The Atlanta Hawks have shown that there is still a place in the league for a traditional biig man, so much so they have two of them. Clint Capela is the starting pivot whose defense helped turn the Hawks fortunes around last season.
He was the leading rebounder in the league with 14.3 per game, including being first in offensive rebounds with 297 for the season. He was also fourth in the league in blocks per game with 2.0 which helped make him a force for the Hawks.
He was one of Trae Young’s favorite targets on the alley-oop last season, only behind John Collins who has played with the point guard longer. This meant that he was 13th in the league for win shares last season which shows just how effectively the Hawks were using Capela. Things have not been as good this season but the team is turning it around.
The Atlanta Hawks are now benefitting from the growth of Onyeka Okongwu.
Onyeka Okongwu has been a spark for the Hawks since coming back from injury. He has grown from last season, despite missing most of the start of this season. His defense has even kept Capela on the bench at the end of some of the games in the recent win streak.
These two players have shown that teams can win without a center who can shoot from the perimeter. Instead they are proving that they can be a point of difference where they are using them heavily in the pick and roll. They are also showing the improtance of having a strong rim protector in the paint.
This is showing that Travis Schlenk knows how to build a team around their superstar point guard Trae Young. The pick and roll is one of the simplest plays to run in basketball and yet it is one of the hardest when both players in the play are quality exponents of the move and Young is unstoppable when the defense is not set or a switch has been forced by this play.
Just look at what Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell were able to acheive with the LA Clippers. Now, Williams and Okongwu have an incredible connection which is growing because they have connected via this play. It is beneficial to both players and makes the second unit hard to stop.
On top of that the Hawks have surrounded both of these centers with some of the best shooters in the league meaning that they have space to move and cut in the paint. This helps make the Atlanta Hawks harder to defend and shows that there is still a place for the traditional big man in today’s league