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[benhillboy]

I asked yesterday if anyone could post Zach Lowe’s 10 Things that had a Hawks excerpt but no answer (the whole article would be great)  We’re usually quick to post national articles on the Hawks, appreciate it in advance.

[AHF]

For fair use purposes, please limit quotes from articles to the Hawks relevant portion along with your commentary on that topic and include a link to the source.  Thanks.

[Diesel]

The Atlanta Hawks are stuck in the mud

This is the league's most disappointing team. The Hawks are going nowhere, with a dispiriting night-to-night sameness. They would likely blame it on the injury to Jalen Johnson, a sizzle of energy and rebounding and defense who was Atlanta's second- or third-best player through 15 games. De'Andre Hunter has also missed time recently, forcing the Hawks to play either super-small (with all three of Trae Young, Dejounte Murray and Sixth Man of the Year candidate Bogdan Bogdanovic) or super-big with both Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu.

Every team deals with injuries. The Hawks have flatlined at 9-14.

Their offense looks fine on paper -- fifth in efficiency! Hooray! But so many possessions are your-turn, my-turn exercises in boredom:

Capela shrugs three times before the Hawks trigger any action. Once Murray gets the ball, Young turns into a statue; he spends almost the entire possession standing atop the "E" and then the "R" in the "arena" wordmark. Neither star Hawks guard has much juice off the ball. They still take a ton of midrange shots; Quin Snyder, in his first full year as head coach, has coaxed only small stylistic tweaks.

Playing in such a predictable system where two players do almost everything has to suck some spirit from the rest of the team -- spirit and fight you need to build a competitive defense. That effect might be larger when one of those two players is also the worst defender on the team -- someone others must cover for every possession. (Young's 3-pointer has stabilized, and his pick-and-roll passing is as brilliant as ever.)

In related news, the Hawks are 27th in points allowed per possession -- more than undoing their production on offense. They don't rebound. Only two teams allow more corner 3s as a portion of opponent shots. Only the Pacers yield more attempts at the rim.

Atlanta traded a bundle of first-round picks to pair Murray and Young, and the experiment has not paid off. The team has been mediocre since the 2021 conference finals -- one game under .500 combined over two-plus subsequent seasons, with three total playoff wins. If the Hawks reach Jan. 15 in this state, everything should be on the table going into the trade deadline.

[Diesel]

I don't think he really watches the Hawks.

[macdaddy]

I have plenty of complaints about the Hawks and am definitely concerned about our top 5 offense working in the postseason, if we get there.  But it's a new offense for a bunch of guys who spent their formative years in an old school kind of offense. 

I'd say the best reason for optimism is that the player with the most talent on the team struggled at first but is now playing the best ball of his career.  I think the others will come around and the ones that don't will be gone. 

Honestly i have big concerns about Landry/KK and their talent evaluation but it's too soon to knock them a lot on that.