Atlhawks09 wrote:ezzzp wrote:Atlhawks09 wrote:I don’t think Collins is a massive defensive liability. He had a +1.9 DBPM (1.1 BLK in 24.1 Mins) as a rookie in Coach Bud’s system and this past year he got off to a slow start (missed the first 18 games with an ankle injury in preseason) but was much more active defensively later in the season.
First 47 games:
18 blocks (0.4 BPG a game in 29.9 MPG)
Last 14 games:
24 blocks (1.5 BPG game in 30.4 MPG)
Trae we’ll see if he can get closer to average defensively ...he’s only 20 and improved as the season went on.
Hawks also do VALUE a stretch shooting 5. There’s a reason why you saw Len and Dedmon shooting more volume 3’s then they ever had in their career. Non shooting big clogs the paint for Trae/Collins. Ideally the Hawks would like shooters everywhere.
Hawks won’t be a player on the FA market this year though unless Durant/Leonard/Thompson (not happening) wanted to come. Hawks will build around Trae, Huerter, Collins + hopefully 8 + 10 picks so they won’t be looking to sign Vuc.
I like what I saw of Alex Len, he's improved all around. It seems like he still needs to get a bit stronger but he could take another nice production jump next year and you guys have him dirt cheap at $4m. That was a nice pick up. He could evolve into a good fit as his body enters prime physicality.
Individual defensive statistics aren't really a good measure for gauging if a player is good defensively or not. The best way to look at defense is in 5 player lineup increments and team context. Another metric I have found to be informative is NBA.com's tracking data (Defensive Dashboard) that measures Defensive FG% + has comparison to how that player impacts his opponents FG% in different shot zones.
If you look at the team context, you guys had the 4th worst defense in the NBA with a 113.0 Defensive Rating. Within that context, your 3 worst defenders were Prince (114.6), Young (113.6) and Collins (112.0)...but those numbers are tied together, so one or more could be dragging others down.
If you look at NBA's camera tracking DFG% and impact - those numbers show that you were right about Collins. He does actually perform much better than what my eye test had seen in the handful of games I watched you guys last season. He had a very solid -7.1 impact on opponents interior attack FG%...and was also solid on the perimeter with a -0.2 impact.
This hints that he's individually holding his own and the problem lies within team defense and that he's surrounded by weak defenders.
Len and Dedmon both had solid defensive tracking numbers.
Young is definitely not good, opponents shoot +4.0 better than their normal FG% when defended by him. I'm not sure on this, but my guess is that you guys are probably hiding him on that end too...which would make that number even uglier given context. Huerter was really really bad with a +6 impact. The defensive issue is in the guards/wings, so you guys will have to overcompensate around that with excellent defenders, at SG/SF and/or C for most impact.
Yeah I agree that a lot of the defensive issues
comes from the backcourt. At the same time both Trae/Huerter were 20 year old rookies starting at PG/SG so I’m not surprised a rookie backcourt (both know for Off) would struggle on that end...I did think both improved as the season went. Not saying either will be elite defenders but let’s see how they look as they get older / more experience.
Not sure about Prince...he was decent as a rookie and last year but was really bad this year and shooting + defense was what he was known for at Baylor.
Would still like to add good defenders around them regardless that fit offensively. I want Reddish + Bol (if foot checks out)
i was thinking the same for you guys. swing for the fences. Reddish could be a much better player in the NBA and a steal... and bol's injury could be a hell of a blessing. otherwise i was thinking hayes will round your youth movement out nicely