The Atlanta Hawks are sitting at 3-3 and far from in a panic in this young season. They are, however, searching for answers. Nate McMillan’s statement that they would find out roles and such during the season are coming to fruition and it is taking some time to adjust. Added to that are the rule changes to foul calls that may be affecting some more than the obvious choices.
McMillan’s biggest message has been about sacrifice and to that point, it is fair to wonder if the search for offense really is hurting guys’ efforts on the other end.
It only serves to reinforce the head coach’s point when two of the lower scoring players in a game also had the worst defensive performances. As we’ve gone over, Clint Capela did his job against a top center in Joel Embiid.
Not all of the Hawks starters can lay claim to that.
John Collins has to be able to defend his position for Atlanta Hawks defensive integrity
We gave De’Andre Hunter the ‘dud’ for “allowing” Tobias Harris to go for 22 points on 69.2 percent shooting in the 122-94 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. But that was more of a case of his lack of coverage on Harris as Hunter spent most of his time on Seth Curry. Curry had just two of his 15 points and, to be fair, Harris went scoreless when guarded by Hunter.
Hunter may not have been great on offense but he shouldn’t be knocked for not having a defensive clone on the court.
John Collins, who was mentioned among the disappointing performers from Saturday, probably deserved a bigger spotlight. Unlike Hunter, Collins got 15 of Harris’ 22 points put on his head at a 77.8 percent clip. The 76ers scored 44 points in the time he guarded their leading scorer.
It wasn’t just this game either.
Collins had 28 points and 12 boards but was on the wrong side of eight of Kyle Kuzma’s 21 points on 57.1 percent shooting and seven of Montrezl Harrell’s 25 points on 75.0 percent shooting.
Herb Jones and Jaxson Hayes also had good things happen for them versus Collins.
On the season, opponents have been more efficient when Collins tries to defend them, one of seven Hawks for which this is the case. Among them, Trae Young and Kevin Huerter are the only ones in the same conversation and Huerter has certainly not been great.
But Collins is expected to be the second-best player on this team.
The effort on the less glamorous end has to match the energy he puts into catching some of the lobs we’ve seen that look like they have no chance.