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Inside the lowest point of the Hawks’ season

It wasn’t supposed to be this bad.

Travis Schlenk stood approximately 20 feet from the visitors’ locker room in the tunnels of Madison Square Garden as he slouched against the brick wall. He had his hand on his left hip and the box score and his phone in his right hand as he looked down and tried to make sense of what just happened in MSG on Tuesday night.

Five minutes prior, the Hawks, one by one, all made the walk to the locker room...They hung their heads with clear shame. Trae Young sighed, shook his head and walked alone.

Each player on the Hawks’ roster except DeAndre’ Bembry was either drafted by, traded for or signed by Schlenk during his tenure as the Hawks’ general manager. This roster is his creation.

It’s important to remember that the Hawks are still in rebuilding mode. Rebuilds look hideous some nights; Tuesday was one of those nights. But there is zero excuse for why the team has shown almost no effort multiple times this season...

After the game, Pierce and the team had another lengthy closed-door meeting like the one they had in Detroit after the Pistons ran them off the floor that night.

One of the biggest problems the Hawks have in their locker room is the lack of leadership from outspoken veterans.

Jamaaliver wrote:

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Is it time to question the Hawks embarrassing start?



Coming into the season, all the talk around the Hawks was about sneaking back into the playoffs...it is time for everybody to re-evaluate the Hawks’ [expectations].

If last night’s 143-120 loss to the pitiful New York Knicks was not a wake-up call, I’m not sure anything is going to do it for this group. Atlanta solidified themselves as the worst team in the Eastern Conference behind the one thing that has plagued the Hawks dating back to last year – porous defense.

The Hawks rank 30th in opponent’s points in the paint, 30th in defensive rebound %, 27th in opponent’s points off turnovers, 26th in opponent’s second-chance points, and have a miserable defensive rating of 114.4 – tied for last in the league. For a coach that was regarded as defensive-minded before heading to Atlanta, Lloyd Pierce’s squad is the worst defensive team in basketball, and they have only regressed over his tenure.

The focus of the team this year was always going to be about the youth improving. But that also might be the most discouraging part of this group thus far. For a team that was supposed to have several blossoming talents, only Trae Young has shown real progress. The most significant issue through 28 games isn’t the Hawks 6-22 record; it’s the lack of progress from their young talent. This roster should not have been expected to win more than 40 games, but it was reasonable to forecast John Collins making the All-Star team and Kevin Huerter budding into a reliable third option on both sides of the ball. Those things haven’t happened, and the rookies are not off to stellar starts either.

Fischella wrote:This team needs new management, Schlenk is at fault here

HMFFL wrote:Collins gets most of the blame to me for being suspended. It deflated the team before the regular season started. He must come back and make an All-Star caliber impact and the team can rally around that.

If anything is on the up and up with that, management can proceed from there, and consider an impact trade or not. Otherwise, we build this off-season.

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Rainwater wrote:

HMFFL wrote:Collins gets most of the blame to me for being suspended. It deflated the team before the regular season started. He must come back and make an All-Star caliber impact and the team can rally around that.

If anything is on the up and up with that, management can proceed from there, and consider an impact trade or not. Otherwise, we build this off-season.

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I hope I am wrong but I don't think Collins is as good as people make him out be. I get Kenyon Martin vibes without the defense.

The Hawks aren’t just bad. They’re lose-by-23-to-the-Knicks bad.

Last night’s setback in New York has awakened some demons.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports:

Code: Select all

Frustration in the locker room has been building for some time as teammates have complained to each other about selfishness, not putting in the necessary work to turn things around and players not being held accountable, sources told Yahoo Sports.

It’s hard to believe this doesn’t center on Trae Young...Young is in the midst of a breakout year. He is a star.

But he also plays awful defense and gets too sloppy with the ball. He contributes to Atlanta’s losing.

It’s fine for a 21-year-old not to have down all the finer points of winning basketball. Young is still right on track. But I can see how it’d be grating if Young is blaming everyone else for the Hawks’ struggles. He’s culpable, too.

Chris Kirchner wrote:This is the second straight season now that the Hawks have started at least 6-22. Last year, the team was 6-23 before finishing the season with 29 wins. There seems to be more panic from the fanbase this year. I don’t know why.

The Hawks have had one of the hardest schedules in the league. It gets much easier as the season progresses...as the schedule eases up, the Hawks should be better.

But, let’s be clear, Collins isn’t solving all of the team’s issues. The rotation should be more stable with Collins and allow players to have the roles they thought they would have at the beginning of the season. It should get better, and I do think this team still can win the 30 games like the front office projected it would before the season.

Jamaaliver wrote:The below is largely speculative, but it does make me wonder. Trae does have a bad case of sticky fingers on a lot of possessions when no one else gets to touch the basketball. He tends to pound the ball into the ground and take ill advised shots.

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Could that be some of the cause of unrest within the team? Would we be better off if he had fewer 30 point games and had more frequent 15 assist games?

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The Hawks aren’t just bad. They’re lose-by-23-to-the-Knicks bad.

Last night’s setback in New York has awakened some demons.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports:

Code: Select all

Frustration in the locker room has been building for some time as teammates have complained to each other about selfishness, not putting in the necessary work to turn things around and players not being held accountable, sources told Yahoo Sports.

It’s hard to believe this doesn’t center on Trae Young...Young is in the midst of a breakout year. He is a star.

But he also plays awful defense and gets too sloppy with the ball. He contributes to Atlanta’s losing.

It’s fine for a 21-year-old not to have down all the finer points of winning basketball. Young is still right on track. But I can see how it’d be grating if Young is blaming everyone else for the Hawks’ struggles. He’s culpable, too.

jayu70 wrote:Rumor is - Turner and Crabbe who are upset with their roles. Two guys who have been injured. Two guys that won't be here beyond this season and who are looking for contracts in the offseason.

Jamaaliver wrote:

jayu70 wrote:Rumor is - Turner and Crabbe who are upset with their roles. Two guys who have been injured. Two guys that won't be here beyond this season and who are looking for contracts in the offseason.

1. I haven't heard that rumor.

2. It doesn't make much sense...Evan Turner didn't play at all on Tuesday night. But he's part of the reason we gave up 77 first-half points to the worst offensive team in the NBA?

I've watched the tape. It's effort and chemistry up and down the roster.

Jamaaliver wrote:

jayu70 wrote:Rumor is - Turner and Crabbe who are upset with their roles. Two guys who have been injured. Two guys that won't be here beyond this season and who are looking for contracts in the offseason.

1. I haven't heard that rumor.

2. It doesn't make much sense...Evan Turner didn't play at all on Tuesday night. But he's part of the reason we gave up 77 first-half points to the worst offensive team in the NBA?

I've watched the tape. It's effort and chemistry up and down the roster.