The Hawks got another win last night, their sixth in the last eight games. They did so when they were pretty shorthanded as well. De'Andre Hunter, Patty Mills, Wesley Matthews, and Bruno Fernando were all out, and while Dejounte Murray was able to make his return, the Hawks only had nine players able to play last night against one of the NBA's best defensive teams.
Hawks fans have been hoping to see more of rookie guard Kobe Bufkin this season, but he was dealing with an injury during the first part of the year and has been playing with the Hawks G-League team, the College Park Skyhawks, for the other part of the year. Due to the Hawks being shorthanded, there was a good chance that Bufkin could get some real minutes.
He would play nearly 16 minutes and scored three points on 1-4 shooting, but the offense was not where he was going to make an impact. He played good defense and showed that he could compete out there, which is what you want to see out of a young player getting his first minutes of extended game action.
How did his head coach evaluate his performance? Quin Snyder loved it.
"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 dow 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."
When the Hawks get healthy, will there be room for Bufkin in the rotation?
I think it is likely they keep him in College Park and play there. Snyder has been vocal about how much that has helped him and I think the Hawks will keep him there. When they get fully healthy, I think they will have more of an eight-man rotation. Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela as the starters with Bogdan Bogdanovic, Saddiq Bey, and Onyeka Okongwu as the main guys off the bench.
It was a good start for Bufkin last night and hopefully, he can keep improving and be a valuable part of the team in the future.
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