The Atlanta Hawks lost their third straight game on Saturday when they fell to the Indiana Pacers 125-113. With the defeat, Atlanta fell to 11-15 on the year — good for 10th place in the Eastern Conference.
Coming into this season, there was a lot of hype about how this might be the year that the Hawks take the next step. For whatever reason, though, the talent upgrade that the team experienced in the offseason hasn’t quite translated into on-court success. It could be because so many players seem to dislike playing with one another.
Following his team’s most recent loss, Hawks star Trae Young gave a brutally honest assessment of where things have gone wrong thus far.
He said during a session with the media:
“We have to continue to learn on the fly. We’re getting guys in and out. We’re mixing guys in. (Saturday), we just kind of went out there and just tried to play with effort. We just got to figure out how to close better and kind of learn on the fly.
“I just think a lot of teams are throwing things at us that we’re not prepared for right now."
Atlanta’s continued middling status is a bit befuddling given the caliber of players on the roster. For example, Clint Capela recorded 24 points and 10 rebounds against Indiana, while Danilo Gallinari chipped in 20 points and Young scored 15 points while dishing out 14 assists.
That sort of production normally translates into wins.
It’s been a rough season for the Hawks all around. First they signed Rajon Rondo, only to have him land in the headlines for getting caught on camera doing something very bad. Then there was drama after franchise decided to build around Young. Of course there was that whole brouhaha with Steve Nash.
And that’s to say nothing of the squad’s most recent losing streak.
On paper, it seems like Atlanta has too much talent to continue to lose like this. But you don’t win games on paper. If this group doesn’t get it together soon, the organization might be forced to make some pretty drastic trades in an effort to right the ship.
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