Why the Atlanta Hawks are struggling on the road again
The Atlanta Hawks have a perfect home record, winning all three of their games so far this season They are turning State Farm Arena into a very difficult place to play basketball if you are the away team and that is going to be huge for this franchise.
However, the Hawks are still having issues on the road. This is going to have potential ramifications on their playoff seedings which will in turn have an impact on their chances of taking the NBA title this season which is one of the goals of the franchise.
It is not a question of talent or depth for the Hawks, they have both of these in spades. The problem lies a little deeper than that and fortunately for the Hawks, they are able to fix this issue as the season progresses. It is a matter for the coaching staff and playing group to come together on.
The Atlanta Hawks need to fix the road focus.
In all four road games this season the Hawks have gone down by a big margin. Their only road win came against the lowly New Orleans Pelicans who have been missing their star player Zion Williamson for the entire season.
They sturggled to come out of the blocks in the road game against the Washington Wizards and as a result were behind all night. They also had a bad patch against the Philadelphia 76ers which also resulted in a loss.
Against the Brooklyn Nets the Hawks were in the game right up until the mid-point of the third quarter, then the Nets took over, going on a massive run. The Hawks trierd to get back into it for the entire last period but the damage was done.
The Hawks need to play the full 48 minutes, which is a cliche but in this case it is vital. They also need to be able to stop a run with the home crowd is behind their opponent. This is not a problem when the Hawks are at home as they have the home crowd to help them.
Next. John Collins needs to use Wizards game as career template. dark
It is also not an issue during the playoffs as the team is locked in all the time with Trae Young being the brighest spark. The NBA game is full of runs, the Hawks need to be able to stop a quality opponent when they are on one and then hit back with their own when they are not at home. This is something a young team can work on throughtout the year.