Pistons on the road in Atlanta
By J.M. Poulard
Essentials
- Teams: Detroit Pistons (3-9) at Atlanta Hawks (5-5)
- Date: November 21
- Time: 7:30 p.m.
- Television: FSD
Get in the Game
Sometimes professional basketball simply comes down to having the right attitude. I bring this up because the Atlanta Hawks were victims of possessing the wrong one in their last game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
At the start of the contest, the broadcasters raved about all the places Atlanta was going to attack L.A.’s porous defense. The announcers stated that Paul Millsap would feast on the “all you can eat buffet” of Carlos Boozer, and that Jeff Teague would likely have a field day with Jeremy Lin.
I share the commentators’ observations to illustrate a larger point: The broadcasters were likely relaying the thoughts of the coaching staff and players.
What ensued was instead a comedy of errors that favored the Lakers.
Atlanta had trouble completing basic passes and looked completely out of sync. The Hawks certainly attacked Boozer in one-on-one settings and forced him to rotate defensively, which led to some quality looks, but in the process the offense looked disjointed at times.
Hawks players threw passes to areas where teammates were no longer standing in, which made Atlanta look like a unit that hadn’t ever practiced together.
That’s certainly odd considering how the talent on display. The Hawks are a group of complementary players that should rate among the league’s top-10 offenses (currently ranked at 13).
Atlanta has dribble penetrators in Jeff Teague and Dennis Schröder, shooting with Kyle Korver and Mike Scott and a strong pair of interior big men in Al Horford and Millsap.
The Hawks should be able to consistently stretch the court and get into the paint for scores via post-ups and drives given their roster makeup. And yet, they rank in the league’s bottom-third paint scoring teams, per Team Rankings.
The Hawks are among the nine most active teams from long range, and they rank as a bottom-half squad in terms of protecting the ball. Those are some of the issues holding the team back at the moment, and the lack of focus against the Lakers served to amplify them.
The turnovers against L.A. led to numerous easy scores for the Purple and Gold in the open court, not that Atlanta was better when they set their defense. They allowed Kobe Bryant and Co. to waltz into the paint whenever it was convenient for them, and this wasn’t exactly an aberration for a Hawks team listed among the bottom-third defenses in the Association.
Atlanta struggled with closeouts, protecting the basket and limiting post-up opportunities to the likes of Boozer and the immortal Robert Sacre. To be fair to the Hawks, perhaps I’m giving too much credit to the Lakers, considering ATL surrendered north of 100 points to their last-three opponents:
- November 14: Miami Heat scored 103 points on 47.3 percent shooting
- November 15: Cleveland Cavaliers scored 127 points on 54.4 percent shooting
- November 18: Lakers score 114 points on 54 percent shooting
This is the unit the Detroit Pistons will be taking on tonight on the road. Detroit should be able to get by defenders on the perimeter for scores at the hoop, and it’s certainly possible that Atlanta will help the cause by coughing the ball up.
It’s worth noting that the Hawks have been off since Tuesday, and that this should give them some fresh legs entering tonight’s contest. Furthermore, the time off likely gave tonight’s home team an opportunity to practice and correct some of the issues plaguing them.
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