and contend against the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers. With Howard anchoring their defense and playing inspired basketball, their goal of winning the East might not be impossible of reach.