'brown·ish
Is it just me, or does it seem like every time it’s the Atlanta Hawks’ turn to deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, as is the case tonight at The (don’t call it the Wells Fargo) Center (7:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast, CSN Philly), the Sixers are on some sort of lukewarm streak?
Just a few weeks ago, Atlanta was in Philly in need of a slumpbuster, having previously lost three of four games. Meanwhile, the 76ers were on an Amoroso’s-style soft roll, prevailing in half of their prior six games after starting the season with a woeful 1-28 record.
This time, the Sixers enter tonight’s game winners of three of their last seven. The last of those losses was on Saturday, to mighty Golden State in the closing seconds of regulation. Two other losses involved opponents forced to find ways to outlast them in overtime. In the ten games since the Hawks held off Philadelphia by a 126-98 score, behind 22 points from Kent Bazemore, the 76ers have only suffered one loss by 20 points, compared to 10 times in the 37 games before that.
The Competi-tank is rolling, full-spead ahead. And it’s quite clear who’s driving it on the floor.
For two months, Sixers management endured a mixture of laughter, concern, and harsh critique from the media, fellow owners, and even some fans no longer willing to simply Trust The Process. Owner Josh Harris brought in Jerry Colangelo as an emergency manager of sorts, and Mike D’Antoni to help with head coach Brett Brown’s high-tempo offensive schemes.
The Sixers promptly re-acquired point guard Ish Smith, who has been claimed by 10 different teams since starting his career as an undrafted free agent in 2010, and plugged him into the starting lineup right away. Literally, right away. “To me, it’s still amazing that when he showed up in Phoenix (after the trade) an hour before game time,” recalled Colangelo, to CSN Philly, “that he put a uniform on and stepped out on the floor and led to team to a win, a badly needed win.”
Smith (15.9 PPG, 8.1 APG, 2.9 TOs/game w/ PHI) has proven quite adept at making the 76er offense look functional for significant stretches. He jacks up a ton of shots (8-for-28 FGs and 0-for-6 3FGs, but 16 assists in a double-OT loss @NYK two weeks ago) when Plan A isn’t going as planned on Philly’s possessions. But he generally keeps his team in contention when he’s avoiding turnovers. In six Sixer victories, Smith averaged 2.0 TOs/game, compared to 3.4 in losses.
Ish strode into Philly reinvigorating Nerlens Noel (52.4 FG%, 10th in NBA) with lob plays, and bouncing passes into leading-scorer Jahlil Okafor. But against rim-contracted defenses he’s begun diversifying by finding open shooters around the perimeter.
Swingman Hollis Thompson is shooting 56.5 3FG% over his last six games. Nik “Sauce Castillo” Stauskas has been living up to his closed-captioned name with 46.2 3FG% in his last ten appearances. Last season’s surprise Robert Covington had a shaky start out of the blocks but has shaken off his gun-shyness and hitting 3.6 threes per contest (42.0 3FG%, 15.5 PPG) in his past 8 games.
“What’s in vogue now is, don’t leave three-point shooters, remarked the reliably forthcoming Brown to CSN Philly recently. “Play the pick-and-roll two-on-two, and make those guys (Ish and Noel) score… but don’t leave Covington, Hollis and (Isaiah) Canaan… So, when (Smith)’s dancing and he’s playing in a static halfcourt pick-and-roll, he’s forced to save the day a lot because there’s nobody open… So, you go back to speed. When he gets the ball in the first three-to-five seconds of the shot clock, that’s where his real change is.”
“It’s hard to find a static set defense where I’m not going to leave Covington or Stauskas or whatever. Now all of a sudden the gym’s broken. I think in that environment, he’s gotten to the paint and found people.”
As a result of more sensible high-paced play, the Sixers’ January shooting efficiency (51.3 eFG%, just ahead of Atlanta’s 50.7 eFG%) ranked 4th-best in the Eastern Conference, although their free throw shooting (62.2 January FT%, last in NBA) has been less-than-desirable. Smith (43.9% of FGs assisted in NOP/PHI, 5th in NBA) and his understudy, T.J. McConnell (37.5% of FGs assisted, 7th in NBA) are leading the charge.
Ish (6-for-10 FGs, 7 assists, 4 TOs vs. ATL on Jan. 7)and the Sixers have enjoyed three days of rest, allowing plenty of time to witness the Hawks hovering around their nadir against Miami on Sunday, then cobbling together some of their best basketball in a while versus Dallas one evening later. The difference lied in the assertiveness and effectiveness of Atlanta’s starting backcourt.
Smith’s collegiate teammate Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver were a combined 3-for-17 (0-for-7 3FGs) from the floor in Miami, then made more effective use of screens to shoot 17-for-23 (11-for-13 3FGs) back home against the Mavs.
Following a month of offensive reticence even against lesser competition, Teague’s season-high 32 points and 8 assists (2 TOs) were a sight for sore eyes. As one might expect, the Hawks are a solid 19-2 when Teague finishes games with a non-negative plus-minus, 23-6 when Korver does the same. As Philly's Noel and Jerami Grant (1.5 BPG each) clog the lanes, the Hawks guards will again need to make good on perimeter shots early, in order to soften the middle.
The 76ers will have to find ways to disrupt Atlanta’s ball movement, as the Hawks compiled 36 assists (second-most this season) in Philadelphia last month, with seven separate Hawks producing at least three assists. Noel, McConnell, and Covington are all among the league’s top-20 in steals per 100 opponent possessions.
Hawks fans would love to take the prior month of basketball and shove it into Davy Jones’ Locker. However, there was one element of the January games worth redeeming. Say hello (and, hopefully, not goodbye) to the most NBA’s efficient defensive team since January 1 (99.2 opponent points per 100 possessions).
While the easy-bake schedule had a lot to do with it, so far in Calendar Year 2016, the Hawks have held the opposition (per 100 possessions) to 40.1 points-in-the-paint (3rd-lowest in NBA, down from 41.9), 12.5 second-chance points (13th-lowest, down from 13.1), and 11.1 fast break points (7th-lowest, down from 12.5). Opponents shot 49.8 eFG% (14th-highest in NBA) before January 1, and just 46.6 eFG% (lowest in NBA) afterwards.
While it often means foes need two, three, or four bites at the apple before a shot goes down, the Hawks’ have held opponents to an NBA-low 54.5 FG% around the restricted area and 37.0% (5th-lowest) on other shots in-the-paint. Tack onto that 30.1 opponent 3FG% (2nd-lowest, behind the Warriors’ 28.0%) on shots above- the-break.
Atlanta held Dallas, who lost Deron Williams early and was on the back end of a back-to-back, below 37-percent shooting for the second time this season along the way to a 112-97 victory on Monday. They’ll need another stout effort from the wings to limit the Sixers’ catch-and-shoot options for Smith and McConnell.
One January bugaboo involved opponent’s points off turnovers (17.5 per-100, 9th-most, up from 16.2 through Dec. 31). Atlanta was outscored in points off TOs since January 1 (16.6 per game, -1.0) after leading the league in this category (20.3 per game, +4.4) through the end of 2015. While the differentials seem incremental, the loss of focus to thwart offenses before shots go up leaves Atlanta susceptible to the Jamal Crawfords, Monta Ellises and Archie Goodwins of the world at critical junctures.
Also, referees have been less-than-kind to Atlanta in the New Year. Opponents had a free throw attempt rate of 24.7 (per 100 FGAs, 4th-lowest in NBA) through December, a value that rose to 29.9 (7th-most in NBA) in the games that followed, contributing to 4.8 additional free throw attempts per game. And hack-a-ball isn’t the sole explanatory factor. For Dallas, their blowout loss on Monday was ameliorated by the doubling of the Mavs’ free throw attempts (38 to 19), with whistles blowing just about every time a Hawk swiped at the ball (season-low 2 steals).
Sounder shot decision-making and superb team rebounding (season-high 45 D-Rebs vs. DAL) made the free throw disparity a non-factor for Atlanta on Monday. Eleven Hawks crashed the defensive glass, and particularly players whose shots weren’t falling at the other end of the floor. Bazemore (9.3 defensive RPG in last 3 games) and Paul Millsap were a combined 5-for-20 from the floor, including 0-for-10 on threes, but compiled 19 defensive boards between them.
Last month, the Sixers’ brass also brought back maybe their best possible cheerleader-slash-babysitter. Elton Brand spends half his time dropping professional knowledge on the rookie Dookie, Okafor, as well as the many yung’uns on the roster, and the other half sniping away at Philly’s detractors.
For obvious reasons (Fab Five vs. Duke), Elton’s already not a huge fan of Jalen Rose. So when the Disney Sports commentator suggested over the weekend that the Sixers “don’t deserve to be mentioned on ABC,” Rose found himself getting Brand-ed on Twitter. “Disrespect the team now,” tweeted Brand. “Get it out while you can, (Jalen). These boys will be on top for a long time soon enough.” Rose could only issue a passive-aggressive parting shot in response. “You know it’s love, EB! #keepgettindemchecks”
It remains to be seen if the former Hawk’s tutelage will help the defensively-challenged Okafor (21 points, 9-for-16 FGs vs. ATL on Jan. 7) deal with Al Horford (15-for-25 FGs vs. PHI this season). Al has done light work in his past five games (14.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG) but has shot the ball quite well in that stretch (55.0 2FG%, 53.3 3FG%), going Plinko on his last five threebies.
Al also got his hands on five offensive rebounds in his last trip to Philly, resulting in six of his 18 points. Horford and Tiago Spltter’s board-crashing helped Atlanta offset Philadelphia’s 14 O-Rebs (six by Noel). Splitter remains home to rest a bothersome hip. Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer was pleased with Mike Muscala’s readiness and performance against the Mavs and will likely bring him off the bench early once again, backed by Edy Tavares.
Dennis Schröder (4-for-6 FGs, 5-for-7 FTs) got to the free throw line often against Dallas, highlighting a bench group (16-for-29 FGs) that took plenty of pressure off of Atlanta’s starters. The Hawks can enjoy a similar result tonight if the reserves (22-for-42 FGs vs. PHI on Jan. 7) help secure rebounds inside, control the ball, and make smart shots when they get open.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
