Jalen Johnson issues a reminder to Zachary Rizacher

The Atlanta Hawks have remained afloat in the Eastern Conference with Trae Young missed time with an MCL injuryand the players had to step up in his absence. Zachary Risacher is one of those players, but the sophomore has struggled all season so far.

Through 23 games, Rizacher is averaging 11.0 points and shooting 29% from the three-point line, both of which are lower than his rookie numbers. For Rizacher, he continues to work on his recent slump, and Jalen Johnson there is had to remind him who is he to get him back on track.

“Sometimes you have to remind him that he was No. 1 and it wasn’t a fluke,” Johnson said, via Lauren Williams of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution .

“But you know, with Zach, he’s somebody who’s always working,” Johnson continued. “Like, right now, he’s the last person getting shots. That’s a consistent thing with him. So if he just keeps doing it and sticks to his routine, he’s going to start hitting again, and we’re all around him, rooting for him and understanding that he’s going to get out of this slump.”

During Rizaher’s rookie seasonstarted the year slowly but started to pick things up in the second half of the season. Hopefully it won’t take Rijaher that long to find his style this season, but with a year of experience under his belt, he should be able to pick things up quicker.

Zaccharie Risacher works in crisis

One way Risacher can get back into a groove is when Young, who helped him open shots early in his career, returns. With the attention Young is getting on the court, he can make things easier for the second-year player.

Risacher has had several injuries throughout the season, the latest coming near the end of their West Coast road trip, where he went down hard on his side after a dunk. Surprisingly, he only missed one game after the incident.

“I feel like I was a little bit shocked after the fall and my own, like my body was super tight and like a few injuries, especially on my left leg,” Rizacher said.

“But I fought through it in a way to help my team as soon as possible. So I was really happy that I was able to come back as quickly as I did. And like I take a lot of pride in taking care of my body and making sure I’m doing the right thing off the field so I can be the best version of myself on the field.”