Hawks offense has stalled

[Jamaaliver]

Badly...

Look no further than the last five games. During the span, the Hawks have failed to score more than 96 points in any game and compiled a 1-4 record. In the first 11 games of the season, the Hawks scored more than 100 points nine times and compiled a 9-2 record.

The recent struggle was epitomized by Friday’s 95-68 loss at the Jazz. It was a defeat that had much of the Hawks’ postgame locker room in stunned silence.

At one point this season, the Hawks had the No. 2 offense in the NBA. Today, they're in the bottom 10 in offensive efficiency (101.2), points per game (102.1) and field goal percentage (33.7). They are seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (45.9).

There is some good news. The Hawks defense is No. 1 in the league in defensive efficiency (96.5).

The Hawks are clearly having issues on offense. The pace and space system predicating on ball movement has bogged down. Turnovers have been an issue all season.

Over the past five games, each Hawks starter is scoring less than his season average (with the exception of Korver).

Here

a players-only meeting couldn’t help Hawks fix offensive woes

The Hawks held a players-only meeting to discuss the recent stretch of poor play, which now stands at five losses in six games. While the Hawks have the top-rated defense in the NBA, the offense has been the issue. After the first 11 games of the season, the Hawks averaged more than 107 points per game. They have failed to score more than 96 points in any of the past six games.

The meeting appeared to work early as the Hawks had 11 assists on 13 field goals in the first quarter. They would have just 14 assists the rest of the game. The Lakers started to switch on screens and it affected the Hawks’ ball movement.

The Hawks had another troublesome second quarter. After scoring just 11 points in the second period of Friday’s loss to the Jazz, the Hawks had just 16 points in the quarter against the Lakers. The Lakers outscored the Hawks 35-16 in the period and led by as many as 11 points. The Hawks were 7 of 20 (35 percent) from the field and that included Kent Bazemore’s 28-footer with 1.4 seconds left.

“After a good first quarter, I think we weren’t able to sustain it,” Budenholzer said. “Offensively, our ball movement and our people movement needs to be better from the start of the game to the end of the game.”

Here


Is this a precursor of things to come?
Or a temporary blip in the season?
Should we expect the offense to struggle more in the post season?

Any easy, in-house fixes?
Should a vet guard like Teague be playing alongside Dwight?
Should THJ or Thabo be inserted in the starting 5?

Thoughts? Concerns? Predictions?

[Jamaaliver]

I think a big part of the recent struggles is the fact no one can shoot on this team outside of Korver.

Dennis has been improved this season, but has struggled with his jumper of late. Utah was going under screens in that debacle, just daring DS to beat them with his jump shot. (Spoiler Alert: He didn't.)

Delaney has struggled shooting the ball all season.

Bazemore has struggled. Thabo has cooled. THJ is incredibly inconsistent.

This allows teams to pack the paint defensively.

Beyond that, we don't have a steady hand at PG to run a disciplined offense during key stretches. I think we not only miss Teague. But also Shelvin Mack, who proved to be steady -- if underwhelming -- quarterbacking an offense.

[Jamaaliver]

After a good first quarter, I think we weren’t able to sustain it. Offensively, our ball movement and our people movement needs to be better from the start of the game to the end of the game.

After the Lakers Loss

At some point you might what to at least, maybe, try to suck them in and find some guys for open shots – and then you’ve got to make them...

After the Jazz Loss

He has an outstanding playbook for us. He’s done a tremendous job of tailoring our sets to our players’ strengths. We have to execute. We got away with it early in the year. As teams start to lock in on us and turn up the pressure, we’ve struggled. We’ve just got to continue to trust coach and buy into what he wants us to do.

Before the Lakers Loss

No, I think we didn’t shoot that well. We didn’t have the correct energy on both ends of the floor. I don’t think it was anything special they did. They just played harder than us. They made shots. They got stops when they needed to and got a good win for themselves.

After the Jazz Loss

The concern has been the same. We’ve got to get better offensively. I think even in the wins our offense hasn’t been that great. We’ve got to get better at that. We have to get better at reading what defenses are doing to us and denying, back-dooring, learning how to get easy baskets. I think we can get better at that.

[Jamaaliver]

Local Jazz Beat writer's assessment of how Utah dominated us:

Holding an NBA team to 68 points is always going to be an impressive feat, but holding the versatile Atlanta Hawks to that total is ridiculous. The Jazz allowed 31.3 percent shooting overall, had a nine minute period where the Hawks scored just three points, and then had two quarters when they scored just 25 combined. That will win every time.

So what did they do well? Let's break it down:

First, they went under on Dennis Schroder screens. At first, it looked like Schroder was going to make the Jazz pay for this strategy, going 5-6 in the first quarter, including 2-3 on pick and roll threes left open by Utah. But the Jazz largely stuck with it, and Schroder shot just 1-13 for the rest of the game. Ouch.

Here

[reazun]

dont really know how to answer the poll, its a little of all of the above for me (except the Josh Smith one ) Schroeder is young, it would be nice to still have Jarrett Jack on the roster, but it is what it is. I dont think we necessarily lack shooters. It just seems our shooting now is not hitting. Horford leaving and being replaced with Dwight is minimal imo. Yeah, it may effect it a little, but his rebounds are getting us second chances that Horford did not give us. Its up to the other players to also hit shots..I think its multi faceted, but I also think things will improve.

[jayu70]

Last season we had the most open looks and the shots made were a low percentage. Same this year.
Just some horrible shooting.
I don't think we are moving the ball as much, too much dribbling by guys that can't and shouldn't.

[Jamaaliver]

Dunc'd on Podcast assesses all the Eastern Conference Teams. They see the Hawks' offensive struggles being due to a myriad of problems.

Starting lineup has a +/- of -12.
Dennis is 75th among PGs for RPM
No player can score consistently on his own
Korver getting limited catch and shoot opportunities
Lack of a steady hand at PG

It's a really in-depth assessment found here at the 1hr 27 minute mark.

They do NOT see massive improvement for the offense with this group of players.

[Jamaaliver]

I think Horford's floor spacing and varied game in the pick and roll is also a huge part of our struggles.

[jayu70]

I think Horford's floor spacing and varied game in the pick and roll is also a huge part of our struggles.

The overall team spacing is off. No pace to the play - not enough ball and player movement.
Al also set a ton of screens for our 'catch and shoot' players. Dwight not so much. He stays glued to the paint.

[Jamaaliver]

The criminally under rated Graham Chapple over at HawksHoop highlights a couple of poor decisions by Dennis when running the offense:

Here, Dennis completely ignores the obvious Muscala-Lou Williams mismatch.

Watch on YouTube

It's noteworthy, also, that the other 4 players move very little once Dennis gets the ball in his hands. He neglects to hit Muscala in the post with a mismatch. And the other players remain stagnant as DS dribbles into the paint. This appears to be, at least in part, because they don't know what DS is trying to do.

Here, Dennis gets switched onto Larry Nance, directs traffic away to set up the isolation with the mismatch but decides to just chuck a three instead and it misses. Absolutely horrible. Come on, Dennis.

Watch on YouTube

This is poor recognition by Dennis. no doubt. But there's a huge cushion in the lane for a wing player to cut in to the paint and get a shot at an easy layup. It appears that the wings get stuck watching DS...expecting him to take his mismatch off the dribble. Again, the other players don't know what DS is trying to do.

[MaceCase]

I think Horford's floor spacing and varied game in the pick and roll is also a huge part of our struggles.

The overall team spacing is off. No pace to the play - not enough ball and player movement.
Al also set a ton of screens for our 'catch and shoot' players. Dwight not so much. He stays glued to the paint.

The loss of Al has bottomed the Hawks offense from 22nd to 24th...

[Jamaaliver]

^I'm not sure about this. Hawks were 18th last season in offensive efficiency. They are currently 23rd in that stat.


H3ll, Assist rate, eFG%, TS% and Points per 100 possessions are all down this season. It's pretty much a consensus that the offense is struggling right now:

The Hawks have lost six of the past seven games and offense has clearly been the issue. In the six games before Monday, they failed to score more than 96 points in each. Coaches and players were clearly frustrated.

Here

the Hawks have lost five of their last six games, scoring a paltry 92 points per 100 possessions over that stretch. The starting lineup continues to struggle...

-NBA.com

The loss to the Lakers Sunday has them dropping five of six, mostly due to struggles with the starters and the offense (the Hawks remains a good defensive team).

-Pro Basketball Talk


Dennis bears a lot of the responsibility. But the fact opposing teams can now simply pack the paint on defense to shut us down is noteworthy as Teague and the other guy were probably the best mid-range shooters on our team.

[PandaKidd]

The team couldnt shoot last season, and they largely didnt do anything to change that this offseason.

When you are depending on THJ/rookies/Thabo for perimeter scoring, its not a recipe for success.

DS is a work in progress. I do like the addition of D12 but we need perimeter scoring. We didnt have it last year, we dont have it this year. Not consistent at least.

[afectar]

1)To me Baze is taking a lot of stupid shots.
2) Millsap is going one on one a lot more.
3)Kyle can't seem to catch fire.

Every time Thabo takes a shot I'm afraid. Hawks really need to swing a trade for either a scorer or good shooter. In the playoffs not having legit shooting is going to kill us.

[Jamaaliver]

Hawks really need to swing a trade for either a scorer or good shooter. In the playoffs not having legit shooting is going to kill us.

Agreed. Any thoughts on Tim Hardaway, Jr. filling in that role moving forward?

Any other likely trade or Free Agency targets come to mind?

I like Gordon Hayward as the SF of the future or Danilo Gallinari as the PF of the future.

[jayu70]

1)To me Baze is taking a lot of stupid shots.
2) Millsap is going one on one a lot more.
3)Kyle can't seem to catch fire.

Every time Thabo takes a shot I'm afraid. Hawks really need to swing a trade for either a scorer or good shooter. In the playoffs not having legit shooting is going to kill us.

Bazemore is doing too much of what he is not good at - trying to dibble. I saw a post on another site about how Baze should be used. Use him like Bruce Bowen - play defense, spot up for corner threes,s pot up for midrange shots and cuts to the basket - STOP dribbling and trying to create - he's like a wild stallion.

Millsap's offensive game is slowed with Howard taking up the paint.

Dwight needs to work on his screen game to free up shooters.

[ATL Boy]

We don't have shooters that can hit open 3 point shots as a consistent enough clip.

Y'all wanna see something cool? And by cool I mean absolutely infuriating and borderline terrifying.


The Hawks had by far the highest percentage of wide open 3 pointers in the NBA last season (wide open meaning that the defender was 6+ feet away). But they had the lowest percentage of wide open 3 pointers made.

I will never doubt Coach Bud's genius or his system, all of this was a result of that system. Our players just couldn't get it done on wide open shots last year, and I don't see how any of that is changing this year.

[afectar]

Hawks really need to swing a trade for either a scorer or good shooter. In the playoffs not having legit shooting is going to kill us.

Agreed. Any thoughts on Tim Hardaway, Jr. filling in that role moving forward?

Any other likely trade or Free Agency targets come to mind?

I like Gordon Hayward as the SF of the future or Danilo Gallinari as the PF of the future.

I actually like those two you mention, but what are the chances of either landing with the Hawks. I think Gallinari can be have. I'm not to sure the Jazz would let go of Hayward.

Tim Hardaway is starting to show signs. At this point he seems to be doing more for us then Kyle.

[jayu70]

We don't have shooters that can hit open 3 point shots as a consistent enough clip.

Y'all wanna see something cool? And by cool I mean absolutely infuriating and borderline terrifying.


The Hawks had by far the highest percentage of wide open 3 pointers in the NBA last season (wide open meaning that the defender was 6+ feet away). But they had the lowest percentage of wide open 3 pointers made.

I will never doubt Coach Bud's genius or his system, all of this was a result of that system. Our players just couldn't get it done on wide open shots last year, and I don't see how any of that is changing this year.

I mentioned those same stats in another thread. That is terrifying - they can get open, the offense gets them open looks but they are not converting.

[Jamaaliver]

I like Gordon Hayward as the SF of the future or Danilo Gallinari as the PF of the future.

I actually like those two you mention, but what are the chances of either landing with the Hawks. I think Gallinari can be have. I'm not to sure the Jazz would let go of Hayward.

Hayward will be an unrestricted Free Agent next summer. As a Restricted Free Agent two (three?) summer ago, he signed a contract with Charlotte.

I definitely think he's in play to leave Utah. He'll be looking for a max contract as well. We can offer this city, starting role in a familiar system, a weaker conference, rising talent at PG, a perennial Coach of the Year candidate and a future HOF at Center.

We'll have competition to sign Gordon...but we have a shot. (I think.) The question becomes: does losing Millsap but adding Hayward fix our offense and make us more of a contender?