Know Your New Orleans Pelicans Opponent: Atlanta Hawks Q&A

As we head towards the start of the 2015-16 season, New Orleans Pelicans fans are mostly concerned with the way the Pelicans are adjusting to a new system. While that is the most important question for the Pelicans right now, there are also 29 other teams in the NBA with questions and the answers to some will directly impact the Pelicans. With that in mind we decided to go around the league and do Q&A sessions with a blogger for each team in the league. Today we are joined by Jeff Siegel, a writer at both Hardwood Paroxysm and Hawks Hoop to talk Atlanta Hawks.

1. A lot of Pelicans fans are pointing towards the Hawks last season as an example of what continuity can do. But how much of last season was continuity and how much was just getting the Hawks best player back from injury?

Jeff: I think the Hawks’ improvement had more to do with the continuity of having the same coaching staff and the same group of players coming back after a mildly successful season without Al Horford in 2013-14. Having another year for Mike Budenholzer and his staff to work with the players and get the complexities of the system in place made a world of difference to guys like DeMarre Carroll and Kyle Korver, both of whom had career years in 2014-15. Horford is the Hawks’ best player, but not by as much as other stars around the league, and while his return meant a lot for Atlanta getting all the pieces to their puzzle into place, I believe the puzzle itself was bigger than any one piece.

The Hawks’ continuity went far beyond the players on the court; the coaching staff had another full year to implement the system and tweak each role to fit the players involved. The Pelicans may show signs of this later in the season, but it’s probably too much to expect them to completely click into Alvin Gentry’s offense and Darren Erman’s defense in this first season. I hope I’m wrong; I’d love to see what this Pelicans team at their best sooner rather than later. Offensively, the Pelicans have a different challenge than the Hawks did this time last year; the Pelicans have a bonafide superstar in Anthony Davis through whom they can run the offense, whereas the Hawks had a collection of very good players and needed to work together to create a great offense. Davis is an offense unto himself; utilizing him to his potential is the biggest challenge Gentry has this season.

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2. Speaking of continuity, the Hawks lost a big piece of last year’s team in DeMarre Carroll. How do they replace him?

Jeff: Carroll exploded last year as a prototypical three-and-D guy for the Hawks, but Budenholzer has plenty of weapons to replace what Carroll brought to the team. Thabo Sefolosha was a big part of the team’s defensive scheme and will be back from injury, Kent Bazemore made strides last year toward being a quality rotation player, and newcomer Tim Hardaway Jr. will see some time on the wing. Carroll’s development over the past two seasons in Atlanta gives me hope that the coaching staff will be able to do the same with Bazemore and Hardaway Jr.

3. Al Horford would be a perfect partner for Anthony Davis and looks like the second prize of this coming summer’s free agency class. Is there a concern he actually leaves Atlanta?

Jeff: LALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU AL HORFORD IS HAPPY IN ATLANTA LALALA. Seriously though, there’s definitely a concern that Horford decides to walk away from the Hawks. With the jump in the cap next summer, there will be a large number of teams coming after Horford and the only tangible advantage the Hawks have is the extra money they can offer him. Horford will be 30 next summer, and grabbing that extra year might be important to him, since he’s unlikely to get another max contract at 34 if he signs with another team. One thing I’m sure of: we won’t hear a peep out of Horford until after the season. He’s never been one to talk in advance about these kinds of things.

4. The Pelicans got killed by many people for bucking the trend of small ball lineups and re-signing Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca. The Hawks also got bigger with the addition of Tiago Splitter. How exactly does he fit what they want to do and did you like the move?

Jeff: I love the move; Splitter is exactly what the Hawks are looking for in a third big. Horford and Millsap are quick enough to hang with small-ball 4s, with Millsap even showing the ability to play the 3 in some lineups, so Splitter won’t have to move with those smaller, quicker players. In super-small lineups or lineups with a superstar at the 5 (like, say, Anthony Davis), Splitter might not be the most useful defender of the three, but he’s a fantastic piece for the depth of the Hawks’ frontcourt. Splitter doesn’t fit into the offense the same way as Horford and Millsap, but the coaching staff will find ways to get him involved as the roll man in pick-and-rolls with Jeff Teague and Dennis Schröder, sucking in defenders on the roll and opening up shooters. It won’t be the same as watching Horford and Millsap operate within the offense, but it has the potential to be just as dangerous.

5. What are the expectations for the Hawks this season? What would you consider a successful season?

Jeff: Success has to be very flexible for the Hawks this year. Nobody in the East is better than Cleveland; it would take a monumental upset or a rash of injuries to dispose of them before the NBA Finals. If the Hawks meet the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Semifinals because of how the seeding works out, then a loss wouldn’t be a failure, even though they made the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

This may be a homer pick, but in my mind, the Hawks are the best of the other contenders in the East, a group that includes Atlanta, Washington, Toronto, Miami, and Chicago, so a playoff loss to any of these teams would be a bit of a disappointment. Of course, injuries change everything, so it’s almost impossible to define success and failure at the beginning of the season.

Next: Southeast Division Q&As started with Philip Rossman-Reich on the Magic

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