Atlanta Hawks: Studs and duds from bounce-back win over Wizards

Atlanta Hawks dud from bounce-back win over Wizards: The mid-range was noticeably de-emphasized

No player as this was an all-around win. But a couple of Hawks players specifically mentioned the mid-range as something they wanted to add to their games. We’ve gone over the increase in volume — but not efficiency — that they have experienced so far. The offense has looked disjointed as a whole to start the campaign as they have tried to incorporate it.

Over the last two games, they were 18-of-45 from the mid-range. That’s good for 40.0 percent but they still looked clunky and, of course, walked away with losses.

They had just 12 middy attempts in this one, canning four while taking more above-the-break threes. It was a clear shift in strategy after the attempts to expand their games led to players hunting shots instead of running the offense.

The simplified approach had at least one fan in Young who spoke of how it got the team going.

"“When we take 3’s and when we get to the hole and get layups, or floaters in the paint, it’s the best thing for us. That was a big emphasis, especially coming into the game tonight. We wanted to really play fast and get some 3’s up.” – via Sarah K. Spencer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution"

Young wasn’t the only one to sing the team’s praises for their efforts in this one. Their head coach voiced his pleasure as well.

"“We didn’t settle for the quick, contested jump shots. We didn’t settle for the pull-up. We got to the basket, we got to the rim and we got to the free-throw line.”"

We’ll see if they try to bring the mid-range into the offense more as the season goes. But, for one game at least, it was largely shelved with positive results. It’s a good bet they try this again before going back.