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Mike Budenholzer: Where Can He Improve in 2016?

By John Buhler

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Mike Budenholzer is coming off an NBA Season where he won NBA Coach of the Year. Bud’s not taking his foot off the gas anytime soon. Where can he improve in 2016 as the Head Coach of the Atlanta Hawks?

It serves Atlanta Hawks HC Mike Budenholzer to look for areas to improve his coaching style.  As the Atlanta Hawks will begin their training camp in 13 days at the University of Georgia, how does Coach Bud improve after a season where his peers named him Coach of the Year?

-= Related: Why Atlanta Needs Its Own D-League Affiliate =-

To become one of the best, you have to strive to for only achieving excellence, finding little niches in the game and exploiting them better than everybody else.  Basketball is a game of major strategy and Mike Budenholzer is one of the better tacticians in the NBA.  That being said, I can see a few areas where he can get better as a head coach.

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I think Atlanta can play with more pace in 2015-16 than last year, finishing in the middle of the pack in 2014-15.  That should help the Hawks especially in transition offense.  While I do love the transition threes that the Atlanta Hawks often take, I’d almost rather see the ball handler attack the paint and draw contact to effect the game later on.

I think getting his players to the free throw line more often would serve Coach Bud. Getting the opposition into foul trouble early would likely open up the floor for more shot opportunities in crunch time.  Al Horford needs to average more than 2 free throw attempts a game, in essence.

From a strategic stand point, I’d like to see Mike Budenholzer establish a firm 8 or 9-man rotation in some games.  While Atlanta succeeds in the regular season because of the depth on their roster, not having a solidified shortened bench proved costly in the later rounds of the 2015 NBA Playoffs.  Their competition played their best players more often and Atlanta struggled to find continuity in knowing who their best 8 players were last year.  Expect Atlanta to find its playoff rotation earlier than last season.

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    • Lastly, I’d like to see Coach Bud’s answer for when the opposition decides to go big.  Atlanta should improve as a rebounding team in 2015-16 with Tiago Splitter‘s signing, but the Hawks need to prove that they play as a physical team against big bruisers like Memphis, Milwaukee, and Cleveland.  Atlanta can win with small ball, but can Mike Budenholzer get his team to win with size and strength in the low post when the game slows down?

    I think that these areas will be points of emphasis for Coach Bud and his staff during training camp.  Atlanta looks to get back into the Eastern Conference Finals, perhaps further, with continuous self-improvement in 2015-16.  I have faith that Coach Bud will have the foresight to make the minute, but necessary adjustments for his Atlanta Hawks team.  We’re inside of 50 days until Atlanta Hawks Basketball. Let’s Go Hawks!

    Next: Atlanta Hawks to Start Training Camp at UGA on Sept. 29

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