thecampster

The difference between Johnson and Knox in their approach to the basket when finishing should end all debate on whether JJ needs minutes. How someone can be that terrifying winding up to dunk and that silky on a reverse layup is all you need to know.

Locker room. Lots of strong feelings on a 53 man roster. Personally, I don't have a problem with bringing in Kap and giving him a shot to earn the job in camp but I think he wants to be the starter before signing. I don't even necessarily disagree with his political, just how he went about implementing it. But if you are the Falcons, there is no reason to invite drama into the locker room. Even media invented drama or personal belief drama. The problem with bringing in Colin K is that there is no sliding scale for success. The Falcons would either have to be definitively better (better than wild card weekend) or it would become a public relations nightmare every time he says "boo". Not sure if you wish that on him.

I'm a big advocate of moving down. I don't think 8 gets you Philly's 16/19. But maybe if you throw something else there way it does. I'd really prefer 2 picks in the 1st round. I want the Liberty QB but I think he drops to mid 1st round.

LOL, I love Per 36, always have and you can't change my mind no matter how many scantily clad pictures of Selena Gomez you send.

In arguably a very small sample, the per 36 numbers this year say JJ could be a 15/9 player right now on better than average efficiency. Take that for what its worth.

Back half so I'm not even sure its worth a look.

Well I knew this day would come. I had what I used to call 2 1/2 guys (though the 1/2 guy whose information was always 2nd hand became the most reliable the last 2 years). Due to job changes, I've lost 2 in the last 6 weeks. Still friends, still talk, way less in the know about Atlanta sports. I'm down to the 2nd hand guy only and that's more casual than the other 2 were. So I no longer have a guy (I've still got a 1/2 guy for whatever that's worth).

Joe would be a terrible fit next to Trae but Hunter for Toni Kukoc in his prime.....hmmmm? Or for that matter Nique??? Steve Smith in his prime would be interesting next to Trae. At the 4? Prime Kevin Willis would be a terrible fit in this era but I'd still be intrigued. Willis would get 20 rebounds a game in this era.

He does remind me of Bruno in that regard. Bruno was always late in recognizing what was happening around him. Knox has some good but I think has gotten some really bad advice. If I were advising him, I'd say he needs to work with a 15 feet in coach on both the defensive and offensive end. A science of the game guy.

5 years ago was Dwight/Dennis. 7 years ago was the 60 win team.

That possession was crazy. There were like 5 touches between 2 players and like 2 total dribbles. TBH, it confused the crap out of Portland though.

That you don't understand it, bothers me. We are where we were 5 years ago and if we hadn't taken Trae (something most here didn't want to do), we would be in dire straits. We still need to do what we needed to do 5 years ago, rebuild through trades.

Makes me miss Mike Muscala (shudders)

Lets go back to 2016-2017, 5 seasons ago. The Hawks were 2 years removed from the 60 win team and had fallen to a 43-39 record. A loud chorus of voices wanted to start tanking to rebuild through high draft picks, claiming we were on the playoff hamster wheel, unable to claim glory but unable to get off the wheel either. A small minority of us (myself included), advocated for trades to rebuild, not to tank. Risking rebuke, I aligned myself with @kb21 and others to advocate keeping our honor and not losing on purpose. We are 5 years from that year and our improbable run to the Eastern Conference finals aside, we are set to be right back at 40-45 wins this year. Of our draft hauls, Bruno was a bust and is gone, Cam is gone, our young core is starting to grow into what it will be going forward. The greatness that is Trae Young aside, the team is no better and an honest assessment would say worse than we were 5 years ago. If it wasn't for Trae, it would be hard to say we could beat the 60 win team of 2014-2015 (side note, how good would peak Demarre Carroll, Paul Millsap look on this squad next to Trae?). In order to get to where we are, we in the end decided to bring in outside talent in Bogi, Capela, Gallo to get us to where we are. An honest assessment of this Hawks roster should tell anyone that we are 2 players away from really competing for a title and will need to jettison a few players to get there. Here's the question. Was it worth it or should we have gone the rebuild, not tank route?

What's crazy is his shooting stroke isn't terrible. Its a bit inconsistent but from a buy his size, its okay. Defensively, he isn't terrible. His effort comes and goes. Sometimes his energy is really good, but then he just floats to the corner and disappears. If he has a fatal flaw its that he's too much effort and not enough finesse. His finishing footwork is pretty bad. He gets his body turned the wrong way at the basket by either over driving or over creating. He's a really good example of someone that a year of college in a smaller program could have done him a lot of good (with a coach who teaches). Al Horford would be a really good mentor for Knox. The kid just keeps trying to do too much. For those of you who remember tip drills in Jr. High/High School. Where you just jump and tip the ball over and over to yourself off the backboard. All about learning the feel, distance, body, timing. Knox needed way more of that, way less of styling. and I never said he was amazing, I just said I'd like to see what we have in him before crapping all over him. I've been a proponent (and I think I couldn't have been more clear) of giving minutes to JJ over a host of others. I think Knox could be very functional but he's gotten some really bad coaching in his life. He could use some serious 10 feet and in footwork fundamentals. That's where he could earn his money. Cuts, rebounds, finishing, boxing out, help defense. As for Knox long term, I am not and never have been an individual performance guy. I've always been a fan of "how do these 5 pieces fit together". I wanted to see how Knox fit with our guys. It isn't terrible no matter what you think you're seeing. He isn't finishing plays well but he is starting plays well, understanding the concept and giving our guys what they need. He just isn't under enough control to finish plays well. It all starts with footwork.

and at Golden Corral I'm 94% assured of ruining my diet..... I'm really having a problem with this one cherry picked range when arguably, Huerter doesn't shoot and people are notoriously bad at. I'd be interested to know what percentage of his shots he takes at that range.

I hate per 36 for totals. However, efficiency vs usage is a really good barometer there. Compare for example Huerter vs Bogi vs Dre vs Cam in eFG%. This is where you really start to understand our faults. First notice how much more efficient Huerter and then Bogi are compared to Hunter, Reddish (may he find his true happy place) and Lou Williams. Next (and I can't stress this enough), look at how efficient Skylar Mays is compared to all the people who got minutes over him this year. No he isn't better than Kevin or Bogi due mainly to size...good night man....how can this guy not see the floor. His one flaw is his 3PT% but he doesn't take many. I take heart over raw potential most days and Mays has heart in spades. He plays smart, team basketball. Lastly, I know we all love Gallo but I really can't believe he's that much less efficient than Trae, Huerter, Bogi, JJ and Mays.

Loving the defensive effort early.

#1. Bogi would just take a foul before the match began.

When is the last time you saw back to back fouls with no time coming off the clock?

WTF???

Wow just saw this as I was logging on to post this. Talked to my sources recently asking what's up with Hunter and specifically what is up with his forcing drives to the basket, stiffness, lost bounce. Answers: "Lemme get back to you" and "They're making everyone drive because the 1/2 court game is more prevalent in the playoffs and they feel we need to be more ISO capable come playoff time. As for Hunter, maybe he's just not good at it." So take that for what you will. One non-committal and 1 philosophical answer that its a team dynamic they are trying to develop but only certain players are succeeding at. My thoughts, they can flip the switch back to ball movement at any time so as long as they sneak into the playoffs it isn't a bad strategy to see who can go get you a bucket on their own now. There is one guy in my mind that can do this and I was really unhappy to see him not get any play after Trae's injury. Skylar Mays is strong, like single mother working two jobs strong. He's not that dynamic but he has shown the ability to go get a bucket in stretches. I would have liked to see him on the floor when the Hawks were struggling vs Boston. I don't know what else Skylar has to do to prove he's valuable.

Its not just the misses but super low IQ on some of them. He's forcing things when a paint defender is set, He's not shooting from outside with confidence. You even see it at the line. He's so far inside his own head right now, there is no getting out.

I realize that Hunter is struggling because they are forcing him into a shoot 3's take it hard to the basket guy but he is the single reason we lost the game last night. 0-8 from the floor with some awful misses that turned into easy buckets at the defensive end. There are 3 types of misses in the NBA, your feet are set. 1) you shoot with confidence but sometimes the ball doesn't go in or 2) you see your guys in position and you toss up a shot regardless of your readiness to take the shot because you know the chance for an offensive rebound is high and the shot, regardless of its intent will result in a better than average chance at a basket being made. Three is what you constantly hear announcers say was a bad shot. 3) Offensive rebounding is not in place, transition defense is not clearly possible because movement/pick setting is still occurring. The player is not set but sees an opening to shoot clearly and get his (even if the coach told him to) and the ball rebounds out, usually long because of the distance of the shot and it starts a transition sequence. At least half of Hunter's misses are option 3. If you DVR'd the game last night, go back and stop for each of Hunter's shots. Watch through the lens of what I just said and you'll see what I mean. 8 bad shots = 8 less possible points for us and 8 more possible points for the opponent (because teams make 1/2 their shots). A statistical 16 point swing. We lost by 9. As Soth says, the Hawks are high on Hunter and its killing me to watch.