Atlanta Hawks: Trae Young stuck in situation similar to Derrick Rose in ’11
The Atlanta Hawks face a daunting task, down 2-1 in their playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. Trae Young has especially had a rough go of it since Game 1. Granted, he still managed to put up a double-double in Game 2 and dropped 28 points in Game 3. But the sledding has been much tougher with Ben Simmons hounding him.
It’s not a new tactic, the Knicks threw length at Young with Reggie Bullock in the first round. But that was only mildly successful and there weren’t many other viable options for New York.
In Simmons, the Philadelphia 76ers self-proclaimed “best defender in the NBA”, Young faces a center who moves like a guard. Through three games, Simmons has already guarded Young the second-most minutes behind only Bullock, who did it for five games.
Again, Young managed to put up decent stat lines, but his attempts are way down. He shot the ball 23 times in Game 1 but has managed just 16 and 17 looks since. And though he’s shooting better from the floor in this series, Young only has 11 attempts when guarded by Simmons and is 0-3 from beyond the arc.
Trae Young facing similar struggles to Derrick Rose back in 2011
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It isn’t just Simmons either, as the 76ers have several long, athletic defenders.
Matisse Thybulle and Danny Green (prior to his season-ending injury) weren’t as effective as Simmons. But both are long and physical defenders that made life hard for Young.
This is a situation we’ve seen countless times over, but Young’s age and the make-up of this roster are very reminiscent of the Derrick Rose-led Chicago Bulls and their forays into the postseason.
The buzzsaw they continually fell prey to? LeBron James and the Miami Heat/Cleveland Cavaliers. There were others, but that felt eerily similar to Atlanta’s current situation.
Those Bulls lost to a James-led team three times in five playoff series with Rose. Whenever Rose was hot or it was crunch time, you could bet he’d see James coming to guard him and the results were never pretty.
Rose won MVP in 2011 and the Bulls made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals. There they met the Heat who beat them in five games. Rose averaged over 23 points and six assists in the series but he averaged just 4.4 points (on 24 percent shooting) in the fourth quarter.
Young has an advantage over Rose in the sense that his three-ball is far more reliable, usually. The disadvantage is that Young is smaller than Rose while Simmons is bigger than James.
This Hawks team is also more talented overall than those Bulls, when healthy. De’Andre Hunter’s absence has been felt on both ends of the floor. Atlanta’s defense would need more than him, though, with Joel Embiid wreaking havoc.
It’s also been a tale of two halves for the Hawks as they are first in first-half scoring this round but are just sixth in the second. Philly is fourth and first, respectively.
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Indeed, this is a daunting matchup for Young and the Hawks as a whole. But we’ve seen similar battles before and the Hawks might have a leg up just on the composition of the roster. Whether or not they can figure it out in time to win this series is the mystery.