Atlanta Hawks: 3 goals for Sharife Cooper for the 2021-22 season
Atlanta Hawks goal for Sharife Cooper No. 3) Improve his defense
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The other area of his game that requires attention for Cooper is his defense. As he only stands 6’1″ tall and weighs in at 180 pounds, Cooper is not a physically imposing defender so needs to rely on other attributes in order to improve his defense.
Offensively, Cooper sees passing lanes that others don’t as evidenced by his 8.5 assists per game in college. He needs to also read passing lanes on the defensive end so that he can disrupt the opposition’s ball movement. He has the speed to get to the ball to force deflections and steals.
He also needs to get stronger in order to not get overwhelmed by the size of his opponent. Cooper has the chance to come up against point guards the size of Ben Simmons, Lonzo Ball, LaMelo Ball, and the newly drafted Josh Giddey who are all over 6’6″ and stronger than Cooper.
If Cooper can achieve these three goals then his rookie season will be considered a complete success. While he is not going to take the mantle of starting point guard from Trae Young. However, Delon Wright is coming out of contract next season so there may be a chance for Cooper to become the regular backup.