Hawks need to rebound from slow start

At 1-3, the Atlanta Hawks desperately need to rebound from their poor start to the season. They also need to start rebounding.

The Hawks lost Monday to the Chicago Bulls, 128-123, in a game where the Bulls outrebounded the Hawks, 51-36. It's the fourth game this season where Atlanta has been beaten on the glass, losing the battle of the boards by an average of 11 rebounds per game.

Hawks' new frontcourt isn't getting boards

Kristaps Porzingis played his second game of the season Monday night while battling the flu. He clearly wasn't feeling his best and only collected two rebounds.

6-foot-8 Zaccharie Risacher was sidelined for two games with a sore ankle, but he didn't grab a rebound Monday, and has only two in his two games. Granted, he only averaged 3.6 boards during his rookie season, but that's a comically low number of rebounds for a forward.

Only backup big man Onyeka Okongwu had double-digit rebounds Monday. He's averaging eight rebounds while Jalen Johnson, somewhat slender for a power forward, is averaging seven.

Hawks have lots of length but not much size

The Hawks have assembled a team full of lengthy wings. Counting two-way deals, the Hawks have nine different players between 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-9 in height, but only Okongwu (235 pounds) and Johnson (220) are listed as heavier than 209 pounds. That length is good for deflecting passes and bothering shooters, but willowy players often have trouble banging for boards.

Mouhamed Gueye is 6-foot-11 but weighs only 210. It's not a surprise that he struggled against 260-pound Nikola Vucevic, who had 17 rebounds Monday, but getting zero rebounds is still disappointing. The Hawks also have no excuse for allowing Josh Giddey, a 6-foot-7 guard, to grab 13 rebounds, including a crucial offensive rebound with 13 seconds left that denied the Hawks a chance to tie the game.

The poor rebounding might not be an issue were the new-look Hawks not shooting 33.3 percent on three-pointers, with Trae Young a miserable 5-of-26 so far (and 1-of-10 Monday). Nickeil Alexander-Walker was signed to be a three-and-D wing, and he's leading the team with nine threes in four games, while shooting 33.3 percent.

If the shots start falling, then the Hawks' inability to rebound misses won't haunt them as much. But in November, seven of their first 10 games come against teams with huge players in their frontcourt. If head coach Quin Snyder can't get his team rebounding by then, he could be on the hot seat.

Rebounding is about size, but it's also about effort. The Hawks have been lacking in both for the season's first week.