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The Atlanta Hawks have gotten out to a 4-13 start to kick off the 2019-20 season, with a handful of their losses coming in tight games down the stretch.
Second-year point guard Trae Young is both the team's leading scorer and assist man, but he's also accepting a lot of the blame for his team's inability to close out contests to this point, per Sarah K. Spence of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“A lot of it's on me. A lot of it's on me, just turning the ball over. Not getting our team into sets, or whatever it is … I have a big leadership role in this, so I've got to help turn things around.”
Still just 21 years old, Young has been prone to turnovers early in his NBA career. After averaging 3.8 per game last season, he has seen that number jump to 4.9 per contest this year. But whereas he shouldered a significant offensive load last year, he is carrying an enormous one already, especially with fellow burgeoning star John Collins in the midst of a 25-game suspension. Only two other active Hawks are averaging double figures in scoring.
The Hawks amassed 29 wins last year, finishing 12 games out of the playoff picture. There was hope that the team would take a significant step forward in Year 2 of Young's career, but they have stumbled out of the blocks, even as they sit just 2.5 games out of the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Having dropped each of their last seven games and having been outscored by an average of 10 points per game this year, it will be on Trae Young and company to flip the script over the next handful of months.
