News - Atlanta Hawks - Bulldog63
Expectations
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As we near the beginning of the season, not much has changed for the fledgling Hawks. They made no moves during the offseason save for letting Tim Hardaway Jr walk, and they have no plans to be involved in free agency as they have no roster spots available, nor anyone they want to waive (even gabe vincent could have use as an expiring salary). As such, it will be yet another season of hoping that the roster's latent potential continues to unlock and take this team to unexplored heights. With an average age of 22.6 years, 4th youngest in the league, they will be relying heavily on sophomores Alex Sarr and Donovan Clingan as the backbone of their team.
THE ROSTER
Guards:
Coby White (83)
Immanuel Quickley (79)
Payton Pritchard (80)
Gabe Vincent (74)
Kasparas Jakucionis (71, R)
The Hawks are really hoping that the return of Quickley, after he missed most of the past 2 years, will be a boon to this offense. While they are rather small at this position, Quickley and Pritchard are both plus 3pt shooters; however, quickley projects to be the starter due to his higher passing ability for the time being, but Pritchard will be one of the first men off the bench and see heavy minutes. Jakucionis likely will not see the floor, as while he already is likely the best passer on the team, he needs time to improve in other areas to be worth minutes. Coby white, meanwhile, is likely the starting Shooting Guard...after he recovers from an injury that will cost him the first month of the season. Gabe Vincent is a "break in case of emergency" player, who will be more useful as potential trade-filler than he will be on the court.
Wings:
Desmond Bane (81)
Jaime Jaquez Jr (80)
Brandin Podziemski (78)
Gradey Dick (76)
Bane has started off his NBA season ice-cold, but faith is held that he will return to form; as such, he has either the starting SG or SF spot locked down. Jaquez, meanwhile, has come on in a big way and earned starting consideration, but Podz will likely be earning the other starting spot over Jaquez for reasons we'll get to. Dick is simply a 3pt shooter at this point in his career and will not be a major part of the rotation, though he will play.
Forwards/Bigs:
Alex Sarr (83)
Donovan Clingan (80)
Isaiah Stewart (77)
Taylor Hendricks (75)
Danny Wolf (71, R)
At the Power Forward spot, Isaiah Stewart has earned the starting job once again due to both a lack of better options, and a re-discovery of his 3-pointer that will fit the mold of what the staff wants to do with this starting lineup; he is also blocking shots at a great clip and is a solid rebounder at the position. Taylor Hendricks will be his backup as a solid rebounder, but not much more at this point. The real intrigue, and strong point of this team, is at the center position. Both Sarr and Clingan have legitimate cases to start even though they're different builds; sarr being a rangy, do-it-all 5 and clingan being a pure paint protector and glass cleaner (though both can block out of their minds). With this tandem, the Hawks will have a shot blocking threat on the court at all times; however, Sarr's 3 point ability actually paces him out of the starting job at this point. The reasoning is twofold: Clingan is simply a better and stronger rebounder at this stage of his career, and sarr being the 6th man off the bench will clear the lane for Jaquez do his work off the bench as alluded to earlier. Both guys can start though, and don't be surprised if they split time doing so depending on the matchups, as Sarr is much better equipped to handle opposing stretch bigs defensively. Danny wolf will not see playing time this season as a rookie, like jakucionis.
THE ROTATION:
Quickley, Podziemski, Bane, Stewart, Clingan
Pritchard, Dick, Jaquez, Hendricks, Sarr
Extras: Coby White (IR), Gabe Vincent, Kasaparas Jakucionis, Danny Wolf, Nassir Little (N/A)
As with last year, the Hawks expect to lose the startign minutes and dominate the sub minutes, as they go legitimately 9-10 deep with NBA talent (depending on how you feel about dick and hendricks). Last year, Bane put this team on his back to 30 wins; the hope is that he can give something similar this year, white can come back and the team can be healthy, and Sarr can continue his sophomore leap into a true star player that this team desperately needs. 3-and-inside-D will be the theme of this team. Quickley through stewart will let fly from deep, and Clingan will monitor the post. Pritchard through Sarr will let fly from deep, and Jaquez will run inside like a graceful battering ram. Once white comes back, expect to see Podz bumped from the starting lineup and replace Dick in the bench unit.
THE EXPECTATIONS:
Full stop, this is not quite a playoff team yet. However, the Hawks are down their own pick this year in a great draft so they are incentivized as all hell to push for wins. Last year they doubled their win total from 15 to 30 with quickley out all year. The roster having naturally improved since then while starting from the same spot (with White being out in place of quickley), should mean this team can perform better than last year, especially once White returns. .500 and/or a play-in spot would be an absolute best case scenario for this team, but 35-38 wins and being a late lotto team seems like a more reasonable expectation, with room to move either way in case of further injury, or further roster improvement. The hawks also do have a few 1sts to play around with, so if we get to week 10 and the hawks are in contention for a play-in spot, don't be shocked if they hunt around for a deal that lets them improve while still fitting their timeline.
| | | Comments (1) | |
laddas
11/08 07:57 pm | QN, Qtr. OFF, #1 | |
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