ESPN.com: Pelton: Trend Watch

Kevin Pelton's inagural Trend Watch at ESPN.com (Insider) takes a look at some troubling numbers from the pre-season:

The preseason demonstrated that Atlanta has a lot of work to do to get comfortable in the new offense. The Hawks finished last in the league in offensive rating, scoring just 94.7 points per 100 possessions. And that improved passing has yet to materialize. Atlanta was slightly below average in assists per field goal last season, ranking 16th in the league, and ranked just 17th this preseason. In turn, the Hawks have gotten few easy baskets. Their 2-point percentage of 44.3 percent was 23rd overall.

The danger to Drew's strategy is that Atlanta will lose the strengths that made its offense so effective during the regular season, when the Hawks boasted one of the league's three best attacks on a per-possession basis. As unattractive as the isolation offense may be, it played to the team's strengths and limited miscues. Atlanta turned the ball over less than any other NBA team a year ago. During the exhibition season, the Hawks committed turnovers slightly more often than average. The team's offensive rebounding has also suffered badly.

Pelton acknowledges both the degree of change Drew is trying to implement and the injuries (specifically Jeff Teague's unavailability for much of the pre-season) that hampered his early efforts. His conclusion:

Drew may need more time to implement his entire game plan.