thecampster

I had one of those balls growing up...I love dit.

I'll start, his name is stupid....okay now you go!

I hear you. Its worth talking about the Hawks season. Stick around and keep the happy going.

Benhill sighting...how you been man

Another vet move by Gallo. Pump fake get the 2 FT

Yawn!!! These threads are proof of why there are cap guys, press guys and talent evaluators...nobody is all things in an org.

Cam pre and post all-star break All-Star Break G Min FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% OR DR Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts Pre-All Star 48 1.082639 3.2 9 35.3 1.3 4.1 31.6 1.6 2.1 78.8 0.6 3.1 3.7 1.5 1.6 1 0.5 2.3 9.3 Post-All Star 10 1.265278 6 12 50 2.1 5.4 38.9 2.3 2.7 85.2 0.5 3.2 3.7 1.3 1.8 1.3 0.6 2.2 16.4 Hunter pre and post all-star break - tells less of the story because his last 5 games were not as good as the previous 20. All-Star Break G Min FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% OR DR Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts Pre-All Star 53 1.315972 4.5 10.9 41 1.6 4.8 34.5 1.7 2.2 75.9 0.5 3.4 4 1.8 1.6 0.8 0.3 2.8 12.2 Post-All Star 10 1.433333 4.4 10.7 41.1 2.1 5.2 40.4 2.2 2.8 78.6 1.5 6.1 7.6 1.6 1.8 0.3 0.3 3.6 13.1 Compare to his FEB numbers - He was working on specific aspects of his game and it showed. Monthly G Min FGM FGA FG% 3PM 3PA 3P% FTM FTA FT% OR DR Reb Ast TO Stl Blk PF Pts February 10 1.484028 4.7 10.7 43.9 2.5 5.4 46.3 1.9 2.3 82.6 1.2 5.6 6.8 1.5 1.7 1.1 0.3 2.7 13.8

Well and their stats were dragged way down by the first 25+ games. Contrast first 35 with last 35 is night and day.

I've considered Twitch streaming during the games but I don't want people to hear me cursing and yelling, "set the damn pick"..."Box the F out".

I made one when site went down 18 months ago...we never used it.

The only stickler to that is pace. When games are played at a higher pace (due to personnel or scheme), scoring goes up. Defense is a weird all encompassing stat because your own team turnovers, lead to easy buckets. Ball security leads to better team defense numbers....its very hard to quantify.

My first impressions of Gallo as a Hawks have been very high. I expected him to be good for us, but some of the things he's done have set a whole team tone. I didn't realize what a good leader he was. Between his leadership, Rondo and Dunn (I wish we had chat back, there will be a Dunn effort cheering section on here), I believe those leadership/effort additions will be greater than the sum of the parts. Dunn is a player that gives a damn...he gives a mighty damn and IMHO, he is the type of player down the road teams will want to add for their championship runs. That guy hates losing, wears it on his sleeve and will shout out when people aren't giving defensive effort. More importantly, he gives defensive effort on every play. I'll kiss KG on the mouth, no mask if this doesn't bear out to be true.

Perhaps a good way to look at Hunter is to look at how he played the last 15 games of the season (JC back, Dedmon in..teague here...etc). 12.5 ppg/ 7.1 rpg/1.6apg/ 42% from 3 and 82.1% from the Free throw line. He went for 15+ 6 times, 20+ twice. there was a maturity that took over as the season progressed and his supporting cast improved. Again, I'm projecting Hunter to be better than LeVert this year given LeVert won't be taking 16 shots per game this year. Hunter averaged less than 11.

It would be fair to say I was projecting a good bit on LeVert and Hunter. Brooklyn needed someone to take shots last year and LeVert took those shots. That is going to fall off this year. Last year, Hunter was heavily penalized based on the personnel on the floor with him most of the time. When you look at LeVert's stats his first 3 years in the league, it doesn't pan out how you're stating. The best thing I can do is compare LeVert's career averages to Hunter's 1 year as his stats from last year are pure brute force and will fall off (except probably shooting %). LeVert (career) - 12.7 ppg / 3.7 RPG / 3.6 APG/ 1.9 TO eFG% .491 Hunter (Rookie) - 12.3 ppg / 4.5 RPG / 1.8 APG / 1.6 TO eFG% .489 I think we can agree Hunter is a better man defender. We are looking at the 4 year stats of a player which are pretty much equal to a rookie's stats. If you want to compare rookie campaigns its not even close. If you want to compare last year, its unfair because LeVert was encouraged to take as many shots as possible. He is a 4 year older player and nearing his peak. Many of Hunter's individual stats are affected by the personnel on the floor the first half of the season and yet the numbers aren't that different (minus 6ppg based on usage). I'm projecting Hunter as better than LeVert this year and only playing the games will prove me wrong here.

I'm not going to hate on Len though. I like him as a player...As a fifth option or backup center....He's better than all but 20 or so centers in the league...but that gap between him and the top 10 is pretty wide.

You couldn't throw anything below the waist to Len or Dedmon....You couldn't throw anything but lobs to Jones. Bruno wasn't terrible catching the ball....unless it was a rebound.

January 30 vs Philly. 39 points, 18 assists. Taking 4 less shots and dishing out 2 more dimes is in reason with the new crew. He had 15 or more assists 6 times last season.

Averaging 12 isn't crazy....There were easily 3 missed assists a night last year based on stone hands on the interior, missed shots on the outside.

It's very fair and accurate when used to compare at positions.

ugh...I hate Boston

A good look at Collins is easy to see in his matchup PER numbers. At the PF last year, he scored a 29.4 PER/48minutes. His opponent at the 4 posted a 19.7. That's a 9.7 PER difference which is very hard to do in a large sample. In the previous season, 9.5 PER/48 differential. Collins wins his matchups nightly. He just isn't flashy and works within the coach's system.

I really like Capela but I'm honest about him as a complete player. No outside shooting and bad at the free throw line. Those 2 things really hurt him from being better than certain other centers. Lopez only rebounds because he's taller than everyone else. If I'm grading effort, Capela but Lopez falls into rebounds based on size. Its a natural gift, not effort. Lopez can shoot. He has a natural game that spreads the floor. Lopez can pass. He is not a better defensive center than Capela and he is not a better roller, leaper than Capela...he is not explosive. But he is a better all around basketball player all things considered and that is how Lopez catches up (again, imho). JC - JC despite touching the ball over 40 times a game has a 1.8 turnover/game rate. He does a lot of little things that really settle things down, make the Hawks better. The stats last year bear that out. JC is a top 5 PF in the East. There are no real holes in his game and he doesn't try to do things he shouldn't (like dribble penetrate). I don't think he's the greatest of all time but he does a lot of things better than most. He should be appreciated for what he is. He is a ++ player.

The only thing really holding us back right now.

Feel free to criticize my matchups if you like. This is how I see it, convince me I'm wrong. Brooklyn vs Atlanta Irving vs Young - Tie LeVert vs BB - BB (Adv Hawks) Harris vs Hunter - Adv Hawks (slim) Durant vs Collins - Adv Brooklyn (If Durant is healthy) Allen vs Capela - Adv Hawks (slim) Bench - Prince/Jordan/Dinwiddie/Johnson vs Rondo/Huerter/Reddish/Gallo - advantage Hawks I took at a look at these rosters. I see some fit/health questions on Brooklyn. Game > on paper but on paper I don't see them being better than us. I see us as having a better bench and equal to better starters. If Irving and Durant are at their best, they get the advantage but I don't see that happening. Adv Hawks (can't believe I'm saying this). Philadelphia vs Atlanta Simmons vs Trae - (I have no flipping clue...tie?) The size advantage is hard to compensate. Curry vs BB - Adv Hawks Green vs Hunter - Adv Hawks (slim?) Harris vs Collins - Adv Hawks Embiid vs Capela - Adv 76ers Bench Howard, Thybulle, Scott, Milton vs Rondo/Huerter/Reddish/Gallo - advantage Hawks Again, on paper, I think we're better. That's hard to swallow but I think we're better. Maybe not day one as we have to learn to play together but ya...I see it this way. Milwaukee vs Atlanta Holiday vs Young - Adv Hawks (slim) DiVincenzo vs BB - Adv Hawks Middleton vs Hunter - Adv Milwaukee (slim) Giannis vs Collins - Adv Milwaukee Lopez vs Capela - tie (they bring different things) Bench Augustin, Portis, Craig, Forbes vs Rondo/Huerter/Reddish/Gallo - advantage Hawks...by a lot. Closest matchup but our bench should make us better on paper once we gel. Miami vs Atlanta Dragic vs Young - Adv Hawks Robinson vs BB - Adv Hawks (slim) Butler vs Hunter - Adv Miami Harkless vs Collins - Adv Hawks Adebayo vs Capela - Adv Miami (slim) Bench Herro, Bradley, Olynyk, Iguodala vs Rondo, Huerter, Reddish, Gallo - advantage Hawks (slim) I'm really having a hard time saying this and it may be the homer in me but I don't see any East team as "better" than us on paper. I just don't see it. They end up better than us on the court but I'm not seeing it on paper.

One of the hardest things to teach young players is that defense = offense. Young players spend their early years trying to go 1 on 1 with each other, figuring out who the alpha scoring dog is. They believe defense is only the ability to block shots. But defense is about staying in front of your man, talking to each other, pushing your man out beyond where he is comfortable, lanes, funneling. Most players don't understand the basic concepts of defense until varsity high school or freshman year of college. In the game of basketball, the team with the best transition game wins 90% of the time. The formula (offensive transition chances x transition efficiency) - (defensive transition chances x oponent transition efficiency) can be used to determine the winner of almost every basketball game. The reason for this is most team shoot below 50% efg in the half court but are above 70% in transition. So more transition chances than your opponent and efficiency in transition leads to wins. You can go back into basketball history and no one element is more important for determining the winner. So the team that plays the best defense, creates the most transition opportunities and limits their own turnovers/bad shots...wins. It is really that simple. Enter Trae Young, one of the best 1v1 offensive players in 20 years. He has been able to single handedly will teams to victory through 1v1 point guard play. But more often than not, we have lost the last 2 years due to a young team committing turnovers and not causing enough. IMHO, this all starts with Trae Young and the defensive effort we saw in the 1st 2 preseason games. If Trae scores 10 less ppg while dishing 10 assists, I'll consider this season a win if he gives that kind of defensive effort. I'll consider LP the right coach if he can get the young guys to buy in to defense wins games, creates transition, creates easy buckets. I want to see Trae become more efficient by creating easier opportunities through defense. I want to see us play less half court and more transition. I want less shots in the last 5 seconds of the shot clock and more traps at half court. I don't want to see fake defense stats like blocked shots. Centers get blocked shots when guards lose their man and allow penetration. For every 1 block there were 5 easy baskets. before it. I want to see long shot clocks on defense and short clocks on offense. I want to see LP pull people for a lack of defensive effort. Basketball stats are pretty consistent. Most turnovers happen in the half court. More half court basketball leads to more turnovers. I want to see more offensive transition from the Hawks and more Defensive half court. IMHO, this all starts with Trae buying in.