TheNorthCydeRises

The big thing about that draft is that most everyone wanted a SF. And if a guy from Vandy would've been selected, it would've been Jeff Taylor. But Ferry chose Jenkins ... which makes you wonder if a Joe Johnson trade wasn't already in the beginning stages.

As far as last second plays, Larry Drew was the master play caller. Despite the almost disasterous result, this was beautiful, and ended with Horford being big time and making 2 FTs to win the game.

And look who's #1. That's why I hated that dude, although he did play above expectations here in Atlanta for about 1.5 seasons. But yeah, Lebron isn't the clutchest dude in the world. I bet he's gotten about 20 trips to the FT line during that time period. I'll never forget that BS call he got in Atlanta during the 2009 season. Al didn't even touch that dude, and still got the foul call.

Honestly, this is almost like the Carmelo Anthony argument. Because guys like Melo and Rudy haven't had much post season success and have been the leading scorer on bad teams, people think negatively. But like Melo, Rudy sure does play well when he has talent around him ( like in the Olympics ). Rudy is a scorer, not a shooter. And even if he doesn't play lockdown defense, his ability to get tough points when a team needs it the most, is his greatest attribute. No one asks Thabo to score 20 points, or make tough shots in isolation. His job is defense, rebounding, and maybe making a few jumpers a game. Same with Bazemore. Facts are that if guys had to take on the scoring responsibilities that Rudy had to assume, their numbers would plummet because they just couldn't do it as effectively as Rudy could.

Eye test?

Rudy Gay is on a bad team with individually talented players, but with no chemistry or a comittment to defense. It's everyone. Not just him. But to say that his clutch time stats don't mean much, is simply just being a hater. Any guy who can make 30%+ of his shots in late game situations, is pretty damn good in the clutch, due to the difficulty of the shot most times. Rudy makes damn near 45% of his clutch shots, which may be close to the best in NBA history. This guy has an entire youtube vid showing just about every game tying and game winning shot he's made in his career. I think someone posted a stat that stated that the Hawks are something like 0 for their last 12 FG in last second game tying or winning shots in 4th quarter and OT. But we couldn't use a guy that historically makes 5 of those 12 shots? Honestly ( and I know people hated when I used to do this ), but LOL @ those who try to hate on Rudy Gay, when our options are Bazemore, Korver, and Sefolosha. Last season, Rudy averaged 21 pts - 6 rebs - and almost 4 asst, while shooting 45+% FG - 36% 3FG - and 86% FT. Those are All-Star game worthy stats, if he played on a higher profile team that was winning. His numbers ( mainly shot attempts ) are down this year, but he'd still be a better offensive wing option and late game closer than anyone we have on the Hawks. And the biggest thing is that he's ONLY 29, which means he may still have 2 - 4 years of starter level play in him. A coach like Bud could bring out the best in Rudy, just like he's done with everyone else on the team.

Apology accepted.

Anybody that actually watches the entire league, knew this. And look who's #3. Rudy has always been a monster in final shot situations.

So you picked a Villanova vs North Carolina final? That's pretty damn good. Had I'd entered the Hawksquawk pool, I would've had 3 of the Final Four ( Villanova, UNC, and Syracuse ), with UNC in the Final. My dumb pick of Texas being a true cinderella, and winning it all in Houston, probably kept me from having one of my best brackets ever. My logic was that if they could get to Houston, they wouldn't lose the tournament. But they couldn't even get out of Round 1.

And the reason why, is that THJ ( and Bazemore ) are the ONLY guards/wings on the team that can take a traditional looking jumper in isolation over their defender. And they're really not anywhere close to doing that with efficiency. Teague and Dennis can't shoot over people and need space. Kyle and Thabo need space because they can't create off the dribble. Honestly, our best play may be to go with Horford on a pick and pop, and live with a 18 - 24 foot jumper from him. Do like how Bibby and Webber used to do in Sacramento. At least with that, Teague may get enough space to make a midrange jumper or Horford to get an open 18 - 24 ft jumper.

Trust Bud's player development program. 2014 - 15 ( 3 pt % ) Player A - .304 Player B - .343 Player C - .344 2015 - 16 ( 3 pt % ) Player A - .345 Player B - .393 Player C - .387 Player A is Al Horford Player B is Jeff Teague Player C is Mike Scott I agree that Hardaway needs more shots in order to be effective. His 1 - 5 FG performance last game could turn into a 4 - 9 FG, if he made 3 of his next 4 shots. But any player can say that. With the limited minutes he plays, he ( like Mike Scott ) has to come off the bench making shots. To me, THJ has more potential to be a scorer, than to be used as a shooter. Shooters can normally be effective, without taking a lot of shots. But they're also not relied upon to put up a lot of points. Scorers are normally streaky, but can score in bunches and in a variety of ways. And at times, they can literally carry the team with their scoring.

The system.

We have a system, not a go to guy. Can the system create a shot for ( insert Hawk Player's name here ), with less than 7 seconds on the clock?

Rudy would still be a better late game option than anyone we currently have on the team.

If we had a legit shot maker who could get his own shot, or make shots under duress, we would've won tonight. A Rudy Gay level player wins that game tonight.

.This is more than just BS calls. Toronto flat out have our number right now. As High5 said in the other thread, that's 7 out of the last 8 they've won against us. We got matchup problems all over the place vs Toronto, and they know it. They probably WANT US in the playoffs. And I don't blame them.

Leave my Bengals out of this! We got enough issues. Bengals are more like the Clippers.

( Talking like Puff Daddy in the "Victory" video .... arms raised in disgust ) "What we gon' do now? Huh? What we gon' do now?"

Since All Star break ( 20 games ) 46% FG 37.7% 3FG 82.8% FT 59.8% TS His numbers were even better before those last 2 bad games.

If you win ... while playing 8 pm games ... they will come.

What a 2nd quarter run. Currently a 17 - 0 run, after being down 14. Bulls just collasping.

There's a reason why the Hawks were scrambling before the playoff rosters could be set, to add a SF or a big. We had to do one or the other in order for the team to get to that next level. Why? Because our long range shooting was erratic, we didn't have a go to scorer at the end of games, and we were absolutely getting killed on the boards. We're 11 - 2 since Humphries has been inserted in the lineup. Why? Because he not only addresses a major deficiency of the Hawks ( rebounding, specifically on the defensive end ), his presence has turned our bench unit into one of the best in the league. In fact, check this out. Per 36 minutes numbers HORFORD 17.3 ppg - 8.0 rebs - 3.6 asst - 1.7 blks - 0.9 stls 51% FG - 35% 3FG - 80% FT ( 1.7 att ) - 57% TS - 19.9 PER - .178 WS/48 HUMPHRIES 17.9 ppg - 9.1 rebs - 1.4 asst - 1.0 blks - 1.0 stls 49% FG - 24% 3FG - 72% FT ( 5.5 att ) - 57% TS - 17.2 PER - .176 WS/48 Do you realize how big time this is? It means that we're able to keep a balanced team on the floor at all times, both offensively and defensively. And unlike the folk hero Pero Antić, Humphries actually impacts the game in many ways that register in the box score. LOL @ matchups mean very little. Even in this women's game of Tennessee vs Syracuse, it was the 4 guard/3 point barrage of Syracuse that gave the taller, more physical, but less 3 point reliant Tennessee team all kinds of fits today. And the quickness of those guards caused a plethora of turnovers. The result? The Lady Vols end up getting worn down and blown out in the 4th quarter. When overall talent is close to even or somewhat close, matchups are EVERYTHING.

PG: Teague (30) - Schröder (18) G: Korver (28) - Hardaway (8) - Baze (6) - Schröder (6) F: Baze (22) - Sefolosha (26) PF: Millsap (36) - Scott (8) - Horford (4) C: Horford (32) - Humphries (16) STARTERS Teague - 30 Baze - 28 Korver - 28 Millsap - 36 Horford - 36 BENCH Schröder - 24 Hardaway - 8 Sefolosha - 26 Scott - 8 Humphries - 16 In the playoffs, rotations normally tighten and there's no margin for error when it comes to defense and rebounding. That's why I see an uptick in minutes for Sefolosha and Humphries, and a downtick in minutes for Hardaway and Scott. THJ and Mike Molly will have to play extremely well offensively in the 1st half to get more minutes in the 2nd half. Interesting that Bud opted to play Teague and Schröder at the same time last night for about 8 - 9 minutes. For people who want to keep both guys after 2017, this is what is going to have to start happening. While it failed miserably at the start of the season, Bud is trying it again, to see if those 2 can co-exist on the floor together. Humphries and Sefolosha have to be excellent come playoff time. Both need to continue to hit the boards and be impactful on defense. If Millsap or Horford get into foul trouble, it's good to know that we have Humphries to come off the bench and play extended minutes, instead of being forced to go small with Millsap, or play a really weak defender like Muscala. We need to solve the Toronto puzzle. They've become what Orlando was to those Joe Johnson Hawks teams from 2008 - 2010. Those 2 games coming up will have my eye more than any other games the rest of the way.

Just an idea of how Baze looks, compared to other SFs. http://www.hoopsstats.com/basketball/fantasy/nba/playerstats/16/4/eff/1-1

One of the things all of you must keep in mind, is that players with expiring contracts normally get the big deal based off of how they perform during the playoffs. Being good in the regular season is good, but if you want to get paid, you better ball out during the playoffs. Demarre was arguably our best player in last year's playoffs, before he got hurt. As decent as he was during the season, he absolutely killed it in that Brooklyn and Washington series. Right now, Baze is about a 10 mill/yr player IF a team is desperate for a wing. Otherwise, he'll get 8+ million for about 3 seasons. But if he can shoot 50% FG - 40% 3FG while averaging close to 15 ppg, like Demarre did, he'll get that 15 mill. But honestly, unless a team expects Baze to be the #2 or #3 scoring option + defensive stopper on the team, he's not getting 15 mill.