The acquisition of Dwight Howard has led to noticeable improvement for the Atlanta Hawks, but problems on other parts of the roster are negating those effects.
Once the Hawks came to terms with the departure of stalwart center Al Horford, the front office realized they had an opportunity for a change in identity. After signing All-Star Dwight Howard and promoting Denis Schroder to starting point guard, Atlanta planned to become a much more aggressive, physical team. Skyrocketing from 24th to 10th in league rebounding and averaging 4.38 dunks per game showed that it worked, at least at first glance. Especially with Howard accounting for 12.8 rebounds and almost 3 of those dunks per game.
However a problem lies with the aforementioned point guard. After 18 games (as small as sample sizes come in an 82 game season) Dennis is posting 14.6 points and 5.5 assists per contest. Those numbers are a step under Jeff Teague’s stats as a Hawk. Which isn’t exactly ideal considering “Dennis the Menace” was supposed to be an improvement. With his 3.2 turnovers per game, the German has only been a menace to his own team. While its easy to blame the new point guard, he can only contribute so much to an offense ranked 23rd in the NBA that also coughs the ball up 17.2 times a game. While its not all bad, this team collectively has some problems.
The Good
The teams two best players, Paul Millsap and Dwight Howard, are sensibly the backbone of the squad. Millsap keeps doing Millsap things, contributing 16.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals a night. The Hawks leading scorer has his rebounds up and continues to do the intangible things on defense that the box score can’t quite capture. Along with that, the power forward stretches the floor to help make space for his fellow All-Star.
Howard has been having his best season in years, scoring 14.4 points and grabbing 12.8 boards per game. The center teams up with Millsap to form the Association’s best defense, contributing 1.2 steals and 1.6 blocks a game. While he seems to negatively affect the team’s net rating a bit, that’s to be expected from a new member of any team. Generally speaking, Dwight has filled in for Al Horford quite nicely. So once again, the Atlanta Hawks have the best frontcourt in the Eastern Conference. Unfortunately, that’s the problem.
The Bad
The Hawks did make an identity change. However, the positive changes came at a position of strength. When improving anything in life, you want to shore up the weaknesses. This is not to say the front office hasn’t tried. They drafted talented college wings in Taurean Prince and Deandre Bembry. Schroder’s promotion was meant to bring the explosiveness Teague couldn’t.
“So once again, the Atlanta Hawks have the best frontcourt in the Eastern Conference…and that’s the problem.”
Shifting our eyes to the present, those plans haven’t exactly panned out. Taurean Prince has barely cracked the rotation, Bembry just got D-Leagued, and Schroder has been unable to develop a three point shot or cut down the turnovers. Bazemore’s bust-like play and Korver’s age have only compunded the issue. The weakness at the wings is all the more evident with the Hawk’s 33% shooting from behind the arc. That percentage is down from 36% and 38% the last two years.
Along with those problems, the Hawks bench pulled off an illusion to start the year. While talented, the back ups feasted on the weak starting schedule. Mike Muscala, Tim Hardaway Jr, and Thabo Sefolosha probably ate the most, looking like a big 3 for stretches of those early games. This inherently led to coach Mike Budenholzer becoming overly reliant on the bench. When the secondary squad finally came down to earth, the coaching staff had already fallen into some bad habits, which may have costs Atlanta some games against inferior teams. While stocked with fan favorites, these guys are back ups for a reason.
Need For Equilibrium
After starting 9-2, with a win over the big brother Cavaliers, the atmosphere surrounding the team couldn’t of been more optimistic. The ensuing slump has turned those good feelings sour. While the Hawks aren’t that juggernaut or the current losing squad, they are somewhere in the middle. Which side they lean towards depends on how Coach Bud and the team respond to this poor stretch of play.
For starters, Kent Bazemore and Schroder need to start earning their respective $70 million. Baze has to set his gaze (sorry) on hitting his shots much more efficiently. Schroder’s efficiency issues stem from his turnovers and shooting, which should improve as he gets more starter minutes under his belt. Budenholzer also needs to trust his starters more, especially when players like Howard are seeing a career low in minutes (28.9). Speaking of the coaching staff, they also need to find ways to get their first round investments more involved. This is even more pertinent when realizing the front office essentially traded Teague for Prince.
At the end of the day, most of these issues can be attributed to the fact that this is a team in transition. The Hawks just traded and let two previous All-Stars go while adding a new one into the fold. Along with that, the slump sparking all these questions comes on a five game road trip which is the longest of the season. The defense is still shut down, its just waiting for the offense to catch up. Atlanta even almost beat that unfair Warriors team in Oakland.
So Hawks fan should just take a deep breath, as should the Hawks themselves. Just take a deep breath and find your balance Atlanta.
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All stats acquired from the great Basketball Reference