The Atlanta Hawks look more like the Atlanta Pigeons right now, and one of their players is not feeling the vibe.
Speaking with Chris Kirschner of The Athletic this week, Hawks center Clint Capela spoke harshly about his teammates amid Atlanta’s continued skid.
“Our approach the entire season, we were already thinking [that] we were going to the playoffs,” he said. “Our approach wasn’t about the next game. It was, ‘Oh, we won this. We won that.’ That’s the problem with teams that are not used to this. I’m not so shocked [by our struggles].”
Capela also criticized his team’s efforts on the defensive end.
“I feel like it comes from the mindset of everybody,” Capela continued on. “If you’re always thinking about offense, you’re always going to feel like offense is an issue. If you’re more defensive-minded, you’re going to take more pride on defense. I feel like the team we are, we’re more offensive-minded. There are not a lot of guys who take pride on defense, so it’s hard. I am mostly a defensive-minded guy, but it is a team thing. Your team has to be defensive-minded. It can’t be just him or him or him. Everyone. So, it is what it is.”
In the interview, Capela gives some other thoughts on the Hawks’ current situation as well as on how it compares to his time with the Houston Rockets. You can read it in whole here.
After a surprising Eastern Conference Finals berth last season, the Hawks have fallen flat on their faces this season. They are tenth in the East at 26-30 despite having virtually the same core as last year. Atlanta also ranks third-worst in the league at defensive efficiency (per ESPN).
The big man Capela is the anchor of the Hawks’ defense. It was a role that he previously succeeded at with the Rockets, who had a top-ten defense during their peak with Capela in 2017-18. But the personnel (and apparently the enthusiasm level) looks a lot different now in Atlanta. Capela is not the only Hawks player who is unhappy with the way things are going this year either.
Photo: May 28, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela (15) gestures against the New York Knicks in the fourth quarter during game three in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
