The Hawks Blog: Regular Season Review

The Hawks disheartening exit from the playoffs has taken away all of the good feelings from what was a very successful and encouraging regular season. However, it’s worth going back and looking at that regular season, primarily because I wrote an extensive regular season review before the start of the playoffs and am just now posting it.

Overall

Season Grade: B+

The Hawks had their best regular season in many years. They improved their win total from the previous year for the 5th straight season, going 53-29, for their most wins in a season since 1996-97. They averaged 101.7 points per game, their highest number since the 1992-93 season, scoring over 100 a game for the first time since 1993-94. They allowed 97.0 points per game, up from 96.5 points allowed per game last year, but still their 2nd best average since the 2000-01 season. Their average scoring differential of +4.7 points was their best number since the 1996-97 season. The Hawks were 34-7 at home (.829), their best home record since the 1996-97 season. They were still just 19-22 on the road (.463), but that was their best road record since the 1998-99 season (it was their best road record in a full season since the 1997-98 season). Joe Johnson and Al Horford were both All-Stars, giving the Hawks more than 1 All-Star representative for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Joe Johnson became the first Hawk to be elected to 4 straight All-Star teams since Diekembe Mutumbo from 1996-2000 (no game in 1998-99) and the first Hawk to be elected to the All-Star team in 4 consecutive seasons since Dominique Wilkins made it 9 straight years from 1986-1994. The Hawks finished 2nd in the Southeast Division for the 2nd year in a row. Their #3 seed in the playoffs was their highest playoff seeding since the 1993-94 season. Josh Smith finished 2nd in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, and Jamal Crawford was voted Sixth Man of the Year. Johnson was named 3rd team All-NBA and Josh was named 2nd team All-Defense.

The Hawks finished the season 53-29 (.646) and in 2nd place in the Southeast, 6 games back of the Magic. They finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference, 8 games behind Cleveland. They were tied for the 6th best record in the NBA, 8 games behind the Cavs. The Hawks averaged 101.7 points per game (13th in the NBA) and 97.0 points allowed per game (10th). Their average scoring differential of +4.7 was 7th best in the NBA and they were 7th in the NBA with a +4.44 Simple Rating (average scoring margin and strength of schedule). The Hawks were 34-7 at home (.829), tied for the 2nd best home record. They were 19-22 on the road (.463), tied for the 12th best road record. The Hawks went 32-20 against the Eastern Conference and 21-9 against the Western Conference. They were 25-20 against teams with winning records (.625) and 28-9 against teams under .500 (.757). In games decided by 3 points or less the Hawks were just 4-6 but they were 31-9 in games decided by double digits. The Hawks were 4-3 in overtime games this season. Against the Cavs, Magic, and Celtics the Hawks went 6-6. The Hawks were 9-7 against Western Conference playoff teams.

Offense

Season Grade: B-

The Hawks were definitely an improved offensive team this season. As usual the Hawks were at their best when they could get out and run and use their athleticism. Of course their ability to play that full court, fast break game was often the result of good defense (or just plan mistakes by the opposition). The Hawks do a great job of running the court and whipping the ball outside and around for open shots before the opposition can recover. When the game became more of a half-court battle the Hawks offense was again limited and prone to go stagnant over long stretches. As has been the case over the years, when the Hawks were forced to play a half court game the offense basically boiled down to Joe Johnson making plays. He was pretty damn good at it again this year. The biggest key to the Hawks improvement offensively was Jamal Crawford, who gave the Hawks a second true scoring option behind Joe; something the Hawks had been missing for years. Jamal played all year coming off the bench and won the 6th man of the year award. Both Crawford and Joe made a handful of game winning shots.

The continued maturity and development of Josh Smith was another critical factor in the Hawks becoming a better scoring offensive team. Instead of being a liability during fast breaks and on normal half court possessions, Josh was a force as a scorer and facilitator. Al Horford was consistently solid again whenever the team looked to him to score.

The Hawks were not a great offensive team this year but they were certainly solid. They were above average in most categories. They were 13th in scoring and 10th in FG%. The Hawks were 14th in 3-pointers made and 9th in 3-pt%. They were 11th in Effective FG% (this takes into account the fact that 3-pt shots are worth more than other field goals). The Hawks finished 14th in points per shot. The Hawks were a better free throw shooting team this year, finishing 15th. In the rebounding department the Hawks continued to be a mixed bag. Their lack of a true center and their lack of a lot of bulk in the front court kept them from being a truly great rebounding team. However, Horford, Josh, and Zaza were excellent again on the offensive glass, as the Hawks finished 6th in offensive boards and 5th in Offensive Rebound Percentage (the percentage of available offensive boards a team collects), as well as 13th in opponents defensive rebounds.

That the Hawks finished 12th in Assists shows the dependency they still have at times on “Iso-Joe.” Still, the Hawks were 1st in the NBA in Assist to Turnover Ratio. Also, they were just 23rd in free throws attempted and 23rd in FT/FG Attempts. There are a few reasons for this. For one thing, the Hawks are a team that relies on long jump shots and thus they are less likely to be fouled. Also, the Hawks don’t throw it down to the post to a big man and have him score as often as other teams, and that is the type of play that often results in foul shots. When the Hawks do put it in the hands of one of their forwards inside, it’s usually Josh who ends up getting fouled. Josh likes to head straight for the hole and ends up getting hacked a lot of the time. Because he doesn’t have the height of other big men, Al often ends up falling away from the basket when he does try to score from inside, thus he doesn’t get fouled as often as if he were taking it to the hole. Similarly, Joe’s style is such that he ends up going to the line far less frequently than most other scorers. Joe will often give a fake drive and then step back and shoot a jumper or drive in and then put up a runner, and those types of plays are less likely to draw fouls than taking it straight to the basket.

The Hawks were 15th in opponents’ steals and 14th in opponents’ blocks. This makes sense to me because the Hawks seem to be an average team as far as ball handling and shot selection go. They don’t get themselves into bad positions as often as they used to. One of the more impressive stats for the Hawks offense this season was that they had the fewest turnovers in the NBA by a large margin. The Hawks were also 1st in the NBA in Turnover Percentage, which is turnovers per 100 possessions. They do take care of the ball, but I think it also has to do with the tendency for the offense to settle into running one man possessions. Joe might take one possession, then Jamal, then maybe Josh takes a possession. I think there just aren’t as many opportunities for turnovers because they often just pass the ball around the outside of the three point line until someone decides to shoot or drive to the basket. This dribbling around and letting the shot clock run down is part of the reason that the Hawks were 27th in Pace Factor this year. Where a team ranks in PF isn’t really important on its own. Pace Factor is the number of possessions a team has per 48 minutes. While the Hawks style of offense can lead to scoring droughts, you’d have to admit that it still works a lot of the time, as the Hawks were 2nd in the NBA in Offensive Rating, which is a measure of points scored per 100 possessions. If the Hawks were 27th in the League in possessions per game and they still finished 13th in scoring, that would seem to be pretty good.

Defense

Season Grade: B-

The Hawks allowed 0.5 more points per game this season than last year, but they were an improved defensive team. While there were certainly moments when the Hawks defense was lacking, they were a solid defensive team overall. The biggest reason for the Hawks improved defense was Josh Smith’s presence as a shot blocker and his relentless effort. He was constantly disrupting shots, knocking balls away, or running a shot down from behind and swatting it away. Joe Johnson was usually the Hawks best defense against the opponent’s best offensive player. Al Horford was again a great shot blocker despite not being as tall as other “centers.” And Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby, and Jamal Crawford were usually good for a steal every once in a while to set up a break the other way. Zaza is actually pretty adept at knocking the ball away for steals as well.

The Hawks were usually a solid defensive team this year. There were some ugly moments but the Hawks were above average in most categories at the end of the year. They were actually 10th in the NBA in points allowed and they were 13th in Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions). But at times the Hawks were vulnerable to jump shooting teams. The Hawks were just 16th in opponents FG% and 16th in Opponents Effective FG%. Atlanta was 9th in the NBA in opponents points per shot. The Hawks were tied for 5th in fewest 3-pointers allowed and 9th in opponents 3pt%. They were 20th in turnovers forced and 19th in Opponents Turnover Percentage (turnovers per 100 possessions), while finishing 17th in opponents assists.

The Hawks strength on defense is their athleticism and they have an opportunistic style that is very beneficial at times. The Hawks were 2nd in the NBA in Steals and 7th in Blocks. Despite this style of play, the Hawks do a good job of not fouling too much. They were 6th in opponents FT attempts and 8th in opponents FT/FG attempts.


The Hawks certainly have their weaknesses in the defense department. For some reason the Hawks seem to struggle at times with identifying shooters and getting out on them before they can shoot a wide open jumper. When an opposing player gets hot, the Hawks often seem slow to catch on or at least to react in a way that might make things harder for the hot shooter. At other times the Hawks leave players wide open for 3’s on the wings, even in the middle of a normal half court possession. I honestly don’t know what happens in these instances. I don’t know if it’s because someone strays too far away in reaction to something and it leaves the guy wide open, or if there is just confusion about who is supposed to go out and put a hand in the guy’s face. But in a number of the crushing, come-from-ahead losses this season the opposition was allowed to keep firing jumpers even after several had been made in a row.

Another weakness for the Hawks on defense is their lack of height and bulk down low. Because of this teams often get offensive boards and second chance points against the Hawks. The Hawks were tied for 20th in opponents offensive rebounds and 15th in opponents total rebounds. They were just 24th in Defensive Rebound Percentage, 23rd in total defensive rebounds, and 17th in overall rebounds. Josh Smith is the Hawks main inside force on defense. This is different from a lot of other teams which have thick 7 footers playing the enforcer. The way Josh defends the paint for the Hawks is by being a mobile shot blocker. This is totally necessary for the Hawks to succeed, but it also takes him out of position and away from the basket a lot of times, and this makes it even harder for him to get rebounds against the bigger bodies of the opposition.

The Magic are the worst matchup for the Hawks because they are able to exploit basically all of the Hawks defensive weaknesses. They have size inside that the Hawks don’t have much of an answer for. They also have tall perimeter players who can contend with the Atlanta forwards for rebounds and shoot over them. In addition, the Magic have a lot of great shooters, and as mentioned earlier, the Hawks have a tendency to give shooters too much room. So it’s just a vicious cycle for the Hawks defense against Orlando.