NBA Power Rankings: 2014-15 Eastern Conference Forecast
By Shane Young
7. Atlanta Hawks — 44-38
To think losing Joe Johnson and Josh Smith would equate to a brighter future and an underrated roster would’ve been preposterous two years ago. Hiring Mike Budenholzer and quietly drawing in unselfish talent, the Hawks have turned the unthinkable into a tough challenge for any opponent.
Similar to Brooklyn, these Hawks have witnessed a season drive right into a ditch due to a major injury.
Brook Lopez would’ve given the Nets better playoff positioning, and the same case was with Al Horford missing 53 games with a pectoral injury. They have something else in common, too — they’re both offensive standouts that aren’t known for being formidable rim protectors.
When the Hawks lost Horford in the early portion of the year, the gameplan had to change. It allowed for Jeff Teague to break through and get momentum building, and nobody has forgotten the pain he gave Indiana in the first round of the playoffs.
Last season, Horford was on track to being a top four center the league had to offer, and there’s no foreseeable event that will prevent him from repeating the same production. His PER reached 22.08 before going down, and was setting a career-high in field goal percentage at 56.7 percent on 14.5 attempts per game.
Coming along this summer happened to be former Warrior and Laker, Kent Bazemore, who grew out of his role of being a cheerleader on the bench. Bazemore gave Los Angeles aggressive drives and a reliable outside threat, which is only what Atlanta will look for.
Atlanta, under Budenholzer, tried their best to model the offense after San Antonio. It’s not as odd as it seems, considering Budenholzer spent many years under Popovich’s wing as an assistant, therefore already giving him all the experience needed.
Constant cuts, cross screens, and pin downs are all variations used by Atlanta and San Antonio to get their shooters open. The Hawks, however, just happened to have the most capable shooters on one roster that I’ve ever seen. They actually encourage Pero Antic and Paul Millsap to step out off screen rolls and force opposing bigs to leave the paint. They’ll do it again next season, just not as much with a star center that needs touches every other trip up the floor.
With Korver’s hand needing a bucket of cold water all last year and their bizarre type of play, the Hawks took the second-most 3-pointers on a nightly basis. Shooting 25.8 per game and hitting 36.3 percent of them, they had no problem exceeding triple digits on the scoreboard.
As far as playing the same type of game as the Spurs, the Hawks were just as selfless and willing to make the right play on every possession. Using the Spurs’ offensive set called “Strong,” Budenholzer would hope for a double staggered screen to get Korver free for open looks. If it didn’t work out, they had a unit that wouldn’t play hero ball. Proper passes were typically made, regardless of the lack of talent:
The only time the ball sticks for the Hawks is when the initial screens are misused or poorly set, but ball movement became the key for Atlanta squeezing into the eight seed in April.
Just how passive were they? Second only to San Antonio (bingo!), the Hawks tallied 24.9 assists per contest last year.
If Horford is back for the length of a whole season, this team’s next step is to figure out how to give the perfect mix of having a dominant frontcourt and youth on the wings. They remain this low based on the fact that each team above them either grew significantly more, or they obtain stronger star power.