Atlanta Hawks: Lack Of Physicality Key To Recent Struggles

The Atlanta Hawks have lost five of their last seven outings, and a lack of ability to play physically is to blame.

Lost in the comedy of LeBron James walking off the court in frustration and receiving a technical foul was the score of the Cleveland Cavaliers game against the Atlanta Hawks. The Cavaliers won 109-97 in dominant fashion. The obvious response is that the Cavaliers are a dominant team when they have it going on the Hawks had a bad night.

The problem is that this latest blowout loss was the most recent in a string of setbacks for Atlanta. They have lost five of their last seven games after winning five straight. Winnable games like a home game against the Timberwolves or a road game against the Nets have slipped through the Hawks’ fingers (or talons, rather).

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There’s nothing that stands out as especially wrong during this recent downturn. The Hawks are still one of the best teams at moving the ball and getting good shots. The real problem is that two aspects of the game expose the teams’  biggest flaw.

Tiago Splitter was brought on to help the Hawks crash the glass more, something they struggled to do last season. This season, Atlanta is 26th in offensive rebounding rate and 28th in defensive rebounding rate. That’s not to say Splitter hasn’t helped. When he’s on the floor, the Hawks offensive rebounding rate is 23.3 percent. When he’s off, it’s 18.1 percent.

The Hawks don’t really care about offensive rebounds that much. With the exception of Splitter, they put shooters at basically all posiitons to space the floor. That’s fine when shots are falling, but it would be nice to have some of these shots back.

The Hawks don’t even try to crash the glass here. They all run back to defend in transition. The Cavs get the rebound easily.

Obviously, there’s a trade-off here. Atlanta’s coaches have decided that spacing and transition defense matter more to them than offensive rebounds. That’s a fair assessment. However, a team with smart players who move the ball (like the Hawks) could benefit greatly from offensive rebounds that kick out to shooters.

They have great passers and great shooters. It’s just a matter of crashing the offensive glass.

The bigger problem is not ending possessions on the defensive glass. The Hawks give up too many offensive rebounds and that’s been a running issue for them.

One way to beat bigger, more physical teams like the Cavaliers is to get their bigs in foul trouble. Well, the Hawks are 29th in free throws attempted per game. Jeff Teague being out with an injury during this bad run has weakened Atlanta’s ability to penetrate and create contact.

Part of the problem is that the Hawks are shooting a lot of threes. Dennis Schroder took threes on 22 percent of his field goal attempts last season. That number is 33 percent this season. Al Horford is also still shooting a lot of threes, and has now started to make them.

The reality is that drawing contact by attacking the rim is a good out when shots aren’t falling and the Hawks have not been drawing contact by playing physically.

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The Hawks are more of a smart team than they are a physical one. That won them 60 games last season, but this season has called into question whether that formula can win it all. This recent slump isn’t a cause for panic, but it shows the limitations of the current team.