RedDawg#8

There is, I noticed it too. He is definitely toughing it out. That leg is bothering him

Can't be a liability out there. This isn't the regular season, they will exploit that at every chance if they can. You saw the difference from Game 1 when Solo made his shots, vs the other games until we put Heurter in as a starter. We were getting buried with him out there. Like I said before, if we needed a defensive specialist that couldn't shoot, we would have been playing Dunn. Cam has to be able to keep them honest out there, even if its just off the dribble and attacking the rim.

Glad to see him getting up shots, one observation, he is still not emphasizing being shot ready like he was told by Vince and like he mentioned earlier this season he needed to work on. His mechanics and footwork, while routine in the video, are lazy. He is just going through the motions, which may sound nice to some, but is not what you want if you plan on playing. He has to be more intentional in his movement and set up. A big part of him improving his shooting is to be more consistent with his preparation and mechanics. Some may think that's nitpicky but it's the difference between being a player who CAN make shots, and a player who DOES make shots.

Draft status and future cap ramifications suggest he is very much in line as our center of the future, post Clint.

OO is a center in today's NBA. Even if he expands his range, there isn't much to suggest he should play PF. He has the strength and mindset of a center. His size is not a factor as we just saw versus Embiid.

Marc Spears was on with Stephen A yesterday and said that his sources confirmed that Trae went to management and asked for 2 things: 1) They lock up Nate as head coach long term and 2) They bring back John so they can continue what they have built together. Nate sees Trae and JC as the heart and soul. JC has said on several occasions he wants to stay in Atlanta. All signs point to him returning, the only question is cost at this point. But it is what it is. Tony said he would pony up for a contender, so here is his chance.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.insider.com/team-usa-olympics-mens-basketball-roster-2021-6%3famp Seriously..... Kevin Love and Brook Lopez made the cut? Lopez a bigggggg maybe. But Kevin Love? What is this 2012? When was the last time this guy was impactful? Middleton AND Holiday? Trae, John, please send these guys home and shit all over these pretenders.

Ummmmm they be stupid all the time lol They been stupid all season. They still being stupid now. Stupidity and basketball decision makers go hand in hand.

They better name the rule after him!!!

Im sorry I just had a flashback to when Team USA actually picked Harrison Barnes, Mason Plumlee and Myles Turner over John Collins, and picked Derrick White and Marcus Smart over Trae Young. Where were all these people praising our ultra-talented Hawks roster then? Team USA really sent a hot headed defensive stopper with no offensive game to represent us. And they wonder how that team finished 7th at the World Cup... Damn you Lloyd Pierce. We know it was you that sold them out. You turned your back on your team AND your country!

Facts. I wonder if his status is tied to Bogi's at all. Like a good news bad news type situation.

I could be wrong. Certain things I dont want to right about. This is one. Glad to see he is now questionable. I wonder if the front office underestimated the team performing so well when they said he wouldn't be available for the postseason.

Yuppp, Zeke

Trae overall to me is this generations Isiah. Overall on and off the court. The media has a love hate relationship with the guy. He was snubbed during his career for things that had nothing to do with his actual ability. He was a scrappy trash talker who guys hated to go against, small, underestimated, me against the world mentality, and delivered championships to a city that was starved for one and until then overlooked by the national spotlight. Trae obviously has a different play style, but when you account for the generational evolution off the game I think it transcribes. Back then they could rough up guards more than they do now. Trae may not have been able to put up monster scoring, but his resolve and toughness would have found a way to impact winning the way Isiah was able to.

Exactly. If they are exclusively using Trae's film to train them, then he may be in trouble. But if they look at these things holistically, you are going to see a lot of your favorite players get dinged by this. While they are it, I wish they would revisit the flopping rules. I have never before in my life seen a 284 lb man get tossed around like a rag doll so much until I saw Embiid.

Cam is healthy and healed. His coming back at this point was pre-determined regardless of injury status. They made an organizational decision that the best thing for Cam is to go through a full offseason program and summer league in preparation for 2021-22. They told us over a month ago he would not be returning for the playoffs. It appears that they really meant that. The updates are apparently to keep those invested in his well being in the loop, not to suggest that his availability will change. From my perspective anyway

Whoa, slow down a minute! I get the frustration, especially based on how we have dealt with injury communication all season long; however, I dont think that this is the case with Bogi. All signs are that whatever the issue is, he will play on it as long as he can tolerate the pain. That's what he did last series. Even if there is a tear, it is very likely something similar to Embiid, where it's partial and you can play on it (a lot of athletes have small tears and don't even know it). I think everything is up to Bogi and his pain threshold whether he is available to play. And it's on Nate how much Bogi get's to play based on how he looks on the court. If it were something season ending, they would have scratched him after taking him out of game 5. Bogi is going to do whatever he can to be on the court. It's a matter of how he looks that I'm most concerned about.

This cannot be overstated enough. Even under Nate McMillan, we were tremendously short handed many nights. Numbers do not tell the story of what this team can do on the court

The more I look at who did and didn't play in the regular season games, the more I feel good about this matchup. Just look at the list of players who missed games Bucks game 1- They had all their key guys, only their end of bench reserves got DNP's Hawks game 1 (3 starters out) no Bogi, Dunn, Capela, Young, Bucks win 129-115 Bucks Game 2 - No Divincenzo Hawks Game 2- No Collins, Gallo, Reddish, Hunter, Snell, Dunn Trae came back on an injured ankle this game and was clearly rusty Bucks Win 120-109 Bucks game 3- No PJ Tucker Hawks Game 3- No Trae, Hunter, Reddish, Dunn, Snell, Hawks win 111- 104 So in 3 matchups, they missed Tucker for 1 game and Divincenzo in another, who wont be back for our series. Even if you remove the guys who probably wont play for us this series (Hunter, Dunn, Reddish) we were still missing starters each game, or multiple guys in our top 8 rotation at the time (Snell was a starter for us when he missed games 2 and 3) That being said, we hung around enough to make it interesting, and won 1 without our best player. Both teams have evolved since they last played. We have hardened and gotten some playoff scars to toughen us up. They flipped a switch and started playing with more urgency on both ends. Their defense looks good. That being said, these teams are not going to look like the ones that played in the regular season. It's going to be a dogfight. I like our chances

Who the Bucks start is really important. They ran with Tucker last series because they wanted more defense and size. If they do that this time then there is no weak link on the floor for them defensively. Forbes and Connaughton can both be attacked if they choose to go with them. Other than that, they don't have any real liabilities defensively. In the 2nd game we played them, with no Divicenzo they chose to run with Forbes instead of Tucker or Connaugton. We also were without Collins and Gallo so they probably figured they didn't need any extra size that night.

My response to people that say it's his supporting cast is, That didn't stop you from picking the Knicks to win. Or the Sixers. We all knew who was on the rosters ahead of time and you still chose against the Hawks. You don't get to knock him twice and still be right. That's double jeopardy. Either you were wrong about Trae, or you were wrong about the team. So which is it? Then no matter what they say, just bring up the All Star game, the top 25 under 25 lists, the All-NBA awards. We were consistently snubbed on everything. So how could we have been so great without any love from the outside? And where were you to speak up on the Hawks behalf when these lists came out? Keep that energy. Don't act like you always knew the Hawks were this good. Don't act like you aren't still picking against us in the ECF. When they concede, well Trae should have been an all-star, make them tell you who they would remove in place of Trae and why. Hold them accountable. Watch them stumble, "well I mean Lavine did have the stats, and um um um so did Beal, idk that's tough" You have to call people out on their BS right on the spot. Do not let them off the hook

I don't think the use of Big O is the same as calling someone Pistol or the Stilt. Those are obviously unique nicknames that were used to caricaturize that specific person's game on the court. Big is such a vague attribute that is commonly used as a means of affection, especially among men/jocks. Big Guy, Big Man, Big Bro, Big Homie, etc.... it's a very common Prefix in our modern lexicon. I do not think they are truly trying to use and market OO as "Big O". It seems to just be an endearing nickname within the locker room, with very little reference to the original. He has a good game, Okay Big "O", I see you doin your thing, keep it up. Sort of like that. But he has always been called "O" even back to his Chino Hills days under Lavar. That's just his name no matter how anyone feels about it. It's not forced or created. He has always been "O". 1 tiny detail that I think is being glossed over as well as is that Oscar wasn't known as just Big O, he was "THE" Big O. That was literally attached to his nickname. Oscar Robertson, The Big O. The most similar comparison that I think could happen is how when Dwight started being called Superman. Sure, people were like "Um, Shaq?" But otherwise people just let it ride. I think as long as nobody says "The" Big O, they will let Big O ride among the team. It's not blasphemous, it's coincidental more than anything. They play different positions, different styles, yeah I don't think its that bad. There's Big-O, and then there's The Big O, no comparison.

It's not my style lol, Too much yellow. Mine was Navy with the bananas a little smaller. Can't believe we are having this conversation lol

Told y'all we were primetime. Didn't we set a record in the Knicks series too? Either way, that's the biggest difference between us the the previous Hawks playoff teams. We are must see TV. Add to that most of our games aren't blowouts that you turn off early We play exciting and competitive basketball games.

I agree, and I said something about this during the game at halftime because I didn't think he would carry it over across halves. He proved me wrong. Then in his presser he acknowledged that he was aware of his inconsistent tendencies. And that he made a conscious choice to stay aggressive after halftime. That to me is a huge deal. Self Awareness, and the ability to self correct. I have a little more faith that he will try to be aggressive against the Bucks.