Hawks unveiling new offense this season?

[Jamaaliver]

Team weighs in on the coming season

Budenholzer: “We’re going to have to shoot the ball well at the end of the day. It’s a big part of our offense. When we shoot it well, we tend to have some success. The open shots are usually generated by us playing with ball movement, which is a staple of what we do. Then we have to make shots.

New players. New system. We try to open up, give more space for the point guards to penetrate and find the open guy. The biggest thing for us will be the corner 3’s. That’s the way the NBA goes now. Create space, give more floor and when you get open, make those open shots.

Run fast – that’s our whole new system. We got to play with pace, after rebound or after they score. Kick the ball ahead. Bigs got to run...We got to play together as a team, move the ball. That’s going to give us the best chance to win the game.

[MaceCase]

IF pre-season is any indication and Collins is the back-up PF to Illyasova it's means he is in the regular rotation.
The only reason he goes to Erie is if he somehow falls out of the rotation. That why Prince and Bembry went to the DLeague - no available minutes behind Korver, Bazemore, Thabo and THJr last season.
Dwayne and Ersan starts, backed up by Moose and JC - that's it.

Collins doesn't strike me as a guy who will lose confidence if he's getting abused in the NBA at first.

Me neither. There is a certain maturity to him for being 20 years old.

College sophomore raised with military discipline...well Air Force but I hear they know more than just how to starch a mean shirt.

He worked his way into being a player worth drafting, he wasn't some 5 star high school recruit that saw college as a formality so there is a lot of maturity.

[jayu70]

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The Hawks want to play at a faster pace. They want to create more fast-break chances. They want to be an aggressive, scrappy defensive team.

It will not be easy for the Hawks to do those things over 82 games. But it would help if coach Mike Budenholzer can go deeper into his bench, and that’s his plan.

“Ten (players) has kind of been our number quite often,” Budenholzer said. “The old NBA it used to be nine or eight. Some teams or coaches are still eight or nine. We’ve probably been at 10. I would say we are open to adding an 11th guy to the rotation. There (are), I think, guys that have earned opportunities, earned chances to play. Sometimes you settle in after ‘X’ number of games. But throwing an 11th guy into the mix may be something we consider or we do.”

It appears Budenholzer’s top 10 includes starters Dennis Schroder, Kent Bazemore, Taurean Prince, Ersan Ilysasova, Dewayne Dedmon plus Malcolm Delaney, Marco Belinelli, DeAndre’ Bembry, John Collins and Mike Muscala. Candidates for the 11th man are Luke Babbit, Tyler Dorsey, Nicolas Brussino and Josh Magette.

[macd-gm]

Anything that get Dorsey on the court is good with me.

[Jamaaliver]

Hawks practice report: ‘Gifted and talented’ defensively, ‘learning curve’ on offense

Budenholzer said earlier in the preseason that Hawks players first would have to learn the principles of the new offense before they can play “randomly” within it. How is that process going?

“It depends on the day and the possession, probably,” Budenholzer said. “I think it’s all to be expected. I think there is probably going to be some of that learning curve for a while. I think when you play with an offense with a lot of movement, a lot of reads and reactions, it’s going to kind of ebb and flow a little bit. I think it’s part of what makes it good and effective. But there’s definitely a learning curve where we probably will want it to be better.”


I agree that the starting five will be good defensively. I think they’ll have trouble scoring (maybe even more so than the second unit). There’s just not a lot of consistent play-making or shooting and, really, the two best shooters are on the bench.

myAJC

[macd-gm]

The best shooters are on the bench. That's the truth there but the good news is that outside of Marco, all those shooters are young guys.

[Jamaaliver]

Mike Cunningham's recap from opening night:

-The offense was as advertised. The ball and players moved offensively for the most part. The Hawks screened frequently, attacked the basket and shook free for space in the mid-range. The Hawks also got out and ran (15 fast-break points in the first half) while still hitting the offensive boards

-Budenholzer went with Belinelli instead of Kent Bazemore late in the game. Belinelli’s 3-point threat created more space and the Hawks effectively attacked the basket while getting Dewayne Dedmon involved.

-Schroder scored 28 points on 26 shots. That’s a lot of FGAs, and the ball stopped with him at times. But, in my view, he played under control for the most part and only forced a couple of shots . Schroder was getting to the basket pretty much whenever he wanted so probing the defense was effective.

myAJC

[macd-gm]

Dennis was getting there whenever he wanted in the second half. He wasted a lot of possessions in the first by trying to make impossible buckets but still it was a great game all around for him.

Dedmon is hilarious. He's the anti-Dwight. He was setting like 5 screens on some trips down the court.

[Jamaaliver]

Offensive rebounding the key to efficient offense for Atlanta
Grabbing easy points when they can get them will help buoy the Hawks’ offense.

Atlanta’s teams under head coach Mike Budenholzer have mostly ignored offensive rebounding—the team has finished 28th, 30th, 30th, and 14th in offensive rebound rate during Budenholzer’s tenure. Budenholzer constantly preached to his team to focus on getting back after a missed shot or turnover, eschewing any opportunity for second-chance points to focus on the other end of the floor.

This year, however, things look a little bit different, even with just one regular season game in the books.

Dedmon’s energy on the offensive glass was apparent in the Hawks season opener in Dallas, in which he grabbed two key boards in the final nine minutes of the game to help seal the victory, including a clutch put back in traffic with a minute left to give the Hawks the lead for good:

Both Dedmon and rookie rebounding machine John Collins made their living on the glass in pick-and-roll, routinely rolling to the rim, gaining position on their defender, and vacuuming up any missed mid-range shots from the Atlanta guards.

it’s a positive sign that Dedmon and Collins were able to wreak havoc in the paint without needing the ball to be dumped into them and having the rest of the team stand around to watch.

Grabbing a few more offensive rebounds each game will help a Hawks offense that desperately needs any easy points they can get. Dedmon and Collins showed against Dallas that they’re up to the task and their energy on the glass will be key for an Atlanta team that looks like it will struggle to generate efficient offense consistently.

Peachtree Hoops

[Jamaaliver]

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With how much we have de-emphasized low post plays from the half court offense, it makes me think this offense is only a temporary approach necessitated by a lack of talent at C & PF.

0 out of 96 opportunities is pretty difficult to explain otherwise.

[jayu70]

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With how much we have de-emphasized low post plays from the half court offense, it makes me think this offense is only a temporary approach necessitated by a lack of talent at C & PF.

0 out of 96 opportunities is pretty difficult to explain otherwise.

True.
That's why I hate random stats without context.
Who are we supposed to post up? Nobody has a back to the basket game.
Does Collins have one?

[Jamaaliver]

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Bud is clearly enamored with big men who can pull out to the perimeter. As it is a seemingly important aspect of any successful offense he runs.

Seems to limit the types of big men we might sign or draft.

This also seems the biggest obstacle to Collins becoming a starter--his lack of range.


Sent from my iPad using RealGM Forums

[Jamaaliver]

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The new offense is pretty much all Dennis, all the time.

The team fell apart while he was on the bench against CHA.

[Jamaaliver]

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Bud is clearly enamored with big men who can pull out to the perimeter.

Mike Cunningham's early take on this tactic:

I admit that I’m skeptical about the whole Dewayne Dedmon shooting 3-pointer thing. Dedmon shooting that 3-pointer late in the game is not ideal. He made one earlier, though, and I’ll keep an open mind until we get more data:

AJC

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[Jamaaliver]

NOTE: Through the first 6 days of the season, Hawks are ranked #23 in Offensive Efficiency at 98.2 points per 100 possessions.

This ranking is higher than last years (27th). But the raw number is worse (102.3).

Per ESPN

[macd-gm]

Can't score is definitely our problem. Babbitt has been disappointing so far. We need him knocking down 3s. Even Ersan has been cold most of the time. I'm hoping to see Dorsey. I think the kid can score.

[jayu70]

There was a stat last year about how many OPEN looks we get but just aren't converting. Seems like a similar trend this year so far.

[macd-gm]

There was a stat last year about how many OPEN looks we get but just aren't converting. Seems like a similar trend this year so far.

Very true. But last year we were expecting guys who never could shoot consistently to hit those. Now we are expecting guys who are proven shooters to hit them. I think they will eventually. Ersan, Marco, Babbit just look like they are pressing to hard.

One thing that is driving me crazy is Dennis dribbling the whole clock only to attempt an impossible layup. That has to stop. We need rhythm in our offense and that kills it. He needs to learn that trying to take over the game is fine if you can do it but you need to do it in the fourth.

[Jamaaliver]

There was a stat last year about how many OPEN looks we get but just aren't converting. Seems like a similar trend this year so far.

Very true. But last year we were expecting guys who never could shoot consistently to hit those. Now we are expecting guys who are proven shooters to hit them. I think they will eventually. Ersan, Marco, Babbit just look like they are pressing to hard.

One thing that is driving me crazy is Dennis dribbling the whole clock only to attempt an impossible layup. That has to stop. We need rhythm in our offense and that kills it. He needs to learn that trying to take over the game is fine if you can do it but you need to do it in the fourth.

That first game has given Dennis, the coaching staff and the fan base false confidence that the all-Dennis offense was viable for more than a game or two.

This team is seriously lacking in talent.

And that Bazemore contract looks worse every game.


It's gonna be a long year.

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Only Dennis, Marco and Muscala on the plus side offensively.

[macd-gm]

I don't know how the TPA works. It's just based on points? Because Dennis shooting 11% from 3 and 42% overall. That ain't great. He has got to start passing the damn ball. Marco has shot well. Ersan can shoot, Muscala can shoot, Babbit can shoot. They will pick it up. Dennis has to make it happen.

Baze is just still doing too much but i just don't see it changing. He needs to come off the bench in the worst way but Bud just won't admit defeat. At some point the starting lineup needs to be Dennis/Marco/Prince/Collins/Dedmon with someone?/Baze/babbit?/Ersan/Moose off the bench. Down the road anyway. Collins can't start yet because he'll foul out by halftime but you can see that the guy can impact the game.