Two days before the Hawks return to the court, they have assigned second-year forward AJ Griffin to College Park. While he became a part of the rotation last season and played well as a rookie, Griffin has not played much this year and had a prolonged absence earlier in the season due to personal issues.
Griffin has played in 18 games this season, averaging two PPG and shooting 27% from three.
This is a good move for the Hawks. It is better for Griffin to be getting reps at College Park than to be sitting on the bench and not get any minutes. Those reps at College Park will be valuable for him and can help improve his game, much like it helped with Jalen Johnson two seasons ago and with rookie first-round pick Kobe Bufkin this year. In fact, head coach Quin Snyder has praised Bufkin and his work in College Park:
"I thought he did a terrific job. He took shots when he was open, which is what we want. There were a couple of possessions where most importantly... it is hard to stay in front of those guys, they are quick. You know, he was down in his stance, moving his feet, he had his hands out and moving in space and doing the things that you need to do to be a defender in this league. To be thrown in the situation that he was thrown in tonight, he was ready and we talked about this before the game, I think a lot of this has to do with playing in the G-League. I have mentioned it before, he is watching tape and is not fortunate enough to fly on a private plane , he is in Grand Rapids looking to get the first commercial flight out the next morning and what that does is allow you time with your next coach and he has done a lot of film. A lot of what he does, he is not just down there hooping, he is getting better and being disciplined and it showed tonight and he really played well."
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