TheNorthCydeRises

Delaney +14? I guess another snowstorm is coming this weekend.

Love how Dedmon and Collins work on the boards. The Hawks definitely need to keep Dedmon around for a while, just in case we draft the gunner ( Trae ) or White Magic ( Doncic )

The question is . . . will Joe Johnson get into the Basketball Hall of Fame? - No championships, NBA Finals, or Conference Finals appearances. - 7x All-Star - One All-NBA team ( 3rd team ) - 20th all time in minutes played ( 43,584 ) - 10th all time in 3 pointers made ( 1955 ) . . . did not know that - 41st all time in total points ( 20,217 ) The last stat is key, because NO ONE in NBA history who has scored that many points, has not been left out of the Hall of Fame. Only 2 players who have scored at least 20,000 points have been left out. ( Tom Chambers and Antwan Jamison ). The recent history of clutch baskets may get him in. But it may have to be a year in which the inductee class is relatively "weak". With the Jazz being 4.5 games out of the 8th spot, he may need to be traded to a high caliber playoff team ( Cleveland ), and be a key reserve off the bench, in order to guarantee his spot in the Hall. If not, I wonder how many seasons he'll continue to play as a fringe player? If he can get to 21,000 points, that may be enough. But he'll need 2+ more seasons to do that.

Hawks down by 17 at the half. Ya'll happy?

148 points by Oklahoma City vs Cleveland today. They're the DANGER TEAM to Golden State. They essentially have all of the elements. - 3 Future Hall of Famers . . . with at least one of them ( Westbrook ) playing at peak level - A guy who is an All-Star ( or should be ), and is a borderline All-NBA and future Hall of Famer ( George ) - A 3rd guy who is at least borderline All-Star caliber ( Anthony . . . who will be in the Hall of Fame ) - Almost on the verge of becoming a top 10 offensive team ( today's game will help immensely in that department ) - Top 5 defensive team

If people are talking "championships", just remember what normally the recipe for one is: At least 1 Hall of Fame caliber player playing at or near their peak At least 1 All-Star caliber player who is also All-NBA or even a borderline Hall of Famer A 3rd player who is at least a borderline All-Star caliber player A top 10 offensive team . . ( preferably top 5 ) A top 10 defensive team * it is slightly more important to be great OFFENSIVELY than DEFENSIVELY . . but you have to be very good in both areas. Just based off of the last two criteria, what NBA teams today fit that bill? Golden State: ( #1 offense rating - #7 defensive rating ) Toronto: ( #4 offense - #4 defense ) That's it folks. In a normal year, you'd at least have 4 teams that would fit that criteria of having at least a top 10 offense and defense. But this season, you have a lot of "good" teams that are top 10 in one area, but bottom 15 on the other side: ( see New Orleans, Philadelphia, Indiana, LA Clippers, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Miami, San Antonio, Cleveland, and Boston ) Oklahoma City is one of 2 teams on the verge that can say they're top 10 in both categories ( 12th offensively - 3rd defensively ) Houston is the other team: ( 2nd offensively - 12th defensively ).

I think Dennis tried to tank that last play. You can't tell me that the play call was set up to get the ball to Baze, with the possibility of Anthony Davis switching off on him. That was the worst possible matchup on the floor. Baze just made a great shot.

Oh ( bleep )! They won? I stopped watching after they went down by 20.

How many times has the teams with the best odds, won the #1 pick? OK . . I see it has happened the last 3 years in a row. Before then, there was a 10 year drought in which the worst record didn't get the top pick.

As well as they should. Especially if they're going to give away road games.

So what happens if Dedmon had missed the 2 FTs? You now have a situation in which the Spurs are only down 1, with 8 seconds to go, and they only need a 2 to win the game. The Hawks option to foul would also be gone. Luckily, both Dedmon and Dennis made their FTs. It's no reason to complicate things by fouling. Just play good defense, and end the game.

LOL @ the 2 women with shades on, right behind the Hawks bench. And now Ily with the absolutely DUMB FOUL. Here we go . . literally trying to give the game away. They're going to mess around and lose this game.

I don't agree at all with Bud's strategy to foul right there. A 3 doesn't beat you in that situation, so why not play the entire thing out? Now, we have to make FTs, and then do the same thing again. Bud with Tankology 101 style coaching.

Unbelievable that Schröder didn't get that foul call. Thankfully, Dedmon was right there for the offensive rebound and put back.

Dennis is a borderline All-Star PG, regardless of what Hawks fans think. Collins should be 1st team ROY Baze is a decent to above average defender, and streaky offensively Ily and Beli are competent outside shooters Dedmon is definitely a solid big man capable of starting for a few teams. Prince is still developing, but can knock down the 3 and play decent defense. But let's not get carried away. There's a difference between "competing" and actually "winning". When last year's team had a lead late, they didn't lose. And they were a very good defensive team. We were 32 - 24 going into the All Star break last season. If we were going at that clip this year, that would put us right around the 4 - 5 spot in the East.

Collins playing too well today. Almost time to pull him for the rest of the game.

Hey Taurean? You see what they're saying about you? USE IT!!

Speaking of Thabo . . . . too bad. http://www.nba.com/article/2018/01/13/report-utah-jazz-thabo-sefolosha-season-ending-injury-mcl-knee

pop the bottle

It would also help if he were playing with a 5 man who could clean up some of his mistakes by grabbing offensive rebounds off of his missed layups. I don't think it was a coincidence tonight that Dennis looked very good when playing with Dedmon. When he fouled out, that definitely hurt at the end. FYI: Dennis is the league leader in FGAs as the Pick and Roll ball handler, which represents a whopping 51% of his offensive plays. He's shooting 48% FG in those play types and scoring 44% of the time. The reason for that, is because he's not getting many calls when he gets hit. He draws a foul only 6% of the time.

If you were just look at his shooting and advanced numbers, and not know who he was, there's no way anyone would advocate taking Stanley Johnson. 35% FG - 29% 3FG - 78% FT - 47% TS - 8.0 PER - 0.53 WS/48 Honestly, those numbers are horrible. And this is a 3rd year NBA player we're talking about. This is Johnson's best game as a pro, which came last season: This is Prince's best game as a pro, which came 2 weeks ago: I'll keep Taurean. The only way you trade him for Johnson, is if you REALLY want to bottom this team out, and have them in hell for the next 5 years. Taurean is a lottery pick . . remember that. You don't give up on him after 1.5 years, in a year in which the organization has stripped the team down to the bare bones.

The team doesn't play to the strengths of the personnel, so we really can't fully judge Prince on this season. This is a "give him more offensive responsibility" type of year. He's shot the 3 ball very well. Tonight, his offense was just off and he yielded to Dennis, because he had it going. As for his advanced numbers, I will go though his offensive play types. It'll show what he's good at, and where he's weak. SPOT UP - ( Frequency ): 33.6% . . . . ( Points Per Play ): 1.01 . . . . EFG%: 56.4% . . . . ( Score Freqency ): 39.9% TRANSITION - ( Freq ): 18.4% . . . . ( PPP ): 1.00 . . . . EFG%: 60.8% . . . . ( ScFreq ): 45.3% P&R HANDLER - ( Freq ): 15.1% . . . . ( PPP ): 0.59 . . . . EFG%: 35.7% . . . . ( ScFreq ): 28.7% OFF SCREEN - ( Freq ): 11.0% . . . . ( PPP ): 1.02 . . . . EFG%: 54.3% . . . . ( ScFreq ): 38.1% HANDOFF - ( Freq ): 8.2% . . . . ( PPP ): 0.91 . . . . EFG%: 52.9% . . . . ( ScFreq ): 40.4% ISOLATION - ( Freq ): 4.2% . . . . ( PPP ): 0.63 . . . . EFG%: 35% . . . . ( ScFreq ): 29.2% These play types represent 90.5% of Taurean's offense, so this gives us a snapshot of what to look at. It looks like shot creation is his biggest issue. He's not good at all as the Pick and Roll ball handler and in Isolation. In these situations, he mainly tries to get to the basket, instead of having a solid midrange pull up jumper he can rely on. All of that can come with further development.

And no need to remind any of you who led the Hawks in rebounding tonight Collins . . . 10 rebs in just 15 minutes. But once again, can't get a single minute of action in crunch time. I'd much rather lose the game with Collins in the game, than him out of the game. Oh well. Drink up, tank crew.

Bud will live and die with Delaney. Gave up the blocking foul . . . then can't get the dang rebound off the FT DEATH!!