Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher keeps working through season bumps

Twenty-five games into the regular season, and the road for Hawks second-year forward Zaccharie Risacher has had plenty of bumps.

But Risacher has kept the team’s success as his guiding light.

“I feel like we’ve been playing good,” Risacher said. “The chemistry is great between us. We’re playing as a team, you know, I feel like everybody really fits into this philosophy, and we just got to keep going, you know, keep playing hard.

“And even though, it’s only like 25 games, there’s lot of game left. ... I feel like that’s a good base for us to work on for the rest of the season. And now that we’re home for like, a couple of days, it’s great to have feedback and be able to practice a little bit, to see what we’ve been doing, what was working, what was now, if we wanted to make some adjustments.”

Almost 40 minutes after practice ended, Risacher remained on the court with Hawks assistant Ryan Schmidt and other player-development coaches. He talked through his shooting, going through drills and working on shots off the catch.

After each series, Risacher walked over to Schmidt and talked things over.

The 20-year-old forward often is the last player to leave the court after practice as he looks to find the right shooting spark.

“Sometimes you got to remind him he was No. 1 pick and that wasn’t no fluke,” Hawks forward Jalen Johnson said.

“But you know, with Zacch, he’s somebody that’s always working. Like, right now, he’s the last person getting shots up. That’s a consistent thing with him. So, if he just keeps doing that and sticking to his routine, he’s gonna start hitting shots again, and we’re all around him and support him and understand that he’s gonna get out of this slump.”

Risacher hasn’t had the easiest of seasons. After averaging 9.7 points on 41.4% shooting on 3-point shots at the FIBA European Basketball Championship this summer, Risacher’s shooting has taken a dip. He’s currently shooting 29.6% from 3 as the Hawks have navigated an early stretch of games without Trae Young, who has missed the past 19 games with an MCL sprain.

On top of that, Risacher has dealt with his own injuries. Risacher sprained an ankle in the Hawks’ season opener that forced him to miss the next two games.

Then he found a groove a couple pf games after his return, where he averaged 14.3 points on 35.4% shooting from 3 in a nine-game stretch.

And just as he settled in, Risacher fell hard from the rim after a transition dunk. Despite how scary that fall looked, Risacher missed just one game.

“I feel like I was a little bit shocked after the fall and my own, like my body was super tight and like couple of injuries, especially on my left leg,” Risacher said.

“But I fought through it in a way to help my team as, like, as quick as possible. So, I was really happy to be able to get back as fast as I did. And like I take a lot of pride in taking care of my body and making sure I’m doing the right thing off the court so I can be the best version of myself on the court.”

Since his return to the court, Risacher has averaged 8.9 points on 22.5% shooting from 3.

But Risacher’s teammates and coaches have all the confidence that he will break out his slump. To them, it’s all a part of the growth that comes with transitioning to the NBA.