The Atlanta Hawks played their fourth Summer League game, this time against the San Antonio Spurs. The Hawks have only won one game in this tournament and that was on the back of a Tyrese Martin outburst in the third period against the Miami Heat which could see him in a Hawks uniform next season.
Sharife Cooper again showed his diverse skillset against the Spurs with 15 points. The only problem that he had this game was that he shot the ball poorly, going 4-of-15 from the floor. However, he was not the only one who struggled, Chris Clemons only managed to hit 1-of-8 from the floor.
This was a big part of the reason that the Hawks were down by as many as 15 points during the game. Then Tyson Etienne stepped up in a major way in the second half. His play was a major reason for the Hawks being able to squeeze out the win.
The Atlanta Hawks need to make sure that Tyson Etienne is at training camp.
Etienne was amazing in the second half. He put the Hawks team on his back and simply shot the lights out. He had 18 points in that period on 7-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-7 from behind the 3-point line.
The biggest takeaway from this game was how much Etienne believed in himself in the second half. He was probably given license to shoot from head coach Nick Van Exel and once he started, there was no stopping the guard.
However, it is not just the shooting that the Hawks’ brains trust will look at, it is the way that he played when the game was on the line. It is one thing to help a team get back into a game, it is another thing to win the game.
https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/1547706741046923265?s=20&t=hIwMQi14Msu-vCeTbEhFtw
Etienne seemed to do this in his stride, putting up the go-ahead basket with time running out. Then the Spurs had to inbound the ball with 8.0 seconds left on the clock. Etienne’s defense was enough to deny the ball out of their guards’ hands, meaning the ball was inbounded to a big.
Etienne continued to pressure his man, causing the turnover which ended the Spurs’ chances of winning. He stepped up in a major way when he was needed, which leaves an impression on the coaching staff and the front office.