The Atlanta Hawks (17-22) played better defense in most aspects of their 106-93 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. But they once again allowed a fill-in starter to go off for a big game. Even in that, they held Amir Coffey scoreless for the last quarter and a half of the contest; a minor win in a major loss.
Their biggest loss wasn’t even the game. It wasn’t Cam Reddish, who left with an ankle injury early on, either. Nor did they lose anything by getting an extended look at second-year big man Onyeka Okongwu with Clint Capela nursing his own bum ankle.
Atlanta’s biggest loss from this game and the season is apparently to their chemistry.
On Monday, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported (subscription required) that John Collins is unhappy with his role.
The Atlanta Hawks current struggles have brought them full circle with frustrations
Collins’ sentiments were confirmed by The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner who added that the fourth-year forward has been unsatisfied with his role for some time and that, when he’s brought his concerns up, they haven’t been properly addressed. Kirschner also noted that Collins’ usage rate is at its lowest since his rookie season.
There was also an interview (found below) of Danilo Gallinari, in Italian, where he defines what he thinks the Hawks issues are.
We recently discussed how it was up to Collins and Trae Young to lead the team’s desperately-needed defensive turnaround. For Collins that entailed being more vocal on the floor, just as he has been off of it in this regard.
It isn’t hard to see how that could be an issue if is feeling unheard in the locker room.
He also said he didn’t expect the team’s defense to be as bad as it is this season
— Chris Kirschner (@ChrisKirschner) January 10, 2022
Young’s challenge was to get into more passing lanes in lieu of being a defensive stopper. He did have two steals against the Clippers and got his hands on several other passes.
In that same piece, it was noted that there has been little variance between Young’s usage in wins as opposed to losses as well as before and after the Hawks COVID woes. That is all true, but there is more to it that could be the connector between what we’re seeing on the court from the Hawks and how Collins is feeling with his role.
Young’s usage rate is the highest of his career and ranks behind only Luka Doncic and Joel Embiid at 34.1 percent. His previous high was 33. 9 percent back in 2019-20 when the Hawks went 20-47 on the season.
Last year, it dropped to 32 percent but he still checked in behind only three other qualifiers.
I asked Trae Young about his spirits, with where the Hawks are:
— Sarah K. Spencer (@sarah_k_spence) January 9, 2022
"We’re finally getting some guys back, but we’ve got to win. For me… It’s frustrating. I hate losing. That’s pretty much it. I’m not the happiest guy in the world right now, but we’ve got to find a way to win."
Still, it’s hard not to see a correlation between the two players’ usage rates and perhaps the Hawks issues.
Collins – who we have praised repeatedly for becoming more well-rounded this season – addressing Young’s playing style played a big part in their turnaround last season. That was almost a year ago to the day of these new frustrations.
Both players received new money this past offseason after the Hawks went 37-27 following that discussion.
Of course, much of that came after they also made a coaching change which isn’t happening.
Hopefully, this leads to a similar outcome as last season because the trade packages are already flying in with Ben Simmons being touted by multiple sources. That was even before the Collins or Gallinari information came out.
The noise, which general manager Travis Schlenk brought to a fever pitch with his comments, is only going to grow louder.