Three Big Atlanta Hawks Takeaways From EuroBasket 2025

During EuroBasket, each player demonstrated improvement in their play and showed how they could contribute to both the Euro and NBA teams as we advance. For Risacher, he has shown noticeable improvements on both sides of the court and, most importantly, his offensive confidence when it comes to getting to the basket and shooting from three-point range. Porzingis, however, has shown the ability to be more aggressive and has shown people that he is back to his usual self after having a bit of a down year in Boston this past season, as he finished averaging 20.2 points and 8.7 rebounds. Krejci, on the other hand, while he did struggle for most of his time in EuroBasket group play, did show some signs of trying to step up as a leader and an all-around player for Czechia when they were down players, and was a pest defensively at times.

2. How could this translate to Atlanta?

Based on the different aspects pointed out for each player, the Hawks and Hawks fans should be excited for what's anticipated to come this year. Based on Risacher's improvement on both ends of the court, he has shown that the Hawks will be able to keep him on the court longer, and he can become the number one overall pick they got a year ago, thanks to his improved efficiency shooting and confidence getting to the rim. For Porzingis, he has demonstrated more reliability as a scorer inside and outside the paint, and was consistent on defense for Latvia, showing that he can be reliable for the Hawks, potentially in all five positions. Offensively, these two will fit the Hawks significantly based on their ability to play in the paint, space the floor, and rebound. Defensively, however, this will also be a challenge for teams, as the three have been actively guarding one through five on switches and have shown the ability to play reliable help defense.

3. What momentum this brings into training camp

After a busy summer, all three players have shown they can add a sense of reliability to step up in unusual circumstances, as all three have been on teams that have lacked players due to injury, which called for them to step up in significant moments. The momentum this will bring to the team will likely be a sense of urgency, as each player will have to play in pressured situations that are considered playoff-like basketball. All of this will likely put pressure on the players who weren't actively playing organized team basketball for most of the summer to lock in and bring a certain level of intensity from the start of the season so that the Hawks can be a true playoff contender.

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