Why the Hawks’ success is no fluke

[HawkItus]

The Atlanta Hawks are the best team in the Eastern Conference, a distinction they have not held at this point in the season in quite some time.

 

The ascension coincides with the hiring of Mike Budenholzer, who spent 17 seasons as an assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich and is in his second year with Atlanta. And while they aren’t exactly the Spurs of the East, there are plenty of reasons why we should all take the Hawks seriously as NBA title contenders.

Currently, all five of their starters are averaging double-digits in points per game, with point guard Jeff Teague playing at an all-star level. He ranks 16th in win shares and has a career high effective shooting percentage of 52.2 percent.

JEFF TEAGUE FGA DURING 2014-15 REGULAR SEASON (2014-15)

Shooting guard Kyle Korver has been lights out almost everywhere on the hardwood, but has been especially proficient from beyond the three-point arc, where he is hitting 51.3 percent of his threes despite taking close to six per game.

KYLE KORVER FGA DURING 2014-15 REGULAR SEASON (2014-15)

Al Horford is producing after his 2013-14 campaign was cut short by a torn right pectoral muscle. This season he is averaging 14.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.5 blocks and 0.6 steals while playing slightly over 30 minutes per game.

The Hawks are also tied with Golden State for the league lead in team assists per possession, which measures the percentage of possessions ending with assists that lead to points.

Here is an example of how they spread the floor and get wide open looks. This is Korver hitting a 26-foot three-pointer against Portland off a pass from Teague. Notice how much of the court the Trail Blazers have to cover.

ATL vs POR

01/03/2015

Korver 26′ 3PT Jump Shot (Source: NBA)

But this team isn’t just built on offense: they also boast the fifth lowest defensive rating (103.1), which measures points allowed per 100 possessions. They are also in the top 10 defensively for three of the Four Factors: effective field goal percentage allowed (49.1 percent), defensive turnover percentage (14.4 percent) and putting opposing players on the free-throw line (18.4 percent of free throws as a percentage of field goal attempts).

Reserves Thabo Sefolosha and Pero Antić have helped slow things down when coming off the bench, as both have been on the court for fewer points allowed per 100 possessions than the team allows when they are on the bench.

“It’s a team that keeps on fighting, and everyone has bought into the system,” Horford said in December. “We go out, play unselfish basketball and let the rest take care of itself.”

Neil Greenberg analyzes advanced sports statistics for the Fancy Stats blog and prefers to be called a geek rather than a nerd.

 

[DrReality]

Nice to get some pub

Edited January 7, 2015 by DrReality

[IheartVolt]

It is pretty crazy the difference Pero makes on D.. I mean considering he is not a shot blocker. When his three point shot is on it is nothing but a plus because his true value is on the defensive end of the floor.

All hail Mount Macedonia!

Edited January 7, 2015 by IheartFerry

[Admin]

When Pero doesn't make stupid turnovers that's a plus as well.