TheNorthCydeRises

Best worst shot ever. No way that ball should've reached the rim. Nice Christmas present.

Oh . . no doubt that Dennis pulled a "Kobe" for most of the game. He wasn't completely disengaged, but he definitely made a point to pass the ball around. That's what the coach wants. Ball movement, and for the open man to take the shot. Prince: 1 - 7 Baze: 2 - 10 Bench outside of Collins: 3 - 12 Sometimes a coach just have to let his best players do their thing, system be damned.

He's played aggressive defense all game. And when he gets beat, there's no one at the rim to help. Dennis is not, and never will be, a lockdown defender.

Come on Ish. Come on Delaney. Ya'll can DO THIS, because you move the ball the correct way . . .

LOL @ Ish beating Dennis at halfcourt . . . and the 2 Hawks between Ish and the rim just part like the Red Sea. Bud then glares at Dennis. LOL . . tell your pet player "Delaney" to stop the ball when someone is going to the rim, if he's right there. And . . . . Dennis is out of the game. Let's see if the Hawks can make a run.

10th assist by Dennis . . . mainly to Ersan. This is what Bud likes. Dennis to be a facilitator . . but not a scorer. Hawks down 17.

LMAO . . . it grinded to a halt with all of those bricks by the rest of the team. They were down 20 before Dennis even took a shot.

Bud thinks he knows best. But when your roster consists of mainly bench players, your system does NOT work. Don't be trying to reign in your best players.

Need to hit the family up on Facebook . . that jersey and hat is what I want for Christmas. Anything else they got me, they need to TAKE IT BACK.

(( looking at 21 Savage )) This is how you perform in front of a crowd.

LMAO . . I know right? He got like 18 rebounds in one possession.

That black jersey that Jeezy has on is niiiiiiiiiceee.

LOL @ that last possession that the Hawks had. That's what happens when your shot creating PG doesn't have the ball in his hands. Horrible way to end the half. 8 - 0 run by the Pistons.

So what is Dennis supposed to do? He was on Bradley tight again. Plumlee comes over, and Bradley just dumps it to Drummond for a dunk,

And on cue . . he makes 2 shots in a row, including a 3 . . . Hawks down 3.

Dennis with tight defense, but gets beat off the dribble. No help from Ilyasova, who was right under the rim . . . because he's not a rim protector.

Dennis pulling a "Kobe" tonight. I guess he's making a point to the people who think he shoots too much and is a ball hog, that he can still do what he needs to do. 2 pts ( 0 - 1 FG ) . . 2 - 4 FT . . 5 assists . . . +6 for the game. Hawks down 6. Dennis needs to score for us to win, unless someone on this team steps up and proves otherwise.

I knew I forgot a team NY Knicks: 4 years . . . currently 14 - 13. Has a potential superstar in KP. Not much else. Possible low seed playoff team. So we're re-setting . . to possibly get back to 2016 level in 4 years . . with the hope of reaching greater heights, championship heights, in 7 - 8 years? If any current Hawk is on the team at that time, that means they're a significant player getting paid a boatload of money. So maybe that's a better question. Who from this current team is on the Hawks in 7 - 8 years, when we're possibly a championship level team?

Just for perspective . . . Current playoff droughts Minnesota: 13 years . . . currently 16 - 12. Looks like it will be broken this season. Sacramento: 11 years . . . currently 9 - 18, and looking at year 12 of not making the playoffs Phoenix: 7 years . . . currently 9 - 20. Potential All-NBA player in Booker. Not much else. Philadelphia: 5 years . . . currently 14 - 13. Has amassed very good young talent. Learning how to win. Borderline playoff team. Orlando: 5 years . . . currently 11 - 17. Started out great, but injuries have killed them. No playoffs. LA Lakers: 4 years . . . currently 10 - 16. Outside shot at making the playoffs, though they'll have to come together quick. Denver: 4 years . . . currently 15 - 12. The most balanced team in the league. Should make the playoffs as a low seed.

No, the Hawks are terrible. The East has 5 of the top 8 teams in the NBA . . . and only 2 of the bottom 6 teams in the NBA.

LOL . . we could all be dead by 2021. Any GM or coach who has 3 consecutive losing seasons, doesn't stick around very long. And the coach is DEFINITELY the one that goes first. Brett Brown in Philly is maybe the only guy that I can think of in recent memory, that got more than 3+ years to turn things around. But now that he has the talent, not making the playoffs will be unacceptable to Philly fans. People were calling for Woody to be fired after Year 3, as well as Knight. The only way Woody survived initially, is because Knight was seen as the most detrimental to the progression of the franchise. Luckily for Woody, Sund made the trade for Bibby, and that turned things around.

I don't know about the last sentence, but I 100% agree with the rest.

Leave Dennis alone.

Joe Johnson too. It's sad that he's going to be remembered more for his play as a Brooklyn Net, than he will for his play as an Atlanta Hawk.

Did Bud's decision to bench Dennis at that time, give us the best chance to win the game? Say what you want about his defense, but he offensively had it going. 7 in the 4th quarter, in just 3 minutes, and 13 points in the 2nd half. When he went out in the 3rd quarter, after picking up his 4th foul, the Hawks were up 4. By the time he got back in the game, the Hawks were DOWN 5. That's a 9 point swing with Dennis out of the game. http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20171210&game=ATLNYK He comes back in the game, and immediately asserts himself offensively, making 3 out of 4 layups, including an And-1, to bring us within 2 points. Knicks score the next 5, including a 3 by Frank Ntilikina ( with Dennis sagging off of him ), to push the lead to 7. Bud pulls Dennis on the next possession, when Baze got fouled and made 2 FTs. Hawks are only down 5 at this point. But I guess Bud had had enough. Dennis doesn't see the floor the rest of the game. This was an ego thing by Bud . . . or a deliberate tank job . . . to keep Dennis out of the game.