72 reasons to be excited about the Atlanta Hawks: #30 maybe picking up the pace

by hawksdawgs on Oct 1, 2009 9:53 PM EDT

Every year there is talk that Hawks are going to pick up the pace. Every year they don't. Last year they were slow. The year before that slow. Sure, there are moment where tit turns into a track meet, but it rarely lasts.

I understand why. Mike Bibby can throw half court alley-oops, but he is never going to be a bat out of hell when he grabs the outlet pass. Not his style. And while our number one man, Joe Johnson has proven he can play second or third fiddle in a high octane offense, as the go to guy, he is a methodical prober of defenses, a guy who can use 15 seconds of a shot clock successfully.

It makes sense to slow down and execute. That is until you look at Marvin Williams, Josh Smith, and Al Horford. To put it bluntly, for the Hawks to become an elite team with Al Horford at center, the team is going to have to pick up the pace. They are going to need to take advantage of the fact that Horford can beat 26 of the 29 centers down the floor. It could work. I promise. I have seen Joe play great third fiddle. We all have. Josh Smith pushing the pace, Al or Marvin along side and Joe sitting on the three point line. We are not talking about adding pieces (although Jeff Teague could help). Some key players and coaches just need to be willing to commit to it.

The Hawks are not built to run like the Suns or Knicks, but every year they talk about pushing the tempo more because they know they should. And one of these years, maybe they will stick to their word. It is an exciting enough promise to hope it might be fulfilled.

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Not so fast my friend.

I would be in favor of the Hawks running more but I feel that with the Hawks running more offensively they would lose focus defensively. And I’m not sure if that is a good trade off. If the could Hawks rebound (offensively thus allowing more shot opportunities) better, the current pace they play at would be fine with me.

by xavip on Oct 1, 2009 11:50 PM EDT reply actions

agree and disagree

hawks need more offensive rebounds. that sits heavy on josh smith since he was pretty woeful in that category. al did not rebound as well last year but for an undersized center did decent. my main point is the hawks are not designed to rebound (although they are designed to rebound better than they did last year).

but they are designed to run (maybe not all the time, but at least in significant spurts). they have done so in the past, it really has not effected their defense. lets be real. josh smith plays his best defense wide open, coming from behind, etc. it might look like bad defense since the quicker pace would allow for more possessions. but i think the hawks would be more efficient, while most other teams would stay about the same. most teams do not want to run. if you dictate that style, you are forcing the hand of 85% of the teams.

i just dont think you can ask al horford to play at one of the slowest paces in the league at center and for him to be anything other than adequate.

by hawksdawgs on Oct 2, 2009 6:37 AM EDT up reply actions

but you may be right in the end xavip. i just find it funny that players and coaches talk about it every year and dont dedicate to trying it for any significant period of time.

by hawksdawgs on Oct 2, 2009 6:50 AM EDT up reply actions

This, this, this!

You are 100% correct. Of course no one thinks or wants us to run like the Suns did/do, but doing it every so often only plays to this teams’ strengths. We’ve all seen the results, and last I checked Phillips went buck-crazy when we did, so I know the fans love it. And it doesn’t stop at the fans, either, because you can see it with the players with how much fun they are having. They end up playing loose and more relaxed and usually end up playing much more efficiently.

SAY NO to the ISO-JOE in 09!

"This is America, if we can’t self-righteously look down on others and blame them for our faults, the commies win."-----Cormican on Bleeding Green Nation w/r/t fans overreacting to the Eagles signing of Michael Vick

by Jesse28 on Oct 2, 2009 9:13 AM EDT reply actions

YEP

with al out running just about all the bigs and josh able to do the same. they need to get more rebounds and get it down the court quickly. the hawks have a higher percentage of wins wen they have more fast break points.

by kaleigh on Oct 2, 2009 11:20 AM EDT reply actions

I think we can all agree on this

by thirdfALCON on Oct 2, 2009 3:31 PM EDT reply actions

i think that.....

the hawks should practice a mentality of quick easy buckets then nice HARD defense…. i mean this sounds… dumb but that’s how i play on 2k9.. i score as quickly and easily as possible then run back to defense and try to make the team disoriented offensively and defend them whether we’re trying to speed up their pace or slow it down.. the point of defense in my opinion is not to get turnovers but to disorient the team and make them feel uncomfortable. Make them do things that they don’t practice…. same wtih one on one defense… instead of trying to get the block or steal it’s better to just stay in front and make the shot as difficult as possible..

by Djseoh on Oct 2, 2009 4:19 PM EDT reply actions

for possibly the first time ever

a post that makes perfect basketball sense AND references strategy for 2k9. well done sir.

by hawksdawgs on Oct 3, 2009 8:10 AM EDT up reply actions

sounds good but

now you have to go deeper on the bench. In the past we couldn’t/wouldn’t do it. Now it looks like we will have a bench, so let’s run …but I still like ISO Joe against the C’s, because they have nobody to guard him….
Philly & Orlando can match our athletes so running may not work against them

by Cmart34 on Oct 20, 2009 3:04 PM EDT reply actions