I currently reside in ATL and I watched most of Hardaways games last year...Here are a few differences I've noticed in his game from last year to this year:
1. Dennis Schroder. would push the ball almost at will. Even when the fastbreak wasn't there, Schroder would push and force a secondary break and put the defense on their heels...By pushing the tempo, Schroder would get his feet in the paint, draw the defense inside the 3 point line and kick it out to Hardaway trailing for an open 3. None of our pg's are pushing the tempo at all and we aren't getting any open court plays. Hopefully, Frank can bring the push-the-tempo mentality to the the team and open up the floor for Hardaway and others.
2. The Hawks offense was alot more fluent than our current offense. The ball and player movement was almost night and day. Many times Haradaway would come down the court on the strong side, would run off a flex screen on the baseline to the weakside. Bazemore or Schroder would put the ball on the floor, drive and kick to the weakside for Hardaway for a 3 or penetration to the basket. Many times Hardaway is coming down the court and waiting on the wing. The only time he moves is when he comes off the curl play or when the Knicks run that weave. Not sure what happened to Jeffs early offense style from Phoenix. Once Frank gains some confidence, hopefully we will see it....
3. Hardaway has to adjust to being on the scouting report now. He's currently the 2nd option as opposed to being the 4th option. Not to mention, he's currently playing SF and has 6'9 guys like Paul George and Jason Tatum to shoot over. The roster is in flux right now as we dont have a legit starting SF forward so he's there by default but at some point, we need to get him back to the 2.
4. Hardaway is and always has been a streaky player....Unfortunately for him, he is starting off the season on a down cycle. He's definitely pressing out there as you can see he's thinking and aiming his shots rather just reading and reacting. I would like to see him and Frank get more playing time together. Hopefully they can push the ball a little and get some easy baskets...Hardaway is surprisingly explosive in the open court. We need to take advantage of that!