Soaring Down South
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Statistical Analysis of the Atlanta Hawks’ Most-Used Lineups

By Seth Kindig

Feb 8, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer talks with forward Paul Millsap (4) and forward Kent Bazemore (24) and guard Dennis Schroder (17) and guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) and center Dwight Howard (8) during a time out in the fourth quarter of their game game against the Denver Nuggets at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 117-106. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 8, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer talks with forward Paul Millsap (4) and forward Kent Bazemore (24) and guard Dennis Schroder (17) and guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) and center Dwight Howard (8) during a time out in the fourth quarter of their game game against the Denver Nuggets at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 117-106. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 26, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) dunks the ball over Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (13) in the first quarter in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 26, 2017; Washington, DC, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) dunks the ball over Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat (13) in the first quarter in game five of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Dennis Schröder, Kent Bazemore, Tim Hardaway Jr., Paul Millsap, Dwight Howard

  • Minutes: 240
  • Offensive Rating: 104.1
  • Defensive Rating: 102.2
  • Net Rating: +1.9

Take out Sefolosha. Insert Hardaway Jr. What do you get? Better offense! Better is an aptly chosen word. That offensive rating would have still ranked only 22nd best this year. That’s worse than teams like the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls.

That last sentence made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. RIP to the Hawks motion offense of the 2014-2015 season.

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What led to this lineups improvement when compared to the last one? A few things. First, ball movement. This unit had just under 65% of its baskets assisted. The unit above only assisted on 58% of its baskets. But, Sefolosha is a ball-mover. So why does the ball move more when replaced by Hardaway Jr.?

Shooting is not what spreads out a defense. The threat of shooting does. This lineup barely shot 1% better than the one above at 50.8% eFG%. But, the way the defense has to chase Hardaway Jr. around screens off the ball and over ball-screens creates space, which, in effect leads to ball movement.

Part of this lineup’s improvement offensively comes from Kent Bazemore not being relied upon to be a creator with the ball being in Hardaway Jr.’s hands more. Lineups like this one forced Bazemore into an unnatural role all year as a third creator behind Millsap and Schröder. When Bazemore is not forced to create, he can look for his spots to make those perfectly timed backdoor cuts and spot up corner 3s.

Why do I think that? Because if it was just spacing that improved offense, then this next lineup would have been one of the Hawks best, instead of one of their worst high-volume lineups.

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