Throughout the playoffs, we are going to be looking at the teams that lost their last game and look at what they can do to try and get a win.

Against the Bucks, the Hawks were 6-11 from the three point line, which is good for 54.5%.  The thing is, it could have been even worse for the Bucks.  The Hawks had three or four wide open looks that they missed in addition to the three point shots that the Hawks made.

The big reason for the Hawks getting open at the three point line was that the Bucks were getting “sucked in” to the lane.  Now this is understandable, the Bucks lost their best post defender due to injury and the Hawks have an all-star center, but perimeter defenders can’t get sucked in to the point where they are giving up wide open threes:

This play is right off the opening-tip and after the baseline drive, the ball is passed to Josh Smith right in the middle of the lane.  Though he is pretty well defended (Smith’s man helped, but was getting back into position) Joe Johnson’s man comes flying down the lane to try and help.  Smith recognizes this and kicks it out for the open three pointer.

On this play, the Bucks are playing a zone.  As the ball gets pass to Marvin Williams on the wing, a cut gets made through the middle of the paint.  This sinks in the Bucks’ zone defender responsible for covering the three point line, and this gives Jamal Crawford enough space to knock down the three.

Let’s look at one more play.  After Mike Bibby makes the entry pass into the post, he spaces himself out to the wing.  Bibby’s defender is sucked in and he turns his head to watch the post.  This allows for the Hawks to run a pick for Bibby, and free him up for a three point shot.