RedDawg#8

I was wrong this time thank God. Trae waiting to come in. Hopefully not too late when he does

I stand corrected as Trae walks to the table

Since this new format, in each of the last 2 ASG, they didn’t sub anyone out in the 4th quarter. They ran with their “best 5” regardless of starter status to finish the game. Whoever opens up this last quarter will likely ride it out

Embiid is really talented. If they can find a way to unlock his conditioning, he has the talent to be the most dominant player in the league. He can dribble and shoot like Lebron, but at 7 feet. Post moves and vision are great as well. This guy is legit, as much as I like to knock on him.

I can’t see JJ chasing anyone around screens or defending on the perimeter, so to me he is still a PF who happens to have some combo ability on offense. That being said, with JC down, its the perfect excuse to give him 10 mins a game (5 in each half) just to see what he looks like next to rotation guys and not the 11-15 unit. He cannot hurt you in that limited action, and he can barely break a sweat. But it gets him exposure around the guys he will be playing with once we inevitably move on from Gallo as soon as next year. Ready or not, we don’t have the cap space to resign another big contract guy to replace Gallo, so JJ will have to step in and step up for us eventually while on his rookie deal. Let’s be clear, if we are healthy, there a lot of quality guys that have to sit on the bench, including JJ. He should not be given minutes just because. But if one of the top 2 PF’s is out, use the kid. Don’t just ignore him altogether because he isn’t perfect yet. See what he can do. Groom him. Then put him back on the shelf when JC returns. Its that simple

http://sportsagentblog.com/2020/06/25/agent-omar-wilkes-joins-klutch-sports/ yessir, Trae and the other Wilkes clients could have stayed at Octagon, but Trae went with Wilkes to Klutch.

Do you not understand hyperbole? And we have seen Sharife have multiple high scoring/assist games. Trae Jr, Poor Man's Trae, Trae Light, Light Ice, etc... the point was, he can control the pace of a game, score inside and out (mid range still in progress), run a mean pick and roll, and does it in a similar size body frame as Trae. He is still developing, but one day could be the perfect backup to the original Ice.

Omar was Trae's agent before Omar decided to move to Klutch. So, Trae didn't choose Klutch per se, he just remained loyal to his agent instead of the old agency because he and Omar have a great relationship iirc. To me, that explains what you were saying as far as Trae and Lebron being in the same agency but not necessarily repping for one another like you would think. Lebron may have felt slighted that Trae chose someone else when he came out, and also believes that if Omar ever left Klutch Trae would follow him. So from a business perspective, Trae isn't truly loyal to the agency like that.

He really is Trae 2.0, this kid can flat out go

I feel you, but at this point we put ourselves in a spot where we have to worry about the W's and L's. We had a chance to be .500 or better at the break and came up flat too many times. If we don't play with a sense of urgency and stack some W's, we are not going anywhere.

Coming off the bench is not the same thing as playing second fiddle. He is playing 2nd fiddle to Trae and Trae only. Bogi is the only other non-big on the team that consistently gets play ran for him and a green light to hunt his shot. As far as signing a contract to be a starter, who made this promise to him, Schlenk? As in, not the coach? Did this promise carry over after LP lost his job? Because even under LP, he was in and out of the starting lineup, so who actually held up this deal? He told everyone that he came here because he wanted to win and was promised that this team was not going rebuilding anymore, but trying to make the playoffs. That should be all that matters in the end. Winning.

AD doesn't strike me as the personality that would be open to leaving LA and Lebron for a team that needs him. The way he forced his way out of NOLA just to get to LA, I think where ever he gets traded to next, he will not stay long and will eventually lobby his way back out to LA or the Nets. He just doesn't seem like a dude that wants to work hard and build something from within. He is kind of fragile if you ask me.

beat me to it

Correct. And we can look at it like this, we found out very early in the playoffs that we NEEDED Bogi to get the majority of minutes with the 2nd unit because we were getting crushed when Trae would sit. So we started him, subbed him out 1st, and then put him in with the reserves when Trae came out. We are basically doing the same thing now except instead of him being the 1st starter OUT he is 1st the reserve in, 6th man. The functional application is the same, we need him to carry the offense for the bench, which Kev is not as capable of doing because he lacks aggression and consistency. Championship teams have typically won 1 of 2 ways. They have elite players and stagger their minutes so that they can all eat and there is 48 minutes of pressure on the opponent where they have to deal with a star player on the court. Boston does this with Tatum and Brown, LAC did this with PG13 and Kawhi, Brooklyn was doing this before KD went out, etc... The 2nd way is that there is a 6th man who is clearly better than the player in front of him, but they are versatile and have the ability to lead an entire 2nd unit on their own, while being secondary pieces when they share the floor with the starters. OKC did this with Harden, SAS did this with Ginobali, etc... those guys were the 2nd or 3rd best player on the team but came off the bench by design. Bogi is upset, sure. But he is getting better production as the 6th man than he was starting. The bench went from a weakness to a strength with him as a 6th man. Should Nate give Kev a shorter leash some games and put Bogi in sooner? Yes, absolutely. If Bogi is hot and Kev isn't, leave him in and let him cook. But there is nothing negative or disrespectful about coming off the bench as a focal point regardless of what the plan was over a year ago.

Sounds like our guys are spending a little too much time worried about what is being said about them, and not enough time working on the finer points and details of their profession. They are young, sure. But todays young people are more equipped than ever to deal with the outside noise across the internet. If they are getting butthurt about the "criticism" they see and hear from fans like us, then we have a bigger problem. Trae, if you're reading; no, you aren't the only guy not playing defense. That is fair. But you are exponentially by far the center of attention on this team. Your game warrants the spotlight, your audacity invites attention. You are held to a different level of scrutiny than anyone else. Your identity is synonymous with the team's. Doris said it best on air Sunday. The moment Steph committed, not to being an elite defender, but to giving full effort on defense, the Warriors took a leap. He refused to be picked on and singled out by opponents. It's been years since anyone has gotten away with gameplanning to just attack Steph. He is not a good defender, but he makes it so that it is futile to single him out. That is where you have to be. Damn anyone else and what they look like. If you handle your business and refuse to be a weak link, this team will go to another level. Kev wont have an excuse anymore, Bogi wont have an excuse. Guys will hold themselves accountable or be held accountable because the Alpha is setting the tone. Dont ever compare yourself to your teammates when it comes to criticism. You are numero uno for a reason, so own the extra attention. Good and bad.

I would take it a step further and not only let him guard PG's, but have our guys aggressively trap/ice the pick and roll to take the burden off Trae to run around screens. The best defense we have had in recent memory did this very well. Bud era I think its the best way to hide Trae but also Kev who doesn't get stuck on screens but is slow moving around them. Start blitzing the ball handler and make him give up the rock. Practice it over and over so that our rotations are second nature. Clint and JC are great at playing centerfield, Dre is smart enough to cover ground. I think it would be a lot better than watching guards shred us every game still. Trae is scrappy and quick, let him get in to guys and keep him from having to rotate on help D which usually ends up in a bad mismatch where he cant guard, rebound, or box out against the cross match.

Keep that energy come draft time. Why even get excited about picks if we are no longer playing rookies just because? JJ is our 3rd string PF. Our 1st string PF is out for an extended period. We could use another body getting spot minutes at the 4. This isn't hoping he turns our season around, this is pointing out if there was ever an excuse to let him get minutes, now would be the time. Or maybe you prefer waiting for Gallo's sore knees to act up before we are forced to throw JJ out there with zero chemistry with the main rotation. It wouldn't hurt to get him out there some right now

Im my mind, Capela should be like an enforcer type in the locker room who can say what he wants and dare somebody to step to him about it. "So what you gonna do about it" lookin self. JC is good positive energy, somebody needs to be an asshole. Gallo is all business, which is great, but when he opens his mouth he sounds like this guy. https://youtu.be/WwTBeLi_No0 Clint needs to be more vocal and hold guys accountable if he is going to be keeping it real in the media

Okay, we all can see this. But what are they going to do about it? Clint, your azz is supposed to be a vet and leader in the locker room. You signed a nice extension before the season but you stay getting outplayed by OO every other game. This team is not all that young. Lou, Gallo, Clint, Delon have all been on multiple playoff teams before joining Atlanta. You telling me there is nobody who can effectively light a fire under the younger players behind the scenes? OO plays with fire and he is the youngest of our rotation guys. JC generally shows up to play regardless of his boxscore. He finds a way to affect the game. Is it all on Trae? Are Kev/Dre no longer reliable? Is Bogi too inconsistent this year? I don't understand the problem when there is experience throughout the roster, talent trough out the roster. What's so hard about fighting through screens and talking on defense? It's been do or die mode since January, but we can't string together more wins than losses.

If it wasn't for LP, we never would have seen what Knight and Mays could do last season. Nate has not shown any effort in sneaking in some meaningful minutes for young guys. Not with injuries, not with us playing flat and needing a lift. Nothing. You can't give me a good reason JJ isn't seeing the court with JC out these next few games. There is no excuse.

The only guys actually practicing are guys who wont get any real minutes. My, our practices are so productive, you can really see the results on the court.

Nate should let Knox get some burn with Hunter forced to sit. We can't shorten the rotation and put ourselves in a deeper hole, especially with the way they are cooking Huerter today. This could get ugly fast if we dont put another defender out there

Im here for it, lets go lol

The triple double gets the most attention, but I like Trae's 30/10 identity. That alone says you are worth at least 50 points a night I'd love for Mr. 30/10 to catch on as a nickname especially as he climbs that list

At the pace he has been on I can see him passing 2 more names before the end of this season.