Post#11 » by lethalweapon3 » Wed Jan 2, 2019 10:00 pm
Will Everybody Eat in 2019?
That’s the burning question eating away at the hosts of our Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club tonight. The Washington Wizards (7:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL) had been spending much of this season eating themselves alive, leaving a stomach-churning fanbase feeling hangry.
Now, the guy they entrusted to serve up the main dishes, John Wall (bone spurs and disharmony), has shelved himself for the remainder of the season. Fortunately for The District, they have a very familiar sous chef stepping back under the heat lamp.
Third-year pro Tomas Satoransky filled in as a starter for 30 games last season, after Wall went down in mid-season, and was a boon for what had become a static offense. Coach Scott Brooks turned to Tim Frazier during Wall’s prior absence in November/December, and the results were usually disappointing and occasionally (47-point loss at Utah) disastrous. After turning to the Czech guard in January to start in Wall’s place, the Wizards breezed to a 25-point victory in Atlanta, kicking off a five-game winning streak and an 8-2 stretch that Wall’s teammates found, perhaps a bit too, admirable.
Perhaps under-conditioned for heavy-duty minutes, Satoransky and the Zards withered down the stretch, before Wall returned in late March for the final playoff crawl. But the mid-season run, geared by starter Satoransky, was enough to salvage the Wizards’ season, a 39-43 finish and an 8-seed. With Wall back in charge, stealing two home games from the top-seeded Raptors gave D.C hope that the supermax contract kicking in for Optimus Dime next season would indeed be worth every nickel.
So far this season, the Wizards (14-23) assisted on 57.9 and 59.3 percent of baskets, respectively, when either Wall or sidekick Bradley Beal was on the court dominating the rock. That assist percentage has elevated to 64.3 percent when either player sat, a proportion that would rank 4th in the NBA (the Hawks’ 63.9 percent currently ranks 4th).
The difference is largely thanks to Satoransky (Wizards’ 64.6 assist% when he’s on-court), who won’t take a shot he doesn’t like. He has proven himself a reliable caretaker (career-low 1.7 assists per-36), and he continues to demonstrate he’s a decent off-ball perimeter option (39.7 3FG%, incl. 43.7% above-the-break; 45.2 3FG% last season). That’s part of the reason Brooks turned to Tomas to fill in the gap at small forward, one created when malcontent Markieff Morris got benched and Otto Porter was shifted to the 4-spot.
The ploy worked well when Washington scored its season-high 131 regulation points, in a 14-point win in Atlanta on December 5. Beal’s 36 points in that contest was the headlining story, but with Wall (paternity leave) unavailable and Austin Rivers (!) starting at point, the unsung hero was Satoransky.
The latter dished out seven assists (no turnovers) and sunk five of seven shots (2-for-3 3FGs) to ensure a decisive edge for the Wizards over the Hawks, on a night John Collins (probable for today, flu) scored his momentary career-high 26 points. A couple weeks later, Wall was back on the State Farm Arena floor, with a newly-arrived Trevor Ariza in place of Rivers. But the results were quite different this time around.
Trae Young and Jeremy Lin led a balanced Atlanta attack, along the way to a 118-110 Hawks victory on December 18, despite the best efforts by Ariza (6 steals) to thwart them. Wall’s shot was off and, in a recurring theme that increasingly gained notoriety throughout much of this season, Chocolate City’s All-Star point guard approached team defense like a fella in dire need of a Snickers.
If, and how much, Washington’s defensive efficiency (112.7 D-Rating, 3rd-worst in NBA) improves in Wall’s absence remains to be seen. But the offense appears to be in decent shape in the near-term, so long as Satoransky remains upright. The Charlotte Hornets can attest to that. This past Saturday, the third start for Satoransky in place of Wall, the game turned into a veritable buffet for the Wizards on offense.
Seven Wizards, including all five starters, reached double figures in scoring, as Washington fell a point short of its regulation-high in a 130-126 win over Charlotte here at Capital One Arena. Four of the five starters amassed at least five assists, including Satoransky’s six (one turnover), Ariza’s nine, and Jeff Green’s surprising seven.
Green filled in admirably for Porter, who returns to action tonight after missing ten games with a quad injury. His and Ariza’s performances ensure that Brooks will be in no rush for the Khia-style injuries to Morris (neck and back stiffness) to heal. The Wizards couldn’t stop Kemba Walker (47 points, 18-for-29 FGs) and the Hornets from scoring, either, but Beal (career-high 6 steals on Saturday) dug in and did what he could defensively to make a difference.
Thomas (or, as Ernie Grunfeld calls the ex-Laker, Kobe) Bryant continues to be a saving grace for the Wizards’ beleaguered frontline, posting 20 points (9-for-11 FGs), ten boards and three dimes of his own versus Charlotte. With no timetable for the return of discarded Hawk/Hornet Dwight Howard (lumbar microdiscectomy, or something like that), Bryant’s energy at both ends has alleviated Brooks from having to make Scotty’s Choice: woefully undersized pivot play, or, trying to make chicken salad out of using Morris and Ian Mahinmi under center.
The Wiz (3.0 games behind 8-seed Detroit) insist they’re still aiming for a playoff spot, lest Grunfeld’s deal for the 33-year-old Ariza (39.3 MPG w/ WAS) no longer makes sense. While Washington enters 2019 play without three preseason-projected starters, Atlanta may not be able to match that number tonight. Dewayne Dedmon (sore knee) has been upgraded to probable after missing Atlanta’s prior two games. He’s itching to rejoin the stable of big men that are feasting lately under coach Lloyd Pierce’s watch.
Dedmon, in his last six starts, averaged 15.7 PPG and 10.0 RPG, shooting a smooth 14-for-22 on threes (63.6 3FG%). Not to be outdone, Dedmon’s primary sub, Alex Len, contributed a solid 14.6 PPG and 8.0 RPG, plus 1.4 BPG, in his past five appearances. Slotting either of these two in a Thump-and-Jump pairing with Collins (22-and-16 @ IND on Monday) seems to finally be stretching the rest of the floor for rookies Young and Kevin Huerter.
Along the way to his career-high 22 points, Huerter splashed six of his nine three-point attempts to keep the Hawks literally within shooting distance of the Pacers on New Year’s Eve, while Young (4-for-6 3FGs) nearly followed suit against one of the league’s more tenacious defensive outfits.
Assertiveness on drives to the hoop led to some Trae-cherous plays (8 TOs by Young @ IND; 7 assists) that cost the Hawks a chance at drawing even. But on the good side, the improving synergy with the bigs and Huerter is compelling defenders to take some eyes off Young (50.0 3FG% in past 8 games), allowing him to see more of the full floor.
Young also benefits from better defensive help by DeAndre’ Bembry, charge-magnet Jeremy Lin and, now, Daniel Hamilton, who did a decent job in brief spells in the first and fourth quarters versus Victor Oladipo and the Pacers. While the Indiana game was a predictable setback (Pacer guards combined for 18 assists and 2 TOs, 6-for-12 3FGs), particularly with the recent injury loss of Kent Bazemore, Atlanta is showing more signs of recovering on defense when helping Trae, who in turn is showing more of a willingness to help, too (3 steals vs. IND, tying his season-high).
The supporting backcourt cast for the Hawks (11-25) will all help in the effort to get Beal (career-low 33.7 3FG%; career-highs of 54.9 2FG%, 23.6 PPG, 4.7 APG, 4.9 RPG), who is eager to prove himself an All-Star for the second consecutive year, to post some high-volume but inefficient numbers tonight. The frontcourt will need to exploit Washington’s inability (23.9 O-Reb%, 28th in NBA) to generate second chances (minus-2.8 second-chance points-per-48, 3rd-worst in NBA).
Among the attendees at Capital One Arena, there is no appetite for a second helping of defeat at the talons of the Hawks, this time in front of the home crowd. Will the small plates served up by Satoransky again compensate for the lack of main-course fare from Wall? Or, will another tenacious effort by Atlanta leave the Wizards with an empty feeling in the pit of their stomachs?
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
"Dunking is better than sex." - Shawn Kemp, 1996
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/62762909/1084366438.jpg.0.jpg)
