The Atlanta Hawks Season is Still Salvageable
Atlanta Hawks fans have every right to be disappointed with this season. The Dejounte Murray trade didn't move the needle, Trae Young hasn't been himself, the front office got overhauled, and the organization had to make a coaching change during the All-Star Break.
Despite all that, Atlanta entered a two-game road stand against the Miami Heat with just a half-game separating the teams in the Eastern Conference standings. There is no sugarcoating it. Atlanta missed a major opportunity to turn the season around by dropping both games to their big brother in the Southeast Division.
The outcome of games has not changed much since the arrival of Quin Snyder (Atlanta is 1-3 under their new head coach), but the team is playing better. Look no further than Young's perimeter defense.
After last night's loss, Young told Lauren L. Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Defense is all about energy, it's all about energy. I'm obviously already at a disadvantage because of my height playing in a tall man's league. So I just got to use my quickness to get under people and just make people as uncomfortable as possible. And so for me, I just got to continue to use my quickness and, and do that."
Young's newfound defensive effort has been contagious. Atlanta has been on the wrong end of some hot-shooting opponents, but they are clearly playing with more urgency. Even better, the team will improve with more time under Snyder.
The Hawks cannot go back in time and do anything about their disappointing trip to South Beach, but their upcoming two-game road stand against the Washington Wizards is equally important.
The organization has a new front office that has not had any missteps (see: Saddiq Bey), a coach committed to building a culture, and a roster full of players buying into the system. The Hawks just need their fans to keep the faith a little longer.
