Can Kent Bazemore Lift Hawks In Game 3 As Starter?
By John Buhler
With yesterday’s devastating news that SG Kyle Korver will miss the rest of the playoffs with a severe high ankle sprain, Kent Bazemore will start on the wing for a wounded Atlanta Hawks team. Bazemore is a high energy guy and might actually be the most athletic player on Coach Mike Budenholzer’s 15-man roster. Even though he is a great defensive player, can Kent Bazemore lift the Hawks in Game 3 on the road as a starter?
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As tough as Korver’s injury is to swallow, he had not been very effective as our sharpshooter for most of this deep playoff run. The opposition has made it a primary focus to disrupt Korver’s three-point stroke and alter the Atlanta Hawks’ offensive game plan. Though Korver is an improved wing defender, especially as a help defender on outside shots, Kent Bazemore is more agile and adept to playing elite NBA defense.
Bazemore won the Lefty Driesell Award as the nation’s top defensive player in college while at Old Dominion University in 2011. It has been Baze’s defensive acumen that has given the former undrafted free agent an opportunity to play in the Association. Though he might be a bit undersized to guard LeBron James, Bazemore can still offer lockdown defense out on the perimeter and prevent JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Matthew Dellavedova from raining threes on the Hawks defense.
I think playing Bazemore and DeMarre Carroll on the floor together with Paul Millsap at the four gives Atlanta a very tight defense 2 through 4. Expect Shelvin Mack and possibly John Jenkins play more minutes in Korver’s absence. Mack can push the ball up the court in transition well and Jenkins is still a solid sharpshooter coming off Bud’s bench.
“I still think we’re the better team.” – Hawks Wing Kent Bazemore referring to Cleveland
Is Bazemore going to command the defensive attention that Kyle Korver gets when he is on the floor? No way, but that doesn’t really matter. Bazemore isn’t afraid to zag when others zig on offense. He has shown aggressiveness towards attacking the paint for chances at high percentage shots while drawing contact. Atlanta has played their best basketball this postseason when the Hawks attack the paint. It will be a challenge as Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson are outstanding low post defenders.
The Hawks need an injection to bring them back to life after two tough losses at home in the Eastern Conference Finals. He may not light up the stats sheet, but I can imagine that Kent Bazemore will play with a ton of energy in his start for Game 3. Let’s Go Hawks!