thecampster

I am being very, very careful here. What I know on the subject is mildly speculative. It is one of the more closely guarded secrets out there in Hawkdom. Nate's apprehension has nothing to do with the team, the city, the players or management. The firing of LP did not sit well with him. He would like a little more control over his future, his legacy. Nate is looking for less than total control, but more than a little input on personnel, assistant hires, team direction. What he wants is a seat at the table and its tricky business to get those assurances without looking like a Diva or a control freak. Nate is looking for a situation, not a job. As I understand it, he also doesn't want a contract negotiation interfering with the season. again, as I understand it, the agreement is he can hold on to the interim title as long as he wants until they come to an agreement. One of the assurances I'm told he wants is an out clause, freedom to take another job without restriction. Nate wants to be able to control his own fate, his own destiny. Consider this 40% grapevine, 60% speculation. I'm told he loves the city.

So I have to get up very early for work every day and I've made a choice. I'll be laying down for a pre-game nap going forward. Its a sacrifice I know but I'm willing to take one for the team and get my pre-game rest in. Who's with me?

Good Juju, good Juju, good juju....Believe! I believe the trend continues and we steal home court again in game 1!

https://sports.yahoo.com/mark-turgeon-growth-spurt-turned-174520935.html

The trust of Atlanta's series vs Philly. 1. Atlanta shot poorly. 2. Atlanta's pick n roll motion offense is a ton to handle for 7 games. It's exhausting. 3. Embiid was allowed to throw elbows, launch at legs and commit hostile acts without penalty all series. 4. Philly's guards and Harris were allowed to hold all series. 5. Howard committed fouls on half his trips down the floor. 6. BB wasn't a factor offensively and now has 3 days to rest that knee. 7. Nate flat outcoached Doc. All of Atlanta's yearly stats are skewed by the first 34 games and nearly 300 man games lost to injury. Hawks still won and honestly should have won in 6 if it wasn't for playing 8 on 5. Philly got a ton of help from the officials, cried for more and still were mentally beaten.

The truth of Milwaukee's win vs Brooklyn. Game 1 - Brooklyn took a 14 point lead into the 4th quarter. It was a blowout. Game 2 - Brooklyn won by 39, were ahead by 30 heading into the 4th. It was a serious blowout. Game 3 - Harden, Green, Dinwiddie out. Bucks in a must win. They won by 3. Game 4 - Kyrie leaves with 5:52 left in the second quarter due to injury with the game tied. Bucks win by 11. Game 5 - Brooklyn wins at home but Harden isn't himself. Game 6 - Milwaukee eeks one out. Game 7 - Milwaukee survives by a toe and then goes on to win in overtime. Lets not create some image of a Milwaukee giant here. They are down DD, they barely survived a Nets team that was down their all star point guard and only had 1/2 a Harden for 5 games. Milwaukee is not a great team defensively. They gave up 6 more points per game than the 76ers and 10 more than the Knicks. They are better than both offensively but have some limitations. The Hawks had a 1.5 game better record in the second half (38 games) than Milwaukee. At no point this year did Milwaukee play against Atlanta with Collins and Capela in the same lineup and only played once against Trey (who was hobbled).

Dang you Skip Bayless. We don't want your support.

After taking a day to troll twitter, assess matchups and refill my game day snack safe, I'm going to take a second to give my assessment of this series. The Hawks played Milwaukee 3 times this season. Game 1 - DNP Young, Capela, Bogdonavic. There is nothing you can take from this game. (Hawks lose by 14). Game 2 - DNP Collins, Reddish, Hunter. There is little you can take from this game. (Hawks lose by 11). Trae Young struggled in this game and finished with 15 points. Game 3 - DNP Young, Reddish, Hunter. There is a lot you can take from this game. Hawks win by 7 without Young. They shoot 13/35 from 3 and exploit Milwaukee's biggest weakness. The Bucks have a defense that lives and dies with stopping penetration. They defend the pick n roll well but not the pick n pop/kick. Do not expect a rain of Trae floaters in this series, instead expect an in and out game from the perimeter. The series may hinge on BB/Snell/Gallo/Huerter/Collins/Young all shooting from 3. The Bucks are long and disrupt passing lanes but they are slow and do not guard the 3 point line. This will be a feast or famine series. If the Hawks are hitting their 3's at greater than 35%, they win. If they struggle with their shooting they lose. The Bucks live off of steals and transition. Taking care of the basketball while driving is key. No turnovers gimps the Milwaukee offense. Taking care of the basketball between 8-15 feet and hitting your 3's are the keys to beating the Bucks. Picking up Giannis at the 3 point line keeps him from getting a head of steam. Playing him tight outside of 15 feet keeps him from getting a head of steam. Giannis is not a take you off the dribble guy, he's a head of steam guy. Making him start flat footed is the key to slowing him down. I'm feeling Hawks in 6 and its the call I'm most confident in the series. Fingers crossed, no injuries. The Bucks are the least physical team we'll play so far. We need to exploit their perimeter D.

Nate's decision to almost exclusively throw Huerter at Curry in game 7 must have really crushed their spirit. Lost in Huerter's offensive game was his smothering of Curry at the 3 point line for 80% of the game. It made Philly 1 dimensional for most of the game.

My honest thoughts on Philly. They are the best defensive team I've seen in a long time. They pushed the Hawks repeatedly into uncomfortable shots. The Hawks scored an average of 113.7 points per game this season. The Hawks scored that much only once in the series (game 1). They are a very difficult cover offensively. They are not mentally tough. IMHO - The Hawks won the mental game in this series against a team that should have destroyed them physically. I'm very glad we played NY and Philly. You don't sharpen iron on cotton. It must be tried in the fire and Philly offered the toughest challenge I think we'd face in the post season. Of every team we could have faced in the post season, they scared me the most. They should have won this series, they could have really used a mental coach over an x's and o's guy. It just proves how important the mental aspects of the game are.

That's cold!

The atmosphere in my house when we went up 6 was stunned bliss. I love this team. The year we won 60, I told my wife before the season ended that we might win 60, but I'm really not having any fun watching this team. This year, when we were 14-20 and Nate took over, I told her we were making the playoffs and would make some noise. That I've had so much fun watching this team even though they had a losing record and I knew they'd be something special. Its been a family thing all pandemic and what a great way to finish the season, being in the running for a chip. Love my Hawks.

I do love that phrase.

This "Believe" thing has really been sticking with me the last few weeks. There is a best selling book that's been out for a few years called, "The Secret". There were a few movies about it, its not a new concept. But before I offer this, if you haven't read it or seen the original documentary/video about it or seen the most recent movie based on it (The Secret: Dare to Dream), take some time and do a smidge of research. If nothing else, it can have a great impact in your relationships when you operate with belief, positivity and gratefulness. "The Secret" is an exploration of the Law of Attraction and its role in your perceptions. You get what you put out there. If you are positive, positivity comes back. If you expect the worst, that is what you get. The universe works that way, most major religions have some element of the The Secret built into their systems. Visualizing what you want to the point you believe you already have it is one of the major premises to The Secret. It's kind of like daydreaming but to a point you can feel what its like to have it, making it real. Like seeing the shot go in before taking it, feeling the joy before hitting the game winner. Last night, looking in the eyes of LouWill and Trae, they 100% believed in the comeback. There was no fear, no doubt. Looking at Ben Simmons eyes every time he stepped to the free throw line, he was riddled with doubt...so much so he didn't even want to touch the ball in the final quarter. He avoided it. So lets create a group experiment, what do you believe about this post season. What do you see happening? What can you envision? All positive, all good things. What do you believe? I believe the Hawks will win game 6 tomorrow and I think they'll win the next series in 6 as well.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/report-luka-doncic-really-upset-130006771.html See the above article. After the firing of Don Nelson, there are now rumors that Doncic will want out of Dallas. So you're a Mav's fan the Hawks make it to the finals this year and in 2 years, Doncic is a Spur, how does that pee in your Cheerios taste? That's maybe the most overlooked part of these instant (who won the trade) scenarios. Players get injured, players get fat, players ask for a trade, management comes in and decides Wilkins for Manning is a great idea. You never know how these things turn out 30 minutes later. Its why I don't believe in "Basketball experts agree" or "instant analysis". The Hawks are 1 win from the eastern conference finals everyone. Luka might be on his way out of Dallas. Man that was quick.

A better question! You're the Nets or Bucks and you're looking ahead, do you want any part of this Hawks team right now? If you're the Nets, are you saying...yah....lets hope Philly wins, same question for the Bucks. I said it before the playoffs started, nobody wants to play this Hawks team because they don't realize they aren't supposed to be here. Every team entering the playoffs has some level of feeling who they are, knowing who they're supposed to be. The Hawks have no clue they aren't supposed to be contenders. They don't realize they won 41 games or they're too young, too small, too inexperienced. They're oblivious which makes them ever so dangerous. That self-realization leads to self doubt and allows you to give up when you should believe. There is no self-realization in this team. They're your kid brother the first time he beats you in horse, cocky, shooting like he meant to call glass.

Have I told anyone that I love Mrs. Sothron? The Mr. better watch his back. That lady is pure gold.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/nba-suns-chris-paul-enters-covid-19-health-and-safety-protocols-124740305.html

What do I have to do to get the "frustrated with people proposing ridiculous trades" badge?

As I said, there is no juggernaut, just a path.

And to be fair, as far as NBA players go, Embiid is a good dude. I wish him no ill, I just want us to win.

I have some thought to how I'd beat the illegal D situation and I'm thinking with an old college 3, 1 and 1 ISO offense. How this offense works? There are 3 zones all around the 3 point area. left, top, right. You stack one of the 3 zones with 3 players (regardless of whether or not they can shoot). The ball handler gets another zone and a spot up gets the 3rd zone. In my example we'll stack 3 players on the left zone at the 3 point line along the line. Trae at the top in ISO and Bogie in the right corner. Starting with the left corner, we have John/Capela/Solo. Capela floats to John's man and sets an off ball screen, forcing defensive player movement to stop the off ball. After the screen, Capela rolls, John comes toward Trae. If free he spots up, if not he continues to Trae and sets the pick. Trae chooses whether to pass to John, take his man off of iso or move toward John's screen. This sets a double roll to the basket pulling the possible double defenders back to the basket. This will either free up Trae to pull up off the dribble or push to Solo in the corner. Alternatively, if Trae is at the top and no double comes, he is free to ISO score. If he drives right and Bogie's man comes to double, Trae kicks to the corner to Bogie. The idea of this setup (not setting a post player) is to make Philly pay for doubling. If the double comes from the left as the center leaves his man, it opens a cutter or an off ball screen to a cutter, spot up. By pulling a screener up to Trae, we are allowing the Philly defensive bigs to sag into the lane. The fix for this is to bring our big out to the 3 point line and force their big to make a choice of coming to double or following his man out of the lane. This is Michigan State early 90's basketball.

I tried to not watch the game last night, but instead, watch Embiid and Howard on defense. Its hard, really hard but I did it for about 60% of the game. I counted at least 10 different times a defensive 3 second call was warranted. The officials are really stretching the definition of guarding someone. See the below video which I'll point out a few. Unfortunately they are highlights, the Hawks scored so you won't see nearly as egregious of violations. This video break down is to show you the defensive scheme and not the violations (working with what I have). 38 second mark. OO is 4 feet from the lane. Howard stays in the lane the whole time through the 44 second mark. 1:30 mark. This one isn't bad but its similar to what I saw them doing for much longer periods of time. They would track the ball handler, completely unaware their man left the lane. This one the ball handler just drove too fast. Ends 1:34. Again, we make a shot which usually means the violation wasn't occurring. 1:43 mark. No violation here but it does expose Philly's defensive scheme. They are using lane traffic to disrupt the Hawks. On this play, Milton completely leaves Bogie to traverse the lane to stop the drive. Its as though he knows Williams will not pass to the corner. His move the middle, he recognizes Dwight has vacated the middle, he is quick to react....obviously not something he is use to seeing. 2:10 mark. Easy see they don't care about the 3 second call. Howard backs into the lane, guarding nobody. He is tracking the ball handler at the 3 point line and back peddling to set up in the lane. At 2:14 he is still not guarding anyone, just meandering around back peddling watching the ball carrier. 2:15 he steps out of the lane in the direction of Collins. He doesn't see him but assumes he's there. 2:58 mark. Philly has blown this illegal coverage with nobody dropping in the middle. Its an easy drive to the basket for Trae. Its the illegal setup in the lane that's killing the Hawks, not the 76ers players. With no center clogging the lane, its an easy score. 3:08 mark. Really easy to see what Philly is doing but Collins just beats it down the floor. Howard is so not guarding his man (Collins) that he's completely surprised the log comes in behind him. He has moved to the lane to set up shop but Collins was running the floor and beat him down. Howard isn't guarding anyone, he's setting up an illegal zone. 3:25 mark. Embiid is in the lane already but leaves Capela, he is tracking the ball again from inside the lane. On this play, his momentum tracking the ball carries one foot right outside the lane at 3:28. Only the pass direction helped him avoid the 3 seconds. If Trae just dribbles up top, Embiid never would have left the lane. 3:45 mark. This play its Harris. Harris enters the lane at 3:45 guarding no one. 3:50 Collins drives, enters the lane and Capela comes from behind. Harris is not guarding Capela, isn't even sure he's there, he's tracking John. Its a clear 5 seconds not guarding anyone, standing in the lane. 4.36 mark. Embiid beat everyone down the floor and set up shop in the lane. He steps out to greet the ball handler. Nothing illegal here, its just showing the tendency. Because Embiid comes all the way out, Collins is able to beat it from the backside for a lob. On both of the Embiid broken up lobs last night, he'd been camping the lane the whole time, not following his man out. 5:22 mark. It seems Capela got wise to this. He sees Embiid is staying in the lane. So he steps a bit farther out seeing if he can draw the defensive 3. The second Embiid steps out, Collins drives. 8:14 mark. This one is interesting because it shows Philly blowing this coverage. Howard has not dropped into the lane and is actively guarding Collins at the perimeter. He is expecting Harris to be sagged off into the lane. Its a misread because Harris has to stay close to Gallo on the perimeter, he is spotting up for 3. Neither sags to the middle per the scheme and its an easy pick n roll dunk for Collins. Williams in the game confused Philly. He doesn't run the high pick n roll like Trae but did he to perfection. It shows the stark contrast when they don't run the middle defender, sag the safety scheme. Again, sorry I don't have my own video to show the violations but highlight videos show makes, not misses. If you recorded the game, go back an watch the Hawks offensive sets. You'll see at least 10 easy 3 second calls that could have been made. Nate needs to say something, someone needs to say something. Capela needs to drag Embiid out and they need to start pointing it out or this series is over.

They won't "sign" JC, they are going to match JC. The market will make that call. Then they'll hold him for a year and try to trade him (IMHO). Personally, I'd see if there was a way to pry Obi Toppin loose and let him have the spot in a year or two if he earns it.