Before heading out west to start a five-game road trip, the Hawks were already dealing with a two-game losing streak and pushed it to four straight losses before a 120-117 win on Wednesday night in Sacramento. With games against the Lakers, who already defeated the Hawks 130-121 to start the trip, and the Clippers remaining on the journey to the left coast, the possibility that the Hawks come back home with a 1-6 record over the last seven games is a real possibility.
92.9 The Game head honcho and Hawks broadcaster Mike Conti joined The Morning Show on Wednesday and was asked by Hugh Douglas what he thought the real issue was for the Hawks despite having a solid starting five that was built to compete for a championship in the Eastern Conference.
“I think they do have very good starting talent, they don’t have depth and that’s something I’ve been saying since the beginning of the season,” Mike stated. “Last year, you were able to roll players such as Kevin Huerter, Danilo Gallinari and Lou Williams off your bench. Experienced, proven NBA players that can get you buckets.”
With a point differential of -1.0 this season and a record that has hovered around .500, it’s clear that the ability to get key buckets in close, winnable games has been lacking and that typically starts with the bench and the ability to keep the tempo of the offense going when the starters are getting a breather.
Mike also pointed to the fact that injuries throughout the first half of the season has left the bench “decimated” and key contributor Bogey Bogdanovic missed the first 22 games of the season with a knee injury. Add to that the various injuries and games missed by John Collins, De’Andre Hunter and Trae Young which has left Coach Nate McMillan scrambling to fill the void with less experienced players like rookie AJ Griffin and pushing Bogdanovic into a starting role on occasion as he works to get back to full strength.
He continued, “I think that’s been the problem with the Hawks all year that, as constructed, they are not deep enough to deal with the quantity of injuries that they have had to this point. The tricky thing now is you’re midway through the season, about a month and a half from the trade deadline, what can you really do to address that in the middle of the season?”
There doesn’t seem to be many answers with regards to making changes to the roster via trade that would improve the team’s fortunes while also keeping the starting five intact. It appears that the best option would be for the team to stay healthy but that might be a tough ask given the track record of injuries this season. So one thing is clear about the Atlanta Hawks this season, the lack of depth is starting to reveal the cracks in the dam but is there anything the team can do to patch things up and make a run at the playoffs before this season gets washed away?
