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Kent Bazemore: Atlanta Hawks’ Diamond In The Rough

By Aaron Mah

Mar 15, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) goes up for a shot as Los Angeles Lakers center Tarik Black (28) defends during the second quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 15, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Kent Bazemore (24) goes up for a shot as Los Angeles Lakers center Tarik Black (28) defends during the second quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
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When taking in an Atlanta Hawks game, several things usually come to mind:

  1. Wow! Look at how they rotate, scramble, and fly around on defense.
  2. That sequence of passing is basketball at its purist form.
  3. Is that a blonde-streak on the side of their backup point guard’s hairline?
  4. Holy s**t, who’s No. 24 on the Hawks? He plays with the energy of an 8-year-old on caffeine pills!

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His name is Kent Bazemore — a third-year swingman out of Old Dominion. NBA diehards may remember him as the over-enthusiastic cheerleader on the Golden State Warriors’ bench, circa 2012-13. Los Angeles Lakers diehards may remember Bazemore as arguably their best player over the second half of last season.

His role, this year, is somewhere in between the perpetual low man on the totem pole and a second or third scoring option on an NBA team.

While it took a little bit of time for Bazemore to get acclimated in coach Mike Budenholzer’s pace-and-space system, over the past month and a half, the long-limbed 25-year-old has firmly established himself as a vital cog of the Hawks’ bench brigade.

To be more specific, since Thabo Sefolosha‘s calf injury on Jan. 31, Bazemore has enjoyed a sizable spike in minutes and an expanded role.

Chiefly, Bazemore has averaged more than 25.6 minutes per game since February — a drastic spike when compared to the 12.9 minutes per game he received during the first three months of the season.

Sure enough, the 6-foot-5 jumping jack has responded by providing the Hawks with a jolt of his trademark energy, fiery passion, and full-throttle play on both ends of the floor. In fact, over last 15 games, Bazemore leads the team’s core of rotation players in individual defensive rating, at 96.0, and is fifth in net rating, per NBA.com.

In addition, he has effectively taken advantage of his opportunity by averaging a stealthy 8.8 points per game on 55.9 percent TS% (true shooting percentage), over the aforementioned stretch.

His hard-charging drives and signature left-handed, Statue of Liberty dunks down the middle of lane have made him a SportsCenter favorite. Meanwhile, his hustle on defense, propensity to cause deflections, and motor in transition has made him a Budenholzer favorite.

What has propelled Bazemore in becoming a fixture in Atlanta’s rotation is, most certainly, his much-improved outside stroke.

Explicitly, Baze has managed to increase his career average in 3-point field goal percentage of 32.7 percent, over his first two seasons, to 39.2 percent this year, per Basketball-Reference.

More impressively, he’s converting on more than 46.1 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes (which account for 30 percent of his shot attempts) and 44.4 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc when no defender is within six feet of him (which account for 24.9 percent of his shot attempts), per NBA.com’s SportVU Data.

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    • Not surprisingly, he’s currently fourth on the Hawks in PPP (points per possession) produced while spotting up, at 1.11, behind only Kyle Korver — who continues to rise among the lore of great NBA shooters — DeMarre Carroll, and Mike Scott.

    As their injuries pile up, the Hawks will have to continue to rely on Bazemore and his refined shooting proficiency over the remaining 15 games of the regular season.

    However, Bazemore still has a tendency of over-gambling at times on the defensive end, and is often too audacious with his forays towards the basket on the offensive end. For this reason, his on/off numbers are quite underwhelming considering the unrelenting motor he plays with.

    But his contagious fervor and fearless mindset serves as an injection of bullet-proof swagger for the Hawks’ mild-mannered bunch. Come playoff time, when Atlanta inevitably faces the LeBron Jameses, Kyrie Irvings, and John Walls of the world, Kent Bazemore’s unwavering dauntlessness will be key in the Hawks’ plight to contain the league’s slew of ball-in-hand magicians.

    Next: How The Atlanta Hawks Stack Up Against The League's Elite

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