Mike Budenholzer’s Edge Against The West Key For Hawks

Mike Budenholzer has tremendous familiarity competing against the Western Conference. This is a huge edge the Atlanta Hawks have over most Eastern teams.

The Atlanta Hawks have battled so hard over the first two months of the 2015-16 NBA season. Atlanta has played 20 games in 35 days and have a solid 12-8 record on the year, all things considered. Unfortunately that has the Atlanta Hawks in 6th place in the Eastern Conference the first day of December.

A .600 winning percentage would have Atlanta in 4th place behind Golden State, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City, ahead of Dallas, the Los Angeles Clippers, and Memphis is the underwhelming Western Conference. Who would have thought that entering the season that the East would actually be better in the first two months of 2015-16?

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If we break down the Atlanta Hawks’ 2015-16 schedule thus far, we would find that the Hawks have a great record in the Southeast (4-0), strong at home (7-3), and pretty good in the East (7-4). However, where Atlanta has its best strength in being able to get back on top in the East is that Hawks play the Western Conference well under HC Mike Budenholzer.

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Sure, a 5-4 record versus the West isn’t a great start, but in recent history the West has annihilated the East since Michael Jordan‘s second retirement (since 1998). Atlanta’s four losses in the West are to teams very much fighting for legitimate spots in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Losing in San Antonio has been an annual thing for Atlanta since Tim Duncan arrived in 1997. Utah is an up-and-coming team under former Hawks top assistant Quin Snyder and are an absolute beast defensively. Minnesota, though very young and inexperienced, are 8-9 and could hustle their way to the Western Conference Playoffs in 2016. Phoenix holds the slight tiebreaker over the Wolves for the 8th seed if the season ended today.

While Atlanta is only a game above .500 against the West entering December, this is an edge that most Eastern Conference teams don’t have. How many teams in the East could beat the Thunder, Clippers, Grizzlies, Rockets, Mavericks, etc. consistently? Cleveland and maybe one or two others. Atlanta is on that short list and it is a way the Hawks can claw back to the top of the East.

Most Eastern teams aren’t equipped to bang with the big power forwards and centers in the Western Conference. A great team in the East may have a sub-.500 record in their 30 games against the West and it’s usually not a big deal. Sure, it means that team isn’t going to win an NBA Championship that year, but they could make an ECF if given the right matchups.

Mike Budenholzer’s Atlanta Hawks sit 2.5 games back of Cleveland for the top seed in the East. A win over a tough Toronto team at home tomorrow night could put Atlanta back into the Top 4 by Thursday morning. En route to a franchise-high 60 wins last year, 22 of the club’s wins came against the Western Conference. Atlanta went 38-14 against the East, which was great, but it was the dominance over the West that gave them such a huge cushion on the top seed last year.

Perhaps the West is actually down this year the rest of the basketball world hasn’t caught on just yet, but having a head coach like Mike Budenholzer, a man who spent 17 years learning every nuance in how to beat 14 Western teams while in San Antonio, only serves Atlanta in East/West showdowns.

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To me, what will ultimately separate the Top 4 teams in the East from the rest is how they handle the West. Beating the West consistently still means something and that should stand as a buffer for the Atlanta Hawks in getting a crucial Top 4 seed.

Why would you not want home court advantage at least in the first round of the NBA Playoffs? Ask Tiago Splitter, a member of the 2014-15 San Antonio Spurs, how that turned out. Look for the Atlanta Hawks to again win around 20 games against the Western Conference in 2015-16.