On The Court
By Brendan Ware
Last year the Hawks surprised
the NBA, improving their win total
by 22 games to claim the best record
in the Eastern Conference. They
have been proclaimed Spurs East by
many because of the San Antonio
Spurs disciple, Mike Budenhlzer,
at the helm and a beautiful teamoriented offensive system. They flow
offensively from transition into a
secondary break that is very similar
to San Antonio, but with a few
tweaks based on their personnel.
An example is the use of the
Spurs Motion Weak, which sets up
a screen the screener action that
creates a cross screen and down
screen look. The cross screen is
used to get a post-up look and that
really doesn’t suit the Hawks as they
actually had the least number of
post-up possessions in the NBA last
year. It might come as a surprise
because they have two quality bigs
in Al Horford and Paul Millsap, but
their strengths are as playmaking
big men with the ability to space the
floor.
So the Hawks prefer to use
Motion Through that creates a
three-man flex screening option on
one side of the floor and a pinch
post two-man game on the other
side. This plays to the Hawks
strengths with smart shooters
making reads based on the defense
on one side, and a two-man game on
the other that can either be a high
post entry that allows their skilled
big men to be distributors, or their
attacking point guard to get a pick
and roll with a clear side of the floor
to work with.
So how do the offseason
personnel changes affect the Hawks?
The addition of Tiago gives them
important roster flexibility in the
frontcourt and someone familiar
with the offensive system who can
hit the ground running.
Justin Holiday and Tim
Hardaway Jr are a bit of a different
story at first glance. When
comparing them directly to
DeMarre Carroll, it’s a major down
grade, but the Hawks philosophy is
player development and it might be
important to remind yourself that
Thabo Sefolosha was the starter until
he got hurt, not Carroll.
Now, I’m not saying Holiday or
Hardaway are going to develop into
the quality starter Carroll is, but it’s
possible they become serviceable
role players that can be covered up
with the Hawks flexibility at the
wing if need be. Dennis Schroeder’s
long wing span and defensive
potential will allow him to play at
the two at times with Jeff Teague as
well.
All in all, the Hawks are
dedicated to an unselfish
playmaking system that generates
great floor spacing, enabling them
to be an efficient offensive team.
The big question is how much of an
upgrade will Tiago be defensively
for the second unit, and will it be
enough to get them home court
advantage for the first couple rounds
of the playoffs.
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