Atlanta Hawks Continue to Struggle Against Larger Frontcourts

The Atlanta Hawks fell to the Utah Jazz in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday evening by a score of 97-96 — their third loss in their last four games.

After beginning the season at 8-1, and rattling off 7 consecutive victories, the Atlanta Hawks have fell flat in their last four games, losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics and the Utah Jazz, while beating an injury riddled New Orleans Pelicans teams. Three of these losses have come against teams that possess a size and rebounding advantage over the Atlanta Hawks. Much like last year’s Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland, the Hawks are struggling against teams with more physical frontcourts, and it portends more difficulty as the season progresses.

Against the Utah Jazz, the frontcourt of Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert killed the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday. Gobert’s shot-blocking ability and rebounding prowess limited the Hawks ability to secure rebounds, and limited their ability to get to the basket, as the long shadow of Gobert was in the minds of the Atlanta guards. Gobert finished the contest with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks.

More from ATL All Day

The size of Rudy Gobert clearly effected Al Horford, forcing the Atlanta Hawks’ center to play away from the basket. Though Horford’s two three-pointers late in the fourth quarter gave the team a chance to win, Horford was not able to score close to the basket, as Gobert frequently forced missed layups from Horford. Tiago Splitter did not fair much better, only finishing with 2 points and 2 rebounds in 18 minutes. The primary reason for acquiring Tiago Splitter this offseason was to place more of an emphasis on mitigating the effectiveness of larger, more physical frontcourts, while simultaneously improving the Hawks’ rebounding.

Paul Millsap did have a great game, scoring 28 points and recording 6 rebounds, but the inability of Al Horford and Tiago Splitter to offset the presence of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors ultimately led to the Hawks’ demise. Former Georgia Tech standout Derrick Favors returned to his hometown and put on a show, scoring 23 points while also recording 9 rebounds and 3 assists. The Atlanta Hawks routinely would try to double team the Utah guards in order to create a turnover, leaving Favors open for a mid-range jump-shot. These defensive lapses by Atlanta led to easy pick and pops for Derrick Favors, as Al Horford, Paul Millsap and Tiago Splitter were unable to really mitigate the effectiveness of the Jazz’s bigs.

The Jazz out-rebounded the Atlanta Hawks 40-33 on Sunday, which included 10 offensive rebounds. . During the Atlanta Hawks’ 7-game winning streak, the team was able to gain a rebounding advantage in most of those contests, giving them an improved chance of securing a victory. Over the past week, that has not occurred.

Similar to last week’s game against Minnesota, the Atlanta Hawks were unable to truly contain rookie Karl-Anthony Towns. Against Boston on Friday, the Celtics out-rebouded the Hawks 50-35, as Jared Sullinger and Amir Johnson exerted their physicality on an overmatched Atlanta Hawks frontcourt on the glass.

More from Atlanta Hawks

For the Atlanta Hawks to truly take the next step this season and remain firmly entrenched as a contender in the Eastern Conference, the team must improve when matching up against more physical frontcourts. Head Coach Mike Budenholzer needs to utilize the depth the team possesses, using Tiago Splitter, Mike Muscala and even Walter Tavares more often. Tavares’s offensive game is unpolished, but his size and rebounding ability would at the very least attenuate the efficacy of player’s like Rudy Gobert, Jared Sullinger, Timofey Mozgov etc.

If the Atlanta Hawks are incapable of diminishing the effectiveness of opposing bigs, they should focus on limiting the production of the rest of the team in order to prevent a balanced effort. There are ways to win, even when at a size disadvantage. The Golden State Warriors regularly overcome their size deficiencies with intelligent play. The Atlanta Hawks must mirror the play of Warriors, and play to their own advantages.

Next: Atlanta Hawks Lose a Tough One to Jazz, 97-96

The Atlanta Hawks travel to the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn to face the Nets on Tuesday, where they will have to deal with Brook Lopez. The team has struggled to stop Lopez’s production last postseason and in the first game this year, so this presents another test for the team when dealing with a star frontcourt player.

Home/Atlanta Hawks