Atlanta Hawks: Around the Perimeter, Eps. 17

Good Morning, Atlanta! You are listening to the seventeenth episode of Around the Perimeter, our weekly podcast where we discuss anything and everything Atlanta sports. This week, we focus on the Atlanta Hawks.

To begin this week’s podcast, weekly contributor Nathan Carl Johnson joins the program to discuss the Atlanta Hawks performance during the first week of the 2015-2016 season. Following the departure of DeMarre Carroll in free agency, many experts predicted that the Atlanta Hawks would regress this season. However, 7 games into the season, the Atlanta Hawks stand at 6-1, having won 6 consecutive games following a season opening loss to the Detroit Pistons.

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Kent Bazemore‘s play out of the starting lineup has been excellent as of late for the Atlanta Hawks, making many people (myself included) not miss DeMarre Carroll’s presence. Despite an excellent start, the Atlanta Hawks have had trouble closing out opponents, and have played sloppy over their first few games. Is this cause for concern? And Dennis Schroder is looking better than ever, displaying an improved three-point shot so far this season. Could Dennis Schroder in fact become a legitimate contender for the NBA’s 6th Man of the Year Award?

Perhaps the biggest mystery thus far for the Atlanta Hawks in the early going of the season is that guard Tim Hardaway Jr. has yet to appear in a game for the team. Carl and I discuss what is causing his lack of play, and why Lamar Patterson and Justin Holiday have received playing time instead of Hardaway.

Carl and I examine what happened to the Atlanta Falcons against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second segment of this week’s episode. Lack of ball security led to the Falcons’ demise last week, while 11 penalties for 124 yards last Sunday killed any chance the team had to pull off a victory. Carl talks about how the Atlanta Falcons need to rectify these habits in order to win on Sunday in Santa Clara, CA against the San Francisco 49ers.