“THESE cats were 9-2?”
Which creature has one voice, and yet, becomes four-footed in the morning, then two-footed at noon, then three-footed by the evening?
Per ancient myth, for centuries, untold numbers of Greek visitors were flummoxed, stumped – and then, promptly devoured – by the mighty Sphinx, for failing to come up with a correct answer to the above question. Alas, the responses to the world’s most perplexing riddles often prove amazingly simple. Oedipus eventually solved the riddle, and the once-formidable Sphinx responded by devouring itself.
In modern times, that’s what it looks like we’re witnessing with the offense of Mike Budenholzer’s Atlanta Hawks, a stunned Sphinx eating itself alive. To be fair, though, there’s no evidence the latest visitor -- Russell Westbrook, star of the Oklahoma City Thunder (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, Fox Sports Oklahoma) -- suffers from any sort of Oedipal complex.
The Greek hero Westbrook takes after is more likely to be Narcissus, and the resulting behavior – authoritativeness, superiority, self-admiration, exploitation – is producing far better results on the current-day NBA floor than whatever these furballs are that Atlanta has coughed up over the past several weeks.
Lil’ Rage leads a furious, and almost single-minded, attack for the Thunder (13-8, winners of five straight), the current NBA leader in minutes played, points scored (31.0 PPG, 2nd in NBA), field goals shot, free throws shot, and assists dished out (11.3 APG, 2nd in NBA). Plus, at a ridiculous 10.8 RPG (9th in NBA), this 6-foot-3-inch point guard can literally initiate his own offense from the defensive end of the floor.
“Just grabbing the ball before the other team does,” Westbrook explained (narcissistically!) after snagging 17 boards (16 defensive) last night, to go along with 28 points and a dozen assists, along the way to a 101-92 victory over Anthony Davis’ visiting Pelicans. Westbrook’s feat is enough to make Davis’ output of 37-and-15 look small by comparison. “(Davis) can’t just beat us by himself,” said Thunder big man Enes Kanter postgame, “That’s what a really special player does, look at Russell. Getting his stats, but making everybody else better.”
Westbrook’s usage percentage, 41.0%, would blow away not only his career-mark of 38.4% (2014-15 season), but also the King of Go-It-Alone basketball, Kobe Bryant’s 38.6% during the 2005-06 season. Despite the Lakers offense resembling more of a data point than a Triangle under the auspices of Phil Jackson (your third-leading scorer? Smush Parker!), Kobe carried the team to a 45-37 record and a 7-seed. Naturally, when it comes to playoff possibilities, and beyond, Westbrook and head coach Billy Donovan have to be thinking, “Why Not OKC?”
Combine Westbrook’s take-charge attitude with the current state of collective catatonia from the Hawks, and the possible absence of OKC center Steven Adams (sprained ankle last night), and fans at the Dimlight Factory have a good chance at witnessing the NBA’s first-ever Triple Twenty Game, nevermind a sixth consecutive Triple Double.
Since 1983, the closest any NBA Monstar has came to a 20-20-20 feat (for points-rebounds-assists) was when Earvin Johnson put up a Magical line of 24-17-17 in an April 1989 win over the Nuggets. Shaq tore down the Nets with 28 points, 24 rebounds and 15 swats in November 1993.
In his last visit to Philips Arena, in November 2015, Westbrook had team-highs of 34 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists – this on a team that featured co-stars Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka. But the Hawks, with former Thunder mate Thabo Sefolosha starting ahead of Kent Bazemore (fancy that!) prevailed, 106-100. Well, so much for sharing!
Budenholzer’s current crew of Argonauts appear doomed in their long quest to nab the Golden Fleece, and their ship seems perilously close to sinking prematurely. The Hawks (10-11, 1-9 in last ten games) have been blown out by almost epic proportions in recent losses, and may have to sail headlong into tonight’s contest once again without Commodore Paul Millsap (hip) around to steer.
An era that once valued the ideals of everyone contributing, sharing, and placing an emphasis on team defense, seems to have given way, and probably at the worst conceivable time for a Hawks team that has long been satisfied with building a constellation instead of relying on one particular supernova.
Although Adams (69.0 FG% in last 4 games) snapping out of an early funk has much to do with OKC’s recent turnaround, they can turn to Westbrook when the going gets tough and expect him, granted enough time, to sort things out. The Hawks know they have no Westbrook, Durant, no LeBron, no Harden, no Curry, no DeRozan, no Isaiah, no Lillard, no Wall, no Kawhi, no Kemba, no Blake, no Melo, no Davis to turn to on their roster when adversity strikes. There’s not even a reliable Lou or a Jamal off the bench to change things up on the offensive end.
For the past several seasons, that fact proved to be, more often than not, a competitive advantage for the Hawks. Uncertain which Atlanta player was going to have a big game? How could you, as an opponent, figure it out, when the Hawks weren’t sure themselves? You, as a fan, need somewhere around 45 wins, with an occasional playoff series win, and an All-Star or two thrown into the bag? Why pay such big prices, when Atlanta can get it for you wholesale?
Sadly, Budenholzer’s Riddle seems to have been solved by opposing NBA coaches. Pack the paint, and dare the Hawks to try anything other than bricks and dead-end drives. Beat the weathered-down, over-30 starters down the floor in transition, before they can figure out whether they’re coming or going.
Confound Atlanta’s open catch-and-shooters by out-pointing them with your iso-oriented, double-teamed stars and subs. And then sit back and watch the Hawks consume themselves, shifting outside of their element into iso-oriented drives, thoughtless passes, and aimless spot-ups, in desperate and futile attempts to match the things your team already does well. The Hawks talk a good game in the locker room about steering the ship around together. But when the inevitable mouth-punch arrives, players on the floor start looking inward for answers.
Rome was not built in a day, and it’s going to take a lot more than one evening for the Hawks to turn their fortunes around. But tonight’s as good a place to start as any. An overriding objective is to have Westbrook push toward a 20-spot in two other categories – turnovers (where the Hawks must punish the Thunder in transition, not the other way around), and personal fouls.
Over the course of his career, OKC is 31-41 (18-27 on the road) in games where Russ logged at least 6 turnovers and 3 personals. The Thunder is making do without second-string guard Cameron Payne (foot), as Donovan turns to rookie Semaj Christon (5 assists, 1 TO vs, NOP yesterday) and Victor Oladipo more often than he’d like when Westbrook needs a rare breather.
For all intents and purposes, Dennis Schröder (21.8 PPG, 52.9 FG%, 8.0 APG in last four games; two TOs in last 50 minutes of play) is officially the Jason of Atlanta’s Argo. He must put Westbrook to work on the defensive end, and beat him down the floor in transition for simple scores. Quick enough to go under screens and still thwart drives, Dennis must guide Westbrook away from the middle of the floor and toward help defenders, where the Thunder guard will be more inclined to give up the rock.
Westbrook’s tantalizing ballhandling skills cause many an opponent to get caught ball-watching, to the benefit of his Thunder teammates. Schröder’s floor mates must use active hands to cut off passing lanes to Oladipo (team-high 2.2 three-pointers per game, 39.5 3FG%), bench acquisition Jerami Grant (39.3 3FG% in OKC), and rookie sharpshooter Domantas Sabonis (46.0 3FG%), the latter having served his team just fine as a rookie starting stretch-4.
If everyone is doing their jobs, there will be no need for the Hawks to allow Russ to pile up bonus points at the charity stripe. No more than two defenders need worry about contesting his shots, one if they’re beyond the three-point line (33.0 3FG%). Westbrook has accounted for 58 percent of his team’s free throw makes, shooting 84.0 FT% through eight road games. If anyone gets to the line for OKC, it should be his teammates (59.2 road FT% for OKC w/o Westbrook).
Dwight Howard (1.2 post-up FGs per-game, lowest among 15 bigs getting four or more post-up possessions per game) must run the floor and work from post-to-post, dominating his matchup with the offensive-minded Enes Kanter (career-high 60.2 2FG%). Howard has not been credited with two or more assists since getting escorted out of the November 18 game Charlotte a bit early, the Hawks 4-1 in those games prior to his ejection.
When getting touches, D8 must read the defense quickly; if a high-percentage post shot is not in the works, kick it out to Schröder and the Hawks’ wings, rather than sucking up precious shot clock time, risking more turnovers (19.1 TO% on post-ups, 2nd-highest among those 15 bigs) and drawing fruitless fouls (19.1 shooting foul% on post-ups, highest among those 15 bigs).
If Howard, or any of the Hawks’ starters, are unnecessarily lethargic in running the floor, setting screens, getting open, deflecting passes, or closing out on shooters, Coach Bud must make a sub as soon as possible. There is no need to watch leads evaporate into thin air, or holes turn into caverns, in the opening quarters, just hoping the players’ rust will somehow wear off on the floor.
That goes for tonight, and all games going forward for Atlanta. If the riddle has clearly been solved (“Man!” is the answer to the Sphinx riddle above), it’s on this coaching staff to drum up some new riddles, and to do it quickly, before their team devours itself.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
