Kyrie Irving is not the same player. Watching him suffer, the convenient victim in Jeff Teague’s blow by, was all the evidence anyone needed: he is playing with significant injuries. Irving settled for a one dribble pull up or a catch and shoot three; the repertoire ended there. Buried was his versatility and in its place were the habits of a specialist, an above average player.
Playing with an injury is a race against time. What starts off as a glass is half full proposition descends pretty quickly; inspiration only goes so far. The possibility of a re-injury or creating a new set of torn whatevers by overcompensating is a very likely outcome that makes many wonder if it’s worth it. Our bodies are not glass and they are not machines. Operationally, they resemble planetary beings, always in alignment and in symmetry with one another.
The daily negotiations Kyrie Irving has with his body may also ring true for DeMarre Carroll. If Carroll plays tonight, like Kyrie, he may in fact, injure something else as he overcompensates for a bruised knee.
It’s a horrible thought to consider and yet the Atlanta Hawks have more issues than Demarre Carroll.
1. They were destroyed on the glass, particularly offensive rebounding, which wasn’t a surprise when you consider the Hawks were last in the regular season in offensive rebounding, primarily for three reasons. One, they shot a high percentage so the availability of offensive rebounds was vastly diminished. Two, the Hawks shot a lot of threes, creating rebounds that bounced long. Third, the Hawks have a small front line. They are always fighting for rebounds against taller players. Paul Millsap said in the last series, “Al and I have to play smarter. We are not as big as everyone else.”
Tristan Thompson is only 6-9 but he has length and is athletic. Every Hawks miss is an opportunity for him to sail eagle-like over Horford or Millsap or Kyle Korver and grab the ball, giving the Cavs extra possession. In Wednesday’s game, Thompson had 5 offensive rebounds but Timofey Mogzov, a seven footer, had 4. The combination was a brutal one-two punch.
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2. The Hawks have to figure out their Dennis Schroder 4th quarter conundrum. His habit in the last period is to go for his own offense instead of making plays for others and perhaps that would be fine if he wasn’t shooting 38% and 24% from three. His shots invariably clank off the rim, killing possessions but that is not his greatest 4th quarter crime. He doesn’t facilitate ball movement. He takes four or five dribbles, hesitates and then either goes to the rim or launches a pull-up jumper while the rest of the Hawks, who are moving without the ball, are never rewarded.
Schroder is a second year player; he is young. But, at some point, Coach Budenholzer has to discipline Schroder for his costly mistakes that often offer no atonement. Everyone hates a spoiled child and the trust Budenholzer has given Schroder is hollow. Accountability can’t exist without discipline.
3. I liked Jeff Teague’s game on Wednesday until the fourth quarter and then I hated Jeff Teague’s game. His talent is playing with pace and dishing out 7 assists. But he and the Hawks, as a whole, have a disturbing habit of changing identities when they are trailing in a game. They suddenly morph into a team of isolation players who take a couple of dribbles and launch a bad shot. Teague lacked control in the 4th quarter, the game didn’t slow down, it sped up and he didn’t recognize he was suddenly out of sync.
The Hawks have been here before. They lost game 1 to the Washington Wizards in similar fashion. A lack of offensive continuity affected defensive execution. No one could make shots and no one could contest shots.
The quiet secret is that a particularly brutal trend has suddenly wrecked the Hawks 4th quarters. The team with the great offense can’t throw a pea in the ocean when it counts. The Hawks three point shooting has descended into the 25% range, a recipe for disaster against Cleveland. It’s bad enough being down 0-1 but going to Cleveland down 0-2 means the season is on life support.