Hawks use 3-day break to fine-tune and build habits
Twelve games into the regular season and the Hawks have some things to figure out.
The Hawks haven’t been consistent, and it’s left them floundering in stretches despite their 7-5 record.
So, they’ve used a recent three-day break to prioritize and build habits that could lead to steadier, more consistent play. They’ve done a solid job beating teams with records below .500, but they’ve struggled against teams with stronger records. They have just a 1-3 record against them.
So, the Hawks took advantage of practice time, which is often rare during the season.
“You always try to weave a few things in from upcoming opponents that you’re going to see,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said on Wednesday.
“But there’s some situations defensively that we know are going to be high volume, so to speak, we’re going to see again and again and again. We don’t have habits yet, and I kind of have to catch myself that the first time we practiced, or the last time before (Wednesday) at home was before the season started.
“So you want to have a mix between trying to be patient with some things. I think it’s more like being real with your players, but at the same time, you know you want to keep high standards.”
The Hawks rank 16th in offense and defense, per Cleaning the Glass. On average, the Hawks allow 116.2 points per game. So the Hawks are looking to shore up that defense.
“I think it’s just about consistency, bringing the same mentality every game,” Hawks guard Dyson Daniels said. “Obviously, different teams do different things, so the game plan is going to adjust, but our habits have to be the same.”
Daniels mentioned that the Hawks have adapted some of their game plan from last season. Plus, with the additions of Lu Dort, Kingston Flemings, Aaron Wiggins and others to their rotation, the team has been in the process of gelling.
“With some new guys coming in and learning the system, I feel like there’s games we’ve been really good at and games we’ve been really poor at it,” Daniels said.
“So it’s just about continuing to focus on the little details that allow us to (win). It’s not going to be perfect every time, but allow us to, you know, have our spacing and picking up the floor and stuff like that.”
The Hawks return to action on Friday night in Chicago against the Bulls.