Power Ranking Every Atlanta Hawks Player Heading into 2015 NBA All-Star Break
Picking the best player on the 43-10 Atlanta Hawks is so hard the NBA couldn't even do it.
After the Hawks won all 17 of their games in January, the league tabbed Atlanta's entire starting five as its Player of the Month, which was the first time more than three teammates were given the award in the same month, per NBA.com.
The accolades don't stop there—Jeff Teague, Al Horford, Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver will all represent the team in New York City at this weekend's All-Star Game. Korver is sneaking in as an injury replacement for the Miami Heat's Dwyane Wade, the NBA announced on Twitter Tuesday.
But the starters aren't the only ones contributing to the team's success.
It seems like every night a different reserve puts his imprint on the game. It could be Dennis Schroder's probing dribble-drives, Mike Scott's long-range bombs, Pero Antic's stingy post defense or another surprise contributor.
Although identifying a clear-cut order of players is difficult, it's not impossible. Let's look at which Hawks have been most instrumental to the team's special season so far.
Players will be ranked based on their performance throughout the 2014-15 campaign, with a slight emphasis placed on games played in the past month.
Note: Last month's edition of the player power rankings can be found here. Players not ranked in the top 10 for this article will have last month's rank in parentheses, and those ranked 1-10 here will have last month's ranking clearly marked underneath their statistic capsules.
The Other Guys
1 of 11
Injured: Thabo Sefolosha (6)
Sefolosha was thriving in his role as the Hawks' sixth man before his right calf strain on Jan. 30. In the 22 games preceding his injury, the 30-year-old swingman was averaging 5.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 19.2 minutes per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the field and playing typically outstanding defense.
Overall, the Hawks have a 38-7 record with him in the lineup. Without Sefolosha, Atlanta is 5-3. Unfortunately, he is out for a total of six to eight weeks, per the Hawks' official Twitter account.
13. Elton Brand (12)
Brand is getting lost in the Hawks' rotation, only playing in two of the team's last 12 games. He still gives his all whenever he steps on the court, but even the 35-year-old's Mensa-level basketball IQ isn't enough to overcome his lost physical tools.
Thankfully, Brand contributes to help his team in other ways. According to Fox Sports South's Cory McCartney, the aging big man said the following about how he fits on the Hawks: "Definitely [my teammates] come to me about a lot of stuff on and off the court. I embrace that role."
12. Mike Muscala (10)
If someone is passing around a "Play Mike Muscala More" petition, feel free to put my name it. "Moose" has spent a lot of time on the Atlanta bench, and even made a sojourn to the NBA D-League, playing for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. The 23-year-old post still possesses excellent per-36 numbers in the big leagues: 17.2 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. It's a wonder he doesn't play more.
11. Shelvin Mack (11)
Barring injury problems for the guards above him in the Hawks' rotation, Mack is not going to be a difference-maker for Atlanta this season. He simply doesn't possess the skills or athleticism to take important minutes away from Jeff Teague or Dennis Schroder. Like Brand and Muscala listed above, Mack has received his share of DNP-CDs in the last month, both before and after his calf injury.
10. John Jenkins
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2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 3.7 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.1 assists, 0.0 blocks, 0.1 steals, 14.1 PER, 0.123 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 14
Because the Hawks mainly use a nine-man rotation, Jenkins earns a spot at No. 10 with only nine games under his belt in 2014-15.
However, let's not discount what the 23-year-old shooting guard has done when given minutes.
The highlight of the past month for Jenkins was undoubtedly the job he did in preventing an embarrassing home loss on Jan. 31 to the 12-41 Philadelphia 76ers. In the contest, Jenkins notched nine points, nailing four of his five shots and canning his only attempt from behind the three-point arc.
Considering Atlanta only ended up winning the game 91-85, the Hawks needed every bit of that efficient offensive production.
Expect to see more of Jenkins in short bursts as Sefolosha rehabs his calf injury.
9. Pero Antic
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2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.3 blocks, 0.2 steals, 9.3 PER, 0.060 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 9
I have no doubt head coach Mike Budenholzer looks at Pero Antic's on-off court splits when planning his rotations. He just has to.
Otherwise there would be no reason to play the tattooed Macedonian.
Antic's stats (12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per 36 minutes on 37.4 percent shooting) are downright ugly for a center, but his presence on the floor always seems to yield good results for the Hawks. When the 32-year-old stretch 5 takes the court, Atlanta has a point differential of plus-9.2 per 100 possessions. That number drops to plus-6.9 when he doesn't play.
Despite his unimpressive stats, there are a couple of explanations as to why Antic's antics pay off.
The big man sports a disappointing 29.9 percentage from three-point range this season, but he still forces his counterpart to step outside to contest his shots. And his positional defense is stout, if unspectacular.
I wouldn't be opposed to Coach Bud giving a few of Antic's minutes to Muscala. But if that causes the bench to struggle, he should immediately revert back to the old rotation.
8. Kent Bazemore
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2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 4.0 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.4 blocks, 0.5 steals, 8.6 PER, 0.046 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 13
I'm still not totally sold on Kent Bazemore's future with the Hawks, but he's making some strides.
Bazemore's minutes have ballooned in Sefolosha's absence, and so have his statistics. Since Jan. 30, the 25-year-old shooting guard is averaging 8.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals in 29 minutes per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field.
Bazemore is extremely athletic and mainly focuses on the defensive end of the court, so a lot of his value doesn't show up in the aforementioned statistics.
One of his best games of the season came on Feb. 6 against his former team, the Golden State Warriors. Bazemore went 4-of-6 from the field and made all three of his shots from downtown to help the Hawks win 124-116.
As the playoffs approach, it would be nice if the young swingman could consistently shoulder more of an offensive load while maintaining his hyperactive style of defense.
7. Mike Scott
5 of 11
2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 7.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.0 blocks, 0.3 steals, 15.2 PER, 0.118 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 8
A reference both to his namesake from The Office and his pretty stroke from behind the arc, "Threegional Manager" is the perfect nickname for Mike Scott.
Thankfully for the Hawks, that stroke has only gotten prettier in the past week.
Since Feb. 4, Scott has come off the bench to drain nine of his last 13 three-point attempts. He's also averaged 10.3 points in those four games, helping the Hawks to three wins.
While the 26-year-old stretch 4 is certainly not known for his defense, he's actually been solid on that end this season. According to NBA.com's player tracking data, players guarded by Scott shoot just 39.8 percent from the field, 4.7 percent lower than their averages.
The "D" is still coming around, but Scott could become one of the NBA's premier three-and-D threats from the power forward position in the future.
6. Dennis Schroder
6 of 11
2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 8.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.0 blocks, 0.8 steals, 14.9 PER, 0.075 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 7
In January's rankings, I voiced some concern that opposing teams might be figuring Dennis Schroder out. His statistics, both raw and efficiency, were plummeting at an alarming rate, and his confidence looked like it was regressing back to the level of his rookie year.
Thankfully, the 21-year-old point guard has rebounded in the past month to become one of the league's premier backup point guards.
According to ESPN, Schroder ranks No. 3 in points per 48 minutes (22.6) and No. 5 in assists per 48 minutes (9.4) among second-string floor generals. The Detroit Pistons' D.J. Augustin is the only other backup to make the top five in both of those categories.
The young German will only get better as his shooting range improves, and that improvement has already started. Schroder has nailed six of his last 12 three-point attempts, including a clutch bomb against the 76ers on Jan. 31 (highlight at the 1:48 mark of the linked clip).
5. DeMarre Carroll
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2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 12.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.2 blocks, 1.3 steals, 14.7 PER, 0.151 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 5
The Hawks' supposed "weak link" of the starting lineup, DeMarre Carroll, isn't really a weak link at all.
Known for his defensive toughness and hustle, Carroll is becoming a stone-cold killer from three-point range. In his last nine games, the 28-year-old small forward has canned 2.2 treys per contest at a success rate of 47.6 percent.
What's most impressive about this is that he shot almost exclusively inside the arc before arriving in Atlanta. During Carroll's 173 games before signing with the Hawks in the summer of 2013, he drained 27 threes. But in just 119 contests with Atlanta, the athletic 3 has 176 long-range makes.
I'll end this slide with a question: Is there a better three-and-D small forward in the NBA than Carroll?
4. Kyle Korver
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2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 12.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.5 blocks, 0.7 steals, 15.7 PER, 0.166 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 4
Kyle Korver being selected as an All-Star replacement is an encouraging sign for the future of the NBA. It shows that the perception of a player's importance is becoming less and less dependent on raw stats.
Korver is the poster boy for the league's "better than his stats indicate" guys. According to Stats LLC's Sport VU data (via Grantland's Zach Lowe), the 33-year-old three-point sniper ranked fourth in the league in "gravity score" last season, behind just Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. The higher a player's gravity score, the more closely he is guarded.
Essentially, he averages 12.9 points per game but is guarded as if he averages 25. Sounds pretty All-Star worthy to me.
Plus, he has the league's fifth-best net rating among players who are on the court at least 30 minutes per game, according to NBA.com, so there's that.
3. Paul Millsap
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2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.9 blocks, 1.8 steals, 20.1 PER, 0.175 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 2
Paul Millsap doesn't move down a spot this month because of subpar play, but because of the emergence of Al Horford.
The 30-year-old power forward is still as much of a nightmare for opposing defenders as he's ever been. Very few 4s in the NBA know what do with Millsap, who shoots from the outside like a shooting guard, drives the lane like a small forward and finishes inside like a power forward.
His averages of 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists are great, but he's still not dominant on both ends. According to NBA.com, players shoot 48.3 percent from the field when being guarded by Millsap, 2.3 percent better than their averages. Millsap's 6'8" frame is sometimes a liability when matched up against bigger players.
Millsap is a star, but tougher defense would make him even more valuable to the Hawks' title run.
2. Jeff Teague
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2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 17.2 points, 2.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 0.4 blocks, 1.7 steals, 22.1 PER, 0.198 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 1
Can somebody please make "Ice Teague" a thing? Because Jeff Teague is about as cold-blooded as you can get when the game is on the line.
In fourth quarters of games, the 26-year-old point guard is shooting 54.0 percent from the field and averaging 5.5 points on 2.9 shots. His assist-to-turnover ratio is also a solid 2.7-to-1 in final periods.
So you know how Hawks doubters constantly bring up Atlanta needing an offensive player who can create their own shot when the game slows down in the playoffs?
The answer they're looking for is pictured above.
Although point guard is the NBA's deepest position right now, there aren't many floor generals the Hawks would rather have than No. 0. Overall, Teague ranks No. 7 among point guards in points per 48 minutes (26.2), No. 5 in assists per 48 minutes (11.4) and No. 4 in PER (22.2), according to ESPN, and No. 9 in win shares per 48 minutes (0.198).
1. Al Horford
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2014-15 Per-Game Statistics: 15.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 blocks, 0.7 steals, 21.6 PER, 0.189 win shares per 48 minutes
Last Month's Ranking: 3
Now this is the Al Horford we've grown accustomed to over the last several seasons.
The 28-year-old center has retaken the mantle of the Hawks best player with a dominant run over the past month. Since Jan. 11, Horford is averaging 17.3 points, 9.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists in just 31.3 minutes per game while shooting 59 percent from the field. Not surprisingly, Atlanta has gone 15-2 in that stretch.
While the Dominican's devastating mid-range touch and post moves drive his opponents batty, he's also doing the same on the less glamorous end of the court.
According to NBA.com, opposing centers are shooting 45.2 percentage against Horford, 1.8 percent below their averages. The nimble big man also keeps his blocks high (1.4) and his fouls relatively low (1.7).
While Teague's overall body of work in 2014-15 may edge out Horford's, the level of play Big Al has reached now that he's fully recovered from last season's pectoral injury is too high to keep him out of the No. 1 spot.
Note: All statistics are from Basketball-Reference.com and updated through Feb. 10, unless otherwise indicated.
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