John Collins of the Atlanta Hawks has identified his weakness: his lack of athleticism. To negate this, Collins says he needs to be more versatile so as not to become a liability to his team.
The third-year big man noted that he doesn't have the “freakish athleticism” that some big men are blessed with. But he has to find a way to be able to match up against them.
“I just feel like with my size, I wasn’t blessed with extra long arms, so I feel like with me not being on the taller side and shorter side when it comes to arm length, I feel like I need to be as versatile as I can,” said Collins, who has a wingspan of 6-11 and whose height without shoes came in at 6-foot-8.5, per Sarah K. Spencer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Be able to shoot, be able to pass and do all those extra things that I can’t make up with freakish athleticism, the freakish body type that I don’t have, I have to make up for it with being versatile.”
He's also completely aware of how big men are now required to have a reliable jump shot. Not only that, but they should also be capable of guarding smaller and quicker guards.
“At my height and my size, playing at the 4 position, which is becoming almost a perimeter position nowadays, [developing my perimeter game] is essential,” Collins said. “For me to be able to handle, be able to shoot, switch onto [guards] if I need to. Just pretty much be a mismatch problem for the defense if I need to. A real rock for our team in terms of I can do anything coach needs me to do and I don’t need to be subbed out.”
Last year, Collins beefed up his statistics as he put up 19.5 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. This was a major improvement from his rookie year when he averaged 10.5 points and 7.3 boards. Given his improvement, analysts see him and Trae Young as an up-and-coming one-two punch for the Hawks.
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