Atlanta Hawks: Biggest Weakness in 2015-2016
The Atlanta Hawks are coming off an historic season in 2014-2015.
The team won 60 games, ascended to the top seed in the Eastern Conference, and played in for the Conference Title in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Atlanta Hawks’ success was predicated on a belief in Mike Budenholzer’s system, which emphasizes mismatches, passing, and shooting from long-range.
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Efficiency was key on both offense and defense last season, as the Atlanta Hawks had the second most assists per game at 25.7 last year. They also ranked 5th in points allowed at 97.1 per game, demonstrated balance on both ends of the floor.
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Though the Atlanta Hawks were the poster child for smart and intelligent play on the basketball court last season, one glaring flaw in their game-plan led to their demise in the Eastern Conference Finals: rebounding. The Atlanta Hawks were one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA last season, averaging 40.6 per game which placed them at 28th out of 30 teams.
This weakness was evidenced against the Cleveland Cavaliers during the Eastern Conference Finals, as Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson‘s physicality gave the Cavs vital second chance opportunities at the offensive end, while preventing the Atlanta Hawks to corral their own offensive rebounds to create second chance opportunities for themselves.
Last season, the Atlanta Hawks lacked the size to be an effective rebounding team. Also, Mike Budenholzer’s defensive scheme is to limit transition baskets, which means diminished opportunities for offensive rebounds.
Even with the addition of Tiago Splitter to the Atlanta Hawks’ rotation this season, rebounding will once again be their biggest weakness. Last year with the San Antonio Spurs, Tiago Splitter averaged 4.8 rebounds per game, and his size will allow the Hawks to improve in team rebounding, but I unfortunately do not believe it will be enough to elevate the team beyond the top 20 in the league in rebounding.
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So how can the Atlanta Hawks compensate for their clear deficiencies in rebounding? One area that needs significant improvement is that the Hawks need to effectively box out opponents to limit offensive rebounds. Though they themselves may not be able to be an effective offensive rebounding team, they can certainly mitigate second chance opportunities by the opponents.
Tiago Splitter, Al Horford and Paul Millsap are not that undersized, and should be able to more effectively rebound on the defensive end. If the Atlanta Hawks can successfully improve in this area, they will not be as deficient as they were last season. Still, the fact remains that the Hawks will be one of the weaker rebounding teams in the league next season.
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