A few takeaways from a brutal blowout Atlanta Hawks loss to the Detroit Pistons on Friday night.
The Atlanta Hawks defense (obviously) needs a lot of work
The Hawks have been a feisty team all season but have started to lose their punch in some games. The Pistons had a nice overall night, starting out insanely strong outscoring Atlanta in the first quarter by over 20. They tore the Hawks apart from 3, shooting 20-47 while Atlanta looks lost and lacks basic defensive instincts. Taurean Prince hasn’t been as lockdown a wing his size probably should be and Trae Young is the negative on defense we all expected. Hopefully just getting in a ton of playing time will work out a lot of kinks, but it would still be nice to see some effort and scheme on defense.
Lin is starting to look more and more competent
With how puzzling the Jeremy Lin trade over the summer was, it was nice to see Lin finally play a game that might give the Hawks point guard some trade value. The Atlanta Hawks aren’t hell-bent on winning, to say the least, and keeping Lin hear as a stop gap point guard seems counterintuitive. I would say there is a 50/50 chance Lin is still an Atlanta Hawks come the February trade deadline.
Andre Drummond, predictably, ate the Hawks up
Superstar centers are going to give the Atlanta Hawks fits until John Collins returns/learns to anchor a defense or we draft a prospect that can guard bigs inside. Dewayne Dedmon/Miles Plumlee just aren’t going to get it done (not that many centers in the league can).
The Hawks got to the line A LOT
Atlanta was busy at the foul line all night tonight, shooting 30-40 from the line and single-handedly keeping the score from looking worse than it already did. It’s encouraging to see Young and Bembry combine for 16 attempts at the line. Constant pressure and attacking the basket are skills that any elite guard is going to have to master.
Omari Spellman is awesome
Spellman seemed like a reach at the end of the first round, even if it was obvious what Schlenk was going for in a speedy, shooting big like Spellman. His space-creation along with the ability to get boards are starting to make Hawks management look smarter and smarter. Putting up his second straight double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds after 18, 10 and 4 in New York, Spellman is looking like a capable starter.
THE TANK IS ON
I know we were all mesmerized Tuesday night, seeing the three-headed dragon that is the Duke Blue Devils, and it seems Atlanta brass saw it too. After beating the Heat Saturday, Atlanta has lost 3 in a row and is starting to settle in at its top-flight draft position and I can already hear the future Zion Williamson dunks/the swish of an RJ Barrett three.
Anyways, GO HAWKS!!