Confidence is key and there are few if any players feeling more confident than Atlanta Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu.
Over his last 15 games, Okongwu has averaged 15.5 points on 66.7% true shooting with 10.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 1.1 blocks. Okongwu has shot 37% from downtown in that span. He has a 14.4/9.5/2.9 line with 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in 24 games as the Hawks’ full-time starter.
Asked about the difference in rotational patterns as a starter, Okongwu said he was, “T.T.G.”
“I’m always trained to go,” Okongwu told reporters on March 10. “I’m not really worried about the long rest.”
Okongwu made 36 starts in 267 career appearances before being named the starter over Clint Capela. He has plenty of experience going long stretches on the sidelines, the timing has just shifted a bit with the heavier workload.
Perhaps most encouraging for the Hawks is that their bench has not fallen off without him.
Their net rating has been better over the 24 games Okongwu has been the Hawks’ top center (minus-1.7) than it was with him manning the back line on the second unit (minus-2.8).
The Hawks signed Okongwu to a four-year, $61.9 million contract extension before the 2023-24 season. So far, that is looking like a wise investment and bordering on a bargain given the production he provides.
Onyeka Okongwu echoes Hawks teammate
Okongwu is one of three players on the roster who were on the team when the Hawks went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2020-21. Perhaps embracing his senior tenure, he spoke candidly about the Hawks’ win over the Philadelphia 76ers in their last outing.
The Hawks were missing Trae Young, among others, and won 132-123. However, they also had a 22-point lead cut down as low as 5 points, albeit in the game’s final 30 seconds.
The 76ers were also missing Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey.
“We always respect the competition, the NBA players. But teams like that. a young guy just want an opportunity to show what they got. Sometimes they’re playing with house money, so they got nothing to lose, which makes it more dangerous. But we just got to do what we do, and that’s what we did tonight,” Okongwu said.
“Our defense died down a little bit. [Quentin] Grimes went on the heater. Got to be better. Can’t let Charlotte come in next Wednesday – or Thursday, whatever day it is – and do the same thing to us. We got to be better at the fourth quarter execution.”
That is notably similar to the sentiments Hawks teammate Dyson Daniels expressed after the game.
“It’s kind of our playoff run now. We need to win games to get there. And, yeah, they came in undermanned. They still got guys that can play, they play hard, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. They’re going to play hard from the get-go, so we just come in and play our game, and I thought the guys really did well,” Daniels told reporters on March 10. “We need to finish games better. But I thought for about three, three and a half quarters, it was a good game.”