After a start to the season disrupted by injuries, the Hawks are preparing to approach 2023 with the aim of integrating the Top 6 in a sustainable way in the East. Even if Clint Capela misses in turn, hit in the calf, and that De’Andre Hunter remains doubtful this evening against Indiana (ankle), the returns of John Collins and Bogdan Bogdanovic gave a little more relief to the collective of Nate McMillan who now seeks to articulate his rotations so that his collective is as efficient as possible.
Before the return of the Serb, Atlanta was among the five worst benches in the NBA in terms of points scored. In the ten games that Bogdan Bogdanovic has been operational, the Hawks bench has averaged 41.7 points. Only the Pistons, Spurs and Grizzlies do better.
Beyond the most relevant associations, there is in particular the question of rotations and how the Atlanta coach can keep his bench level when his major players are at rest. It’s all about balance, and Nate McMillan does not rule out bringing a potential “starter” out of the bench.
“Our second unit has been good at times this season. And then like everyone, the holders like the players on the bench, there are sometimes evenings when it is difficult to score “, recalled the Hawks strategist. “We are trying to build this “second unit” now that our incumbents are returning in good health. We plan to bring in some of our starters with the substitutes now that we have Bogdanovic back. We can get Dejounte Murray out, then I can alternate between John Collins and De’Andre Hunter in position 4. I feel like that gives us an extra option, a bit more experience”.
Finding the right balance
The start of 2023 is going to be crucial in the sense that it will condition the objectives for the end of the season, and Atlanta does not want to miss the good wagon when the competition still looks tough at the gates of the Top 6.
“It was two and a half difficult months. But we are still in the race, and we have a long way to go.”, added Nate McMillan. “So praying that we can be healthy and find that rhythm to start playing good basketball by the end of the month and certainly through January, because I think that’s important. . January is when I see teams finding their groove. Everyone starts to really look at the leaderboards and the race between all the teams set up with new players begins. We should have a better rhythm and better feelings towards each other”.
For Trae Young, beyond the associations and the rotation choices, Atlanta must above all start a series, his team having not yet succeeded in chaining four successes in a row since the start of the season.
“I think we have to play and do our best to win these games. I think the urgency is there. Of course we want everyone to be healthy, to be able to play with Clint Capela and De’Andre Hunter, but they will come back and I hope everyone will finally be healthy. And that’s going to help us.”underlined the leader of the Hawks. “You saw in the last game what we achieved when everyone is healthy, with guys coming off the bench who can score and help us win games.”
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Trae Young | 30 | 35.6 | 41.5 | 31.1 | 89.5 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 9.9 | 3.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 27.5 |
| Dejounte Murray | 28 | 35.9 | 45.2 | 35.0 | 83.8 | 0.7 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 6.2 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 20.6 |
| Bogdan Bogdanovic | 10 | 29.8 | 42.6 | 39.8 | 87.5 | 0.2 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 17.7 |
| De’Andre Hunter | 28 | 30.7 | 44.8 | 35.4 | 82.3 | 0.6 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 15.0 |
| Clint Capela | 27 | 27.5 | 63.6 | 0.0 | 60.0 | 4.3 | 7.6 | 11.9 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 12.0 |
| John Collins | 25 | 30.5 | 48.5 | 21.1 | 85.0 | 1.2 | 6.4 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 11.8 |
| Aj Griffin, Jr. | 29 | 21.5 | 47.5 | 37.8 | 87.5 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 10.7 |
| Onyeka Okongwu | 32 | 21.9 | 62.7 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 6.8 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 3.1 | 8.6 |
| Aaron Holiday | 29 | 16.8 | 43.9 | 43.2 | 82.6 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 5.0 |
| Justin Holiday | 24 | 16.0 | 39.1 | 35.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 4.9 |
| Jalen Johnson | 31 | 15.4 | 43.6 | 20.8 | 69.6 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 4.6 |
| Jarrett Culver | 10 | 13.7 | 39.5 | 8.3 | 69.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 4.4 |
| Trent Forrest | 13 | 15.1 | 47.6 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 3.2 |
| Frank Kaminsky | 15 | 7.8 | 55.6 | 47.1 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 3.1 |
| Vit Krejci | 15 | 6.7 | 37.5 | 31.3 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Tyrese Martin | 10 | 3.8 | 40.0 | 20.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
