"My minutes have become shorter in the past two or three games so it's cost me in the stats but I'm leading in rebounding in the league," says Atkinson, who got only 7.54 minutes on Sunday against the Sharks.
In 30-plus minutes, he argues, he has a 100 per cent record with three double-doubles in as many wins.
"You're not going to get those with those type of minutes. It is what it is."
Atkinson simply wants to do what is best for the team, trying to conform to coach Liam Flynn's stipulation of rebounding and blocking shots. Their impasse stems from individual perceptions.
"If I haven't been doing my role then you can just ask the fans. People who see the game know so it's pretty much a miscommunication between me and him."
Atkinson says it's not one player who overly influences proceedings on the court to engineer outcomes but five at any given time.
"Statistics show that when I get a double-double and play a lot of minutes we do win but it's a team thing because everyone has to improve.
"The coach has to improve, I have to improve and the team has to improve so everybody has to get better for us to achieve our goal. It's not just about me and the coach."
He accepts finding middle ground is imperative to turning around the Hawks' misfortunes.
Atkinson says more minutes meeting Flynn will equate to more time on the court.
"Me and the coach have to really sit down and talk. Once we talk and look at things we'll cut off some more feelings," says Atkinson after Flynn marginalised him in the past two games.
The 206cm US import power forward/centre thinks when they have spoken it has been "pretty short conversations".
"If the coach doesn't feel I'm performing my role then we're going to have to have a better meeting, not just five minutes ... and be more specific."
His love for the team and Hawke's Bay hasn't wavered "but I want to do more for the team - I'm all for the team".
Atkinson isn't "in the slumps" but believes everyone's "down" because of the rash of defeats.
"Once we work it out we can do it because it's an easy fix."
He puts it down to "a miscommunication thing".
"The last time we talked it was just five minutes - they were just like show this and that and I want you to do this. Five minutes, we were in and out, done. It was just one meeting and not what you think."
Atkinson says the coaching stable showed him just two video clips of him rebounding and blocking shots "which looked really nice".
"It's very do-able. It's a complicated situation but it's an easy fix."
Asked if he had been in a similar impasse in his career, Atkinson replied he had once when he attended University of California, Irvine.
"We had a heart to heart and it was done. Sometimes the coach doesn't know how much you care until you pour your heart out," says the 29-year-old from South Carolina.
"He may think that you don't care and you're okay with coming off the benches so sometimes you've got to let him know that, 'Hey, I'm here to be a major contributor because when I play we win so like help me help you and give me the time I need'.
"We need to be professional about it rather than, you know, just putting each other on the bench and not feeling uncomfortable about each other."
Atkinson says it's frustrating watching his team hurt from the bench but also feeling incapable of contributing to alleviate that pain.
"You're watching and then you're like, 'Dang'."
He urges PG Arena faithful to stick with the Hawks because they will only get better.
