The Atlanta Hawks currently have the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference but they aren't quite the same as they were last year when they won 60 games and finished first in the East. There are a couple of factors contributing to their step back this season including losing DeMarre Carroll and Kyle Korver's struggles but the biggest factor is probably Jeff Teague. Teague has not been nearly as good as he was last year and he has played especially poorly recently but that may be due to an ankle issue he is dealing with, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Over the past two seasons Teague has turned himself into one of the top point guards in the NBA. Last season Teague was particularly great as he earned a spot on the All-Star team and was a huge key to the Hawks making it to the Eastern Conference Finals. So far this season Teague's numbers are down almost across the board and recently it has gotten pretty worrisome.
In Teague's last three games he has made just 12 of his 37 shot attempts from the field which is just 32 percent. In his last five games Teague has failed to play more than 30 minutes and he has regularly been on the bench at the end of games for the Hawks. Teague has not missed any time due to the ankle injury recently but he believes it is severely hindering his performance on the floor.
While Teague has been struggling recently, backup point guard Dennis Schroder has been playing extremely well and drew praise from head coach Mike Budenholzer for digging the team out of a lot of holes. Schroder has been seeing a similar amount of minutes to Teague recently and there have been some questions about whether Schroder should take over the starting role, at least until Teague is healthy.
Budenholzer has been hesitant to make the change despite the fact that Schroder has been outplaying Teague. Budenholzer believes that Teague will be able to regain All-Star form sooner rather than later but there have been times that he has chosen to go with Schroder over him in a key situation. Teague clearly has a long leash on the starting point guard role and he deserves it based on his past production but if the trend of Schroder outplaying him continues then there has to be serious consideration given to making a change.
