RedDawg#8

Refs gave Phoenix some help there but I will take it. Let's go!!!

Thank you Chicago! Phoenix, get your ish together!!!

Can someone with Twitter ask her about Gallo? Ya'll bout to make me rejoin Twitter after like 10 years off.

The way I see it, we need Gallo back and realistically at least one of Snell or Dre to be competitive in the playoffs. If we can get all three back, we win a series and push our 2nd round series to the limit. If we can get EVERYONE back and contributing on some level, we can realistically win 2 series this year. We need Gallo's experience, size and firepower. We need Snell's length, consistency and floor spacing. We need anything Dre can give us at this point. But especially his ability to matchup on both ends of the floor at the 3 and get buckets and defend a variety of positions. He may not round back in to his pre injury form so anything he can give us would be gravy at this point. If he IS able to get back to his pre injury level, watch out. No starting 5 we will face can defend us at thar point. Yes I said it. We can survive without Cam and Dunn, but if we can have them available too as another option to defend or provide a spark for us, that would really put us over the top if you ask me. They are the cherry on top.

Thanks for the info. Still hoping for more on Gallo

It's possible that Trae just may not be a good off ball player. He hasn't shown any ability to play off the ball, and both of his coaches to date seem to prefer him standing way outside of the 3pt line as a way to pull his defender far away from the paint and let the team go 4 on 4. Trae's small stature may be a reason they prefer this than him cutting through the lane and coming off screens because he is easy to recover on and contest. Trae's gravity could be neutralized in close quarters, so hovering way outside is probably their safest bet to stress and stretch the defense and allow our bigs and other wings to work inside more freely.

We missed a golden opportunity to close in on Milwaukee, but we are still just 4.5 behind them now after they lost to Memphis on Saturday. That being said as far as the playoffs go, there are 3 tiers shaking out if you ask me. You still have the top 3, who are beginning to become fixed in their spots as of late. 1. 76ers, 2. Nets, 3. Bucks Then the next group is 4-8 , still jockeying for final positioning, but pretty safe bets to get in. 4. Hawks, 5. Celtics, 6. Knicks, 7. Heat, 8. Hornets Last is the play in hopefuls 9. Pacers, 10. Bulls, 11. Wizards, 12. Raptors I think the Hornets are succumbing to injuries and starting to fall towards Indy as we close the year, but they are hanging on for now. Our peer group appears to be Hawks, Celtics, Knicks and Heat. I feel any of those 4 teams could realistically present a threat to the top 3. as well as each other. That 4 team block will be the most competitive down the stretch as they all have bigger aspirations than just getting in the dance, and are going to fight to avoid that 7th spot at all costs. You could see it today and yesterday with the games Boston, NY and Miami played. Grinding out tough victories that had playoff energy. The intensity is ramping up. I hope our boys are ready for a dog fight, because the competition is not going anywhere soon. 4 teams fighting for 3 remaining guaranteed spots. Lets go

Yes, plus he really shoots up the rebound totals in a heartbeat, he went from 18 to 22 in less than 1 minute just by tipping the ball to himself over and over.

I think there should also be an asterisk by this season when discussing load management and what not. In years past I think many teams abused the system for strategic purposes. I think this is the time of year you will see that strategy more frequently, but for the most part, this season has been more about survival and attrition more than anything. Minor injuries have a bigger impact with less scheduled days off to treat them, thus forcing teams to sit guys more often than they probably would have in a normal year. Also just in general with the brutal day to day schedule of guys having to get up early even after long trips to get tested, so even less down time and virtually no days off to recharge mentally (which plays a part in physical health). I think it's understandable for teams to hold guys out more often in such a hectic season as this one.

Knicks are a matchup problem for us. If we get them in round 1 it's going to be brutal

And not just that he scores differently, it an adaptation/evolution in his game in response to how aggressively teams have to guard him. Trae is such a threat with the ball that he sees tight physical defense to force him off the ball. Drawing fouls isn't a Trae Young trick just to score points, it's a counter attack to deter defenses from playing him so tight. In other words, he doesn't NEED the free throw line, if teams defended him straight up he would just cook on his own. But teams are scared so they to force his hand which is why a lot of his worst shooting games come with high free throw attempts. The tighter the D, the worse he shoots from outside but the more he gets to the line. We have seem enough examples where teams opt not to pressure him and he scores and passes just fine. No matter how he is defended he will find a way to impact the game offensively. A mark of a true star player

Yo, thanks. Reading is fundamental. Lol

That's good. It must be just staff at this point because we were already at 14/17 players or 82% vaccinated. That was before Lou, who Im guessing got his first dose this time around. I wonder what about the 2nd dose though. Right after the Bucks game would have been ideal to give them plenty of time to recover from symptoms.

Exactly. Very little was said about his injury when it first happened and he has not been in any of the updates or shown anywhere practicing. Whats up with our med team this year, they are so shady with information.

Why haven't we heard anything about Gallo since he went down? They have been suspiciously quiet about him and his injury.

Trae was just rusty, no timing or rhythm, but not injured. His last game before he sat 3 games, he was visibly tender as he moved around. That wasn't the case last night.

Last time we played them JC and Dre hung 30 apiece on their heads. That was without Trae Clint or Bogi. They not trying to see us at full strength. I want them

Too much help defense on guys NOT named Giannis

Rocking the MLK's, you know what that means.

Kiss of Death, Chuck picked us to win tonight smh

Crazy how Chuck thinks we would lose to Boston but can beat the Knicks. Ummmm Knicks and Randle have our number I would not want to see them in a series

We waited for confirmation about Giannis before clearing Trae it seems.

Dre worries me. A lot. This team is real scary if he is healthy and giving us what he was before he went down. Im talking contender status. The way Bogi is playing, plus what you have in Trae, JC and Clint. Lou and Gallo off the bench too? That's a tough team 1-7, with quality depth behind them. No Dre makes us very vulnerable at the 3. At this point I just pray he returns. I'll take his presence in any form right now.

I want to go on record and apologize to everyone for both advocating that we sign Dunn, and gloating when we did. I promise I had good intentions, I had no idea his knee was as unstable as a junkie's living arrangements. Smh

I know this seems ass-backwards, but this is exactly why I prefer to be excited now. There is an over 97 percent chance in ANY team sport that your team will not win it all. And that's if all odds are equal. Its even worse when you factor in Superstars, super teams, and the refs in the NBA. And EVEN WORSE when you consider the Atlanta Sports Curse. So knowing today, that no matter what we do, it's a virtual certainty that our season will end on a loss, I choose instead to further enjoy the moment TODAY and not put off the excitement for later. One day, we will capture the ultimate prize and be World Champions, and if that happens I would much rather say I enjoyed the whole ride, and not just the final seconds of it. I understand the love/hate relationship with Atlanta sports, but my Atlanta fanhood has taught me that if we are going to lose anyway, I only have 2 options, stop watching all together, or seek other goals to find fulfillment. I love watching this team improve. I love watching the growth of the players, and I am excited to tune in to every game I can until we are eliminated. This season is probably the perfect season to be overly optimistic, because we are playing with house money. The bar was set at making the playoffs, and that was before we fired the HC. That was before all of the injuries. Next year and beyond, we will be expected to win playoff series' and contend for the title. Might as well be happy right now that this team is on schedule if not arriving a little early. Nothing's ever promised tomorrow, today. Carpe Diem "Seize the Day". If not now, when? I can go on and on, but you get the point