Hawks Need To Stop Playing Hot Potato

So far, the Atlanta Hawks have surpassed many people’s expectations. Starting off 9-3 through 12 games is definitely something to be proud of, but the Hawks still haven’t played their best basketball.

The Atlanta Hawks have the second best record in the Eastern Conference, right under the Cleveland Cavaliers. This comes as a surprise to many because of how many changes Atlanta made over this past off-season. It’s very rare for a team to lose it’s starting point guard and center at the same time. Even Rarer to come back the next season a top 10 team in the league. The loss of Jeff Teague and Al Horford hasn’t seemed to make a difference, though. From the average NBA fans perspective, it might even appear that the Hawks have gotten better.

This isn’t an outrageous statement to make. The Hawks are now top 10 in rebounding and scoring, top 3 in assist’s, top 10 in blocks and top 3 in steals. Atlanta’s bench has also been a pertinent part of their success. Believe it or not, despite all the good things the Hawks have been doing, there are plenty of things they could improve on to make them better. The first priority is cutting down on turnovers.

The Hawks have built a league-wide reputation of sharing the ball with one another. They currently rank second in the league in assist’s and they’ve been top 5 in that category for the past few seasons. Unfortunately, the Hawks selfless attitude has put them in some bad predicaments. Passing the ball is a good thing. It allows everyone to feel involved, and it makes opposing teams frustrated. On the other hand, passing too much can cause turnovers.

This is what is happening to the Hawks. They average the most turnovers in the NBA with 17.9. They also average the second most turnovers that result in scoring from the opposing team. Atlanta is so use to dishing the ball to the next teammate, that its becoming their bail out card. The Hawks don’t have a bunch of guys who can play iso-ball, so when the Hawks can’t take their man one-on-one, their natural instinct is to pass the ball.

The NBA is a war zone. Every time a team goes into battle, it is important that they know the enemy they’re dealing with, the weapons they possess and how to use them. Lately, the Hawks have been playing children’s games with grown men in dangerous territory.  Essentially, the Hawks have been playing hot potato.  According to Wikepedia, “Hot potato is a party game that involves players gathering in a circle and tossing a small object such as a beanbag or tennis ball to each other while music plays. The player who is holding the “hot potato” is out when the music stops. Play continues until only one player is left.”

Instead of playing hot potato, the Hawks need to play grenade. What I mean by that is,instead of passing the potato (the ball) as if it feels hot as soon as it touches their hands, the Hawks should picture the ball as a grenade. Everyone knows grenades our dangerous if you hold on to them too long.  But, we also understand that we have enough thinking time to throw them somewhere without it causing harm to us. Timing is everything when it comes to grenades. If you throw them too early, your enemy has the potential to use it against you. If you don’t throw the grenade fast enough, it could end up blasting you right in the face.

The faster the ball fly’s around the court, the chances of it being stolen or going out of bounds increases. Also, believe it or not, passing the ball from side to side can become predictable. Go-to moves are predictable, but it doesn’t matter if they can’t be stopped. This is why go-to moves are called, “go-to moves”. The Hawks players need to develop some more go-to moves to use on their opponent so they won’t always resort to passing the ball so quickly.

So if the Hawks miss a shot, so be it, but giving the team the ball for free is a no-no. Atlanta’s best game was when they played the Cavaliers. They had a nice amount of assists, but that didn’t win them the game. It was Dennis’s solo performance along with some of the other solo performances  that gave them the victory. Kent Bazemore’s stepback jumper 3-pointer put the game on ice. This is an example of an elite move used by some of the great players in today’s league to get a wide open shot.

For a team that ranks 2nd in defensive efficiency, it’s a shame that opposing teams are able to score off of silly mistakes. The Hawks need to find a cleaner way of sharing the ball. If they cut down on turnovers, it’ll make it even harder for teams to score on them.

All Stats Obtained From NBA.com