Atlanta Hawks Weekly: Ball Movement and Transition D

Six months of waiting came to an end on Wednesday night as the Atlanta Hawks took to the floor in Dallas for their first competitive game since they were eliminated from the playoffs by the Pacers. Having played through the preseason at 1-6, there was no way of knowing what to expect from the Hawks. With the players trying to adjust to each others games, and the system being put in place by new head coach Mike Budenholzer, this week showed promising signs of progress.

Before the season proper started Kyle Korver gave a revealing interview to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution about the shape Budenholzer’s strategy was taking. Korver emphasized what many had expected, Coach Bud’s primary concern is to instill a certain culture and work ethic, “A lot of what our offense is going to be is chemistry. We don’t really have a lot of plays, we have a lot of concepts”. From the evidence of this week the Hawks are beginning to grasp the aforementioned “concepts”, and with practice will continue to get better.

The Week That Was

Dallas Mavericks – Wednesday Oct.30 (American Airlines Center, Dallas)

Anyone who followed the Hawks during their preseason schedule will be familiar with their problem of slow starts. Against the Mavericks, the Hawks didn’t have their slowest start of recent games, but on the other hand it was far from impressive. After an opening possession where Teague and Horford combined nicely in the pick and roll, the Hawks stepped back and allowed Dallas to establish dominance. The Mavericks are a team that will have their fair share of ups and downs due to the inconsistent nature of some of the players on their roster, but if they’re allowed to get into a rhythm early on, there’s no doubt that they will flat out score. Coming out in the first quarter the Hawks looked a little lackluster defensively, which allowed Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki to get aggressive from the get go. Having been down as much as 10 in the first, to their credit, the Hawks kept with it. This meant that when the first quarter ended it was only  a five point game.

‘s aggression was a key component of the Hawks offense. (Photo Credit: Mark Runyan, Basketball Schedule, Flickr)

In preseason analysis of Atlanta’s prospects of success, I talked about the need for Teague to step up, assume leadership and be aggressive. In that sense, this season opener would have been like a dream for Coach Bud. Teague commanded much more of the ball than we have seen in his career to date. Without Josh Smith handling the ball in half court sets, full responsibility was on the point guard, who as you’d expect is a much more reliable playmaking option. For the opening few games of the season so far, Teague ranks 6th in the NBA in touches per game with 86.0. He busied himself in running around screens, taking himself into position to make incisive passes, and most importantly, driving aggressively towards the rim. If one particular play epitomized Teague’s impressive game, and his development into one of the better point guards in the league, it was a Paul Millsap layup that came a couple of minutes into the 2nd quarter.

With Teague approaching the perimeter, Al Horford stepped out from the block to set a solid screen on Wayne Ellington. Teague drove in the direction of Ellington and his help defender, Dejuan Blair, before executing an exquisite crossover to leave both men flat footed. Then, finding the narrowest of gaps to zip his pass past Nowitzki’s outstretched arms, the ball reached Paul Millsap who cooly took it to the rim and laid it in. This was the new look Atlanta Hawks in action. Teague would finish the game just shy of a double-double, with 24 points and  9 assists.

In terms of other Hawks that impressed; Paul Millsap had 20 points, while DeMarre Carroll added a further 14 along with 7 rebounds. Cartier Martin was the surprise package of the night though. The last man added to the Hawks training camp roster, Martin, came off the bench to prove he was worthy of his spot in the squad, with 17 points in 16 minutes. On the downside, Atlanta fell short in terms of transition defense and failure to close out open shots around the perimeter. The Hawks were poor in transition and allowed the Mavericks 19 points on the run, a fact that was acknowledged by players and coach alike after the game. The manner in which the Hawks failed to close out good shooters was even more significant though. The likes of Ellis, Nowitzki and Vince Carter were given free rein to get their shots for most of the night and it eventually came back to bite the Hawks. After scrapping their way back into the game, Atlanta allowed the Mavs to shoot 7/8 from deep to pull away in the final minutes. The game finished with the Mavericks winning 118-109.

Toronto Raptors – Friday Nov. 1st (Philips Arena, Atlanta)

The Hawks home season opener saw them face off against the Raptors, who were fresh off an opening win against the Celtics in Toronto. From the opening tip the Hawks were ready to play in this one. The first three Atlanta scores of the evening all came off three pointers, which although it can sometimes be a sign of a team pressing, in this case it was a result of excellent movement of the ball and the players to free up a man for the open shot. Toronto are a team, like Dallas, with potent offensive weapons, and they tried to get them firing early on. Rudy Gay is a man with no fear of shooting the ball, but his shots didn’t fall early and that would set the tone for his night. Toronto tried to post up Valanciunas against Horford, but the young Lithuanian center, as talented as he is, looked a class apart from the Dominican veteran on the night. The one guy who Toronto got truly firing was DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan undertook a one man campaign to lift his team to victory, shooting an excellent 14/23 for 31 points. It wasn’t to be for Toronto though as the Hawks were considerably the better team.

Al Horford’s reliable jump shot. (Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule)

After a poor opening night by his incredibly high standards, the real Al Horford came to play against the Raptors. Horford reveled in the more aggressive play of Jeff Teague, with the pair frequently combining in pick and roll situations to get the center his favored 15 foot jump shot from the elbow. Al shot 9/14 from the field on his way to an eye catching 22 points and 16 rebounds. If there was one negative for the Hawks big man, it was his poor free throw shooting. Horford struggled from the line last season shooting 63% (9% below his career average), so over the coming months, he’ll want to do much better than his 4/8 from the line in this one. Teague was once again on flying form, getting his double-double this time out, the Indianapolis man finished with 17 points and 12 assists. Millsap was quiet for a large chunk of the game, but came up big in the 4th, eventually finishing with a solid 15 points.

The man who really benefitted from the Hawks play in this game was Kyle Korver though. With Atlanta adjusting to some of the “concepts” that Korver mentioned above, the former Creighton man was finding himself with bundles of time and space to shoot the ball. Of his 17 points on the night, 15 of them came from three pointers as the Hawks created space to work one of their biggest offensive weapons. Korver wasn’t the only one to benefit from the Hawks ball movement either. On perhaps the best example we’ve seen of the style that Budenholzer wants to play, the Hawks swung the ball around to get DeMarre Carroll a three pointer with 1.53 left in the 2nd quarter. Coming from an inbounds play under their own basket, Atlanta strung together nine passes in 19 seconds as a result of constant player movement, with every Hawk on the floor touching the ball at least once, before Teague kicked it out to the open Carroll to make the shot. Budenholzer’s concepts and vision were in action, and they looked great to watch. The Hawks hung on through a late Raptors rally in the 4th to finish up with a 102-95 win.

Slam Dunks and Air Balls

Here’s a look at the best and worst aspects of the Hawks play from the past week:

Slam Dunks

• I’ve already mentioned Teague’s aggressiveness and the benefits that it had for the Hawks in this weeks games, but another big plus for the Hawks was his efficiency. For the opening two games he totaled 21 assists against 7 turnovers, a healthy ratio of 3:1, while against the Raptors, Teague only turned the ball over once compared to his 12 dimes. For the games so far, the Wake Forest man is 1oth in the league in passes per game, and even more impressive is the fact that he trails only Chris Paul in the categories of assists per game and assist opportunities per game. Teague is also 3rd in the free throw assists per game category, a further example that he is finding his man in the right spots on the floor. Sure it’s only opening week, but Teague is showing elite passing capabilities that Atlanta will hope he can sustain.
• Only two weeks ago, who would have expected Cartier Martin to be a major contributor to the Hawks opening two games? Martin has shown his hunger and commitment in the opening exchanges of this new season, but most importantly, he’s shown the skills that allowed him to make the team. Martin is exactly the type of swingman the Hawks needed to back up the likes of Carroll and Korver. Martin is a good defender, both on and off the ball, as well as being a capable shooter off screens, as well as spotting up. In the two opening games, Martin has averaged 12.5 points in 19.5 minutes, which is an impressive output by anybody’s standards. The Hawks will hope Martin can keep it up in a second unit that may occasionally struggle for offense.
• In some non game related news, Hawks fans will be relieved to hear the Hawks took up the option of promising sophomore John Jenkins contract. The former Vanderbilt man is a specialist shooter, who is expected to build on a promising rookie season once he returns fully from a niggling back problem. Jenkins is now contracted to Atlanta until the end of the 2014-15 season.

Air Balls

• It’s important to  once again remind ourselves just how early in the season it is, but one concern for the Hawks early on has been lack of rebounds. So far the Hawks have been comfortably out rebounded in both of their games and are ranked 29th in the league in rebounds in the opening exchanges. That sort of stat isn’t as concerning as the fact that the Mavericks and Raptors were the 16th and 28th ranked rebounding teams respectively last season, and not exactly elite in that area. The Hawks will need Millsap to average more than the 5 rebounds he has managed so far, and to compete against the leagues best, Atlanta will want nightly double-double’s from both Horford and Millsap, something which both men are more than capable of.
• Mike Scott was one of the most intriguing players on the Hawks roster coming into this week, as following up on a top class preseason he was expected to get heavy minutes in the rotation. With that in mind, there was every reason for Hawks fans to be excited when they saw Scott joining Dennis Schroeder as the first man off the bench in Dallas on Wednesday. Unfortunately for Scott, he picked up three quick fouls, and as a result his availability for the night was limited to 7 minutes. Against the Raptors, Scott had to wait a little bit longer to get on to the floor. When he did, Scott featured for just under 11 minutes, scoring 4 points and grabbing 2 boards. If Scott gets his chance again this week, Hawks fans will hope that he is able to show more of the form that was on display in preseason, than in these two games.

Rookie Watch

Dennis Schroeder: The young German has been shown a lot of trust by Coach Budenholzer in this past week, as he was called upon as one of the first options off the pine. For the week, Schroeder has averaged a respectable 4 points and 3 assists in 17 minutes a game. Not only has he been given the chance to run the offense alone, but the German has been paired up alongside Teague in a two guard backcourt that it seems we can expect to see a lot more of.

Pero Antic: The Macedonian is clearly still adjusting to the style and speed of play in the NBA. He knocked down a couple of field goals against Toronto, including an incredibly smooth three pointer, but the Hawks will be eager to see him grab more rebounds with his formidable size.

Weekly Stats Rankings

Here is a quick roundup of where the Hawks rank for the past week in some of the NBA’s key stats:

PPG: 105.5 (8th)

RPG: 35 (27th)

APG: 25.5 (4th)

SPG: 11.5 (2nd)

BPG: 4.0 (24th)

FG%: 47.7 (6th)

3PT%: 38.3 (13th)

FT%: 71.2 (20th)

Player of the Week

Jeff Teague, HoopsHabit Hawks Player of the Week.(Photo Credit: NBA.com)

Jeff Teague was the dominant figure in driving the Hawks offensively this week, providing outstanding passing and scoring.

Weekly Averages: 20.5 PPG, 10.5 APG, 2.5 SPG

Coming Up Next

Nov 3: Los Angeles Lakers (Staples Center, Los Angeles)

Nov 5: Sacramento Kings (Sleep Train Arena, Sacramento)

Nov 7: Denver Nuggets (Pepsi Center, Denver)

Nov 9: Orlando Magic (Philips Arena, Atlanta)

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