The Atlanta Hawks surprised everyone when they made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2021 NBA Playoffs. They were a team that everyone thought was ready to announce their presence as an Eastern Conference power, but things have not gone according to plan thus far this season.
The Hawks are currently 15-16, struggling to get going much like last season. A head coaching change likely isn’t on the horizon to fire them as it did last season, so they will have to evaluate themselves and figure out what needs to get fixed to get this season on track.
Atlanta showed some life during a seven-game winning streak, but outside of that stretch, the team has been pretty poor overall. Numerous factors play into that, with injuries once again being one of them.
De’Andre Hunter is sidelined once again with a wrist injury. The team is poor in clutch situations offensively, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN, and has had a little bit of bad shooting luck. But, as it was for large portions of last season, it is their defense that is letting them down.
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The Atlanta Hawks are currently 24th in points allowed per possession. Hunter’s absence, as he is their best perimeter defender, certainly plays a part in that. They are 25th in defensive rating according to Basketball-Reference as well.
Cleaning things up on that end of the court would help turn things around. They have an elite offense, which is the only reason their record isn’t worse than it already is. They are second with an offensive rating of 113.7, which actually gives them a positive net rating on the season.
When taking a deeper dive, there is one specific area of defense that the Hawks need to improve in and that is in transition. As Lowe pointed out, they are dead last in points allowed per possession off of a steal.
Atlanta is generally a good team with the ball in their hands. They do not turn it over often, ranking fourth in turnovers per game. But, when they do turn it over, it is usually live-ball turnovers, such as the opposing team stealing the ball and going the other way for easy baskets.
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Alas, the live-ball turnovers are only part of the issue. Schematically, the Hawks are not set up well to defend teams in transition. A lot of their offense is space and pace, putting Trae Young in pick-and-rolls with shooters in the corner.
That puts the team at a disadvantage as the opposing team is in a position to have numbers automatically going back the other way even if the Hawks score a basket. They struggle sometimes picking up after a basket, but a miss at the rim might as the same negative impact as a live ball turnover.
Part of the issue for the Hawks is that they do everything they can to hide Young defensively. It is a rare occurrence for Young to defend the same player that is defending him. As a result, things get messy in transition as Atlanta scrambles to compensate looking for the matchups they like.
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Getting all of their players back from injury and league’s health and safety protocols, as starting center Clint Capela is also sidelined, the Atlanta Hawks will look a little better. Even playing slightly below-average defense, instead of ranking right near the last, would help vault Atlanta back up in the standings.
