Atlanta Hawks Breakdown: The Talented Mr. Smith

[Erick Blasco]

The Atlanta Hawks blitzed the Chicago Bulls in the first quarter, held serve in the second, and stumbled through the third quarter of a game they most likely would’ve lost the previous handful of seasons. How often did the Hawks overwhelm a team with their athleticism only to crumble when an opponent decided to fight back?

 

Only this time the Hawks didn’t fold, blasting the Bulls in the fourth quarter and outscoring them by 16 to prevail 91-81.

 

While there were many reasons why this year’s Hawks are better set to overcome adversity than their previous versions, front and center is Josh Smith. His newfound maturity has led to an increase in focus, more focus at each end of the court, and an elimination of inefficient plays on offense—he’s attempted only four three-point attempts this season.

 

When the Hawks began the fourth quarter down six and floundering, Smith absolutely took over.

 

• He anticipated a Kirk Hinrich pass, jumped into the passing lane, and stole the ball. He was fouled on his breakaway dunk attempt, and converted one of his two free throws.
• Smith outhustled two Bulls defenders in chasing down a long corner rebound.
• A deft basket cut from the top of the circle led to a tough finish in traffic.
• Smith challenged a John Salmons layup attempt, and while he didn’t record a block, altered the shot and forced a miss.
• Smith grabbed a defensive rebound after Salmons missed a jumper.
• Smith outjumped two Bulls defenders in grabbing an offensive rebound.
• Smith tried to cut from the weak to strong side along the baseline but was overplayed. He stopped at the strong-side box, reversed field, caught a lob pass under the basket, missed a layup, but a quick second jump led to an easy putback.
• Salmons tried to drive along the baseline but Smith expertly cut him off, forcing an out pass and Rose to hoist a jumper with the shot clock expiring.
• A tough catch in traffic led to Smith getting fouled and making one of two free throws.
• Smith outworked the Bulls to secure two offensive rebounds on one possession. After grabbing the second offensive board, Smith found himself crowded in the paint where his vision spotted Mike Bibby open in the left corner for a three-pointer, Smith’s 10th assist, a triple double, and the dagger that killed the Bulls.
• A pair of alert rotations and shot contests later and the final buzzer sounded on a fourth quarter where the Hawks outscored the Bulls 27-11 and dominated every aspect of the game.

Smith’s stat line was prodigious—7-14 FG, 4-7 FT, 14 REB (eight in the fourth quarter), 10 AST, 1 TO, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 18 PTS. Two of his field goals came on putbacks, one came on a successful foray into the passing lane leading to an uncontested dunk, two came on sweeping left hooks, one came on a well-timed cut, and one on an alley-oop. In fact, Smith almost always goes to his left hand and has no right handed counter.

 

Because of his prodigious wing span, Smith was doubled virtually all the time in the paint. With Derrick Rose turning his head more often than the Exorcist, any pass to the corner would be wide open. With the Hawks knocking down their open threes—8-18 3FG—Smith’s assist totals skyrocketed.

 

On the glass, few players have as long and as quick a second and third jump as Smith and his persistence on the glass deflated a Chicago Bulls team playing without Joakim Noah.

 

Smith’s interior rotations were on point for the most part. If he had trouble staying in front of players off the dribble, and if his rotations were lax in the second and third quarters, he was able to rouse himself from his doldrums for the final period, something that couldn’t always be counted on in previous seasons. Over his career, once Smith pressed the off switch, he couldn’t find a way to turn himself back on.

 

No doubt with Smith playing smarter, more focused basketball, the Hawks have taken flight. And no doubt that Josh Smith’s omission from the All-Star game was the fans and coaches most egregious error.

 

Of course Smith gets plenty of help from his friends. Joe Johnson is a classic isolation scorer, a willing distributor, a plus defender, and one of the game’s premier wings.

 

When Jamal Crawford heats up, he has 30-plus range. That’s in miles, not feet, by the way.

 

Marvin Williams has made major strides and is now an athletic on-ball defender and talented baseline player who can post up and knock down corner threes. The farther into his career he gets, and the farther away he gets from being the second overall pick of the 2005 draft, the better he appears as a player.

 

Al Horford forced a bevy of shots and had trouble with Chicago’s muscle might down low, but he has a soft touch, good athleticism for a center, and is rangy enough to provide good help on screens.

 

Mike Bibby will hit his shots and won’t make many mistakes.

 

Mo Evans is a tough on-ball defender, a smart help defender, and another in Atlanta’s assembly line of passing lane assailants.

 

Joe Smith is on his last legs, but Zaza Pachulia is limber enough to make things happen on defense and on the glass.

 

With the Hawks playing with more focus, they’ve become more consistent and have cleaned up on the sub-500 teams they’ve faced. And as their season sweep of the Celtics shows, they’re able to beat the big boys as well.

 

As the Celtics appear older and slower, and as the Magic continue to have trouble orchestrating their offense, the surging Hawks just may be the biggest competition to Cleveland in the East.

[Legacy]

I think you're right. With all the injures the Celtics are having, the Hawks might slowly get above them and might beat them in the playoffs. Boston's experience will help them though.

 

Good work.