The Hawks, as one team official put it, are inconsistent at being inconsistent.
Think about that for a while. You’ll likely have the same headache as Hawks management, coaches, players, media and fans have surely gotten in trying to figure out this team. Pass the aspirin.
Through Thursday, the Hawks are 16-16. A .500 team. No more. No less. They are a team capable of a great road win over the Cavaliers and a terrible home loss to the Timberwolves. The Hawks are 39 percent through their NBA season. That is a significant sample size.
It begs the question: Is this it, are the Hawks just a .500 team?
“We are not where we want to be right now,” Paul Millsap said. “We show glimpses of being a really special team and there are times we show signs of being one of the worst teams in the league. We want to be great. We have to figure it out fast. It’s January and we are still figuring things out. There is still a lot of season left and we are still hopeful that we are really good team.”
The Hawks have won two straight games just once since Nov. 15-16 that left the team with a 9-2 start to the season. What followed was a 1-10 stretch with back-to-back losses by a combined 80 points. The Hawks are 6-4 since following an overtime victory over the Knicks Wednesday. The good. The bad. The middling.
“It’s a daily effort,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “It’s a daily thought process. How can we be more consistent? I agree. It is not early. If I or anybody has said that recently, it’s not the wisest or appropriate at this point. You watch film. You practice. We’ve made some progress. We just can’t seem to put it together on both ends. We’ve shown flashes. We have to get more of the good. That’s every team.”
During the 2014-15 season, the 60-win campaign, the Hawks started 5-5. The question was asked then. Is this just a .500 team? Hawks players assured they were better than the record. They went out and won 35 of the next 38 games. That is not to suggest the current version of the Hawks is capable of such a turnaround.
Some in the organization believe there are reasons for both optimism and pessimism in how the remainder of the season will unfold.
On the optimistic front, the Hawks started the season 9-2 and played good basketball offensively and defensively. There were quality wins including at the Cavaliers and at home against the Rockets. Of late, there have been wins at the Raptors and Thunder and a narrow loss at the Warriors.
The Hawks due lament some of the bad losses, being swept by the Timberwolves, Lakers and losing at the Suns stand out. Those are five very winnable games.
“Getting swept by the Lakers, getting swept by the Timberwolves, that sticks out just as much (as the wins),” Kent Bazemore said.
As inconsistent as they Hawks have been, as of Thursday they are sixth in the Eastern Conference where only the Cavaliers and maybe the Raptors having separated themselves. Play better, get a few victories and the Hawks could be back in a favorable position in the playoff race.
On the pessimistic front, the Hawks offense has been poor for much of the season. They have an offensive rating of 101.6, which is 23rd in the league. They turn the ball over way too much with an average of 16.1 times per game that is fourth-worst in the in league.
The Hawks shooting has also been problematic.
Bazemore has struggled most of the season with a 10.1 points per game average. He is not the only one. Most of the wing players are not shooting with any consistency. Kyle Korver is shooting .414 from 3-point range followed by Thabo Sefolosha (.328), Tim Hardaway Jr. (.304), Bazemore (.275) and Mike Scott (.133). As a team, the Hawks are next to last in the NBA with a 3-point percentage of .326. Only the Bulls at .306 are worse.
“We are definitely underachieving,” Bazemore said. “We’ve had some rough games where we haven’t played well. …
“When you are having a season like this is tough not to look at the standings and peak. That’s encouraging but at the same time you want to play a lot better. We are much better than we are showing right now. It’s frustrating. It’s part of a process. You have to trust the process, continue to show up, trust your teammates and keep grinding.”
Hawks management will have a decision to make if the team continues to play average basketball. They do have depth at the wing position that includes rookies Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry. Other teams have called and likely will continue to do so up until the trade deadline in February about the availability of Korver, Sefolosha and Hardaway. The Hawks may choose to get an asset in return for such a veteran player that teams covet. Or they could stand as currently constructed and hope to eventually gain a level of consistency.
“If you were never having moments of positive play on either end you would be in a different place,” Budenholzer said. “We’ve played good basketball on both ends at different times, different games.”
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