ESPN Piece: Hawks seeking last season's magic

[Jamaaliver]

Zach Lowe pens a nice article on our team re-defining itself from offense to defense:

It must be a strange thing to discover magic, and then lose it. Every time the Hawks get hot, some of them give into the temptation. Maybe, just maybe, they've found it -- whatever it is -- again. Mike Budenholzer, the team's head coach, is cautious about letting his mind wander there, even as the Hawks have reeled off eight wins in 10 games.

The beautiful scoring machine that gob-smacked the league last season just hasn't hummed this time around. The Hawks are 15th in points per possession after finishing sixth last season, and they've had to accept the reality that the league has figured out how to guard them.

The Nets, Cavs and Wizards unveiled some special anti-Hawks tactics in the playoffs last season, including expert ball denial on the weak side, and the rest of the league noticed.

Atlanta could have obsessed over repairing its gummy offense, but it made a different choice: become a defensive juggernaut, and hope the offense reanimates in time.

Budenholzer devoted 90 percent of practice time to defense, players and coaches say. Atlanta tightened its foundational scheme, and got more adventurous scripting opponent-specific tweaks.

It has worked. The Hawks rank second overall in points allowed per possession, trailing only the Spurs, and they've been No. 1 by a wide margin since the calendar flipped to 2016. If each season really tells its own story, maybe this is the story of the 2015-16 Hawks: encounter failure in one area, dig deep in another, and come out a more complete team at the right time.

"Our offense hasn't been there, so our defense has had to be better," Korver said. "There has been growth in the team because of that realization. And now we're starting to figure some things out offensively. I think we peaked too early last year. Hopefully this year, our best basketball is ahead of us."

[Jamaaliver]

Atlanta is 26th in defensive rebounding rate, and on pace for the lowest offensive rebounding rate in league history. The latter reflects Budenholzer's preference for transition defense, though Kris Humphries, fitting in well as (basically) a center, should nab at least a few boards. The former is a gaping weakness in Atlanta's postseason armor, perhaps exacerbated by demanding Horford and Millsap stray so far from the rim.

The Hawks at their peak aren't good enough to beat Cleveland without some breaks, and they're miles behind Golden State, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. The perimeter talent around the Horford-Millsap front line just doesn't quite stack up night-to-night, and the wing rotation is the biggest long-term question facing the team -- even though Tim Hardaway Jr. suddenly looks like a real player. They don't have LeBron, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook or Kawhi Leonard.

With Horford, who turns 30 in June, about to hit free agency and Schroder readying to succeed Teague, you can understand why the Hawks nearly hit the reset button. Some rival executives view everything through the lens of Horford's next contract: Re-sign him as he ages, and you're tethering yourselves to long-term mediocrity.

But that Horford-Millsap front line is dynamite; the Hawks may not have a top-10 player, but they have two top-20 guys at valuable positions.

The long-term picture is uncertain in Atlanta, just as it is in almost every other NBA city. The short-term picture is getting brighter by the day. Admit it, you forgot about these guys while we were slobbering over Toronto and Boston. It's time to remember them. They may not have enough juice to topple a superpower, but they're damn good, and looking more like themselves.

[PandaKidd]

Is this the article Grizzard was referring too:
Buddy Grizzard ‏@BuddyGrizzard 6h6 hours ago

Rival execs per Zach Lowe: "Re-sign [Horford] as he ages, and you're tethering yourselves to long-term mediocrity." Don't know that I agree.

[PandaKidd]

Yeah, sorry didnt have time to read but I see it is the same.

Like ive said before, i can deal with the AH contract IF WE SERIOUSLY UPGRADE on the wing. Get me a Derozan/Legit SF either through trade or the draft, and ill swallow the AH pill.

If they reup with this same aging core, get used to Hawks Treadmill 2.0 beacuse they just arent good enough to win.

[Jamaaliver]

Like ive said before, i can deal with the AH contract IF WE SERIOUSLY UPGRADE on the wing. Get me a Derozan/Legit SF either through trade or the draft, and ill swallow the AH pill.

If they re-up with this same aging core, get used to Hawks Treadmill 2.0 because they just aren't good enough to win.

I have no doubt this 15 game sample will be used as confirmation by the Front Office of 'How close we are!' and they'll refuse to make any major changes as a result.

Trading Teague seems inevitable, but beyond that...we'll likely double down, hope Edy and Tiago and produce next year and set our sights on winning 50 games and being the 4th seed.

Good is the enemy of great...


(Just wait till 2017 when we'll have to overpay Dennis and THJ to retain their services. That'll be a fun time.)

[ATL Boy]

Yup. Mired in mediocrity for another half decade, unless we seriously luck out in the mid to late rounds of a draft, and find a superstar (I'm not holding my breath, not with our recent draft history).

All that suffering through the early 2000s, and mediocrity in the Joe-era, and the best thing we got from that suffering was a 33-2 run in an anomaly season where we ended up peaking too early, and thus had our championship window close before it ever really opened.

[atlantabbq99]

This season really show how important Korver is to the Hawks.

Teague, Horford, Millsap are all important and are all playing about the same as last year, the only drop has been Korver.

If Korver had been healthy and shooting .450-.500 from three all year, i think the Hawks easily get 50-55 wins. but because Korver is coming back from elbow surgery, the Hawks are only looking at 45-50 wins.

[PandaKidd]

Korver played well last night. I saw he had 15 points. I do think he is the key or a player like him. I just doubt his ability to create his own shot in the playoffs.

[jayu70]

They had the magic last night.
Korver will never be able to create his own shot, that's not who he is.. Our players have to screen better for him.

[Jamaaliver]

Korver played well last night. I saw he had 15 points. I do think he is the key or a player like him. I just doubt his ability to create his own shot in the playoffs.

Yeah, I remember George Karl pointing out how teams were scheming Korver out of the offense last post-season. And how players dependent upon others to get an open shot can be shut down by opposing coaching staffs:

In a playoff series, you can figure out shooting, You just cover Kyle Korver. All that cute stuff they ran for him all year long — they only get that once in a while now. The shooters who have playmaking ability — those are the guys that are really kicking ass.

Here

[atlantabbq99]

Korver played well last night. I saw he had 15 points. I do think he is the key or a player like him. I just doubt his ability to create his own shot in the playoffs.

Nobody said anything about Korver creating his shot. That is not how the Hawks offense works. The Hawks offense works with ball movement and passing. Only Teague and Millsap create their own shot from time to time, but really Teague's main role is to penetrate and pass, but the Hawks offense is predicated on motion from all five guys and passing the ball until a shooter becomes open.

In the playoffs last year, other teams were trying to take away Korver which was fine because it created open looks for other guys (like Carroll who had alot of big games). The problem last year in the playoffs was not the Hawks offense, but it was the Hawks defense and JR Smith's threes.

[PandaKidd]

Ok so Korver not creating his own shot isnt a problem, but when they shut him down, his inability to create his own shot is a problem. GOT IT.

Korver is a 1 trick pony guys, that **** wont work in the playoffs. We saw it last year. I hope the other players can make their open shots, but acting like Korvers biggest deficiency isnt a liability is just laughable.

[Jamaaliver]

Ok so Korver not creating his own shot isnt a problem, but when they shut him down, his inability to create his own shot is a problem. GOT IT.

Korver is a 1 trick pony guys, that **** wont work in the playoffs. We saw it last year. I hope the other players can make their open shots, but acting like Korvers biggest deficiency isnt a liability is just laughable.

Yeah, I think an issue is that we tried to feature a limited player like Korver as a primary cornerstone of our attack. And teams were able to intentionally take that option away.

But Korver isn't talented enough to be a top option in the playoffs. He should be a guy benefitting all the attention other players receive and punishing teams when they double the #1 option on offense.

Korver playing opposite LeBron, DeMarcus or Russ Westbrook would be deadly. Korver playing opposite Horford, Millsap and Teague...less so.

Particular in the post-season when teams commit to taking KK out of his game.

[PandaKidd]

YOU MEAN LIKE RAY ALLEN?

Now Ray Allen had much more versatility than Korver even with bone spurs. But Korver isnt going to be getting open looks in the playoffs, and that will ruin spacing for everyone else too.

[Jamaaliver]

YOU MEAN LIKE RAY ALLEN?

Now Ray Allen had much more versatility than Korver even with bone spurs. But Korver isnt going to be getting open looks in the playoffs, and that will ruin spacing for everyone else too.

LOL That name did cross my mind.

But Ray Allen was slightly more talented, more athletic than Korver ever was. But even Ray Allen didn't truly contend for titles until he went to the superteams in Miami and Boston. Surrounded by elite talent like Rondo, Pierce and a still effective KG.

Korver is more like Dell Curry. Great three-point shooting role player with limited other skills.

[Hawk Eye]

Slightly off-topic but if I was Sam Presti I would go hard after Korver in the offseason. I would literallly call Bud and Wes everyday on the phone trying to get him. With all the double teams that Durant AND Westbrook draw--the basket would look like an ocean for Korver.

WB/Korver/KD/Ibaka/Adams.

[Jamaaliver]

Slightly off-topic but if I was Sam Presti I would go hard after Korver in the offseason. I would literallly call Bud and Wes everyday on the phone trying to get him. With all the double teams that Durant AND Westbrook draw--the basket would look like an ocean for Korver.

WB/Korver/KD/Ibaka/Adams.

A trade centered around Jeremy Lamb and K Korver last summer could have been mutually beneficial, for sure...

[simon24]

Yeah, sorry didnt have time to read but I see it is the same.

Like ive said before, i can deal with the AH contract IF WE SERIOUSLY UPGRADE on the wing. Get me a Derozan/Legit SF either through trade or the draft, and ill swallow the AH pill.

If they reup with this same aging core, get used to Hawks Treadmill 2.0 beacuse they just arent good enough to win.

I could see the Hawks absorbing Iguodala's contract for GS if they had a chance to get KD. Bud seems to like vets. Worse case, if Bazemore leaves, I could see Bud starting Hardaway and moving Korver to SF. Hardaway could be ATL's Danny Green, a different dynamic Hawks hadn't had under the Bud era.