The Atlanta Hawks were having a bad game for the third contest in a row. They were missing Trae Young, Delon Wright, Clint Capela, Onyeka Okongwu, and De’Andre Hunter from their rotation for the game. They then lost Gorgui Dieng to a sprain in his right hand, part of the way through the game.
The Hawks stayed close throughout but starting slipping away at a crucial time. Then Sharife Cooper stepped up in a major way, his driving to the hoop was crucial for the Hawks’ offense to open up. The defense had to respect his passing ability given the off-the-backboard alley-oop pass he threw to Jalen Johnson in the previous game.
Cooper ended with a stat line of ten points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block in just 21 minutes of game time. He went 4-of-7 from the floor (57.1 percent), and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc (66.7 percent). Not bad for a player who had question marks over his 3-point shooting which pushed him towards the end of the second round.
The Atlanta Hawks have found a gem in Sharife Cooper
During summer league the Hawks were a true one-two punch. Cooper and Johnson were two of the better players throughout the entirety of the recently concluded summer league. Johnson was named to All Summer League 1st team while Cooper would have been a contender for the third team if they had it.
Copper, to put it simply, was the catalyst for the Hawks to come back and win the game. He does not shy away from the moment, penetrating into the paint over and over again, hitting shots against bigger opponents, he does not know how to back down. The work that he put in on defense was also difficult to fault.
On top of that, his 3-point shot, which teams who scouted him in the draft process were suspect on has been such a strength. Not only did he shoot the ball well in the preseason, who will forget the 3-point shot he made when he lifted the Hawks to a victory in their summer league campaign.
While he is still only on a two-way contract, if he continues to play the way that he did against the Grizzlies, he should have his deal converted to a regular contract soon enough. The future looks really bright for the Hawks anyway but with Cooper in the squad, it is even brighter.