{"id":871644,"date":"2026-08-28T16:24:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T16:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871644\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T16:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T16:24:13","slug":"hawks-buddy-hield-shows-out-in-fiba-qualifier-as-season-inches-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/871644\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawks&#8217; Buddy Hield shows out in FIBA Qualifier as season inches closer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5v\">Basketball is back!<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"60\">It&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/soaringdownsouth.com\/hawks-lakers-jonathan-kuminga-negotiations-doomed-start\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">still going to be a minute <\/a>before the 2026-27 NBA season gets started, but hoops are live, just overseas. Among those competing in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers is Buddy Hield &#8211; suiting up for The Bahamas.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"65\">Still a year to go before tournament action takes place, each qualifier game carries significant weight, and Hield is clearly up for the challenge. With some <a href=\"https:\/\/soaringdownsouth.com\/hawks-could-incentivized-keeping-buddy-hield-rather-moving-contract\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">uncertainty regarding his place<\/a> on Atlanta&#8217;s roster for the upcoming campaign, as well, there&#8217;s more at stake for the veteran.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6a\">If his game can translate to the Hawks like it currently is for his home country, his case for a roster spot will be undeniable. He&#8217;s balling out.<\/p>\n<p>Hield lit up the box score in qualifier game against Uruguay<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6k\">In just over 32 minutes in The Bahamas&#8217; victory over Uruguay, Hield recorded 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists, shooting 8\/16 from the field and 6\/11 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">In his last time out with a heavy minute load, he put up 15 points, six rebounds and five assists on 6\/11 from the field, knocking down two threes along the way.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">What stands out most from his recent performances doesn&#8217;t come as much of a surprise. Hield is lighting his opponents up from beyond the arc. If all else fails, he can shoot the lights out, even entering his 11th NBA season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6z\">His ability to let it fly with confidence and knock down shots at an efficient rate is more than enough to keep him on a roster. Often times, teams lack reliable shooting down the stretch, and Hield can provide exactly that.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"74\">There are legitimate questions as to if the Hawks have enough shooting to be a real threat in the talented Eastern Conference. That problem, however, is being mostly overstated.<\/p>\n<p>Other parts of Hield&#8217;s game are on display in recent FIBA performances<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">Everyone knows about Hield&#8217;s shooting, but everything else he&#8217;s contributing for his home country is invaluable. Maybe he can provide a similar spark for the Hawks this upcoming season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7j\">His playmaking has been notable. He&#8217;s been given much more nightly responsibility as a playmaker, and for the most part, it&#8217;s been effective.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7o\">In his first overseas game of 2026 &#8211; in a dominant win over Jamaica &#8211; Hield finished the night with a +34 +\/-.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7t\">It&#8217;s unrealistic to imagine he&#8217;ll carry any sort of similar role in Atlanta next season, but injuries happen often, and if he can share similar confidence on the floor to what he&#8217;s displaying currently, <a href=\"https:\/\/soaringdownsouth.com\/latest-division-addition-shouldnt-alter-hawks-immediate-outlook\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Atlanta will be in good hands.<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7y\">A veteran sniper is never a bad presence to have.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow soaringdownsouth.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=soaringdownsouth.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:pointerenter=\"q-BoGJWvpc.js#s_1NOcOpHWmT0\" on:touchstart=\"q-H9q8BpPo.js#s_R8AiGTDeM28\" on:focus=\"q-BYEsQQaF.js#s_gxiTM6qMMu8\" on:click=\"q-CNwNFlTm.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"84\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Basketball is back! It&#8217;s still going to be a minute before the 2026-27 NBA season gets started, but&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-871644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}