Atlanta Hawks: Finding Ersan Ilyasova’s Role
At the Trade Deadline, the Atlanta Hawks brought in a versatile power forward that can score and defend. How will he be most useful?
After a series of very lopsided trades in the wrong direction, the Atlanta Hawks were bound to get one right. Of course, some were worse than others, but a deal that was both beneficial for the team and remotely satisfactory for the fan base was long overdue. Getting one of the few star players available at the deadline likely was the most desired outcome, but I absolutely loved the acquisition of Ersan Ilyasova.
By now, you have probably heard that Atlanta sent Tiago Splitter, a second-round pick, and a second-round pick swap to Philadelphia in exchange for Ersan Ilyasova just prior to the trade deadline. The Hawks are his fifth team in the past two years. I hope it works out for him this time and that he has found a permanent home with the Hawks.
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Taken by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 36th overall pick in the 2005 draft, Ilyasova is a fantastic player. The 6-foot-10 power forward is mostly known for his accuracy as an outside shooter, but his game is so much more thorough than that. Coach Budenholzer now has at his disposal the type of stretch four that is necessary on a Dwight Howard team.
Of course, his addition will not put Paul Millsap‘s starting job in jeopardy, or take many of his minutes for that matter, don’t be surprised though if you see him on the court a lot. With Mike Scott‘s recent departure and Kris Humphries inability to crack the rotation, he should be the first big off the bench most nights.
Although he approaches the game like a Turkish Kevin Durant, with his height and ability to crash the boards, Budenholzer could play him at center if he wanted to get creative. A lineup of Ilyasova, Millsap, Bazemore, THJ and Schroder could space the floor and run circles around any team out there.
In his traditional role of power forward, he won’t have any troublesbeing effective. He was instrumental in the Hawks latest victory over the Maverick, scoring 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting and 4-of-4 on three pointers in just 17 minutes off the bench. Ilyasova will put in work, with a pick and pop or slip the screen to get great looks from beyond the arc or from mid-range.
You may recall that was something that Al Horford fashioned as one of his strengths offensively while with the Hawks. In contrast to Horford however, Ilyasova is a pure marksman as a shooter from deep. He can get into a rythym, with the snap of his wrist and the quick release on his shot is a thing of beauty. While Horford was not at all a slouch in that area, there is really no comparison. His mechanical, wind up of a set shot would still be in his hands by the time Ersan’s makes it to the hoop.
For his career he connects on 36.4 percent of his three-point attempts. He has averaged 24 minutes and 3 long-range attempts per game according to ESPN. As you likely noticed in the video, he has a very high IQ and is also a crafty, clever scorer. He has a skill that’s in common with the likes of Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams and James Harden in the sense that, once his defender bites on a pump fake, they are totally at his mercy.
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Jamal Crawford is unquestionably the best at it. According to the Bleacher Report, Crawford has 44 career 4 point plays, 21 more than the next closest player. When the defense has to respect an accurate outside shooter, it would be foolish not to use a shot fake during times that the opponent is most vulnerable to create free-throw opportunities. Ilyasova is very good at that too.
He can also post-up and do damage inside, as he isn’t afraid of contact. The forward is a capable enough ball handler, that he can start the fast break and uses the euro-step effectively.
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It may sound like I have exaggerated his abilities to a degree, but there really aren’t any terrible flaws to be found. It’s quite a conundrum as to how he has bounced around so many teams.